Fall Parties

Have you planned your fall and halloween party yet? If not, it's time! We have so many great invitations for your event - don't you think? And the really cool part is that all these invitations are 10% off until October 15th! We will even get them printed for you ... fast!

Wednesday

Day No. 265

Sunday, September 21, 2008 was the 265th day of 2008. It was a beautiful, midwestern Sunday afternoon and we snuck in some great family time. In the morning, we took in a fall festival at a local church within walking distance from our home. Kids loved the bouncy houses, free lemonade and even the pony rides, though that took a little persuasion.



After a quick nap, we went down to the Plaza Art Fair - always one of my favorite events in Kansas City. There are truly so many talented people in this country! Some of my favorites: amanda blake - oil paintings , heinrich toh, dylan strzynski, John Petrey, who makes these amazing dresses - my daughters loved them, as did I - what fun!

Anyway, it was a great way to end the weekend - and a great way to end the summer. We will miss the warm afternoons, swimming pools, barbeque outside, etc., but, as always, we are so looking forward to fall.

Photos - Eden and Clara Jane on their first pony ride, Davis showing the girls how it is done and Clara Jane at the Art Fair - yes, she is covering her ears - the Art Fair always has great outdoor concerts and lots of places to sit outside and eat - she does not like loud noises - makes it hard to eat a hamburger with your hands on your ears! They are cute, aren't they?

Carrie Bradshaw goes Fishing

Okay - so we are trying something new. We decided to take on the challenge of decorating a table for Kansas City's American Royal Tablescapes event. This is a small challenge being that we don't sell flowers, plates, glassware, etc.

Anyway, the event is a luncheon and it begins tomorrow (following a preview party held earlier this evening). Some items featured on our table...Jon Hart, Fontaine Maury, Heather Moore, Preppy Cards, MJK Knits, Meri-Meri, Anna Griffin, just to name a few. Hope all the folks at our table can appreciate our "Carrie Bradshaw goes Fishing" theme. We thought it was kitschy and cute! What do you think?

Work Hard & Be Nice To People

This, is our mission! This is what we are all about and what a business like ours needs to be about. We know we can never stop looking for exciting, new products, but we can not assume that by having new products we can turn our back on the level of customer service we provide - they go hand-in-hand. So if you need something in a hurry, or out of the ordinary or you just don't know what you want - ask us, we'll help! We don't know any other way.

VOTE - or at least celebrate the right to!

We did up this fun window for the store this week! Don't you love it? Everyone in our shop favors a different candidate, so we thought it was important to just encourage people to Vote - or at least celebrate the right to! So if you want to throw a party on November 4, 2008 - stop in for some great invites, napkins, favor ideas, etc. Go Democracy!

Want to register to vote - visit JustVote

Some interesting stats found in the October 2008 Women's Health ...

Percentage of women who say it's OK for celebs to endorse candidates: 61
Why: It's their right.

How the Average Woman keeps track of the candidates: TV news
What she's likely to watch:
Today, Good Morning America, or The Daily Show with John Stewart

Percentage of registered women voters who say they'd like to see a female commander-in-chief in their lifetime: 69

Political issue the Average Woman currently considers most important:
the economy
How she'd jump-start it: with lower gas prices

Presidential candidate who gets the Average Woman's "sexiest" vote:
John F. Kennedy

Title the Average Woman thinks would best fit a female president's husband: First Gentleman

Interesting, huh! For more facts, check out this month's Women's Health

Inspired Dining

Today I was searching for some ideas for the shop. I stopped in Anthropologie - a great source for inspiration, and came across this amazing tablescape. I love the black and white colors, the fine pencil lines and the great gold edge - also love the mug. It comes in green and all black and white. Don't you think the peacock feather pattern would make a great envelope lining?

Have a great weekend. All our prayers go out to the folks in Galveston and Houston as they wait out Ike.

Tie One On

We are getting all kinds of new holiday things everyday. However, I think our favorite packages to open are the ones that have wrapping paper and ribbon...inside! Ironic isn't it! We just received this great assortment of ribbon from Strano Designs! What happy holiday colors, stripes and dots. We have so much fun holiday wrapping and ribbon this year - shouldn't your perfect gift have the perfect holiday wrap!

The pencils - we think we will tie them into a bow on top of a package- just that perfect extra touch!

A Day Off

So we needed a day off today. We just felt the need to escape the stuff we (my twin daughters and myself) do everyday - run, check e-mail, grocery shop, color, eat lunch, nap, do laundry, etc. So, we went to Lawrence, Kansas, home of Kansas University and the 2008 National Champion Kansas Jayhawks. Secretly, well not so secretly anymore, I have always wanted to call Lawrence home - and today was picture perfect. It was a perfect 65 degrees under a cloudless blue sky and we spent four hours strolling the downtown area and hanging out at the park.

Lawrence has some truly unique locally owned shops and when I get a chance I love to see what other retail owners are doing. We stopped at Sunflower Outdoor and Bike Shop - I am in the market for a road bike as I would like to try my hand at a Half-Ironman next summer. We looked around and left with a great t-shirt for Davis, some new water bottles for Eden and Clara (now maybe they will leave mine alone) and these way cool sunglasses for kids - Julbo! Love them - and my girls look so cute!

After that we went in search of our Halloween costumes - my daughters want to be Kansas Jayhawk cheerleaders for Halloween. We found some really cute outfits at The Jock's Nitch (funny name - great store) along with Jayhawk hair bows and a quarterback jersey for Davis. After that, we stopped at The Blue Dandelion a great children's clothing store and picked up some of the Tea Collection - Daily Tea line. If you have kids and they have not worn this line - they should. It fits great, washes well and is so darn cute!

Of course, the trip would not have been complete without some homemade lemonade and gummi alphabet letters from Pennie Annie, a trip to The Toy Store (I think we overstayed our welcome), some lunch and an hour at the park.

We had a blast, Eden and Clara napped on the drive home, and we picked up Davis right on time - feeling a little less stressed than when we dropped him off. I highly recommend some good quality time away from the routine - if you can get it. Oh, one more thing - I noticed, or should I say, I failed to notice. Where is the paper shop? If you read this and are interested - give us a call!

A Million Dollars

What would I do with a million dollars? After I gave a big chunk of it away - I would move my tiny little stationery store out of its current location to a big, bright airy space - I might even consider my own building (that way I wouldn't have to deal with other crazy tenants) - right next to a Dean & Deluca somewhere! We would have fabulous wedding and design events all the time. This space would have refurbished hardwood floors and windows everywhere. We would have tons of room for all the products we love, but can't carry because we don't have room! In the meantime, I will keep purchasing lottery tickets, picking up lost pennies on the street and searching out design ideas for the space I will one day have! Trust me I do love my shop - we all have days!

Here is one of those ideas - since what we do is all about letters - I think I would paint (hire someone to paint) a great border all the way around the top of my new space - lots of letters, words, abbreviations, etc. Of course, this would be above all my really great windows!