Today began with a smiling French baby...

First of all, felicitations (congrats) to Executive Chef Nico Romo who's the proud new uncle of Mademoiselle Charlotte, pictured above. This is the French version of Charlotte, not to be confused with our very own PP Sales Manager/Storyteller/Charleston native Charlotte McDowell, who, by the by, just made me laugh so hard I GUFFAWED. In the email Nico forwarded to us this morning, there was a short message from the proud parents who referred to their new baby girl as a "petite poupee" which is "small doll." Can you stand how cute that is? Ok, I'll stop.

In other news, in a past life, I got to do some super fun research about interior design legend and entertaining goddess Dorothy Draper. If you don't know who she is, dear GOD, check her out! Today, I came across this fantastic quote of hers and wondered why we don't all still speak this way?

Even in a formal dining room you don't want to be ponderous or gloomy. Eating is really one of your indoor sports. You play three times a day, and it's well worthwhile to make the game as pleasant as possible.
-Dorothy Draper, Decorating is Fun!

And she is SO right. I really don't care for ponderous OR gloomy when it comes to where I'm eating, thank you very much.

In just a few minutes, several of us are heading over to Lowndes Grove for a private launch party. I'm excited to see the expressions on the faces of the folks who haven't seen the property in years, let alone since the renovation.

In you-never-know-what-you're-walking-into-at-PP news, my trusty designer and I were walking through the back parking lot today during our fresh fish delivery. Now. When I say these fish were fresh, I mean they were flipping and flopping around so much, they nearly jumped into my hands as I peeked at them. They were some good lookin' local b-liners, and I watched as our Chef de Cuisine Charron Henry and Sous Chef Deveaux Stockton came out to claim them.