26 December 2009 Wishing you the very best this holiday season!  I hope you take time to be at home with family and friends, enjoy our warm weather and some outdoor sports during our brief period of light, and do something special for and with those you love. 

 I always take some time during the holidays to reflect on the year and make plans for the future.  I hope you will, too.

8 December 2009 I’m cooking up a storm in the kitchen, making candy and cookies, fudge and brownies, holiday treats for all my sweet friends.  During the day as I watch all of you go by, I think of how I can wrap all my concoctions for my friends to make beautiful presentations.  I love to make folks smile, don’t ‘cha know!

I can pick up many of the things I need right inside the store.  Holiday wrapping paper, beautiful glassware, trays, bento boxes, bowls and mugs.  All of these finds work well for me when I’m giving cookies and hot chocolate, fudge and caramels, and other treats to my friends.  Come on in and find what works for you; our staff is very happy to assist you with your selections.

 20 November 2009 We are blessed to live in Alaska where there is so much wide open wilderness.  It is full and rich with meaning and life.  This morning the alpenglow of the predawn sky was magnificient with the Alaska Range crisp and bold beyond the valley.  Ravens puffed to warm themselves, and the frost and snow shimmered on the trees as light advanced.  I am thankful for all of this and more.  Interior Alaska is one of the most beautiful places I know!

And here at the store there is beauty unfolding all around.  Much of the 2009 holiday collection is inspired by nature.  You’ll want to make a point to come in and see the center table, an elegant yet understated statement of the entire holiday season.  It is awe inspiring and festive and helps to open the heart to thansgiving, love and compassion.  I’ll be looking for you to come by soon!

 12 November 2009 I can’t decide whether to sing or recite Robert Frost.  You know the poem, “Whose woods these are, I think I know…”  I just love feeling the snowflakes on my face and watching the snow mount up beside the road.  Snow signals the beginning of all the wonderful winter sports-skiing, skijoring, mushing-I love them all.  But right now, I want to draw your attention to the inside of the store.  The elves are working until late every night getting ready for this holiday season.  Everyday there is more glitter, shimmer, and sparkle.  So come on by and feast your eyes!  Just stomp the snow off your feet before you come in!

 18 October 2009 Well, here I am, all gussied up in my Halloween outfit!  It’s just now chilly enough to warrant my wool cape.  I’m sqeezing everything I can out of fall, just like you would the last bit of toothpaste in a seemingly empty  toothpaste tube.  I’ve pressed some fall leaves so I can look at them when the ground is white with snow, but mostly I’ve worked with the staff here at the store to bring fall inside.  After all, it’s my most favorite time of year!  The harvest table sings with deep greens, golds and browns.  Plus, the specialty food selection puts a sparkle in my eye and a yummy in my tummy!  It’s soup to nuts-literally!  So get on down, one more squeeeeeeeze to go.  The forecast is for snow on Monday.  You don’t have long.

02 September 2009 Hip, hip hooray!  We just completed an inaugural launch of our newsletter with a selected list of our Super Special customers.  In the future we’ll be adding others of you who have notified us that you want to receive newsletters and updates on store happenings.  So be watching for future correspondence!  And if you’re not on our mailing list, go to the contact us section of the website and sign up.  You’ll be glad you did!

21 August 2009 Frost, and early, too!  But aren’t the days glorious with blue sky and crisp, clear air.  I’ll savor this throughout the winter.  Right now, I’m bummed, and reading my little Haiku book didn’t help. 

The haiku for today is “Golden leaves tremble With the excitement of autumn, Unwilling to fall.”  This piece by David Hoopes reminds me of how sad I am about the closing of New Horizons Gallery at the end of the month.  Jinx Whitaker has served the Fairbanks community for 30 years in a fine way.  The gallery provided a much needed venue for artists and art aficionados alike.   I can’t tell you how many wonderful things I’ve heard on the street as people make their First Friday rounds month after month.  And tourists, too, remark on the opportunity to see and purchase the work of regional artists.  Downtown Fairbanks just won’t be the same without New Horizons Gallery.

3 August 2009 The Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival just completed its 30th season of bringing loads of creativity and joy to the community.  What a remarkable season it was, filled with everything from ice skating, dance, world music and jazz to watercolor, balance, mandolin and creative writing.  We have Jo Scott to thank for founding and directing the festival for all these many years.  And in your 80th year, as you finally head into retirement, we want you to know you’ve done a fabulous job, Jo.  Kudos from Martha and everyone on the staff at If Only!

25 June 2009 What a great party we had downtown on Sunday!  I just love the Midnight Sun Festival.  Lots of people flocking past, dogs on leash, children in strollers, people eating great food and enjoying a street fair atmosphere with all the vendors and entertainment.  Kudos to all the sponsors of the festival, the Downtown Association, and all those who worked hard and participated to make it a fun filled time.  Now I can just relax a bit, enjoy watching my flowers grow, say howdy to the tourists as they come by to visit, and get ready for Golden Days!

Our annual solstice sale was a huge hit.  Thanks to all who came and purchased a bundle of our favorite things at 40% off!  The sun gods smiled on us and kept the rain away for the entire time, even through the midnight baseball game, which the Goldpanners won, don’t cha know!

9 June 2009 Whew, what a whirlwind of days!  First Friday with Laura Moore was a blast.  I was jazzed to see so many folks come out to meet her and look at the fabulous work she does.  Her trunk show featured brand new work in silver as well as a new collection of bronze.  Saturday and Sunday brought more than a dozen people to her workshops.  Folks were intrigued to hunt for Alaskan specimens for molds and use them with silver work. 

I’m putting on my sleep mask for some shut eye here for the next few nights.  While I’m sleeping, my flower gardens are reaching for the stars!  I can see growth every morning.  I’m gearing up for Summer Solstice–get ready for a great party!