All My Life...

Fed Ex is still delivering gifts for me... It was my bridal shower a couple of days ago and I had 100 women show up to show me they care. They got up, dressed up, wore lipstick, and showed up with gifts and smiles just to show me that they care about me, finally, tying the knot. At first, I was nervous... I was getting my makeup done in the morning and I was asked what it felt like to be getting married... I was speechless... I couldn't explain how it felt... knowing that it was mine this time... and, that they were all showing up for me... So,...I described it as "different" and "weird."

A couple of hours later, I was at my own bridal shower... The actual party turned out great and as it came to an end and everyone began to leave, I thought about how lucky I was to be receiving all of this... attention, love... compassion... respect... and, most of what I received was gifts... so many gifts!

I guess showers are for being showered with gifts... and if so, then, I'm enjoying the rain for now, but, besides all of the wrapped packages I've received, there is only one gift that I was lucky enough to receive... a gift that I would never return or exchange... and that's the love of a man for which I wish every girl can feel in their lifetime...

On a different note, as the ACAG Mother's day show comes to an end tomorrow, the 28th of May, I realize that this show was a very successful one and that Modest Fly has grown into something bigger than I had ever imagined... So, as I said yesterday, "I need a bigger challenge..." Thank you to all the women for being apart of something so much bigger than me. As I sent out a thank you, here is a very thoughtful response I received from one of the artists:

"You are welcome, sweet Iren. Getting to know you and working with you has been more than a pleasure... you are so gifted, gracious and beautiful inside and out... I cannot imagine but that you will be a wonderful wife and mother, for you are a special woman already."

So, these days, as I receive more gifts in the mail, I realize that I have been receiving gifts all my life...

At Any Age...

Our fish died the other day... and... I buried it... and, only because my mom saw it in the tank, in the morning, and started yelling, "Oh my god!!! It's dead! Why do you guys keep dead fish? Why is he dead? He's dead! Oh my god!" I ran towards the garage, where she was screaming from, and said, "Why are you yelling like that? So what it's dead... it was a sick fish to begin with and now, it's dead... it's okay..." She looked at it, kept pointing at it and said, "Why would you bring sick fish here? I'm gonna get rid of this fish tank soon... watch me! He's dead..." I realized that a dead anything freaks her because of a personal experience we had when my grandmother passed away, so, when I got home that afternoon, I took the fish out of the tank. It was about 6 inches long and 4 inches wide, hardly fitting into the net catcher. I walked it towards the trash can, felt bad for it, then, went to the toilet and dropped it in there, like a little kid would. Obviously, the fish was too big for the toilet drain so it just floated there as the water drained out and I watched. Then, like a little kid, I put the net back into the toilet, picked the fish back out, and walked it towards the front yard, which was the only other alternative. As I sat there, on my knees, digging a hole in our garden and smelling its odor, I thought about my grandma and how she loved animals and how proud she would be of me. So, I set it in the dug up hole, covered it in dirt, and patted it down. As I got up off my knees, I remembered when I buried my only pet turtle, Leo, who had died from heatstroke because we had left him out in the sun too long. I remembered going back to find him a few days later and he was gone...

Back then, I was six... now, I'm twenty-six... goes to tell you that people have the same heart at any age...

The Days Are Going By So Fast...

Daddio in his tux

The days are going by so fast...

Days go by and I don't write... Then, when I come back to this empty box with the blinking cursor, I realize that it has been a while... because the days are going by so fast...

The dress day is over... the flower day is over... the photo day is over... the tux day is over... and, with that said, I'd like to share the tux day details with you...

It was just another day, but this day was supposed to be the boy's tuxedo day. So, with Armen being in one of his annoying, energized, full of things to say moods, we got in the car with my dad and drove down to the tux shop to pick them out. While Armen kept talking about how inconsiderate I was being not researching more on the tuxedo shops, I tried to keep my cool and let him get it out. There was no need to research! How many different types of tuxedos/shops can there possibly be in this city??? Why was he being so difficult?

Fifteen minutes later, we were walking into the tuxedo shop and as we looked around, my dad kept calm (as usual) and quiet, my sister sharing her opinions (as usual), and Armen talking (as usual). So, I took a deep breath and said, "Okay, tell me which one you like? You're going to be wearing it, so, please just look around and let me know." He kept saying, "You should have looked around more... how does it work? If we have to pay $200 for each one, then we'll just go buy tuxedos!" I took another deep breath and called the employee over and said, "Hi! Can you please let us know how this usually works? It's for our wedding in July and we're just wondering about the process of all this..." As the employee began to explain the process, I noticed Armen relaxed a bit and got a better feeling about being there. So, we all smiled and continued to find the right tuxes for each one of the men. Without any thoughts from both men, (because they didn't have any...) I chose the tuxes... the style, color, and fit, and called the employee over to have him write out the order. As I pointed to one of the ones hanging, I said, "Ok, we'll take this one for the dads... and these for the..." and, right then, my dad interrupted and said, "But, you don't think the collar on this one is too thin? His dad and I are pretty big men! These collars are so thin and small!" I looked over at my dad and said, "Ok, which one do you like? Tell me please!" So, as we picked them out, while sharing our thoughts and ideas, and changing our minds more than a couple of times, the employee was just about ready to go home for the day.

During the confusion, I looked over at my sister and said, "I don't understand what's wrong with Armen? Why is he being so difficult today?" She looked at me, smiled, and said, "He's just really excited... Can't you see? He doesn't know how else to act?" Then, as I watched Armen walk out in his tuxedo, I realized that I am going to marry this man in less than 50 days and he's going to be my husband...

Five minutes after him, my dad walked out of the fitting room with his shirt buttons still open revealing his belly as he tried buttoning up his collar and said, "This is tooo small... Don't they make bigger shirts for bigger men?" At that point, it was all a big joke and my sister and I just looked at each other and couldn't stop laughing...

And, now... the tux day is over... with many moments of annoyance and laughter, the day is over... Soon, the big day will be over and I'll still be here to share, with you, what is just the beginning...

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Wedding Shoes

Well, it was a really great grand opening reception. A few pieces sold and many mothers gathered at Modest Fly Art's new home. We drank wine, ate home baked goods, chatted, gave out raffle prizes, and enjoyed each other's company, but, after a few hours, the night ended and we were left with an empty room. So, we closed the doors, moved on, and looked forward to tomorrow...

A couple of tomorrows later, it was mother's day!

It was set: family breakfast, a visit to grandma, then... wedding stuff...

The day started off nice with a huge family breakfast and it was going to be fun-filled day. Then, we drove up to grandma's grave site and tried to overcome the fact that we had to spend mother's day without her for the first time. We stood there for a while, glanced over at each other, felt the unexplainable together, then... moved on... we moved on to whatever it was we were supposed to enjoy without her... So.. we helped each other smile and walked away...

By the end of the day, we had picked out my wedding shoes, were toasting to them, and moving on... It was a memorable mother's day... I wouldn't have wanted to spend it any other way...

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Overwhelmed...

by Joy Villa

The space is bigger now... I wanted this... but... the pieces are more now... I wanted this...

As I sit here in this bigger space... the space I wanted... with more than 40 pieces of art sitting around me, I'm a bit overwhelmed...

But... as I sit here in a bigger space with more than 40 pieces of art sitting around me, I'm overwhelmed with happiness...

I know tomorrow night is going to be good and, though, I sit here overwhelmed with all kinds of different feelings, I know it's going to be well worth it... and anything well worth it is definitely worth it! Wish me luck and hope to see some of you there! Wishing you an early Happy Mother's Day!