Tickled pink

When feeling the blues and seeing red, find ways to be tickled pink.

Pink as an antidote to the blues was the O.T.C. (as in "over the counter") wonder drug I picked up from a group of ladies last Friday at a "Party in Pink" lunch at the beautiful home of Julie de Alwis in Forbes Park.

The lunch was tendered for Betsy Quisumbing by a group of beaders led by Portia Eleene Leuterio (if only Martha Stewart didn’t stray, I would have called Portia the "Martha Stewart of the Philippines" for her boundless creativity) whom Betsy had hosted in Cebu City the week before. Tickled pink by Betsy’s hospitality – she rolled out the pink carpet for them in Cebu – they, in turn, decided to show their appreciation with a lunch she wouldn’t forget.

Betsy was so delighted she was blushing from the minute she stepped into the home of Julie, where a shower of rose petals greeted her. Pink, of course.

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I knew the lunch was going to be special the minute I got the invitation (prepared by Rissa Rodriguez Huibonhoa). It came like a gift, daintily bound by pink satin ribbon and rosettes, and accompanied by a pack of pink meringue cookies. Hmm, if the invitation was already that delectable, I thought, how much more the lunch that it heralded?

"We wanted to do something nice and pretty in the midst of all the bad news around us," said Marichu Maceda, one of the active bead bugs in Portia’s group (Beaders’ Link). Yes, it is possible to step back from our daily concerns – national as well as personal – to, as the cliché goes, "stop and smell the roses."

Everyone was requested to be in Julie’s home – whose front door was had a "B" written in roses – by 11:50 a.m. for the "petal ceremony." After Betsy was showered with rose petals, a fruity pink concoction was served as a welcome drink, accompanied by cheese pretzels nestled in pink paper pouches.

The lunch table looked like a feast in itself even before the first course was served. For the centerpiece, strands of pearls wound their way through a bed of pink and blue rosebuds, mums and hydrangeas. A pink fan bound by a circlet of beads lay atop the menu cards on the leafy placemats. Name cards were mounted amidst roses.

Lunch was served with rose wine as the romantic strains of La vie en rose wafted in the air. (Romance was also on the menu as one unattached guest was teased no end about an old flame, and she blushed and blushed till her cheeks were strawberry pink!) The appetizer was smoked pink salmon in puff pastry with dill cream; followed by pink pomelo sorbet. Fresh greens with organic rose petals ("Edible!" Portia assured us.) preceded the main course, Duck a l’Orange – so delicious we didn’t mind its not conforming to the color motif! Dessert (by Sylvia Cancio) was Crepes Betsy – chocolate mousse in thin crepes dusted by pink confectioner’s sugar. And this took the cake: Pink – not white, not brown – sugar was served with the coffee.

If Betsy thought the "Party in Pink" production ended there, she was mistaken! After lunch, we all were led back to the living room where a pink rose-lined basket (reminded me of a bassinet) was brought in with gifts for her, all hand-made by her hosts. Not to be outdone, Betsy also gifted her hosts with fuchsia fans and baby pink tulle pouches packed with beads for their future beading sessions.

Not being a beader (yet), I was truly tickled pink to have been invited to this lunch hosted by the Beaders’ Link. (For inquiries, call Michelle or Maribelle at 895-2148.) Here was a group of ladies who showed that saying "Thank you" could be – should be – a work of art. The beaders proved so beautifully that "Thank you" is more than just a two-letter word – it’s a string of beautiful gestures. And in expressing their gratitude in the most creative and thoughtful of ways, the "pink ladies" brought as much joy to themselves as they did to the guest of honor. Graciousness is not a lost art in this group – it’s in the pink of health!

For simply attending their lunch, I, too, was showered with beads (literally) of appreciation – necklaces from Manay Ichu and Portia, earrings from Rissa, a bracelet from Julie, bookmarks from Gilda, beads from Betsy, a picture frame from Ines. What tickled me pink was not just the gifts but also the packaging of each and every gift! When the giver devotes much time and effort to the wrapping as she does the present inside, the recipient actually gets three gifts – the packaging, the present, and the labor of love that went into both!

The "Party in Pink" for Betsy tells us that once in a while, if not most of the time, we should view life with rose-colored glasses. Life isn’t and wasn’t meant to be perfect, but we shouldn’t miss the petals for the thorns. We should revel in the company of old and new friends; dare to taste rose petals; make pink sugar; indulge in chocolate mousse while everyone else is on the South Beach diet; and "gossip" more about love and reconciliation (even if it is still in the bud!) instead of other people’s misfortunes…

So, who says life isn’t a bed of roses?

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