Improvised Life [ November 30th, 2011 ] Posted in » Words and Then Some... by Anne
Thanks Grenville Station
A Baby Gift to Remember…
So many gifts these days are throwaways. By throwaway, I mean the items in the basket are consummed or refuse. The food is eaten, but the packaging and enhancements are tossed once the gift is ripped apart for it’s primary intention (e.g. chocolate for the tummy). With baby baskets, it’s nice that a large percentage of these gifts contain items that are retained. Keepsakes that can be cherished years later. A rattle that sits on the bookshelf for display purposes - babies often get more than 1 so some can be stolen away for their remembrance value. Another item that can kept away is plush animals. A soft plush pig (Pretty in Pink baby gift basket) or a colourful plush puppy (Little Boy Blue baby basket) are two examples of designs that not only can provide immediate visual satisfaction but they can also provide lasting memories…if Mom can keep baby away from the pig and puppy!
Baby Gift Basket Ideas
Our baby gift basket category has alot of variation to choose from. There is the obvious gender specific ones – or neutral if unknown – but sometimes you have to select the gift based on the parents and your knowledge of them. Is dad a sports fan? Is mom thrilled with soft and cuddly? Knowing the parents makes life alot easier. If your intention is to send a baby gift basket in toronto, you might consider our Raptor Rapture, or Budding Leaf, both professional sports team-themed baby gifts. Variety in price is also important. Gifts under $50 are suitable if the relationship is growing and not well established, but still important enough to acknowledge. Gifts over $150 come into play when a major relationship-builder is needed. The boss and his wife would come to mind. A key ally in Human Resources. A supplier who helps out with extended credit or a long term customer who contributes significantly to the bottom line. Regardless of the price or theme, it’s important to identify key personal or business relationships and gift accordingly.
Summer fun @ GrenvilleStation.com
Fathers’ Day has come and gone and the slow summer period is upon us. Slow is a relative term. Orders are still coming in for non-holiday events (birthday, new baby, anniversary, wedding, etc.) and our team has already started pre-planning the 2008 Christmas season. You learn from past years what works and what doesn’t. You decide on marketing strategies and inventory levels. The fall CGTA trade show (in August) determines some major inventory concerns…it’s the circle of gift basket life!
Oh Baby They Grow Up So Fast…
I can’t believe my twin nephews are already 16 months old. It seems like yesterday they were playing with their plush puppies and wearing their embroidered bibs from the Dynamic Duo baby gift basket I bought them. The other night while my parents were babysitting, Baby Paul (the oldest by 29 minutes) somehow jumped his crib. He is the smaller of the two, his teeth came in later than his brother Baby Matthew and he started walking later than his brother…but he was the first to jump the crib!!! My parents just heard this BOOM and ran upstairs to see what had happened. There was Baby Paul just sitting on the floor of his room, staring at them as if nothing happened. Now my sister is all worried that one of them may jump the gate that is guarding the stairs. She says that one baby would be a breeze after having twin babies. When one would stop crying, the other would start. They seem to have been always hungry at the same time. Now they’re jumping things. Good luck to her.
Rich
For those Dads who have heavy feet…
“You don’t truly understand something unless you can explain it to your ‘grandmother’”. Einstein alledgedly said this. I believe it holds true for most topics, including NASCAR racing. I’ve asked several friends who claim to understand it but could not explain it to me. At least not very well. I think they just like to see cars driving fast. Moving billboards, er, I mean race cars, driving at tops speeds until one guy (or girl) gets to waste a bottle of champagne getting their friends and family wet. If your Dad loves NASCAR, make him your Crew Chief this Father’s Day!
Know When to Hold’Em, Know When to Fold’em…
Hold’em Poker has gone from an unpopular game played only by professional gamblers to one of the most popular casino ‘games’ available. The attraction of the game is the amateur’s ability to outwit a professional. Bluffing is universal. In sports, you generally can’t fake your way to the big leagues. You have to hit homers, or thrown touchdowns or serve aces. There are no amateurs winning superbowls or world series or grand slams. But in Hold’Em Poker’s ‘World Series of Poker’, there are rarely repeat winners and the final table is usually filled with no-name players. The top ‘recognized’ pros are usually absent from the final table, often knocked out in earlier rounds.
That’s the allure of Hold’Em Poker. For the amateur with a dream to make it to the final table and announce, with a grin, that he or she is ALL-IN! Help Dad enjoy his weekly poker game with our Royal Flush gift basket, enough snacks for even the biggest of appetites. If Poker isn’t “Dad’s thing”, check out our other gifts for men.
Sports Fans
Most Dad’s love to watch sports! With the pastime of watching sports comes the need for munching on snacks. The kind of snacks are not that important as most Dad’s will eat anything that is sweet or salty, as long as there is an abundance of them. What a way to show your Dad how much you appreciate him on Father’s Day than with one of our Armchair Athlete gift baskets.
Along with the snacks, this gift also comes with a Mug, picture frame and keychain. He’ll enjoy the big game that much more, and maybe even invite you to share. You can never go wrong with a sports-themed gift basket for Dad.
Will Your Dad be “King of the Grill” This Father’s Day?
Summertime has finally arrived and that can only mean one thing – it’s time to fire up the grill! There will be many afternoon barbecue’s where everything will be perfect, the sun will be shining and you’ll be surrounded by your loved ones… unless you’re a part of my family!
Last Father’s Day we decided to celebrate with a BBQ – our first of the season! We had tons of hamburgers, hot dogs, salad and veggies. We knew it was not only going to be a beautiful afternoon, but also the best Father’s Day we could ask for.
My Mother and I quickly got to work setting the picnic table and my Dad fired up the BBQ. The next thing we know it starts to rain! So we rush to get the food covered and brought into the house. And wouldn’t you know it, as soon as we had everything inside the sun came back out! It was a hassle to have to set the picnic table again, but it was hard to be mad when the sun was shining so warmly.
Once again, everything was set up and there was nothing to do except wait for the rest of our family to arrive. We waited and waited and waited. How dare they be late on what was supposed to be the best Father’s Day ever?
Finally after much snacking by Mom and me, the family showed up. Better late than never, right? My Dad immediately threw the patties on the BBQ – we were all starving! It smelled so wonderful that would could almost taste it, and we certainly couldn’t wait to get the food on our plates.
As soon as my Dad announced the burgers were ready, we handed him a plate and filled it up with thick juicy burgers. It was at that point that my 4 year old nephew decided he was going to help Grandpa carry the food to the table. He looked like such a big boy carrying that plate to the table. I took out my camera just in time snap a wonderful picture of the burgers hitting the ground. Wasn’t that a Kodak moment! The only one who was happy about that was my parent’s dog!
At this point it was rather clear that this was not the kind of day we had in mind. Luckily we had a large supply of hamburger patties and we were able to salvage the rest of the day. We had plenty of laughs and good times once we finally got some food in our bellies. It wasn’t the worst of times, but it wasn’t the perfect BBQ we had planned.
This year we will be taking some extra precautions. We’ll set up the umbrella over the table, keep the food covered until we’re ready to eat it and let my nephew carry something other than the main course! It will be a perfect and we will all be happy… except the dog!
If your Dad needs some tools of the trade, why not send him the King of the Grill gift basket? He’ll be picture perfect sporting the barbeque apron and mitt and he’ll appreciate the extra protection from the grill too! And if your Dad isn’t into grilling a quick visit to our Father’s Day Gift Baskets page will provide you with plenty of other gifts to choose from!
PS: Check out this picture that we received from a King of the Grill basket recipient -
PPS: Got a picture of your Grenville Station gift basket recipient enjoying his or her gift? Send it to us and we’ll make them a GrenvilleStation.com star too!
Catch of the Day for Father’s Day…
G’Day Mate! I have certainly been feeling the East Coast spirit today! I have been creating Father’s Day designs and there was one design in particular that I had a lot of fun with: The Catch of the Day.
The basket is filled with Maritime-themed goodies, such as saltwater taffy, crab dip, clam chowder and a beautiful ceramic chowder bowl. Of course there are classic sweets as well, like caramel corn and fudge. Overall it is quite a festive design full of goodies that Dad will love, regardless of whether or not he has family ties to the East Coast!
Father’s day baskets are definitely one of the more enjoyable categories to design. Believe me, there are a lot of fun and interesting ideas rolling around in my head. You can be certain that there will be many golf gift baskets and barbecue gift baskets that will make your Father feel like he truly is the Best Dad on Earth!
Drop us a line and reel in The Catch of the Day!
Some Baby Quotes I Like…
Here are some baby quotes I found at www.allgreatquotes.com. Some are insightful, others are witty and some are just downright hilarious!!!
“Getting a burp out of your little thing is probably the greatest satisfaction I’ve come across. It’s truly one of life’s most satisfying moments.”
Brad Pitt (On his new child)
“Having a child is surely the most beautifully irrational act that two people in love can commit.”
Bill Cosby
“A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.”
Author Unknown
“It sometimes happens, even in the best of families, that a baby is born. This is not necessarily cause for alarm. The important thing is to keep your wits about you and borrow some money.”
Elinor Goulding Smith
“People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one.”
Leo J. Burke
“Babies don’t need a vacation but I still see them at the beach. I’ll go over to them and say, “What are you doing here, you’ve never worked a day in your life!”
Stephen Wright
One of our most popular gifts that people send to families that have a new baby is our Baby Cakes Diaper Cake Available in pink, blue or a neutral colour, this gift is full of diapers and other baby items. You can find it in our baby gift baskets page. Although the diapers never last long enough (especially if the family had twins or triplets), they are a welcome gift to any family with a newborn.
