A Garden Gala

The summer fundraiser at the Luther Burbank Gardens has come and gone, and it looked like it was a big success. I helped with the flowers, which turned out to be a more athletic job than I had anticipated. First I had to pick up the many arrangements from cold storage and transport them to the gardens, about 35 vases in all. That was the easy part. Once I got to the gardens, they had to be unloaded to hand carts and then wheeled to the tables on the far (of course!) side of the property. The final step was to schlep them to the 20 individual tables and plop a table number in the center of each vase. I was pleased with the finished product, but my feet were telling me that I was finished, too.

So, as the band and the catering team arrived,  I limped to my car and left the approaching festivities behind, not even stopping at the martini bar, open for business, featuring fruit infused gin and vodka. The $100 a plate tables looked beautiful and welcoming, and the weather was perfect. 

Hallelujah!

Being Posh at the Palace

To celebrate Dick's birthday, a b-i-g one with a zero, we made a special day of it and went to brunch at the historic Palace Hotel in San Francisco. We knew we were out of our league when the bar tab for  Bloody Marys, three of them, came to $45! Yikes.

However, we did not pick the Palace in order to sit there and count our pennies. It was a day to be extravagant, live beyond our means, and maybe pretend just a little.  I could not stop looking up at the fabulous glass ceiling and the sparkling brilliance of all the chandeliers.

The food was amazing: fresh crab, dim sum, paella, sushi, prime rib, omelets to order, seven different food stations in all, just packed with all kinds of goodies. I managed to empty my filled plate four times, my favorite being the dessert plate.

There was even a table with cold cereals, just in case someone had to have their Cheerios! 

Please.

More champagne, please?