They say it takes a village to raise a child and I say it takes a cutie-pie town to create an epic event in less than 2 weeks.  From our guests of honor (my sweet cousin, Valerie, and her boyfriend, Nick, who are in fact NOT engaged), to the amazing caterer, Heidi Granese of Wilder Catering whom I met 8 days before the party, to the amazing stylist, Verne Cordova who raided his storage unit in Rhode Island to create these gorgeous vintage vignettes (met him 5 days earlier), to Ken Nicewicz of Nicewicz Farm who loaned me 82 pumpkins and crates of apples for fall inspired décor, to Encore Party Rentals who let this total stranger have tables, chairs, linens, china and glassware for a song, to the 40 friends new and old and local family that were party guests, to my Mom’s dear friend, Beverly, who came from North Carolina to wash my windows and walk my dog while the film crew followed me around, to my sweet friend and former intern, Sarah, who drove in from New York to help me set up and tear down just like our wedding days in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Thank you everyone for reminding me how sweet community is and for your selfless generosity.  Your presence at the party and in my life makes me happy every single day that Bolton, MA is our new home.

Less than four weeks from when I first heard about this new HGTV show, the film crew arrived.  It had been a flurry of activity getting ready with much to do inside and outside the house.  The physical tasks were daunting, but the mental tasks were challenging as well.  Now, if you ask me how the whole thing went I would say “Amazing!” but for sweet Keith, it was the third dimension of hell.  He doesn’t like to be the center of attention (I have no idea what that is like!), he was facing his biggest deadline of the year the following Monday, and it was his birthday!  Poor guy!  He was a champ and made the best of a situation he clearly did not sign up for (thank you, darling!)

For me, it was magic.  I quickly became addicted to someone following me around with a camera while I did fun and fabulous things all day long.  Honestly, my life is so different since we bought this house and every time I get on my riding lawn mower I think “someone should take a picture of me! I’m on a tractor and I’m mowing a lawn!” and someone did!  Not just a camera but a heli-cam!  So cool.  The heli-cam captured me getting my tractor lesson from the chief of police (and former homeowner, Vin Alfano), herding Nan’s sheep, and riding my bike to the cutie-pie produce stand at Nicewicz Farm. This place is beyond charming! The third generation farm and orchards hosts a small produce stand in front of the lovely antique farmhouse.  There are baskets of beautiful fruits and vegetables, a notebook, scale, and a cash box.  It’s all on the honor system!  Where do I live?  It’s about 3000 times more charming then the Cupertino Farmers Market in the JCPenney’s parking lot.

Next they filmed me antique shopping at my two favorite boutiques in Concord: Jack & Toba and Nesting.  Suzy at Jack & Toba is such a hoot I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up with her own HGTV show!

The show is scheduled to air in mid-April.  Stay tuned!

My cousin (and realtor extraordinaire), Beth Sager, found out about a TV show that chronicles the stories of people that make major life changes associated with a big move. It sounded intriguing so I applied.  From application to approval from the producer to the film crew descending upon our sweet New England life took 3 ½ weeks!  They liked our story of moving from the west coast to the east coast, city to the country, wedding planner to wedding venue. Oh my goodness, we’re going to be on TV and I have boxes that need to be unpacked and a VERY overgrown yard.  Oh, and they wanted me to stage a wedding in my 227 year old barn with a huge hole in the roof with 2 weeks notice.  Well, that is obviously crazy so we staged an engagement party outside the barn instead. 

A fine idea expect for the aforementioned overgrown yard.  Enter my champion with pruning shears and former neighbor from Cranberry Lane, Dick Labossiere, who graciously gave up several hours in the heat and humidity to tame the beast disguising itself as a wisteria bush.  When we started you could not even see the trellis or walk upright on the path next to it.  This family gets even kinder, Dick’s step daughter Karen (whom I’ve met twice before!) spent a whole day clearing weeds from another long forgotten garden.  Honestly, how did I get so lucky to meet such fabulous people?