Put A Little Love In Your Heart ( And Community)

"
Think of your fellow man
Lend him a helping hand
Put a little love in your heart
You see it's getting late
Oh, please don't hesitate
Put a little love in your heart

And the world will be a better place
And the world will be a better place
For you and me
You just wait and see

Another day goes by
Still the children cry
Put a little love in your heart
If you want the world to know
We won't let hatred grow
Put a little love in your heart

And the world (and the world) will be a better place
All the world (all the world) will be a better place
For you (for you)
And me (and me)
You just wait (just wait)
And see, wait and see

Take a good look around
And if you're looking down
Put a little love in your heart
I hope when you decide
Kindness will be your guide
Put a little love in your heart

And the world (and the world) will be a better place
And the world (and the world) will be a better place
For you (for you)
And me (and me)
You just wait (just wait)
And see
----Jackie DeShannon, Jimmy Holiday, and Randy Myers


This past week saw an extreme change in our weather pattern.  We went from the coldest I've ever felt it here in Southern California back to warm and sunny just a couple days ago - but I'll tell you that was one long, cold spell we had!  It proved to me that we are so not acclimated to chilly temperatures, and Scott and I were overjoyed when the mercury topped 75 degrees in beautiful Altadena!

Just as our weather can change dramatically, so can our shopping habits.  In a post on our Facebook page this week, I posted an article from Retail's Big Blog that recounted former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's recent speech at the Big Show in New York.  The gist of his speech was that retail just may end up being a core driver of employment in the future, if the global community begins to plan ahead for sustainability and focus on what he terms "the three pillars" of stable governments -  peace and stability, development, and rule of law and respect for human rights.  In short, and in my opinion, this equates to everyone adopting fair trade practices.

If we truly care about being responsible global citizens, and having a world economy that thrives, we must learn to cooperate.  Cooperation and fair trade practices start at the grass-roots level, in our own dealings in our communities.  Four years ago, I wrote a blog post called "The Meaning Of Think Global, Buy Local", in which I explained what happens when you shift your shopping.  We're still at it, doing what we can to be good global and community citizens.  Over the years, we've concentrated more on buying from hyper-local companies and community artists.  We love doing this, and we love being able to donate to community non-profits!

Our latest came yesterday, when Scott and I handed a check to the Christmas Tree Lane Association in the amount of $512.00!  See the Altadenablog article about it here.  We are so pleased that their merchandise sold so well this year, and want to thank our customers for buying so enthusiastically!  Keep it up, friends, you're contributing to a great cause!

We'll talk again next week - until then, have a great week!

Lori and Scott

Tidings Of Comfort

Last week, we spoke briefly about the Lighting Ceremony at Christmas Tree Lane and the wonderful holiday feeling of the community coming together for the celebration.  That feeling was also found recently at Altadena's 125th birthday party.  It would have been the thread running through last Friday's holiday edition of Webster's monthly food truck event, too, had not the horrific event in Connecticut (and rainy cold weather) happened.

 Part Of The Crowd At This Years Lighting Ceremony At Christmas Tree Lane. 

 When something devastating occurs, the natural instinct is to huddle down in the safety of your home, surrounded by familiar and loved people and things.  For those who did come, we thank you, and we hope you enjoyed our Christmas carol sing-along.  We hope you had a bit of fun eating at the food trucks and joining us in the store.  We are happy that we could help provide a safe haven and yes, a place of community, to turn to when times are hurtful and confusing.  A place where people know you, that's been there forever - a place that you draw comfort from.

No one can wave a wand and make everything back to normal again.  The families of the victims of this heinous shooting rampage are bearing an unimaginable loss, and we here, across the miles, mourn with them.  Explanations and platitudes aside, there's little comfort in that Connecticut town tonight.  Our cries to God to bless the families there, and ease their pain, reverberate across the states and the world.  In a crisis like this, we are all one and we are all family.  Healing will come slowly, but it will come.

The message of Christmas is particularly poignant this year. From the bottom of our hearts, Scott and I wish you a joyous holiday and may you be enveloped by love, faith and hope for now and for the future.  We'll be taking a blogging break and will be back after New Years Day.  Enjoy, everyone!

Lori and Scott

Christmas 2012 Webster's Fine Stationers - ceramic Santas and Elves by Altadena artist Patrick Gothard

Altadena Sparkles!

A cool and rainy welcome to December to you all, as we forge head-on into thick of holiday season 2012!  There are so many festive events happening all over town, that my head is spinning - particularly after our Famous Annual Holiday Open House on Saturday!

With great food (and an appearance by Earl Rothwell of Earl's Gone Wild Barbeque sauce and now a brilliant red pepper jelly that's fabulous with cream cheese and crackers); poetry, spoken word, and some music thrown in for good measure with our friends Aldonia Bailey and Amin El; and a book signing with author Margaret Finnegan, it was certainly a day to remember! 

 

Jazz artist and poet Amin El

We were honored to host three other local artists - Karen Bagnard, whose brand-new drawing "Angel Of Christmas Tree Lane" was debuted at our Open House; Mary and Patrick Gothard of Gothard Art, whose art and textiles hang in our store; and Leslie Aitken of LA General Store Design Studio, who held a trunk show of her oh so soft and trendy scarves, wraps, hats, and wristlets.  Our good friend, graphic artist Jeanine Colini, whose cards we carry at the store, made a valiant effort to attend, and we're so happy that she made it, although she almost missed it!

Leslie Aitken, Seamstress Extraordinaire!

 

 

 

Margaret Finnegan, Author Of The Goddess Lounge

And now we have a week to rest (ha!) until Saturday, December 8th, when Altadena gathers to witness the annual lighting of Christmas Tree Lane.  You'll find Karen's cards at the boutique and art sale prior to the lighting, starting at 2:00 pm, but if you just can't wait to have one (or two!), you can find them at WFS - and remember, 50% of net proceeds of this special card will go directly to The Christmas Tree Lane Association.

Have a lovely week ahead, friends, and we'll talk again next Sunday!

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!

Let There Be Light!

Have you ever visited a place so beautiful that it literally took your breath away?  It's those moments that we humans live for, it's what inspires us and what keeps us looking for that next "fix" of fabulous.  Without them, we are bereft and without hope.

Scott and I had one of those moments last night, as Altadena's Christmas Tree Lane Association flipped the switch and Santa Rosa Avenue exploded into a million points of colored light!  Seemingly suspended in the dark night as you gaze down the road, it's as if the entire length of it was made to be Santa's runway.  Of course, according to the history of Christmas Tree Lane, it wasn't a runway for a sled and its team of flying reindeer.  But it was a mile-long driveway for a home that was never built, and I'm sure that Mr. Nash would've let Santa use it for takeoff, should he have needed it.

Christmas Tree Lane is such a wonderful attraction for Altadena to have, and it's a testament to the hard work of the Association members and volunteers who make it happen.  We are so proud to be a supporter of CTLA and we were very worried a week or so ago that the lighting ceremony wouldn't take place.  A brutal windstorm swept through the San Gabriel Valley with hurricane force - somehow, the atmospheric conditions made that wind possible, and the damage it left behind was considerable.  Two trees were lost on Santa Rose Avenue, bad enough, but all up and down this street with the lovely Deodar Cedars, large branches had broken, falling and pulling down the carefully placed light strings that had just been placed.  So much debris littered the street and yards of the homeowners there - would there be enough time to get it all repaired and cleaned up before the ceremony on the 10th? 

True teamwork is hard to find, but it was found in spades in our community - it was found right at Christmas Tree Lane!  Kudos go to all those involved with the restoration of the light strings, the clean up and setting up for what was a fantastic event - an event sorely needed by all of us.  For it is without beauty we grow melancholy, and with the events of last few weeks, beauty has been hard to come by.  

Photo courtesy of Altadenablog

Here's hoping you all have a wonderful week coming up!  Be sure to like us on Facebook and look for the announcement of our special holiday wine pairing next Saturday. Watch for news of a special benefit on Sunday for Altadena Community Church.  We're also planning an Ugly Christmas Sweater shopping extravaganza the week before Christmas!  Hang onto your hats, friends, the season is upon us!

Lori and Scott