Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Hump Day Happies!

THANK YOU all for an amazing Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  I am already thinking about what to give our UPS man for Christmas as he has picked over over 175 boxes in the last 2 days!

When I started this business it was out of frustration of not being able to find the types of things I wanted to give and receive and in the past 9 years I am humbled by how it has grown!  A lot of you emailed me with exactly what I have been thinking...how is it already time for Christmas trees, holiday decor and wrapping?  This year has simply flown by.  There are also those of you that simply amaze me:  you are already planning Valentine's Day, your child's graduation or birthday party.

SO for all of you that might not be holding the winning powerball ticket, I wanted to make sure you got a little HAPPY this Wednesday as well!

If you follow us on Facebook, and based on the afternoon's orders, I know some of you do, then you already know this, but for the rest of you, from no until December 4th take 10% off all PHOTO CARDS, RETURN ADDRESS STICKERS, GIFT STICKERS, GIFT TAGS WITH STRING AND ENCLOSURE CARDS with code:  TRMG12.  We will not be posting this sale on the site until the 1st, but the code works now!  The best part about this sale is that ALL items mentioned are on sale, not just the holiday themed ones!

We thought we would sweeten the discount a little more, we will post the 3 most creative orders(can be planned out, new house, etc) on our Facebook page and you can vote for the winner.  The winner will receive a $50 gift certificate!

We have a client, I will call her Mrs. B as she knows who she is, that literally ordered photo save the dates for her 8th grade daughter's graduation, her high school senior's graduation, favor stickers for her second grade daughter's first communion and a ton of return address stickers for her and her three sets of in-laws.  She is a planner by force she says because she has 6 girls.  I need a nap just thinking about it!

We had a bride order these tags for her out of town bags for her March wedding!  I love the classic white and black!


I LOVE to give sets of gift stickers or return address stickers as hostess gifts during the holidays and I always pick a design that isn't holiday so they can use them all year.  We are shipping most print orders in 48 hours so you will have them in time for next weekend's soirees!

I am a sucker for pink and green and I love these stickers for year round use!

These round return address stickers make me think of airmail envelopes!  Package them in a cello bag tied up with red ribbon and a candy cane and your host will love that you didn't add an inch to her waistline this holiday season!

The sale runs through December 4th and PLEASE drop me an email if you need help with your photo or wording!  The discount code is:  TRMG12

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Cyber Monday Steals!

I hope ALL of you had a great Thanksgiving!  Mini K spent Black Friday baking with her Nanna and I have put my new eyeglasses to work processing holiday card orders!  You can still take advantage of our 20% off ALL photo cards through midnight tonight with code BLKFR20.  I can say Pineapple Grove has some of the BEST DRESSED and LOOKING customers around and I have loved getting a sneak peek at all of your photos!  You can see all of the sale cards HERE.


If you follow the Grove on Facebook then you know we have been cleaning out!  We decided to celebrate CYBER MONDAY on the blog!  We decided to SLASH, and I mean SLASH the prices on some of our fall merchandise.  All prices below include personalization and shipping!  Just leave a comment with your paypal address, personalization details and let us know if you are OOT (outside of Texas).  I will not publish the comments with your information.  You can also email me your order!  You will NOT find these deals on our website, just the blog!  All items will arrive in time for the holidays, most will ship within 24 hours!

1.  The Navy Weekend Bag!
We love this twist on our canvas tote with colored leather.  A classic zip top navy canvas with saddle brown letter and your monogram in gold in choice of a circle monogram or straight across.  The bag will be on our website on Tuesday for $150 plus shipping.


CYBER MONDAY PRICE:  $145, including shipping and personalization

2.  Knotical Wrists!
Classic, Bows or Sparkle we have you covered, or should we say clasped? ALL of our rope bracelets sell for $50, but.......



Styles:  Pink and White Bow, Tartan Bow, Yellow and White Bow, Navy and White with Gold Leather, Grey and White with Orange and Grey and White with Hot Pink and Silver.

CYBER MONDAY PRICE:  $35 including shipping

3.  Preppy Speakers!
These are usually BLASTING Taylor Swift in our house courtesy of Mini K!  Lilly Pulitzer battery powered portable speakers.  They come wrapped and bowed.  They sell for $24.

CYBER MONDAY PRICE:  $18

Please let us know if you want the blue or the pink print!

4.  Take Note!
Lilly Pulitzer Notepad Sets.  These are the best cercies to have on hand for stocking stuffers, for a teacher basket or hostess gift that you can pair with a gift card.  We just made up sets of these notepads with $10 Starbucks gift cards that she is giving to her book club.  Isn't grocery shopping more fun with a cute list and a red cup from Starbucks?  We usually sell these for $12.

CYBER MONDAY PRICE:  $9

5.  Blue Bib Necklace!
We have seen these being sold for over $65.  We usually sell them for $40, but.....

CYBER MONDAY PRICE:  $16

After all of this shopping for others, your deserve a little something for yourself!

6.  Carryalls!
This is our favorite bag!  I have used mine as a diaper bag, a work bag, a purse and a carry on!  You can have a name or a monogram embroidered on it!  They are $50 plus shipping in our store, but for Cyber Monday we have marked them down on the blog only!  We have limited availability of colors so  don't wait to place your order!

Orange:  4
Green:  2
Striped:  4
Navy & White Striped: 4
Thread Colors:  White, Black, Khaki, Kelly Green, Navy, Red, Orange, Bright Yellow, Pale Pink, Chocolate Borwn, Lime Green and Purple.




CYBER MONDAY PRICE:  $45

6.  Sunnies!
You asked for a sale and we hope you like what we have come up wtih.........4 pairs of engraved sunnies for $100 and YES that includes shipping!
Just let us know if you want your monogram in script, block or circle block font on our wayfarer style glasses!


All prices are valid through midnight tomorrow!  Just send us an email grovegifts@gmail.com or leave a comment!  Thank you for your business and friendship this past year!!!!!!!!

Friday, November 23, 2012

Black Friday!

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving and I wanted to make sure and post all of the discounts, deals and codes I have found and please leave a comment if you know of any others.  I won't clog up this post with a bunch of photos in case you are reading it on your phone as I want to make sure everyone has the info they need to drop until they drop, hopefully in the comfort of their home or at least without the insanity of rude shoppers!

Our Black Friday Card Sale continues.  ALL photo cards are 20% off through the 24th with code:  BLKFR20.  Due to printing demands, this will be our last card sale before Christmas.


Robert Redd
Both Mr. G and Baby C are fans of Robert Redd polos.   If you make a purchase today using code:  REDDFRIDAY12 you will get 50% off your purchase PLUS they will email you a code for 90% off your purchase on Monday.  I have already ordered Baby C a polo today and will stock up on Monday.

Remember Nguyen
Is having their annual 50% off sale today.  Lots of fall, winter and summer smocking at unbelievable prices!

C.Wonder
Is offering 30% off a purchase of $100 or more, no code needed and an additional 50% off sale prices.  They are also on Ebates and will give you 7% cash back!

Vineyard Vines
The stores are offering Buy 3 Get 1 Free on all items.

KnitWits has adorable animal hats for kids and you can save 20% with code:  BF12

Country Club Prep is giving members 25% off your total purchase.  If you aren't a member you can join for free HERE.  COuntry Club Prep carries Castaway Cay, Smathers and Branson and a lot of your other favorite preppy brands!

Pink Chicken
They have great clothes for girls and tweens.  You can get 14% off your puchase of $100 with code BLACK15, 20% off your purchase of $150 with code BLACK20, 25% off your purchase of $250 with code BLACK25, and 30% off your purchase of $300 or more.

Snapfish
If you need to get photos for Christmas, today is your DAY!  Not only is Snapfish giving you 20% cash back at Ebates, they have some amazing deals!
If you order one calendar, you get 2 FREE with code:  TREATUCA
If you order one photo book, you get 2 FREE with code:  TREATUBOOK
If you just need to order enlargements to put in frames, you can take 30% off the entire site with code:  RMNSITEWIDE

Tory Burch is also offering a percentage off depending on your total purchase and they are also giving you 7% cash back on Ebates!

Last, but not least because they are a favorite of Mr. G's:  Chubbies.  Think your favorite old school patagonia shorts, but in fun colors, reversible styles in college team colors and a great small business!  They are literally giving you CASH on Black Friday.  You can get a $49.50 gift card for $39.50!  Then  the person on your list can select their favorite item!

And if you aren't on Ebates, you are spending more than you need to today!  You can join HERE and the best part is, you will get your cash back check in January and you who doesn't love FREE money in January?

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Shows, Sales and So Much To Do

I apologize, but clearly I have been MIA in blog land.  Between trunk shows, the holiday season, the house construction and my foot once I am finished working on orders at night, okay really more like 3-4am all I want to do is sleep....even if it is only for a couple of hours.

Tonight I pushed myself away from the computer and spent an hour on the elliptical and am now drinking the strongest green tea I could find as I tackle my list.  I went into this business with a few rules that I insisted I would follow:
1.  I would only sell things that I would purchase myself, at all price levels.

2.  I have a 24 hour rule...if you call or email me, you will hear back from me within 24 hours.  It may be at 4am, it may be from my iPad, but I do respond.

3.  If this ever stopped being fun, then I would close up shop.

Well, almost 9 years later I am still having fun, even if I don't get a lot of sleep and am so THANKFUL to now call so many customers and suppliers friends.  I won't get all mushy on you, but I will say that I am honored that you allow my company to help you celebrate so many special events and trust me with your memories.  This year I have decided to shake it up a little bit.  We have 3 Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales this year.  If you don't follow us on Facebook, give us a like so you don't miss out and remember that you know have to click on the dial on our page and click "add to your interests" so our posts show up in your feed.

So on to the sales:

1.  ALL holiday cards will be 20% off from November 22nd-24th with code: BLKFR20

2.  We will be posting special sale prices, all of which will include shipping, on our Facebook page Friday and the prices will last through Sunday night.  You can grab a deal, and place your order when it works for you, coffee, diet dr. pepper or wine in hand!

3.  Cyber Monday Special.  I am going to leave it at that...you will have to check our Facebook page on Sunday night to find out exactly what it is!

In case I am not alone in finding the attraction to being trampled at a store the day after a holiday I thought I would share a couple of other deals I have seen.

The first is one I have shared often, but it is even sweeter this weekend because most stores have doubled their cash back.  That deal friends is EBATES.  If you aren't a member, you can join HERE.

All you need to do is log in to your Ebates account, type in the store you want to shop, click through and the cash is deposited into your account after you make your purchase.  Trust me:  it adds up!

Lately, most of my Ebates purchases have been for the house:  faucets, sinks, ceiling fans, light fixtures, shoes, Vince sweaters...just the basics of construction.  Yes, I firmly believe that shoes can make construction easier.

Here are some of the deals for Black Friday weekend:

Snapfish:  20% cash back & FREE overnight shipping with code QUICKSHIP50 or 30% off all frames and canvas prints with code 30HOME.  Spend $100, get $20 back!

Gilt City:  THe Washington, D.C. site has a great deal from The Crispery right now and you can get 4% cash back on your purchase.  Hopsy and I have both raved about their gourmet rice krispy treats!

C. Wonder is now on Ebates and is giving you 7% cash back.  Right now they are also offering 30% off sale items and FREE shipping.

J.Crew:  6% cash back plus 25% off all sweaters.

Lands End:  6% cash back and they are having one of their 30% off sales.  I love the idea of getting a boat tote with a family's last name on it, filling it with their presents and delivering it.  It's like a preppy version of Santa's bag!

I promise to post discounts as I find them and feel free to leave a comment and share one if you have it! I promise I will post again tomorrow--I am braving both the grocery store and tennis court post cast with Mini K---I am not sure which is more stressful!

Monday, November 5, 2012

It Was Only A Facebook Post

Actually it started with an email to a friend, both of us venting about why Staten Island hadn't seen any relief workers.  Then it turned into 2 Facebook posts and then as J put it: "we lost control and it took over."

That is pretty much been my Saturday, Sunday, today and now Mr. G's tomorrow.  We said we wanted to collect supplies to drive a Tahoe or two up to Staten Island.  We also said people could drop off items on my front porch or at J's office.  We woke up Saturday morning to a porch so full our contractors could not open the front door and J's office lobby was full.

Cue the first UHaul 26 FOOT TRUCK that we never thought we would fill.  It was full in less than 24 hours!  So off it went to Howland Hook Terminal on Staten Island today.  We still had donations so we got another 26 FOOT TRUCK and guess what, we filled it!  Mr. G is spending election day to drive it up to Staten Island and back tomorrow and we now have almost filled a 3rd 26 FOOT TRUCK.

We have had people drive over an hour to bring us stuff.  I won't attempt to list everyone here or on my Facebook page, because I know I will forget someone and don't want to leave them out.  All I can say is thank you thank you thank you!  There are children who will have formula, police officers who will have a coat and people that are sleeping in cars that do not have gasoline will at least have a blanket.  We didn't solve everyone's problems, but we did something and more importantly we now can point to these 2 original Facebook posts and tell our children:

Be careful what you put on Facebook, because it can get out of control!

Friday, November 2, 2012

Friday FIVE

This post is late today, but I had a tantrum this morning.  A BIG TANTRUM.  Not the screaming and tears of a toddler, but the seething anger of an adult.  I woke up, got Mini K off to school and then caught Congressman Michael Grimm's interview on the Today Show and it sent me over the edge.  To think that Staten Island is an area where A LOT of the NYPD and NYFD lives and it has been forgotten.  I am not saying that others did not suffer, but until about an hour ago, Staten island was mainly being discussed as the starting point for the now cancelled NYC marathon.  Then I realized I could do something about it, so we are filling two trucks and sending them to Staten Island.  It is a small effort organized by friends who like me, wanted to do something other than read and post on Facebook.  I hate feeling helpless!

Tonight we will watch the benefit on tv with Mini K.  She may not have a concept of Haiti or New Orleans, but peanut know NYC!  We will watch it in our home, with power and heat and we will be thankful!

Ok...I have stepped off of my soap box and let's talk about the Friday FIVE.

1.  The Holidays Are Coming!
Pumpkin pie, Chick Fil A's Chocolate Peppermint Shake, red cups at Starbucks and all of them make me smile.  I look forward to opening my mailbox during this time of year, the pictures, the catalogues, what can I say, but I love ALL OF IT!  Our holiday card sale at the Grove ends this Sunday, but you still have time to take 20% off your card order and 50% off envelope printing or return address stickers. You can see all of the designs HERE.  The sale includes flat or folded cards as well as apply your own photo cards.  This one is a favorite of mine!



2.  Glasses
NEVER did I think I would put glasses, as in prescription glasses, on the Friday FIVE, but after more than 30 years, the doctor said I needed them last year.  I ordered a pair of Tory Burch frames and lenses, but had been wanting a spare pair just in case.  I saw an ad for a free pair of Coastal glasses and gave them a try.  My glasses arrived today, less than 10 days after I ordered them and I LOVE them!  I got a pair of  wayfarers with my lenses for FREE.   I only paid $28 for anti-reflective coating and shipping, the shipping was only $9, the rest was my coating.  I won't complain about $28 for glasses that should of cost me $228!  You can get your first pair of glasses free too with code:  FIRSTPAIRFREE.  If you have been wanting a fun pair of glasses, or want a spare pair for yourself or your minnie, you can see all of the styles HERE.

3.  New Balance
Baby C's feet seem to grow a size a week....not really but it feels that way.  He keeps saying he wants string shoes like his sissy.  That would be running shoes that tie and not velcro.  SO today, I finally broke down and ordered them.  I wonder how many pairs of these shoes he will own in his lifetime as his daddy wears them still!  I ordered them from the new sister site of Diapers.com, After School, and got them fr 30% off with free shipping.  You can use code AFTER30 to take 30% off one item in the store.  I will say they have a huge selection of roller skates, the classic ones, not inline, if you have a little girl who has been asking for them!

4.  One Foot, Two Foot, Red Foot, Wild Foot!
No I am not writing a Dr. Seuss knock off, but I am LOVING that I was able to find my size in these leopard Kate Spade flats at 40% off during Nordstrom's sale.

5.  Surprise Offers!
I am in LOVE with our gold 1.5" hand engraved necklace.  It is classic yet makes a bold statement.  If you aren't a fan of ours on Facebook, you may want to be as we will be making you a special offer on this necklace and our silver one tomorrow!  You can find our Facebook page HERE and if you already are a fan make sure you can see our posts by going to our page, then click the circular "gear" symbol below our timeline photo. From the drop-down menu, select "Add to Interest Lists." This ensures that you'll see all of our posts despite the recent changes to Facebook.