Thursday, May 28, 2009

Father's Day early warning!

We have some great cards and gifts for Father's Day (which is June 21st this year), but you should come and get them now, as the store will be closed June 18-22. I will be spending that time with my own father (and mother) at our family farm's 140th anniversary celebration in South Dakota.

This is a picture of my dad back in his modeling days. . . This is the only picture you will find of my dad wearing a cardigan. Or smoking a pipe.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

New Games for Older Kids (and one for little ones)









I just got in a shipment from Gamewright. These award-winning card games were recommended to me by a customer (hello, Geralyn!) and her two boys (ages 7 & 9). She said the games are great because adults as well as kids enjoy playing them, and some of them can be played in 12 minutes or less. All but one of them are made in the USA.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

It was recyling weekend for us!

I come from a long line of people who save things "just in case", so it was no surprise when we started to clean out our garage this weekend that we found a lot of stuff that we haven't looked at or needed in quite awhile.

There was an old TV (soon to be rendered obsolete by the high definition changeover June 12th, and it doesn't work anyhow). I think my tinkering husband thought that maybe he could fix it. Well, he didn't, so we went online and found out that Best Buy will recycle old televisions. So we threw it in the van.

Also there was an old computer desk that we never liked and hardly used. Threw that in the van, too. We took that to Goodwill. The attendant there saw the TV and said they aren't taking those, but we told him we were taking it to Best Buy and that he should refer people there if they try to donate one. They're within a mile of each other, so I think it wouldn't be a problem for people. We also had a bunch of spent batteries, which Best Buy also took.

Other things we found we listed on Freecycle.com, or gave in response to posts on there. I have found that people will take almost anything you post on that site. That's how I get rid of all my shipping boxes for the store. There's always somebody moving! Later Sunday evening a lady from a local veteran's group called to see if we had any clothing to donate--that they were going to be in our neighborhood today. So there's a bag of clothes on our porch right now. It feels good to get rid of stuff that you're not using! And I'm hoping that there's a karmic payback for not holding on to my "just in case" crap. If I ever need anything, I will post it on Freecycle under wanted.

Friday, May 15, 2009

The 3/50 project

Click on the following logo to read some important information on shopping local and keeping your favorite businesses around. It all makes sense, and if we all do it, think what an impact it would make on our communities! I have several devoted customers (you know who you are) who I'm sure already know this--in fact it was a customer who brought my attention to this website!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Bloom-n-Zoom time again!

Saturday May 9th is the Bloom-n-Zoom in the Depot District. There will be plenty of plants and flowers and hanging baskets for all your bloomin' needs. This year it's on Windsor Avenue between Grove and Kenilworth Avenues (a mere stone's throw away from my store). It goes from 8am - 2pm (or until they run out of plants). I'll be open at 9 (maybe before that--we'll see how it goes. . .).





I've got Mother's Day cards (even ones from the dog and the cat), new candles, new jewelry, and all the regular stuff too. I've gotten in all sizes of the Berwyner T-shirts, as well, so come on over and get something for Mom (or yourself)!





Here are a couple of the new candles I just made this morning: