Closed on Labor Day

The shop will be closed this Monday, September 7th, in celebration of Labor Day. Enjoy this weekend's every moment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: You know what these are, right?


A: That's right. Hydrangeas! Gorgeous, soft spring green hydrangeas, past their prime, an awfully nice gift just destined for another ingenious display idea by Debbie. An awfully nice customer gave them to us today after cutting them off her prodigious bushes. Wow! We have four whole bundles of the many-flowered branches currently drying out in the store. I have two of them wedged upside down into the rungs of our ladder:

And the other two are leaning up against a table in my office:


I can't wait to show these to Debbie when she returns to the shop today.

Speaking of questions and answers, I'm crafting a FAQs post to share our responses to the most common and/or interesting questions about the shop that we hear from customers and fans. Is there a question about THE BLISSFUL you've been always been itching to ask? Maybe something about our goods, our staff, our window displays, our trips to Market, or the boutique life in general? Now's your chance! Simply post your questions here as a comment. Please note that we won't be publishing the comments {unless they're not question-specific}, so don't worry if you don't see yours appear; we'll simply read with interest and pull the best into our upcoming FAQ post. Thanks in advance and the FAQ desk is now OPEN!

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In Loving Memory

In loving memory of John Michael Ofer, who was a wonderful person with a shining spirit, and a great friend of the store. We are thankful for his life and for his friendship, and we will miss him.

On A Beach Somewhere

This evening, I will be taking off for a beach somewhere for a week of much-needed R&R. I only do this once a year and it's difficult to tear myself away from the store, but my friends and family insist I need this. They would know.


The brick-and-mortar store and Online Boutique will remain open for business while I'm away. A special note for our online customers: all online orders placed between today {Friday, August 14th} and Wednesday, August 19th at 2 PM EST will ship the afternoon of Wednesday, August 19th. Online orders placed after 2 PM on Wednesday, August 19th will ship the afternoon of Monday, August 24th. We regret that we cannot accommodate expedited shipping requests this week or requests for items pictured on our blog but not featured in our Online Boutique. We'll resume all shipping operations as usual on Monday the 24th. Thanks for your understanding.

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

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Book Giveaway Winners

The results are in. . .

Random Number Generator courtesy of Tara Frey.

Congrats to the two winners of our Blogging for Bliss Book Giveaway Contest...


Comment No. 24, Yaya! and...


Comment No. 15, Alisa Logue! FYI, my own comments on the entry post were taken out of the running.

Alisa, I will e-mail you today and get your mailing address.

Yaya, I can't find contact info for you on your profile. Please e-mail me at info@theblissful.com ASAP with your mailing address.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer our one-question questionnaire and enter the giveaway. I appreciate the fact that you read my blog and am delighted when you participate in it.

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Book Giveaway Deadline Tonight

Tonight's the night! Get your entry in by 10 PM EST this evening on this post {not this post, the link that's bolded and enlarged} and remember that this deadline is an extension of the original one, so that's why the date you see in the original entry post has already passed. Make sure to read the post and answer the one-question questionnaire to cast your entry ballot. To compensate for the extended deadline, we're choosing TWO winners. Hope you will participate and if you're not already, maybe you'll soon be Blogging for Bliss, too!

Chicago Mart

I'm at Market in Chicago this week. Just a quick trip, as it's a small, niche-y show. Apparel, fashion accessories, handbags, jewelry. I came to see what the vendors are doing for Fall/Holiday '09 and Resort '10. {Still can't get used to saying '10. The last time people could say that of the current year, photography still happened under a little black sheet attached to the end of the camera. I think.}

Every time I drive to Chicago, I wonder why I don't do it more often. Just a six and a half hour trip from my hometown, it goes by quickly...

Dashboard confessions.

and doesn't get hairy until you get right into the city.

Don't worry. The lane of traffic I was sitting in was at a complete standstill when I took this photo.

Some of you will remember my love affair with Chicago. Since by popular demand we seem to be always adding more apparel, personal accessories, and jewelry, now I have another reason to come here:

Stylemax is a small-ish but truly on-trend order-writing circuit for the trade, all on one floor of this gigantesque building:

The Merchandise Mart was the world's biggest office building before the Pentagon was built. Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Certain floors of the Merchandise Mart itself are open to the public and feature design-forward showrooms {gaspworthy kitchens, etc.}.

View of the Mart in daylight. That's it on the left with the million windows. Photo courtesy of Flickr.

A little closer up. Photo courtesy of Flickr.

I shopped the show for four hours yesterday, then came back my hotel and ordered room service:

Beautiful Caprese Salad. I've been craving Buffalo Mozzarella {I like to say it "Boof-alo," like Giada does} for weeks and was so glad to see this on the menu.

But back to the show. An apparel show is decidedly different from a home and gift show. I was relieved to at one point step into a booth where I didn't feel underdressed in my burnout tee shirt {slubs and striations and all}, vintage wash jeans, and flip flops. And I told the similarly tee shirted reps so! I have to remember that I dress to reflect my store's aesthetic {casual with special, bohemian, luxe touches} and my own style, and that does not mean black slacks, a ruffly blouse, and kitten heels! Apparel buyers just have a different vibe to them than gift show buyers. At one point today, I actually overheard a woman say, "That is SO yum-yum." I also found it interesting how buyers {other retailers} would sit down in chairs in the middle of the booth space and the reps would pull looks for them and hang them up on racks, like a mini fashion show in the middle of the Mart. Then the buyers, with legs crossed and pen touching their chin, would go down the line and say, "Uh-huh. No. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. NO, NO, NO." One rep also surprised me by saying, "Let me know if you want me to throw anything on." Oh. Some of them will model, too.

I also learned a new industry word and it applies to how I buy apparel for THE BLISSFUL: "item-y." I heard it five times before I asked one rep about it. "Item-y." Refers to garments that do not need to be sold or merchandised as a collection. Think un-matchy stores like Anthropologie who show various designers together instead of stores that sell collections that must be shown together to make sense. {Putting your own outfit together vs. buying a total look off the rack.} Item-y means each piece can stand alone as its own little statement and is great for stores like mine who don't sell apparel collections. {In my store, you're likely to find knitted capes or PJs mixed in with candles, Moroccan wine glasses, and little notebooks.} I like the word so much I'm going to start using it. Item-y.

I feel a little guilty that I'm not out there enjoying the city today {in 95 degree heat}. Chicago has so much to offer in the way of boutique shopping, food, and entertainment, not to mention taking in the amazing architecture everywhere. Some of my retail mentors-from-afar are located here. But I don't think I'll be making it into their stores this week. There's too much to see at this show and my time here is brief.

View from my hotel room window.

Right now, I'm going to make a cup of coffee and read through my notes from yesterday, crossing out anything that doesn't wow me in retrospect. Today the order writing begins.

Oh, one quick thing: our Blogging for Bliss Book Giveaway entry deadline is approaching. You still have until 10 PM on Thursday the 13th to enter. Click here to enter.

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