Archive of ‘Kids’ category

My little munchkin, Jessica, is engaged!

From the moment I met her, I loved her.

My niece Jessica wearing Pegeen.com  c1995

When I was a single gal, my closest brother had the most beautiful girl in the world named Jessica.  I had a few other nephews and nieces by then whom I love dearly, but when Jessica was born I got a “daughter” as well.  I was close to my brother Tom – very close, and when his first child was born, it was as if I was a “mom” too.  Tom and Joanne, my sister-in-law, let me into their lives like no one else could.  Thomas followed Jessica and all I could think about was how amazing he was – and mechanical!  When they were sick, I was sad.  When one of their kids got hurt, I was devastated.  These were MY children.  When their 3rd and final child Kate was born prematurely, this tiny little bundle would sleep on my chest and I would just watch her in amazement.  Here below is “my fam”.

Here's my "fam"

Jessica was and still is the apple of my eye.  I love her intelligence, her humor and sweetness.  She, and her two siblings are more than just my children…. she is the honorary Godmother to my oldest son, and really I think of her as a more than daughter, and the same for her siblings. I spoiled her to the point of madness. When she was little, I would give her EVERY dress from our then Pegeen Everyday Collection and we would pick out bows for her hair, making sure she had one for every outfit for Kindergarten. She hugged me and said, “Aunt Marg, you are the best aunt ever. You give me every dress I could ever want!”   My brother’s kids and mine grew up together, in fact we would trek to her town some 50 minutes away every Halloween just so we all could go trick or treating together. It wasn’t until we moved to Florida that my kids remarked that Halloween seemed empty without their “siblings”.

Jessica and her siblings were my models too for Pegeen. Here are a few of my favorites!
Jessica and Janelle modeling their Pegeen flower girl dresses Jessica's getting married!  Jessica and Thomas modeling their Pegeen Children's Bridal Wear

Now, my Jessica is going to be a bride. I am like so in love with her Alan, and now I am not sure who will be sobbing more at her wedding, my brother Tom or me!  As a flower girl dress designer, I KNOW Jessica will have kids in her wedding – “even if I have to rent them Aunt Marg” she once exclaimed!  I know she will because we picked out those styles YEARS ago.  I love you Jess.

Getting ready for two weddings in our family….. weird, I don’t feel that old.

Somehow, I don’t remember getting older.  It definitely feels like not too long ago that my husband and I were planning our wedding…. or so should I say my mother was.  In the 1980’s you pretty much left the work to your mother.  So it was for me as well.  I was busy building my business and really, things were left for the most part in her hands but that is another story.

My niece Joan, getting married this Saturday, is really the reason I got into children’s wear in the first place.  After an injury in dance, my oldest sister started hawking my goods, encouraging me along the way.  As a matter of fact, the reason I got into children’s bridal wear some 4 years after starting Pegeen was because at the time I could not find any children’s clothing that I was in love with for my wedding.  Hard to believe that 29 years ago, I created my first flower girl dress for my niece Joan, using some antique laces I had accumulated and some gorgeous silk I had in my possession for 10 years for my niece’s flower girl dress.  (I also had a cousin in the wedding wearing a ring bearer suit, again from Pegeen).  Luckily for me, WWD (Women’s Wear Daily) picked up the wedding and I was off to a great start for our bridal collection.  My point too is that it is hard to believe that my flower girl, now a doctor, is getting married.  I have had many customers who do call me and say, “Hi Pegeen! When I was little, I was a flower girl and now I need to have you make a flower girl dress for my wedding”, or even stranger to hear, for her daughter.  When did I get so old?  I don’t feel that way.

Our first Pegeen flower girl dress

Our first Pegeen flower girl dress, 1985

Since that time, Pegeen offers 200 colors and a boat load of styles and includes the new dress we designed for my nephew’s wedding being held next month. Below here is that dress for the children in Daniel’s and Jeanie’s wedding and I must say, times have changed!  For example this dress, filled with tons of Swarovski Crystals on the front and back and on the skirt,  what is a flower girl dress without tons and tons of tulle, silk and crystals? In the 80’s when I began my first flower girl dress collection, the choice was white or ivory and I was having none of that.  Dresses were shorter and God forbid, too fluffy. Now, the bigger the better (well, we still have some fairly conservative, classic styles on our original collection).  At Pegeen we still say “Anything but a white dress”.

I will be very proud to see Daniel and Jeanie’s children going down the aisle in our flower girl dress style 904, “Topaz” from the Fairytale Collection!  More photos coming!

Toffee Flower Girl Dresses with Swarovski Crystals - Pegeen Fairytale Collection style 904

Toffee Flower Girl Dresses with Swarovski Crystals – Pegeen Fairytale Collection style 904

The Rangers Won – well they are in the finals

Let me start by saying, I am NOT a hockey fan.  In fact, I am not a fan of sports at all really but in a house of testosterone, with three men, I can’t avoid it, hard as I try.  My husband loves the NY Rangers and it has been 19 years since their last Stanley Cup Win.  He has made my oldest son a fanatic and even my book worm gets excited at the playoffs and finals.  Three men… three margaritas for me.

Teddy with googles

Well tomorrow night is game four of the finals and it has been exciting thus far, I know because I am upstairs watching Netflix, or doing laundry, or at the computer, working of course…. anything but not watching hockey.  HOWEVER, I hear the screams and the oh no’s and wooohhhooooots and I think, this is positively the best time to get my work done.

I even came into watch the last few nail-biting minutes of game three (did I actually say that?)  So maybe, I like hockey after all.  Maybe I can experiment with the margaritas while they are watching.  I like watermelons.  Watermelons and margaritas?  Yum

Margarita recipe: I got hooked on these after going to dinner last summer at Outback.  I wish I knew where the black salt could be purchased but then again, if I did that, I would REALLY raise my blood pressure, especially during the hockey finals.  Did I really say that?

Found a great recipe for Watermelon Margaritas on The Chew.  Tomorrow is game 4 of the Rangers v. LA Kings… definitely trying this.  Tonight however I am going to catch up on “Jack” (beloved 24) and try my old tried and true recipe.  I have to make watermelon salsa for tomorrow anyhow.  Not that I really am into cooking, that’s what my man is for, but on Friday’s I do TRY.  More on that later.

 

Newborn Twins Photographed Holding Hands

 

It has been said “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words”. The viral photo of newborn twins holding hands is a heartwarming encapsulation of what should be their marching orders as they begin their life’s journey. As twins they will share an even deeper bond than that of other siblings, and as twin girls, even more so.

Jillian and Jenna Thistlethwaite faced their first challenge with breathing difficulties after birth, needing respirators for a short period. The identical twin girls shared the same amniotic sac and placenta. Such births are called monoamniotic, or “mono mono,” and doctors say they occur in about one of every 10,000 pregnancies. They will face many more hills to climb in their lives, but those hills will not be as steep if they face them, metaphorically, hand in hand.

Boyfriends and girlfriends may come and go, but sisters are forever.

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