Sunday, October 18, 2015

A VERY NYC WEDDING....Sarah Jessica Parker would be proud!

It all has to begin with
"The Ideal Husband"
check......
Daughter found her soulmate among
8 million New Yorkers....
So on Saturday October 10th....
They tied the knot in Sutton Place Park....
Steps away from their apartment in Midtown
Manhattan.....in front of an intimate group
of family and friends in the most lovely
perfect wedding ceremony I have ever been witness to....
With "Miss B" at her side as the
Maid of Honor....in her first pair of high heeled
wedge shoes and her ever familiar
Fascinator in her hair...
She escorted her mother down the walkway into the
perfect NYC setting overlooking the
East River and the Queensboro Bridge....
The Balloons were my idea!!
I...as the MOTB has to take credit for something!
3 generations of Adivari women.....
Daughters bouquet was gorgeous...
Her dress....a last minute stand in for the wedding dress
she had custom made that was ruined by the
alterations person....You know from reading my blog....
Something major had to have gone wrong or it wouldn't be
well the Adivari's!!

more about that in a minute....
getting ready for the ceremony......
Music was provided by the Julliard School...
Daughter and Josh did everything themselves....
They could be professional wedding planners..
They didn't miss one detail.......

the colors were oranges and hot pink and deep purple....
The same flowers were used at the reception on all the
Tables....
they were filled with the most beautiful
Dahlia's.....
A last minute Coca-Cola.....
And of course being Italians....you know what that means...
Food....
Daughter did not want their guests getting to the park
early and not having anything to "snack" on
While waiting for them to arrive...
I must say the shrimp was a big hit....
Preparing to raise the Chuppah.....
Heather wanted to personalize this portion of the
ceremony so she made.....
a Custom one using rainbow squares of fabric into
a quilt that was attached to the four poles...
Held up by four of Josh's friends....what a wonderful
Tradition of the Jewish faith....
giving some last minute instructions.....
Let's get this wedding started!!
Married by Josh's cousin Lori....
They wrote such beautiful vows to one another....
we were all in tears....
Yes...even the "Boss"....
If there was ever a match made in Heaven....
This was it.
Sophie calls Josh her "best friend"....
and believe me a better step father daughter could not
Have found....
How cute is she.....
Introducing
Mr. and Mrs. Horowitz.....
And "those people"......
I have no idea why I look so "stumpy"
after all I am 5'4".....I look like I was
slouching or standing in a hole.....but the Boss looks good....
Who knew you could dress him up and take him
Out....
Let me repeat....
The Balloons were my idea!!
Isn't this picture straight out of
"Sex and the City"....
and again that dress was a last minute find....
So this was not planned....
Her original gown was ordered in June...
a lace column dress with an under slip needed
slight alterations.....They were never done...
At the last minute they must have rushed to do them
and one week before the wedding they cut the
under slip too short and crooked...and the top of the
dress fell right off her...It was like a dress for somebody
50 pounds heavier....it was horrible...
So not panicking....Daughter drove herself out to Jersey the Sunday
before the wedding and found what I thought was
"Her".....
So damn adorable.....a fun filled tulle skirt with an uneven hem...
a perfect fit...
we all know everything happens for a reason....
This was one of those cases...
It was the Cary Bradshaw dress.....

My favorite picture....
I can't wait to see the real photographers
take on this....
I love her hand on her hip...
The sun was setting....

And it was on to the party!!
Don't you love the
"Wedding"
sign on the wrought iron fence....
The kids figured out how to hang those
letters to the fence...
such a cute touch!
The celebration party was held at
Tom Colicchio's
"Craft" restaurant...
You all know Tom....the bald judge on Top Chef...
We were in their private dining section...
very cozy and intimate space for a small group...
40 were in attendance...and it was just perfect...
Five tables of eight.....

Fabulous food....
The Two "Mrs Horowitz's"......
Daughter hit the mother in law
Jackpot....
Somehow Sophie got to know the chef Steve.....
The kitchen was open to the room....and Steve
was a "One Man Cooking Machine"...
He was the only chef preparing all that food for
the 40 people....he did an amazing job....
They had a ton of servers and Steve kept them hopping...
As a cook I was highly impressed.....
How pretty is this cake.....
From famed French pastry Chef....
Francois Payard....
The party favors were
Macarons from his bakery as well....

Daughter and the Dad.....
notice the Boss' tie matched the wedding color
theme....
And they will live Happily ever After......

A week later.......an update.........
reporting by e-mail from Europe....
They are enjoying a two week honeymoon and have been to
Venice.....Rome....Athens....and now are cruising on
a Sailing Yacht in the Mediterranean....
We are babysitting the "B" and we haven't lost the cat
so all is well....
Welcome to the family Josh!!

Monday, September 14, 2015

Summer Rental.....With A Little Southern Charm (Very Little)

When Miss B asked if we could go to the beach during
her stay in Atlanta Of Course we said Of Course!!
So on week four of her month stay
Off we went to an old favorite...
Kiawah Island...South Carolina...
A little apprehensive with all the shark attacks along
the Eastern Coast we couldn't let our girl down...
So we loaded up the car with only inches to spare...
And off we went...
It was a little hard finding a rental from Monday to Monday
but we wanted the NYC Mom and future SIL to join
in the beach fun so after scouring the Internet
I found a Small Family Run agency to rent from...
Who offered this beautiful.... right on the ocean "Villa"
More of what I would call a condo...
the view was breathtaking....
I have to say the rental was exactly as described.
Newly re-modeled apparently by the same man who
did the HGTV Dream House on the Island a few years back...
It had everything you could possibly need for a week
Away from Home....
At almost 2,000 sq. feet with 4 bedrooms and 3 baths
it would suit us fine for the three of us for a few days
until the NYC Gang arrived...
We rented the week prior to Labor Day which is considered
the Last Week of Summer so we were very surprised
How vacant the entire island was...
Kiawah is a private island just South of Charleston
Part of the island has rentals and the larger portion is
 home to multi-multi million dollar homes....
Which normal people.....like us....were restricted
from seeing...
Of Course the Boss was miffed about that since we were
paying a pretty penny at almost $7,000. for the week to
rent the unit we were in....they made you feel like
the Help....
Here is the Master BR...which the husband didn't get to
Sleep in....story about that at the end...
But needless to say he was not happy...
Cute guest room with two twin beds....
Nobody slept in this room....
Which the husband was not happy about..
 Story about that at the end....
Wonderful colors and if I could I would have
stolen that light aqua table....very 1940 ish....
Another Bedroom....actually a Queen bed but so
ridiculously high it looks like a twin...
Yes....you needed a step stool to get in to it....
but with beautiful custom bedding...
It's adjoining Bath.....a tub for
Midgets....
Okay now we can discuss where the Boss spent
a week.....yes...that's right....in the children's quarters....
up in the hot loft...with some wacky stairs to get up to it...
And the stairs were not the reason why Sophie didn't sleep
Up here....
cute area in the kids loft...But the table was
a little small for the Boss...
The view to the Living Room from the Loft...
Beautiful Kitchen.....I thought...Until I started to
actually use it...First mistake the builder made...
You don't use marble counter tops in a rental unit...
Big Mistake...
I spent the week trying to make it look clean....
Impossible....Once you get water stains on Marble they
are impossible to remove....It was a mess....
And why you would position the stove facing the parking lot
Instead of the beautiful ocean view is a mystery to
Me...
Let me critique that gorgeous Viking Range....
It was horrible....there I said it...to all you people who
cook on glass top ranges...
How do you do it????
I love to cook and can cook all day long....not on this thing!!
First you can't regulate the temperature like you can with gas...
I know you who own one say that you can....but you can't.
The top was impossible again like the marble to look clean...
Hated it....would eat KFC everyday if I owned one...
More about Viking...below....
I have to say the house was equipped with everything
You could possibly need....
all large appliances were stored in this pretty cabinet...
The only thing nice about the range was the color...
A beautiful light aqua...

Time out for a little beach fun with the "B"
And what's better then flying a kite with the
Grandpa....
He bought this fabulous pirate ship Kite on day two....
And then we promptly had no breeze for the rest of the week....
Balls of some description.....
Cute linen slipcovers
that great table....
Sophie commented how all over the house there
were tiny pieces of furniture....

Pretty painting in the guest BR
Custom pillows everywhere....
Very Cool fixtures....
Look!! An Ikea Chandelier!
the ever popular sea shell
More Loft decorations....

At first I loved the kitchen cabinet hinges....
Until you tried to open them with wet or greasy hands....
very difficult...

Don't get me started on the Viking Fridge....
Not much better then the stove....
It had a wacky double door and weird space inside...
I will keep my Sub-Zero thank you very much...
Very Cool glass vintage looking knobs everywhere...
A Fabulous shower in the Master Bath...
beautiful tile work.....
I loved how the fixture over the bathroom sink
just came right out from the tile...
And the light fixtures came out of the mirror...
Nice touch of an antique chair in the Master Bath
Dressing Area...

I loved this Duvet cover on the twin beds in the
"Off Limits" room....
I asked the rental management office if they could find
out from the owner where they purchased it
But I never heard back....So if anyone is familiar with this
pattern please let me know!
The guys spending some time along the
Battery in Charleston....
Love this picture.....
We had good fried shrimp one night on our ride back to the
Island from Charleston....
B loves her shrimp....
But notice she also had the ever popular with every
Kid alive.....chicken fingers.
We were all amazed at this beautiful sky one day which
appeared out of the blue....It had not rained...it was not a
Rainbow....It was there in different shapes then
Poof....it went away....
Just what a City Kid needs...some color in her face.....
We had the best time in the ocean....the water was warm
but a bit too muddy looking....so being a Grandmother...
I would only go out so far....I was on "Shark watch"
Hey....isn't that what grandmothers do....
Worry....
The Kiawah Beach is glorious.....
And again....we wondered where all the people were???
And here is my advise if your planning in the future
to take a beach trip....
Leave the Damn Bikes at home....
Your never going to ride them and you will worry the whole ride that they are going to fall off the back of the car....
Or worse that one of the pedals is going to go through the
rear window when going over a bump in the road...
B did try riding hers without her training wheels for about
30 seconds and the FSIL did go out for a ride
One day until thunder forced his return...
So leave the bikes at home...Just rent them when you get where
Your going.....And now for the reason the
Boss slept in a child's bed for a week after paying
Almost $7,000.00......
drum roll please.......
Yes thats' right....The Dreaded....
"Palmetto Bug"
Let's call it what it is People...
A huge Roach...
That was found on Night One....
climbing under the covers of the Bed that
Miss B was about to get in to....
Not Happening....it would have scarred her for life....
So Grandpa graciously gave up his spot in the King
Bed for his granddaughter....
And he slept the whole week up in the Loft....
Thank Your Grandpa....
I know what your thinking.....
That doesn't look like it's a bed....
No....that's not the bed of the original sighting...
That would be the Kitchen Counter top where they would
Come Out every night to see how grossed out we could get...
We had to sleep with the lights on in the main
Part of the House...
We called The Management People on the first night and they
said..."Oh it's because we have had a lot of rain"....
Normally they might get away with that from people from
the North....But living in the South for 37 years of which
7 were spent in South Florida....
You can control them in your home if you have regular
pest control service....
We have rain in Georgia...we have trees everywhere....we have
Palmetto Bugs...But not in our Home...
It's Called Pest Control!!
Oh and I forget to say this unit was on the second floor...
After we saw them all over the kitchen we insisted
they come and spray.....we still don't know if they
did because we saw them all week long....
And the "management" people knew the Boss
was sleeping in the loft....

And how bad is it when an 8 year old referred to it as
"A 5 Star Roach Motel"

So when we asked on the day we were leaving if we
might be able to stay an extra hour and check out
at 11:00 a.m. instead of 10:00....
(the kids flight back to NYC was not until 4:00)
I was promptly told....
"No....we need to get in to clean because people are checking in
at 4:00".....
Maybe the maids were going to spend the day having
"Roach Races".....
To add insult to Injury we walked over to the shopping area on the
island one day and all the shops were closed except for one...
when I asked the girl why nothing was open and why there
were no people she told me....
"Oh the Season here is Over".....when I said how odd that I
paid "in season" prices and was not told the season was over and things would be closed....she said...
"Oh they aren't going to tell you that".....
So in summing up the Adivari's Summer Vacation....
We found the people in this part of South Carolina to have
Zero Southern Charm....
the vacationers...the handful of them....were unfriendly...the
natives were even more unfriendly....
Everyone seemed pissed off....
So different then here in Georgia where I am used to Everyone
saying hello and have a nice day....
Maybe the Palmetto Bugs in their Beds
Have something to do with it?????

Good Bye Kiawah!