Merry Christmas from The Blissful

Merry, merry CHRISTmas to you. May the peace and joy of the season fill your hearts and homes in the coming year.

All Our Love,

The Blissful

P.S. The shop will be closed December 24th, 25th, and 26th, as well as New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Beginning December 27th, we are officially on Winter Hours, which are Monday-Friday from 10-5 and Saturday from 10-4. Stop in after Christmas for greater markdowns on holiday decor and other items.

Oh, the Hustle and Bustle

Just a quick note to let you know what's been happening at The Blissful. It's been a terrific holiday season for us--our first full holiday season in retail, as we opened our doors last year on December 1st just in time to bite off one big, sweet chunk. This weekend, we're having a ridiculously great sale to crown the year: it's our Nine Days of Noël Sale, it's on through December 23rd, and it really is the best one of 2007. Click here for details. If you've been thinking of paying us a visit, this is the time to do it. That's if, of course, the roads are safe for travel. Our thoughts are with all those throughout the Midwest who were affected by the recent ice storms. We're expecting our own little wintry treat today, tonight, and tomorrow, so we are bracing ourselves. Even as I type this, the cars are moving noticeably slower down Fulton Drive than usual, as the snow just began half an hour ago and everything is already blanketed in white!

In other news, we're steadily preparing to launch online commerce at our website in February. Trying to translate the feel, as well as the breadth and depth of a shop's offerings, into an online format is a big undertaking and one we are really enthused about. Thank you to all of you out there who are patiently waiting for our launch.

I'm just about finished with my own holiday shopping. Only a few more things to check off the list. This weekend we'll be on to the baking, then the wrapping, and--oh yeah!--the relaxing.

Because we'll really need to put our feet up, The Blissful will be closed December 24th-26th, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day.

Drive safely!

Flustery Blustery

This is my dad snowblowing our parking lot before the shop opened this morning. Yep, folks, this is winter in Ohio.

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We Ohioans love to gripe about our highly changeable weather patterns. Scorching hot in the summer, icy cold in the winter, sometimes even a snowstorm in April or frost in August. It's as if we live in the Weather Channel's equivalent of Bizarro World (Seinfeld fans, nod along with me). You know you're talking to a born and bred Ohioan when you utter the phrase "that's winter in Ohio" and eyes roll. And here in Canton, home of The Blissful, we're even a bit out of the "snow belt" where the towns are always in threat of the "lake effect" coming off of Lake Erie.

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Still, it can get pretty wild and woolly around here.

I quite love winter weather. It's one of the reasons I may happily spend all of my days right here in O-hi-o.

So bundle up, keep warm, put on your favorite holiday CD (Aimee Mann's One More Drifter in the Snow tops our list), and put those finishing touches on the tree. It's a wonderful life, isn't it?