California Top Ten Competition

Well we've done it!! Our Top Notch Designer, Only known as "RED" has pulled it off. In her first California Top Ten Competition she performed remarkably placing ahead of over 100 years of experience. Top Ten consists of two parts:One being the piece you see here which you supply the product and are responsible for completing it in front of an audience and judges in only 30-mins. The second part is called the surprise package in which you receive unknown products and are required to also complete them in that same 30-mins, all I can say is "WOW". Although "RED" placed 8th overall, she was the only contestant required to build her piece while standing on a step stool, due to the rules, these pieces had to be designed on the tables. It was a fabulous floor piece designed to brighten any room in the house. So I'd like to take this moment to Congratulate her on her stellar performance and charming smile. Thanks to all of you that make this possible. Check out the rest of these designs.

Employee of the month

The hard work paid off..... Let me introduce one of our staff members who has been with us ever since our flower shop opened. His name is Zeek and he puts smiles on our customer's faces like nobody else does. Everybody loves him and he is known for his friendly and sweet face.
Not only does he gets treats from our dear friends who makes doggie dinners  but we also honored him with a red rose petals lei to be the Employee of the month.

Congratulation Zeek, on a great job! As always

Science and Nature Unearth New Insights into Emotional Health

• With today's high-tech and fast-paced lifestyle taking its daily toll on our lives, experts advise exercise and other personal lifestyle changes to relieve stress. According to recent behavioral research conducted at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, nature provides us with a simple way to improve emotional health - flowers. The presence of flowers triggers happy emotions, heightens feelings of life satisfaction and affects social behavior in a positive manner far beyond what is normally believed.

•"What's most exciting about this study is that it challenges established scientific beliefs about how people can manage their day-to-day moods in a healthy and natural way," said Jeannette Haviland-Jones, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at Rutgers and lead researcher on the study.

•Research Findings

•A team of researchers explored the link between flowers and life satisfaction in a 10-month study of participants' behavioral and emotional responses to receiving flowers. The results show that flowers are a natural and healthful moderator of moods.

•Flowers have an immediate impact on happiness. All study participants expressed "true" or "excited" smiles upon receiving flowers, demonstrating extraordinary delight and gratitude. This reaction was universal, occurring in all age groups.

•Flowers have a long-term positive effect on moods. Specifically, study participants reported feeling less depressed, anxious and agitated after receiving flowers, and demonstrated a higher sense of enjoyment and life satisfaction.

•Flowers make intimate connections. The presence of flowers led to increased contact with family and friends.

•"Common sense tells us that flowers make us happy," said Dr. Haviland-Jones. "Now, science shows that not only do flowers make us happier than we know, they have strong positive effects on our emotional well being."

•Forget the fountain of youth, new scientific research proves flowers help senior citizens cope with the challenges of aging. Sharing Space
The study also explored where in their homes people display flowers. The arrangements were placed in areas of the home that are open to visitors - such as foyers, living rooms and dining rooms - suggesting that flowers are a symbol for sharing.

•"Flowers bring about positive emotional feelings in those who enter a room," said Dr. Haviland-Jones. "They make the space more welcoming and create a sharing atmosphere."

•

•Background

•The Emotional Impact of Flowers Study was conducted by Jeannette M. Haviland-Jones, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Project Director, Human Development Lab at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Dr. Haviland-Jones is a psychologist and internationally recognized authority in the role of emotional development in human behavior and nonverbal emotional signals and response.

•The research adds a scientific foundation to what many consider to be common knowledge - that flowers have a strong, beneficial impact on those who receive them. The Society of American Florists worked in cooperation with the Rutgers research team, bringing an expertise of flowers to the project.

•©2003 SAF All Rights Reserved   

Flower Therapy Induces Happiness and Positive Feelings

Flowers have an immediate impact upon stressful or depressive states by bringing delight and happiness in our lives and providing a long term positive effect on our good mood.There has been developed a new type of complementary therapy called flower therapy. It is thought that our emotional states can be elevated or turned from negative into positive ones through flower therapy.The multiple benefits we receive from this therapy are related to the form, color and smell a flower gives off. Flowers provide us with a pleasant view and a beautiful smell, inducing emotional health through synesthesia.Red roses enhance the energy in our body and make us more active by stimulating adrenal glands, the indigo of an iris makes us more confident and tranquil by removing fear or inhibition, sunflowers boost energy and also make us more optimistic, bluebells release melatonin - the "sleep protein" in our organism and therefore induce a good night's sleep, orange daisies act favorably upon our lungs and immune system by keeping away allergenic factors, while lilacs and green zinnias remove stress and anxiety.Also, the impact of flowers present at workplaces was scientifically proved to enhance productivity and the energy level, improving at the same time short and long term memory. They also improve companionship and relationship among colleagues in the workplace. Leatrice Eiseman is the Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute and strongly believes in the curing effects of these frail and tender plants. She thinks that color therapy and flower therapy are very much alike due to the fact that they both use color energy in order to improve moods and chase away sadness and distress. "Color can help us find the balance we seek from our surroundings. And flowers are an ideal way to harness the power of color to enrich our lives," she says. Internationally acknowledged color expert Leatrice Eiseman stated that "our response to color is intensely emotional and flowers can be a catalyst for feelings that stimulate more than just our senses of sight and smell. An artful floral arrangement has the ability to convey a feeling or create a mood without using words, just color."The color expert recommends us five types of floral arrangements, each for enhancing a different state of mind, depending on the predominant color. She says that soft yellows and greens, peach shades, warm pinks and creamy whites form a palette of fragile and tender colors - nurturing colors - that are extremely beneficial for emanating confidence and cheerfulness all around and caressing sick individuals.Lavender and pink colors create a romantic environment through inferring intimacy and love feelings.Hot reds, purples, pinks and oranges create sensuous, passionate and seductive settings for lovers.Light shades of sea and sky colors - green and blues - make a floral arrangement perfectly suited for a place in which serenity and peace of mind is needed.Playful and joyous feelings are induced by a whimsical arrangement of powerful, contrasting colors. This type pf arrangement can be successfully used for birthdays and any kind of celebrations. on our good mood.
There has been developed a new type of complementary therapy called flower therapy. It is thought that our emotional states can be elevated or turned from negative into positive ones through flower therapy.The multiple benefits we receive from this therapy are related to the form, color and smell a flower gives off. Flowers provide us with a pleasant view and a beautiful smell, inducing emotional health through synesthesia.Red roses enhance the energy in our body and make us more active by stimulating adrenal glands, the indigo of an iris makes us more confident and tranquil by removing fear or inhibition, sunflowers boost energy and also make us more optimistic, bluebells release melatonin - the "sleep protein" in our organism and therefore induce a good night's sleep, orange daisies act favorably upon our lungs and immune system by keeping away allergenic factors, while lilacs and green zinnias remove stress and anxiety.Also, the impact of flowers present at workplaces was scientifically proved to enhance productivity and the energy level, improving at the same time short and long term memory. They also improve companionship and relationship among colleagues in the workplace. Leatrice Eiseman is the Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute and strongly believes in the curing effects of these frail and tender plants. She thinks that color therapy and flower therapy are very much alike due to the fact that they both use color energy in order to improve moods and chase away sadness and distress. "Color can help us find the balance we seek from our surroundings. And flowers are an ideal way to harness the power of color to enrich our lives," she says. Internationally acknowledged color expert Leatrice Eiseman stated that "our response to color is intensely emotional and flowers can be a catalyst for feelings that stimulate more than just our senses of sight and smell. An artful floral arrangement has the ability to convey a feeling or create a mood without using words, just color."The color expert recommends us five types of floral arrangements, each for enhancing a different state of mind, depending on the predominant color. She says that soft yellows and greens, peach shades, warm pinks and creamy whites form a palette of fragile and tender colors - nurturing colors - that are extremely beneficial for emanating confidence and cheerfulness all around and caressing sick individuals.Lavender and pink colors create a romantic environment through inferring intimacy and love feelings.Hot reds, purples, pinks and oranges create sensuous, passionate and seductive settings for lovers.Light shades of sea and sky colors - green and blues - make a floral arrangement perfectly suited for a place in which serenity and peace of mind is needed.Playful and joyous feelings are induced by a whimsical arrangement of powerful, contrasting colors. This type pf arrangement can be successfully used for birthdays and any kind of celebrations. 

Flowers in the Workplace: How they effect productivity

With the hectic and aggressive nature of today's economy, it has become extremely important for your business to gain every advantage over the competition. Any combination of things can affect the productivity and motivation in your workplace, including global economic factors and local unemployment rates.

Although these factors are beyond most of our abilities to affect, there are a number of personal changes that you can affect to improve the productivity of your workplace and the motivation of your workers.

Take, for example, the simple idea of introducing flowers to the workplace. What was before a drab and dreary office - draining the motivation and productivity of your workers through its uninspiring environment - could be transformed into a more positive and appealing place to spend the day.

There is often an association with Spartan decoration and a professional workplace, but this is not necessarily true. When you take into consideration the health benefits a pleasant and uplifting environment can affect on your staff, you will realize that they far outweigh those of a decoration-free "no-nonsense" workplace.

Study Links Flowers to Increased Productivity

Texas A&M University has conducted an eight-month study to explore how the addition of flowers to the workplace affects employees. Those participating engaged in creative problem solving tasks in an assortment of standard office environments and conditions in order to determine the affect of flowers on their motivation and productivity.

During the study, participants of both genders were shown to demonstrate greater levels of innovative thinking, resulting in the generation of more ideas and original solutions. More ideas and solutions led to greater productivity, and thus a greater motivation to achieve.

By introducing plants and flowers to the workplace, you will increase motivation and productivity through a pleasant environment. You will affect positive changes and free many from the monotony of beige and sterility.

Think about hospitals and other institutions. You've likely read studies about how flowers are introduced to speed along the healing process. We have a human desire to be surrounded by nature, and as a result, four blank walls and a roof over our head are going to understandably affect our motivation and productivity in a negative way.

Again, since motivation towards greater productivity is an important way to improve your workplace, you'll want to affect as many changes as you can towards that end. An individual in a workplace decorated with flowers will show positive behavior, and will have a greater relationship with you as a manager and leader. It is, overall, not a bad goal for you to make and pursue.

In addition to flowers in the workplace being a great way to improve motivation and productivity of your employees, think of how it will affect you personally. Striding into work every morning to be greeted by a pleasant environment will just as likely motivate you to greater productivity levels as well. Affect these positive changes and you'll increase your power and approach the top with greater ease.

Remember, motivation is the key to success. The simple act of putting flowers in your office is a great way to achieve it.

Voicemail and 800 numbers

I've decided that FTD and Teleflora 24hrs answering service are of no use to me. Anyways when my customers call they want to talk to someone that is knowledgeable not only with the product but also the area, and attentive to their needs. I have researched a company called gotvmail. That's just what they're asking... you got it, if not you should. This company can serve as your answering service or as 800 number provider and voicemail with the ability of having multiple extensions. This is a very inexpensive service that will allow your customers to stay in contact with you. http://gotvmail.com/

First Order on the New Site WEEEEE

Today was the big day. The day all the hard work and endless hours finally paid off. This morning we received our first order via the website. Thanks to all those that have been patient with us. But like we promised, we bring to you our new site thanks to our friends at Skramco. Who worked with me for months on this project. Thanks BUD

Silk or real....You Decide

As the scares of a less then average economy falls upon us, people begin to worry how they can continue to live the lifestyle they once did. In this industry you have to find a way through these tough times. So I've decided. Since you still want flowers, why not make sure that last forever, or until you want some change. Maybe by season, or certain events, you can enjoy these arrangements forever.