by Leila Claudio LW contributor ….

by Leila Claudio

LW contributor

Zooming has become a way of life as we all stay home to help stop the spread of COVID-19. One of the best Zoom experiences I’ve had came by way of a flower arrangement class orchestrated by Grecia Nunez of Monarch Health Care through the Health Care Center.

The class was announced for two consecutive weeks in the LW Weekly and through the LW Live! email blasts that keep the community connected.

I emailed Grecia right away that I wanted to be included in the class.

It made sense that there would be a limited number of people. How many can a zoom class accommodate? Grecia responded: I was in! Thursday, the day of the class, came. Can you believe that the flowers were delivered in a kit, including the vase, by Stacy Lemoine of Bougie Twigs + Blooms about one-and-a-half hours before the event?

Alton Smith, with the generosity of Scan Health Plan, sponsored the event. Stacy donated her time to teach the class. I couldn’t believe that we didn’t even have to go and buy the flowers.

Stacy had gone to the flower mart in downtown Los Angeles, bought the flowers, separated them into kits and hand-delivered the kits to us students in our homes!

As the class started, Stacy instructed everyone to fill their vases with water and preservative.

The white hydrangeas were the first to go in on three corners of the vase. The fourth one went in the middle. Three green hydrangeas were tucked between the whites. I trimmed the ends diagonally with a kitchen knife.

The cuts were so that the flower could absorb the water more efficiently.

Six white roses came next, then two pink flowers (I forget the name). The fillers were eucalyptus twigs. Lavender was interspersed throughout.

My little apartment is filled with the divine scent of the flowers! How lucky are we that we live in LW, where classes such as this are organized for us, even in the middle of a pandemic.

I will be enjoying my flowers for days to come. Thank you Grecia, Alton of Scan and Bougie Twigs and Blooms’ Stacy for the joy and blessing that you’ve given.

Don’t forget to look into the Healthy Cooking, Mask Making and Yoga classes that Monarch is also hosting. Enjoy!

Bougie Twigs + Blooms by Stacy Lemoine creates custom flower arrangements, offers no-contact delivery and curbside pick up at her Orange County store. For more information, call (714) 485-5140 or email bougietwigsandblooms@gmail.com.

Leila Claudio with the flower arrangement she made during a Zoom class sponsored by

Monarch Health Care.