Ann Nyberg walked into Peonies yesterday with a tiny camera and a huge smile. The kind of smile that makes you feel like you’ve known her forever. In fact, we had only recently ‘met’ Ann when she  ”fanned” our store on Facebook. Still we felt like we had already known her for years; she’s one of our faves at News Channel 8.

Ann is a lighthouse of optimism and hope: she believes in Connecticut, she believes in its people, and she’s on a mission to connect and spread the word.  She’s doing this, in part, by discovering what’s really going on in Connecticut and thus helping get the word out about all of the “wonderous things by people who are driven by sheer determination to just figure it out and go on.” She is excited about all of the positive things that are happening, in spite of the (ugh) economy.

Ann is recording what she sees and learns on her new blog, Annie Mame, about all things brilliant and wonderful in the state of Connecticut. (The name of her blog comes from one of her favorite movies, “Auntie Mame” which starred the late Rosiland Russell, a native of Waterbury.) One of our favorite posts from Ann is a piece called Art at Murray Pond, a great place we might not have known about otherwise. We are sooooooo going there, and a shout out to Ann for the head’s up.

It was a great visit. Ann seemed really interested in us, in the store, and in the future vitality of Peonies (as she is interested in the health of all small businesses in CT). She wanted to know why we designed the shop the way we did. What was our biggest surprise? How long had we known one another (33 years! yikes!) Did we have a good numbers person?

Huh? A good numbers person? Nope, Ann wasn’t being nosy;  she just wants to take her learnings and help others succeed. She says we’re in the ”Great Era of Entrepreneurship”, hence her meetings and writings about the many people she’s discovering who are reinventing who they are and what they do right here in CT. That’s one of the reasons she visited the shop.

We happily discovered we all have a lot in common: anything that sparkles! Vintage! Shopping at Target! And beyond the bling to what we really care about: we are strong supporters of Child & Family. The arts (Ann’s a trustee for the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center and Theater in old Saybrook. And we’re all nuts about connecting with fun, interesting people (Ann, we suspect, is a one-woman party!) Her enthusiasm for life, and for people, is infectious.

We loved Ann the minute she walked into Peonies (and not just because she walked out of Peonies with some great merch, we thank her truly for her purchases). What did Ann buy? Well, that’s her secret to share (you’ll never coax personal details from us, not about anyone.)

But now that we know this loving mom, we suspect she probably won’t mind if we tell you she took home a drop-dead gorgeous vintage dress with a sheer top and killer beadwork for one of her twin daughters. And she popped for a pair of crystal earrings that are, well,  to die for.

Ann Nyberg’s heart, it seems, is even bigger than her ready smile.

~ Pam and Laurel