What's up at Cynthia's Floral Design, Jewelry & Gifts

Florist Down! Clean Up On Aisle 7!!

Those of you who know me know that, one, I'm not a small woman and, two, I can be...shall we say...a bit clumsy?  Owning a flower shop and being a florist is the greatest gig I can imagine, but it does have its pitfalls.  My hands are so beat up they look like something out of a crime scene photo and I have more bruises than a tipsy party-goer who takes a header down the stairs. 

Cut to the flower shop....lovely sienna brown concrete floors (worst nightmare for a clumsy gal) and working with roses.  Okay, so there was one, count it, ONE rose petal on the floor.  I came around the corner into the design room and, you guessed it, my foot landed on the ONE rose petal in the room--a wet slimy rose petal--and there went my foot sliding across the floor, miraculously causing me to do the splits, then gracefully (if you can imagine that) I did a half twist and went down for a two-point landing on the concrete.  Geez, nothing worse than seeing concrete coming at your face and that split-second eternity when you know it's gonna hurt.

Susie was horrified and was nervously doing some mini-pacing wondering how on earth she could help!  Then amidst the ooh, ouch, oh, owieeeee, we started laughing...and laughing...and then I started hurting....okay, everything is moving, nothing broken.  Now I wish I could get up as quickly as I went down!

Okay, so Susie and I look like Mutt and Jeff--Susie not too tall and very petite.  I, on the other hand, am taller and, well, fluffy.  We had a good laugh as she told me she thought of trying to stop me on the way down and I was so horrified!  I yelled, stand back, you'll be crushed!!  And more laughing.  I shook it off as I always do, then we went on with the day.

Cynthia's Floral Design Garners National Press!

Just another day at Cynthia's...everyone happy, singing along with Christmas music, preparing for the Gresham High School Sno-Ball dance which is just around the corner, prepping containers, etc for Christmas orders piling up, busy busy, and lo and behold, among all the hubbub, a call comes through from the editor of Florist Review, a nationally distributed trade magazine with a huge following.  Somehow one of their editors saw the article about our new flower bar in the paper and decided to do a 1/4 page write up in the January issue.  How cool is that?  Stay tuned on this one!!

Cynthia's Featured in The Gresham Outlook

On Wednesday December 2, 2009, Cynthia's Floral Design, Jewelry & Gifts was featured on the front page of the Gresham Outlook Business section!  Click here to read the article!

2009 Holiday Open House

The 2009 Holiday Open House on Sunday November 15 was a smashing success!  We served yummy Christmas cookies, hot chocolate, spiced cider and coffee, gave away door prizes every 30 minutes, had a guessing game to win a $50 gift certificate, and met many new customers who hadn't been in the shop before.  It was a great day full of laughter and holiday cheer.

....but.....before we get started on the open house pics, etc...... Cynthia's wouldn't be Cynthia's without some kind of disaster happening right before a big event.  The day before open house, with hundreds of fresh flowers in the cooler, the shop all aglow, yada yada....one of the coolers dropped to 20 degrees overnight and stuck there.  Yup, you guessed it, floral popsicles, and a few Hefty bags to the dumpster.

Here's Susie with the "oh my gosh, I can't believe this just happened" smile as she holds roses encased in a ring of ice, only one of many many buckets of flowers that bit the dust that morning.

Susan M., a regular customer of Cynthia's, orders her holiday poinsettias from Cynthia at the new flower bar.

 
Caroline (left), a self-proclaimed flower killer and some-time delivery driver with a bubbly personality larger than life, shows off to Andrea (right) the design she created while on a much-needed break from the day's activities.  This...ummm...arrangement (and I use that term loosely) includes a broken carnation, an empty latte cup, Cynthia's left-over pizza crust, a wayward ribbon, among other atrocities!  She will definitely not win any design awards, but did get plenty of laughs!

Jacky C., visiting from out of town, throws her arms up as her number was drawn for a door prize.  As you can see, the shop is filled with many fun gifts and a fabulous selection of ornaments.  Behind Jacky is our Sesame Street tree, featuring all the Sesame Street characters and decked out in ornaments to match all the plush toys resting in the tree.  It's been the talk of the neighborhood!

Cynthia's good friend Cathy served refreshments all day but took time out to give ol' Frosty a hug!

Darla, in red apron on right, was absolutely the hit of the party.  She is our delivery driver and let me tell you, our good Lord broke the mold when he made Darla!  She had our customers and staff in stitches all day long.  She was in charge of door prizes, and okay it was one of those things where you just had to be there to appreciate it, but every 30 minutes she slammed down repeatedly on an old-fashioned counter-top bell to call out ticket numbers for door prizes.  Oh but that wasn't all, before she would give away the door prize, we all had to listen to a 30-second info-mercial about one of the store's products, all delivered with hysterical commentary. 

Pictured at left is Kathi A., another good friend who graciously agreed to give up her Sunday to help out.  Vickie, Darla's sister, is in the middle, trying to work on her shopping.

Throughout the day we held a contest to guess how many peppermints were in the jar underneath the snowman.  Sheila, a first-time customer, won with a guess of 310.  There were 312! Way to go Sheila!  She won a $50 gift certificate from the store and came back a few days later and purchased a beautiful lucky bamboo plant in a red hand-thrown clay pot.

Thanks to everyone who made this day a success!  To our customers especially, but the day couldn't have happened without the marvelous staff I had!!  I don't have pictures of all the staff who helped out so allow me to take a moment to thank each and every one!

Susie, our full-time floral designer, along with Darla, worked tirelessly leading up to the open house to get the shop looking her best.  Susie schmoozed with customers all day, making them feel welcome, and helped out at the flower bar too!

Darla, our full-time delivery driver/shop assistant worked side by side with Susie to prepare the shop in the days leading up to the open house.  On Sunday Darla spent the day helping customers on the sales floor and dished out the laughs as only she can do!

Sylvia is Cynthia's best friend for the last 35 years!  Sylvia manned the register, helping wrap and bag customer purchases.  Thank you Sylvia for driving 50 miles one way to help out on your day off from the law firm!

Caroline, another good friend of Cynthia's (the self-proclaimed flower killer) is our favorite Aussie.  She rang up customer purchases and dished out humorous commentary all the while.  Thank you Caroline for taking time away from your weekend with hubby!

Cathy is a good friend of Cynthia's who recently moved to the US from Canada.  Cathy graciously took time out from the weekend with her new husband to serve refreshments all day Sunday.  Our customers appreciated her warm welcome and down-home charm.

Kathi, a good friend of Cynthia's and couture seamstress, took time out from her busy schedule to help out on the sales floor.  Her bright smile and charm were an awesome addition to the day!

Andrea, Darla's wonderful niece, was our greeter, welcoming each and every one of our guests with a warm smile and welcoming manner.  Thank you Andrea!!
 

Wedding ~ Phil & Angel

Phil & Angel wed on May 17, 2008 at Camp Clark,(next to Camp Meriwether) a location dear to Phil's heart as an Eagle Scout and a location Angel loved because of her affinity for the beautiful Oregon Coast.  The old dining hall where the wedding took place was very rustic.  Guests were seated on wooden benches in front of a massive stone fireplace, with large windows overlooking the coastline.

Cynthia's Floral Design, Jewelry & Gifts created floral accent for their wedding and Cynthia also designed Angel's bridal jewelry as well as earrings and necklaces for all 4 bridesmaids.  Cynthia's jewelry designs can be found at Cynthia's Jewelry Box on the web and in the bridal area of her floral shop at 312 N Main Avenue in Historic Downtown Gresham. 

Angel's color palette included soft pink and sage green.  Tiny seashells were incorporated into each floral design.

Phil & Angel met while fighting forest fires so it was only fitting that we created a tribute to their meeting.  Since a 90-degree day in May was too warm to build a fire in the massive stone fireplace, where the ceremony took place, we laid the fire ax across the wood rack and surrounded it with natural forest foliage and candles.

Angel requested a grand cascade bouquet.  To fulfill her wishes, I used several varieties of pink roses, white calla lilies, misty blue limonium, with trailing plumosa fern to accent the soft embroidery in her gown.  

 
The bridesmaids carried round style bouquets of white Vendela roses accented with misty blue limonium.

The gentleman sported boutonnieres featuring white Vendela roses, each with a seashell to accent.  Unfortunately, no clear closeups are available.

 
 Angel's darling little sister wore a halo of pink spray roses with long trailing ribbons.

 
All of Angel's jewelry was designed by Cynthia. 

Tiara:  Angel chose the butterfly garden tiara with fresh water pearls, Silver lined Miyuki delicas, Swarovski butterflies, with tiny Swarovski crystals in several pastel shades to accent the embroidery on Angels gown.

Necklace and Earrings:  One of Angel's favorite colors is purple, so her necklace and earrings were created to not only match her gown perfectly, but to incorporate her favorite color. 

Wedding ~ Kari & Eric

Kari and Eric wed on February 6, 2009 at The Crown Ballroom in Portland, Oregon.  Cynthia's Floral Design, Jewelry & Gifts created floral accent for their wedding and Cynthia also designed Kari's bridal earrings as well as earrings for all 8 bridesmaids.  Cynthia's jewelry designs can be found at Cynthia's Jewelry Box on the web and in her floral shop at 312 N Main Avenue in Historic Downtown Gresham. 

Kari was Miss Oregon 2007 and competed for the title of Miss America in January 2008 in Las Vegas, NV.  Cynthia also designed Kari's jewelry wardrobe for her appearance at Miss America!

Kari and Eric chose deep red, black and white for their colors and their floral choices included white lilies, fragrant white stock, red Freedom roses, Black Baccarra roses, whimsical monkey tail (fern curls) and burgundy carnations.   

The entire bridal party looking so elegant and having a great time.  The pedestal pieces in the background were designed by Davi at Cynthia's Floral Design.

Kari's bouquet stems were wrapped in white satin with black woven ribbon trim.  Her flowers were elegant but also had just the right touch of whimsy.

Kari's earrings were designed with sterling silver and marcasite hearts embellished with clear Swarovski crystals.

Earrings by Cynthia's Jewelry Box .  Large Swarovski crystal and silver drops dangle from Clear Swarovski cubes and crystal and silver rondells.

The bridesmaid's bouquets were black baccarra roses, red Freedom roses, burgundy carnations accented with black ribbon and rhinestone florets.

The Crown Ballroom provided the tulle, pedestals and crystal lamps for Davi and Cynthia to scatter with red Freedom rose petals.

Eric and the guys all wore single rose boutonnieres with the stems wrapped in black satin ribbon and finished with a tuxedo bow tie knot.

 

Driver Dailies

Hey, here's one for the books.  Recently we had an order come over the wire for a large floral spray that was to be delivered to a funeral home across town by 2:00 in the afternoon for a graveside service to be held at 3:00.  Easy enough, right? 

I left in plenty of time to deliver the arrangement by 2:00 and then...uh oh....traffic jam.  Oh dear.  Detour....nope that's not going to work either.  Everyone else is doing the same thing.  Traffic was just plain snarled up.

Okay, so I get on the horn to the funeral director and he says not a problem, just get it here as soon as you can.  Well, by the time I skated into the funeral home parking lot, the funeral procession was already lined up, engines running, with the funeral director standing outside the lead van.....you guessed it.....waiting for me.  Red faced, I pulled through the procession (yes people, I'm the idiot you're waiting for), past several black limosines, past the motorcycle cops, up to the front of the line where the funeral director couldn't help but stand behind the van and laugh.  We unloaded the flowers from my van and secured them in his van with all the others and as I slowly cruised into the back lot to turn around, the procession began to roll. 

Now THAT was embarrassing.

Excuses for why my employees are late for work....strange but true....

Excuse #6:  I had to harvest my crops on Farmville.

Excuse #5:  It was 16 degrees outside and I didn't want to get out of bed.

Excuse #4:  I had to wash a load of underwear so I wouldn't have to go to work commando style.

Excuse #3:  I locked the dog in the car with it running and had to wait for the locksmith.

Excuse #2:  I couldn't find my cat.

Excuse #1:  I had to clip the bunny's toenails and he was farting.

Driver Dailies (11/19/2009)

Welcome to Driver Dailies, where we talk about the adventures of our delivery driver!  We should have started this blog some time ago as there have been some hair-raising stories and many funny stories to tell! 

Let's start with Thursday November 19, 2009.  Cynthia was filling in for her normal delivery driver, who had the day off, and of course the deliveries ranged far and wide.  Okay, let's get the one on the mountain done before dark...so off we go!

I knew from the address it was going to be waaaaay out there.  After 30 minutes of driving winding roads, constantly rising in elevation, my GPS is telling me I've arrived at the address.  Okay, so where is it?  I see every number on the mailboxes but the one I'm looking for.  After driving back and forth twice in the vicinity, I finally spotted an opening in a huge 1/2-mile-long hedge that was barely wider than my delivery van and lo and behold in teeny white lettering on an even teenier sign, I spotted the number.  Okay this is it.  I felt like Alice in Wonderland going through that opening in the hedge.

What's on the other side?  Acres and acres of overgrown tree farm with a long narrow dirt road, wet with mud, going straight through it as far as I could see.  Hoo boy.  I began the drive through the abandoned, eerie tree farm and 1/2 mile later the muddy road started to go downhill and around a corner, then it became a one-lane road carved out of the side of the mountain with nothing but a homemade stone retaining wall on one side of the road, complete with sheer drop off to the road below, and the moutainside hugging my van on the right side of the road....then the switchbacks started....one, two, three of them, each one steeper downhill than the other. 

I've now traversed a steep downhill muddy road into the bottom of a canyon and there's a fork in the one-lane road WITH NO SIGNS!  Eeny, meeny miny mo...I'll take the left one.  ...oh great, I just noticed I have no cell service now that I'm in neverland... 

Ah, finally there's the house...a beautiful sprawling country estate....and no one appears to be home.  It's dark, empty.  I get out of the van.  The quiet is deafening.  The forest is soggy, quiet, I'm all alone.  I approach the house with my beautiful bouquet of flowers to deliver to the homeowner.  Yes, this is the right house, I see the number under the doorbell.  For sure no one is home. I ring the bell anyway....30 seconds or so goes by...seemed like an eternity.  I look around, a little bit nervous.  I decide to leave the flowers in a safe place under a table on the porch, out of the rain.  I then turn tail and begin to slog through the mud to my van and wonder if I'll be able to get out of here now. 

I begin the drive up the muddy switchbacks.  My van is whining, RPMs rising.  Oh please Lord, no....my wheels start spinning in the mud.  C'mon girl, you can do it.  All of a sudden the tires catch and the van lurches forward a bit.  I drop it into low and grind up the muddy switchbacks slowly.  When I finally came around that last corner and crested the top of the hill, I breathed a sigh of relief.  Thank you Lord.

Do we have a "won't go there again list?"  Yup!  Is this address on it?  Yessiree Bob.  Thanks for coming along on the adventure....join us again for Driver Dailies!

Mother's Day 2009

Thanks to all our customers, both new and returning, who helped make our first Mother's Day and great success!!