.tennis anyone?.

.Ever since I met the Meyer's, I have been wanting to throw a party on their tennis court. It is a beautiful setting, set high in the corner of the yard and lined with tall Cypress trees (well, they look like Cypress Trees, not sure if they are). The gardens surrounding the area are beautiful and one corner of the court is covered in a beautiful grape vine. SO, when my brother & sister-in-law said they would agree to having their rehearsal dinner on the tennis court, I was estatic!!

.We went with a Fall Theme with chocolate brown table cloths, lots of white pumpkins & mums and even a seating area with hay covered with burlap. Below are some of the details!. Enjoy.


.pumpkin carving courtesy of Dr. Meyer.


.at the last minute, my mother-in-law and I compiled all our favorite napkin rings and used those for the the tables. So at each table, each person had a unique napkin ring.


.the centerpieces! flower balls!.

.the bar......ummmm, clearly I should've ironed, but you get the picture!!.

.The Seating tags on the moss board.

.Carved pumpkins! I didn't want them to be too Halloweenish, so this is what we created.

.We covered a styrofoam board with dried moss for the Seating Cards....

.We had lots of white Christmas tree lights hung on the tennis court fence that intertwined with the grape vine. This was the cocktail area.

.Here is a close up of one of the floral arrangements from the bar area...

.This bird was from my friend Amanda's Rehearsal Dinner and it normally sits on a side table at home, but as I was walking out to go set up for the party, I thought he should come with. Isn't he so cute??.

.France.

.It's been almost a month since our wonderful, awesome, amazing trip to the Cote d'Azur, and I still haven't posted any pictures. Here's a few of the 700+ photos that I took...

.If you want to see them all, click HERE. This link was broken before, but I fixed it!!


.my favorite view from Xavier's house just as the sun is going down... The whole garden glows. It's amazing.




.Marsella in St.Tropez.


.awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

.me in Antibes.

.dinner as usual at Xavier's.

.chirp chirp.

.beautiful sunset at Xavier's.

.The infinity pool at my mom's house.

.Marsella - youngest guy on the granny train in Avignon.

.Pope's Palace in Avignon.

.Dan & I in St. Didier...

.my FAVORITE wine that we tried in Chateauneuf du Pape.

.the grape vines in Chateauneuf du Pape...they aren't allowed to put them on wires, they grow naturally and the red stones absorb the heat from the day and keep the vines warm...something like that...

.wine tasting at Jean Baptiste's.

.on our way to Moustier.

.at Granier Beach in St. Tropez.

.Ville Franche...

.Rose in a box...AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

.booze, balls & centerpieces.

.My mother-in-law and I worked really hard to pull off a shower for my future sister-in-law. Nothing went wrong! We used starish for the centerpieces, floated starfish candles and LED glow balls in the pool, bought blue tablecloths of varying shades and made tons of food. Well, to be honest, my mother-in-law made a ton of food! I did contribute though. I made a salad with homemade roasted red beets, grilled corn, shredded chicken and spinach. It was a recipe from my friend Heather. Awesome!.

.144 stinky starfish + 12 vases = centerpieces.

.what kind of party is it without a signature drink??? Blue raspberry martinis!.

.these are LED pool balls and they are pretty much the most awesome thing EVER.

.One of my friends was married August 1st in Narragansett. Here are the pics! Her theme was peacock feathers with lots of teal & green. She did a GREAT job!

.NE summer part III: summer concert.

.willie nelson, the coug & bob dylan at the Pawtucket Patriot field.
.locals say: Puh-tucket.
.southerners say: Paaaawww-tucket.
.{click photo montage to enlarge}.

.NE summer part II: polo & BBQ.

.Ireland vs. USA.

.there's nothing like tailgating at the polo fields in Portsmouth, RI.

.{click photo montage to enlarge}.

.NE summer part I: the 4th, pell awards & waterfire.

.{NE = New England baby!}.

.the FOURTH of JULY at Warwick Country Club.

.decor at the Pell Award's in Newport.

.featured guest: Kevin Spacey.

.decorations at Waterfire in Providence.

.The Newport Bridge.

.The Newport Bridge reflected in a pool.

.californication.

.Sinner's wedding in Solvang/Santa Ynez Valley, California.

.It was amazing!!. {click the photos enlarge, the colors are amazing}.

.Hilton Head.

.A picture from an amazing Hilton Head wedding.

.The Greenbrier.

.wedding at The Greenbrier.

.what's better than croquet & mint juleps?? NOTHING.

.something to photograph.

.Spring in Rhode Island...

.The Big Takeover.

.not that you need another article on the financial crisis, but this is a good one.

The Big Takeover
by Matt Taibbi
(excerpt from the article)

The most galling thing about this financial crisis is that so many Wall Street types think they actually deserve not only their huge bonuses and lavish lifestyles but the awesome political power their own mistakes have left them in possession of. When challenged, they talk about how hard they work, the 90-hour weeks, the stress, the failed marriages, the hemorrhoids and gallstones they all get before they hit 40.

"But wait a minute," you say to them. "No one ever asked you to stay up all night eight days a week trying to get filthy rich shorting what's left of the American auto industry or selling $600 billion in toxic, irredeemable mortgages to ex-strippers on work release and Taco Bell clerks. Actually, come to think of it, why are we even giving taxpayer money to you people? Why are we not throwing your ass in jail instead?"

.Full Text available here: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/26793903/the_big_takeover

.milly.

.another day, another painting.

.i think color is great.

{click on the image for more detail}

.6 hour painting.

.I have been out of town every weekend and finally I had a night to paint. So last Friday, with a glass of wine in hand (or three..hehe), I completed this one in 6 or 7 hours. I was in the zone.

.His hand is just hanging out there, not sure what that is all about, but one day I'll get these arms and hands right. BUT, at the same time, I like the ackwardness of it. Is he going to tap on the glass or does his head cocked to the right and arm out mean he is getting ready to wave at me?!

.optimism.

.March 10th 1989 - March 11th, 2009.
.SP500 Index (top): 149.64%.
.Japan's Nikkei Index (bottom) -76.73%.

.even if we lost all of that 149% gain tomorrow, at least we had periods of false hope & optimism...while not always rational, clearly that is part of being American and hopefully this attribute will pull us out of this mess.

...excerpts from DEAN WITTER's memo to his firm...

May 6th, 1932

A very interesting book could be written on mass psychology and the effect thereof. That everyone is influenced more or less by the opinion of others is obvious. There was no reason for the unwarranted heights which the market reached in 1929 except universal over-optimism - there is no excuse for the present market value of good bonds and stocks today except undue pessimism. In 1929 no pessimistic comment could survive. Today an expression of confidence in the future of the country is unpopular. Strangely, the peaks of 1929 and the low quotations of today are both due to the same cause, which is lack of intelligent and sound analysis. It is strange that such divergent conditions should come within such a short period and should be due to such identical factors...

There are only two premises which are tenable as to the future. Either we are going to have chaos or else recovery. The former theory is foolish. If chaos ensues nothing will maintain value, neither bonds nor stocks nor bank deposits nor gold will remain valuable. Real estate will be a worthless asset because titles will be insecure. No policy can be based upon this impossible contingency. Policy must therefore be predicated upon theory of recovery. The present is not the first depression; it may be the worst, but just as surely as conditions have righted themselves in the past and have gradually been readjusted to normal so this will again occur. The only uncertainty is when it will occur...

Does anyone think that present prices will continue when confidence has been fully restored? Such bargains exist only because of terror and distress. When the future is assured the dollar will long since have ceased to have its present buying power...

It requires courage to be optimistic as to the future of the country when nearly everyone is pessimistic. It is, however, cowardly to assume that the future of the country is in peril.

No sucessful policy can be established upon this unsound theory. It is easy to run with the crowd. The path of least resistance is to join in the wailings that are now so popular. The constructive policy, however, is to maintain your courage and your optimism, to have faith in the ultimate future of your country and to proclaim your faith and to recommend the purchase of good bonds and good stocks, which are inordinately depreciated...

~ Dean Witter, 1932

.so, i know i haven't blogged in a while.

.i just wanted to wait until i had something meaningful. and i think i have finally conquered this painting. what do you think?. {click to enlarge}.

.the light balls.

.chicken wire: CHECK.

.Christmas tree lights: CHECK.

.window screen: CHECK.

.cost?: $20 for a 3ft circumference ball. That is what I call economical.

.PPS WINTER BASH 2009.

.light sculpture I made for the front. I realize it is very strange.

.The PPS Winter Bash 2009 went down last night. I think it was a success, but you never know. Next year, I think we should have a DISCO!! Holla.

.Do you see the chicken wire light balls in the background??.

.sparkly diamonds & fluffy snowflakes.

.darkly diamonds and snuffy snowflakes. aah, hmmm. twist of fate I suppose?.