Haphazard Arrangement

In the early 1990's I worked for a very high end design shop, in the capacity of Go Girl.....Go get me this...Go get me that.....Go make coffee for the wealthy ladies, as they shopped and liaised with their designers in their quest to make their grand homes even more beautiful. (although someone once said that "People with taste need money and people with money need taste" I thoroughly enjoyed it, learning the ropes of the design trade from an extremely talented, though sometimes difficult, owner. She used to tell clients she went to the New York School of Design, which delighted the client, but really meant she learned what she knew on the street, working the flea markets, working retail, browsing windows and watching carefully how the big designers operated.

One of the tasks I was assigned, presumably because I showed a bit of an aptitude for it, was flower arranging. Remember this was the 90's. Silk flowers were fashionable, and the Lakeshore Ladies used to bring huge silver tureens and antique blue willow vases, into the shop for me to fill with hundreds of dollars worth of silk flowers. The bigger and the more variety the better, these arrangements went home with the ladies to adorn their enormous dining tables and buffets and to delight guests on their front hall tables. 

It was kinda fun, but no floral piece I ever made, was EVER a reflection of my taste, nor would it fit in my suburban cottage of a house. If I had to pick between a massive, expensive arrangement or a $4.99 bunch of carnations, my heart would have to be with the lowly carnation.

Today's bunch were a treat for myself as I did a quick lunch time shop for Kitty treats and a chewy for Frenchie.....I spied them at the cash desk and popped them in my cart. They cheered my up after a morning of watching a drapery rod collapse under the weight of some very pricey drapes at a client's home.....luckily my installer is experienced. He politely ignored my obviously wrong choice in brackets and rods and suggested we cancel the install. He helped fold the new drapes and put them away and he re-installed the old drapes until I can sort out the hardware issue. I get very stressed when things mess up in a client home. It is easily solvable with a better rod and bracket, but in the meantime I have to tell my customer something's not right...and then I go away and over think my incompetence vs. the shoddy nature of the hardware fittings. But, I do have to eat the cost of the shoddy rod system, and the cost of having the installer come back again. So...I've lost about $350.00 today...

Tired and cranky, I tossed Frenchie his chewy, and popped the carnations into 2 little cream jugs that came as a gift from someone special in England many years ago, and placed them on the mantle to engage with the vibrant sunflower abstract painting.

Frenchie paraded around with his chewy, not sure whether to eat it or bury it, full of excitement and tail wags, moving this way and then, worried the cat would take it, or me, but finally settled on the rug beside me, glancing at me with delight but slobbering away on the bone......and suddenly, my grumpiness lifted, and I'm gearing up for dinner out with friends tonight, and a Sunday country drive for lunch out with my Sweet Mama.