Sending Smiles ~

Halloween (or the days leading up to it) are always fun at the shop. We dress up, eat, laugh, take pictures and most of all have fun! We even have a contest with prizes. Who will win this year? Perhaps it's the Swine Flu? Or the King of Hearts? Time will tell! Our shop is always busy and boy, it can be a tight fit but most of the time it all works!! In between the madness, there are weddings and deliveries to be made. The Flower Show must go on! It's times like this that I really appreciate my staff (and friends). This year is especially bitter sweet, as we miss Rocio's sister, Reina so much but we still feel her here with us, each and every day. New designer Norman has been a wonderful addition to the Monday Morning team. It's wonderful that he fits right in, even during Halloween because he's in the spirit!! Norman strikes a pose with Sheryl and Rocio!! David always manages to make us laugh. He's been striking funny poses and making me giggle...

Feed Me!! That reminds me of The Little Shop of Horrors! If you've never seen it you must go, it's so funny. Anyway, I got the idea for this blog while watching Cake Boss the other night as he was creating a cake of the shouting "Feed Me" monster. It made me hungry for cake right then and there.  So, onto the blog... people love food. They love eating and so they love sending food as gifts, not to mention receiving them! It's always been amazing to me how many florists don't want to create and delivery gourmet, snack and fruit baskets. We love it. We not only do those but we have been doing a cookie arrangement for over 20 years that is very popular and thank goodness, the cake baker sends an "extra" cookie for us now and then. Yum!! And no disrespect to the Cake Boss (you are my hero) but we even do cakes. Add some balloons and the party begins! We all have people in our lives that we have no idea what to get them. Maybe it's their birthday...

Have you ever noticed how seeing a particular color can affect your mood? As a child I remember the ride home from my Aunt and Uncles house every Christmas Eve. Driving down through the city (they live in Bergen County, NJ) the homes we passed were decorated with tons of shiny bright lights. Some were all red, some were multicolored and some were even all green but my favorite was always the homes with all blue lights. Seeing those homes always made me feel warm, relaxed and happy. I always wondered, what type of lovely people lived in those glowing houses. Why had they chosen all blue and did they know how beautiful they were to me. All through a childs eyes those colors caused strong feelings. I get goose bumps just thinking about! I would mention to my parents how lovely I thought those colors were. But every year my mother would say "Oh the blue makes me so depressed, why do people light their houses all in blue. It's dreadful". Each year I ...

Something you may not know about me is that I actually have a degree in Management. How hysterical is that? Anyone that knows me knows that I'd rather be your friend than your boss but that being said, they don't call me a slave driver for nothing! Just today, in my usual floral orchestrating way, I had at least 6 employees running here and there doing this and that. Is that what being a boss is? I guess so, if the goal is to get stuff done. Of that, I'm the Queen. Even when I used to work for others you often heard "Hey, give that to Georgianne, she'll get it done quick". In an instant, I can formulate in my head multiple things that need to be done and best determine the way to not only get them done but get them done in record time, with as few physcial movements as possible. You may laugh but if you've ever been in the shop to see me in action, I can walk around the shop doing 10 things at once, all while just doing one big loop. They don't call...

Can flowers be a symbol of success? I say a resounding YES! Have you ever been to a beautiful restaurant and noticed that they have fresh flowers on their front counter or even at every table? Those flowers need to be replaced at least once a week but each week that restaurants pays for them for their space. Why? Simple, people love flowers. Flowers are a symbol of freshness and success. Businesses having trouble paying their staff, rent or other bills don't  buy flowers. Let's be honest, all businesses would love to have fresh flowers in their lobby but not all can afford them. In that way, flowers are a sign of financial success. I remember reading a statement made by Carley Roney, Co-Founder of TheKnot.com which was "with flowers, you get what you pay for" and boy, that is so true. Case in point, this weekend we had 8 weddings and various other parties that we were hired to create floral centerpieces for. We had every price point from $30 to $125! Wow, wha...

Today, after meeting with a bride and groom in the office,  I ran down to the Princeton shop to see the window display that Sheryl was creating. I knew she had been waiting for our Wizard of Oz containers to arrive from Teleflora and wanted to decorate one of the windows with them. Anyone that knows Sheryl knows she loves the Wizard of Oz!! She also loves her job of keeping our windows seasonal and updated for both of the shops. I love the thought that she puts into these windows, even working from home as she did creating the "yellow brick road" for this theme.  As usual she did an outstanding job and I was anxious to get a couple of cute photos showing her handy work. While I was taking the photos, two young boys came riding by on their bikes. As they rode by, they obviously noticed the "Oz" window display and prompty (and quite alarmingly) applied their breaks!! Actually, they scared the .... out of me. How cool was that? Here were young boys, probably about 10...