Category Archives: Butterflies

12.28.10

Christmas Traditions.



One of my favorite things about Christmas is the beauty of carrying on family traditions. Every year, it brings me joy to open up the boxes of the many ornaments, each with a special meaning.

Many of these ornaments were given to me by my mother, and I now carry on that tradition by gifting ornaments to my girls each year so that one day, when I am not around they can have the same warm feeling I get each year when decorating our tree. This way a piece of me will always be with them.

Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Our dear friend Sherri came over to one of our Christmas celebrations and gave us this ceramic ball to celebrate Declan’s Journey. Now we will always remember not only Declan and his journey, but the journey of so many others who are suffering as we celebrate Christmas each year.
2. E for Elizabeth.
3. Our tree is adorned with butterflies.
4. My Baby’s First Christmas ball from 1977.
5. A shell ornament that we got this year in Venice, it makes me think of the drowning incident, and how lucky we are to have our Lou Lou bug.
6. Another gift from Mom- a life preserver that says Siesta Key, the place where Mike and I met.
7. My family used to receive White House Christmas ornaments each year from our friends in the FBI. Once we were married, Mom started passing them along to us. A reminder of just how amazing it is to live right outside of DC.
8. A pisanki ornament that we bought when we went to my brother’s wedding in Poland.
9. A for Anna.
10. Anna’s Baby’s First Christmas ornament from 2008.
11. A Christmas ball that I bought when the Ya’s and I went to St. Maarten to celebrate our 30th birthdays.
12. A ZTA ornament given to me by my mom.
13. Bailey’s Puppy’s First Christmas ornament from 2001.
14. Given to us by Mom- a replica of our china pattern.
15. E’s Baby’s First Christmas ornament from 2005.
16. An I Love My Daughter ornament, given to me by Mom. I will never forget, when she gave them to my sister and I we made fun of her for how cheesy they are…. now I am so grateful to have it.
17. A crystal angel given to me by my amazing mother-in-law in 2005. The year that Mom died, and E was born. It reminds me that we now have our very own guardian angel.
Another family tradition in my family was that my father would read The Night Before Christmas each Christmas Eve… Even when we were in college. Now we all snuggle together as Mike reads the story to our girls. What makes this so very special, is that I have this copy of the book given to me when I was 17 by my parents. Notice that it is complete with a note from Mom.
So no matter how difficult and stressful it can be to think of these little things, make sure to give your children the gift of traditions so that you too will always be with them on Christmas.

12.21.10

A Beautiful Mistake.


I love the look and texture that boxwood provides during the holidays. Every year when we go to pick out our tree, I buy boxwood garland for our banisters and doorways. This year, however, I somehow picked up two boxwood wreaths rather than garland, as illustrated by my hula hooping models below.


CRAP, I thought….When am I going to find the time to return that? Well, I made the time a few days later, and unfortunately, all of our local nurseries were sold out of boxwood roping. So, I decided to take my wreaths and make the best of it. In a 15 minute dash, I ran into my local Michael’s and grabbed whatever I thought could work. Inspired by my Blue Christmas post, I went to town. A mix of butterflies, wicker stars, jingle bells and Christmas balls… I think it turned out pretty cute. The whole thing took me 30 minutes to put together. It’s as easy as 1-2-3… just attach all objects with floral wire and wrap it tightly to make sure your ornaments don’t blow away with the cold winter’s wind!

Because I had two wreaths, I made another one for our friends Will and Aimee and gave it to them when they had us over for dinner. I am still super bummed about the lack of garland on our banisters this year, but I guess if I look at the glass as half full, that’s one less thing that I need to cross of my holiday to do list!

09.12.10

Field Trip: Wings of Fancy.


Yesterday, my two favorite girls and I headed to the Wings of Fancy Live Butterfly Exhibit. What a beautiful day we had. The weather was perfect and the butterflies were flying footloose and fancy free. Below are some of the highlights.

E loved touching the specimens.

This little guy made himself right at home on my baby’s head.

These two thought Lou’s jibbit was a real flower.


My girls.

They insisted on wearing their butterfly dresses in honor of the butterflies.

08.02.10

Nesting Baby Shower.

Remember this little nugget? Well, here are some pics from her Momma’s baby shower, hosted by yours truly, and my sister, Karen. It was quite a hectic day. We had the shower at 11:00, and a dance recital for E and her cousin Bella at 4:00 (about 40 minutes away.) Nonetheless, we had an amazing time.
Here are the pictures of the lovely Milena’s shower:

Here is the most amazing part of the shower. Remember this post on butterflies? Well, this one decided to stay for the ENTIRE shower. It followed E and Bella wherever they went and even sat in Milena’s hand. It literally gave me goosebumps. I would mark it as one of the most magical moments in my life. I am so happy to know that Neets is with us, and looking down on all of us- particularly on Milena and Olivia that day.
.and then it was time to get the girls ready for dance.
The end.
Invitation: Tiny Prints
Cookies: Kristy Stone

07.27.10

Butterflies….

Those that know me, know that I have an affinity for butterflies. For those of you who are just becoming acquainted with me in cyberspace, here is why….

August 31, 2005 was the day that changed my life forever. Not only was it my third wedding anniversary, but God took away my best friend, my rock, the strongest woman I ever knew- my mother. Anita Louise Chiarello Nilsen was a fighter. She was told in 1988 that she had an extremely rare form of thyroid cancer and that she needed to “get her affairs in order,” that she only had 6 months to live. (Let me preface the next statement by saying that I heard my mother drop an “F bomb” twice in my entire life.) She looked the doctor square in the face and said “F$%! you, I have three kids, and I am going to see them get married.”After 17 years, 18 surgeries, several radiation treatments and various other experimental procedures, she lost her battle. However, she did not go down without a fight.
The day before she died, my sister, Karen and I were sitting with her when she said “I will always be with you. If there is a way for me to let you know I am here, I will give you a sign.” When we met with our priest after her death, he said be aware of the signs. Signs, signs signs…what signs? That day, each and every person in our family had an extraordinary encounter with a butterfly. Thus, began my love for the beautiful little creatures. For any of you that have lost someone close to you, you understand the deep yearning for a connection to that person. After she died, I was completely lost- in a total daze. Two weeks later, I gave birth to E. The one thing that I can remember during that bittersweet time in my life is the constant presence of a butterfly nearby.
So now, I have built a tasteful collection of butterflies to remind me that “Neets” as I used to call her, is always with us… In fact every time we see a butterfly flutter past us, E says “Look Mommy, a butterfly. That means that Grandma is watching over us.” There are so many beautiful butterfly items to collect…. Clothing, jewelry, artwork and best yet, I am currently working on a butterfly display for my new living room… Stay tuned.