Christmas Lights, Holiday Cards and Mandarins, Oh My!

I had such a great weekend! Friday I started to think about the coming holidays and started installing the Christmas lights on the house (I won’t turn them on until after Thanksgiving). Things always get crazy after Thanksgiving and I end up not even putting up the tree! I also got to hang out with my best friend Kathy at her place in Benicia, we even went to get mani-pedi’s so my fingers and toes are happy! I had also ordered holiday cards with the photo of the Egg Nog candle on the front, they turned out pretty good. I’m determined to be on top of it this year, last year Christmas just fell the wayside as I was overwhelmed with the shop, production, market and the special events I partake in.

Tuesday of last week was such an interesting day for me; I was interviewed by a local columnist for the Contra Costa Times. About three years ago my good friend Deb from Lively Linens & Lavender gave her one of my candles as a gift; well she became one of my biggest fans and has dropped my name in the paper a few times already. This however was the first time an article would touch on my personal life and what inspires me. The article ran in this past Sunday’s Times (11/15) am just so flattered, by the end of Sunday my face hurt from smiling so much!
Here’s the link: http://www.contracostatimes.com/search/ci_13782762?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com

Last week was also filled with some great wholesale orders that totaled 128 candles that kept me pretty busy. One of the orders was from a posh day Spa in Des Moines East Village. The down side about wholesale orders is that you do the same amount of work for half the pay, however having your product out there and gaining more exposure is well worth the effort. I really need to find a rep to land me new wholesale accounts as I’m not a very good salesman.

This weekend is going to be a lot of fun; it’s the Mountain Mandarin Festival in Auburn. It’s nice because my in-laws live near there and they have become like second parents to me. It’s always so comforting to be at their home and to visit over a nice glass of Pinot, and I sleep like a baby too. I have a lot of vender friends up there so it will be nice to see them as we only see each other once a year. The Mandarin Festival is a fantastic event and it was even covered in the fall 2007 issue of Sunset Magazine. There is a lot of crafts, nifty gadgets, and cooking demo’s with recipe ideas and more fresh mandarin’s then you can shake a stick at.

If you lack any plans this weekend you should check it out, it’s such a lovely drive up there. The event runs three days, Friday 12-5, Saturday 9-5 & Sunday 9-4. The event is located at the Gold Country Fair Grounds at 1273 High Street, Auburn CA 95604. Here’s the web site: http://www.mountainmandarinfestival.com/

Well I must get back to work, I have to finish my chores around the house, finish installing the Christmas lights and install a new toilet as our old one cracked when I tightened the screws down a little too tight… OOPS!

Thanks for reading,

Shawn M. Cox