Brina Jannenga of The Younique Boutique, Inc.: October 2007 Archives

Sometimes, platters just look better when I write in cursive instead of print. The problem is, I have to be careful about doing something that is different than what we show on our web site.  But, every now and then, I can't help myself.  It just looks better and I change it.

I have been wondering if I should add cursive writing as an option to the platters for some time.  I'm on the fence about it.  What do you think?

We just got a big box of cake topper samples.  I have been working all day on photographing them for the web site.  They are so adorable in person!  I love these guys.

Our custom wedding cake tops are made in Hong Kong by very talented artists.  The attention to detail in the little faces is very apparent,  Since the finished pieces are directly shipped to our customers, we rarely get a chance to see these beauties up close and personal.

This was the sunrise this morning as seen from my backyard.  The smoke is starting to clear up and things are slowly going back to normal.  I got to go back to my gym yesterday and resume training.  It had been a week since I had lifted weights and now I'm pretty sore.

This is Stella.  She is my boyfriend's adopted dog.  We call her "chicken" because strangely, she sorta looks like one if you flip her over.

Stella is very photographic as you can see.  I have yet to take a bad shot of her.

I usually hate little dogs - I'm a big dog person.  But, Stella is real good.  She isn't yippy and she is usually pretty mellow.  Plus, she loves to cuddle and sit in my lap.

There is a downside to Stella.  She has a slight staring problem.  Sometimes, she will place her tiny, chicken-like feet on your chest and just stare at you until you have to physically remover her from the pain of the chicken feet digging into your chest.

 

All in all, the city of San Diego has done an incredible job of managing this fire.  The communications between the law enforcement agencies is top-notch.  The evacuations went smoothly and people are now going home. 

Yesterday when I woke up, while still smoky-smelling, the sky was blue.  Today, it is silvery gray again.  There is a thick level of ash that covers the ground.  My backyard is a mess.  The winds on Monday got up to 60 miles per hour and my prized plumeria plant is in ruins.  Another tree is broken in two places and has lost all but a few leaves.  The patio furniture is black and the umbrella broke. My neighbors have started the clean-up effort - even though official word is to stay inside, conserve water and power and to not wash ash into the storm drains.

So, it's safe to say as of today that we are in the clear from this fire storm.  I fear that with the climate changing so drastically (and it really has been here in San Diego) that we are going to be seeing more fires in the years to come.  The fires, the earthquakes, the taxes, the TRAFFIC - I love this town but sheesh, it's getting harder and harder to justify living here.  I am a California native and I can't imagine living anywhere else. 

Did you know that you can add a border to your guest book sign-in platter? That's right!  We have added three new border styles recently that make your platter look awesome!!!

Here's a platter with a border before we fired it.  This customer chose the "By the Sea" deaign for her beach themed wedding.  We selected a light carribean border color.  Remember, pastel colors look best for the solid wash border.

This one is a rectangular signature platter with a black dotted border and the kissing couple deisgn in custom colors.

Here we have our Heart Shaped Signature Platter with a light blue dotted border and our formal wedding couple design.

We love details around here.  Well, actually, we love breaking the monotony around here. Let me explain.

The Younique Boutique has been in business now for five plus years.  We make our unique, personalized gifts and accessories right here in our studio day in and day out.  We offer A LOT of custom options but we have found that the majority of our customers tend to buy the same stuff, day in and day out. 

So, when we get to do something new, we natuarally get a little excited around here.

Today, we got to make our Greta Ring Bearer Pillow with red roses instead of the standard pink, blue and ivory.  We decided to paint the resin flowers with red acrylic paint.  It turned out well!  Look:

The matching flower girl basket can be purchased here.

They broadcasted  "The Nightly News with Katie Couric" tonight from Qualcomm Stadium.  I was super moved by the segment about Qualcomm Stadium and the sum 15,000 evacuees and their pets - all sorts of pets and tons of them.  Volunteers set up a whole little camping city there complete with kids activities, food, water and volunteers that seemed to be acting as wait staff to the people camping in the parking lot.

One of the guests mentioned that she couldn't help but think about the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe at the Super Dome.  They showed footage and reminisced about how there was violence and horrible living conditions during evacuation.  Meanwhile while Southern California goes up in smoke, its residents here are very civilized.  It was moving.  It made me proud to be from such a beautiful community - even if it is really smoky and dry right now.

Hi all!  Wow.  What a couple of days it has been.  The Younique Boutique is in San Marcos, California - we're right in the middle of California's largest fire storm. 

As of 3:00am on Sunday morning, our normally sunny and clean community had become a big mess.  The wind was blowing at about 60 miles per hour and trees were going down left and right.  The smoke was so bad that you could hardly breathe. My mom and dad live down the street from me and we were alerted by police that there was a large fire cresting the hills above our houses (and factory.)

We moved to my boyfriend's home about 5 miles away - West of San Marcos.  We stayed there watching the news until about noon when we received a reverse 911 call from the city alerting us to more evacuations.  Back in the cars with the four dogs (two for me, one for Mom and one for the boyfriend).  We headed Northwest to Oceanside where the sky was a lot cleaner and we were safe from evacuations.

We closed our office yesterday because the area had been evacuated.  We alerted our customers by placing what I hoped to be a noticable message on the top of the pages.  Customers have been nervously calling all morning to find out how the fires are going to affect their orders.  We have been doing our best to call everyone back and let them know that we are back in the office today and fully operational. 

There is still a chance that we might be in the fire's path again if the winds change.  I really hope that won't be the case.  You have no idea how hard it is to decide what to take with you when in an emergency like this.  Nothing seems all that important until you are at your boyfriend's mom's house and you are wearing your pajamas and you don't have your toothbrush. 

Thank you for everyone's concern.  I'm always so shocked and appreciative to see how people really band together in these times and try to help out. 

More later...