Sending Smiles ~

It's that time of year. Can you believe it's less than 2 weeks to Christmas ? It's warm outside today as I write this but it's very festive and wintry at the shop. Here's a peek into our world this month! This morning I added a table of gift ideas and stocking stuffers under $10. Candy, nuts and cookies along with ornaments, mugs, figurines and more.   This week's $5 Friday were winter bouquets of carnations, thistle berries and baby's breath.   We still have lots of Christmas signs, boxwood trees and wreaths.   Today we made a star arch for an awards breakfast.  We just got in some new jewelry like this stone necklace for only $9.99  Gold mercury glass is all the rage and we have them in different shapes and sizes.   It's the time of year when Bling is In!   Lots and lots of poinsettia's waiting to be delivered in the drivers ramp.   On December 7th we hosted a holiday centerpiece design class and the ladies...

Designer Norman finally got the front of our shop decorated for the season and we are thinking he did a mighty fine job. Pine and Laurel Garland really make for a festive outline and a few wreaths with bright red ribbons make the shop stand out from the street. We've started taking orders for the holidays and so far we are noticing centerpieces and decorated boxwood trees seem to be the most popular floral gifts. Be sure to check out all our new arrangements on our website at www.sendingsmiles.com . We also brought in an extensive line of Decorative Gifts such as pillow and ornaments along with fun gift items such as coffee mugs, wine glasses, platters and more. Don't forget our line of jewelry and also our gourmet items such as chocolates, poinsettias and stuffed animals . We also have fresh evergreen wreath and grave blankets for sale.  Don't forget that we deliver 7 days a week and we can also handle your "Out of Town" orders for those folks who liv...

Just a quickie blog to say Happy Holidays to all our customer, family, friends and "Blog" readers. We wish for you health, happiness and a prosperous 2011 from all of us at Monday Morning Flower and Balloon Co!

Have you heard? Have you heard the word? Saturday, November 27th is Small Business Saturday. What is this you wonder? Small Business Saturday is a day to support the local businesses that create jobs, boost the economy and preserve neighborhoods around the country. Small Business Saturday is a national movement to drive shoppers to local merchants across the U.S. Saturday, we urge you to shop small, shop often and shop local. Not all floral delivery sites online are local florists. We urge you to use "Local Florists" who actually arrange and deliver flowers direct from their shops. Unsure if someone you want to order flowers through is local? Check out their About Us page, check out their address. Is there a address local? Do they even show their address? If not, please find a shop that does. Society of American Florists hosts a great directory at   http://nationalfloristdirectory.com/ We hope to see you Saturday!!

Let's face it, if you are in retail, your life is very hard during the holidays. Just as the office people are getting time off to go shopping and cook, those of us working retail are working long hours with little sleep and socializing. But that being said, we do manage to find some time to have some fun and goof off. Even Kevin and I, who work more than our employees (to the tune of 80 hours + at this time of year), still manage to see friends, go Christmas light looking, eat out and go to the mall. Hard to believe, but true! This past weekend our area got about 14 inches of snow. The staff all dug out and made it in safely and the flower production began!! Today Sheryl started the transition of the window displays from Christmas to Winter. Why so early? Mainly because we have sold so much of our Christmas product, there is nothing to display in the window! That's a good thing being over the next two days, the Christmas product must roll out and make room for Valentine...

Well, this years Holiday Event held here at the Princeton Forrestal Village this past Saturday was a huge success! I'm not sure of the exact numbers but it was in the thousands. Everything was free again - cider, hot chocolate, carolers, ballet dancers performing the Nutcracker, carriage rides, balloon animals, crafts for the kids, clowns, pictures with Santa and strolling characters. The night was fairly mild and all the stars were out. These funny guys were so much fun! The kids loved them! The horses were a huge hit again and the lines were long but people patiently waited their turn! We gave out over 600 free helium balloons! Sheryl had a constant line of children and I literally stood blowing up balloons for 2 and half hours!! Our shop was decked out for the holiday. We had a free wine tasting, a drawing for a huge gourmet basket and surprise discounts for our customers! Customers were snatching up plants, ornaments and wreaths. We even saw a few of our regular ...

Well, here it is, the day before the day before Thanksgiving and I'm stealing a bit of time away from the sales and design floor to do another, much anticipated "Scenes from the Shop". What? It's not much anticipated? Well, regardless, I'm not offended, nor am I bashful about posting some pics!! hehehehe Shop Coordinator Sheryl surprised me with fantastic Winter Themed windows when I returned from my Jamaica vacation. Now that I think about it, was she just rubbing it in? I'm not so sure! Welcome to the North Pole! This year the Holiday Theme at the shop is relaxed and fun. Stuffed animals, Santas and other less formal products seem to be our trend this year. I hope the shopping public agrees!! Kevin walks the coolers before the begin of the busy day while I snap some shops of the new decorated tree. Snowmen, santa, moose and other cuddy toys welcome shoppers into the store! The candy bouquets all lined up and ready to go! Melissa did a great job w...