By day, she is a communications specialist working flex-time for a very busy strategic marketing firm in Avon, CT. At Williams and House, Marylou Domian helps to publish two blogs, manages a mountainous media contacts database, and keeps her team organized. Whew. But when 2:30 pm rolls around each afternoon, you can find this Southington, CT resident doing what most Mom’s do.

Either she’s zooming around to get Zach, her 9-year old, off to baseball, basketball (or whatever sport is presently in season), or shuttling Shane, 8, to a meeting with the school nurse or maybe hockey. Or you can spot Marylou rushing to put dinner on the table for the boys before the pilates class she hosts once a week at her home. Sounds normal, right?

Indeed, the Domian’s life was ‘normal’ until Shane was diagnosed with Juvenile/Type 1 diabetes at the age of three. This type of diabetes strikes suddenly, making children dependent on injected insulin for life. It also carries the constant threat of devastating complications. Marylou and her husband Mike, a real estate developer, had to immediately learn how to deliver insulin injections, check blood sugar levels, and measure carbohydrates every time Shane ate a meal. It was then the Domian’s committed to raising money for JDRF, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Each fall, the Domian’s (well, ok, mostly Marylou) organize a team to participate in the JDRF Walk for the Cure (see Shane’s page, here). Marylou also organizes a Spring fundraiser, this year raising more than $5,000. All told, the Domian’s have raised upwards of $30,000. This is important work: JDRF is the leading charitable funder and advocate of type 1 (juvenile) diabetes research worldwide. Its mission is to find a cure.

Marylou, we send you a virtual toast with your favorite bubbly, Mionetto Prosecco. You are inspiring.

~ Pam and Laurel

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This Peonista’s eclectic taste spans the gamut from J.Crew to Anthropologie, and from Nordstrom to Silpada. Marylou loves hunting for bargains at TJ Maxx and Peonies. Can you imagine anyone being a more perfect fit for the Trina Turk pink dress we featured when the shop first opened? Marylou’s wearing it here (with her favorite summer scent, Carolina Hererra).

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Peonistas is a series of short profiles on smart women—women who somehow manage to find time to do extraordinary things for their families, their friends, their community, and beyond. We’ve met these wonderful Peonistas—fashionable frugalistas— through Peonies: they shop with us, consign with us, and some do both. Know someone who fits that criteria? Email us at happytohelp *at* peoniescouture.com.

Ever since fashion journalist Rachel Raczka wrote about us in her post “Drink Yourself Beautiful,” on NBC CT’s website, everyone’s asking why we call our customers and consignors Peonistas.

Here’s the thing: everyone and everything we love at Peonies, we name—as in nickname.  This has been true since the partners of Peonies first met each other junior year at Avon High School. Laurel was Lou, and Pam, Pammer. Our nicknames for each other have stuck. For 33 years.

The names we create are often tributes of love. Laurel’s happy go lucky cocker spaniel, Murphy, is Murpher Girl. {Murphy is, most certainly, a dear—though she does not surf and does not even like the water, e.g. the bathtub}. Other times she’s Murph Murph. Nicknames may aid our increasingly feeble minds; we call our tech guru Stan the Man because we do not handily recall his proper surname, Kamenskiy (or how to spell it). Sometimes the names we create are pithy descriptors: Laurel’s first SUV was GG, short for Gas Guzzler. Other times the names are wishful thinking: Pam’s second car, Rolls, was sadly not of the Royce family. Many times, the nicknames are out of shear convenience: The UPS guy. Other names simply happen intuitively, like Peonistas.

Peonistas are our devout followers. They are all the women who consign with us and shop with us, follow our weekly updates, request our mailings, join us on Facebook and Twitter.  Many have become our very good friends. So for all you etymologists out there: -Peonies: personalized + high end resale. An -ista: one who follows a principle or is expert at a certain practice. Examples: optimista (“optimist”), fashionista (“fashion forward”), frugalista (“frugal”). And therefore, by extension, Peonista (“happy, fashion-forward, frugal friend of Peonies”).

~ Pam and Laurel