Life is Good

Having just baptized our new baby and having our oldest son back from up north on a quick break from his sophomore year at UMD, yesterday was a day filled w/ the stuff of life. Kids running and crunching in the leaves and grown-ups talking and laughing about everyday things. It was a good day.
Ahh...the best time of the year is upon us. As shop owners, we find this time to be refreshing as it is so easy to decorate and whoosh the shop into something fun and sometimes even a little unexpected! There is so much nature to decorate w/...mums, pumpkins, hay bales, hydrangea, bittersweet, grapevine and branches. The way our vintage and antique pieces look this time of the year - stunning: old gold and wood decorative frames leaning against a wall, harvest tables w/ mismatched wood chairs pulled around, ironstone platters and old glass cake stands, bowls of chippy croquet balls and 100 yr old ledger books.
Our shop smells fantastic w/ our new soaps just in...oatmeal, twigs & berries and lemon verbena - pure glycerin, rough cut and handmade right here in Iowa. Mix those smells w/ our "signature" coffee ( OK...it's really french vanilla Folgers), and it's like a warm blanket wrapped around 'ya as you walk through the front door. Another new gift item just in is our apple jackets and coffee sleeves done up in the coziest of colors and fibers. Never heard of an apple jacket - they are too darned cute w/ their antique button or rhinestone closures, they will keep your apples from bruising as you brown bag it and well...they are just too darned cute! Great as gifts for teachers and bus drivers and sisters and moms and working women and Sunday school teachers and babysitters and teenagers who do cold lunch...or just gathered in a wooden bowl on the table! I promise pictures to come of all of our gift items in the shop (and hopefully, they won't be blurry pictures like above...I am trying?!).
The new shop hours (Tues thru Fr 1-6pm and Sat 10-3pm) seem to be catching on w/ our seasoned customers as well as new souls that have come through our old doors. We will be making final decisions on our upcoming seasonal celebration tomorrow, and then we will post all the details as well as send out emails and update the website. Just so you know, it has always been hard for Julie and I to bring out Christmas decorations before December...just the way we were brought up to savor each holiday as it comes. But as shop owners, we understand the urgency to begin a little early. So to make up for this, we strive to do Christmas very JB Knacker-like. You will love our themes, colors, vignettes and wonderful gift ideas! Stay tuned for the dates and times of the event and in the meantime, come visit us and checkout all the goodies!!