The Mother of all Weeks!

so i got so busy during the week before mother's day that i didn't have time to post and i was so dog tired that i didn't want to. :) but it looks like all of my pictures are deleted and not uploading which is SUPER sad!
i'll make a smilebox of the corsages and boutonnieres i made for the 3 school dances we had that saturday before mother's day.
we had calls coming in almost constantly and people filing in especially on saturday, wondering if they could still get something sent. we closed, technically at 5:30 on saturday but i left at 6:30 and the sutherland's were there delivering until 8 pm. we usually close at 2 on normal weekends.
i got to meet jolene and ladon. they are two other ladies that help us during the busy times. they were nice and fun to be around. jolene just had back surgery so she couldn't bend down and twist. she answered phones and took orders for us and helped me make the dance flowers.
there isn't much else to say, but it was super busy and they say that Valentines Day is even worse! haha great...

Prep for Mother's Day

for mother's day, we do the orders we need for the next day, the day before. so yesterday we did today's file of orders so we aren't totally swamped. then if people order last minute to go out today, we can do it while we try to complete the next day's orders. does that make since? anyway...i haven't done the day file yet. they are just having me do other things to keep everyone busy. we got in a lot of plants for the holiday and i had to bring them in and we got them watered and tagged with the correct pricing. then i took them out to our front and set them up around the shop. we got a lot in and i wasn't sure that they were all going to fit. I JUST REMEMBERED!! i set aside a little plant to take home. it's a dahlia that's pinkish purple! it's super cute! and i forgot about it. i'll pay for it and bring it home today.
other than those plants. i made corsages and boutonnieres the rest of the day. i forgot my camera too so i don't have pictures. but i'll take some today and post them when i get home. the bouts aren't as cute or impressive as the corsages but oh well. i guess they aren't really supposed to be! :)

Corsages and Processing

this is pretty much what i did on the 5th. we got a bunch of spray roses (these mini/baby roses) and a bunch of standard roses in for Mother's Day. we processed those and then i started working on corsages because we have 3 high school dances on saturday along with mother's day stuff. CRAZY! haha i think they are super cute. i'll have more pictures later.

What happened yesterday...

we got it so many flowers yesterday for mother's day its not even funny. pretty much all i did yesterday was process flowers. processing basically entails getting the flowers out of the fedex box and putting them on the table. then undoing the wrapping around each bunch. we fill up buckets full of water and hydrating solution. then we get to the hard part, cutting all the stems. we cut them between 1-2 inches from the bottom to make sure we get rid of the air pockets. and then take off all the leaves that would be underneath the water because the leaves mold really fast. we spray them with a special solution that reduces the transpiration out of the leaves and blooms; that way they last longer. each flower has its own processing technique but that is the general care and handling of flowers.

i made one arrangement of 3 roses to go out right before we closed. that's all the arranging i did today. and these are some new gerber daisies! i just love the color!!! :)

this is a nasty picture of what my nails looked like at the end of the day. SICK huh?! welcome to the glamourous life of a florist! haha

First Full Day

Today was my first day working all day. I worked 9-5:30 with an hour lunch. It felt like two different days, since I'm used to working only half of the day. Thinking back to this morning feels like a long time ago. Today I got to work with Gaye for the first time. She taught me a few things like how to really green a vase and make it look nice. She is pretty picky with how my arrangements turn out but that's ok. I'm here to learn from different people and their different point of views. I got to deliver twice today and that is always fun and rewarding when you get to see their reactions...I didn't. I took four arrangements to the hospital and volunteers take them to the patients so I couldn't see their reaction. Then I took an arrangement to the Kimball administrative building on campus and the girl wasn't in for her shift yet. Then I took another one to a lady who just had a miscarriage and she was napping so I gave it to her kids.
We had a funeral today and a lot of different orders to do.

Marianne (Bruce's daughter) worked with me in the afternoon and she taught me a lot about how the shop should run. She is a great designer with great taste and she can work fast.

These are the two funeral sprays that I did today. I like the red and white one a lot!! :)


I really liked this arrangement but I made it a week early. It was supposed to be for Mother's Day. We sold it today anyway.

This was a cute one I did for a college student's birthday.

A Teleflora arrangement.

I want this duck arrangement when I have a kid! I just thought it was SUPER cute!! *hint hint*

Next week for Mother's Day I am working 9-5:30 Monday thru Saturday. It'll be a long week! But Todd starts his internship next week as well!

4/30/09 Internship Update: A Hail of a Day

Yes, it hailed yesterday. The day before May. Not cool...I mean, well, it was. There was thunder and dark clouds and then it just started hailing. Angelica and I had just gotten our shipment of glass in and taken care of so the cardboard didn't get all wet and soggy. We were grateful about that. Below is the owner of Rexburg Floral's mustang. His name is Bruce, not the mustang, the owner. He was happy that his roof was up on his car. That would've been bad. haha

Yesterday was a good day. I worked with Angelica and we had some laughs and really got to know eachother. I bought some eggs from her for $1 a dozen. Her chickens at home are laying eggs like crazy, so we get to benefit. I made these two arrangements (above) and took plenty of orders, some for Mother's Day and some for other reasons. We also have a prom coming up in a week so we are doing a bunch of corsages and boutonnieres later. Angelica taught me how to Z-Out the register and close the day. I got her key as well to open up the shop this morning. I'm going to miss her when she's gone.

4/29/2009 Internship

These are pictures from Wednesday when I worked. All of them have sold now which is just the greatest feeling ever! :) I am really getting the hang of the shop!

Third Day at Rexburg Floral

(Don't worry. I'm not going to count down all my days of my internship. :))

This is what the shop looks like when you walk in. Its really cute and has some fun stuff to buy.

So today I went in and started working on some Teleflora orders we received. I did these two arrangements. This Be Happy mug one was fun to do. It looked almost identical to this picture. The mug just does make you smile. :)

Then I worked on this arrangement which was a sympathy arrangement for the funeral we were providing flowers for today. It was very interesting to see all of the flowers that went into that funeral from all sorts of people around town. We also decorated some plants to go as well. This is the Teleflora picture...

And this is what I actually did...They wanted a deluxe upgrade so I made it a little bigger. Its not exact but it doesn't really need to be; just close. I did the bow and everything. :)

I also made an arrangement to fill the cooler using the broken rose stems from processing. I hate to see things go to waste. It is a high style arrangement and we will see if anyone buys it because its a little pricey. I don't like the carnations though....I think I'll change them tomorrow.

I helped a lot of customers today and know how to work the computer pretty good now. I answered the phone and took and filled orders. One lady came in and wanted a mylar balloon for her boss who is sick. I grabbed one and blew it up and tried to tie on the string. It was kinda hard to hold on to and tie on string at the same time. While I was trying to tighten the string, it slipped up and floated to the ceiling. The ceilings are about 10-11 feet and it didn't have the string on it at all. I grabbed a broom and tried to swat it down, far enough for me to grab it. It took a few tries; meanwhile, the lady was still waiting for her balloon. It was kinda embarassing but I got it and finished her order.

Bruce taught me his way of tying bows today. He doesn't make the center loop first like I learned how at school. He does the loop last. He works in, not out. I couldn't imagine how it would even work that way so he showed me. This is the first bow I did, his way. It looks much better than any of my other bows.

I cleaned up the shop and watched Bruce do some easel pieces for the funeral and a casket piece. He is really fast and doesn't think too much about the design even though it ends up great. He just cuts the flowers to the perfect length the first time and shoves it in the foam once. That is for sure something I don't have down yet. We had a lot of orders like I said for the funeral. One man came in late almost at closing time and wanted to send an azalea plant. They are beautiful, but our delivery boy had already done his last delivery run so I took them to the funeral home. I got there and I didn't see anyone. Not one living soul (pun intended). I didn't see people coming for the funeral, or anyone who worked at the funeral home. I just decided to set up the plant on one of the tables. I walked into the room where all of our floral pieces were set up. I saw the casket and saw that it was open and then ... I saw ... her. The lady who had died. She was propped up and everything and looking as dead as ever. I didn't know her or it might have been different. I just left the room right away. I started to look more frantically for someone else to set it up for me. But there was no one. I couldn't really breathe but I knew that I had to do it myself. I put the plant up by my face so I didn't have to see her and then I found a place to set the plant. Bro. Romney had talked to us about how florists sometimes are asked to put flowers on the dead person like a corsage or boutonniere. I don't think I can do that. Let alone get closer than I was (which was like 50 feet away!!). I'll have to work on that I guess. After I set it up, I almost ran out of there.

Anyway, it was a good day of work. On my way home, I pass this tree and I just think its so funny. I wanted to share it with you.

Second Day at Rexburg Floral

Today was my second day of my internship and it went much smoother than the first. It can only get better, right? I went in when we opened which was at 9 (which was early for me...:)) and looked at the orders we had to do today. Angelica and I each picked one and we got to work. I made a little gerber daisy arrangement for someone. It was kind of hard to keep it within the price because the prices are different than I am used to at Flower Center, but its fun to be able to use whatever flowers I want to make it look nice. We aren't held back unless the flowers are reserved for a specific event like a wedding or funeral.

Then I chose another order to fill and it was a Teleflora arrangement. I had never copied an arrangement from a Teleflora book so it was kind of exciting. We didn't have all of the flowers and greens that it suggested but I did my best and I think it turned out great! Here is a picture of the Teleflora arrangement I went off of. It looked pretty similar.

I watered all the plants in the front of the shop, which took a lot time because the watering pitcher I used only held less than a gallon. I made a lot of trips back and forth from the sink. But it was fun to be able to use some of my interiorscaping skills on my internship as well. I cut some of the dead pieces off the leaves and only watered the plants that were dry to the touch. I cleaned out the dead leaves from the soil and cleaned the leaves and put leaf shine on them to make them look real nice. I enjoyed my time doing that.

Then I got to make deliveries. This was my very first time and it was fun. I love seeing the reaction people have when they receive flowers. I had three different deliveries, in three various spots around town. Two of those arrangements I delivered, I personally made. It was especially great since I had made them. I love selling things that I created. One lady came in and she was ordering for the last delivery I had and she looked in the cooler (it was the one with the cute pot) and she said "OH! This is perfect! This is exactly what I want!" That made me feel so good that someone appreciated my work and said that it was just what they wanted. This is the delivery van that I got to drive around town.

After delivering the flowers, I just cleaned up. I vacuumed the front of the store and dusted the merchandise and the tables and made it look real nice. I also cleaned their computers and other electronics. I swept and cleaned buckets. I felt really good about the way it all turned out when I was done cleaning. It was a great, productive, feel-good day.

Rexburg Floral, First day!

I started my internship at Rexburg Floral on Thursday! I took out the trash and helped Angelica (my coworker, and trainer, and friend) finish an order of about 45 carnations, individually wrapped for a dance recital. It always makes it so much better and easier to design when you know what it is for. When she told me they were for the dancers, I had no problem making them up and I actually tried harder once I knew they were for little girls.

Then we "filled the cooler" which just means that we make whatever kind of arrangement we want for whatever price and put them in the cooler. People that just walk in to the shop and just want flowers without a preference can just grab one of the premade arrangements and walk out. Its a great system. This is the cute little spring arrangement I made. I just absolutely LOVED the pot.

We covered our plants in foil (?)-like stuff and tied them with bows to look really presentable and sellable. It took awhile but we got it done.

After that, we just cleaned up and she showed me how to work the computers, mostly. I'm still unsure of what to do, but its ok. It was a good day.