Well, I have had a bit of time to reflect on Daisy’s 16th birthday. For me, my work/life balance is a bit different as there is a very fuzzy line between the two. Making my home pretty, planning amazing party details, and making sure the gifts I give have a story behind them are things I did way before I had the shop and something that is so very important to my self expression and creativity. Loving how a small business fits together like a good puzzle is also something I did enjoy when I worked for other people. Getting to interact with lots of people and just be happy together is so uplifting for me. So even though I don’t step away from work a lot, my work in many ways is not “work”. Having this time to think about how I want to return to “normal” and looking toward the things I want to develop in the shop is easy to sum up in one word, grateful. If there is one thing I want to celebrate for this milestone birthday it is to make sure I am putting out into the world one small fraction of what it has given me. 

Let’s start celebrating today because, frankly, I could really use putting good out into the universe right now. Each day we will have a bit of fun and goodness to share; you can follow along on our blog and social media. It will be all over from helping out our non-profit friends, music, Alameda neighbors, and of course those special people helping us get through this health emergency. What I am hoping is that I am spreading happy seeds and when you are having a down day you can look at the list and realize that you have something to feel really grateful for too. You will get a few more emails in the next few weeks but we won’t flood your inbox, we will just update everyone when we have a biggie we would like to highlight. 

Today we are going to start an online auction for our favorite local non-profit helping our elderly citizens. Meals-on-Wheels in Alameda has a special place in my heart. The Mooney family has a long time connection to Meals on Wheels, and raising money for the very important organization. My home is a sacred place to me and when a group helps feed people so they can stay in their homes, it fills me with all the good vibes. If you click the link you will see we created an online auction. The auction starts today and is going through Wednesday at midnight. We are donating 100% of the money raised to Meals on Wheels, including the cost of the goods. There are four baskets as you can see and each one of them is priced differently. Three of them are traditional bid high bid often style. We did a forth basket with a different intent in mind. The fourth basket is a way to give when you would love nothing more than to donate money but in light of what is going on, you just can’t do that right now; this is our “Spread the Love” basket. What we ask is that you share the auction on social media or email some folks who might be able to donate and let them know about our auction. Just email us that you have done that and we will put your name in a drawing for this basket. It is a trying time for so many and it’s even harder when you really want to and just can’t. So spread some love and cheer knowing you did help too. And yes, we will donate the value of the basket to meals on wheels in the winners name. 

Thank you for making this celebration possible because we all know without loyal customers I wouldn’t be having a shop birthday. 

Stay safe, stay inside, smile and I will see you soon. 

Love, 
Barbara

PS. in a few days we are going to drop off some goodies to those customers we know live alone. I love my quiet time as much as the next person but 6 weeks of really, really alone is a lot. If you know someone locally that could really use a treat at their door please email me at hello@daisysmercantile.com. I cannot promise to create packages for everyone, but I will do my best to reach as many people as possible. Just let me know their address, and if you want, your name on it so they call you to check in.