Champagne isn’t always for celebrating.

I usually mean this in a romantic way when I suggest it to people, as in a “it’s a beautiful golden Tuesday, why wait for the occasion arrive?” Which is similar to how I feel about dressing and using your favorite perfume, etc. Just live your dreams now.

But this weekend was not that romanticize the daily it was more: my hard drive with all my photographic archives crashed and I’m already so burn out on the tech wave rip tide I need something physical, something real to ground me.

So I bought flowers and champagne.

After much troubleshooting, the loss was not as catastrophic, I lost the past year and a half or so of photos, as opposed to everything. Which is quite poetic in a strange way given this last year. Oh but what a street it sent me down– “how much is your work worth? Your memories?” Now, buying a beautiful champagne doesn’t feel like such a contrast in occasion but rather a necessary toast to mark an emotional moment.

And the champagne to mark the moment was JM Seleque ‘Solessence’ Extra Brut Champagne. I hit the wine shop looking for something that could sit well within the perfect golden autumn afternoon. Something as light as the leaves stuck up in the air tangoing with the sinking sun. This fresh select was entirely different than my usual dry pulls.

This champagne, I hate to say, wasn’t the typical profile at all. At first nose I thought “Ok, a little doughy” then I thought “No, that is grape– just actual grape”. Not like juice, not like wine, but like eating an actual grape. It was so “real” tasting. I realize this is the strangest description ever and not so elegant but it’s just the truth! This isn’t a champagne trying to punch above its weight, it’s just a lovely, lively earthbound experience. And I needed all the grounding I could get.

In addition to the champagne, flowers.

It’s true, I always come back to flowers.

Well, when you spend over 15 years in the field– literally. I recently made the decision to bring holiday centerpieces back online. Though whiled flowers is an events based floral business, every so often I open it up to holiday centerpieces and I was really missing the physical creation element in my life. I will be offering them this Thanksgiving and Christmas, swoon. So in addition to champagne, I picked up some florals to mock up this year’s design offering and had a mini shoot. It was replenishing and most important of all, tech free (well, until you count the uploads).

To round it out, champagne’s not only for celebrating.

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