Have you ever done a mother/daughter project? I mean, a very important once-in-a-lifetime one? A few years ago I did. And since Mother’s Day is around the corner I thought I would talk about my experience. You see, my mother is a twenty-five year cancer survivor and an amazingly creative person. My sister and I are both artists and my mother makes art too – but I wanted to do a project with her that would last throughout time.
One of my mom’s biggest talents is entertaining. She is an amazing hostess and has always planned the best birthday parties for all us four kids growing up. They were inventive and clever. When she started hosting weekly dinner parties in Aspen for her eclectic friends I was intrigued. Each party had a theme and there were always 10 people invited. As the queen of the table top – my mother would decorate the table and her dear friend and talented Aspen chef – Chef Michael Rueggeberg – would design the meal. Michael was so busy that the only day he available for my mom was Thursdays. That’s how we got the title, Thursdays with Mom & Michael.
We decided to start photographing her weekly parties by hiring talented Karl Wolfgang. It was Karl’s vision and creativity that took our mother/daughter idea to the next level. Party chapters include Buddha Bar, Pearls from Asia and Birds of Paradise to name a few. Each chapter has inspired table tops and complete recipes and photos of the delicious meals. We spent one year editing and designing this beautiful coffee table book and then printed it ourselves. We didn’t know it would turn into an IPP Gold Medal Award-Winner.
After it was finished and we were ready for book signings and interviews, my parents decided to donate ALL author proceeds to breast cancer research. My mother is very passionate about research to find a cure and that is exactly what the Evelyn Lauder The Breast Cancer Research Foundation – BCRFCURE.ORG – is all about. My parents knew the Lauder family from Aspen so this is the organization we chose to support with our book.
Let me just say that making a mother/daughter project is lots of fun, but it can also be challenging. She only hung up the phone on me once – I don’t even remember why. It was hard work, but it was also a memorable and meaningful experience and I highly recommend it. So, for this Mother’s Day celebrate your fabulous life with your mother. Maybe you have a creative project brewing you can do together. And for the mom who has everything, pick up a copy of our passion project.
Buy on the Good Karma Shop.
All photos taken by Karl Wolfgang from the book.
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