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Last week I attended the New York gift show. Buyers come from across the country and from around the world to the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan to check out over 2500 exhibitors. The market showcases lines across the home, lifestyle and gift spectrum. It is a great place to see new product introductions from our existing vendors and to find new, fun products. My managers from Caddywampus and Poppins also came along for the experience. Our favorite part of market was meeting the artists and makers. It's so fun to chat with the creative people behind the products in our stores.        . ...

The first buying trip of the year was to the Americas Mart in Atlanta. This market is huge, the showrooms are gorgeous and comfy walking shoes are essential. I found lots of cute new items for Poppins and our sister store, Caddywampus.

I headed to Mackinac to celebrate the new year with my husband Myk. Actually, we were there to work but we still managed to have some fun. There were quite a few people on the Island so we decided to open for a few days. I love the Island in the winter and luckily for us the snow arrived just in time...... it looked magical. Wishing you all the best in 2016. Kate Guests arriving on the Island. Working the shop and preparing for the upcoming inventory. We took several walks in the woods. So peaceful. The view down Main Street. The view...

My husband and I are usually alone on Christmas Day. Gatherings with Myk's family happen before the big day and my family are all overseas. The weather was so good this year we decided to spend the day exploring. I made beef stew in the crock pot so that we would have a hearty meal on our return and packed up a picnic lunch. We grabbed our winter gear and headed out to Empire, MI.  I had always wanted to visit Sleeping Bear Dunes. They were amazing. It felt so good to get some exercise and fresh air. It was...

Poppins closes at the end of October and re-opens in May. Even though the shop is closed we still want to look pretty for the winter months. The display will be up after the holidays so the theme is always winter as opposed to Christmas. This year we decided to be bold and bright! We hope this window will brighten the gloomiest of winter days. We created these colorful frames using colored paper and chicken wire, plaid trees from foam core cardboard and we made it snow with cotton balls on mono filament.