Sometime mid-October each year, I wake up and realize it’s “almost” Christmas. It’s one of the things I like the least about retail – always having to plan a season ahead (but let’s be real, I bought our Christmas merchandise in January of this year so you could say I’ve been preparing for eleven months now…). By “almost Christmas,” I mean people are wanting to start purchasing Christmas ornaments and gifts and that means we must be prepared for that at TSR, even if we aren’t prepared for Christmas just yet ourselves…Sigh.

Here’s a little update on the happenings in my life & in the shop since the last blog (a short 5 weeks ago). Enjoy!

• Tyler and I “babymooned” to Eureka Springs, AR. It was a great, long weekend doing what we love! Exploring a new place + eating our way through local establishments. The time passed all too quickly (as it always does) but we were SO excited to come back and begin celebrating our little boy with family & friends! 
• My youngest sister, Madison, and I traveled to Las Vegas, NV to see our middle sister, Morgan. I had a TON more fun this time I went to Vegas, even if I did have to see a ton of practically-naked people doing acrobatics 100% sober. I have learned so much about my sisters in the last year and truly embrace every second I get with just them. They are hands down my best friends (and if you would have told me ten years ago this would be the case, I would have laughed). I can’t wait to watch them become aunts and throw a little dude into our craziness. Love you both! 
• I have grown a baby from the size of a banana to the size of an acorn squash (although I’m not entirely sure I know how big an acorn squash is so for a more a fun comparison, he is the size of a baseball glove this week). Trust me, I know this because he basically kicks me non-stop every day. I definitely think we’ve got a soccer player like Dad on the way… in only 104 days!!! *enters panic mode* Oh, also, I don’t get to sleep much anymore since I’m a stomach sleeper and that’s kind of in the way right now…. so if you see the lights on at TSR around 7am, I’m probably working in the back.
• I have casually tossed around the idea of turning my home office into a nursery but I’m not quite prepared to give up “my space” and also don’t really know where to begin, so Lauren Kile, if you’re reading this and want to come make a nursery at my house, that would be just dandy!
• We have turned the store into a Christmas paradise and stocked, stocked, stocked, and re-stocked SO many things for your holiday shopping (in-store and online). Don’t forget, we wrap it for free + we LOVE to personalize your goodies (both in-store and out-of-store items)! Hurry in to place those orders for Christmas + shop the BEST SELECTION of Christmas ornaments & items!!
• I have spent approximately 60+ hours on the phone with our new point-of-sale system which means nothing to anyone reading this besides…we WILL have TWO registers up and running this holiday season and that is something to say HALLELUJAH about. To stay up-to-date on happenings, be sure to subscribe to our e-mail list here. We’ll be announcing our “official holiday shopping hours” soon, as well as some more exciting events heading your way!
• Speaking of happenings, we are celebrating for TWO DAYS with some MAJOR SAVINGS on Black Friday + Small Business Saturday. RSVP here to learn more! You do NOT want to miss this event!!

Whew, I think that’s it! We hope to see you in the weeks ahead as you begin shopping for loved ones. We promise you’ll find something for anyone in the shop & we’d love to help you pick it out! Cheers!!

XX

MacKenzie