Snowing outside, having a glass of wine, looking at some past arrangements....dreaming of Spring.....

Hope you can relax and enjoy. Let's see what I find.....

Well, not an arrangement, but just very relevant on this snowy day!

Love this moody arrangement and lighting.

Happy Valentine's Day!

My backyard! Oh, I can't wait until spring....made some changes!!! Always!!! As my great friend in Birmingham (photographer for Southern Living) said, "Our plants have wheels on them!" Mine too!!!! Always moving things around!!

Ahhhh! This is getting me through this second round of snow. Even though it's still snowing outside, at this point, it's ok! Flowers do that for me!!!!!

We are Expanding our Space and our Minds

Yay! Finally, after considering renting the space next door (which is actually connected by a door in the shared wall) we did it. We will now occupy the entire ground floor of 802 Princess Anne Street. With the growth of the business and the addition of free lance designers, we found that at times we were literally falling over each other. This is not good, especially when you are working on a deadline. It totally affects efficiency and can affect nerves at times! Yikes! (Especially if your husband is helping FOR FREE!)

The work space will remain the same. The new space will offer a dedicated space for meetings and consultations. I am so excited! Now I don't have to have meetings at my beautiful Elegant Earth classic garden table (I love concrete garden furniture and elements in the house.) next to 35 buckets ready to receive flowers, or trash cans full of clippings, or vases stacked on the floor......etc. Did I say this? I am so excited.

So, what do I mean about expanding our minds? Just yesterday I had a conversation with a colleague in this wedding business about age and relating to young brides. He is not the first person to question his or her ability to relate to young brides as the years add on. I've seen this discussion posted in blogs of some really well known floral designers who have been in this business for a while. Believe me, their work is still relevant!!!!!!

I would be lying if I said I've never worried or thought about this, but I truly do not believe this is an issue. A really, really, really successful designer in Silicon Valley once said, "Age doesn't matter - an open mind does." That is so true! Think about all the great talented people in this world. What made them great? They kept an open mind their whole lives. I think I will...I know I will.....that's just who I am.

Here is a picture (forgive me, not a great angle) of the bouquet that I designed yesterday with a completely open mind. As my flower muse always says after making a bouquet, "I would carry that!"

Happy Thanksgiving

I just have to say that it drives me crazy that Christmas decorations go up before Thanksgiving. I know, I know, I've been in retail, and I know that 85% of a retail business' income is made from Christmas sales, so I understand it. But, I don't like it. I like (try) to be there, in the moment, and enjoy each season and each holiday! 

I love to experience Advent before Christmas, and while I'm talking about the church calendar, I love to experience Lent before Easter. To experience the weeks before Christmas and Easter make the celebrations more special and meaningful to me.

But back to Thanksgiving! What a great time for family and friends to get together and enjoy each other, and, not to mention, enjoy great food. How fun is it to get out those wonderful recipes from Thanksgivings gone before. Everytime I pull out the "Green Bean Casserole" recipe that I wrote on a notepad in my sister's kitchen years ago, I just feel happy. It's great to remember great times!!!

So next Thursday, let's all count our blessings and be thankful for all that we have, love our family, enjoy great food, remember those we have shared those dishes with over the years and who are no longer with us, and just take a break from our hectic "connected" world.

Happy Thanksgiving ya'll!

From a bad blogger...

It has been a whirlwind of activity at Jane Guerin, flowers! Weddings, weddings and more weddings, parties, fund raisers, baby showers, physician office openings, and planning for Christmas events and weddings! Yikes!! But I am loving it all. However, don't think that some nights at 11 pm or so, I haven't asked, should I do so many weddings, when can I follow up with photographers for pictures, when can I blog, where can I find an apprentice that loves this work and GETS me, when can I redo my web site, etc. Thankfully, I have a business manager so now the bills get paid on time!!!

Oh well, I just wanted to direct you to my Jane Guerin, flowers FB page so you can check out some of the new photos.

I did have a little bit of a break on Saturday, Nov.2 to attend the UVA vs Clemson game. My oldest son graduated from UVA and my youngest son graduated from Clemson. This game is tough for me. I wear something orange and I clap for every good play of the game by BOTH teams.

Check out our tailgate and our get together after the game at my son and daughter-in-law's house to celebrate our youngest son Hunter's Halloween birthday! That cake/pie was chocolate and peanut butter....imagine a Reese's peanut butter cup on steroids!!!!!

Hunter's nickname is Huntbe! Our baby sitter created that nickname when Hunter was very young!

Now, off to start cooking and decorating for Thanksgiving while getting ready for December weddings and writing proposals for 2014 weddings!! I am THANKFUL!

The Doggies in My Life

I have 2 wonderful doggies in my life! One is my 5 lb. Yorkie named Chloe. The other is my son and daughter-in-law's 100 lb. white Lab, Sawyer.  They both make me so happy!!!

Chloe is my baby and sidekick. She is right by my side when I'm making wedding flowers! (She has a wicker basket and afghan in the shop and gets lots of sleeping done.) She will come and jump on my leg when she gets sick of being in that bed, and we'll go out for a little break. I have to keep the door locked because if someone comes in, she goes into protector mode. Yikes! Not good for business!!!! (She only does this if I'm in the shop - never when it's with my husband or anyone else in the shop while I'm out at a meeting or running errands.)

Sawyer is the happiest, sweetest, smartest dog you'll ever meet. He has a bark that would scare any boogieman away, but he is sweeter than sweet! He loves to dive off the dock into the lake when he comes to visit! Chloe hates the lake, and she just stands at waters edge and barks her head off at Sawyer the entire time. I think she is worried about him. She just can't believe anyone would want to go into the water, ever!!!!

They are truly like mutt and jeff, but they love each other to pieces!