Local Florists Grow Communities

If you know me then you know that I am someone who loves flowers and plants. No matter the season, flowers are always in my home. They are bright, welcoming, and please so many senses. While I am happy to grab a bunch now and then from my local grocery store or farmer’s market, when I have an occasion to send flowers, I want to send something beautiful, something special.

If you want the best flowers then you should go through an area florist directly instead of the big internet sites. Doing so not only supports local businesses (often women-owned businesses), but it guarantees you will get more value for your money and better customer service. 

Big internet companies like 1800Flowers, Telaflora, and Avas Flowers aren’t actual florists; they are order gatherers. They have mastered SEO (search engine optimization) and use their well-honed marketing strategies to dominate most online searches, but they don’t actually know or handle flowers. They insert themselves between customers and the actual florists, charging a hefty fee (and sometimes even charging the florist a finders fee). The result is that you may think you’re ordering an $80 arrangement, but by the time the middleman takes a cut, the amount the actual florist in the area receives might only allow for the arrangement to be worth $50. Everyone is disappointed, except the order gatherers. 

Florists are creative artists who know their trade. They know what’s fresh, what’s seasonal, what looks beautiful. They know where their product comes from. They know their area hospitals, funeral homes, and wedding venues. They know their neighborhoods and their neighbors. It is worth your time to dig a little to find brick-and-mortar shops in the area where you are sending flowers. Avoiding the big businesses listed above, I use google search, google maps, and then I read reviews. From Seattle, to Vermont, to Florida, to Tennessee, this is how my family and friends get their beautiful flowers.

If you are looking for a florist in the Haverhill, MA area, I happen to love Welcome To Floristry. It’s become my happy place and my absolute go-to for gifts, seasonal decor, and of course flower arrangements. You can find them online at  https://www.welcometofloristry.net/ and on Instagram and Facebook.

The yearly update, with a pandemic twist

Right. So, in many ways Facebook killed the family blog, and I can’t pretend that this site is anything more than an annual check-in site for posterity. This year, I’m a little late (April instead of March) but there’s certainly happenings that warrant mentioning for the history books. We are in the middle of a pandemic. Covid-19 (aka the Corona virus) has all but halted the world. As of this writing, we — and those near and dear to us — are all healthy and sheltering in place to the best of their abilities. We are fortunate for a million reasons.

Nice to see I am consistent

So it looks like every March I remember we have a family blog. Good, good.  Between the kids’ increased desire for privacy (within their control) and the convenience of Facebook for the quick updates, the family blog has fallen by the wayside. But In talking with Larry, I may take on the project of backfilling on our travels and our guests, at least. So that we can publish a blog book when we leave that will give us as much happiness and joy and all our previous ones.

a little mid-week check in

This has been a good week so far. Yeah, I know it’s only Tuesday, but I still stand by the statement.

The little scientist

“Mom, can I have a sample of your saliva?” she asks while wearing a white lab coat, latex gloves and wielding a Q-tip. Truly, this is not something I ever thought I’d hear my child ask.

Meredith has been suffering from a miserable cold for the past week. Today we let her stay home. By 8:00am she was asking if she could watch Netflix. My answer was No. Home sick means resting and not just binge watching TV. (Can’t make staying home too appealing, right?)

At 11:00 our air shipment arrived, bringing some of our household goods including the fragile items like our iMac and our mandolins. Meredith’s microscope set also arrived. She’s been happily playing for hours, looking at dyed potato shavings, tooth plaque, pollen, and yes, even my saliva.

That sweet spot

We often comment that we are in the sweet spot with our kids, age and stage wise.  They are independent; they are enjoyable to be around (mostly). They still enjoy being around us (mostly).  But today I got to have an audible demonstration of the sweet spot:  Greenday’s “Holiday” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” came on the playlist. A verse and a chorus in, Merrie asked, “Who is this? They’re really, really good!” Elliot and I nodded to each other knowingly. Then  I cranked the volume for the ride home.