This Close to Paradise

Birds of Paradise are amazing flowers.

 It is a 10 hour drive from my house to the pretty side of Los Angeles, that part that goes no further 'cause it butts up against a sapphire blue ocean. And, all along the way you feel the air get warmer, the scenery turn greener, seasons morph from the dead of winter into a lively, summer day.

Imagine a gardening world where you can't keep these in check.

Flowers, sunshine, no jackets needed. Why, oh why, don't I live out here?? We had one long, lovely weekend to soak it all in before heading back to Siberia.

We took this road trip 'cause I did the coolest thing last week. Muscled my way into a Vera Wang [sold out] Wedding Dress trunk show ~ for my darling daughter. (Doesn't she look stunning?)

I know nothing about designer labels. Though I did think it was a little odd that (before hand) they refused to tell me how much these gowns cost...

And, even odder that they handed us champagne at 10 o'clock in the morning.

But, hey, I'm a pretzel. I can bend. Plus, I wasn't feeling too out of my element since the second I got us an appointment at this trunk show, I bee-lined it to the Anne Taylor outlet store, hoping to find an acceptable outfit that wouldn't instantly label me as a country hick.

I'm not fancy, I explained to the gals working there.  I lied my way into this trunk show and now I need to fit the part.

They kindly looked over all my clothing choices, of black, grey, more black and promptly put them back on the rack.

Then they ushered me into the dressing room to try on outrageously colorful stuff that made me shudder. I modeled the outfits while they ooh'd and aah'd. “This looks like LA,” they finally said. Delighted with my makeover.

Which got me wondering about me as the person vs. me as the gardener. 'The Staff' outfitted me in colorful, floral tops and bright, turquoise sweaters (apparently it makes my eyes pop.) That's nothing compared to the pink and orange gardens that blind my neighbors.

I guess, as a person, I'm more comfortable blending into the wallpaper. Though I'd like my flowers to boldly stand up and say howdy.

* At the end of the trunk show, they wrote down on a business card the price of those dresses and slid it over to me. It felt dirty. Like I was in a Sopranos scene without the pasta. The cheapest was $5,000, the most was $8,000 and I know we could sew them for 2. (The only reason I'm mentioning prices is because I met a number of other Moms via blogs in the same situation. So, now we know. Gorgeous gowns. But, very spendy.)

But, I'm also wondering about dying fabric. Have you ever done so? The new look this year is 'nude' ~ how hard would it be to purchase a white dress and dye it in her favorite color?

Where there's a will, there's a way, and I know we can make this work.