LAMORINDA WEEKLY | business briefs


From Left to Right: Merilee McCormick; Andrew McCormick, Owner; Bill McCormick, Investor and Consultant; Erik Hopfinger, Executive Chef. Photo provided

New Family Therapist Specializes in Adoption

110 Lafayette Circle, Lafayette

(925) 787-4673

CCampbell.french.lmft@gmail.com

Cherie Campbell French, who recently moved her Walnut Creek Marriage and Family Therapy practice to Lafayette, specializes in various family issues, including issues involving attachment and adoption. She specializes in working with adolescents, but also works with children as young as 5 years old to adulthood. "Sometimes adopted children, even if they have been with their adoptive parents since the very beginning of their lives, suffer from the primordial wound of the separation from their biological mother," she says. "They suffer, or act up, but do not fully understand why." In such situations, Campbell-French works with the children and their adoptive parents, helping the children to go back to these first moments to understand what it was like for them and their birth mother. Together they then create a narrative that will help the children make sense of what happened to them. "Using what is known about the birth circumstance, and what we know of the country of origin history, we build a narrative for the child of what it could have been like for the mother, which enables the child to feel the love and grief of the birth mother," she says. "We all want to know where we come from; we all want to believe we were loved at birth. This is difficult for adoptees to believe." In her experience, such work deepens the quality of the attachment between the child and his/her adoptive parents. "These issues are so complex, every case is different," she says.

Lafayette Fashionista Takes over Rosie's Consignment

1020 Brown Avenue, Lafayette

(925) 283-6540

Since the beginning of October, Graciela Reynoso took over the little cottage that was Rosie's Consignment on Brown Avenue, next to FastFrame and across from Artisan Bistro. Still discovering all the technical issues that can plague a 1920s building, Reynoso nonetheless is putting on a bright face to welcome clients. This is her first store and she started by taking over her predecessor's stock. She plans to continue consigning gently-used high quality garments for women. She will hold a grand opening party in November.

The Cooperage American Grille Hosts Investor Welcome Event

32 Fiesta Lane, Lafayette

To celebrate the beginning of the restaurant build-out, the owners of The Cooperage in Lafayette, Andrew and Merilee McCormick, hosted an event for their investors Sept. 26 at the future restaurant site. "We understand the importance of maintaining the historic nature of the site. Our goal is for this to be a comfortable, yet sophisticated, gathering place for all centered around good food," said Andrew McCormick. The site will include a lot of the original woodwork from Petar's Restaurant, refinished for the bar and a communal table. The restaurant will offer four unique dining experiences: open dining room, stylish bar area, separate pub in the back, and patio seating. The menu will be simple, yet diverse, featuring a selection of organically grilled meats (steak, chicken, ribs), sandwiches and entree salads using locally and organically grown ingredients. Lafayette residents for 14 years, the McCormicks have two school-aged children at Burton Valley Elementary and Stanley Middle School. Opening date is tentatively scheduled for New Year's Eve 2013.

News from the Three Chambers of Commerce

Tri-Chamber Mixer and Film Festival Kick-Off from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Oct. 23.

The Orinda, Lafayette, and Moraga chambers join together to kick off the California Independent Film Festival, meeting in the lobby of the Orinda Theatre, 2 Theatre Square, Orinda.

Lafayette

Chamber mixer at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9 at the Lafayette Library and Learning Center, 3491 Mt. Diablo Blvd. This is a joint event with the Moraga Chamber of Commerce.

Ribbon Cutting at California Human Resources LLC at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24 at 201 Lafayette Circle, Suite 200.

Trick-or-Treat Street from 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25 along Mount Diablo Blvd. For a fun, safe Halloween event, children and their parents are invited to trick-or-treat on Mt. Diablo Boulevard from Oak Hill Road to Dewing Avenue and in La Fiesta Square from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25. All participating businesses will display a "Trick-or-Treat" poster and balloons. Please come in costume to receive a special treat. Don't forget to bring a trick-or-treat bag. Then head over to the Plaza at 6:30 p.m. for a costume contest and a special viewing of "Ghostbusters."

Moraga

Apple Harvest Fest from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13 at the Farmers Market. The event will present apple cooking, demos and seasonal recipes.

Membership meeting at 7:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 25 at the Hacienda de las Flores. Roger Poynts will make a presentation about his 'painted rock' property project.

Orinda

Chamber mixer from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17 at Land Home Financial Services, Inc., 2 Theatre Square, #146 (inside 'The Square').

Orinda Chamber Member Luncheon at noon Friday, Oct. 25 at the Orinda Country Club. The guest speaker is FBI Agent Joy Mihara-Meer who will be talking about "Spear Phishing" - cyber attacks on small businesses, your parents and your children. Come to learn more. For tickets and reservations, visit OrindaChamber.org.