Anne Bruening Originals

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!  Not unless you have a true death wish for them.  My first encounter, with frozen flowers from a clients’  freezer was several years ago.  She had put all her childrens’  flowers in the freezer throughout the years.  They looked beautiful all those years…………right up until the day they were taken out and given to me.  My client wanted me to make some kind of arrangement with all of the flowers to treasure.  That was back in the day before I owned a digital camera…….I’m not sure many of us owned one then…………and I would have taken a picture just to keep in my files – possibly to pull out for a blog such as this one.  I brought the beautiful flowers home with me only to have my heart sink when they thawed!  THEY LOOKED HORRIBLE…..EVEN BEYOND HORRIBLE.  And how was I going to explain it to her when I wasn’t sure that something I did or did not do may have been the cause for this nasty state of things? (more…)

Posted by: Anne on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 9:32 am
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This little girl is 29 years old today.  I don’t know what happened.  It makes no sense to me the way the years fly by like this and now the time brings only memories to my heart and mind.  This picture captures beautifully my daughter back in the day….a ball in one hand and the bottle always hanging out of her mouth.  She never held that bottle with her hands – it always dangled just like you see it in this picture.  And when she went to bed at night she still had it dangling out of her mouth like that while both hands were twirling her hair.  Ahhh, how I wish we had digital cameras back then – the stories I could have captured in pictures would have been by the 100’s I’m sure!!!

I didn’t want a girl!  Shameful to admit, I know, but the honest truth.  I wanted a house full of little boys.  Her dad and I had the name picked out just in case we had a girl.  You know, back then it was rare that anyone knew what they were having – you had to wait ’til it was time.  Anyway, we liked our girl name a lot……..and we got a girl……….so there you have it.  It took me about a week to get used to having a girl……….but once my heart took over I was never to be the same.  I can’t begin to tell you how much this child has filled my heart the last 29 years.

It seems that she must have been the perfect child by the way I’m speaking here.  She was!  She was perfect for me.  Just what I needed.  Emily was fiesty – quite the opposite of her wimpy/doormat of a mother.  I loved that about her.  She had her own personality that was NOTHING like mine and that was the best part.  She was a tom-boy through and through.  And no one got in Emily’s way – especially in our family………brother and step-brothers paid quite a price if they pissed her off!  We laugh about it now……..but it wasn’t too funny back then!

I can’t imagine having gone through this life without my Emily.  Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her and miss her terribly.  I’m in Pennsylvania – she’s in New Mexico – is there anything to like about that?  She’s a rock for me – yes she’s my child – but she’s my best friend in only the way mom’s and daughters become when they get older.  No gift could ever surpass this love/relationship between me and my daughter.  I have thanked God over and over and over again for giving me a girl.  He knew what was best for me all along and I have never looked back with regret!

My Emily is now a new mother.  She wanted a house full of boys too!  God has dealt her the same hand He dealt me.  Miss Cailyn Grace is now the life which envelops Emily’s heart (and mine too, once again!).  Emily,  may your heart be filled with all the joy you have given me the last 29 years.  I love you more than you will ever know.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 

My Emily Anne and new baby Cailyn Grace

Posted by: Anne on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 4:19 am
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I am honored when I am brought flowers to preserve from a funeral.  I admit that I get caught up in the stories of the families of the loved one who has passed on.  I’m the type of person that will look at all your pictures even if I don’t know you.  I love pictures…………I don’t care who they belong to.  (more…)

Posted by: Anne on Friday, June 5th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
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My friend Brenda and her sister Karen are hosting a girl’s night out this coming Monday at Steamers in New Castle and it would be great to see you there!!   (more…)

Posted by: Anne on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 7:09 am
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I AM SOOOOOOO EXCITED!  Anne Bruening Originals has been going through an “upgrade”.  What does this mean?  It means I’ve been searching for better ways to preserve my flowers, new items for my clients, and an all around appeal to all.  (more…)

Posted by: Anne on Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 at 7:42 am
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Lord, I am a dream waiting to be found. Please wake me from my slumber so that I may come true." A. Bruening

Do you have a dream?  I know I do.  I’ve had it for almost 20 years.  It appears that I forgot all about that though!  Life tends to rob us of our dreams………or does it?  I think it’s more that we allow what happens to us in life to rob us of our dreams.  If you read enough self-help books (my specialty I admit) – you know that it’s our reactions to the daily grind that make or break us. (more…)

Posted by: Anne on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 9:44 am
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Do I LOVE floral preservation?  Absolutely I do!  To me there is something very spiritual about holding Gods’ creation in your hand that you have been able to save for someone.  Unfortunately I can not do this 24 hours a day as I wish I could do.  I have more than one trade, the other being the “music” side of me.  (more…)

Posted by: Anne on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 9:26 am
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FINALLY!!!  An incredibly beautiful weekend in New Wilmington, PA!  We don’t get these that often.  It’s always rainy or cloudy.  Sometimes I feel like we live in London, only without the beauty or fun of being overseas.  We need these kind of days to get through the rough ones when they hit.  God surely has created a very beautiful world indeed.  And if you had a wedding this weekend you certainly had a beautiful one beyond measure.  I’ve got the silica gel in the oven awaiting your bouquet!!!

Enjoy this wonderful Sunday OUTSIDE!  Get off the computer and go have a picnic!

Blessings,

Anne

Posted by: Anne on Sunday, April 26th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
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I don’t want to lie to you.  Floral Preservation is not cheap though it varies from one preservation type to another.  Keep in mind that no matter how it’s done it is labor intensive for great care is taken to provide the nicest keepsake with something that you value deeply.  (more…)

Posted by: Anne on Saturday, April 25th, 2009 at 8:30 am
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It is April 7, 2009.  Here in Pennsylvania we woke up to snow – and whether we liked it or not – we were forced into wearing hats and gloves or freeze being stubborn pretending it might be Spring outside.  I’m getting a little cranky.  (more…)

Posted by: Anne on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
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