Sending Smiles ~

Well, better late than never to mention that it's Boss's Week and it ends tomorrow. Never heard of the holiday? Well, you might think it was invented by Hallmark but actually it was "invented" by  Patricia Bays Haroski. She registered "National Boss' Day" with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 1958. She was working as a secretary for State Farm Insurance Company in Deerfield, Illinois at the time and chose October 8 because she forgot that the birthday of her boss, who was her father, was actually on the 16th. Four years later, in 1962, Illinois Governor  Otto Kerner  backed Haroski's registration and officially proclaimed the day. So there you have it! Boss's Day is October 16th but here at our shops we celebrate it the whole week and believe it or not, it's quite a busy week for us. With all those employees out there that who appreciate everything their Boss does for them (even I get Boss's Day gifts every year), it's the perfect

Ok, don't laugh! Yes, there is a holiday known as Boss's Day. According to Wikipedia  Boss's Day (also known as Bosses Day or National Boss Day) is a secular holiday celebrated on October 16 in the United States. It has traditionally been a day for employees to thank their boss for being kind and fair throughout the year. The history of Boss's Day is that Patricia Bays Haroski registered "National Boss' Day" with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 1958. She was working as a secretary for State Farm Insurance Company in Deerfield, Illinois at the time and chose October 16 because she forgot that the birthday of her boss, who was her father, was actually on the 16th. Four years later in 1962, Illinois Governor Otto Kerner backed Haroski's registration and officially proclaimed the day. National Boss' Day has become an international celebration in recent years and now is observed in countries such as Australia, India and South Africa and very recen

Honestly, I'm not much of a contest person myself but when it comes to doing fun things to get your business noticed, especially during these economic times, there's nothing like a contest to shake things up. I've been told that there are people out there that will join a contest like they cheer for their favorite sports teams and that seems to be true! Anyway, our designer Dena came up with an idea to have a contest asking people to submit pictures that show their holiday spirit. There are three different categories in all and each one has it's own prize. It's still early in the game but the most popular category by far is the "Dress Your Pet for the Holidays". I'm not surprised that this category has the most pictures flooding in because quite frankly, it's still early enough in December that people don't quite have their homes decorated but by golly, they can dress up Fido in a flash!! These adorable pets have been melting our hearts and ma

Family Time. What is that exactly? I know most people think in terms of mothers spending time with daughters, fathers with sons, brothers and sisters getting together, the whole shebang but to me Family Time means spending time with people who are important to me. You hear a lot about Family Time during the holidays and those of us with shrinking or small families, it can make us feel a bit like an orphan. Anyone who has read my past blogs knows that I find most holidays to be stressful and sad. I've tried to figure out why that is and I guess it comes down to the fact that a lot of the people in my life that were important to me are no longer living but it's more than that. With down time so hard to come by combined with proximity being an issue, it seems like it gets harder and harder to spend time with the people that I care about. Then comes the pressure of trying to find time to see all these important people during the holidays, it's enough to make any florist weep. L