A Great Start to the Holidays!!

It was so fun to see everyone that I hadn't seen in far too long. This past year I had decided to only have my shop open for sales and events. I have enjoyed using it for a 'studio' or 'storage unit' which is open to interpretation. I will show you a few picture of what I started with.

Then I open the door and oh my gosh... What a disaster.. Somehow I manage to make a mess where ever I go. Thankfully I have lots of books on organization. I'll have to look for them, I know I put them somewhere...

I bet that darn book is under one of these piles???

I did manage to get things in their proper places, dust, price, do a few displays, make coffee and muffins, put out the signs and balloons and I was ready, it was nothing.... I still haven't found the book...

I had a fun Thursday night with Cindy she came to my rescue. Which if you read her blog you will see she has a full schedule without fitting me in...She was here until the wee hours of the morning. We kept making bigger messes, lots of great ideas make lots of great big messes.. We did get it all in tidied up and ready for morning.






I forgot to take pictures before the sale, so I tried to 'fluff' it up a bit and took these after I closed.

Did you notice the hanging 'Christmas Tree' made of lampshades?

Bright and early my good friend Marcia showed up to save the day. She and I have been making messes together for over 20 years, she can read my mind after all these years. She just does whatever needs to be done and I can get on with spinning in circles...

One particularly stressful year she completely decorated my house for Christmas, while I was gone.. She came back after Christmas and put them away too... That is a very special friend indeed!!

I would have loved to have visited the rest of the shops in Silverton that evening, but I was was too tired by the time I closed at 5pm.

Saturday was fun, l always enjoy catching up with my customers, who have become my friends over the years. Because my shop is off the beaten path, I have always had time to get to know my customers since they might be the only one in the store for quite sometime.. I like to think it's because I am off the beaten path.. So unless I saw them at a sale somewhere during the past year, many of my customers I hadn't 'caught up with' in a year. Here is a link to a friend of mine Laurie who visited Saturday. Check out her really cute treasures.

http://lauriescharmingdesigns.blogspot.com/

Then there were new friends to make during the course of the day...I miss the interaction that I had when my store was open regularly, but I do enjoy the flexibility of being closed. This schedule is working for us now, I have been in business for 9 years, so its important to change things around once in awhile.

I met my friend Lisa Sunday morning for a quick trip to the Flea Market.

Then a little more shopping for treasures around town and a lunch with my 'Six Pack' friends. We had a great lunch in a new little restaurant in Silverton. It's called Trio's, very yummy and reasonably priced too. We took a walk through town and had a rest in my sweet friend Gail's store 'Panache, by Yours Truly'. Her store is all decked out for Christmas, she is open year round with treasures for your home. The focus is mostly bed and bath. My favorite is ... well I have lots of favorites in there but I love La Vie jewelry and she has lots, displayed in an antique showcase. I will do a highlight on her soon so you can see more. But I will leave you today with a shot of the Six Pack having a little rest on one of Gail's beautifully made beds!!