A Day of Thanks and Gratitude

I will confess right now, I don't eat meat, which means I am not responsible for any of the dead turkeys this year! Today I posted some pictures of one of my most favorite Thanksgivings ever. It was 2008, and all of my little family made the decision to "simple" and go out for Thanksgiving dinner. We went to an Irish pub, O'Malley's, in Old Towne Seal Beach. Had our dinner, then walked down to the little playground that is on the beach. It was a beautiful night out, clear, not too cold and I loved listening to the waves crash into the shore! Afterwards, we walked over to Brande's apartment a couple of blocks away for dessert. Here are a few of my Thanksgiving memories below!





This year Katie is hosting a BIG Thanksgiving gathering. Vinnie has a large family, so I'm guessing it will be a bit crazy, but hey, I do like crazy. Brande is gone this year, so for me there will be a void at the table, and she will be missed. Today is a day that we all, especially with the way the world is now, need to take a few minutes to really appreciate who and what we have in our lives. Even if you are struggling right now like so many, thanks to our great economy, there ARE family, friends, and people to be thankful and grateful for! I send out Country Roads emails to our customers here and there. It is always so heartwarming for me to read some of the responses I get. And I DO read them all! I got the one below yesterday, and it really warmed my heart. Thought I would share it with you!


don't know if you will read this, but I am a loyal customer for a number of years and am SOOO thankful for your store. with the economy as it is I don't get to buy as much right now. however to be able to come and just be able to wander the isles and maybe still pickup a little trinket along the way well it is such wonderful therapy for me!! the atmosphere and the way the store is setup is such a great way to remove myself from the "everyday stuff" that can crowd me into a corner...
you are all such a blessing, I cannot think of my life without you !!!!!!

I just want you all to remember today, that Thanksgiving isn't about what is "on" the table, but "who" is at the table! Wishing you a day filled with both thanks & gratitude!

White Wednesday

Welcome to my "White Wednesday" which almost didn't happen thanks to either blogger or my computer. I have never had pictures load so slow. I usually have more pictures posted for "White Wednesday", but technology prevented me from adding more! With that said, here some random pictures of "whiteness" at Country Roads. Here is a sampling of some of our "White Wednesday" stuff!




I know the above picture isn't "white" but I had to share it. My oldest, Brande, is touring with the band Arcade Fire in Europe. She does the fundraising for them. Brande is always taking pictures of sunsets here at home. This one was taken at Notre Dame de la Garde Marseille, France. We'll miss Brande this Thanksgiving, but "thankfully" she will be home in time for Christmas. Please stop by and pay my friend Kathleen a visit, as we all know our awesome her "whites" are! And to you all, "happy Thanksgiving" and let's remember those things that we are truly thankful for this year! Take care.

Window Displays

We have two large front windows that Bryce usually puts up displays in. Over the years, I think Brande did the windows for awhile, some of our staff like Carol would work on them and a few others. I can say that you would never see MY butt on display in a front window trying to fight with a display piece. The ledge for these windows displays can't be more than maybe two feet wide, so it is always a challenge. I took some pictures of our front two windows the other day when it was really overcast outside. I thought I had a better chance of getting some type of picture without much glare. I LOVE these old vintage reindeer! I bought them years ago, and they all have this evil look to them, not sure why?

Below are a couple of pictures of the second big window display. This one is just as narrow as the other, but it more accessible and a little easier to display in.
I love the "look" that Bryce did with this window, completely different than the first window. We have about four other front windows. I think two of the dealers in two of the windows (Bryce and Tim) make sure that they not only display their space but the front window as well. Now, if I can figure out a better way to take pictures of our window displays, you all would be looking at clearer pictures!

My Tribute to Joanie Smith

I just wanted to take a few minutes to tell you about someone very, very special that just passed away. One of my friends, Councilwoman Tita Smith, just lost her mom, Joanie. As is life, there comes the day that we lose those we love. But what was so very special about Joanie Smith, who is pictured above? She lived and died believing in one of the most important things in life "giving back"! She was the very special person that began "My Sister Joanie's Purse Project". As many of our customers know, he have been collecting purses and toiletries for years for this project that Joanie started years ago, and now the Orange YWCA's is continuing the project. Something so simple as giving women in shelters diaper bags and purses filled with the stuff that you may carry in your own purse. Just yesterday, a customer came into Country Roads with a bag full of purses and another bag filled with goodies for those purses! Below is a little story I wrote almost two years ago about Joanie Smith. . .

It's Easy to Give Back
A few years ago, and I don’t remember the exact circumstances, I came across this awesome, little project that the Orange YWCA had been doing for several years. It was called, “My Sister Joanie’s Purse Project”. It was originally started by my favorite Councilwoman, Tita Smith’s mom, Joan Hoefs Smith. Basically, the concept is to collect purses that are “gently used” and fill them with stuff like personal hygiene products, or maybe a hankie or nail polish. These purses were and are distributed throughout the shelters in Orange County throughout the year, focusing mainly on Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas. Since Christmas, this project has collected over 500 purses and put smiles on many grateful women’s faces!

As I started to write this article, I realized I didn’t know as much about My Sister Joanie’s Purse Project as I thought I did, and I wanted to learn more. So, as I seem to do a lot lately when I need help, I once again turned to Councilwoman Tita for more background on this wonderful project. Joan Hoefs Smith came to Orange in the 1920’s, went to West Orange School and then to Orange Union High School. That is when she learned not only about our Native Americans history, but also sadly learned about the poverty and deplorable conditions they lived in. Deeply concerned about this, Joan took it upon herself to make it her own personal charity to “give back”, to make a difference in the little Indian kids lives that were subjected to living in such poverty on these reservations. Joanie decided she would start collecting dolls at garage sales, wash ‘em up, refurbish them, re-do their hair and outfit each one of these gently loved dolls and box them up with a blanket and send them to the Indian reservations for Christmas gifts.

About fifty years ago, there a fellow named Danny Davey. And like Joanie, he too had the desire to make a difference in others lives. Danny was a UPS driver, but he had a heartfelt desire and passion to provide goods and gifts to our Native Americans. Thus, the Thunderbird Foundation was established. It all began that very first Christmas, when Danny decided to play Santa to all these little kids on the reservation. He loaded up a UPS truck with the dolls, gifts one Christmas and drove it to Arizona. The rest is pretty much history as his efforts grew and grew until there were many, many trucks following him to many of the Indian families every Christmas!

As this project grew and grew, somewhere along the way, Danny’s mom died. She left behind a number of handbags, personal belongings and more. Danny, being a giving man, filled those handbags with his mom’s things and trucked them right on over to the Indian women. These women were thrilled, and can you just imagine the smiles on their faces? Just the act of “giving” these specially packed purses not only made a difference in others lives, but as you can see, this is where it, being “My Sister Joanie’s Purse Project” began. Of course the Native American Indian women loved this SO much that they grew to expect these purses. Not wanting to let them down, and Danny knowing that Joanie Smith of Orange, Ca, had provided hundreds of dolls for the little Indian children all these years, Danny knew that Joanie could help him out. If she could get the purses filled, he could get them delivered

So, Joanie enlisted everyone she knew to help her out: friends, daughters, granddaughters and all of their friends as well. Purses began to pour in by the dozens! The purses had to reach Joanie by Halloween, purses that were new or gently used and filled with toiletries, hankies, pens, note cards and much more. And because these purses were going to the Native American women in Arizona where is cold, they also started collecting warm socks, scarves, gloves and other clothing items to keep the women warm. Over all those years, Joanie produced literally thousands of dolls and purses and Danny Davey and the Thunderbird Foundation, without ever hesitating, delivered these presents, gifts and more to all the delighted Native American women and children.

What is even more special about this little purse collecting we do above, is that many, many of our customers started their own version of it with their kids. As you see in the picture above with Joanie, there are two little girls, who if I remember right, made this a project for their girl scout troop. I DO have a heavy heart as I write this post. But what sincerely warms my heart up a bit the most is that Joanie's efforts to make a difference, to give to others, will continue in her honor, in her name. I know Country Roads is REALLY going to work even harder to collect more purses for this holiday season and year round as well! And to "borrow" one of Arianna's pictures from her Facebook page and her mom, Pat Barrio's quote from her Facebook page,
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. - Maya Angelou.

Joanie will be missed by many, but never forgotten! "Thank you" for everything you did to make a difference in our world!

Another Rainy Day, Will We See You?

I'm running late this morning, too much work to do before work! I hate when that happens. Thank you all for shopping with us yesterday. We had a wonderful day, were so busy and got to see many of our favorite customers, thanks. Here are just a few more random photos for those of you that may not have been able to make it in yesterday.






When I got home last night, I glanced at the moon. Wow, it was pretty FULL!! And it is Sunday, so we all know what that means? Come join the fun!!

Why You Need to Shop at CR This Week-end!

So, why do I think you need to shop at Country Roads this week-end. First, it is supposed to rain ALL week-end, and you know how big our store is, and how "easy" it is to spend a lot of time shopping. Also, as I was walking around the store yesterday, it just looks really good right now. Here are a few little things I took some pictures of to share with you!













I am so fortunate to have such a great Country Roads family. They never let me down, and their displays are wonderful as you can see. And the majority of the displays are usually not stale, meaning they have not sat there the same way so long that they are covered in dust! Hope to see you over the week-end! Take care.

A Little Makeover!

I was off yesterday, so I gave my camera to Bryce to take some pictures at "the store". Of course, after he just got started the camera battery died! He was able to take a few pictures of Tim & Lisa's "little makeover". Here are a few of their new makeovers that I thought you might enjoy!






What I love about Country Roads is how "regularly" our dealers come in to give their spaces "makeovers" each week. I hear it's supposed to be a rainy week-end. Sounds like a perfect time to come visit us and see all of our "Country Roads Makeovers"! And it's also beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Take care.