04/16/2026
Some visions arrive in a flash, without a clue how to bring them to liife
Years ago, my best friend of 40 years, Richard, called me a few weeks after my birthday. He apologized for missing it and said he wanted to buy me a crystal Cinderella pumpkin carriage — something he really couldn’t afford at the time.
I told him, “Don’t worry about that. Just come down from Kentucky… and we’ll build a huge one in my front yard instead.”
I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like, but not a clue how to build it.
So as dreamers do, we just started.
Piece by piece, laugh by laugh, mistake by mistake… the vision took shape.
It became more than a project — it was magic, friendship, and imagination turning into something you could actually touch.
Richard passed away two years ago, but this carriage will always be one of my favorite memories with him. A reminder that the best things in life are built with heart, not instructions.
And truthfully… this is what inspired the elegant yet whimsical storybook feel of my venue today.
The same spark. The same imagination. The same “let’s just create this" kind of magic.
And the biggest surprise of all?
After ten years… it’s still standing. This has survived a decade of weather, life, memories, and magic.
Tomorrow I’ll share the story of how we built the horses… including the day Richard nearly passed out.”
✨💛
