An unusual birthday gift

All my friends know that they will get either beer, a bottle of wine or flowers I found on the way to see them. It worked for a while, but now it seems to be just too expected. Looking for a unique birthday gifts can take a lot of time. Today I went looking for my best buddy which should be easy. I know exactly what he will like so it should have been very easy. I ended up just going to a big box store and buying a gift card. They used to have small cool wooden crate type things to put the gift card in but not anymore. So that was alright but really mundane. Last Saturday my wife was out of town and asked me to go out and get items to put in a basket for her cousin who was bringing her daughter to Colorado to start college. My wife emailed me a list of all the wares to buy for the basket so I went to find it. She puts in mostly Colorado products like chocolates, potato chips, salsa, tortilla chips, nuts, Colorado water, tea, espresso, beef jerky, cheese, crackers, and honey sticks. First I could not find a basket in the supermarket and only a few of the products. I finally quit because it was taking forever to look and be sure I had Colorado made foods. My neighbor was also shopping and I shared my frustration when she suggested just going to our business district and going into the major kitchen specialty shop and having them help me. I did that and it was helpful but I was shocked at how much it expense, including the basket. They offered to help me put it all together in the basket and put on a nice big bow. It looked great and my wife was not shocked at the cost of buying the things there. She goes to 7 or 8 different places to buy all the items and helps save about twenty dollars. Now that is just way too much work. An easier way is just to go online and find a gift basket shop that will do it and deliver it. My wife and I argued over the expense, so to demonstrate my point I found a several of baskets at Baskets by Rita which is a Colorado based company. They have a Colorado wooden crate that is cooler than typical baskets. Even after the delivery cost, it turned out it was cheaper than us doing it ourselves. So getting back to the birthday gift idea I saw the crate and decided to order one and have it delivered to my house so I could see how it looked. It came and was great. My wife and I concluded that they do a much more professional job of putting it together and it looks amazing. Plus it turned out to be less expensive than doing it ourselves. They have a great selection so that is my plan from now on when buying Beer Birthday Gift Baskets. http://www.basketsbyrita.com

Ideas to improve corporate productivity

Today's article features tips reaped from a few companies about how to raise morale and not destroy great employees. Striving to keep the workplace positive should be of major concern to CEOs and bosses. Losing money and time is a huge concern. If workers are happy and like to come to work production rises. If they feel that they are part of the team and that they are respected they become engaged to the company. Factory made thank yous and predictable pats on the back even heightens and the common bonuses or gifts or treats reduce their impact after awhile. In fact employees begin to bank on expected gratitudes and gifts and treats. If you provide donuts every Friday it becomes the norm and just a natural part of the work schedule. If you supply a gift card for every 10 sales it becomes expected and if you miss one you will get frustration instead of thanks for the gift cards you gave. Remember the movie with Chevy Chase in the Christmas movie where he counts on the yearly bonus from work and when it is not given one year the manager becomes the bad guy in everyone's eyes. In the movie and in real life people just expect the bonus, money gift, turkey, whatever is the norm every year. Often they order merchandise or spend the money before it even comes in. For that reason corporations need to be very careful not to do the same thing week after week or month after month or year after year. Food treats should not be the same because they become predicted and actually become rather dull. Some would say that money is always the best way to go because everyone can spend it however they want. True, but it also can get repetitive. If you toss out a dollar at the weekly meeting one week for something, the next week you get a gourmet coffee cart. If you give a grocery card for Christmas one year you need to send a gourmet gift basket the next year. If you provide lunch a day one month you need to do something diverse the next month. Most executives feel that this type of talent is not a part of their positions and it is not important. Morale boosters are very important. Creative gift giving are the most effective way to say thanks for a job well done and to encourage hard work in the future. Most of the time companies use administrative assistants to find ideas and put together the thank you. For women bouquets and spa packages and gift cards work. For men beer tubs, hardware/home improvement gift cards are great. Restaurant gift certificates are good too. You just have to get ingenious. Corporate Gifts or Company gifts can be frustrating when you are including a lot of people in one office--it could be a gesture of encouragement or a thank you gift to a whole office or company. You either have food delivered or if you are worried about food spoilage send a big corporate gift basket with various items. My company has put the burden on me, the administrative assistant, to come up with two new creative ideas each month to spend only $300 on the 20 employees. They said I need to find gifts of appreciation to include everyone. I am looking for new creative ideas for next month but this month we have seen a huge difference in positive attitude around the office after my two appreciation gifts were done. The first was for each employee to find one dollar bills in various places during a week. This last week to thank them for their efforts, we had a large Nuts and Snack Gift Basket arrive to overpower the snack table. After hearing workers talking about the Aurora movie theatre shooting victims, we chose an Aurora gift basket company, Baskets by Rita and we were not disappointed. So remember to thank your employees and show appreciation for a job well done and to encourage hard work.

A Token of Appreciation

 It is tough to acquire unusual and sincere and special ways of saying thank you to someone you value or endorse. To pay tribute to their abilities and work by commending them for support. You want them to know of your appreciation what they have done for you or for others or for the company. To recognize that is the first step. To let the person realize you sincerely and truly appreciate them and acknowledge them is very important. Giving thanks is not just for Thanksgiving anymore. You must offer and endorse the behaviors you want to see continue. So the first stage is to be aware of showing appreciation and acknowledging it. That does not mean going overboard all the time and having to give lots of gifts or money for every little thing. Studies have found that people respond to acknowledgements of even the tiniest kind such as a nod or look of endorsement or an real pat on the back. Even a smile and a look of facial gratitute can be ways of endorsing self esteem and showing you want and recognize what has been done or said. These words of appreciation and commendation show tribute to the person and show that you value them. Saying thank you works. Now if you overdo it for every little thing it thanks and appreciation lose their value. It has to fit your personal way and must be genuine. Sincere gratitude and the word here is sincere is enormous. For a business praise of any kind is good but eventually and periodically you need to put your money where your mouth is and hand something as appreciation of services and recognition of gratitute. That token of appreciation could be money such as a raise or cash with a thank you note. And you have to mix it up a little bit too. If you know the person shops at a certain store or enjoys a particular coffee house or restaurant you could give gift certificates. They are always appreciated. This works if you also do not want to make a big deal or applaud out loud for everyone to see or hear. Sometimes you do and you want others to step up so they too will get those monetary awards. So the looks, the thank you words, the notes and the infrequent gift cards work. If you feel you want something with more of a wow factor then consider an genuine gift that wows. The problem with money or gift cards is that they are definitely appreciated but have an exact value and the amount given one employee can be perceived by others as a rating scale by what they get. My business has small gift cards that are consistent for certain things then we started going to get plaques engraved and people displayed them for a while but are now gone and seem to be old hat to everyone. The secretaries said it is taking too much effort to go out and shop for these prizes and that employees compare how much we spend on one compared to another. One of our secretaries found an Aurora based gift basket company that she now calls and has a gift basket or pail made up and delivered to us. It is so easy. Sometimes she just orders one of the baskets online from Baskets by Rita and tells them what to put on the card. More often recently she has been writing a note on the order or even calling and asking that the basket be original. She just gives the price we want to pay and they put together a different gift basket crate box or pail every time. That way employees have no idea what amount we spent and theirs is unique. It is awesome way to say, "Thank You!- A Thank You Gift Basket." http://www.basketsbyrita.com

Off to College

 Impossible to believe that school is almost starting since August has already arrived. Summer goes quick. Youngsters are back in school and for me it is hardest to say goodbye to the kids who are my family who are going back to college. It was so cool to see them all summer and now some are packing up getting ready to go to college. Most of the kids I know go to Colorado State University in Fort Collins or Colorado University in Boulder. Two are going to Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Actually there are two of my cousins kids who are coming to schools in Colorado. My neighbor is making up little gift bags for each kid with cookies and goodies from the supermarket to assist get them stocked up for dorm life. She has bought chips, dip, candy, nuts, and snacks and put them into a bucket. They turned out quite cute. When I asked her how much it cost she said she had no idea. I had a tough time finding a bucket and filling it with stuff to look good. It just did not look like enough. Then I started adding up the cost because I knew I needed to go purchase more stuff to make it look good. I just that wow factor for college students when they get to school. I know they may be a touch homesick and this is the best thing I can do for them and probably more for their parents. Shoving the things in the bucket is alright and it gets the task done. After making two of the buckets friend suggested I check out Birthday Gift Baskets. She shared with me this after she was amazed at how much I had spent on each gift. Her firm uses Baskets by Rita for all the gift baskets they send to visiting clients. There are trendy wooden crates with mountains and the word Colorado on them packed with products from Colorado. After checking out the website of Baskets by Rita I do not dare tell my hubby that I actually could have sent a Colorado crate for the same price or even cheaper than I spent on my own. http://www.basketsbyrita.com

Baskets By Rita, a Colorado Gift Basket Company, Celebrates its 20th Anniversary

Ten years after being laid off from Agilent Technologies, Marge Van Woerkom and her business, Baskets By Rita, are still going strong. As a previous Reporter Herald article outlined, Van Woerkom was one of many Loveland residents who found themselves unemployed in 2002 when HP and Agilent downsized. After 19 years of working for HP and Agilent, Van Woerkom refused to be a victim of her situation. She pulled herself together after the lay off and bought an existing business in Aurora, Colorado. She chose not to change the company's existing name, Baskets By Rita, which already had a strong reputation in the Denver metro area and this choice has served her well. "We've built our business on the philosophy that the customer come first" says Van Woerkom.

Since Van Woerkom took ownership of the company, she has managed to grow sales despite the economic recession of the past few years. In addition, she has grown the company's clientele and web presence year over year with the help of her staff and dedicated members of her family. As a sign of its ongoing growth, Baskets By Rita began plans several months ago to create a sister company, Gift Agent. Gift Agent will offer customers a slightly more specialized product line packaged in specialty boxes which will allow the company to be more eco-friendly and create more of a recognized brand identity. The hope is that receiving a gift from Gift Agent will be comparable in recipients' minds to receiving a box of Godiva chocolates. While Gift Agent gives cause for much excitement at Baskets By Rita, that is not the only exciting news for the company.

This year, Baskets By Rita is celebrating it's 20th year of business. While many other gift basket companies have gone out of business, Van Woerkom and her staff have managed to maintain steady growth despite the public's growing need to economize. To show their gratitude for the continued support of their customers and celebrate their 20 years of success, Baskets By Rita has planned a series of sales promotions for each month of the year. These promotions include deals such as 15% off when you spend $50 or more and a gift of a free basket for the winner of a video commercial contest. For every dollar saved by their customers through these ongoing promotions, Baskets By Rita will donate a dollar to a local charity. Each month, the company will choose two local charities to support and they will match the savings of their customers to determine the donation amount. The best part of this campaign is that customers are encouraged to vote for their favorite charities so that everyone can be involved. As a local business, Baskets By Rita does its best to support local programs and Van Woerkom is excited to have an excuse to give back even more than her usual holiday charitable donations. Like us on Facebook and vote for your local charity. When doing so we will send you a coupon code for 20% off your next purchase.

Filled Easter Bunny Baskets

Have you ever pondered where the legend of the Easter Bunny comes from? I mean really, do the Easter Bunny and eggs really say anything about Jesus' resurrection? The reply is no. The tradition of the Easter Bunny goes all the way back to the 13th century and originates from pre-Christian Germany. The pagan people of the time worshipped several gods and goddesses. The goddess of spring and rebirth was called Eostra, which is where the word Easter came from. In most cultures, spring is the season of new birth. Because of this, Eostra's emblem was the rabbit. The rabbit signified rebirth due to the fact that rabbits are well renowned for their excessive rate of breeding. Over time, this representation of Eostra result in other myths and in the 1500s, the very first fable of the Easter Bunny was recorded. Now since you know where the bunny originates from you are probably curious about the origin of the eggs. Eggs have been a symbolic representation of fertility for ages and were likely integrated in early pagan celebrations of spring. As Christianity became more widespread in Europe and in Germany, previous pagan customs began to unite with new Christian holidays. Currently, we say that Easter eggs represent Jesus' resurrection. Over time the Easter Bunny legend developed even further and grew to be what we know it as today. Comparable to the folklore of Santa Clause, parents in Germany would say to their children that if they were good the Easter Bunny would arrive and bring eggs that they could trade for candy and other goodies. The tradition developed of creating nests for the eggs which eventually morphed into the vivid colored Easter baskets which we have these days. The myth of the Easter Bunny first came to the USA in the 1700s when German immigrants came to Pennsylvania. Nowadays, this Easter tradition is a widespread aspect of our culture along with dozens of other traditions which come from the homes of our immigrant ancestors. If you'd like to play at the Easter Bunny this spring, purchase a basket such as our Filled Easter Baskets Boys for somebody you love. Baskets By Rita offers quite a few Easter baskets to consider and is providing 10% off all Easter gift baskets for the whole month of March. Filled Easter Baskets for boys are a great choice for your special children on Easter. This traditional Easter basket a bug themed coloring and activity book with 4 crayons, plastic Easter eggs filled with candy, M & Ms, Skittles candy, Crayon tube filled with chocolate covered sunflower seeds yes, the tip really writes, Disney fun straw, Jelly Belly sour jelly beans, Gold Fish crackers, Plush Easter bunny, toy bug, Hot Wheels car, small chocolate bunny, mini soccer ball, sports themed rubber ducky, and squirt gun. All great things that kids love. http://www.basketsbyrita.com

Sugar and Spice, My Holiday Vice

Is it just me, or are Americans infatuated with holiday flavors? Take pumpkin spice for example. Towards the end of summer coffee houses add to the menu their pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin cheesecake can be found on the dessert offerings at eateries, and full bodied beers are found on tap and in liquor stores. I suppose there is something about these flavors that moves us into the holiday mindset. Other flavors that become more common are apple, caramel, cinnamon, peppermint, and gingerbread, just to name a few. Perhaps there is something unique about saving these full, pleasant tastes for this season. It offers us something to look forward to as it gets colder and we start to spend more time at home. Have you ever considered where these flavors came from? Take cinnamon for instance... Cinnamon originally comes from Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon and can be traced back to 2800 B.C. Over the course of history, this spice was so highly cherished that wars have been waged over it! Used as a form of money, medicine, for embalming (strange, eh?), and an aphrodisiac, cinnamon has been valued throughout the earth all through human history. There's something for you to ponder the next time you bite into a cinnamon roll! At the start of each holiday season I cannot wait to mow down on some seasonal treats for instance a peppermint mocha (though I prefer mine with white chocolate) or a bite of apple crumble. Another one of my favorites is gingerbread cake with cream cheese frosting. Yummy! I'm getting hungry just thinking about this! What if this winter holiday you could bring someone the ideal gift of every one of these flavors? If you have in mind someone who is in need of a little holiday cheer, mail them a Holiday Bath Gift Basket from Baskets By Rita. A perfect gift for that special lady at the holidays. Our red faux leather and sea grass container includes a luxurious bath pillow, Body Eclipse citrus lotion, citrus bath gel, exfoliating body polish, hand lotion, shower gel, scented votive candles and glass holder, a net bath sponge, a foot and nail brush, Spa Essentials peppermint foot and leg gel, and a fragrant sachet. A high quality gift you will be proud to give! She will relax and rejuvenate this busy holiday season. Go easy on yourself this year with your holiday shopping and leave the hard part up to us. While you're at it, why not order a little something for yourself? Ultimately, the holidays are meant to be fun! If you found this blog interesting, why not share it with your friends on Facebook or Twitter? Thanks for the repost!