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Archive of ‘Love’ category

Just get your paycheck from Disney and be quiet, Political Correctness Gone Wild

October 18, 2018 / Life, Love / 0 comment

Every time one of these “actresses” open their mouths about fairy tales damaging their children I just puke in my mouth. Kristen Bell, Keira Knightly come to mind this week. I loved most of these movies they are in. (Frozen, soon to be released Disney’s ‘The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” come to mind). Outside of the big screen? Hey, shut it down. No wonder Hollywood ticket sales just keep plunging, Just look at recent stories, for instance theverge.com. Look at ticket numbers SOLD not the ridiculous prices you pay at box office, so they can spew their mindless opinions. Don’t get me wrong, Kristen Bell’s comedic timing is second to none, Keira Knightley’s Atonement, perfection.

Quit killing the soliloquy on why you won’t let your kids watch certain Disney movies. These are make believe stories that are GREAT! Quit killing the romance. MAYBE if you concentrated on taking literature classes in various disciplines you would have learned about story development, the basic of which is good vs. evil, reading some of the great Shakespeare classics “The Taming of the Shrew” later on Broadway, “Kiss Me Kate”. A simple accounting class would help too, the kind that teaches you that your paycheck is green…

I’m a strong business woman whose mom, dad (or older siblings) read wonderful tales from favorite books like Hans Christian Anderson … (my favorite was Thumbelina and movie, Snow White). I didn’t think about the knight riding in (though I found mine charged in) as much as the woodland friends who helped her clean the house. I wasn’t “harmed” because the prince comes in to rescue my day or kissed me first without asking. (I said yes on our 2^nd date and am gracious for his love and support all these years. Hell, he likely was the better “mother” anyhow because his chief job was to make sure that at least he was always there while I ran, for the better part, the business.)

I don’t know what ticks me off more, actors who think we want to know about their politics or opinions on the latest #hashtag movement, their stupid publicists that think ANY mention in the social universe keeps their client relevant (it doesn’t, it just makes their adoring public less adoring and turned off), or the press who ask these stupid opinions in the first place

SHUT UP AND MAKE YOUR MONEY FROM DISNEY.

Family Wedding Update

October 17, 2017 / Billy's Wedding, Life, Weddings / 0 comment

We were fortunate enough to finally celebrate with our son and his new wife in Lake Tahoe for a delayed reception. It was really nice because it took off the pressure for them to have a huge wedding especially since they were only 24 when the married in March of this year. Even nicer for us was that it was held in a small town called Kings Beach, right at the north end of Lake Tahoe.. and it had been on our bucket list for years. Since it had been the first vacation we were able to take in many years (except for family reunions) we were really looking forward to some well-deserved time off. I will brag a bit too – Bill’s wedding was months earlier and their niece wore really one of my favorite dresses from my Pegeen Fairytale Collection of flower girl dresses, The Opal Fairy, our version of Elsa’s dress from Frozen. I was so proud to see the dress in “action”.

We loved how Bill and Juanita were going to be able to get formal portraits done the night before the Celebration Reception by a photographer friend, happy that they were able to get professional shots done that I could put my newly acquired scrapbook skills to use. I think they came out beautiful so for anyone who is waiting for a trip, I recommend going to Kings Beach, Lake Tahoe. Before I forget however, a few funny stories, but I will be brief. First, when you capture the last flight into Reno and are lucky to get to the car rentals in time before they (yawn) close at 1230 pm, get a hotel in Reno. DON’T think that you can just wing it, finding a place between Reno and Kings Beach. You can’t. Boy these people go to sleep early.

dancing bears

So – we drove to Tahoe, and it was about 4am our time and when we arrived we drove around briefly looking for a place to grab a bite. Wasn’t happening (the town was fast asleep) but we found a sort-of 7-Eleven (maybe it was, I was exhausted) where I remarked to my youngest and to my husband, “look at that beautiful carving of that HUGE bear.” Only it wasn’t a carving, it MOVED and this big bear was hungry but the attendant there simply and calmly closed the door until the bear moved on. Later that morning, now 5am our time, we found the grocery store (it was filled with a wonderful selection of California wines) and the clerk said – “Oh, that’s Bob the Bear. He’s just looking for some watermelon and treats”. Anyhow, after several drive-bys to see what Bob the Bear was up to in this quaint little town, we decided that napping on the beach (we couldn’t open the lock box for some reason) was out due to the presence of Bob the Bear. Instead, we decided to go to sleep in the driveway of the rental in, as my son called it, “the van by the river”. Spreading our our luggage and sweaters on the van’s floor (because we couldn’t believe it would ACTUALLY get down to 40 degrees, we didn’t bring coats) we nearly froze our Floridian skins in our overnight stay. Honestly, I can’t remember what fresh pine air was anymore so it was lovely. End of stories. Anyhow – we had a great weekend and thank you, Billy and Juanita, and to their mom for your hospitality and to the lovely town of King’s Beach, Lake Tahoe.

Juanita and Bill Reception 2017-18-26 215

Juanita and Bill Reception 2017-18-26 057

Pegeen Announces Their Wedding of the Year ~ AGAIN

May 2, 2017 / About US, Billy's Wedding, Kids / 0 comment

Yeah. Murphy’s Law struck our household again. After spending oh, I don’t know a hundred hours preparing our for our wedding of the year contest – THEN my hubby who has Type1 Diabetes and shakes ALL THE TIME was so tired he put a screwdriver into that electric plug thingy to take out the battery. OOPS. Then I decided NOT to listen to my dentist of a few years ago and cracked my tooth in half. NO MORE CHEWING ICE. THEN, as my web designer and I were preparing to launch our new mobile ready website – disaster struck. (Thank God for full, overwrite protected backups) 29 breath-holding hours, we restored the website BUT, alas, I forgot to protect WordPress. Dumb. SO, here is my best attempt to re-write a story about my son and his new bride. Here it goes at my attempt to re-write my previous post (Yes Rob, I saved it in Word.)

When my son Billy was pretty small, 5th grade in fact, he and I were sitting at rehearsals for his dance show, and he announced to me in a deep sigh, “I so want to be married”. My son, you see, was a romantic and liked having his ducks in a row. So, while at Disney working after graduating from business school, he met his fiancée Juanita there although while they worked there they didn’t date. Then Billy moved to California (sigh) to set out to conquer the world but they stayed in touch. A few months after living there, and many calls later, they started dating. At first it was long distance as she had now finished her college internship program with “The Mouse” and moved back to Reno while Billy was living in Modesto. Luckily, they were just a quick drive from one another over the Rockies. A few short months later, Billy announced he was engaged, and while we were happy for him, I knew that the picket fence was what Billy had long searched for. Plans were for a wedding 12 months later, but after months of planning a Nevada wedding, we got a call from Billy and Juanita because, quite honestly, my son couldn’t wait to get married. Like I said, this is something he dreamt about since, oh, I don’t know, 5th grade. So, with less than 6 weeks’ notice, we found ourselves flying to Denver for their wedding in their new home town. We all will be celebrating as planned this summer on the original date, but even though it wasn’t as I would have planned, it was the most intimate, loving and special day for me, yep a mom in the wedding business for all of these years.

I DO know how Martha Stewart must have felt when her daughter Alexa decided to basically run off and get married. My son Bill did not quite do that but we were surprised when my son and fiancé decided to move their wedding from August to March. But you know what? Even though there were just a dozen or so guests, they pulled it off and it was the most intimate, wonderful occasion where we, his brother, dad and I – along with Juanita’s mom and her closet friends – pulled off quite a number of surprises. Lucky for us, this beautiful woman, my new daughter-in-law has the same heart of gold as my son and relaxed style.

And, as Walt Disney himself would say, it all started with a mouse.

Of course I would be a bad mother if I didn’t say “MY SONS WEDDING WAS THE BEST IN THE ENTIRE WORLD”, correct? But actually, we named their wedding our favorite “Intimate Wedding of the Year.” Gosh, we had so much fun though at first I wanted to kill him because I was worried about my youngest mid-terms 2 days later (Teddy only flew in for 12 years). After all, mom’s never stop worrying about grades, huh? I can’t forget what a nice time we had in the hectic hours leading up to his wedding.

Originally I had planned creating new designs for the 500 flower girls I was hoping they would have, but those plans went out the window when they moved up the date. As a surprise to Juanita, her sister brought her niece and on Thursday they let us know they needed a flower girl dress. I threw the bride’s color scheme for a loop because I brought along, after some alterations, my favorite dress from our Fairytale Collection (and my favorite color) and hopped on a plane Friday morning.

The morning of the wedding there were haircuts (thank you Teddy for cooperating after no sleep), a quick run to Men’s Warehouse for better coordinating shirts and Tiffany blue ties, dry cleaners and some package drop offs (yeah, even on vacation I am always working). At 5pm, we gathered together at a beautiful venue in Denver. His cousin, my niece and her now-fiance picked up 3-sizes of the most delicious cheesecake (thank you Cheesecake Factory in Boulder) topped with a newly purchased glass topper of Cinderella’s Castle that Jim and I picked up Thursday night at Disney for a surprise! After the ceremony, the 20 or so guests gathered at a restaurant for the Wedding Reception. Oh, I was even able to sing to Billy the song we practiced around his dancing and performing days, “My Best Beau” to the guests and yep, barely made it through, sobbing. It was really touching for me that he joined in.

SO how could I not include one of my children’s wedding?

I loved their first look photo as they both said a prayer with the pastor.

These two are never serious, his brother Ted served as Bill’s best man.

Nice socks, Teddy!

Always a Disney Dream.

Eh… I did choose two other wonderful and beautiful weddings to be included in our yearly contest but for me, there was no other Wedding of the Year. I will be writing about them in our regular, Pegeen Flower Girl Dress Blog but this blog is really about Life, Love, Home and Work. And my crazy, loving family.

Its Official: I am now a Mother-In-Law

April 24, 2017 / Billy's Wedding, Home, Life / 0 comment

This past week, one of my customers called me because she had her bridal shower and EEEK – she complained about her soon-to-be Mother-In-Law. So, with my incredible sense of wisdom that comes with this business (LOL), I told her how when I was first married, my mother-in-law was such a strange thing to me. I didn’t really know how to handle her. She was an awesome person and in fact, I knew her for years though my husband and I only dated for 5 months before getting married, but yet, being on the “inside” of their family traditions was very different indeed. It took a bit of getting used to her ways and finding that learning those traditions they held dear to them were likely pretty important to my new husband as well. Looking back on it however, I find she was a great role model for making my new memories with my new daughter-in-law. Sadly, we live almost 2000 miles from my son so our interactions are less frequent but I remember so many of the things Marion would do to include me in decisions.

But this new bride to be was really struggling, and crying as her shower ended up being a hot mess with the MIL really giving her a hard time about EVERYTHING. So, I put on my newly acquired “hat” of a MIL and gave her the best advice I could give her: Someday, she won’t be there and chances are, you will wish everyday she was. Most importantly, I told her that it will take a bit of time to get into the groove of a relationship and know what makes her laugh, and their family traditions and so forth, but most importantly, to get along with her because after all, pleasing her will ultimately make your husband happy. I also cautioned her however that leading up to the wedding will be hard for her because (and knowing this from experiencing the same myself) she will be losing her son. It even goes deeper than that as well – especially when a baby is in the picture – because as sexist as this is going to sound, it’s you that usually goes to your mom about things such as where pots and pans go in the cabinet (beside the stove) and not the sink (because that’s what he thinks). So, there won’t be the interfering as much with some of the traditional (and non-traditional) roles that you and your husband will have but experiencing what makes for good bonding is to use her as a way to learn more about your husband and family traditions as those will become important as you start your family of your own.

My mother-in-law sadly got ill while we were in our 40’s and for me, that was hard seeing my husband go through such a profound sense of loss, one which I would experience the following decade when my mother passed. But I often think of the kindness she showed me those first few years of marriage as I try to relate to my new “daughter” which Marion was so good at making me feel like one of her own. She showed me a deep sense of patience and kindness and acceptance although I am sure there were times she rolled her eyes about me. So, with her wisdom, I chart a course for my future relationship and hope with patience, I develop that same with mine.

You know how your kids surprise you all the time?

March 3, 2017 / Billy's Wedding, Life / 0 comment

Well, this guy, my oldest son gives his dad and I a call a couple of weeks ago. Asked us to not say anything until he was finished and proceeded to tell us that both he and his fiancee moved up their wedding date. I mean BIG TIME. To like this month!! SO, what’s a mother to do? Smile and say, “it’s fine”. (Well a little pleading on my part. I tried to make the point that his younger brother will be in the middle of mid-terms at UPenn, and with school for him, that wasn’t good news. SO, my youngest will go to Denver for only 12 hours. Better than not coming).

I suppose that it’s easier for them to get the wedding out of the way and heck, I’m always up for a party. Then in August, we will have the reception in Reno. Will be nice visiting my old Alma Mater (Denver University). Stay tuned!!

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More Excitement for the Royals

February 21, 2017 / Love / 0 comment

It looks like we will all be treated to a much anticipated wedding this spring as Pippa Middleton, the younger sister of the future Queen of England, will be tying the knot! The lucky guy is James Matthews, a hedge fund manager (I did say he was a lucky guy), and a sports enthusiast, particularly, running, swimming, skiing and cycling. He has been photographed on the slopes with Pippa. No word on whether he plans on playing polo like his former classmates at Eton College, Prince William, and Prince Harry.

Reports are circulating that Pippa wants a modest, quiet ceremony at her family’s hometown village church. This may be difficult given the public’s appetite for all things concerning the extended royal family. And then we must consider the paparazzi, who will ensure that it will be anything but quiet. The anticipation is already starting to mount. What will her gown look like? Who will be the designer chosen? The Daily Mail reports that their source says “the gown will have an elegant train and a veil, just like Kate. No puffballs, but she adores lace and long sleeves”.

What will the bridesmaids wear? Kate won’t be a bridesmaid because to do so would be in opposition to British tradition that directs that bridesmaids should be unmarried and be younger than the bride. Kate and William’s children, three-year-old George and 17-month-old Charlotte, have reportedly been chosen to be the pageboy and flower girl.

Pippa was a real star at Kate’s wedding, so who will emerge as the rising star at Pippa’s? It is thought that Kate will try to remain as low key as she can to not steal the limelight from her sister on the biggest day of her life. And a big day for all of us as well. Can’t wait!

We know that tradition does dictate that British designers will be used for the bespoke clothing however, we can’t help but wonder whether some of our flower girl dresses from The Royal Collection.

wouldn’t fit the bill!! Oh well, we can dream.

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Fun Things to Know About Valentine’s Day….

February 15, 2017 / Love / 0 comment

The story of Valentine’s Day began in the third century in Rome with the emperor Claudius II. He was persecuting Christians and made it a capital crime for Romans to even associate with them. One story says that one of the Christians imprisoned was named Valentinus.

While in prison, Valentinus became friendly with his jailer, who saw that he was an educated man. The jailer asked Valentinus if he would impart some of his wisdom to his daughter, Julia, who was blind since birth. He taught her history, science, math and told her about Christianity. She came to understand the world differently, but wanted to see it. She began to pray for sight with Valentinus’ encouragement and one day while she was visiting him in his cell there was a sudden brilliant flash of light. Julia exclaimed, “I can see!”

The night before he was to be executed, Valentinus wrote a last note to Julia, asking her to continue her bond with God. He signed it, “From your Valentine”, instituting a tradition that continues to this day. Hand-made paper cards made their first appearance in Europe during the Middle Ages on each February 14, Saint Valentine’s Day. Chaucer and Shakespeare helped raised the profile of this romantic day. Now messages of love are exchanged around the world. In 1913, Hallmark Cards of Kansas City, Mo., began mass producing Valentines. According to the Greeting Card Association, 25% of all cards sent each year are Valentines.

Have you ever seen some of those cards? WOW they are beautiful! “To my Valentine.” Color card, 1890. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.:

Color card, 1890. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Then as a kid, these are the kinds I used to give out in grammar school.

Image result for valentines cards from the 1890

Some historic events that took place on Valentine’s Day:

In 1962 a young First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy showed off the White House. She wore a Valentine’s Day red dress and a triple strand of pearls for a huge nationwide television audience. She gave the country a tour of the recently refurbished White House, which she had supervised. Mrs. Kennedy displayed her knowledge of the arts as she described the presidential mansion’s historic portraits, antiques and furnishings. Her engaging efforts earned her an honorary Emmy Award and helped her further cultivate her place in the hearts of Americans.

On Valentine’s Day in 1876 Alexander Graham Bell applied for a telephone patent. As the country celebrated its 1ooth birthday, Bell just barely filed his application with the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, D.C., before Elisha Gray filed his intention for a patent for his version of a telephone. As everyone knows, Bell was awarded the patent and his invention has been used countless times on Valentine’s Day and every other day throughout the year to convey messages of love between sweethearts all over the world.

Now that it’s the new year, I have to get going on my MOG responsibilities….

February 12, 2017 / About Our Plans, Billy's Wedding / 0 comment

I suppose it hasn’t really hit me until just recently that my son is getting married. It still seems strangely odd that I am actually going to go through all the motions of preparing for his big day with his lovely Juanita. Throughout the past 5 months I have been saying “after the New Year” and remember my previous post about being the Great Procrastinator, well it is true. I always wrap my head around something and then I am all over it. SO I think the all-over response just clicked in. I have been thinking about the rehearsal party that I would like to have in Lake Tahoe because it’s on many of my sibling’s bucket list to visit, and the planning responsibilities that will entail as it will be long distance. My goal is to make this a special water day of sorts so I have been weighing the idea of boat rentals and a beach picnic of some kind SO for any of you that know what is called Inverness Village, HELP.

Rehearsal Party Invites

I also managed to find musicians for the ceremony (which is being held in Reno NV) because my family is very musical. My son was like, ” I want some guitar or something new age”, but this is something, actually the only thing I won’t budge on, in honor of my parents that brought music into our lives. It’s funny, when I was married some 30+ years ago, my husband came from a family of printers and while I was picking out the most beautiful invitations, my Mother-In-Law-to-be said she would only accept us using engraved invitations and honestly, I understand now. SO for my parents, I found a wonderful string quartet. Although I am staying out of most of the wedding planning because I am just the MOG, at least I have input to the music which, if the Hyland’s know anything, it’s music. My brother will sing “Our Father” as a tribute to my mom, a wonderful lyrical soprano who trained not only at USC but with some of the best vocal teachers in and around New York. It is going to kill us siblings, but for us, a wedding or funeral isn’t the same unless we hear it. And for my father, who was such a fantastic influence in all of our musical backgrounds, I have already corresponded with and can’t wait to hear TheStringBeings.com. For the rest of preparations, it’s okay if I don’t get a say…. after all, this is something that Juanita and her mom have dreamed about her whole life I am sure. What is nice however is that she is a wonderful daughter-in-law to be and Jim and I couldn’t imagine better.

For the rest, well, as I start to work on the children’s wear sketches for the wedding, I will bring my ideas to them on paper. I also said there was no limit to the number of kids in or around the wedding (cousin dressing and so forth) but I just need to know the colors. ANYHOW – I am working on some ideas and surprises for them both. In the meantime….

I thought this a great idea for my son’s wedding. We still haven’t designed the flower girl dresses or suits for the wedding, but they are going to be SUPER special, but I thought that we may use this idea for my nieces, should we coax the little darlings into making their first flower girl appearance.

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Kirk Douglas, American Icon Celebrates His 100th

January 19, 2017 / About US, Love, Work / 0 comment

Screen legend Kirk Douglas celebrated his 100th birthday last month with his family, including his wife of more than 60 years, Anne. I can’t decide which is more remarkable, the fact that Mr. Douglas made it to his 100^th birthday or the fact that a Hollywood marriage could last for over 60 years. I can count on one hand the instances I can remember of both.

“I was lucky enough to find my soulmate 63 years ago, and I believe our wonderful marriage and our nightly ‘golden hour’ chats have helped me survive all things,” he writes in celebrity magazine Closer Weekly. Douglas has survived his share of tragedies, including the death of his son from an overdose of drugs and alcohol, a midair crash between his helicopter and a plane, and a stroke which has left him with a severely curtailed ability to speak. His wife, Anne, his faith, his family and his rise from poverty and subsequent hard work during a stellar career, which included three Oscar nominations for best actor, gave him the strength to rise above these challenges. His son Michael, also an actor, wrote: “I think his stamina and tenacity are the qualities that stand out for me. He has taught me always to give it your best shot at whatever you take on. He’s the full package.”

Since the stroke limited his acting roles, he and his wife turned their attention to philanthropic work, mostly feeding the homeless and repairing and refurbishing playgrounds in Los Angeles. They say keeping busy will keep you young and they make a strong case for that axiom. I think it is beautiful in the world of Hollywood that such a long and lasting marriage shows their deep love and commitment.

And yes, I am also one who has outlasted many of my friends, and my wife’s friends, marriages. I can hardly believe that we have been married over 30 years, (almost 32 this year) and work together every day, 24/7, as partners in our business, Pegeen.com. Some people would consider that fact to be remarkable, but even more remarkable might be that this was not the career path either of us imagined when we were in college but I know I can’t imagine my life any other way. I don’t have words of wisdom, just that both of us give in, a lot, to each other. And plenty of wine.

I’M A MOM OF A GROOM!!! WOOT!!

September 26, 2016 / Kids, Love / 0 comment

My oldest son moved to California in January, as far away from what he knew, to seek his fortune (I suppose). As a mom of adult children, I have to say it is so exciting to see them grow on their own, not to mention, do their own laundry. Bill has been a terrific kid with one of the kindest hearts I ever knew. As a one year old, he called everything he loved “mommy” using different intonations to mean different things, but what it mostly meant was “I love you” bird, cat, dog, uncle, candy, and of course mom.

He loved to dance and as a former dancer myself, I took him to the studio where I taught dance classes and he took classes, in fact both of my boys did. He had and still does, a very loving heart. He could sell the Brooklyn Bridge too. In fact, while driving in the car, when he was only 5, he told his friend “my pop-pop was president of the United States”. (His grandfather was in politics so I guess it messed with his five-year-old perception). Well he almost convinced me.

He not only had a great imagination and he also keenly needs to know that his ducks are in a row. While in fifth grade, out of the clear blue sky, he sighed and said, “I so much want to be married”. He and I called it the picket fence moment. SO, it was really no surprise to me that once settled in his new state and into a job, Bill was ready to start on the quest of the wife and the picket fence. Eventually, I got the phone call – “Guess what mom? I met HER”. (He actually met her while they were both working at Disney World where we live only a mile from and they stayed in touch after she moved back to Reno.) And so my son introduced us to Juanita…. well via Skype that is.

Over the summer, recently in fact, Bill brought Juanita to the east coast for us to meet her and attend my nephew’s, his “brother” cousin’s wedding. We had talked to Juanita by this time, many times, so meeting her in person for the first time was like, well, we didn’t skip a beat. She met our crazy family and didn’t run the other way. She even listened to my husband, who has a penchant for over explaining, and listened to every word. She passed the test!

SO, over the next year I will be blogging for sure about some of the preparations and of course our Pegeen.com flower girl dresses and ring bearer suit we will design exclusively for their wedding in Reno/Lake Tahoe. As a mom-groom I am resigned to deciding on only the rehearsal party, but you can bet it will be over the top because, after all, this guy called everything “mommy” in part because he loved me to the moon and back.

Just a reminder – although we sell exclusively online, if you are visiting Orlando, Pegeen.com Flower Girl Dress Company is located just 1.25 miles from Disney World. Call to visit our factory or design studio. 407-928-2377

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