yellow

Sometimes I dream about my some-day life. Parts of this dream, like the characters, for instance, change from time to time. I now have Yale and Auggie (nameless pup has been named!) to factor into my fantastical life. Other parts of the dream have remained pretty steady.

Here is part of my current some-day life day dream:

Yale is a philosophy professor, and he is getting papers published so he can sit confidently in the fact that he has, and will get to keep, his dream job. We have a little house with a garden and a yard and a garage. Auggie runs around like the delightful little nutter that he is.

And, I have a work room where I can write and have a little floral design business. The workroom will be furnished with a little writing table and comfortable desk chair, and the bright red filing cabinet that I pilfered from a friend's move. Bright photos and inspiration boards hang on the walls, and warm sun and fresh breeze dance through sheer curtains on the sunny window. There is a big chopping block kitchen island in the center of the room where I can make my floral creations. Spools of ribbon and twine are looped through a ribbon wrack on the wall. Auggie will have a fluffy blanket on the floor to sleep in/dig into, since he will be our floral company mascot.

I did a wedding this weekend that was possibly my favorite assignment yet. It was definitely "mission impossible" - teeny tiny flower budget for a modern Chicago wedding - but the bride was incredibly flexible and trusting, and I positively relished the challenge. The mission, which I accepted, was to use yellow flowers to create 10 bouquets, 12 boutineers, 2 corsages, and a small flower girl bouquet with a budget of...wait for it... $100.

IMPOSSIBLE! you say. And you would be right. I was thinking dandelions or maybe some of those little weedy mini-daisy looking things that grow in the ditch. But I'm very pleased to announce that I DID pull it off, and the bride gasped with joy when she saw the flowers and heard that we came in at budget. Thanks to a local flower farmer that I met at the farmers market, I was able to get close to 400 stems of Billy Buttons for just $80. For perspective, florists retail those flowers for $2 PER STEM, and the cheapest I could find them in bulk online was still $1.40 per stem. So my bargain from the grower saved this bride over $700. All because the bride was willing to be flexible, and go with something local and in season. I think they turned out pretty well, don't you? I failed to get a good pic of the cute little flower girl bouquet, but here is a peek at the rest: