I have a confession...

I have a bit of a girl crush on Julia Child: Let's face it... Who wouldnt? The woman was a master of French cooking, 6'2"(!), and plucky as all get out!

Alas, Julia Child-- I am not. However, I do enjoy cooking and like to attempt new recipes whenever I can. Luckily we have a very extensive housewares department that includes bakeware and cookware. In additional to our big appliances, we also have some smaller kitchen appliances that help feed my "I wanna be like Julia" habit.

This is what I'm currently lusting after:

introductions

I think it's time to introduce y'all to Mike.

Or as we like to call him-- Millennium Mike. True, he isn't the dream boat that our Franklin Furniture Sales Rep is, but he is one of our other favorite furniture reps. He sells us Ashley's Millennium line that includes some very beautiful, higher end furniture.

While he doesn't bring us chocolate (which is clearly the way to my mother and my hearts) he visits regularly and cares a lot about our customers.

Best of all, St. David likes him. So we know he's okay. ;)

on the first day of christmas...

So Christmas is coming up (according to the Official Santa Clock it's 64 sleeps, 12 hours, 43 minutes and 28 seconds, now 27, 26, 25, 24...) and if you are in no way prepared (like me) you are probably getting a little nervous. What to get for my weird Cousin Mary? or my boyfriend's mother?

I was walking the aisles the other day and I came upon the perfect thing!
This lil' picnic basket has plates, flatware, glasses, lil' napkins and the bag itself is an insulated cooler! It is super cute and at $8.99 it would make a wonderful gift for that special, slightly random person in your life!

trips and savings

Well, this past weekend I got out of town and went to Washington D.C. to visit a bunch of my college friends who live there.

I had a blast, of course! We saw a couple of movies and went to a concert of my most favorite performer. I also took the opportunity of being back in our nation's capital to gorge myself on ethnic food-- sushi, thai, and Gordon Biersch (which of these three does not belong?).

On Saturday my buddy, Kyle, and I went to the Newseum, a new museum in D.C. that focuses on- you guessed it- news!
I cannot recommend it more highly. SO interesting.

Somehow, some way, the store went on without me! ;) We actually had a very special event for some of our friends and family this weekend. To ensure you get on our mailing list for these special savings events, go to our website and sign up for our deal club!

my heritage...

According to wikipedia, which, as you may know, anyone can edit thus is always accurate (cue eye roll) heritage is "something which is inherited from one's ancestors."

As my parents are all too ready to remind me of, I inherited football from my ancestors. More specifically-- I inherited the Green Bay Packers.

How does one inherit football? you might be asking... Well first, my mother is from Milwaukee and my father is from Green Bay. And secondly, it's not the football itself... It is more a maniacal obsession that manifests itself starting in the fall of the year and continues until January.

Honestly... I think I was adopted.

The sight of green and gold does nothing to me other than perhaps cause slight terror and fear. Terror because, gosh, I can think of countless other ways I'd rather be spending my Sunday afternoons or evenings other than glued to a tv set or (even worse-- when the game isn't being shown in Central IL) listening to a scratchy A.M. radio station broadcast the game. Fear because one of these day's my father is going to get so worked up during the game my mother is going to have to use that travel defibrillator she rents during football season.

Anyways, that was kind of a fun rant about my lost childhood, but I have to bring this back around to some merchandise!

Gorgeous! Warm! Stylish jackets emblazoned with the emblem and colors of the mighty Green Bay Packers! Can be yours today for $69.99. Really.

And just in case you thought I had completely turned my back against my "heritage"-- I'm the one on the left:
And the magnificent vista behind my big brother, Gerard, my sister, Claire, and me? Lambeau Field, BABY! and if my mother asks, the beer was keeping us warm!

Smoooooooooooth

My brother complains that I put too many "girly" things on the blog-- candles, pretty sofas, etc. I say FALSE.

But we do have a couple of traditionally "manly" things in this week's ad. We have a bunch of palm sanders, jig saws, hole saws, and orbital sanders for $9.99.

Actually, a girl friend of mine is remodeling her kitchen. So she is going to grab a couple of these babies to make refinishing her cabinets go a little smoother. Get it!?!? Smoother! It's a sander... Oh, never mind.

This bad boy is about HALF the price of a similar bucket you'd get from one of the box stores... Seriously... I googled it.

Multiple colors. Rope handles. Deals are alive and well here at UFS.

Lil' less conversation...

...lil' more action please!

So last Spring, my mother and I headed down to Tupelo, Mississippi (the birthplace of Elvis) for a furniture show. And yes, while we had an inordinate amount of fun checking out the different sofas and making some pretty good deals with a variety of manufacturers... THE BEST PART was on the way home, we stopped in Memphis to visit Graceland.

It was awesome! We got to tour his planes! We saw the house (the man had a white sofa that looked 15 ft. long-- I kid you not!)! We got to see all his awards and pretty, sparkly jump suits!

It was pretty cool (and I'm not like an Elvis groupie type of a person). If you were wondering, my mom is!

In a similar vein of Elvis Awesome-ness, we have these very cool 17" totes. $9.99 WHILE QUANTITIES LAST! I think they're going to go fast...

This gal's got moxie!

And I don't mean just courage... Though I got that... sometimes. I'm talking about our new Franklin stationary set- the Moxie.

I'm sure all four of you that read this blog (my mother, our Webmaster's mother, St. David's wife, and my boyfriend) are asking yourself, "But Gabrielle... I thought Franklin only had motion furniture?"

AHA! NOT SO!
This is the only Franklin stationary set we have on our floor currently (don't get me wrong, there are plenty of sofas and loveseats on the floor from other manufacturers) but it is GORGEOUS! and has turned into one of our top sells (knock on wood I haven't just jinxed us).

How much is that doggie in the window?

It's Halloween, not just for people but for dogs too! We have a wiiiiide selection of doggie Halloween costumes:

Here is poor Sophie, my parents' 5 lb Chihuahua/Yorkie mix dog modeling the glory that is a dressed up doggie (she kept trying to make a break for it!).
And then if you are feeling guilty for stealing your dog's dignity, bring him or her home a nice treat like these GIGANTIC bones. $2.99/each. Really.

Boho Chic

We have some LOVELY scarves for sale at the RIDICULOUS price of $2.99. Ridiculous. They are very soft and come in a variety of colors.
I convinced our Assistant Webmaster Joanna to model some different scarf styles for me. Actually it went more like-- "Joanna come in the office." "Put down your clip board." "Now your notepad." "Take off your name tag."

At which point she responds "Okay, but if you tell me to take my top off I'm OUT OF HERE!" She's very silly.

I call this the Plain Jane, tho you can see Lovely Joanna is anything but plain:

Very simple, yet elegant:

The dramatic closeup:
Nothing but smiles...
She really liked this style, can't you tell?

I don't think she was ready when I snapped this one...

Again... my favorite thing:

WE GOT A NEW LOAD OF BARNWICKS IN! and there are new flavors!

Shhhh! Don't tell Tom and Pierre

But yesterday UFS Webmaster/Resident Photographer, Dan, and I spent some time playing in the Halloween aisles of the main store:
I adore Halloween. Always have. I like to dress up and pretend I'm someone I'm not. I also LOVE being scared-- in a safe way (think Haunted Houses or scary movies... not your big brother standing over your bed with a knife in the middle of the night when you're 10).

Here at UFS we have some really cool Halloween stuff.

Also, as soon as Halloween is over it will be Thanksgiving Time!

Another UFS Looker...

This time it's not a sofa or a hunky furniture sales rep... It's UFS's oldest employee, and by oldest I don't mean he's been with us the longest... I mean the man fought in WWII... Towards the end of it but he was still there.

It's David. St. David to some. This week David turned 80, though he doesn't look (or act) a day over 75, 77 at the latest. If you stop by the furniture store Wednesday afternoon, Thursday afternoon or anytime Saturday, you're likely to be greeted in a usually boisterous and always fun way by David. He's the soul of our store and if I was 50 or 60 years older I'd be giving David's lovely wife, Rosemary, a run for her money.

Happy Birthday David!
We Love You!