Final Exam Survival Kit

It's that time of year again. School is about to end, Summer Vacation is about to begin. Many students are only weeks away from graduation. Weeks away form starting a new chapter in their lives. Some will be going on to college, some will by starting their careers. But before Summer Vacation, before graduation, before starting college or a career, they face Final Exams!
Show your favorite student that you are thinking of them and wish them good luck with a Final Exam Survival Kit from Laurel Mountain Basket Company. Our eco friendly boxes are filled with a generous assortment of "not so gourmet" snack items including popcorn, cookies, granola bars, candy bars, and more, all of the things late night study sessions are made of. A hand written note is included to let your student know that you are there for them.

Happy Mother's Day

Mothers are very special people. On the second Sunday in May, it will be the 102nd anniversary of Mother's Day. I report I read recently stated that 96% of us in the U.S. celebrate Mother's Day. Mother's Day is the day phone companies log the most long distance calls, it is the busiest day of the year for many restaurants and retailers rank Mother's Day second only to Christmas.
If you are a statistics junkie, like me, here are some more numbers that I found really interesting. In the U.S. there are an estimated 82.8 MILLION mothers, of mothers with infants, 27 million (almost 3/4) work outside of the home. The odds of a woman delivering twins are 1 in 33 and for triplets or other multiple births, 1 in 539. The woman from California who gave birth to octuplets earlier this year should be living in Vegas.
My mom is great. I'm lucky. She lives in the area and I get to see her often. But like the shoemaker whose family goes barefoot, I get so busy at the Laurel Mountain Basket Company studio making gift baskets for other people to send for Mother's Day, I'm usually putting together something for my own Mom at the very last minute.
Remember Sunday, May 10th. Give your mom a call, take her to lunch and if you want to send her a gift especially created with her in mind, we would be happy to design one for you. We also have a great line of gift basket designs that are perfect for Mother's Day . We deliver to cities and towns in the Pioneer Valley section of Western Massachusetts and ship anywhere.

Most Interesting Gift Baskets

At Laurel Mountain Basket Company we create gift baskets for every occasion and will custom design gift baskets for our clients.
An interviewer once asked me what was the most interesting gift basket I ever made. My answer: a baby basket for a horse. A client wanted a gift basket for her friends horse. The horse had recently given birth and my client thought it would be fun to send a gift basket.
It was a challenge. But it was really fun to design. I used a straw cow boy hat as the "basket". Made a trip to the local feed and grain store (not one of my usual shopping haunts) where I purchased some carrot flavored cookies, shampoo and conditioner, a curry brush and a few other items necessary to create a SPA basket for a horse. My client loved it, as did her friend. I don't know what the horse thought.
So when I read article about the 20 horses entered in the Kentucky Derby receiving gift baskets, I wasn't that surprised. These gift basket will contain stuff a highly trained athlete needs before a big race including a super joint solution to help with inflammation and stiffness.
At Laurel Mountain Basket Company we make a lot of gift baskets for pets and the people who love them. Most are for dogs or cats or their owners but occasionally we get a request that makes us smile. Some day I'll tell you about the one we made for a Ferret.
Give your pet a big hug!
Marie

Great Non-Food Gifts

Professional Assistant's Day is April 22nd this year. I've talked with several of my clients in the medical field who want to recognize their assistants with a gift but are not comfortable giving a gift basket filled with Chocolates and other sweets.
So many people today are making an effort to eat well, and even though an occasional sweet treat is allowed, it would be counter productive to send a gift basket filled with "guilt".
Have you found yourself in this situation? If so, a SPA gift basket from Laurel Mountain Basket Company may be just what you are looking for. The Mini Spa (picutred above) is the perfect little gift. Two bars of hand made soap, a wooden soap tray and nail brush are wrapped in cello and tied with a pretty little bow. The soaps are high quality bars of 20% shea butter, olive, coconut and palm oil blended with essential oils and herbs. Just right for saying thank you, they also make great hostess gifts or a little something to bring to a friend in the hospital.
So, when faced with the problem of giving a gift to a friend who is working to stay fit, think of our Spa gift baskets. They are a great reward for being good.
Smile and be happy,

Marie

Spring Arts & Craft Festival

In addition to my website at http://www.laurelmtbasket.com/ I have a brick and mortar retail studio located in a beautifully renovated factory building called Eastworks in Easthampton, Ma. Eastworks houses artists, crafters, two restaurants, small business, photographers, a driving school, the Pioneer Valley Ballet School, a salon, a gym and retail shops.
For the past several years, we merchants have gotten some of our very talented friends to join us the Saturday before Mother's Day for a Spring Festival. The juried show features locally produced jewelry, photography, art, home decor, clothing, gift baskets (by me of course), candles, handcrafted dolls, soaps and lotions, hand knits, pottery, and much, much more. We still have openings in a few categories so if you are an artist or crafter interested in obtaining a booth, contact me at www.info@laurelmtbasket.com.
Open to the public with no admission charge and free parking, the May 9th event begins at 10:00 a.m. and runs until 4:00 p.m. We still have a few opening for vendors in a few categories so if you are an artists or crafter and are interested in a booth, contact me at info@laurelmtbasket.com for details.
The Spring Festival at Eastworks is a great place to find one of a kind Mother's Day gifts. In addition to the crafters, artists and retailers, The Your Way Gourmet will be serving up delicious meals and snacks all day long.
Just 20 minutes north of Springfield, Ma we conveniently located on Pleasant Street in Easthampton. For driving directions, go to the Eastworks website at http://www.eastworks.com/.

Administrative Professionals Day -Apr 22nd

According to Wikipedia, National Secretaries Week (the predecessor of Administrative Professionals week) was created in 1952. Working with the marketing firm of Young & Rubican, the International Association of Administrative Professionals was concerned about the shortage of skilled office workers and wanted to encourage people to consider careers in the secretarial and administrative support fields by promoting the value and importance of administrative jobs. In 1981 the name was changed to Professional Secretaries Week and in 2000 it was again changed to Administrative Professionals Week. The name changes reflected the changes in responsibilities and the expanding wide range of job titles taking place in the administrative support field.
No matter what you choose to call it, it is an opportunity to show your administrative staff how much you appreciate their hard work and dedication. You may think that a good salary, pleasant office environment and generous benefits are what employees want from a job. These are important of course, but when asked what they wanted, many responded that they wanted respect, to be appreciated and to know that the organization valued their contribution. A sincere "thank you" will go a long way.
In good times and in hard times, a loyal, professional staff contributes greatly to the health of any organization.
Call your gift basket professional assistant today! At Laurel Mountain Basket Company we offer a full line of appropriate corporate gift baskets , like our Daily Grind Gift Basket (shown). We design our gift basket to fit every taste and every budget.

Going Green In Holyoke

For those of us who grew up in the Valley (the Pioneer Valley that is) and marched the 2.6 mile long parade route with our high school band or town drum corp, the Holyoke (MA) St Patrick's Day Parade is not only a part of our own personal history but is an annual event shared with family and friends. Started in 1952 the Holyoke Parade has grown to become the second largest in the country, New York City's being number one. The event draws over one million viewers, boasts 40,000 marchers, 30 floats and 40 marching bands including the Philadelphia Mummers and Springfield's (MA) own Melha Shriners.
Over the 57 year history many famous people have marched along side our high school bands including the then Senator, John F. Kennedy and his wife, actor Robert Stack, actress Maureen O'Hara, author Tom Clancy as well as astronauts, and national sports figures. Of course, no St Patrick's Day Parade would be worth its green beer without a beautiful Coleen and her court, local dignitaries and contingents from the area Chambers of Commerce.
In 1976, a 10K road race was added to the festivities. Held the Saturday before the Parade, the race continues to grow, last year hosting 3,000 runners. Many acomplished runners use the Holyoke event as a training race for the Boston Marathon. The celebration also includes Irish Night events in many of the surrounding towns featuring the traditional corned beef and cabbage dinners with plenty of Irish soda bread and of course, green beer.
It's great fun.... Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!