Hotter Than A Witch's ....ummm....Bosom

We welcomed the Fall season in last week's post, and I mentioned that it seemed no one told the weather of the change. Well, Autumn still  hasn't been able to communicate with Mother Nature and our temps are headed off the charts this week!  Let's hope by next week, the lines of communication will have been opened between the two parties, and we'll get more appropriate weather.  Until then, we're serving cold strawberry lemonade or cold water, on request, to encourage you all to stay hydrated.  It's not only hot out there, it's very dry, too.  This can wreak havoc on your skin - my daughter was just telling me that she was starting to break out with heat rash.  Luckily for her, and for you, we proudly carry a local line of herbal skin care called HomeBody Botanicals.  Their X-Zema Salve is wonderful for skin irritations like heat rash, and their Everyday Body Lotion is great for keeping skin soft and smooth!  In this video you can meet Marcia as she talks about HomeBody Botanicals and explains how she makes salves.  WFS carries a complete line of HMB - for skin and body, hair, and home!

 Homebody Botanicals

Speaking of staying hydrated in this hot weather, we all drink lots of water, right?  Good for you if you are, but water can be soooo boring!  Enter another locally produced product, this time a natural drink mix called Charlotte de Berry Pirate Elixirs.  These mixers are formulated similar to the "elixirs" sailors made in the 1700s, due to lack of potable water, out of available fruits fermented with various vinegars, saps, and herbs.  Eventually the sailors (and pirates) discovered that they could extend their grog on long voyages by adding these elixirs.  Thus was born the first true mixed drink, although you can feel free to add Charlotte de Berry's Pirate Elixirs to whatever liquid you desire!  However you use it, this discovery made by sailors of old helps prevent dehydration, particularly of that caused by too much alcohol.  Made with hyper-local ingredients, these delicious mixers come in several mouth-watering fruit combinations, like Mango, Coconut and Lychee-Pear, and come in a beautiful, large bottle.  Since you use it so sparingly, it's bound to last for a long time, plus, mixed with a bit of olive oil, makes a terrific and out-of-the-ordinary salad dressing!  Charlotte de Berry, once known as a fierce woman pirate, now known as a killer drink mix.....who knew?  Pick some up at WFS today!

The Llama Lounge, Home Of Charlotte de Berry's Pirate Elixirs!

It's getting late, and dinner's almost ready, so we'll talk again next week - stay cool, my friends!

Lori and Scott

Fall-ing For You

The Autumnal Equinox happened yesterday, September 22nd, 2012, at 10:49 A.M. EDT. That would make it 1:49 pm here in California.  What ever time it happened is irrelevant, it's the feeling that Fall is here that matters!  Even though someone must've forgotten to clue the weather into the change of seasons, WFS is celebrating the thought of cooler weather in the imminent future.

Scott and I have been seeing a few colorful leaves falling from our liquid amber tree in our front yard.  Our tree, aging gracefully at 62 years of age, is huge.  It's branches shade our lawn and office in the front of the house, and I love the way the leaves change color in the fall.  Rich shades of red and copper; bright green and faded yellow mingle together and dance in the breezes that blow up our street.  The neighbor across the street complains every year when those breezes blow all the other neighbors' leaves into his yard, but you can't help but smile when you see the vibrant colors of them all.

Speaking of vibrant colors, we've set up our Halloween displays up, and I have to say, even though I'm partial, that they look particularly fetching this year!  See what you think:

We're hoping that you've enjoyed our pictures!  Have a great week, and we'll talk again next week!

Lori and Scott

Community Minded

It's become clear that it's never been more important to shop local.  With the threat of not just one, but two Walmart Neighborhood Markets making their way seemingly unobstructed into Altadena, it's time to step up education on why we need our local shops.  This poster, provided by the lovely folks at The American Independent Business Alliance, give you the facts.  Walmart gives you fantasy.  As our friends at Main And Me portray in this poster, this could be your shopping experience in our lovely town someday soon:

However you view the situation, we always advise shopping with your local merchants.  After all, is Walmart going to buy your kids' school fundraisers?  Will they support the local Little League team?  Sure, they'll throw some money at local non-profits, but what about our Library?  Will they support them in a sustainable way?  I think not.  Let us end with this poster, also from Main and Me, and remember - we have Friends Of The Altadena Library canvas tote-bags and Altadena Library District tee-shirts for sale at the store and the Library gets 100% of sales!*

Thanks for listening, my friends, we'll talk again next week!

Lori and Scott


*We also have items from Christmas Tree Lane available and they get 75% of net sales!

The Season Of Sparkle

Don't look now, my friends, but September has crept up on us almost like a ghost, and even though you wouldn't know it from the weather, I overheard someone say yesterday they could smell fall in the air.  Back to school fever has passed and every kid's favorite event, Halloween, is looming on our horizon.  The store is receiving it's autumn decor redo, with oodles of fun accessories and things that take you from "boo" to "oooooo" in less time than it takes an owl to say "whoooo"!  You'll have to come in and see, and also take advantage of our "Goodbuy Summer Sale", where you can find deep discounts on fabulous summer products like marble serveware, seashell motif platters, 1000 and 500 piece puzzles, scarves, and more. We're saying "goodbuy" to summer, but not to making sure that your gift and stationery needs are met throughout the coming season of sparkle!

In fact, you can drop by on Friday, September 14th, for Altadena's Fancy Food Truck Friday!  The roster of gourmet food trucks this month is:

The Wake 'N Bake Wagon, breakfast - it's what's for dinner!
The Greasy Wiener, where heaven is a hot dog!
The Cairo Cowboy, formerly Kabob 'N Roll, where Mediterranean food never tasted so good!
Greenz On Wheelz, where you can actually use the words "healthy" and "delicious' in the same sentence, and
Sweet Arlene's, where they take sweet comfort food to a whole new level!

In addition to the lure of tasty bites, be sure to check in at WFS for our monthly Eccentric Poets Spoken Word event featuring Aldonia Bailey and friends:

You'll also want to drop by for a taste of.....wait for it.....the newest addition to our growing section of gourmet food products!  Contrary to recent rumors, WFS loves tea, so we'll be having our own tea party!  Crazy Bitch Tea, an herbal infusion, tastes great and has a calming effect on not just women, but men, too.  As one young Altadena mother told me, "I couldn't get through the day without it - it's phenomenal!"  Nothing artificial, nothing pharmaceutical involved in its making, Crazy Bitch Tea is made from all natural, herbal ingredients that will pick your mood up and relax you. Come by for a complimentary cup - come stressed, leave relaxed!

Have a wonderful week, everyone, we'll talk again next week!

Lori and Scott Webster

Labor Of Love

Ever since we took over the ownership of Webster's stationery department five years ago and renamed it Webster's Fine Stationers, we have depended on our staff - our crew members, as we call them - to convey our mission of exemplary customer service to our customers.  They've done it so well that we would be out of our minds not to give them the kudos they deserve, on today of all days.

Without our wonderful employees, both past and present, we would not be able to bring you the type of service that enables us to stand out and stand tall, even in this challenging economy.  They are the stalwarts of our front line of service to our customers - you - and we'd like you to join us while we take this opportunity to thank them for all their hard work.

It is hard work to bring you the type of service that you'd like to see in an independently owned business.  It isn't easy on any given day, and it's certainly not a walk in the park these days.  We independents are threatened on all fronts by big-box stores and on-line mega merchants offering insanely low priced goods, shipping deals, and no sales tax.  How can an independent retailer match such deals?  We can't, and that's the God's honest truth - but what we can offer you can't be compared to those corporate mega-retailers.  In truth, we don't want to be one of those huge retailers.  We're very comfortable being the grass-roots, community retailer that we are.  We offer honesty, integrity, real-person relationships and good, old fashioned service that cares if we do business right.  We love being part of what makes Altadena so special!

To our manager, Leilana, and under her, crew members Judith and Joey, Scott and I give you resounding applause for a job well done!  Thank you for your continued service to our mission, and thank you for taking Webster's Fine Stationers into the future as a rock-solid, community-centric business - you've truly made this business a labor of love!

We hope you're enjoying your 3-day weekend, friends, we'll talk again next week!

Lori and Scott