Gratitude

As I get ready to head of to "the store" this morning in our insanely cold SoCal weather, on the last day of the year, I just wanted you to know how much myself and my family appreciate all of you. There is not a day that goes by that I never remember the importance of my family, my friends and the importance of my awesome customers! Trying to have a positive attitude daily hasn't been as easy as one might think these days. But I do promise you that if you continue to live your life that way, you will be a better person for doing it. Also, as we head towards the brand new year, 2011, please remember the importance of "giving". Be sure to always have a couple of extra dollars with you, because who knows, you may have made a huge difference in that person you gave those couple of bucks to! And to my Country Roads customers, I "thank you" from the bottom of my heart for continuing to shop with us all these years. This sweet couple were asleep in their car a couple of weeks ago waiting for us to open! Even after all these years, I'm still in awe that someone would wait in a cold car for us to open. Gratitude fills my heart when things like this happen! I can't tell you how much I appreciate those of you that have kept shopping with us over all these years. On January, 2nd 1993, we opened "the door" to Country Roads. I had no idea what to expect. It was raining, the roof was leaking bad, but I had customers waiting! The first customer that walked through the door was my friend, Chris Nickoloff. She passed away a few years ago at much to young an age. I will always remember her standing in the rain, waiting to shop in my new store! Please know that I'm still grateful each and every day that I open "the door" to Country Roads, and you, our customers, our friends, our Country Roads family continue to motivate us to be the best we can!! If you have a few minutes, please watch this little">movie. Even when times are tough, you need to carry a positive attitude in your heart. It will get you through anything. I look forward to seeing you all in 2011. And from the bottom of my heart, I thank you all for being the best customers ever!

Some New Industrial Eye Candy!

We've got some new displays by our front door. Christmas is over, and I think many of us are looking forward to a brand new year, a new beginning, a new start. I thought I'd share a little industrial "eye candy" with you today. Hope you like it, I do!













Oh, by the way, this industrial "eye candy" was put together by "my boy Bryce". What better way to start of your New Year, than to come shop our big sale on New Years Day. I'm really anxious, more so than years in the past, to begin a new year. I'm looking forward to 2011, to new beginnings and to seeing my favorite customers continue to shop with us. I will always hold a lot of gratitude in my heart for our Country Roads customers, they are the best ever!

White Wednesday

This "White Wednesday" in which I'm running VERY late with my post, I wanted to dedicate to my Dad. My Dad would have been 90 years old today. We lost him almost four years ago on Valentine's Day morning in 2007. So, in honor of my Dad, I've posted some black and "white" photos of Mr.Moore (that's how he introduced himself) or Pat the Irishman! Here are a few of my favorite pictures of my Dad!






This is the last picture I have of my Dad. It was taken on Thanksgiving in 2006. My Mom had just died that previous August right after Riley was born. I remember when my Dad was holding Riley here, his words were, "your Mom would have loved this baby". So today, on this "White Wednesday" here's to you Dad. I know that you know you could be a really big pain in my ass, but in the end all was well! We all miss you and think of you often. Happy Birthday. And for everyone else that has already visited Kathleen I hope you had the chance to say a big "thank you" to her for putting this "White Wednesday" thing together that we all participate in! It's been wonderful getting to know so many of you. And here's to a great 2011! Happy New Year!! And "happy birthday" Rita! I'm happy to have a friend that shares the same birthday as my "Papa"!!

Country Roads Randomness

So, today you just get some "Country Roads" randomness. And the one thing that is for sure, we have an awesome collection of random stuff! Here are just a few of things I managed to snap pictures of that kind of caught my eye.





Hard to believe in less than five more days we get to start all over, a brand new year. Have you thought about changes or things you would like to do differently. That's really been on my mind lately. I've been running on empty way to long, so one of my resolutions is to try and find (somewhere) a tad more time for myself without feeling selfish! Take care. And don't forget our HUGE sale on New Year's Day!!! You won't want to miss it!

Do I Really Have to Work Today?

You won't find this blog post today very "wordy"! I woke up this morning and I laid there exhausted for a minute thinking, "what day is it, what do I have to do"? Then reality set in very quickly, I have to work today. Below are some pictures of the past 48 hours or so, starting with the working on Christmas Eve day. As you can see, we had a procession of Santa's on motorcycles. The patrons of Paul's bar across the street really enjoyed them. And I also took home some nice gifts as well. A special thanks to Carol for the homemade tamales, family photo and Corona. It made wrapping ALL my Christmas presents on Christmas eve much more festive. And thank you to Kate & Gracie. They packaged some white gloves for me in such a cute little container. Okay, so below are my past 48 hours!








We did breakfast and dinner at my house this year. My dishwasher and I have established a very good friendship. And thank you Vinnie for making the great spaghetti dinner!
These were two of my most favorite gifts. I really did feel like a little kid when I got these. Bryce & Justine gave me the big sign that I have lusted after for months. And Katie, Vinnie, and Brande gave me an Ipad. Sadly, I haven't had time to even take it out of the box, but was very excited to get it! I sent out an Email Express last night. I just wanted to let you know that we are open at 10am this morning. If you were one of the lucky ones that scored some holiday CASH for a gift, come on down and shop. Our BIG sale won't be until New Year's day. But if you see something you can't live without, all of us will do our best to see if we can get you a better price. We can't do much with stuff under $50, but on other things we will be more than happy to see if we can help you out. After all, it IS still officially the holiday season!! Take care.

We Did It!

I really didn't think I was going to pull it off this year. The Christmas tree and some of our favorite holiday decorations. But, with a little help from my family (Brande, Riley, and Morgan) we managed to bring in some holiday cheer to our home. We did discover how crooked our Christmas tree really was, but hey, everyone has to love a "Charlie Brown tree", right? There are still totes in the garage filled with holiday decorations, and they won't be out this year. But it's really okay. Here are a few pictures of what we finally managed to pull off last yesterday afternoon!








I always like that saying that goes something like, "it doesn't matter what is on your Christmas dinner table, but what is important is "who" is gathered around". With that said, and on a completely different note, Country Roads will be open today from 10am to 5pm. And we would LOVE to help you pick out any last minute gifts you still have to buy! Happy Holidays!!