Sending Smiles ~

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

I really love the change of the seasons and apparently so does everyone else if the amount of party orders coming in is any indication! Sweet Sixteens, Surprise Birthdays and Anniversaries parties are coming in hot and heavy right now. It's always fun working with clients on these types of parties because they are not so huge an event that it's overwhelming but they sure are milestones worth celebrating. Most of the hotels and banquet halls we work at are beautiful but it sure does make the event more festive to decorate the space. Balloons and flowers are still the main staples of special event decor and themes are always fun. With Cinderella themed showers, masked ball sweet sixteens and mardi gras birthday parties how could we ever be bored! Remember, life is short and there's always a good excuse to throw a party!!

Who doesn't like to see their name in print? Well, as long as it's not in the tabloids, I'm all for it! It's always a compliment to me and my business to have a publication interested enough in what we do to ask us about ourselves or how we conduct our business. Back in the old days, when I was voted "young careerist 1991" by a local women's business organization (how quaint was that), it was an amazing thing for me or my business to be highlighted in the local newspaper. My personal favorite was the 1992 edition of "Business for Central Jersey" who highlighted me as "Someone to Watch" that year. How relieved I was when the next year they followed up with me and I was still in business and not in jail! You may laugh but one of the people they followed was arrested for something bad and a couple had gone belly up! Wow!! I was doing ok, thank goodness. Every month or so, we do seem to be in this magazine or that paper and this month is n

As you may know by now, I've recently purchased a new camera. Oh my poor staff. I hunt them down and photograph them all day long! One of the things I'm really enjoying about my new toy is the ability to get really great detail shots. I know that I'm a florist, yes, true but I am also a lover of anything beautiful and flowers are beautiful. Those of us that get to work with them day in and day out are extremely lucky. As floral designers we get to touch them, smell them, look at them up close and how awesome is that? Yes, flowers eventually die but so do all living things. What an amazing gift to enjoy them when they are here. Yes, wedding flowers are for the day but they will be forever immortalized in both photos and memories. Yes, your house may be nicely decorated but isn't it wonderful to have lovely, colorful flowers as accents here and there. Bring living "things" into the home transform the air and the mood. Yes, I may be a florist, and yes I'm on

This past Saturday, Kevin and I were able to leave work a bit early and head out into the sun for a bit of fun at Silver Decoy Winery. Our friend was throwing his wife a surprise party compete with family, friends, food, flowers and fun!! My hubby enjoys the sun as we walk among the vines at the winery. For those who are not aware, New Jersey has many wonderful vineyards and makes fantastic wine. Remember, keep it local whenever possible by supporting the businesses close to your home! These smiley face and latex balloons were a colorful addition to the tent. I love the look on the children's faces when they see these flying gems. Who doesn't smile when they are faced with such a funny image! Baskets of summer flowers seemed to be appreciated by all. Daisies, roses, lisianthus and statice in a white washed basket - so cute! Who doesn't love a few blooms now and then! It was fun walking among the vines and don't tell anyone, but I tried many of the grapes and they we

There's a few things I'm learning about myself as the years roll on. One is that I'm not liking getting old, but hey, who does! I'm also learning that I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Hm, my husband says in my line of work it's a good thing but I think my poor employees would say other wise. But, onto the point of this blog... I'm noticing that I look at everything around me as if I were taking a picture. What's the lighting? What are the colors and how do they look together? What's the composition? Is there something in the way of making my "picture" perfect? I remember one time when my Event Coordinator David came back from setting up a wedding and proudly showed me the pictures he took. Now, mind you, this is on a tiny screen, not on a big computer. I did my usual, "These are great David, wonderful shots, except there's an exit sign in this one, this one is too back lit, the angle makes the flowers looks crooked and this one... loo

You gotta love the summer. There is nothing like being able to take a little time off from work (if you are lucky enough to do so), sit back and relax with a good book. I read three books this summer, which is a lot for me being I did not get to take a formal vacation this year. I love girlie books that are not quite romance novels but they are the kind of books that get made into movies such as "Bridget Jone's Diary" and "The Shopaholic". A few of us at the shop ended up swapping books back and forth, which made it even more fun because we could talk about the books together. It became sort of our own Book Exchange. That's when I got the idea to start a Book Exchange within our Yardley shop. For anyone that has been to our PA location, you can see right away that has a "home town" feel to the environment and customers become friends. The Town Center has all the hometown trappings such as a cleaners, wine store, pizza place, a hair salon and of cou