Carol Bell

• Every year the Contents Interiors Holiday party is an enjoyable and entertaining event. From a Toga party, to Flamenco Dancing, the staff certainly enjoys letting it out. With Gilligans Island as our theme this year, the costumes ranged from cutoffs to evening gowns. Tamara was inspired to create her own “Gilligan” drink, which she is shares with you now.

• Gilligan’s Punch

1 part Dark rum

1 part Banana Liqueur

2 parts Coco Lopez

2 parts Pineapple Juice

2 parts orange juice

Blend together serve chilled over ice.

Carol Bell

• Tamara and I just returned from the annual Contemporary Design Group conference in San Diego. What a wonderful opportunity for us to spend 5 days with retailers from across the country and with many vendors that are there to support our group and learn how they can help our stores. We all meet the first couple of days and we had a fabulous speaker in Jeff Hiller, president of the Sustainable Furniture Council. He presented such valuable information; both the vendors and the retailers were taking notes as fast as we could write. (He’s a very fast talker.)

• The “Green” movement is growing exponentially. More and more people are concerned about their planet and even closer to home, their families’ health. Tamara and I are committed to continue taking steps to carry furniture products from companies that have a great “Green” story and doing what we can to run Contents Interiors in a manner that keeps the environment in mind.

• The last three days are spent just with our retailer friends. We share all kinds of information including advertising, marketing, merchandising, and operations. It’s inspirational to see what great things small business owners are doing in this economic environment. Sarah Paxton from La Difference in Richmond Virginia is trying to teach me the importance of social networking. She has her blog posted before we even leave San Diego. Please enjoy Sarah’s take on the conference.

• Finally, the group let’s off a little steam with a wild night of bowling. Tamara was able to capture some candid shoots. What will we possibly do