What we’ve been up to lately…
Hey! Hi! Welcome in. Long time no talk. It's been a whirlwind of a few months. Figured today would be a good idea to catch you up on all the things that have happened and that we have coming. So grab your favorite beverage and let's chat.
Back in November (which feels like ages ago), we brought our best selling gift shop collections to the #ShopSmall Holiday Market at Woldhuis Farms Sunrise Greenhouse in Grant Park, IL. It was a busy and bustling Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. It was a lot of fun to bring our brand to a different customer base. We did great and are already scheming some great things to bring in 2025 to that market.
We had a great holiday season in December. So many gifts, stocking stuffers and more went out the door. I am still blown away by the amount of people who shopped small, even for a portion of their gift giving. It truly makes a difference for my family, the families we employ and our community. So thank YOU for a great Christmas season.
We were also able to close the shop and sneak away over Christmas. My side of our family went to Turks & Caicos for 5 days. It was so nice to truly slow down and spend some quality time with just our family of 5 and my side of 17. My mom of course made us wear matching sweatshirts on the way down to the island that read “forced family fun”. All of us received so many compliments and laughs while walking through the airport. Our days consisted of pool hopping, sipping mudslides, eating too much, enjoying the sun and the occasional trip to the beach. Both of our daughters and myself do not like sand, so we kept more to the pools. Our son was doing sand angels instead of the infamous midwest snow angels. The sand did not seem to bother him in the slightest. The highlight of the trip was taking our oldest parasailing. She is a thrill seeker and at just 5 years old, she went up 300 feet in the air with Luke and I over the Atlantic Ocean. It was my favorite part for sure.
After coming home to the cold rainy NWI, we still had a week left of the shop being closed. We spent some time with Luke’s family celebrating a belated Christmas. The rest of the time was devoted to purging and deep cleaning our house. With just opening in May, kids growing out of clothes at a high rate and just being constantly on the go, our house has taken the back seat. It was so nice to get rid of trash and donate things that we no longer need or use. Part of my new year's resolutions is to be more minimal. That was a good start to that resolution.
After just getting settled back into a routine and the kids back at school, I flew down to Dallas for 3 days for the Total Home & Gift Market at Dallas Market Center. The Dallas Market Center is home to 5 million square feet of showroom space. Yes, you read that right. 5 million square feet. My feet can definitely attest to that 5 million square feet. It is home to thousands of businesses and product lines. I was able to spend 2 full days walking around gathering new ideas and products to share with you. Things will start coming soon, so I will keep you in the loop when they come in.
Now I am back and ready to bring the best for Valentine's day. So here are some fun things that we have planned. February 8th from 8am-3pm, we are hosting our Galentine's Day Social. We will have mimosa, light snacks and a few options for you and your girls to choose from. The flower bar will be out and stocked, 10 stems for $20. We will also have a DIY bow garland craft for you to make ($20) and a valentines day vase filler to put your flowers in ($15). There will also be a station for card making for Cards for Kidz. Cards for Kidz is a nonprofit that distributes cards all over the world for people (pediatrics to seniors) in the hospital. My goal is to have 100 cards made by the end of the day. The card making station is complementary and everything will be supplied to make the cards.
Valentine's day preorders start January 20, 2025. Any orders placed between January 20 and February 1 will receive a complimentary gift box with floral sticky notes, magnetic bookmarks and a shower steamer, over $15 of value! Pre orders must be selected to be delivered or picked up February 11-15, 2025. Feel free to send our website over to your significant other to get those pre orders in!
Well that’s all the new and exciting things for now. We are back to our regularly scheduled programming and you’ll hear from me more consistently every 2 weeks. I look forward to chatting with you more consistently this year. And of course, if you or someone you know is looking for a wedding florist you can send them here.
Talk soon!
NK
