Grenville Station Gift Baskets Canada

Condolences can be difficult!

Before I started working here, I never really knew what to do for someone when they had lost a loved one.  Sure you show up at the funeral home, maybe give a donation, or send flowers, but I never got any response from any of the recipients, so I never knew whether or not it was an appropriate gift for the occasion.  You go to a funeral and there are so many flowers, sometimes they can’t even fit them all.  So just after I started working here, I began sending sympathy gift baskets anytime there was the need for it.  I not only started to get feedback from my recipients, but most, if not all said that it actually brightened their day, if only for a few moments in their time of mourning.  Some even told me that they were so impressed with the gift, they waited a week or two after the funeral, that way they could enjoy it that much more.  Any one of our gourmet gift baskets are suitable to send to someone who has lost someone special in their life, but my favourite to send it the Golden Moments gift basket.  I have received the best feedback from this gift and hopefully have been able to spread a bit of cheer to those I have sent it to.

Rich

Other than close family members, teachers are often the most influential people in a person’s life.  Surely their time, energy and efforts deserve some recognition!  So how will you recognize the teachers who had such an impact on your life or on the life of your child(ren)?  It doesn’t take much time, money or effort to give a “World’s Greatest Teacher” or “Teachers Have Class” coffee mug but unless the teacher is fresh out of college or fairly new to the profession I would suggest that you skip these type of gifts (most teachers have more than they know what to do with) and put a little more thought into how you express your appreciation.

A thoughtful card or handwritten letter would surely bring a warm feeling to a teacher’s heart, as would a small token, but personal, gift.  As a former teacher myself, I can honestly say that a gift need not cost a lot of money to be appreciated.  Most teachers that I know talk a lot and they need to stay hydrated throughout the day!  Skip the mugs mentioned above but consider what the teacher may enjoy drinking instead.  Gourmet coffee or herbal teas make a fine choice, as would reusable water bottles or lidded travel mugs.  Another suggestion would be some fine chocolate, cookies or other sweets for days when their flagging energy could really use a sugar boost! A small gift basket may be ideal.

Non-food items could include a stash of stickers or rubber stamps for primary grade teachers; books for classroom libraries; or gift certificates to local book stores, teaching supply, craft or office supply stores.  You would be surprised how much money an elementary school teacher spends out-of-pocket on motivational and educational items for their classroom to supplement what the school boards provide.  Any gift that enhances what they do in the classroom will be sure to be appreciated! 

If you happen to be lucky enough to know some of the teacher’s personal interests (such as gardening, crafting, involvement in a particular sport) then by all means tailor your gift along those lines!  As long as a gift is well thought out and useful or personal in nature you’re sure to receive an A+ for your efforts!

Laurie

“My mom is a neverending song in my heart of comfort, happiness, and being.  I may sometimes forget the words but I always remember the tune.”  ~Graycie Harmon

Here we go again. Mother’s Day is fast approaching and I have to do the impossible: buy my Mother a gift. Seriously, someone page Tom Cruise because it truly is Mission: Impossible - Mother’s Day style!

Making matters worse is the fact that I work in a seasonal retail type of business. What happens is that I get so busy making gifts for other people’s mothers that I forget to brainstorm about my own mother. That makes for a last minute decision. Smooth, right?

So I go through the list of typical presents…do I get her another unicorn knick-knack? No, her curio cabinet is absolutely full. What about another plant? No, her living room already looks like a jungle! Clothes? No, she’s extremely picky…gee I wonder which of her children got that gene?! Spa gift certificates? No, they’ll just go unused. See what I mean? This woman is impossible to buy for!

Finally I remember the way into her heart: chocolate! So simple.

So I’ll wrap up my favourite Mother’s Day gift basket, full of chocolates and other goodies, and tie on a beautiful bow. I will be sure to put some scratch tickets into the envelope as well – they are almost as important as the chocolate!

On May 11th, when I present the gift basket to my Mother, along with a hug, I’ll say to myself those two precious words: Mission Accomplished!

We all have at least one - you know, the person who is hard to buy for…  Personally, I have two of those people in my life and today just happens to be the 35th birthday of one of those individuals - my husband (and Grenville Station Inc. co-owner), James.  Why is James so difficult to buy for?  Well, for starters he doesn’t have any hobbies, participate in any clubs or play sports.  Not to say that he’s a couch potato by any means, he simply doesn’t have time for these activities.  We are the proud parents of a beautiful six year old girl and we own and operate our own business.  When you’re a small business owner and father of a young child you tend to wear a lot of hats and this keeps him quite busy.

“So, what about his interests?”, you might be thinking.  Well, his main interests involve technical IT kind of stuff that I know nothing about, and improving and growing our business.  So he’s constantly educating himself by reading, researching, networking and “tinkering” on the computer.  Buying him anything electronic or related to technology of any kind is out of the question - I simply wouldn’t know where to begin!  Music is out - he listens to talk radio in the van and seminars, lectures or other educational type of things on his ipod while exercising.  Books or other resource media are out too for obvious reasons.

So what does that leave me with?  You would think that someone whose business is ”gifting” wouldn’t have a problem coming up with a gift for their own spouse, but I do.  I certainly can’t give him a gift basket after being in the basket business together for eight years!  I have access to a wide range of gourmet & specialty foods and giftware but it just doesn’t feel like a genuine gift when you handle these products on a daily basis.  He’s not a plant or flower type of guy and gift cards seem impersonal to me.  I could make him a nice meal but let’s face it, I’m not much of a cook!  What is a girl to do?

James, if you’re reading this, our daughter and I will have a lovely store bought cake and a heartfelt birthday card or two waiting for you when you get home.  The rest of it will be a surprise because I obviously haven’t a clue what to give you for a present!