{gift list}

Halloween is almost over and already the letters are coming home from school about teacher's gifts. Sigh...yes, the holidays are almost upon us. Time to start those gift lists! Our initial folded notes may be just the ticket for you, and as you can see from the above chart, many people we know will be receiving them. Your choice of design, your choice of initial, $13 per box of ten. A flat shipping fee of $6 per address makes it easy to stock up and have them delivered to your doorstep. And how cute would a box of these be peeking from someone's stocking?

Visit our online retailers PaperConcierge.com and TraylorPapers.com to point, click and buy today!

we're all in this together {part two}

Hello! I promise that our {hostess of the week} feature is coming back soon, but while we're waiting on our friends' photos and answers to arrive in our inbox, I thought another industry discussion might be in order.

My son Charlie is on a swim team. There are about 500 kids on the team, broken into about 10 different levels. Fees for the team and number of practices per week vary by level. At each level, there are some kids who go to every practice and meet they're eligible for, but showing up for a certain number of practices or meets is not mandatory. The kids who go to every practice and meet obviously get more of the coaches' time, even though they don't pay any more in fees than the other kids do. In this sense, the kids who go less often are underwriting some of the costs associated with the kids who go more often. The brilliance of this set up is that it ensures that whether 3 kids or 30 show up, the lights are on and a coach is present at every practice, and each swimmer can get out of the team as much as they're willing to put into it.

And what does this have to do with the stationery industry, you ask? Well, manufacturers are like the swim team. We need to keep "the lights on and a coach present" so that our retailers have products to sell. Unlike the swim team, however, we can't assess a fee for each retailer we have but instead have to rely upon actual sales. And if retailers across the board are selling less, and sometimes paying later, then how do we keep the proverbial lights on?

We've been talking to a lot of our industry friends as well as entrepreneurs outside of the industry, and the short answer to this question is: get creative. hen and barley press has launched a Trunk Show in A Box concept for the holidays to appeal to retailers who are stepping outside their shops and exhibiting at shopping events like Junior League shows, etc. We've launched virtual albums that allow any retailer to access and sell our personalized products. We've launched a small retail website and partnered with some local not for profits to have them sell our products to help them (and us) raise funds via the site.

All of these things are TOTALLY different from how we would have approached our business just a year ago. None of them are meant to take business from or undermine our retailers in any way. In fact, all of the ideas have one goal: keep the lights on and a coach present so we can continue to sell our products to our retailers. It's that simple. And I would imagine that manufacturers and retailers have this goal in common. For manufacturers and retailers alike to achieve this goal, and come out of this shaky recovery stronger, we all need to get creative. If you're part of this industry, ask yourself how you are addressing the realities (and realities is an important word) of: changing buying habits, both wholesale and retail; changing production methods, both wholesale and retail; changing world?

Clinging to the "rules" as we once knew them seems like such a waste of energy when we must surely all be low on energy...let's face it--things have changed. Period. The realities are: Internet? Here to stay. Online shopping? Here to stay, and yes, even with paper. Printing on demand technology? Here to stay. Stocking less inventory? Here to stay. Selling and buying through mediums other than trade shows? Here to stay.

How about focusing the discourse on how we're going to navigate these changes together? How are you getting creative right now to embrace these realities and still "keep the lights on and a coach present?" Let's hear it!

topic du jour: tooting your own horn

Good morning! Thanks to all who have commented on previous days' posts. It is great to hear from all sides of the industry. A couple of retailer comments about how they find new lines made me think about how much thought and efforts promotions take. And I don't mean just promoting a special, I mean getting your name, your line, your store out there and at the forefront of people's minds. Since so much pre-qualifying gets done via the internet these days, it has become more important than ever to make your business stand out from the masses so that a retailer will visit your booth at a trade show like NSS, or a customer will go into your shop to buy what they're looking for.

So today's topic is: tooting your own horn. How do you do it? What works for you? And retailers, how DO you decide which trade show booths to stop by? Do you prefer e-mails containing lots of info, or more general e-mails that direct you elsewhere for info? And is consistency (e.g., 1x per month) more important than timing (hitting a store during their primary buying season)? What about those direct mail pieces? And manufacturers: as consumers, what gets you into a shop?

At hen and barley press we use e-mail marketing (as you all now know!) often. This form of marketing has generated more results--both in sales and traffic at trade shows--than any other form of marketing we've ever done (and we've done them all--postcards, ads, etc.). We find the e-mails that describe a need created by a trend or current buying habit, and then position our products as filling that need, work best. We also try to include lots of photos of finished products in our e-mails and on our website--photos of actual product seem to have more of an impact than a PDF of a design turned into a Jpeg. We've also found our association with A Fresh Bunch and the ISA to be a huge benefit. The "one-stop shopping" that these group sites provide seems to be a help to retailers, and has really helped promote our brand.

As a consumer, I do love getting e-newsletters from our retailers as well as local shops I frequent. Sometimes I've signed up for these, sometimes I haven't, but as someone whose company depends upon staying abreast of the retail indsutry for survival, the more of these I read, the more insight I have. One of our retailers, Papers & Presents in MA, does a DARLING weekly picks e-mail. Short, to the point, and always with a few eye-catching photos, it hits the spot. If I lived in MA, you can bet I'd be there shopping for camp goodies (the subject of this week's pick).

Let's hear it: how do you toot your own horn?

Topic du jour: What works in this economy?

Good morning, all. I woke up this morning to several e-mails from reps asking about some of hen and barley's current specials, and then noted that some of my daily blog reading was covering specials & promotions being run by both manufacturers and retailers in our industry.

With that in mind, it made me wonder: What works in this economy? Retailers, what things are you doing for your customers that help generate sales, and how can manufacturers support these efforts? Manufacturers, what are you doing to generate sales? What's working for you? Would our industry gain anything if as many manufacturers as possible banded together and offered similar promotions?

I am not asking anyone to reveal deep dark trade secrets, so I so hope that we'll get some comments on this one. In our offices, we try to talk to retailers, really listen to what their needs are and then develop promotions accordingly, but since we can't talk to everyone, even then it can feel like throwing darts at a board. And to properly develop and promote your promotions it takes time and lots of communication to get the word out, so wouldn't it be lovely if we all knew what retailers really want? And retailers, wouldn't it be lovely if the promotions arriving in your...ahem...e-mail inboxes were just what you were looking for?

What have we done (that has seemed to work)?

- At NSS the 6 manufacturers in the A Fresh Bunch booth standardized their opening order minimums and waived minimums if a retailer wrote with everyone in the booth.
- Outisde of NSS, hen and barley press has waived minimums on orders and re-orders since it seems that our retailers want to minimize inventory on their shelves and order less product more often.
- hen and barley press has focused on products that are less expensive for retailers & customers to purchase, as well as programs that don't require the retailers to carry inventory.

So, let's hear it: What works in this economy?

We're all in this together

Since the National Stationery Show ended, there has been a lot of online chatter about who was there and who wasn't, who sells to whom and how, and even which manufacturers are on the "good" list vs. the "naughty" list. Some of this chatter has resulted in some very positive discussions about what retailers want, and how they view manufacturers who license their designs elsewhere or sell direct to consumers online. This is an important discussion, especially in this economy, as manufacturers like hen and barley press rely upon retailers for sales. Similarly, retailers rely upon manufacturers like us for the products that stock their shelves and generate revenue.

It is an interdependent relationship, and for retailers and manufacturers to survive and thrive, we must realize that we are all in this together.



Here's what I learned from retailers and other manufacturers as a result of these discussions:

- Retailers are okay with manufacturers selling direct to consumer or licensing designs to places like Shutterfly or Tiny Prints as long as pricing and shipping terms are the same as those offered to retailers. Translation: don't undercut your retailers.

- Licensing to giants like Target under the same brand name, or worse, using the same designs you sell to the smaller brick & mortar retailers, can tarnish the "specialness" of your brand. Translation: most retailers like lines that are known but not too well known.

- Some retailers have hired design staff to create custom work in-house and therefore capture more margin than they would by simply re-selling products designed by manufacturers like hen and barley press. Translation: fewer sales for manufacturers, which results in more manufacturers trying to find alternative streams of revenue like selling direct or licensing.

The consistent theme that I see upon typing all of this is how intertwined our fates are in this business. Unfortunately, these discussions came only after several manufacturers and online retailers had been bad-mouthed quite publicly, and given how dependent we all are on one another, where does that negativity get us?

Today a new issue popped up. We and several of our boothmates sent out marketing e-mails yesterday advertising post-show specials. Included on these e-mail lists were new contacts collected at the show. As a manufacturer, the one thing you hear from retailers over and over after shows is to be sure to follow up with everyone who stopped in your booth. Like many of our retailers, we've found that e-mail is a great, effective and cheap way to accomplish this, so off went the e-mail, which unwittingly created a firestorm on this blog. hen and barley press, you will note, was publicly chastised for sending our e-mail. Again, the negativity...rather than focusing on the real issue of what one should do with contacts gathered at a trade show, or what exactly ARE the laws governing the sending of marketing e-mails, information retailers and manufacturers alike could really use.

So, the questions of the day are: What should one do with contacts gathered at a trade show? Retailers, how do you want manufacturers to follow up with you after a trade show? If you leave your contact info in a booth at a trade show, what does that mean? Should you reasonably expect to receive information via e-mail, phone or snail mail? Translation: let's have a real exchange of useful information to help us all thrive.

Finally, for those of you who regularly send marketing e-mail, here are the Federal Trade Commission laws on the subject.

Gather: The National Stationery Show Way

The National Stationery Show, described by someone on Twitter as "Fashion Week for paper people" was held from May 17-21 at the Javits Center in New York. Stationery companies from Crane & Co. to hen and barley press to companies you've never or not yet heard of have booths of varying sizes and complexity. It is a very creative atmosphere, a lot of fun, and a great networking, marketing and sales opportunity.

This year, we and a few other companies from A Fresh Bunch got creative and gathered together to have a group presence at the show. Done very last minute, our booth did not have the polish or presentation that it would have normally, but we pooled our resources, got ourselves and our products there, and made a splash at the show. Retailers loved the one stop shopping for 6 lines in one booth, and we each loved having sales help that allowed us to devote time to networking, trend-spotting and socializing with our paper friends. We're going to do it again next year, and are already making plans for improving upon a good thing.

Here are some highlights from the booth:


hen and barley press: our new magnets (shown at left) were a big hit, as was our new combined Completely Custom & Semi-Custom program. With over 14,000 design options, and 15+ stationery & gift products, this program defines one-stop shopping! As one of our retailers said upon seeing the Semi-Custom designs, "Oh, I will sell a ton of this." You can't beat that reaction (or the show special price tag of $150).

marzipan inc./fin+roe: marzipan inc. has launched a new custom album called fin+roe that had retailers all abuzz. Their photo magnet announcement cards drew quite a crowd and we love them, too!

evy jacob: we love evy's tagline of celebrate everything, everyday and her designs reflect that love of celebrations small and large. Her personalized albums were a huge hit and we loved their bar/bat mitzvah designs in particular.

Artful Sentiments: there is something about Molly's handblocked prints, they are simple and yet vibrant at the same time. Her coasters had us drooling with their fabulous prints.

Demby & Solomon: Lysa of Demby & Solomon donates her time & design talent to A Fresh Bunch, designing all of our group's logos and visual communications. Her new line of imprintables is fantastic, and we also loved her clever correspondence album.

Lucky Star Press: Sarah of Lucky Star Press recently had a new baby and still managed to pull together a fabulous collection for the show. Her amazing letterpress designs are subtle and sophisticated with the right dose of good cheer. We loved the mix-n-match initial sets.

None of us had ever done anything like this before, and felt like we were rolling the dice by having "the competition" in the same booth. But gathering together, pooling resources and really exchanging information with each another was such a positive experience, and we think retailers liked it as much as we did. If you visited our booth during the show, THANK YOU! If you weren't there but want more information, please visit each of our sites.

Here's to gathering together!

hen and barley press out in the wild: Kirathon 2009

If you live on Chicago's North Shore and are heading over to Mallinckrodt Park in Wilmette tomorrow afternoon for Kirathon 2009, you'll be able to see some hen and barley press products "out in the wild". Kirathon is a fundraiser to benefit art therapy programs at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital. Started in memory of a Wilmette girl named Kira who passed away in 2006. Kira loved art and art therapy helped her express her emotions during the course of her illness. In addition to a walk and other fundraising activities at the event, The Kindness Connection will be facilitating art projects to be sent to children in local hospitals. hen and barley press is proud to have donated stationery to The Kindness Connection for use in the Kirathon event projects. We'll have some event participants snapping pictures of hen and barley press products "in the wild" and will share them with you as soon as we can.

Above images from Kirathon event pages.

Giving Back: Creative Pitch

To date, Hen and Barley Press has donated more than $4,000 in products to a wide range of organizations.

One of these groups is Creative Pitch, a not-for-profit corporation in Chicago whose mission is to support art education among underserved elementary students and educators. Founded by Dian Sourelis and her partner through Brainforest, their creative agency in Chicago's Wicker Park, Creative Pitch accepts donations of high quality paper and useful art materials from printers, paper mills, artists, designers, architects and interior designers and makes those materials available, free of charge, to underserved art programs.

"These programs include elementary schools, Head Start programs, after school programs and art therapy programs," Dian says. "For a number of our receiving degreed art teachers, we are their only source of art materials. In the three years we have been running the program, we have served over 70 programs and 35,000 students."

"Hen and Barley's donation of more than 15,000 cards and other stationery items will be used by our talented and creative teachers with the students in our programs," Dian says.

Creative Pitch is always looking for material and cash donations, as well as volunteers to help at special events. For more info, visit www.creativepitch.org

Tomorrow night (that's Thursday, May 29) Creative Pitch will host its spring benefit, Something To Pitch About, at Lumen, 839 West Fulton Market, in Chicago, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. View the invitation here or contact Joan@creativepitch.org to volunteer.

National Stationery Show

Carolyn and I just returned from the National Stationery Show. For you readers who are not a retailer or manufacturer of paper, the Stationery Show, or NSS, is held every May in New York City. It's where most paper and gift retailers go to do much of their buying and sourcing for the year. If you've ever been to a trade show, you probably have dim memories of being cooped up all day in a dark building in a not so nice part of some town. NSS is different. Not because the Jacob Javits Center is glamourous or anything like that, but because stationery and paper is a creative industry, so the creativity demonstrated in product display, booth construction and overall feel of the show is amazing. Seeing all that paper in one place helps you spot trends and develop ideas, not to mention hear directly from retailers and sales reps what they're looking for.

There are so many highlights we want to share, and we are each working on our lists of top trends to share with you over the rest of the week, but the first highlight we want to share relate to hen and barley press. Our initial magnets are shown above because they and our newest magnets were a huge hit at the show. Sam Flax stores bought them, and they were a definite draw in the booth. Paper accessories like our initial magnets were everywhere--magnets, file folders, clipboards, pencil holders, etc. At the end of the day, bad economy or not, people still need to stay organized and a small purchase like a cute magnet or file folder is both utilitarian and stylish, making it feel like a justifiable indulgence. They also make great gifts.

As we were leaving the show, we had an exciting celebrity sighting--Phoebe Cates was walking the show buying for her boutique on NY's Upper East Side. She is every bit as cute as she was when she was on the cover of 17 magazine, and stylish and classy without screaming "celebrity". After that and 2 days of networking and sales, we left the Javits Center feeling quite satisfied!

Stay tuned for more trends and info about the show.

How we gathered together...an insurance story

How often do you hear insurance stories? Probably not often. Or, I hope not too often. And you are probably wondering what insurance has to do with giving, inviting, gathering, or for that matter, stationery. Well, the beginnings of hen and barley press were in insurance--it's how Carolyn and I first got together, or gathered, if you will.

Back in 1995 both Carolyn and I worked as commercial underwriters for the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies. Chubb is one of those big companies you've never heard of, unless you have a lot of antiques or a major jewelry schedule, and then you've definitely heard of them because they are the last word in insuring all those kinds of goodies. Anyway, both of us were new to the Chicago office and we met there over production meetings, budgets and client calls. Fast forward a few years to motherhood, and we'd sort of lost touch. We'd both left the company to stay home with our kids, but in an odd twist of fate, wound up living around the block from each other in our North Shore suburb.

While we loved being moms to our young raucous boys, we both craved a little mental stimulation beyond debating the merits of preschool or various toilet training methods, and neither of us wanted to go back to insurance. Insurance is, in fact, generally boring, and beyond that, neither of us wanted to work in a big company atmosphere again. One thing insurance had given us, however, was insight into one another's work habits and personalities, so we knew we could work together.

I'd long had an obsession with stationery, and had foregone art school for studying Japanese, so starting a stationery company would allow me to indulge my obsession and my natural creativity. Soon it became too much for me to manage on my own, and that's where Carolyn came in. Her knack for numbers, marketing meant she could take over those tasks and direct our team in those areas, allowing me to focus on design and product development. She also has a great eye and classically good taste, so she can chime in on design decisions, too. It's a great match, and, I think, proof that you don't have to have only one profession in life.

More importantly, our company philosophy of give, invite, gather is more than a convenient branding tool. We really do believe in giving, inviting and gathering more. We really do love a good party, a great dinner, or a simple gift. We really do believe in giving back. And we love how stationery helps us to do all those things that are near and dear to our hearts.

On the eve of our departure for NYC and the National Stationery Show, here's what we're doing to give, invite and gather: Carolyn will be gathering with friends on the baseball fields for an evening of 4th grade baseball. I will be gathering with some friends over beer and pizza to celebrate the end of a long work week. What will you be doing?

Check back next week for our National Stationery Show posts. We'll be featuring our top 5 lists: top 5 trends, top 5 retailers, top 5 favorite products (and not just our own). Have a great weekend!

Jenny

Cool Gifts for Grads

Thursday, May 7

It seems it's Graduation Week on the Hen and Barley blog, so how about some gift ideas for the soon-to-be graduates in your life?

Here are just a few:

Gorgeous flat and folded note cards customized with your grad's name or initial;

Note pad and magnet sets;

Desk sets, including initial note cards and a sturdy holder;

Colorful magnets featuring your grad's initial.

Hosting a graduation party? We offer imprintable invitations in classic and trend-inspired designs that are sure to draw a crowd. We even have photo announcement cards that help you share your grad's milestone with family and friends far and wide.

All of these fun, personalized products come in a range of designs, including spring's must-have Moroccan-inspired motifs and our classic Quatrefoil designs. Our colors run the gamut, too, so you can customize your gift to match your graduate's school colors.

You'll find all of these products at our awesome retailer partners coast to coast (look for a shop in your area here ), and from shopHBP , our partner site for custom orders (where we also donate a percentage of our profits to worthy causes).

The New In

Tuesday, May 5

It arrived in the mail on Saturday: the first graduation announcement of the season. It's that time again, and Hen and Barley Press is ready with a host of gifts for grads that will usher 8th graders into high school (think initial note cards and locker magnets), high-schoolers into college (a set of monogrammed stationery, perhaps?) and college grads into the world with elegance and style. There's plenty of time to order the perfect gift, so visit your favorite retailer or shop HBP.

Know what else arrived in Saturday's mail? The new Bloomingdale's home accessories catalogue, which proclaimed on its cover that "The New 'In'" has arrived. Let me quote: "What's hot for summer? Think BBQ's, sunny mornings in spa-fresh beds, iced coffee dates and frothy cold cocktail hours. This season it's all about looking at it in a new light."

We're all about the New In, if it means giving, inviting and gathering in a more relaxed style. Take last night, when my husband and I passed by a friend's house while we were out for a walk. Their fire pit blazed away as they and their neighbors, whom they had just invited over because it was such a lovely evening, made s'mores. Love the impromptu nature of that simple invitation--and love the idea of the New In.

Grad Cap icon above from hen and barley press Completely Custom line. Colors of cap can be customized to match your grad's colors and can be used on labels, notecards, invitations and more.

On our desk this week...

Monday, May 4

What's new!

As we count down the days to the National Stationery Show May 20 to May 23, we'll be posting sneak peeks of our newest products on our website. Check back often, and most importantly, be sure to stop by our booth #2547.

{Sneak Peek #1}

Like so many retailers, you probably have a gazillion albums in your store. Well, what if you could buy JUST ONE album, with thousands of design choices for every occasion or event? And what if you could order more than 20 different products from it? And train your staff just once? And have it take up no more than 8.5" square on your shelves? And nothing ever gets discontinued? Sounds dreamy, no?

Introducing...the Completely Custom+Semi-Custom album! This one album has it all, in the form of one compact acrylic easel--Completely Custom designs & products on one side, and our NEW Semi-Custom designs & products on the other.
That's thousands of design choices plus 20 products for every occasion--and in ONE album? That's DREAMY!

Fun Friday!

Friday, May 1

A wrap-up of what people do on the weekends to give, invite and gather.

It's May Day! Revive an old-fashioned tradition: Give a small spray of flowers to someone you care about. To be true to tradition, leave the flowers anonymously--it's a fun spring surprise that will make anyone's day.

Now it's your turn: What are you doing to give, invite and gather this weekend? Leave us a comment telling us what you're up to, and we'll pick one at random to feature on our blog.

image above: bouquet icon from hen and barley press Completely Custom line, shown in leaf/violet can be used on stationery and gifts

Giving back: the philosophy behind Hen and Barley Press

Wednesday, April 29

Jenny writes: "As owners of a stationery company, Carolyn and I believe that written communication is an important, necessary part of life. As mothers, we believe that all children are alike in spirit, and that literacy is crucial to fostering that natural spirit.

"These beliefs, and our guiding principles of Give, Invite, Gather, inspire us to donate products and a percentage of sales to not-for-profit organizations dedicated to improving the literacy and welfare of underprivileged children."

To date, Hen and Barley Press has donated more than $4,000 in products to a wide range of organizations, one of which is Mary Lou's Place, the domestic violence shelter for women and children at the YWCA Evanston-North Shore in Evanston, Ill.

"Mary Lou's Place was created in 1980 as a five-bed volunteer-run shelter," says Julie McBratney, communications manager for the YWCA Evanston-North Shore. "It has since grown to a 32-bed residential facility with six transitional housing apartments. Here, women and children, including boys up to the age of 12, can access emergency shelter for up to 90 days."

When a woman arrives at the shelter, her immediate needs, as well as those of her children, are addressed. Residents are assigned a private room, as well as clothing, bed linens and personal supplies. Women's advocates and children's counselors provide daily individual and group counseling sessions, parent/child workshops, and specialized workshops such as health education, job readiness and financial literacy. All services are free of charge to residents.

"This important combination of emotional and practical support enables residents to find within themselves the ability to achieve self-sufficiency," Julie says. "We plan to use the materials from Hen and Barley Press in our daily counseling sessions, as well as in our art therapy program, as part of our residents' healing process. "

To learn more about Mary Lou's Place, and to support their programs, visit www.ywca.org/evanston.

Grow your own

Tuesday, April 28

We've heard lots of our friends talking about growing their own vegetables this summer. Here's a fun promotion from Campbell's Soup that will get your garden started with 50 free tomato seeds (the same ones they use for their classic tomato soup). While you're there, be sure to click on the link to donate seeds to the Future Farmer's of America--Campbell's goal is to give away 1 billion (that's billion, with a 'b') tomato seeds this year to promote gardening across America.

We love programs like this that give back to our communities. Do you know about one? Let us know and we'll try to feature it on our blog.

Watering Can icon from hen and barley press Completely Custom line - can be used on stationery, gifts and invitations!

On our desk this week...

Monday, April 27

Spring is (finally!) in the air here in Chicago, and the warm weather started us thinking about Mother's Day. (It's on Sunday, May 10.) If you're looking for a fun gift for your mom, your friends who are moms, or even yourself if you are a mom, keep these fun spring trends in mind:

Personalized notepads, initial magnets and wine bags are perennial winners, because they're unique and they won't break the bank;

For a taste of the exotic, look to Moroccan-inspired motifs and patterns;

Quatrefoil is another classic design motif that can be updated with color for the right dose of trendy and classic--check out our great Quatrefoil patterned folded notes.

Hen and Barley Press features lots of trendy--and classic--gifts for the moms in your life. Visit one of our retailers or our custom shop and take a look. There's still time to order for Mother's Day--how about a gift for yourself, too?

Fun & Festive Fridays

Good morning and Happy Friday!

Here in Chicago we are enjoying some real Spring weather, if only for a day. What a great way to start the weekend!

Fun and Festive Fridays will be a regular feature and will be all about what people do on the weekends to give, invite and gather. We're going to start with me, Carolyn and Jenny, but we'd like to hear from you, too! Drop us a line with what you're doing to give, invite and gather on the weekends, and we may feature you on one of the next Fun and Festive Fridays.

Carolyn: Gathering with neighborhood friends for a barbeque to celebrate the arrival of spring; Little League baseball games; inviting a friend to go to the Art Institute for a special exhibit; buying a graduation gift for a niece.
Jenny: First soccer game of the season at Community Playfields, which is a great gathering spot for the entire community on weekends; soccer tournament; inviting college friends and their kids over for dinner on Saturday--homemade chicken nuggets for the kids, and spring rolls and Thai curry for the adults; visiting friends to see their new twin boys and drop off baby gifts.

Ellen: Softball games; Little League Baseball games; gathering with friends at a gourmet cooking class.

Enjoy your weekends and we look forward to hearing what you're doing to give, invite and gather.