New York, New Yooork

I was just in NYC for a whopping five days to relax and celebrate with friend and colleague Tricia Huddas. I kid you not, this song from On the Town was in my head the entire time I was there. They have, hands-down, the easiest access to awesome fresh flowers of anywhere I've ever been. It took all of the self-control I have to not purchase flowers for our hotel room when we passed by a bodegas with displays like this every few blocks!

Simple Pleasures in Stressful Times - Tulips in a Ball Jar

I've been a busy person and bad blogger. With work, travel and the search for a new apartment I have been too tired to embark on any floral "projects." But I do always have flowers around, and it's amazing how much that helps when I'm stressed out. It helps me to keep my space clean, and just gives me something to look at when I want to zone out!

Savannah in Bloom - Hybrid Ranunculus

I'm in my old stomping grounds of Savannah, GA for a big corporate event and I knew that Natalie and Heidi from Savannah Florist A to Zinnias would be up to their very capable elbows in flowers this weekend due to a number of weddings as well as all of the blooms for our event. I told them I'd love to help when I wasn't working on the event, if they would like, and they were more than happy to have me come to clean and cut flowers with them after Thursday's 18-box delivery. They thought I was silly to WANT to help with such a task, but I really did enjoy it. Just seeing the buckets and buckets of flowers was pretty amazing.

I won't even start on how mad I was to not have a camera to get pictures of the sheer number of flowers....but these hybrid Ranunculus were incredible. You may be able to get some idea of their size in comparison to the white roses at the bottom corner of the picture - but not a just comparison because they are huge.

I couldn't imagine cleaning and cutting flowers with better company, and hope to share some real pictures of the flowers for our corporate event next week.

A Bunch of Locals from Wollam Gardens

I took a quick trip to Wollam Gardens, in Jeffersonton, VA, to meet with the flower farm's crew about a possible this internship this summer. I'm happy to say that I will be starting at the farm in mid-August and helping through the fall (Dahlias!).

And, of course, I couldn't leave without a bunch of their season's best - Anemone, Freesia, Ranunculus and Hellebore!

As for the vase, I got it a Big Lots for $4! There is no reason to be using the lame vase that you got with flowers sent to you by a boyfriend during college from 1-800-flowers or something like that when you can find inexpensive containers, with A LOT more character all over the place.

Floral Re-Mix - Hydrangea with Ranunculus in Anthropologie Pot

Suzanne's Bouquet didn't really seem right for an arrangement in my apartment, so I decided to deconstruct it and make something new - sans blue Hydrangea...I was just not feeling blue Hydrangea this week.

So that left me with white Hydrangea, white Ranunculus and the mystery reddish brown leafy plant. I used a pedestal pot that I got from Anthropologie a few months ago. We do not need, nor can we fit, another home good in our apartment. But I justified the random purchase that day by telling myself that it was only $8 (deal!), I needed to get my parking validated (they didn't validate), and it was heavy enough to also use as a weapon in the case of an intruder (I live in a 4th floor walk-up...who would bother?). I couldn't find it on the web site, but I've seen it at both the Georgetown and Friendship Heights Anthropologie stores recently, so it's still around if you need parking validation or a weapon...

This piece was actually further re-mixed when I decided to bring flowers to my in-laws' house for Easter dinner. I broke down some of the pieces into a smaller, mercury glass cup that I was happy to leave with them. So I got a lot of mileage out of this week's floral purchase, despite the bad start with the sad blue Hydrangea.

Cherry Blossoms

Cherry Blossoms down at the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. Sadly it was a gray sort of day so you don't get to see the contrast between the pink flowers and a bright blue sky. Still lovely, yet so short-lived!

Suzanne's Bouquet - Blue and White Hydrangea, and Ranunculus

Here are the results, Suzanne! I know it's not exactly what you were thinking of, but it's certainly a tribute to you. And, honestly, if it were my bouquet (it's not), I'd add the brown into the bouquet with the ribbon INSTEAD of the chocolate Cosmos. You will still have the Hop Buds mixed in to break up the expanse of Hydrangea.

Suzy Q also wanted me to suggest how to incorporate an antique ring into the bouquet. That is why I incorporated the brown ribbon to begin with. The ring is actually my engagement here - not antique, just rocking a nice "patina" due to lack of proper cleaning.

Suzanne's Bouquet - The Materials

When I shared this blog with my high school friends (we all post on a Google Groups page regularly to keep in touch), Suzanne - a June bride - automatically wanted my take on her bridal bouquet:

Tell me what you'd do with this: Blue Hydrangeas, White fluffy
flowers of some sort (like white ranunculus) Chocolate Cosmos Hop Buds And an
Ivory fabric to put around the stems. For my bouquet I want mostly blue
with touches of white and a few chocolate cosmos and ivory ribbon.

I told her I'd do what I could with the supplies that I can get! Hop Buds and Chocolate Cosmos were not possible. But I did use the reddish brown leaves of the unknown plant mixed in there to show how the brown color would look in the bouquet. (I will find out what it's called asap)

And I need to share this story about the Blue Hydrangea! I won't say where, but I saw them and picked them up so I could make good on my promise to Suzanne. Just like I do with all of my flowers, I took them home, trimmed the bottoms and put them in water with antibacterial floral food. Well, within hours the blue Hydrangea were basically dead. Wilted, dropping petals, droopy, ugly, shriveled, dead. So I took them back the store - where I buy A LOT of flowers - and asked for new ones. Easy trade, right? The floral manager gave me such a hard time! She was insulting and really passive aggressive....more or less accusing me of mis-treating them OR lying about when I bought them OR stealing OR all three. I ended up taking a bouquet of white Hydrangea to replace the sad blue specimen and bought 2 stems of blue elsewhere. Funny enough, my friend's mother had the SAME problem with blue Hydrangea from the SAME store as me... You can see in the picture below how droopy those hydrangea are!

Results tomorrow...

Ball Jars and Yellow Flowers

A few weekends ago my mother and I threw a "surprise" birthday party for my sister, Emily. I use the quotes because apparently I, in a round-about way, ruined the surprise via Twitter. C'est la vie...

I made some delicious new appetizers (thanks Ina and Giada) - including Roasted Shrimp Cocktail and Sweet Pea Crostini - which were set out around simple spring flowers, Aqua Ball Jars filled with yellow Alstromeria, Daffodils, Gerbera Daisies and some white Freesia.

I love how the aqua jars look with bright green stems and yellow flowers. It's incredibly cheerful. This iPhone pictures doesn't quite capture it...so I'll do this again for sure and share.

Pink and Orange Wedding Flowers in Savannah

I just returned to DC from Savannah where I was working on a lovely Spring wedding. I have some projects lined up for the blog, but here's some of the beautiful work from some of my favorite floral designers in Savannah, A to Zinnias. Saw my first fluffy peonies of the summer and they made me happy. Natalie and Heidi make a great bouquet! And these dark pink hydrangea were stunning.

In Season - Cherry Blossoms

I've been very busy preparing to travel to Savannah for a wedding this weekend. I'm about to push off for the long drive, but thought I'd share a little bit Washington DC's spring before I go! Every day there is a new Cherry Blossom tree in bloom! I can't wait to see the city when I get back next week.

Floral Faux Pas - Feminine Mystique or Mistake

At first glance, maybe it's a a ghostly figure with arms outstreched for an embrace? But wait, what is that cottage-cheesy stuff? Does the ghost have "bye-bye" arms?! Oh, man! Arm fat follows you to the hereafter?!

Ooooh, no. It's not a ghost at all! It's a uterus.

Hey, I'm pro-woman and agree that the ability to carry a child and give birth is one of the greatest things there is. I hope that my uterus is just as pretty and welcoming to future children as the one depicted here in a ceramic state. But I don't want to put flowers in it. How about you?

Uterus Vase

Spring Centerpiece - Ranunculus, Alstromeria, Trachelium and ??

The Spring Centerpiece for my dinner with friends was a learning experience! That is the point of this blog though. Right? Here are some teaching points it provided:

• It took A LOT of flowers to get a full look. The Ranunculus could have used another day to open (though they probably look great now).
• I spilled water all over myself while bringing the centerpiece to my friend Sara's house! Next time I will add water AT the destination, and possibly use floral foam when the arrangement will be traveling.
• Cats love flowers...who knew! My dog could not care less.

The Trachelium looks like Broccoli in the pictures! The "??" in the post title refers to the twigs sticking out. Are they baby Pussy Willow? If you know, I'd love to hear from you! It was mixed in with the Ranunculus from Wollam Gardens.

The curious cat is Mr. Henry Kerr - he gave the centerpiece a little nibble and pat, but did no serious damage.

And here it is with our delicious dinner - which was Cod in a Sack with Fennel and Onion, if you were curious.

Spring Centerpiece - The Materials

It's a sunny spring day here in the District, so I walked down the hill to Georgetown to check out some of the great antique stores and find a container for the centerpiece I'm making for our dinner tonight with some friends. I had a silver footed bowl in mind, and everything that I saw at the antique stores was a bit pricey or larger than I wanted (which would be pricey to fill). I decided to try Pottery Barn, instead and found exactly what I was looking for!

Chancellor Snack Bowl

It was only $15 and apparently it would work for snacks too. What a deal.

As for the floral supplies, I am excited to be working with these local Ranunculus. I purchased them from Wollam Gardens' table at the Dupont Circle FRESHFARM Market on Sunday. I also have a few other fillers from Whole Foods , but I plan on the Ranunculus being the stars. Once again, please excuse the pictures! These are even worse - they're from my blackberry phone! Must get new camera...

In Bloom at Target - Liberty of London!

When I was in London a few years ago, I could've spent an entire day in Liberty - mostly just looking through the amazing fabric department. I am really excited about the Liberty of London for Target line - almost all of it - but out of self-preservation I don't expect to own any of it. The good designer lines go quickly and are sparsely stocked at my local store. Looking it over online, it all of its floral glory, may have to have been enough for me. Here are some favorites!

Tunic Swim Cover-up
Maynard Large Canister

Sixty Melamine Platter

Decorative Pillow

I may check out Target tomorrow anyway...just in case.

Floral Faux Pas - Songbird no more...

I can't imagine it's a happy tune that this Ceramic Bird Whistle Vase is a-hummin'. He just looks uncomfortable - craning his little neck, choking down those sad stems! If I were him I'd spit them out and fly away.

Need Not Apply...

Sometimes I'm REALLY surprised by the tone people use when writing job descriptions! Here is a little gem from a job listing for a flower farm in MD:

Martha Stewart wannabes need not apply - this is work.

Period. This is work. I think Martha would be insulted by this. She may be many things, but I don't think anyone can accuse her of not being a hard worker! Have you seen her farms?

It should just say - "Back breaking labor! Don't bother if you care about flowers at all or plan to get any further satisfaction from this job besides a hard day's work in the hot sun!"

Sign me up?

My First Bouquet - Hydrangea, Alstromeria, Mum and Solidago

My supplies thrived overnight and I set out to make my first bouquet around mid-morning. I was a little bit stressed, because I really DO NOT underestimate floral designers. As a wedding planner, I've worked with a lot of talented designers and never ever encouraged a bride toward DIY wedding flowers and other such misadventures in added stress. I take this seriously. If I didn't I would just call myself a floral designer and start marketing myself as such right now.

I still probably did exactly what a DIY bride would do though - I looked on Martha Stewart Weddings and did a google search about making bouquets. I didn't find the tutorials very helpful, as they were not really specific, and only involved roses. The one piece of advice that I did glean is that it's best to make small bunches and then bunch those together - bunches become bouquet, voila.

I would normally like to show pictures of the process, but I had to use my husband's iphone camera (real camera still at the bottom of Gulf of Mexico), so I only have the finished product. But I will tell you this about the process - I started once and had some issues with the shape of the hydrangea bunches, so I took it all apart and started to make Turkey Chili out of ADD tendencies and frustration. I tried again once the chili was simmering and was successful! I held the raw, finished bunch up for my husband - who was working from home - and must have looked pretty proud because he said, "I want to be doing what you're doing. You look so happy!" And that about sums up the experience.

Here is the first completed shot, sans ribbon, in my kitchen. I just used floral tape to keep it together. Not a great background and the light is weird - I should take some photography classes.

And here she is, clipped and wrapped. I found the best natural light is on my bedside table, so I had to play with the angles to not include my unmade bed in the shots (for shame!).

I've put her in a Ball jar for safe, hydrated keeping and have been moving it around from room to room because I like looking at it. I wish I had a dining room table...or a bride who could walk around after me holding it.

Finally, I'm happy to report that after being manhandled, laid down, re-positioned and kept overnight, it is still in great condition!