Happy Birthday To Me!

I know it sounds selfish to say "Happy Birthday" to me, but "Happy Birthday to Me! There I said it! My mom always tells the story that I was supposed to be born on Valentine's Day, February 14th, and that her and my father were going to name me Valentino. Can you just imagine: Valentino Verreos? There is already the great Italian couturier, Valentino Garavani, and there could never be two Valentinos. Although "VV" could make a good insignia for purses and sunglasses I have to say!

According to my parents, there was a snow storm in St. Louis ,Missouri, where I was born and my dad was en route from Washington DC (he worked for the US State Department as a Diplomat) as soon as she went into labor. I was born a day early, on the 13th and not named Valentino. I was named after my Godfather (and Uncle) Nick. For the last year, he has had to deal with people calling him thinking they were talking to me, since we have the same name. Sorry Uncle Nick.

On a side note: We just received some fabulous photos of my designs, taken by Los Angeles-based photographer Mark Oberlin www.markoberlin.com. One of which, shows the model in one of my gunmetal-colored taffeta gowns with the Athenian Parthenon in the background. It could almost be an ad for NIKOLAKI! The other photo shows one of my striped silk taffeta wrap dresses that is sold at EMc2 in New York City. For my Birthday, I am giving you guys a sneak peak of the shoot . There are a lot more photos where this came from and I will post them in the future. Hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day and make sure to hug and kiss someone you love!