Small Biz Friends

In the land of opportunity and innovation, small businesses stand as the true backbone of America's economic landscape. We fuel local economies and create jobs, forming an integral part of the nation's success story. While big corporations might dominate headlines, it's the small businesses that hold the heart of communities across the country.

We possess the unique ability to adapt swiftly to changing market trends and cater to specific local needs. However, we often face numerous challenges that can hinder their growth. This is where your individual support makes a huge difference. When you shop at a small business, you're not just making a purchase; you're investing in dreams, livelihoods, and local communities.

Supporting small businesses is not merely an act of commerce – it's an act of solidarity. Every dollar spent reverberates through the community, leading to increased job opportunities and a stronger local economy.

In an era where convenience has become synonymous with giant online retailers, choosing to shop small carries significant weight. It's a choice to stand for craftsmanship, personalized service, and sustainability. By patronizing small businesses, you're nurturing entrepreneurship, innovation, and the American dream.

Small businesses are the unsung heroes of America's economic fabric. So, the next time you're considering a purchase, remember the profound impact you have when you shop small – it's an investment in the very essence of America's success.

So as you are looking for gifts to celebrate special moments please check out the unique gift offerings from my talented small biz friends. Their creativity and passion shine through every product.

I want to introduce you to my friend Deb Long of Tortoiseshell Farms! Deb is based out of Glendale, Arizona and she started her business when family skincare issues reared their ugly head. This is the reason why she offers natural body products made without harsh chemicals or synthetic fragrances. Deb offers handcrafted artisan soaps and hair care products that are pure, natural and better.  I’ve gotten to know her a bit and I think you’ll love her and her products too. 

Deb opened her online store Tortoiseshell Farms in 2020, offering natural body products made for people that want softer smoother skin without having any toxic and harmful chemicals added.  Tortoiseshell Farms offers body custard, shampoo bars, velvety lotions and more!  I also love the fact that it is cruelty-free and that is something that means a lot to me. 

More about Deb: https://www.tortoiseshellfarms.com/about

Check out Deb’s store Tortoiseshell Farms and she’ll be happy that you stopped by! Take advantage of the coupon code - Collab30 - for 30% off your entire order!

Celebrate Father's Day by Shopping Small: Discover Unique Gifts

Father's Day is just around the corner, and what better way to show appreciation for the dads in our lives than by shopping small and supporting local businesses? This year let's break away from the ordinary and surprise our dads with unique gifts. These amazing shops offer an array of products that will make Father's Day truly memorable.

Little Black Box: Treat your dad to a deliciously unique and guilt-free gift this Father's Day with our Small Batch Low Sugar Artisan Preserves, featuring our Blackberry Vanilla Bourbon Jam! Handcrafted with care, this jam is made in small batches to ensure the highest quality and flavor. Our recipe combines plump, juicy blackberries with the rich notes of vanilla and a touch of bourbon, creating a delightful spread that Dad will savor. What makes it even better is that our preserves are low in sugar, allowing Dad to indulge without any guilt. Whether he spreads it on toast, pancakes, or pairs it with his favorite cheese, our Blackberry Vanilla Bourbon Jam will add a touch of luxury to his breakfast or snack time. Show your appreciation for the best dad in the world by giving him a jar of our Small Batch Low Sugar Artisan Preserves this Father's Day! Instagram @littleblackbox

Wildside Dog Gear: Discover the perfect dog dad gift featuring our top picks for the cool dog dads + grandpaw tumbler. Shop the stylish and functional stainless steel tumbler designed specifically for cool dog dads and grand paws. With its trendy paw print design and the words "Cool Dog Dad" prominently displayed, this tumbler is a must-have accessory for any proud dog dad. Show your appreciation for the special dog dad in your life with this unique gift that combines style and functionality. Explore their selection of dog dad gifts and find the perfect tumbler that celebrates their love for their furry friends. Shop now and make the dog dad in your life feel extra special! Use code dogdad to save 10%. Instagram @wildsidedoggear

Cameron James for Men: Treat your dad to the ultimate grooming experience this Father's Day with incredible Beard Oil. Specially formulated to address all beard care needs, this versatile product works wonders to smooth and soften the beard, nourish the skin beneath, prevent dryness and split ends, tame flyaway hair and even promote healthy beard growth. Give the gift of a well-groomed and luscious beard with premium Beard Oil. Show him how much you care by adding this essential grooming product to his daily routine. Instagram @handmadenaturalbeauty_boutique

Ripley and Rue: Celebrate love and inclusivity with a Dog Dad Pride Hat! This vibrant accessory features the iconic rainbow pride flag colors and an embroidered "Dog Dad" logo. It's a stylish and meaningful way to show your support for the LGBTQ+ community and your furry friend. With an adjustable strap, it offers a comfortable fit for all. Spread love and equality one wag at a time. Instagram @ripleyandrue

Designed by Stacey: Leather and Lava Rock Bracelet is the perfect choice for dad. This edgy and cool bracelet combines genuine leather and lava rocks for a distinctive look. Handcrafted in America by skilled artisans, it's a symbol of quality and style. $1 from each purchase is donated to the MidAmerica Service Dogs' Foundation. Surprise your dad with this meaningful accessory that supports a great cause. Order now and make this Father's Day one to remember. Instagram @designedbystacey 

All Tails Wag: Celebrate your dad's love for his furry friend with our customizable Personal Dog Dad Mug. This heartfelt gift allows you to add a personal touch by featuring a photo of his beloved dog and the phrase "Dog Dad" in a stylish design. Every sip of his favorite beverage will be a reminder of the special bond they share. Crafted with high-quality materials, this durable mug is both microwave and dishwasher safe for convenience. Treat your dog dad to a thoughtful and personalized gift that will warm his heart and make him smile every day. Perfect for Father's Day or any occasion that calls for a unique and meaningful present. Instagram @alltailswag

Wag City Clothing: Make your dog dad stand out in style with our Dog Dad Hat. This trendy and comfortable hat features a sleek design with the embroidered words "Dog Dad" that proudly showcases his love for his four-legged companion. Made from high-quality materials, this hat is not only fashionable but also durable for everyday wear. The adjustable strap ensures a perfect fit, while the breathable fabric keeps him cool and protected from the sun during outdoor adventures. Whether he's walking his pup in the park or simply running errands, this hat is the perfect accessory to complete his dog dad look. Surprise him with this thoughtful and practical gift that he'll proudly wear wherever he goes. Ideal for Father's Day or any occasion to celebrate his unconditional love for his furry friend. Instagram @wagcityclothing

DDR BBQ Supply: Elevate your dad's grilling game this Father's Day with customized tongs. Add his name or a special message, adding a personal touch to his outdoor cooking experience. Made from durable stainless steel, these tongs are built to withstand high temperatures and provide a secure grip on all types of food. Whether he's flipping burgers, turning steaks, or handling delicate vegetables, these tongs will be his go-to tool. Explore other fun BBQ essentials from hats, drinkware and rubs that will complete his BBQ arsenal. With a wide range of personalized BBQ gear, you can create a truly unique and memorable gift for the grill master in your life. This Father's Day, give him a gift that combines his love for grilling with a heartfelt message. Instagram @ddrfabour

Wagged Tails: Make your dog dad's style paw-some with our Custom Dog Shirt. This unique and personalized shirt allows him to showcase his love for his furry friend in a fun and fashionable way. With the option to customize the shirt with his dog's picture, it becomes a truly one-of-a-kind gift that he'll cherish. Made from soft and comfortable fabric, this shirt offers a relaxed fit that is perfect for casual outings or lounging around with his pup. It's not just a shirt, but a statement piece that reflects his special bond with his canine companion. Whether he's out for a walk, running errands, or simply spending quality time with his furry friend, this custom dog shirt will make him feel extra proud and connected to his beloved pet. Surprise him with this heartfelt gift that celebrates his role as a dog dad and creates lasting memories. Perfect for Father's Day, birthdays, or any occasion to show appreciation for his unconditional love and care. Instagram @waggedtails

This Father's Day, let's celebrate our dads by supporting local businesses and shopping small with a diverse range of unique and gifts that will make this occasion truly memorable. By choosing these small businesses, you not only find extraordinary gifts but also contribute to the growth and success of local communities. So, go ahead and explore the wonderful selection of products and make this Father's Day a truly exceptional one for your dad.

THREE THINGS

Someone recently asked me for some of my favorite places to shop in Jacksonville and I was kind of stumped. Not because I don’t have favorite places to shop in Jax but I never really thought about putting together a list of places for someone to go! So I decided that I am going to write a few posts about some of my favorite places to shop some are online stores and some you get to walk into and shop in person so even if you don’t live in Jax you still have a chance to shop small and support small business.

Grater Goods in Murray Hills has all the cheese. Believe it or not it’s the only independently owned cheese shop in Jacksonville with a focus on American made cheeses and supporting small producers throughout the states. Yes they offer samples and pairing suggestions and an added perk is that right next door is Bernie’s Wine Stop, and independently owned purveyor of fine wines. Two birds, one stone.

Shop Kelly Geer- not a brick and mortar Jax business but her jewelry is fabulous, reasonably priced and she ships quick. If you follow her on Instagram or Facebook she also posts some lovely soothing videos of our beaches and her travels. Valentines day is right around the corner and check out the heart hoop earrings, I love them!

Shop Temporium in San Marco has so many vendors and so much vintage! Temporium also branches out into other items as well, it’s a fantastic shop filled with Vintage Curiosities, handmade gifts and specialty goods.

A History of Jam

        Making jam has become a wildly popular pursuit across the US with the recent pandemic, such that there’s actually a nationwide shortage of jars! There’s an undeniable pleasure in canning, and it can be seen throughout history. In this post, we’re going to talk about how you can trace that exact interest through history and how great that really is.

        For a long, long time (think in the millions of years), people have been preserving food. Generally speaking, early preserving methods revolved around separating a food product from water and air. This meant that products were often salted and dried, or even coated in honey (which forms a barrier against the elements).

        In ancient Greece, quince was mixed with honey, dried, and packed into jars. The Romans improved upon this method by cooking the quince and honey together, thereby producing a meld of the ingredients. If you’re up to date on how preserves are made, you’ll see the bones of the style starting to emerge here.

        Generally speaking, the first jams and preserves are accredited to cooks in the Middle East at some point before the eleventh century - it’s hard to pin down an exact time frame. These preserves used honey as their sweetener, though sugar quickly surpassed honey in popularity for making jams. From that point onwards, you can essentially follow the spread of sugar around the world on a map. If a place had sugar and fruit, people would likely combine the two to make a preserve.

        Jam making and preserves came to the US with colonists, who had sampled jam in their home countries. Generally speaking, jams became popular throughout Europe due to the sweet tooth of assorted royal families who could afford the sugar that was required to make them. As sugar became more widespread, poorer people in European cities were able to make jam themselves and took that skill to the US with them.

        As time went on, more and more people made jam in the US. There was ready access to both sugar and fruit, so they made plenty of preserves, along with all other kinds of foodstuffs. The next great advancement in the jam-making world was the process of aseptic canning.

        If you’re used to making jam in your home, then you’ll surely know what that is. Aseptic canning is the process of heating the jam and the can separately, in order to ensure that all surfaces are sterile. This allows the jam that is added to the can to stay sterile and safe to eat for a long time - it is completely shelf-stable.

        When sugar prices soared in the 1970s, companies began to regularly add high-fructose corn syrup to their jams instead of sugar, which was particularly unhealthy. It is only in the fairly recent past that people have gone back to sugar and alternative sweetness, allowing for a great artisan, home-making movement to arise.

        We love jam, and we love that it has such a huge footprint across history - what other foodstuff has remained to prevalent the world over? Well, now that you’re armed with a little more knowledge about the history of jam - happy canning!

10 Ways to Manage Stress While Sheltering at Home

1) Turnoff the news- it’s important to stay informed but it’s also important to not get sucked into the daily toxicity of what’s happening. Our 24hour news cycle means that if we don’t make a conscious effort to keep overwhelming news to a minimum we can be bombarded. Limit TV news to 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at night.

2) Get outside- Exercise and endorphins are both needed these days. Plan a walk in the morning or evening, meditate outside someplace peaceful or just taking a bike ride can do wonders!

3) Clean- The car, the fridge, the bathrooms, the pantry. It’s amazing what you can get done when you aren’t exhausted from work every day. Cleaning also gives focus and when you focus on something it makes it harder for those intrusive thoughts to take hold, We also think cleaning and having a organized environment is a form of self care.

4) Digital detox- limit the time on social media. Not being tied to devices is incredibly freeing and healthy.

5) Books- Set aside time to read. It’s fantastic if you schedule time in your day to actually read a book you can do it by a number of minutes or you can do it by a certain number of pages each day. Audio books count and for a little fun it can even be listening to podcasts.

6) Get creative-You have lots of choices for creativity especially when you’re locked inside. Creativity can be expressed with cooking/baking, games, art or with the kids included. Puzzles are making a resurgence and word finder puzzles can be a great distraction.

7) Make sure you connect with people daily-This one is huge! Not just for you but for other people as well. It’s important to set aside time to connect. Pick a time every night call someone maybe it’s someone that you haven’t spoken to you in a very long time but making that connection especially when you’re not able to physically touch people is vital.

8) Make new habits- It takes 21 days to make a habit so that habit can be any of the things above from walking every day to learning a new skill you have the time right now to learn something new.

9) Eat well-This one is probably my favorite! Now is the time to truly plan what you’re eating and to try and as many nutrient dense foods as possible. You have the time to cook because were staying home. So now is the time to plan a menu each week, shop local farmers as much as you can, is there a CSA that does delivery? A local food market that supports makers and small businesses? Get the grocery shopping done have it delivered if possible to cut contact down or do curbside pick up and plan to eat a nutritious breakfast lunch and dinner.

10) Find the laughter- laughter is still out there and in these trying times there are lots of places for you to find it. Watch something funny at the end the night. Humorous reruns of old movies or old sitcom’s are in my cue right now, just make sure that every day you find the laughter because it’s needed now more than ever.

2020

Seems like every January I write a post full of all the things I want the year to be. Travel more, travel less. Grow the business in one way or another all the metrics I may be focused on or not and as the year unfolds so does my plan. I have a lot, A LOT of shows on the horizon. Travel planned from Florida to New Jersey and with that a very aggressive schedule in the kitchen of making. Of course lots of plans for revamping my event booth because lets face it, the booth is never really done. I think this year I need to step back, just a little and make fewer flavors but a lot more of them and just work to bring my top ten to market consistently…maybe top eight with two seasonal favorites each quarter. I don’t know what 2020 will bring but I am hard at work making it happen and mapping out how sweet it will be.

Jam Life

It’s a little bit of chaos, but organized. Usually the day starts around 6:00. Mostly because I don’t sleep and often because my dogs need to go out. I also like to check email accounts, validate orders and if I planned well on Sunday there is food for breakfast Monday. Often I get out the house by 7:30 headed to the shop or off to get supplies. I spend a lot of time in my car…. No I mean A LOT of time. I break the days up because I have deliveries to make, jam to make, baked goods to prep, new accounts to on-board and established customers to follow up with. That is what this jam life requires. I work 6-7 days a week, turning it off is almost impossible but there are those days when I can and they are fantastic. Part of 2019 has to be about balance but that can start in February because right now it’s almost show season so my days are spent working on inventory to bring to the newest Jam Fans I meet,