This weekend was very exciting for me. One of my favorite clients is Natalie Punto, who happens to be married to WORLD SERIES champ Nick Punto, second baseman of the St. Louis Cardinals. She arranged to have a set of shirts made for each Cardinal wife to wear during the playoffs and World Series.
I don’t watch baseball. In fact, I never watched any sporting events until I married an NFL football player. Now our lives are completely immersed in football. So for me to actually sit down to watch an MLB game is saying something. For me to stay awake until midnight to watch the entire game is REALLY SAYING SOMETHING! (I was always the first person to fall asleep at slumber parties.) But the lack of sleep was so worth it. To get to see Bella Artistry designs all over the field after their win was AMAZING!
The NFL was an easy and natural fit for me because we had so many friends and acquaintances from my husband playing in the league for 13 years with 8 different teams. MLB and the NBA…NOT AS EASY! But God opened the doors for me there as well. We have been growing exponentially in those leagues, but it was a long time coming. Making the shirts for her was no small feat either. The first set of 22 shirts we had to make in 2 workdays (16 hours), with each shirt taking 1.5 hours to make. It was quite the scene here at Bella during that time!
Natalie has been part of the Punto family for many years, well before she connected with Nick. In High School she was Nick’s sister’s best friend. Shortly after graduation she and Nick became an item. After his first rookie season in the major leagues Natalie flew to Minnesota to help Nick pack up after the season. Little did she know she was in training for the life of a MLB player‘s wife…..they have since had to pack up and move 24 times!!! 3 moves per season per year and he‘s been in the big leagues 8 years.
After a terrible flight and starving, all she could think about was food, yet Nick kept insisting they stop at the hotel before eating. A bit peeved she relented and he took her to the hotel where he rented a 2 story suite fully decked out with chocolate covered strawberries and champagne.
At the time, being famished, all she could focus on was the strawberries….not the fact that he had rented a very expensive suite, OR WHY there would be chocolate covered strawberries and champagne in their room.
When he got down on one knee and began telling her he loved her and wanted her to be the mother of his children, she thought he was joking and told him to get off the floor. But once he said he was trying to propose to her and pulled out a diamond ring, she said all she heard after that was “Charlie Brown adult speak”….WAA WAA WAA WAA…
They have now been married for 5 years, and together for 12, and have two adorable little kids – Nicole and Nash, who are two of the cutest Bella Artistry clients, and a third little Punto on the way.
Bella Artistry and I would like to formally congratulate the World Series Champions St. Louis Cardinals!
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Leah J. Miller made her name as a personal designer and custom outfitter to MLB, NBA and NFL families with the launch of Bella Artistry. Known affectionately throughout the professional sports industries as “The Diamond Duchess”, she has been custom tailoring and embellishing the official jerseys and wardrobes of ballers’ significant others and children with Swarovski crystals since 1999. Her designs have been featured in the 2008, 2009, and 2010 HBO Hard Knocks football training camp special as well as the Washington Post, and the Diamond Duchess will make her debut as a Costume Designer this Fall for the ABC-TV drama Ghostbreakers. You can learn more about Bella Artistry and see many of Leah’s creations by clicking here.
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wow, not just an artist, designer and custom clothier, but a columnist now too?? and ur a GREAT writer!!