Holiday Love - Hoopla! Emporium's Picks For Gifting

 

Being the owner of a gift store is a lot of work, particularly around the holidays. We've read several industry articles lately in regard to the stress the holidays can bring, and how we storeowners can deal with it all. It's great information, but in all honesty, I don't find this time of year too stressful, I find it invigorating and joyful.  What fun it is to pull out all the holiday decorations, trim the tree, and anticipate all the new merchandise coming into the store!

It's all very exciting, but the thing we like most of all is discovering fabulous products for you that are made locally or regionally.  The talent that we have here astounds us!  From artists and authors, to food producers and gift or card makers, this is our partial list of our absolute favorites (which can change without notice, and often does!) -

• Jus D'Amour The Essence of Love Perfume Oil by Perfumes Mercedes - hands down, our favorite new scent, created by singer, songwriter and performer Mercedes Ganon.  Included in this line are the original Jus D' Amour, its companion scent Sassy, and Legend Cologne for men.  Jus D'Amore is a timeless, romantic blend of fresh coco palm and aqualeaf accord, gentle violet, night blooming jasmine, Tahitian vanilla and deep sandalwood.  Formulated to coordinate with Sassy, a fresh and sexy blend of juicy sweet orange mandarin and vibrant grapefruit, exotic jasmine, bergamot and cassis, the two scents together are bliss!  Legend for men is an evocation of nature's combination of fruits, woods, and florals to capture that very distinct masculine flavor.  Notes include melon, black currant, citrus, green leaf, ozone, bergamot, jasmine, violet, wood musk, oakmoss, and sandalwood.  We highly recommend this as a personal gift to yourself this year! 

 

• LA Farm Girl jams and jellies - this local specialty food product line is so delicious, we can't describe it well enough in words.  Because no matter how hard you try, you just can't smell or taste words, can you?  Rest assured that we've done the tasting for you, and can tell you how much we love them!  Not just for breakfast, either, these jams, most infused with wine or spirits, are so versatile in the kitchen.  From your holiday baking (Linzer cookies, anyone?) to a glaze for roast meats, we invite you to transport your taste buds this season! Currently in stock are Habanero Honey, Peppered Pineapple, Strawberry Sangria, Bourbon & Vanilla Berry, Fig & Sweet Marsala, and Sherry & Cinnamon Persimmon.  Caramel Tangerine, Cognac & Vanilla Cherry, and Blood Orange & Rosemary Mimosa are on their way in about a week or so.

• The Safety Godmothers by Ellen Snortland and Lisa Gaeta - this book is a must-have for all young people, particularly females, and gives sound advice about personal safety without the preachy-ness. We love Ellen and Lisa's humorous tone in this book, as they interview young people who have been attacked, and survived, by using the tactics the authors recommend.  If you have a young daughter or son, or are a grandparent to either, this is our pick for you! It's not a sexy, beautiful, or delicious present, but don't let that deter you.  This is something that will resonate for years with your young ones and, help save a life if, God forbid, they are ever stalked or attacked.

We'll be back again soon with some more suggestions for you.  Until then, be well and enjoy the season!

Perception

Hello, friends, another Monday has come and so it's time for a blog post.  Last week we discussed Sally Hogshead's new book, How The World Sees You.  In it, we posted a link and a password to take the perception test at no charge.  Did you try it?  We'd love to know what you thought - leave us a message and let us know your two defining traits and your archetype!  To have a little fun with this, here's what your archetype would be if they were named after super heroes:

Speaking of perception, we'd like to share someone else's blog post with you today, with a hat tip to our good friend Rose Eliff, who brought it to our attention.  The blog is called Momastary and the post, here, is called "Give Me Gratitude Or Give Me Debt".  It's a very uplifting post, and we hope you enjoy it!

Why would a retail store want you to read a post about someone who is consciously avoiding keeping up with the Joneses?  Isn't that what retail's all about, trying to get everyone in your store to buy the latest geegaw and gadget?  Most of them do, yes indeed they do.  We're a little different here at Hoopla.  We are An Emporium Of Good Things, and as such, carry products that are mostly sourced locally.  We have the largest collection of books written by people that live in and around Altadena.  We carry products like soap, tea, sauces, and caramels all made by local or regional folks.  Real people with real names, that you may bump into while shopping.  Greeting cards, art, music, wall decor, even pens made locally.  We carry fair trade gift wrap, bags, shoppers, scarves, jewelry, and journals.  Of the imports that we do carry, we carefully vet the companies to ensure that manufacturing laws and workers are not being abused.  No children were harmed in the production of our merchandise.  It's always a nice bonus when we find these type of companies locally, as well.  You see, we're a feel-good store, and we figure you can never get enough of a good thing, right?  You'll come in, there's no need for us to shout about how much better we are than your other choices, but cheering sections are always welcomed! 

So what does this have to do with perception?  It says we care - deeply and truly care about what you bring into your home.  We know you could buy products anywhere, so we specialize in finding products that not everyone has.  We know you could patronize any business, and we're very thankful you choose ours.  This is why we're so choosy - because you are!

With that said, we've got some great new garden items coming in from Regal Art And Gifts, a California company located in Concord.  There will be some great solar yard stakes and wind chimes that are just perfect for your late summer garden!  We can't wait until the fall yard decorations come in because they're so cool!  Here's a little peek of what's coming:

Dragonfly Bell

Solar Bubble Light Butterfly Stake

Solar Lantern

Hummingbird Bell

Coming soon - Halloween Yard Stakes

 

Remember, we also have beautiful Leoj Wishing Balls.  These are extremely well made (in the U.S.!) glass objects that soak up the sun's rays during the day, and glow softly at night.  Almost as wonderful as fireflies, these shapes will fascinate you!

Leoj Wishing Balls, Large & Small Spheres

 



That's it for this week, friends.  Have a great week, and we'll talk next Monday!

Lori and Scott