Valentine's

So, today was Valentine's Day, the busiest day of the year in the floral business. Wow, was it an experience! I've never seen the shop so packed. We've been preparing for over a week. Two weekends ago we worked Saturday and Sunday to factory produce dozens of roses and other Valentine's themed arrangements. We offered a variety of arrangements at different price points and in different styles. We stored all the arrangements in refrigerated Matson containers behind the shop so they would be ready for Valentine's orders the next weekend. Today was the culmination of a busy week with the shop full of men picking up orders, making last minute orders for delivery, and pacing the front trying to decide: "Should I spend $90 on a dozen red roses? Do I have to?? Would she like this less expensive one just as much?..." Hahaha, poor boys!!
So I nearly lost my marbles today because the phone was ringing off the hook and there were just people EVERYWHERE but luckily half of the crowd was friends of the owners that were volunteering to help us out today. We rented more delivery vans and had all kinds of guys driving for us. The shop was full of ladies boxing up arrangements for cash and carry, tracking down pickups, running new orders out to the back, etc etc. It was nice because I had constant help, "Could you get these balloons attached to that order? Could you make up a three rose presentation in cellophane with a pink bow? Could you find out if we have any more of this or that?" If I had to do all the little things myself there would have been no way that I could have handled the overflow of customers. I was in charge of taking orders from customers and running the cash register, mostly. But I was all over the place!
Eventually the day was over and I could breathe again :) We did over 400 deliveries!! Who knows how much money we made, but I know it was a LOT. There are only two florists on this side of the island so I'm sure you all can imagine how busy we were. It was crazy, but also fun change from the normal pace. Now I'm happy because all the extra hours I've put in the past two weeks will pay off with a four day weekend this weekend for President's Day. I wish I had some exciting plans to share with you all but Matthew is working full time now at the Walmart pharmacy so we won't be doing anything out of the ordinary. Well, maybe I shouldn't say that yet. There's still hope that we can plan an adventure :)
Last night he took me to dinner at a nice restaurant right on bay front that I've always admired from afar. They had live music playing and we got a little table at the front windows and had a delicious meal. We've been saving money so we don't eat out much and that makes the times when we do go out all the more special. I told him he better not get me roses :P I'm sick of them! They're so expensive because the growers jack up prices, knowing the huge profits florists make, and the florists are forced to raise prices on roses (and the associated fillers like baby's breath and wax flower). Other flowers, however, are priced normally and the arrangements have much more artistry to them. The mixed bouquets we made were just beautiful. And they're sure to last longer than the roses that blow open as soon as they get a taste of the humid Hawaii air outside our refrigerators. But anyways, I told Matthew not to get me roses and then I realized maybe that was a mistake because what if he assumed I didn't want any flowers at all? That would be sad! I was secretly hoping that he would try to be sneaky and order something from my shop. But he didn't. He did something even better: he bought me a live phalaenopsis orchid plant that will last longer than any roses :) It was a lovely surprise. My first orchid plant! I have to treasure it while I'm here because orchids are extremely expensive on the Mainland, if you can get them at all. Working at the flower shop has really opened my eyes to all the beautiful flowers out there, and the many varieties of delicate orchids are really at the top of the list.
Other than work, it's been school, school, school just like usual. Except this semester I was smarter and I'm not taking as many night classes. Racing from work to school on my bike got old :P Now I spend the majority of my day at school on Tuesdays and Thursdays to get most of it out of the way at once. It's nice except for the possibility of having all my tests at once, which would make it hard to study. But that hasn't happened yet. I have had some tests and I've set the curve on most of them :) I try to start the semester out right so that I have some leeway later in the semester when my enthusiasm for being a good student wears off. (Some of you may be under the impression that this is impossible, but I assure you, I can be as lazy as the next kid!)
I'm sitting here trying to come up with something super exciting to write about and all I can think about is the book I'm currently reading... sad, right? I am a bookworm at heart :) Lately my books have been disappointing me but this one shows some promise. It's a semi-fictional account of the lives of the couple that were in the private booth with Abraham Lincoln the night he was assassinated at the theater.  Turns out they are half-siblings that fell in love and were engaged to be married! It's interesting to think about because they must have been famous people of their times, being the closest witnesses to a national tragedy, but today we wouldn't know anything about them. Really puts things into perspective.
I suppose that's all for now. Sorry to be sporadic with my posting. Anyone out there? I send my love!