A leather anniversary? Oh the possiblities!

August 31^st my husband and I will be celebrating our 9^th anniversary. And I sit here wondering, what on earth do I get him? What do I ask for?

As with many couples with young families, money is limited, so that trip around the world I want? Yeah, that will have to wait a few years yet. We booth need new windshield wipers, we could buy them for each other but that seems just depressingly practical. So what do you do?

You may not know this but, just like there are a crazy number of traditions to do with getting married, there are specific gifts for the annual celebration of that marriage. Both traditional and modern.

Traditional:

Year	Theme
1	Paper	A card is a cop out here. Anything from concert tickets to a love poem works well for this important milestone. The trick with anniversary one is to make certain the gift means something. A neat option are the notebooks made by www.newleafhandmade.com. Perhaps a love letter written on the first page could start an annual tradition? The first year can be the toughest in a marriage and making it through needs to be celebrated.
2	Cotton	Hmmmm . . . clothes? Bedding? New towels?
3	Leather	I gave my husband a leather jacket as a wedding gift and it would work great for an anniversary gift idea. As would a new watch or wallet or a set of car seat covers. Of course there are a mind boggling array of other leather gift ideas if your relationship goes that way. Me, I’ve got a thing for the boots :D
4	Fruit/Flowers	This is a great gift to be able to send to work. Show you care and let your spouse ‘show off’ that you care.
5	Wood	Get your mind out of the gutter. Not that romance isn't a great anniversary gift. But how about golf clubs? Friends of mine planted a tree, which I thought was a really cool way to celebrate this one.
6	Candy or Iron	Golf clubs count here also. Chocolate is always a winner.
7	Wool or Copper	A sweater is great here, as well as scarves, hats, coats, suits and more. Copper could be jewellery or cookwear. There is some beautiful copper art out there.
8	Bronze	www.findgift.com suggests art work for this one. They have a really cool bronze door knocker as well. Or maybe an engraved family tree.
9	Pottery	I’m big into coffee mugs. A hand crafted mug would be on my wish list for this one. A fruit bowl or other kitchen stuff works great here. For the men it would be harder. Maybe this is why the modern version is leather!
10	Tin/Aluminum	A dozen beer is the first thing that pops into my head on this one! But how about a photo frame or garden ornament? www.findgift.com has some cool monogrammed golf club links – little buttons you put in the top of your clubs. www.tingifts.com has a huge selection of jewellery and things as well.
11	Steel	Watches, cutlery, beer steins, a new toaster. I found a surprising number of gift suggestions when I typed this one in.
12	Silk	The possibilities here are endless. Shirts, ties, suits, dresses, lingerie, fashion scarves. Be careful on quality.
13	Lace	Another that is easy to buy for women but a challenge for men. Unless of course you buy something lacy for her to wear and him to enjoy!
14	Ivory	Real ivory is difficult to come by as most critters that supply it are on the endangered species list. According to www.well-chosen-gift.com there are a couple of alternatives. "Mandarin" ivory, a polyresin commonly known as alabastrite, or "Vegetable" ivory, actually the tagua palm nut of South America. They also suggest the colour ivory would work well for this anniversary and I think that’s an excellent idea.
15	Crystal	Ah, wine glasses, tumblers, liquor decanters, paper weights . . . the list for crystal is as easy to fill as the one for silk.
20	China	After 20 years choosing china together should be easy. It’s likely way past time to replace the everyday kitchenware. And by the time you hit the 20th often your children will be the ones buying your anniversary gifts.
25	Silver	Once you hit these big ones jewellery is the obvious answer. Earrings, neck pieces or watches for her. Watches, cufflinks, pens or tie clips for him.
30	Pearl
35	Coral
40	Ruby
45	Sapphire
50	Gold
55	Emerald
60	Diamond

Modern:

Year	Theme	Gift ideas
1	Clocks	Big or small, desk or wall, there are a ton of clocks out there. Check out www.giftclocks.com for an amazing variety of ideas.
2	China	Every couple needs a decent set of everyday china. If you didn’t receive this for a wedding gift, this is a great time to choose one.
3	Crystal/Glass	Same with glass wear.
4	Appliances	Pretty self explanatory. These don’t have to mean a new fridge and stove. Toasters, blenders and mixers count too. Men, a tip here, check with her BEFORE buying one. Some women get really insulted by this.
5	Silverware	You see, if you use the modern list by your tenth anniversary your house hold is totally set!
6	Wood	There are some very cool wooden gifts out there beyond what we talked about in traditional. www.woodgifts.ca is the outlet for Smiling Frog wood studio and they have BEAUTIFUL suggestions from jewellery boxes to magic wands.
7	Desk Set	There are so many versions of desk sets out there, you can be sure to find something any spouse with a desk would enjoy.
8	Linens/Lace	For her – table clothes, throw pillows, curtains. For him – shirts and suits. Linen textured paper could easily work for this one also.
9	Leather	To add to the list above: leather footstool, a belt, luggage, a duffle bag or a purse. On www.findgift.com they had the coolest antique 1587 map of the world on leather. Of course the boots would be a hit in my house. Or maybe a leather beer holster? Check out http://www.beeroutlaw.com/info-classic.html
10	Diamond jewellery	Pretty self explanatory I think. 10 years is a big deal in a modern marriage. For men think rings, watches and tie clips.
11	Fashion Jewellery	We’ve got a great selection of fashion jewellery in store but some women may be wondering what to get for their man for this one. Well, guess what girls. Guys wear bracelets too! Type ‘fashion jewellery for men’ into your web browser and an amazing selection of sites will pop up. www.askmen.com had a great article on jewellery men can wear and how to wear it.
12	Pearls	A classic pearl necklace for her. A pearl handled revolver for him. ;-) just kidding. But you can get some beautiful pearl inset pens or pocket knives.
13	Textiles or fur	Anything fabric or fur? Yep.
14	Gold Jewellery	Again, these guys pretty much explain themselves.
15	Watch
20	Platinum
25	Silver
30	Diamond
35	Jade
40	Ruby
45	Sapphire
50	Gold
55	Emerald
60	Diamond

I wonder how my dear husband would feel about a leather beer holster?



courtesy of 'beer outlaw. com'



I'm kidding Luv.

Hopefully these ideas have gotten you started on your search to find something thoughtful and special to buy the love of your life. The big rule here is it should remind both of you what an amazing gift you gave each other when you exchanged your vows.

Marriage is so much more then a piece of paper. An anniversary is so much more then an excuse for a present. If nothing else, make certain to take some time for each other to commemorate that special day you pledged your lives to each other.

A rooster in the hen house. Or, should your man help choose your wedding gown?

Bridal gown shopping is women’s business. It’s something you do with your mom, your best friend, you sister. Men are not usually involved, and if you were to ask most of them, they don’t want to be.

But let’s answer the first question that many brides ask – is it bad luck?  Well, after much web research I found that the groom not seeing the bride or the bride’s gown is a combination of things.

-          Way back when many marriages were arranged they were a business agreement between the parents. The couple was kept apart until after the vows were finalized. This way, the groom could not back out if he found his new wife was not . . . up to his expectations when he lifted the veil.  

-          It was considered bad luck for a bride to put her complete bridal outfit on before the day of the wedding. The actually sewing of gowns was often not completed until the day of in order to prevent this. And WAY back when, brides were often sewn into their gowns on their wedding day, so there was simply no way for the groom to see the gown before his bride was in it. 

-          Wow factor. As a guest at a wedding I love to see the look on the grooms face when he sees his bride for the first time. The bride I can watch all the way down the aisle. The groom is who I look at as the processional music starts. Many feel that this ‘Wow’ is lost if the couple sees each other before the actual ceremony. But then again, many don’t.

So really, it isn’t bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her gown while she’s hunting for that perfect dress. The question is not “can he” or even “should he”. It is “do you want him to?" and "does he want to?”

If he doesn’t want to be there, don’t force him. There are plenty of women out there who would love to help another woman find a wedding gown. I’ve had total strangers volunteer to play audience to a bride's dress up time when they realized she had no one there to help her and everyone enjoyed it. If he doesn’t want to be there it will cast a gloom on the appointment and could really ruin the whole experience for you.

Just a tip, if your man is one who answers “fine” when ever you ask him how an outfit looks, his presence will not be helpful. Lol

(posted with permission)

If he wants to be there, then do you want him there? Well, think about the following questions before you decide:

- Is the wow factor important to you?

- Do you have a dream gown in mind?

- How will you handle it if you find a gown you love and he doesn’t like it?

- What if he loves a gown you hate?

- Does he have a realistic idea of what a bridal gown could cost?

- Will he give you the time you need to try on several gowns?

 These are questions you need to answer for yourself before you invite your fiancé to shop. Then again, these are questions you need to ask of anyone you bring with you on this quest.

Bridal gown shopping is, for most brides, emotional as much as it is ‘visual’.  There are exceptions of course. But for most brides, when you put on that gown, THE gown, you will know. You will FEEL like a bride. You will feel beautiful/elegant/like a princess. What ever that secret part of you was looking for, this is what your bridal gown should make you feel.

It is a beautiful moment and I will never get tired of it. If your co-shoppers are the right people for the job their first question with every gown will be “how do you feel about this one?” Input on the specifics should not be offered until the bride has decided if the gown is in the running or not.

Long and short, the gown is about the bride. It’s what she wants and feels beautiful in. How she sees that fitting with the theme, budget and traditions she and her groom have decided to follow. If a bride has decided having her groom help choose the gown is important to her, then why not?

So you want to have your own business. Are you sure about that?

After  20 years of various business ventures I’ve come to the conclusion that self employment is not for the faint of heart or  under caffinated.

Or sane.

Because I think you have to be just a little bit crazy to take on all of the responsibility of running a business with very few of the standard perks. Like a pay check for example. Or time off.

I promised you a look into the inner workings and this month is a good example of what you don't think about when you dream of being self employed.

Fall stock is coming in.

Fall gowns. Waiting for steaming and brides to play with them!

I had decided to have a sale to clear out the stock on hand and make some space and money to accommodate the incoming items. Due to taking my youngest son to visit grandparents the store had some odd hours the first two weeks in July. After the request of a few customers I decided to leave the sale on until the end of the month.  On the up side, the sale has motivated some buyers so I am convinced that was the right decision.

The old stuff is moving, but slowly. No where near fast enough to ease the little stress ball I carry inside regarding the big question. “Can I pay my bills this month?” So far we have a delicate balancing act going. The money coming in each week is covering the money going out. Which is an excellent thing, but leaves me in a perpetual state of fear that next week we may not be so lucky.  

What has upset this delicate balance, and motivated this post, was arriving at work Tuesday morning to find part of my ceiling caved in. Okay, an exaggeration but damn it felt like that when I saw the mess.

There is a leak in the roof. I’m aware of it and it will be taken care of and it’s all good. The leak is dripping onto a suspended ceiling tile. The tile finally said “enough of this crap” and basically disintegrated all over a glass jewellery display shelf. Now, it fell straight down. Not heavy enough in itself to break the shelf it also had the courtesy of not knocking the shelf over. So I was spared having to clean broken glass as well. A fact I was aware of despite my creative cursing trying to clean up water and disintegrated tile from my carpeted bridal area. The floor is now tidy, I cleaned out what was left of the tile so there is a nice square hole in my ceiling now instead of a torn gaping wound and the jewellery display shelf now holds two buckets to catch the ongoing drips.

Last night we had a couple of massive thunderstorms. Between the two storms I collected water more then 3” deep in each of the buckets. Can you imagine what kind of mess that would have been had the tile waited? I am blessed it gave up when it did and I know it. Thank you Lord.

The guy to spray foam my roof tells me he can do it Sunday. Soon I will have a totally sealed and insulated roof. No more leaks, no more of my money in heating and cooling going out that ceiling. I am excited at the prospect. I am terrified at the $12,000 it is going to cost to have this done. In the long run it is totally the right choice. On the short term it is adding another weight to balance.

The lesson?

Owning a store is much more then understanding wholesale vs. retail and the grand balancing act we undertake to keep both our customers and our bankers happy. It’s not just making sure shipments arrive on time and correctly. It’s not even the perpetual guessing game of what might sell next season. It is also the basic necessity of keeping a roof over your head (and hoping it stays there!)

And a paycheque? Well, hopefully that will happen some day as well. In the mean time I am just really happy that my husband loves me enough to support this insanity and that I love my job. Cave-ins not withstanding.