the laugh-a-lot winner is…

Thanks Thanks Thanks for participating in our laugh-a-lot giveaway.  Our smile muscles got a great work-out reading some of your funny stories.  Turns out, kids and pets rank the highest when it comes to generating laughter:)   Also, thanks for
spreading the news to your friends through facebook, twitter and email
forwards.  Word of mouth has always been our best form of advertising
and we couldn't do it without YOU! 

Out of all our entries, Nancy is the February's giveaway winner… and what makes her laugh?

"My 4 yr old son makes me laugh. When recently registering for
kindergarten, he asked when would he watch movies and play, if he went
to school everyday. I answered that it would be after school for a
little while or on the weekend. He paused and then said-'I'm not going to
be happy about that"

Congratulations Nancy! We hope you enjoy the funny finds and wish you many more laughs from your little guy;)

Stay tuned for another fantastic giveaway in March.  You never know when it'll be you lucky day!

Don't want to miss out on future fantastic firefly giveaways?  Then be sure to get them delivered to your email inbox by signing up here!

a sunny afternoon at pinwheel bakery

I was lucky enough to take an extra long lunch last Friday and catch up with my artist friend, Siouxsan Miller.  We met up at the lovely Pinwheel Bakery in Ferndale – which we both agreed, if we owned a bakery… this is what it would look like.

Aren't these Valentine windows so sweet?

I had the tasty Mediterranean Mix sandwich for lunch and selected a key lime bar for dessert while Siouxsan sampled a couple different kinds of cookies – including their signature pinwheel.  I highly recommend stopping by for a sunny lunch or sweet treat for yourself.  It was a delightful way to spend my Friday afternoon.

Like seeing some of my local adventures?  Then sign up to receive these 'about town' blog posts in your email inbox HERE.

Detroit News Feature 2.19.10

Picture-perfect frames showcase memories

Judith Harris Solomon

(excerpt)

Hooray! The long holiday season is finally behind us. That means the
tree has been taken down and the leftover wrapping paper, ribbons and
bows are back in storage. So now is the time to study your holiday
photos to determine which ones are so precious that they need to be
displayed 24/7. And here comes the last piece of that puzzle —
deciding what frames to put them in. May we suggest:

This 5 1/2 -by-7 1/2 -inch metal frame is available in several colors
and costs $9.95. The colorful ceramic magnetic letters are $1.25 each.
Use them to hold your favorite photo in place and to spell out the name
or phrase of your choice. Find them at Catching Fireflies.

Here's an awesome gift for parents-to-be. Designed to hold their baby's
sonogram, the frame is made out of recycled masonite and handmade paper
and features the words "Under Construction" front and center. Find it
for $29.50 at Catching Fireflies in Berkley and Rochester.

laugh-a-lot giveaway

I think most people can agree that it's easy to catch a case of the blahs this time of year.  So we're doing our best to battle the gray days with a little laughter… mon-keys, own little world magnet, cupcake dental floss, save the world water bottle, alligator stapler, 'laugh til you tinkle' napkins ($60.85 value)

So how can you get these funny finds for free?

There are 4 ways to enter – you can do 1,2,3 or all 4 to better your chances.

1.
Comment at
the bottom of this post and tell us what makes you laugh?  

We'll draw the lucky firefly fan's name on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 and post it on the blog.

Have fun, good luck and thanks for playing!

Don't want to miss out on future fantastic firefly giveaways?  Be sure to stay in the loop  by signing up here and we'll email our fun-filled blog posts to your inbox!

take me home

Now that I have this snazzy Shazam application on my i phone, I'm zapping songs left & right.  I think I tagged this catchy tune while shopping in New York.

Well, just the name of this group is quite entertaining – Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

A review reads, "Ask anyone who's held hands with a stranger or danced barefoot
in the front row at an Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros gig:
The 10-piece folk-rock ensemble's shows are more like shamanistic
tent revivals than rock concerts.

Ebert attributes their sound to a conscious
effort on his part to connect with his most childlike musical
impulses.  Those childlike impulses come through in the band's name, too:
There isn't an Edward Sharpe in the group, and Ebert named the band
after the characters in a novel he was writing about a boy who
transcended his dismal world by tapping into some sort of universal
music."

And another cool thing about them, " Back in July, when Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros held an album release party for their debut LP Up From Below,
they raised money to help the Gulu Widows Group of Uganda start a farm
to sustain their community. After the first harvest, they celebrated by
singing the band’s song “Home.”

Like discovering catchy tunes you can swing-with-your-partner to?  Simply subscribe to this blog and we'll email you our latest and greatest music finds.

spreading love & sharing smiles

I'm happy to report that our first 'Share Some Love' project was a huge success thanks to all of YOU!  We had the fun job of distributing your wonderful Valentine cards to 8 different senior assisted living homes in Oakland County.  We chose the homes based on their proximity to our store locations. Each senior at the following homes received 1-2 handmade cards – Sunrise Senior Living in Bloomfield & Rochester, Cambridge North in Clawson, Sanctuary at Alexander & Waltonwood in Royal Oak, Beaumont Nursing Center, Medilodge & St. Anne Meads in Southfield.

Since we had over 1,300 cards to pass out, we only had time to visit with 2 of the homes and the rest were distributed by their activitiy directors.

In addition to our fabulous firefly fans, we had LOTS of great groups bring in Valentines like…

Our Lady Queen of Martyrs 2nd & 4th grade classes, Shrine Grade School,  Berkley Community Church Kids Group,  Conant Elementary, 1st Congregantional Church of Royal Oak Harmony Circle Group, Huntington Woods Christian Preschool, Crafty Women of Oakland Schools,  Bloomin' Kids Preschool,  LOTS of great Girl Scout & Brownie Troops, Alpha Kappa PSI of Oakland University and more.

THANKS * THANKS * THANKS * for taking the time to help us brighten a senior's day.  We couldn't have done it without you!

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our crafty firefly crew

Since love was in the air this February at catching fireflies, we asked our team to show some creativity in crafting a few Valentines too.  I love how they each have their own style.  We included the gals at our Berkley & Rochester stores, and even our design studio & web peeps got in the game.

Thanks guys for crafting up some cute-cute cards.  I know they made a number of seniors smile:)

valentines that guarantee a grin

A HUGE THANKS to all of you who participated in our Share Some Love project.  The final card count totaled over 1,300!  I wish I could share ALL your fantastic card creations, but they came in so fast & furious – I simply didn't have the time.  However, I laughed out loud at a few of these gems created by some very funny & thoughtful kids and had to share them with you.

These hilarious acronym ones came from Miss Adam's & Mrs. Barbusak's Shrine 2nd grade class.  (sorry Adam about the outcome of the super bowl)

I think Molly might have a future in composing greeting cards… and Ethan is surprisingly positive about February 14th considering he doesn't want to get married or like boys & girls kissing;)

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Oakland Press feature 2.7.2010

Boutique collects valentines for local seniors

By SHARON MacDONELL
Special to The Oakland Press

You could call it the Michigan Blues. The two cold, gray months following festive December are pretty dreary for most people.

And
for those who are infirm or lonely, it can be a cheerless time of year.
That’s certainly true for the 90 residents at Sunrise Assisted Living
in Rochester.

“Generally after the holidays, everyone is on a
downer,” said Cecilia Mrock, activities and volunteer coordinator at
Sunrise. “Michigan weather doesn’t help, either. Many of the residents
choose not to go out because of the ice and the snow, so we do less
outdoor trips this time of year. They are more confined.”

That
was all the motivation April McCrumb needed. The owner of the fanciful
Catching Fireflies gift boutiques in Berkley and Rochester dreamed up a
plan to bring needed cheer to local seniors. She’s calling it the
“Share Some Love” project.

“If people like our store, then they
definitely have a creative flair, so I thought it would be neat if they
could make handmade valentine’s cards, and we would collect them and in
return pass them out to some local seniors in assisted living homes,”
McCrumb said.

When customers bring in three handmade cards to either Catching Fireflies location and make a purchase, they receive a gift.

“We’re
giving them a little photo magnet that reads, ‘The heart that gives,
gathers,’ which sort of affirms what they’re doing and thanks them for
taking the time to help us make a difference,” McCrumb said.

The
Berkley store has already received dozens of handmade Valentine’s Day
cards. Some are painstakingly elaborate, with 3-D hearts or photos of
the crafters’ pets. But volunteers don’t have to wield a glue gun to
get involved.

Helen Harding of Berkley opted to download
valentine coloring pages from the Catching Fireflies Web site. Harding
and her two children colored three of the posters and returned them to
the store.

“My mom said that it is for elderly people and I thought it would be nice to do it,” said Harding’s 8-year-old daughter, Haley.

For many who have participated already, it’s about more than getting a prize in return.

“We did not do it for the gift,” Harding said. “I just wanted my kids to be involved in doing something special.”

Haley had her heart in the right place.

“When I gave it to the person at the counter, it made me feel good, giving something that I took my time on,” she said.

McCrumb says this is not the first time her store has brought out the charitable spirit in its customers.

“At
a holiday open house we had last year, if you brought three or more
canned goods, you could pick out any ornament in the store valued at
$9.95 or less,” she said. From that event, Catching Fireflies donated
400 pounds of food to a local food pantry.

“We’re all about
making people’s days brighter and thinking about how we can take that
attitude out beyond our doors and make a difference in our community,”
McCrumb said.

Catching Fireflies is accepting handmade cards at
its two locations through Thursday. Mrock is looking forward to
receiving the cards for the seniors at Sunrise the next day.

“For
our residents, having somebody in the community reach out to them and
brighten up their days with the valentines is really going to be a
great thing,” she said. “I think they’re really going to enjoy it.”

600 valentines & counting!

We are overwhelmed with how many fantastic cards have come through our doors for our 'Share Some Love' project!  I spent my Saturday afternoon sorting through them all and loved seeing all the creativity. Thank YOU * Thank YOU * Thank YOU for taking the time to make these beauties for local seniors.  We have so many Valentines, my next job is to seek out additional senior living communities we can deliver them to! 

Here's a little slide show of a few of the cards that will be bringing smiles to seniors…

We're still collecting cards until Thursday, Feb. 11 if you'd like to join the fun.  Just bring in 3 or more handmade Valentines to our Berkley or Rochester locations and as a thank you, we'll give you a heart photo magnet with any purchase.

Need a little inspiration?  Click HERE for some heart-day clip art and HERE for Valentine coloring sheets.

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