The Indigo Rose

One day when the kids are grown, I'm going to have a little shop called The Indigo Rose. Indigo because it is a BEAUTIFUL color with a BEAUTIFUL name, and Rose because it is my middle name and favorite flower.

I first got the idea when I was reading about how to make rose potpourri, rose oil, rose soap, and rose body lotion (can you tell I like the scent of rose?) It was recommended to me when I was pregnant with Maggie to put essential rose oil on my belly every day, which I did, which may very well have prevented stretch marks. There are lots of health benefits of rose oil. So I started imagining making these rose-scented products, packaging them in pretty paper packages and labeling it "Julie Rose".

The idea blossomed from there. It will be something very similar to "The Shop Around the Corner" owned by Meg Ryan in "You've Got Mail"- small, quaint, cozy, unique. I do hope to sell some children's books there, but only the really really good ones. I envision hardwood floors with cozy rugs; spiced punch and/or coffee perculating in the fall/winter months; a children's play area in the back with board books and blocks; and a hundred different unique gifts that you can't find at Hallmark. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Hallmark. But there will be no Vera Bradley or Yankee Candles or beanie babies at the Indigo Rose. There will be a peculiar cuckoo clock hanging on the wall, and I might even sell cuckoo clocks. I've always wanted one. (Where do you buy cuckoo clocks anyway? I never see them.) The store "Blue Skies" in Chattanooga has a lot of what I'd like to sell. Interesting umbrellas, paper lanterns, pretty handmade quilts, quirky cards and magnets. It will be the coolest store in town. And hopefully I will need glasses by then so I can wear a different color of glasses every day with different designs on them. You know the kind. :)