August 2012

Uncategorized

Blog Announcement

August 23, 2012

Welcome Back Readers,

Thank you everyone for all the great baby shower game ideas and baby name discussion! I personally refuse to put a diaper anywhere near my face for any reason, but it seems like a popular game to play at these things. We have some prizes to dole out and some big news to get to. Congratulations to Lisa Morris (August 16, 2012 at 8:34 pm), Anne (August 17, 2012 at 1:57 pm), Emily (August 17, 2012 at 7:33 pm), Mitch (August 22, 2012 at 4:26 pm), and Amanda Snider (August 22, 2012 at 6:52 pm)! You will each be receiving chocolate covered strawberries!

And now for the news part. I have really enjoyed writing these blog posts every week, discussing our various topics in the comments section, seeing your answers and stories and learning all about you! However, this will be my last post for 1800Baskets.com. I’ll be moving on to a new position and the blog will be going on a small hiatus until our new blog writer starts.

I would like to thank you all so much for coming back to read and comment every week! It has always been a pleasure to see our regular commenters as well as the occasional new faces. I’ve learned a lot of great recipes and tips and fun things from you and I hope you enjoyed and learned the same from me. I’m sure you will all enjoy our new writer whenever they start and pick things up where I left off. So please check back for when they start!

To clean up some things before I go: If you’re a former blog winner from the last two blogs and still have not received your prize, don’t fear! Our shipper has been out on vacation this last week and has been bombarded by emails from me reminding him to send all the gifts. If you still don’t receive your gift within 2-weeks, send us a private message to our Facebook page and it will be taken care of immediately! As for this week’s winners, send your shipping information, the email address you used in your comment, and a link to this blog post in a private message to social@1800baskets.com.

Well wishes to all of you, thank you for reading!

-Alex

Customer Appreciation, Feedback, Gift Baskets, Gift Baskets Catalog, New Baby Gift Baskets, Party!

New Baby and Baby Shower Games

August 16, 2012

Welcome back!

Apparently the number 8 isn’t too lucky for a few of you, so just stick to not walking under any ladders! Of course five of you commenters are in luck and will be receiving a giant fortune cookie! Congratulations to Gary Narberes (August 9, 2012 at 4:16 pm), Karen Koch (August 9, 2012 at 4:21 pm), Melissa (August 9,2012 at 4:51 pm), Elaine C. (August 10, 2012 at 10:49 am), and Suzanne (August 15, 2012 at 10:14 pm)! Send your shipping information to me at amariscal@1800flowers.com and I’ll send out your fortune cookies!

Is it just me or is the end of summer and beginning of fall “baby season”? I know a few people who are due around this time and nearly half of my family has a fall birthday. I realize there is a statistic about however many thousand people are born every minute, but in my small world, I feel like those minutes all gather around the change of the fall season. Feel free to let me know if it’s the same or different for all of you!

I enjoy seeing the new name trends every year and guessing what influenced them (how many Katnisses do you think we’ll get this year?). I would like to see more interesting trends for boy names. They get the short end of the stick, I think. Someone should start the petition for trendier boy names. Below are the top 10 names for girls and boys for the year 2011.

Top 10 Names for Girls 2011

Isabella (who saw that one coming…besides everyone)
Emma
Olivia (my hope is this was inspired by Olivia Newton John)
Sophia
Ava
Emily
Madison (I will never not think of the movie Splash when I see this name)
Abigail
Chloe
Mia

Top 10 Names for Boys 2011

Jacob (once again, color me shocked)
Ethan
Michael
Alexander (the Great!)
William (could shorten to Liam)
Joshua
Daniel
Jayden (Big Willy style, obviously)
Noah
Anthony

Of course with new babies on the way, comes baby showers and trying to find a gift that’s useful while still being cute (personally all tiny things are cute to me, especially baby gym shoes that will never even touch a single sidewalk and will be grown out of within a month). We have all the most adorable new baby gifts you could imagine here, including my favorite monkey baby gift. However, for those of you currently planning baby showers, let’s talk some fun and unique baby shower games so that no grown woman will ever have to smell a fake diaper with random mashed food in it again.

Baby shower game ideas:

Give your guests a list of television families and have guests list the children from the families. Some families to try: Full House, Brady Bunch, Arrested Development, Leave It To Beaver, Little House on the Prairie, Malcolm in the Middle, Partridge Family, Growing Pains, Bewitched, Step by Step, Cosby Show, Family Guy, The Simpsons, Family Ties, Modern Family.
Create a baby guide book with ideas from close family and friends. Sometime during the party, ask each guest to write down their name, relationship to new mom and then some helpful hints, baby advice, words of encouragement. This will be very helpful to new parents!
Cake Race. Have people race to build a diaper/baby gift cake using provided materials and reward those who finish first and/or have the most appealing diaper cake!

In the comments section (1-2 paragraphs) tell me your own ideas for baby shower games, new baby gift ideas, or some interesting and trendy baby names! FIVE lucky and random winners will receive a prize of their own.

Have a great weekend!

Customer Appreciation, Thank You Gifts

Who do you want to send good fortunes to?

August 9, 2012

Welcome back readers!

As always, I appreciate all of your comments and answers. Personally, I would choose a lot of fruits with antioxidants like blueberries and pomegranate, apples, gouda cheese, and raw honey comb! One of my recent obsessions is raw honeycomb from Savannah Bee Company, I stopped there during my road trip and need to order some more soon. But enough about bees, let’s move on to prizes. Congratulations to Kelly (August 2, 2012 at 5:45 pm), ShellyAnn V. Ramcharan (August 3, 2012 at 12:08 pm), Bill (August 6, 2012 at 10:56 am), Jamekia Marrero (August 7, 2012 at 12:04 pm), and Gail (August 9, 2012 at 9:49 am)! Send your shipping information to me at amariscal@1800flowers.com and you’ll each receive our Arbor Harvest Fresh Fruit Sampler Box!

Recently, I read somewhere that Chinese culture believes in certain numbers being lucky because of how they phonetically sound and the words they are associated with. Yesterday was 8/8 and was supposed to be a VERY lucky day because the number 8 in Chinese sounds like a word used to mean “wealth” or “prosper”. Perhaps I should have read that sooner and bought a lottery ticket! Today, 8/9 is supposedly lucky as well because 9 is a homophone of the word for “long lasting”. Maybe you can all tell me if you had a bit of lucky these past two days!

I don’t know how much stock I put in superstitions, but I do know that every once in a while we could all use just a little bit of luck to help us through our day. From the big things like buying a home or having a baby down to the little things like hoping for a stress-free day, it’s comforting to know that at least someone is out there concerned about your day-to-day and wishing you well. I know I have a few friends who could use a pick-me-up and some good fortune.

If you’re looking to lift some spirits, start with a phone call or letter to catch up on their day or be a source for them to rant to. Let them know that you’re there for them and really listen to everything they have to say. You can also send them something enticing and surprise them with your well-wishes.

Obviously, I love our Giant Fortune Cookie Collection and it’s perfect for our lucky (and some not so lucky) days ahead! View our whole collection Here.

Now I want to hear from you, in the comments section (1-2 paragraphs) who do you want to send some luck to? FIVE lucky winners will receive a giant fortune cookie of their own! Can’t wait to hear all about it.

Good luck if you need it and have a wonderful weekend!

Customer Appreciation, Father's Day, Gift Baskets, Gift Baskets Catalog, Summer Time Gift

Healthy Gifts and Fruit Baskets

August 2, 2012

Welcome back gift basket readers!

How much have you all loved the Olympics? This and Lost on Netflix have been the only programs on my television for the last week. And there is so much more we can talk about! But first, let’s get to the “award ceremony” of our post first and send out some gift baskets! Congratulations to Marie Leclerc (July 27, 2012 at 3:13 pm), Jessica (July 27, 2012 at 6:48 pm), Melanie T (July 27, 2012 at 7:24 pm), Jill H (July 31, 2012 at 7:45 pm), and Joy (August 1, 2012 at 1:04 pm)! Send your information to me at amariscal@1800flowers.com and I’ll send out an award winning treat!

Now back to Olympics! Like I said before, I’m normally a very avid watcher who sometimes gets a case of the “why-didn’t-my-parents-train-me-in-some-random-event-since-I-was-2-itis”. I thought I would be more passive in my viewing this year, but watching people balance themselves on a bar using only one hand or swimming faster than I can drive my car has left me feeling a little more motivated to get out there and exercise, eat healthier and at least attempt to organize my life. So far I’ve added a bit more fruit and vegetables to my daily nutrition and the occasional workout.

We always think that our healthy routines will be easy to maintain, and for a while they are! It’s only when you get to a time of celebration that you take that tiny step and end up falling down into excuses and extremely delicious cookies.

Which is why I want to applaud who ever made it okay to send out healthy gifts that promote clean living! Fruit gift baskets for all I say! Put together some ripe apples, juicy oranges, maybe some almonds, cashews, and fresh cheese, and you have a gourmet gift basket ready to be enjoyed and without any guilt. Believe me; I love sweets and chocolates as much as the next person, but sometimes you need a fresh break (and maybe some inspiration from an exceptional fruit basket).

If you have a friend you know is trying to keep healthy or maybe you’re tired of receiving tempting sweets for all of your celebrations, look to our amazing fruit baskets and healthier gift basket options! We offer the freshest fruits, nuts and assortments all delivered right to your door. Our fruit baskets are great for picnics, healthy snacks, or a great way to brighten someone’s day. We’re also entering marathon season! I know our healthy fruit and gift baskets would be enjoyed by any running or biker training for their races.

I want to hear from all of you, in the comments section (1-2 paragraphs) tell me what you would put in your own fruit gift basket or how you like to keep healthy! Five lucky commenters will win a fruit gift of their own.

Look forward to your responses, have a great week!

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