This Kitchen Cabinet event was, for me, “chock full o’ “ surprises. First, it was seeing Alex Hall for the first time in ten years. Now, it’s two people; one I wanted to hire for a job; the other, a Boston mainstay on Newbury Street.

Pictured are Maria Lekkakos from M. Lekkakos Salon, Spa and Boutique on the North Shore (and a former Miss Massachusetts) and Marc Harris of Salon Marc Harris.

Although I had never met Maria, I almost hired her for a job. Hilda Morrill, “the Maven of All Things Society and Gardening in Boston,” had given her name to me to do makeup for my date for the 2007 United Nations Consuls Ball (unfortunately, my date didn’t have enough time before the Ball to experience Maria’s wizardry).