What a spectacular day!

John and I spent a good part of the day "Downeast". We showed an inn in Sullivan to a great couple that I think would do an amazing job. I am so in love with this property. The interior is as cool as the view and take a look at that! It could have a really sophisticated lodgy feel. YES! I WANT IT! I love this property and will be very envious of the lucky people that get it but will also wish them the best. I drool at the though of redesigning.

Culinary Weekend

Working on a great project. A culinary weekend in Portland featuring Chef Carmen Gonzalez. Friday night a tasting menu dinner at Bar Lola then a Maine Foodie Tour on Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon a cooking class with Chef Carmen and then a gourmet dinner prepared by Chef, a finalist in Top Chef Masters. Sunday morning brunch will be a Danforth event featuring Leslie's lobster eggs benedict. This is a lot of work but having a ball.

Sigh.........

My house smells like lobster. Ughh.. Yuck, yuck, yuck. John cooked 20 lbs of lobsters OUTSIDE but picked them out in the kitchen and it smells..... Mom couldn't even smell it when she walked in but I feel like it is going to choke me. I am a wimp about lobster smell, I know.... but YUCK!

We are having an authentic Maine Lobster Pound lobster roll luncheon tomorrow at our Northeast Harbor office for 20. If I had known....

Obsessing....

I must be better - God knows I am doing my back exercises every two hours all day.... - because I am obsessing about a redesign project where I can use this chandelier.

The little things....

WHEN you have known unbelievable pain you come to appreciate the little things. John, Ava and I walked TWICE today down Schooner Head Road. The second time we went a whole mile. Me, with excellent posture :-)))) Between walks, I RODE IN A CAR, for almost 30 minutes - yup I did :) Range Rovers have EXCELLENT lumbar support choices in the seats. I learned that I might be able to fix my disc problem with exercise. Since I can't see a neurosurgeon until July, this is a very good thing. THEN, we had the most amazing dinner - Mom made the ultimate comfort food (as far as I'm concerned, it wasn't Dee's casserole or anything) which is chicken and stuffing in a creamy sauce. Paired it with a fabulous bottle of Napa Pinot Noir and the best meal ever.


A couple things:

If you are going to sneeze, lean back - not forward.

At the end of a run, don't lean forward with your hands on your knees.


Mom and I are going to work on the exercises tomorrow to alleviate back pain from this fabulous book that I love so much I am going to sleep with under my pillow. See above.

Now I just have to remember to appreciate the little things ALL the time. I'm working on it.

One down....

Excited about liquidating some properties and this one is the first. I am excited to see what the buyers are going to do with it too - may just be a new, fun hangout.

Flowers

This is a cool shot of flowers that my friend Oscar sent. I wish I was an artist so that I could paint it.

Mom and Dad Home from Florida means.....

Homemade Chicken Soup.

A winter abused yard cleaned up.

Ava having someone to chase her around couch.

Brown bananas magically turning into banana bread.

A new landscaping plan.

Laundry getting folded and put away.

A fir tree being promised more sun.

Someone to pick up medications when John is out of town.

Homemade macaroni and cheese tonight.

Priceless. :-)

The last two weeks....

Project Runway

Ev and Ava and I spent Easter afternoon watching DVRed episodes of Project Runway. Ev is really getting interested in fashion which I love~! Then we went through my clothes to find trendy things left over from my 2005 days when smalls and mediums were the thing :-) We did her makeup too - subtle, young and gorgeous.

The really cool thing too is that Lifetime Network asked Aaron to write a song to be the theme for talking to designers that are let go to follow their dreams. He did a great job and it should be on Itunes shortly for download since viewers are going to love it so much :-)

Sunbathing in April

I have lost my little girl to the deck, she shows no sign of moving any time soon.

Grace

Wow, so much fun the last two days I can't even remember it all but.. finally got to try Grace in Portland. I had heard about the amazing renovation and can't believe I had never been. Erica and I waited for Oscar and Matt - in town to master their new Sixpence The Richer record with Bob Ludwig - and then headed to Grace. Really good. And the atmosphere was fun. The waiter was great, knew him from 555 and we had a great bottle of Sancerre that was a perfect pairing for everything. Will go back. In fact, headed to a wine tasting there for Danforth's wine bar at the end of the month. Looking forward to tasting some great California Cabs from small wineries, meeting new distributors. Psyched.

On the beach and who flies overhead but the President?

Exhausted....

Ava is such a good sport but at the end of a long day of walks around the West End and the Beach and playing - she is wiped out.

Cocktails and Conversation

OK, NOW my favorite place to have a drink and talk and meet a bunch of fun people is Sonny's - where O'Naturals was and before that remember F Parker Reidy's? Went last night with Oscar and Erica to meet another friend, Bri and knew more people in there than I would know in a bar in Bar Harbor. Great, great time. I really wanted Oscar, Grammy nominee that he is :-), to meet Jason Spooner as I knew they would hit it off and they did, love listening to music pros talk the talk. Snuck out for a while to take Ava for a long walk around the West End then she seemed fine with me going back out for an hour or so. Such a good girl. Back to Bar Harbor today... going to be a gorgeous weekend.