White Jeans After Labor Day!

That’s right…wear your bright whites proudly after September 5th.  As a 7-year-old I proudly wore my white patent leather shoes all summer long, but as soon as the calendar flipped to September, I knew my beloved white shoes would be a “no no.”  A good fashion rule?  Yes and no.  Yes, we should begin to transition our wardrobe as the weather cools and the leaves begin to turn.  No, we should not pack away clothing solely because of its color.  Proudly wear your white trousers jeans with a fall hued top—try a deep purple.  Add a beautiful scarf to bring home the fall look.  Pair your skinny white jeans with a chunky sweater.  Trade the strappy sandals or flip flops in for closed toe flats or boots.  These are just a few simple ways to incorporate your favorite white jeans into your fall wardrobe.

StyleMax

Our first trip to StyleMax clothing show in Chicago was a HUGE success!  Within the first couple hours of the clothing show we found line after line of affordable and trendy clothing!  We will start to see these new lines in the General Store as early as next week!  As a matter of fact, we found so many great things that we are expanding our clothing area (as I type this)!  We bought lots of great new styles…but remember if you love it, you better get it when you see it…. because we know these great new things will fly off the shelves.  Happy shopping!

We’ve Been Busy!

Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it’s been so long since I last wrote — but we’ve been busy!

The highlight of the summer for all of us at the General Store was no doubt the Fabian and Bobby Vee Concert. If you didn’t know about it, we hosted Fabian and Bobby Vee here at the store in early August for an autograph signing as well as a concert later that night at Minnetonka High School. It was so much fun — especially for my sister Gail, who grew up completely crazy about and idolizing Fabian and Bobby Vee. (Even to this day she still gets flustered and her cheeks get red when she sees them.) How cool is it that she was able to sponsor them as a fundraiser for her alma mater, Minnetonka High School! That would be like my daughter, Lucy, being able to bring Justin Bieber to MHS in 30 years. (Something tells me Fabian and Bobby Vee have a little bit more staying power than Justin Bieber, although, who knows?)

Gail on stage with Fabian!

Now that summer is over and the Fabian and Bobby Vee concert has passed, fall and Halloween are on our minds at the General Store. It’s so much fun to make changes in our displays. I’m also ready to start decorating for Halloween at home as well.  I just got a new set of “BOO” letters that I’m excited to put in my front entry — along with a few battery operated orange and black candles. I might even add a ghost for a spooky effect!

And that brings us to now, the end of September — which is when we are starting to put our Christmas items on display. We’ve already added our Christopher Radko ornaments to our “jewelry” room and Jensine has finished putting out almost all of the Northwoods items — the woodsy, cabin, lodge, and wildlife Christmas goods. It looks beautiful and almost makes you anxious for some snow to fall, but I guess we can wait a bit for that. We used to pull a few all-nighters and, “magically,” all of the Christmas items would be on display — but that took its toll on our sleeping patterns. These days we set everything up over the course of a few weeks. Our goal this year is to have all of our Christmas merchandise on display during the week of October 4^th.  It’s so much fun to see all of the new things … right away your mind starts thinking about what you might want to add to your holiday décor at home and how you can freshen up your existing décor.

Jensine hard at work!

Speaking of which, this year I think am going to be on (I haven’t committed yet!) the “General Store Holiday Home Tour.” Every year the staff gets together and visits several staff members’ homes to see all of their Christmas decorations. It’s fun to be one of the hosts, but I have to start the planning now! After seeing some of the homes last season, I also have to kick up my decorating a notch or two!

This week we are working on the Center Court area, and the Country area. Stop in soon and see all of our great new holiday décor items. Oh yes, and you probably want to start making your Christmas list soon as well!

Gold or Silver?

Recently I have talked to several customers and friends that have expressed interest in trading in their yellow gold engagement set for a white gold or platinum set.  So I thought this was a good time to ask you (our customers) what you prefer—Silver tones or gold tones?  Yellow gold and now even rose gold are making a comeback in the jewelry market.   Is it making a comeback in your jewelry box?  I find myself naturally drawn to silver tones (my wedding set is white gold), but I do love to shake it up a bit and wear my vintage gold locket, layered with my gold toned “mommy necklace.”  The great thing about today’s jewelry trends is that it is OK to mix metals.  Pandora Jewelry has really helped the mixed metal look.  One of the most popular looks from Pandora is the silver bracelet with a solid gold clasp and a mix of silver and gold beads.

Pandora Bracelet

Not only is it fun to mix the metals, but it’s perfect for you if own a gold wedding set, but love silver!  I’d really like to know your favorite…

Silver or Gold?

1. Naturally a silver girl.
2. Gold baby!
3. My jewelry box is a melting pot.  I love them both!

Baseball, summer and wine!

The first baseball party of the year was two weekends ago — the night before the boys’ first game. It was a stormy day that turned into a beautiful evening and then got stormy again. As we gathered on the coach’s patio overlooking the lake, Eileen, the coach’s wife, brought out some new wine glasses. They were really cool plastic stem-less wine glasses and were not made from that really hard plastic that looks like it will crack if you drop it or hold it too tight. And they’re not made of the plastic that gets cloudy after a few trips through the dishwasher. These looked almost like “squeezable” crystal glasses. All of the parents could not stop talking about the wine glasses – they were the hit of the party. And I was thinking, “I should get these for the General Store.” Almost at that very moment, a few moms told me, “Liz, you should get these for the General Store.”  OK. I’m on it. All I needed to do was find the brand name. It was dark outside, but the light from the fire as well as the moon – and even a few flashes of lightning – helped me read the name: “Go Vino” wine glasses. I made a few calls Monday morning and we had them in the store by Friday!

 I can only imagine how popular these are going to be this summer — great for the boat, deck or pool. They would also make an awesome hostess gift, or a “thank you” gift. Kyle and Eileen will be getting another set as a “thank you” for watching Jack last weekend while we were at Katie’s graduation and Lucy’s volleyball tournament.

 Here at the General Store, we travel to quite a few gift shows each year to find the best of what’s out there. But, sometimes we find great items and lines while spending time at friends’ houses.

 Feel free to leave a comment if there’s something great you’ve discovered that you think would be perfect at the General Store! I can’t promise we can carry everything… but I’ll check it out!

 Here’s a GO VINO toast to some warmer weather and many more summer parties!

 Go TONKA Warriors team Purple!!!

Celebrating the Class of 2010

I can’t believe my daughter Lucy is finishing her first year of high school. It has gone so fast! I think we better get working on the back yard — we only have 3 more summers before we will be hosting our first graduation party in the back yard! My niece Katie is graduating from Iowa State in a few weeks…and it seems like just yesterday when we were helping my sister Jacque with Katie’s high school graduation party.

 With all these thoughts of graduations — I thought I’d share with you one of my favorite graduation gifts for this year. They are custom frames that you can have personalized in  less than a week! They are so simple to order — just go to our website www.generalstoreofminnetonka.com and click on the PERSONALIZED tab. Now click on FRAMES and SIGNS and then click again. You will now be taken to an exclusive General Store ordering page where you can actually design the frame and even see exactly what it will look like. So, whether you need a gift for a graduate of Minnetonka BSM, Hopkins or Edina, you are covered. And as a bonus, these frames are made in Colorado (USA!) of recyclable materials. I think this is one of the coolest things we have for graduations and will be the perfect gift for any graduate.

 Oh — I almost forgot — we have new graduation cards coming in this week that are also hand made by a local artist and customized for each local school. Stock up soon for all the graduation parties you will be going to!

 OK — I have to go design a frame for Katie. And get started on the back yard!

Mother’s Day

Jenny Putnam

I am an auntie (for the first time)!  My sister (well really my sister-in-law, but for all intents and purposes she is my sister) had a baby last week.  Maggie Carolynn.  She is beautiful!!!  This is going to be a really special Mother’s Day for our family.  So it got me to thinking… what a great time to talk about something the General Store of Minnetonka has been catering to for quite some time now:  mother’s jewelry.    New mothers, experienced mothers, grandmas, nanas… we all want something that symbolizes the incredible job that is being a mom.  With two children of my own, I have really embraced the motherhood jewelry category.  To be perfectly honest I have four different necklaces all dedicated to my lovely children, Ellie and Spencer!  I love being a mom and I love sharing it with everyone through jewelry.   It’s been a fun journey finding mother’s jewelry.  I started out with custom sterling silver bracelets with block letters and crystals and then expanded to hand-stamped bracelets that incorporate glass beads.  With such a positive reception from you, our customers, I have gotten even deeper into custom, hand-stamped jewelry from local artisans.  I’ve brought in sterling silver initial pendants that resemble old-fashioned sealing wax.  A look I am particularly proud of right now is glass a pendant with “mommy” hand-written right on the glass.  My newest find (we just got them in today) are sterling silver finger print pendants!  Whether you are a “jewelry person” or not, I have found something for you to wear that will symbolize your kids or grandkids or both.  From Christy Branham’s Dito Bacio (finger print charms) to Lisa Nelson’s mixed metal hand-stamped jewelry, I really think you can find something that works for you.  So this Mother’s Day drop a hint or treat yourself to something really special.  You’ve earned it—you’re a mom!!!

My four mother’s necklaces:

glass mommy necklace

sealing wax necklace

Urban Sweetpea necklace

by Christy Branham

simple initial necklace

Hi, I’m Liz!

Hi, my name is Liz and I am one of the buyers at the General Store. I get to shop every day for the best of what is out there, so that you have the best of everything to choose from when shopping here at the General Store. How fun is that!

In this new blog, I will introduce you to some of my favorite things – - and let you know about some of the fabulous goods that come into our store every day. I’d also like to ask for your ideas too – - what you like, what you don’t, and what you would like to see at the General Store. Along the way, I will try and share some of the “behind-the-scenes at the General Store” fun stuff too!

Hi, I’m Jenny!

I spend my days shopping for the latest and greatest in jewelry, clothing and handbags.  Unfortunately, these do not end up in my jewelry box or my closet; instead they are displayed beautifully at the General Store of Minnetonka.   Yes, I have my dream job!  I have been into fashion and accessories as far back as I can remember.  My mom (Gail Bollis, owner of the General Store of Minnetonka) reminds me that at a very young age, I insisted on dressing myself from head to toe (jewelry included).  As a confident seven-year-old (circa 1984), I dressed myself in a ribbed purple v-neck sweater and white oxford, with matching purple pearl earrings and necklace, for picture day at school (see picture below).  Gotta love the 80s!  Fast-forward 11 years and I was voted “Best Dressed” in high school:  an award I am embarrassed by every time my mom boasts about her daughter.  In all seriousness, clothing and accessories are a true passion of mine.  I have spent the last 10 years buying jewelry and clothing for you, our customers.  From classic styles to fashion forward looks, the General Store of Minnetonka has something for everyone.  Stay tuned for:  fashion discussions, new arrivals in clothing and accessories and maybe even a little gossip!