Tuesday, May 26, 2015

The Art of Summer Entertaining + The Texas FLOODING



or maybe, the ART of "tabletop"

Shop New Arrivals

tabletop from Oscar de la Renta


as most of us know, the "art" of entertaining begins with the host or hostess thinking through
the entire experience long before the 1st guest arrives.

& once the "experience" has been conceived & made possible mentally,
it's the guest list...actually it's the most important part, isn't it?

I know, I know, when we have family celebrations the guest list is somewhat fixed,
but even then it's nice to add an extra or two just to mix things up.

for me, the most fun is having friends; most of whom know each other.
but I always try to add someone new who is very interesting, who has a lot to say
(intelligent things, that is), and can keep the conversation going.

it's a bittersweet moment for me when the party's over.

we know we did a good job, the guests had lots of fun, the wines were excellent,
and everyone ate their dessert.

but, like everything else, when it's wonderful we hate for it to end.

what's your favorite kind of entertaining?
do you do any during summer?

NOTE:  Houston has experienced some hideous flooding overnight.
as you know, I now live in a high rise.
last night a neighbor came around knocking on doors telling people to move the cars
out of the garage as IT WAS FLOODING !!
the garage is underground.

of course, the elevators were out because water was in the parking garage
elevator shafts.

down the stairs I went, running.
waded through about 12-18" of rain water to my car, which already had water
3/4 of the way over the tires.
luckily, I got it moved out in time, as did most people.
but, there were plenty of cars still in there as there are residents who travel all the time.

today, everyone (the workmen) are standing around trying to decide how to tackle this.
they're going to have to PUMP the water out.

electricity is out all over the city,
life has come to a stand-still until the water recedes.

once again it comes to me that life in Kentucky would be very good.
I've often thought that Kentucky is the only state which doesn't suffer
natural disasters !




footnote:
I've been watching CNN most of the day because their coverage of what happened
in Texas is better than our local news (because they cover LOCAL news).

the worst of the storm seems to have been the rivers flooding in our hill country,
a dam broke and the waters simply washed away many homes.
washed them off their foundations!
there are many families who have suffered tragic losses of family members.

please pray for them.


Photobucket

11 comments:

  1. Bonjour chère amie,

    Je suis désolée d'apprendre cette catastrophe qui a touché votre ville... Je trouve qu'aujourd'hui il y a de plus en plus de sinistres. Votre table était sublime... J'aime cette touche bleue qui apporte de la lumière et du soleil...

    ✺ Gros bisous ✺

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  2. Hi Marsha- I am glad to hear that you and your car are ok. It was pretty much a non-event (thankfully) where I live nr Kirby/Westheimer. Also wanted to say that I am loving the turquoise and gold earrings I got from you last week! Take care, Shari

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  3. Praying for all of you....very sad situation. Please be safe.

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  4. Bonjour from France, I just heard from my sister & send prayers that things will be back to normal soon. Must run to write friends in the hill country to see if they're okay. Didn't know about their flooding.

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  5. The flooding is awful, we have been watching on the news and I am so sorry for all those affected. We are thinking of everybody in Texas. x

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  6. Dear Marsha,
    Thinking of you and your compatriots. I was happy to hear that you were able to rescue your car in time!
    Sending happy thoughts to you from Australia, where we also get more than our share of disastrous floods and catastrophic fires.

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  7. Dear Marsha,
    Happy you are safe. The devastation is overwhelming, and my heart hurts for those who have lost loved ones. I never realized that this could happen in Houston. I have family in Denton, who quickly assured me they were fine, but were distraught over the loss of life further south. Sending prayers to you and all who have been given another tragedy to overcome. Angela Muller

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  8. I just heard about it YESTERDAY!GOOD GRIEF!Tell that WATER to make its way to CALIFORNIA!What a scare to move your car..........what a nice neighbor!!!!

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  9. I have been thinking about you! Good heavens! Take care and know that people are over the world are thinking about you and sending positive energy and hopefully good weather your way.
    xxoo

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  10. Dear Marsha,
    I'm so glad you and your car are safe. We spent last evening calling all our friends in Sugar Land to see if all was well. I was thinking of you.... I remember the flooding there and Jon had to spend the night at the Medical Center because he wasn't able to make it home on 59. Take care. We saw that the Houstonian lower level (parking) was flooded, also. The coverage on television looks surreal.

    Warmly, Kathleen

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  11. I have been thinking so much about you and glad you are well…such a tragic situation! I know your party was wonderful…gorgeous tabletop!!

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