I hate bad news. So it’s really great when we get word of good things happening to people in Boca Raton.
I got an email around Thanksgiving from our good friend, Lynn Laurenti, who reported that daughter Susanna has presented her with a second grandchild – this one a granddaughter named Maizie.
“The Klein-Laurenti-Weiser clan has a lot to be thankful for this year as we welcome Maizie! She arrived on Sunday, Nov. 18, and she weighed in at 7 pounds, one ounce.” She said Susanna was able to have a normal pregnancy after giving birth to her first child, Gavin, by Caesarean section.
By the way, Lynn Klein Laurenti is special assistant to President Mary Jane Saunders at Florida Atlantic University. Susanna was a fellow reporter at the Boca Raton News in the “good old days.” Both are wonderful friends — and great writers, I might add.
Gavin had some potentially serious health problems when he was born, but the family got through it with tears, strength and courage. Lynn said Maizie also had some troubles in the start. She spent three days under observation in the Neonatal ICU.
“She had an EKG and an echocardiogram, both of which turned out normal, thank God,” said Lynn. “Susanna and Ed (Weiser) brought her home — and I got to spend a little time with her when she was fully awake. I had visited with her two times earlier when she was in the NICU, but she was groggy both times.”
“She’s incredibly alert for a newborn baby! She looks directly at you with her bright little eyes, turns her head to get a better look around, waves her arms, etc. Right now, she has blue eyes and blondish hair. I’m in love all over again!”
In her typically humorous manner, Lynn proclaimed: “Maizie’s full name is (sound of trumpets, please) Maizie (because Susanna and Ed love the name and it starts with the same letter as Marsha, which is Ed’s mother’s name), Hope (so she’ll have hope all her life), Gwendolynn (because my name is at the end of it) Weiser. We have a long history in our family of giving kids four names.”
Happy belated Thanksgiving to all of you.
Here’s another piece of good news about Boca Raton native and wildly popular singer and actress Ariana Grande and her work on the Nickelodeon Network.
The 19-year-old is taking her character of Cat Valentine from the Nickelodeon show, “Victorious” to a new series on the same network. She is teaming up with Jennette McCurdy (“Sam Puckett” on “iCarly”) for a new show tentatively called “Sam & Cat.” The story will follow the girls when they move in together as roommates and start a babysitting business to rake in some extra cash. “You know the Nick routine — there’s an awesome supporting cast, and of course, lots of crazy hijinks ensue,” says the Huffington Post.
I’m hoping to get an interview with Ariana when she’s in town again – whenever that may be. I’ve been in touch with her grandmother, Marge, a good friend of Henrietta, Countess de Hoernle. The Countess is waiting patiently to read about the musical phenom. (If you want to see her, check YouTube for the video of “Put Your Hearts Up,” it’s a great song.)
Here’s something I didn’t know. Jennette and Ariana have nearly four million Twitter followers between the two of them, so it’s no surprise the news of the show has begun trending worldwide.
If you are reading this, Ariana – and I can’t think of any reason why you shouldn’t. Denny’s is offering a new special: Red velvet Pancake Puppies. Readers, you’ll just have to figure that out (Hint: Check her hair color).