Sunday, January 15, 2012

Winter Follies

The holidays have all been celebrated, the New Year greeted and the Rose Parade has marched off into history.  Welcome to January!  Although it's winter, the weather has been anything but, and we're enjoying summer-like temperatures.  It's been great for us, we can leave the doors open so people can peek in to see our new Valentines Day displays.  If this is what's in store for us weather-wise this season, we'll take it!

Yes, Valentines Day is coming and WFS is gearing up for the love fest by stocking some of the best Valentine cards and gifts we can find.  You've got to see our cards, by Crane & Co., Tree-Free Greetings, Laughing Elephant, African-American Expressions and Designs For Better Giving, to name a few - they're made in the U.S. or are California-based companies, and we think you'll love them!  We've got the most delicious chocolates by John Kelly, another of our local vendors, who make their signature dark chocolate enrobed truffle fudge treats right here in Los Angeles.  The beautiful scarves, leather & recycled material bags and gorgeous jewelry by Open Hand Design, a fair trade company, are 35% off, and we have some beautiful vintage Shaeffer pens on special as well!

WFS is planning a very special Valentine wine tasting and reading from one of our Altadena authors - stay tuned for more information on that.  You might have noticed that we are taking a tasting hiatus this month.  Our intrepid wine bloggers, Anne Bannon and Michael Holland, are extremely busy this month.  Anne wears many hats, one of which is writing another blog called Your Family Viewer.com and she's tied up with award shows.  Not to worry, all that will be wrapped up by February and they'll be back, funnier and more informative than ever! 

Our collaborative event with the other Webster's stores, Fancy Food Truck Friday, will also be on hiatus until April.  The temporary use permit we renewed late last year will take us through the end of this year if we take this winter break.  Unaware that the weather would be so beautiful, we all thought it would be a good idea if we waited until Spring for more gourmet food truck fun....oh how tricky Mother Nature can be! We'll try to fill this gaping hole in our community with our wine and food pairings, so make sure you save the date for those as soon as you hear about them!

Our friend, Karin Bugge, has written an excellent article in one of our local newsblogs, Altadena Patch.com, that's called "Altadena Is No Sierra Madre".  Great stuff and the comments are interesting - if you have a moment, I highly recommend you check it out and leave your comment, too.  All of us small business owners in Altadena are very interested in your opinion so let us know how you feel!

On a more personal note, Scott and I lost our beloved pet, Pepe the Wonder Dog, last Thursday.  He was very special to us.  Intended as a birthday present for our daughter's 18th birthday, we found him at a pet store in Blue Jay village, near Lake Arrowhead, in the San Bernardino Mountains, while we were on our honeymoon.  We got married on December 27th, 1997, and brought him home with us on January 4th, so he'd been with us for a little over 14 years.  Soon after that, Parisa moved out to an apartment that didn't allow dogs, and he became our empty-nest pup.  He was quirky, persnickety at times, didn't like other dogs much but he was a one-family dog that was loyal and true to the end.  We miss him dearly and we keep hearing his nails clicking on the hardwood floor....wishful thinking, I'm sure, but comforting nevertheless. 

Have a great week to come, friends!

Lori and Scott

4 comments:

Petrea Burchard said...

My condolences to you and Scott about Pepe.

Unknown said...

Aww, thanks, Petrea! I know you understand. We had a really hard time last night - so sad to get home and not have him waiting eagerly for us....

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry you lost Pepe. I saw all the 100's of fans you and Scott and Pepe had on Facebook, wishing safe passage. Pepe may not have liked many other dogs, but he'll like Phoebe. She'll take care of him; they'll be good buddies.

Unknown said...

Thank you, A.H.! I'm sure Pep's up there with all our dearly departed pets, frolicking and running free.