A Tale of Two Dinner Parties

OK, so the first image has nothing to do with a dinner party, but that's fine because this is my blog, and I can post what I want.

Saturday night found us at Bruce's mom's house in Zellwood. She lives in a spacious, manufactured home in a 55+ community, although I doubt there are too many people at the younger end of the spectrum living there. Judy and Cris, Bruce's brother and sister-in-law, were married one year and one week ahead of us, meaning they just celebrated their 36th anniversary. As such, we had a celebratory dinner. Mom is no longer buying gifts, but sharing some of her "treasures" with the family. Black candlesticks belonging to her parents were our gift. Bruce, in an effort to start a lively discussion, brought up the presidential race, which was quickly nixed due to differing persuasions. On our way there it poured, the last of Fay, thankfully. Unfortunately for many folks the misery continues as flood waters rise. Aside from the messy yard, we suffered no damage.

The market was good to me on Sunday with only a ten minute shower around 1:00. I was so pleased when I received an email from one of the buyers that evening saying he was delighted with the canvas they ordered: "his new favorite piece of art." Yipee!

The afternoon rain brought more humidity, and we've discussed at length how miserable that can be. By the time Bruce came for the take down, it was pretty steamy. I'd accepted an invitation to Maria and Dominic's home for dinner after the market, however I was questioning my judgement because I was so sweaty and miserable. Thank goodness we went! I bet you remember Maria, she's the interior designer who sold some of my pieces to her clients. While in Bimini she bought lobster and kindly shared it with us. My goodness, the food was outstanding. They live on the sixth floor of a downtown condo with wonderful views of the city skyline, such as it is. Dominic roasted the lobster, stating that it cooks in its' own juice that way rather than leeching out in boiling water. He knows a thing or two about lobster coming from Boston. A simple salad with romaine and sunflower sprouts (surprisingly good), parslied rice, and roasted vegetables made for not only a delicious meal, but beautiful to look at as well. Maria served her homemade flan with raspberries. Yum, yum, yum.

I called upon our resident art critic for help with choosing a photo for the gallery this Saturday. Matt sees art with not only an educated, but practiced eye, that I don't share. I mentioned last week how I want to fit in with the other artists. In other words, I don't want anyone to talk behind my back wondering why I was included.



This picture is from our date at Fifis Friday night--as you can see it's got cool pink lighting, but not many other diners, partly because of the rainy night, and I suspect partly because some of the food is good, some not so much. Poor Mr. Bruce is on the road again. It's bad enough having to go to three cities in three states in one day, but golly, when your last flight of the day is delayed by three hours, it's just plain criminal.

In unrelated news, I read on one of my friend's blogs that the saxophone player from the Dave Matthews Band died last week at the young age of 46 from an ATV accident, what a shame. I can still remember Matt giving me the band's first cd, I was instantly crazy about the band.
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Listening to: Dave Matthews Band - Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd
via FoxyTunes