Top Drawer Trade Show

It’s all go at the moment in the office with Jane and myself getting ready for Top Drawer, just to add, the first trade show we have ever done, no pressure…! 

Jane and John left shortly after 10:30, not quite the 9am they were planning! Everything all prepped and boxed up in the van, how much easier it is planning for Top Drawer rather than the Spirit of Christmas, no stock needed, one of each product, and then just the two of us. 

The first of the pictures I started receiving from Jane, it definitely didn’t look like much when I received this…

Getting there… It’s easy from where I’m sat, at my desk at HQ!

Nearly there…don’t think I’ll mention it sloping along the top!

Think they both deserve the next picture I received…

and it’s complete, rather impressed for the first show this year hopefully many more to come. 

Sunday morning I catch the train up to get ready for the next three days, meeting new potential customers, putting names to faces and looking for new products ourselves. Doesn’t sound like we are going to stop. It is a great show to network with people and really make the most of new products we have available.

Staying in London really adds to the show as I get to catch up with friends that live there, it is so different to where I live, we can actually socialise after 9pm and there are bars and restaurants open! It really makes you feel refreshed for the next day, or not! 

Breaking down after the show is something I have never done before, so I will describe it in one word…easypeasy, not quite one word but so much easier than the Spirit of Christmas breakdown!

Again we have managed to bump into our Spirit of Christmas friends and have brief catch ups before we must all head home, back to HQ’s and to crack on with the workload we have brought back!

-Shannon 

BIRTHDAY!

The Jonny's Sister Valentine's Menu

Valentine’s Day….going out?? Staying in??

I feel totally embarrassed to admitting that I was one of those girls who was proposed to on Valentine’s Day. OK it is now out in the open and I am already feeling better!

There is one night in the whole year that I hate, and I mean really hate, going to a restaurant on and that is February 14^th. I don’t know what gets into some restaurants but they just don’t seem to get it right, in fact some manage to get it incredibly wrong. From heart balloons tied to the back of your chair (yes it is true and I have sat on one once), to the dreaded so called romantic piped muzak being played throughout the dimly lit evening. They cram in as many tables à deux as they can possibly can which means that no matter how quiet you mutter sweeting nothings to each other the next door couple hear the whole lot. Then there is the food & drink from the set ‘Love Menu’. From the tepid and barely fizzing fizz with a mushy strawberry at the bottom of the glass to heart shaped food that follows. I can happily eat a heart shaped asparagus mousse but heart shaped potatoes, vegetables and salmon en croute is a step too far for me. Then of course you have the man that has been planning his move for months.  He is so in love with the beautiful woman opposite that he loses all sense of inhibition, grabs the wilting red carnation from the vase, leaps from the table and falls on one knee (which forces his outstretched leg to go under neighbouring table). The restaurant goes quiet, the tension mounts, everyone has their fork halfway between the plate and their mouth as they wait for girl to answer…..

Check out what we think the best staying in meal will be...

Mediterranean Fig & Mozzarella 

Salad 

Source: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1511721/mediterranean-fig-and-mozzarella-salad

Crab & Salmon Fishcakes With Homemade Tartare Sauce 

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/crabsalmonanddillfis_93618

Salted Caramel Choc Pots         

Source: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1912638/salted-caramel-choc-pots

H e l l o !

Ooh hello there! Welcome to our very first blog post (hopefully the first of many)! We just thought that we should introduce ourselves so that you can get to know us a little better. We are an online company based in Somerset, specialising in luxury, bespoke, personalised gifts. If you're looking for something a little different or are trying to find an extra special gift without breaking the bank then you've come to the right place! Our products are handmade here in the South West by our very talented team of local crafts men and women. 

Why not come and check us out at www.jonnyssister.co.uk ?

Jonny's Sister HQ, Closworth, Somerset