Office Minimalist: November 2010

found

Posted by Mr Wong at 12:50 PM 0

Look what I just recently found packed up that I had completely forgot I had...

Don't you think they would make such cute little appetizer trays?

Any other ideas?

I'm Back!

Posted by Mr Wong at 6:19 AM 0

Hi Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I did!

I spent the week in Naples, Florida with my sisters, in laws, nieces, nephews etc.

We went to the beach.....

......and watched the sunset.

I am saving the rest of the pictures for January or February when we could all use a little warmth and sunshine!

I will be around to visit everyone as soon as I catch up on laundry.

p.s. double click on the pictures to enlarge.

Welcome Home,

Penny

A White Tea !

Posted by Mr Wong at 6:01 AM 0

Hello everyone,

Can you believe it is December already? The time will go by so quickly from now until Christmas.

So I hope you will have time to enjoy some quiet time and a cup of tea.

I am slowly getting my Christmas decorating done.

A nice cup of hot tea is soothing to the soul don't you think?

Today, I am joining Sandi again for her lovely Tea Time Tuesday at Rose Chintz Cottage .So many lovely teas to enjoy!

Have a lovely day,

Carolyn

mark your calendars

Posted by Mr Wong at 2:37 PM 0

Friday, December 3rd. That is the day you want to highlight on your calendar. To start things off, The Willows is having our monthly first friday flea market. You definitely do not want to miss it this month, as it will be full of amazing gifts for everyone on your list. Perhaps we will have a few sneak peeks for you in the days to come... Then that evening while you are shopping at Crafeteria (remember when I told you about the New Times Best Indie Craft Fair? You don't want to miss that either... keep writing all this on your calendar), send your husbands, fathers, boyfriends, brothers or any man in your life to the Willows for our Mens' Night Out. From 4-7 this Friday night, our store will have all sorts of food and drinks for your men to enjoy while they buy you everything on your list. You are all invited to come in anytime before Friday to fill out a Willows' wish list, so anyone shopping for you knows exactly what you are hoping to find under the Christmas tree...

Hope to see lots of you at all these fun events this Friday!

The Christmas Cottage

Posted by Mr Wong at 6:16 PM 0

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend. We got some fresh new snow over the weekend along with some sunshine so it was beautiful on Sunday.

Last week we were working in the cottage putting insulation in and then pine wall boards over the walls. we didn't do the ceiling yet but that is next years project. Anyway,when we finished slapping a wash of paint on I decided to decorate the cottage for Christmas again. other years we were on a Christmas house tour and the cottage was part of the tour but this year I decorated it just for me and of course you too!

I love this toile quilt and shams.

I know many of you have seen our little garden cottage before and know that most everything in it was either free or a thrift or yardsale find.

a closer look at the quilt- it has windmills on it.

a tea tray for you.

I love the candle light reflected in the mirrors.

My thrift shop tree and Dollar Store decorations or thrift store.

mirror reflections

.
This was the look a few weeks ago.

I hope you enjoyed the little transformation in our Christmas Cottage.
/I am joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphis Monday again today.

If you would like to see the romantic Christmas Cottage at night by candlelight you can visit my Christmas blog here.http://christmaspastpresentcom.blogspot.com/

Thank you for visiting me,

Carolyn

Kitchen Red & White Touches

Posted by Mr Wong at 10:55 AM 0

Hello everyone,

I have been adding some Christmas touches in our kitchen lately where the theme is red and white.

My red and white toile Father Christmas is a welcome addition every Christmas.

Christmas Blessings

My wooden angel hanging on the corner cupboard.

A new thrifty find.

I changed the china in here to plain white.

I know many of you have seen my red and white transferware collection before.

I moved this cupboard in from the porch a few weeks ago when I did a porch makeover. It holds my teacup collection. the old cupboard happily went to my oldest daughter's kitchen.

While you are here I hope you can join me for a cup of tea and a muffin!
&
Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends.

Thank you for visiting me today,

Carolyn

thankful

Posted by Mr Wong at 1:19 PM 0

Dear Friends,

It is that time of year when we stop and reflect on what we are truly thankful for in life.

And we could not be more thankful for all of you.

Now that we have all begun shopping for the holidays, it makes me think of how many years the Willows' has been around and how many amazing holidays we have had here. And we have all of you, our wonderful customers, clients and friends, to thank for that.

So, thank you.

All of you.

Through it all, you continue to come back and support the local boutiques. Since we began creating the Willows in 1996 and opened our doors in 1997, a lot of things have changed. We have moved three times and you still continued to come and shop with us. In my own family, we moved our home, had 4 children married and 16 grandkids (and counting...) born and, somehow, I still continued to come to work:) Over the last 13 years, you've kept me on my game. Always reinventing the Willows to keep it exciting and to find something new. I feel such joy when I go into people's homes and see things we sold in the past with such a happy place in their home. Thank you for that continued inspiration.

With our lovely employees we have celebrated weddings and babies. Our old store manager, Ashley now has 2 kids in grade school! Have we really been here that long? At our original 44th Street location, when we first opened, we carried tons of Shabby Chic Baby. Now I see these kids all grown up and think, "Wow. We decorated your nursery." Its all a little bittersweet. And I can't help but think, we could never have lasted this long without such amazing and faithful customers, many of you we are happy to call our dear friends.

Recently, a dear customer who has shopped with us since day one, just redid her guest room and bought all new bedding from us. Next week we are taking it all over to her house to iron it (side note: I have a terrible sickness - a love of ironing. There, I've admitted it...) and help her make the bed. I love that about us and I hope you do, too. I hope that is why we have had customers since we opened our doors who continue to shop with us time and again. That's the extra bit you get from a local store and I believe that's why we have had customers shopping with us for 13+ years. We have customers who buy something from us for a table setting with only a vague idea of what they want to do. They ask us about it, and before you know it, we are all gathered around helping them plan exactly how it should all look. We even have people come in to ask us to tie bows on their Christmas wreaths. I love that. We share places to eat, places to shop, the names of our hairdressers. And my favorite are the customers we can stand around laughing with for hours. They come in and share their stories and make us laugh (occasionally, make us cry). Its for all these reasons that I love coming to work.

In addition to all that, this blog has opened up so many new people to be thankful for. The wonderful readers and the kind comments and inspiration keep me smiling everyday. So, thank you all, too.

I love knowing that when you are all out doing you holiday shopping, you never forget us! (Evident by the crowds we have had bustling through our store over the past two weeks and the ever-dwindling holiday inventory...).

We love you all and are so very thankful for each and every one of you! Thank you for always shopping with us, stopping in to make us laugh or reaching out to us through this blog! We hope you all have the loveliest Thanksgiving, surrounded by those you love!

All our love and thanks,

Bev and the rest of the Willowettes

*top picture from a magazine I bought in Paris two years ago.

White Wednesday

Posted by Mr Wong at 5:26 PM 0

Hello everyone,

I am busy decorating for Christmas so I hope you don't mind some 'previously viewed' (by some of you)

white collages of some of my favorite things.

There is lots of beauty to see at Kathleen's Faded Charm White Wednesday party so I hope you have time to enjoy it all.

Thank you for visiting me and have a great day!

Carolyn

crafting

Posted by Mr Wong at 3:32 PM 0

Remember ever so many months ago when I showed you my disaster of a craft room? I had big plans to fix it up and show you the dazzling after photos... well, I haven't gotten so far with that project. The primary reason being I have been using this room so much lately, I haven't had a moment to organize it. Helping make cute little things for first birthdays, helping these two girls get ready for Crafeteria (more on that in a minute), creating different holiday gifts... its hard to find time to get organized in the midst of all that. I did have an afternoon of inspiration with my sister-in-law in which we spruced up the sad little wall that my lonely tv occupied. I thought I would at least share that with you for the time being...

So, what do you think?

Now, more about crafting. Everyone needs to mark their calendars for Friday, December 3rd. First up, in the morning will be our Willows' First Friday Flea Market with all sorts of fun things to come check out! Then in the evening head on down to Frances for this year's Crafeteria. Christine and Emily will be there selling all sorts of wonderful things you will want to buy for all the people on your Christmas list. Along with over 40 other vendors, live music and lots of sweets, it is sure to be a good time! Hope to see you all out and about shopping at these great local events!

And speaking of shopping, the Willows will be open this Friday. We won't open until 11:00 to give you some time to fight the crowds at the mall and then head our way for some more leisurely holiday shopping. See you then!

Tea on the Porch

Posted by Mr Wong at 3:47 PM 0

Hello everyone,

I spent the afternoon decorating the porch for the Christmas season and then I prepared a little teatray to sit and enjoy my work. We had snow on the weekend so if you would like to join me you better wear your warm gloves. I love this hot mulled apple tea and how about a Christmas cookie.I know many of you are celebrating Thanksgiving this week so Christmas is on the back burner but here in Canada Thanksgiving was over weeks ago . I am going full steam ahead this week decorating for Christmas-such a beautiful time of the year.