upgrade...

i had to clean out the cooler today and of course there was so many leftover "older" flowers that i was given and so my little half dozen bouquet of roses was upgraded to a nice little mix:
and of course, i took what i wanted (some gerberas and tulips) and gave the rest to my mom:side-note: did you know that tulip grow even after you cut them? kind of freaky (and/or cool), eh?the 'rest' of the flowers included some ochids. these always reminds me of the leis you get at airports or hotels.

no actual polaroids today, just faux ones. i've become obsessed with making faux polaroid as of late and want to make all my regular photos into polaroids now. idk, they just look cooler in a polaroid frame. and i mean with the death of real polaroid this year (though i heard a little company might start re-making the film again) this is as good as it gets.

till later.

a rose by any other name...

actual polaroids: v.s.

faux polaroids:

i got my v-day flowers today...three days late but still. i left work with one and a half dozen of these roses (i think these are called 'circus'). i kept 6 and gave the rest to my mom. i think little petey enjoys them as much as i do.

till later.

long days and stargaers...

i've come to the conclusion that stargazer/starfighter lilies are probably my favorite flowers. not only are the beautiful but the smell amazing. (the blue orchids are quiet pretty too, though)

today was the second night in a row that i left work later than usual. as the days get closer to v-day, things just start to pile up and gets busier and busier. hopefully, i make it out of this fake holiday ok, haha.

but getting to take home flowers are always a joy. i usually get to take home a bunch every so often and give them to my mom. but i keep a stem or two in a vase on my night table/self-made stool next to my bed.

lovely.

till later.

little garden, how do I make your flowers grow...

i took this home from work today:

pretty.

till later.

flowers are blowing in the wind...

since i get free flowers every now and then from work, i've been trying new ways to display them. i recently came across this site, emerging thoughts, that had a dyi tutorial on how to make hanging vases using a lightbulb. i'm kind of liking the outcome. however, i don't know if i really like the placement of them. they're hanging from my canopy right now. i think once the flowers die i'm going to see what else i could place in them. for right now though, they're kind of fun.
cue crappy camera phone pictures:


till later.

funerals, $20 tips, and future boyfriends...

sometimes i feel so intrusive when i'm helping a customer with an order. first off, you usually ask what occasion is the order for. then when filling out their order there's a section that ask for the card message and i have to type that out. i don't know, it's really weird when they're standing in front of you relaying their personal message. you have the standard "happy birtday/anniversary," "get well," and "congrats" messages. i've seen/hear some really sweet and cute ones. it's usually the "i'm sorry..." or "sympathy" messages that make me feel really intrusive.

today, i had some customers come in to order funeral flowers. that's not too unusual since funeral orders is a big part of the flower industry and i have taken a few orders in the past. however, the girl that came in was pretty young, around my age, and the flowers were for her boyfriend. i just try to be sensitive and friendly, wanting to make everything as easy as possible. it's a hard thing to go through. we ended up getting more orders for that same service throughout the day. he must have been really loved. everytime i do a funeral order i always remember the flowers at my dad's funeral. i remember how beautiful they were and was surprise to see so many from people.

anyway, i spent most of my time processing flowers. towards the end of the day this guy, fairly young and kind of cute, walks in and i go to help him since the other lady i work with was busy with another customer. he ends up placing an order for a $100 arrangement as well as buying another $45 arrangement. the $100 one was to bring to one of his client's party, which of course made me wonder what he does for a living being able to drop $100 on flowers. the second arrangement was for his mom, how cute it that. anyway, i gave him his total and he ask if he can leave a tip. he ends up leaving a $20 tip. getting tipped for pretty much doing nothing, that's pretty cool. my first ever tip. this guy is now my favorite customer...did i meantion the fact he had tattooed sleeves and i've always been a sucker for guys with tattoos, especially sleeves...though that's gotten me in some trouble in the past.

so after working at a flower shop, i now fear for my future boyfriend because now not only does he have to live up to mr. edward cullen's perfection which includes singing me to sleep, he also has to be artistic, funny, sweet...(the list goes on and on) and having tattooed sleeves is a plus..but now he also needs to buy me flowers every now and then. it's no wonder i'm alone, i'm way too picky, haha. and there's no guy in the world that fits my idea of perfection. really though, i just want a boy who's not a douchebag and will treat me well...though ngl, having him buy me flowers sometimes would be nice too.

till later.

how to make a boutonniere...

today was pretty busy. i spent most of the day making boutonnieres for the homecoming orders. the homecoming dance is tomorrow, don't ask me what high school it is because i have no idea. all i know is that i had a lot of boutonnieres to make. but being at work today was pretty fun. my boss is gone this week and so it was only susan (one of the designers) and laura (she came back to help out) there so it was pretty lax.

anyway, i myself have always been a visual person so i drew out the steps needed to make a boutonniere. it's pretty easy. not too many steps to remember. i haven't drawn anything in a really long time. it felt good. i should really do it more often.

till later.

left me roses by the stairs...

today was "market day," which is when my boss goes and buys flowers for the week. on "market day" i have to process all the flowers a.k.a. clean and re-cut them. today was the first time i had to do it without laura's (the girl i replaced) help. all went fairly well and even somewhat relaxing. i mostly stayed in the back area and sang national product songs in my head while working.

this is just one corner of the cooler. the cooler isn't super huge so it fills up pretty fast.

and this is some of the buckets of roses.

i'm off tomorrow, which is nice. this weekend should be fairly busy since it's one of the high school's homecoming. it's different how big a deal the homecoming dances are here. the students come in to buy corsages and boutonnieres. i never went to any of my high school homecoming dances. but than again, it was just a little school dance held in the gym, nothing fancy. the game was a much more bigger deal. and then there were the rallies. i remember being on the flip-flop team sophomore and senior year, in which we won both times. they didn't have it junior year but i'm sure we would have won that year too. haha, oh high school.

till later.

the perks of being a wallflower...

is a wonderful book but that's beyond the point...the perks to working at a flower shop is getting free flowers. i was actually given the flowers on friday but forgot them in the cooler. i'm glad they are still holding up somewhat well.

gerbera daisies are so pretty.
they come in such fun and pretty colors.

so my main role at the flower shop is shop helper, normally helping out wherever is needed - cleaning, taking order, processing flowers...and as of late, i have learned how to make boutonnieres (high school homecoming) and wrapped bouquets (the bow's the hardest part).

heroes was on tonight. it was the first time since this season started that i was actually able to watch a full episode. usually i'm switching back and fort between heroes and one tree hill, which for some reason was not on tonight. yesterday, i even re-watched the first 3 heroes so far online in their entirety. but i'm glad i got to watch tonight's one in full. i mean come on...sylar a.k.a. gabriel. he's always been my favorite. sure he's "evil" but is it really his fault? haha. he was so sweet with his kid...i did shed a tear when he died. oh and the glasses! love.

love it!!!

it's weird, since i'm re-writing my back entries i feel like i'll be repeating myself at times. oh well. i really need to catch up on it.

till later.

flowers, flowers, & more flowers...

today was my first day at the flower shop. it was also the day that they buy the flowers from the market. and so today was all about processing them. it was a lot of flowers. more names then i can even remember. but hopefully with time i get the hang of it. i had to shadow the girl who's job i'm taking over. she was cool. it's just weird having to follow her around, trying to remember everything. i just hope i can pick up everything quickly when she does leave.

anyway, after work i stopped by the target in the area. the flower shop where i work is actually in a different city then the one i live in. i have to take the highway to get to work. it's kind of like living in kahului and working in kihei. well back to target. i dropped in to check it out and i found this awesome buddha statue for only $2.50. i needed to have. especially since i lost my baby buddha statue i got at goodwill somehow during my move and have missed it ever since. they actually have another buddha statue that i might pick up next time around.

my little religious area.

my our lady of guadalupe candle, love it. my new buddha statue. and a print from my friend brad, which is printed on a page from the bible - the book of genesis - in a frame i spray painted.

wow, looks like i should dust.

speaking of my religious things, here's a scan of my religious rings i got from the coin machine. it was hard to get a good photo of them and the scan's not that much better but sara (probably my only reader) wanted to see them. haha, i put them on the drumstick i got from james.

oh and about that necklace, i got that at target today too. queen of hearts, i couldn't leave it behind.
and it's reversible too.

for a post titled: flowers, flowers, & more flowers this post is seriously lacking some flowers. but after all the flowers i've been around today and probably will be around seeing as i do work in a flower shop now, the title pretty much sums up what will be part of my life for quite some time.

till later.