I believe in people, I love people, and I like to take chances. This week I took another leap of faith and I invited a young woman over from France.  Elodie and I met via the internet. Elodie is a floral designer from Paris and I was curious about her art. She loves flowers and was interested in a quick trip to the United States, so I invited her over for a little floral field trip. Luckily for me, my parents are as adventurous as I am, and they offered Elodie a place to stay on the farm. Some people worry about cultural shock, I was worried about Elodie having "Chapple shock." I thought staying at my parents farm would be far more peaceful for her. The little Chaplets can be slightly overwhelming.

When Elodie popped off the airplane I almost died. I took one look at her and I said "OMG you could be a part of my family".  Meeting like this was admittedly a little crazy, but you know, the floral Gods were in my favor yet again. Elodie is one super talented designer and this is sure to be a lot of fun for all of us. We of course have lots of weddings this weekend, so being the great hostess that I am, I put her to work.

Everyone is in love with our little French wonder, including my parents. This will help to make a very busy work week fun and interesting. We both are already learning so much.

Gaby and Myriam are my Peruvian wonders. These girls seriously rock, and now, more than ever, this is really a family affair. We have even added their brother Peter to the team. We freaking, big time, love Peter…

This is the talented Martha- Marsha. Martha just started here last week, because my head is spinning with names, I just got Marsha stuck in my head, instead of Martha.  I like to call her Martha-Marsha.  I think this lovely,  soft spoken lady, may still be in "Chapple shock" but we are really impressed with her talents. Wait until you see some of her paintings…

So now we are speaking Spanish, French, and English, in the shop but really we are just talking flowers. In truth, we are also talking a lot of girl talk. Sorry boys!!

After a long day in the flower shop and one of Evan's fabulous dinners, we got to talk flowers.  Elodie and I stayed up super late and she showed me some of her designs. This trip is all about sharing, so I will share with you, some of Elodies amazing designs. Flower fanatics, get ready because you are going to be blown away. Her designs are truly unique.

This was the first cascading bridal bouquet Elodie ever made!

Here are some of the designs she created in Dubai. She was responsible for the floral displays in many of the 5 star hotels.

Talk about floragazmik!!!

In addition to being a trained floral designer, Elodie is also an artist.

I am totally impressed by this young woman's talent, and her courage. I am also honored that she had enough faith in me to come to Lucketts, VA. It is so much fun to be able to share cultures, family, and flowers!

We gotta rock and roll. It is going to be a big day!