A tad late I know, but better late than never… Right?
One of my excuses for this being late is that I have been busy reflecting on last year and how much Wren & Rye has grown over the past 12 months, if you’d rather skip the minutiae and read about what we got up to over the entirety of 2019, then head here.
So to start, I want to thank you all for your love and support that I’ve received throughout 2019, we wouldn’t be here in 2020 without all of you. Every sale, like, follow, share, website visit, email sign up etc. means the WORLD to small businesses like us and I can’t thank you all enough!
Enough of the mushy gushy stuff, those of you who have had the pleasure of meeting me in person 🙈, even for a few minutes, will know that’s not my style!... Shake it off, back to business 😂.
Reading… During December I didn’t have all that much time to sleep, never mind read! But I was loving the Dec/Jan copy of Courier magazine that I bagged at the airport (as recommend by Leona from Indie Roller). It’s a great read to pick up and put down - bursting with inspiring stories and information. The magazine reports on modern businesses and startups. Super informative, super interesting. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in business. Throw away any preconceptions of a grey man, with grey hair in a grey suit reading a grey publication about financial forecasts and the price of corn, this is millennial business!
I desperately wanted to read “Twas The Nightshift Before Christmas” - but no such luck, failed festive goals is, unfortunately, a bit of a theme in this blog post, maybe next December. And anyway, it will give me time to read the original first 😂.
Listening… The start of the month brought yet more of the boyfriend’s playlists (let's just say it’s not very upbeat - his mother very much agrees) BUT I did finally crack into the “Buble” lol, a tad too late for my liking - definitely didn’t hit my Christmas song quota for 2019! I found it hard to get into the spirit of Christmas songs until mid-December. I LOVE Christmas and especially Christmas songs, but working so hard on the business made it difficult to feel festive in general, it’s definitely something I’ll need to address next year.
Watching… Not a great deal as I was busy juggling numerous projects and work, BUT I did manage to fit in Elf, Love Actually and Bridget Jones’s Diary. 3 absolute staples of the season. I REALLY wanted to find some time to go to the cinema and watch Last Christmas, but it wasn’t to be. I suppose I’ll have to wait until it hits Netflix or comes out on DVD (does anything come out on DVD anymore?). Not sure whether I’ll fancy watching it in the searing Manchester summer, so it might be something to catch on TV next year.
I did watch the Gavin & Stacey special too, but who in the UK didn’t!
Making… ALL your Christmas orders, stock for the amazing Curated Makers x Paperchase #madelocalpopup and making some serious 2020 plans - watch this space!
Attending… As per usual, I’ve been here there and everywhere in December, but with it being the festive season, most of my travelling has been purely for pleasure!
In a business capacity, I’ve been helping out with the Curated Makers x Paperchase popup and selling Wren & Rye wares at another fantastic Barker’s Brunch event.
I’ll start off the Christmas traditions with my “work’s do” that I have every year with Hannah (Good Vibrations). We both work for ourselves and 4 years ago we decided that we were jealous of everyone going out at Christmas time with work and thought we’d join in! This year we went to see a Wham! tribute act, with food, wine and many many laughs! We had expected the clientele to be a little closer to our age than it was, but it definitely didn’t stop our fun!
Now, I’m sure if you have a partner you will know the challenge that is deciding where to have Christmas dinner. Do you go to your parents’, do you go to your in-law's parents’, do you have it at yours (and if so, do you invite both sets of parents)? I can’t even imagine if you throw divorce into the mix! Fortunately for us, we’ve established a routine - made all the easier because my other half’s parents live in France! We have an early Christmas in France with them over a few days, then we spend the day itself and a few days after at my parents’. And this year was no different. We spent a lovely few days in France enjoying great food, alcohol and company. Not only was it great to see the in-laws, but it was also great to have some distance from the manic work-life that it’s been over the past month!
The lead up to the big day brought more traditions… Shopping for last-minute presents and knock-down prices on Christmas eve - either side of a few ciders in the local, heading over to catch-up with friends over some more drinks, local pubs and video games in the evening, before sleeping at my parents in anticipation of Santa’s visit 😂🎅… It simply wouldn’t be Christmas without it!
A lovely Christmas with the parents, all the dogs in one place (they LOVED their presents as always!), was followed by a trip out to see a little friend on his 2nd (jungle themed) birthday.
Loving… Another month of you all loving our Festive BowDangles - seeing all the pooches donning them on the run-up to Christmas has been SOMETHING ELSE. You were also loving our Pooch & Pooch Parent gift sets! We are so glad we decided to try this concept, we can’t wait to develop it more! 
Also, catching up with people that I haven’t seen in way too long, spending an extended amount of time with my parents and TAKING A BREAK. I needed it.
Low Lights… Simply struggling with the juggle and not taking as much time as I would have liked to do festive things. I managed to do some things, which was good, but I never really felt festive. Next year!
Top Things this December…
1. Getting Shortlisted for Gift of the Year 2020 - sick of hearing about this yet?
2. Hitting some serious business goals!
3. Creating some majorly exciting plans for 2020 - more coming soon!
4. Being featured in the Cheddar & Chester advent calendar - see more here! Do you follow these beauts?
5. CHRISTMAS catch-ups, food and drinks!
Top Things this 2019 (condensed version and in NO order)
1. BowDangles became more than a dream!
2. We were featured in numerous pieces of press over the year!
3. We hit our sales goals!
4. GOTY shortlist (sick of it now?)
5. Making it happen and not giving up!
Wren & Rye Trick, Toy or Treat of the month...
For Christmas, little Wrenby got a “new” baby bear… or as we like to call it Blubsy - and she couldn’t be happier. He doesn’t out-rank baby bear, but I doubt anything ever will!
Ash - Wren & Rye