Life has been lovely since spring actually started to happen. Those in Arkansas understand. We had snow on May 1st, which is unheard of.
Today I had the most lovely lunch on the porch of a new cafe in our little town. It isn't in my Main Street district, but I so want it to be successful. It has chosen to be a breakfast and lunch location with changing specialties. The food was fresh, the ambiance lovely and the owners are charming. One a legacy of two of our very famous restaurants in town, Ermillio's and Bubba's, and the wife is a British chef who is so sweet. Something new in our little haven to get excited about! Oscar's Cafe at 17 White Street. I was dining with the ever amazing French culinary teacher, Karen Gros, at treat unto itself. If you haven't gone to one of Karen's cooking classes, make a date to sign up. She is soon off for seven weeks touring with her groups in France and Europe, but she will be back and her classes fill up quickly! Reserve now!
Our daughter came over to go to one of her, cross your fingers, last dental implant appointments and in the meantime worked on the tent she is sewing to take to Wakarusa, a large music festival in the Ozarks. It is the cutes thing. Dad made the frame from scrap lumber and then she is sewing the side panels. Really quite adorable. They are all over Etsy for little kids, but this one is full size!
We planted our gutter garden with a plethora of lettuces. Last year I was not GREAT at watering them and the lettuce just bolted. My promise, to myself this year, is that I will tend them like they are little lovelies. Hoping for greens all summer and fall out of this fun little garden wall!
My husband gets a little sentimental when I talk about this project... about legacy and such stuff. Our Main Street team is working directly with our local high school Future Business Leaders of America to start a downtown team. They six chosen are an amazing group of leaders already and I am delighted to have them be part of our downtown project. I am going to be working with them to develop six pop up businesses to run during our downtown events. Talk about fun! That's our future folks, these amazing teens. I am totally honored to get this opportunity. My partner in crime is Jack Moyer, GM of the 1886 Crescent Hotel and Spa, he inspires me daily to be better at what I do. Good stuff. Good stuff.
Last Saturday, before Mother's Day, I went to the table reading of Listen to Your Mother, the show that is being produced in Northwest Arkansas by the totally amazing Stephanie Mc Cratic from EvolvedMommy.com and Lela Davidson, the award winning author. The stories shared by the women and one brave guy were funny, sweet, heartbreaking, and so honest they make you remember how important all of our stories are. Me, oh, I couldn't get through three sentences of my story without bawling. Yep. I have to try to get THAT under control before I read at the Walton Arts Center on May 3oth at the sold out show. Sold. Out. Show. No pressure.
Lastly, Mother's Day. It was, quite possibly, one of the best I have ever had. My only wish was that my family help me clean up the outside. We had stuff just cluttered around and it needed to be tidied. My daughter helped me clean out the recycling area, restack our wood pile, make a potting center, and pile up a huge amount of trash that my husband took the next day. There was the awkward moment when he didn't like some of the wood we had deemed only worth burning. Those, instead, were moved to a "super scrap" pile for the just in case moments of life. Oh well, trash is gone, things are organized and the property looks much nicer. We even made a delicious strawberry rhubarb pie with gluten free crust. Sometime during the day, he left for a moment and went and picked up the stainless steel measuring cups that I had spotted at Tummy Tickler's Kitchen Store. Love them!
Life is good, simple and filled with wonderful projects around here. I wouldn't have it any other way.
