Seedling

Several years ago I was invited to join another decorator to meet with his client who was opening a gourmet foods shop. Then, the shop was empty, dirty, a shell with no name. Together we planned, brainstormed and dreamed. We dusted, we painted, we hammered, we sawed, we cried, we cursed wildly. We screamed with joy and laughed like old fast friends. My friend had another job to move on to and I stayed at the little shop, working with Glenda and her partner.
Months went by, inventory came, shoppers came, rent came, but success was a little harder to find. Glenda was a fantastic cook, her brother a chef, her parents retired successful restaurateurs. It was clear we could not sell olive oil all day and make rent, Glenda was going to have to cook. The decorating took another turn, and again we were recreating, rethinking, re-purposing. During these tribulations, Glenda was setting up for events, catering and I helped her decorate the tables to display her delicious food.
She found success, Felissimo blossomed. The doors opened to happy customers, hungry souls who loved to sit here in the comfort we created. The atmosphere, the food, the people, she built a great thing. I got to watch people react to it all. It was a marvelous time for me. I grew from a person of some talent curious about working full time as a decorator to someone who could say, I am a decorator, yes, I can do this, here's my card. We planted seeds together. We grew our businesses together, we grew a friendship together, I grew up a little. When I get sad, I look at pictures and books for some joy, sometimes I visit a happy blogger to see what's happy with them. Felissimo means happiness, literally in another language. These pictures are felissimo to me. This time is precious and I love that it is frozen here for me to visit.

Felissimo closed two years ago. I was sad, I went through it all with Glenda, even taking apart our little piece of happiness. But it was glorious while it lasted. Thank you Glenda for big thinking, big living, big loving and delicious food and even better memories. I love you.