Two Worlds

Amy smiles brightly at her First Communion. © Photo by Francesca Di Meglio

Yesterday was a proud day for my family. My Goddaughter and cousin Amy made her First Communion — and she looked like the perfect little bride. When she took the Host, which represents the body of Christ in the Catholic religion, our hearts swelled with love and joy. The best part? The girl who didn’t want to wear a dress because they were all “too itchy” dressed like a girlie-girl, loved her flowers, and smiled brightly all day long. You can see for yourself by viewing the “Amy’s First Communion” photo album. I made Amy’s bouquet, which will probably make an appearance in Wednesday’s blog on the About.com Newlyweds site, so keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, I think we should all give Amy a round of applause for reaching this milestone and doing it all with such class and maturity. Jesus loves her — and so do we!

All the bunnies in the joint had a hoppin' good time. © Photo by Francesca Di Meglio

A fine mist of pink food coloring spray is all around me, and I just scraped the last of the vomit green icing off my plastic dining room table cover. That’s how I know Easter is upon us. Every year, we invite over the gang of kids in my family for an Easter bash that defeats all others. We decorate cookies, dye eggs, hunt for plastic eggs filled with treasure, and get downright giddy. This year, we all wore bunny ears and never stopped hoppin’. You can join in the fun by visiting the “Easter Bash 2010” photo album.

It was the first Easter party that I hosted without my mom (who is still in Florida and still awaiting the arrival of her first granddaughter there). Mamma’s cookies (she usually makes them from scratch, while I used a tube of sugar cookie dough) were missed, as was her smile. But I think we pulled off a good time nonetheless. No one seemed to eat much (or I cooked too much, depends on who you talk to), and my husband got the adults started with cocktails and finished with Bailey’s and ice cream, so it definitely was a partttttaayyy.

My cousin Fran and my hubby Antonio graciously cleaned and put all the food away while I helped the kids with their projects and snapped photos of them. Miesha graciously cleared the kid’s table between projects, so they could get down to business with a clean slate. I can’t thank everyone enough for coming. I really needed a little break from the everyday and a little fun with the gang.

Antonio (l.) and Mr. John (r.) toast life with limoncello in EPCOT's Italy pavillion in Orlando, Fla. © Photo by Francesca Di Meglio

Today, my younger brother Mr. John turned 30. This is a milestone for the whole family because it is a sign that we’re all really getting up there in years. But it’s also an excuse to celebrate life — what we’ve experienced and what’s still to come. Mr. John and his wife, for example, are expecting their first child in early April. Just today we celebrated the birthdays of of our cousin Amy, cousins Antonio and Tommasina, and Big Fran, whose birthdays who all fall during this time of year. And the world continues to turn. Happy birthday to Mr. John and all our friends and family celebrating birthdays and life’s special moments. (For more photos of Mr. John, visit many of the photo albums on this site and especially the latest one from our most recent stay in Florida.)