The STUFF Sisters

Our Thanksgiving Letter

“F**k, I glued my fingers together.”

“It will be okay. Don’t panic.”

“F**k, I glued my fingers together.”

“It will be okay. Don’t panic.”

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Learned Behavior

They always made the day about loving everyone, not just your lover.

My parents taught us to love Valentine’s Day. And I do.

When my mom got flowers from Ed’s Dainty Corsages on 31st and Cherry from our dad, the three little tow-headed blondes who had climbed into the back seat for the adventure to midtown got single roses wrapped in waxy paper and tied with a curling ribbon bow.

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For Six Nights

I do not make resolutions when calendar pages turn or on anniversaries or upon the arrival home after vacations.

The implementation was laughable and not at all picture perfect.

For six nights – randomly spaced from December 12th to December 29th – we sat in the dark and lit a candle. Each night, we chose a single word – I chose three of the nights, my husband chose twice, and, on the 29th, our son spoke the last one. The idea was to sit in silence and consider the word and the single flame. To think about the world. To think about us. To sit in quiet.

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Pumpkin Spice

The picturesque mascot of all things fall makes me abundantly happy.

Truth: I do not like pumpkin spice anything. Except I do like the spices I mix into the pumpkin pies I make from scratch at Thanksgiving. I like pumpkin pie. I like pumpkin pie with whipped cream, to be precise.

Larger Truth: I love pumpkins. Un-spiced. Big Love. This fruit of the gourd family and the picturesque mascot of all things fall makes me abundantly happy. That’s saying something, because I am a summer person through and through.

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Truly Blessed

It isn’t hard for us to find reasons to be thankful. We are truly blessed. Yet some days it is harder than others. Sometimes the din of daily challenges drowns out the good in our lives.

It isn’t hard for us to find reasons to be thankful. We are truly blessed. Yet some days it is harder than others. Sometimes the din of daily challenges drowns out the good in our lives. There are days when we are just trying to get to the end of the day without stumbling and landing flat on our faces.

This year we have had many challenges and many blessings. The most notable challenge has been having both our father and our mother fighting cancer. They are vibrant, strong, and engaged parents. They both have big personalities. They both are very strong-willed and opinionated. They are both loving and actively involved in our lives and our children’s lives.

You can imagine how scary it is to have them both facing life-threatening diagnoses. It has been humbling and all-consuming at times. Our parents have always set their expectations for us very high. They have led by example. They insist that we suit up, show up, and engage in our careers, our family lives, and our community. They have very different personal motivations and beliefs, but they share the same core value of being accountable and present. There is no “wall-flowering” allowed in the Simmons family.

STUFF celebrated its 20th birthday last week. Since our store’s birthday also falls on the anniversary of our younger sister’s death, we do not make a big deal about it. However, we do enjoy the feelings of success and pride in having built this amazing business that shares so much with so many. We mention this because this year we were given the opportunity to expand our footprint in Brookside and move our store to a larger space up the street. It was exciting and inspiring. It was a dream come true. It was also a stressful and overwhelming decision about our future in business. In the end, we decided to stay put. We are happy with our choice and know the dream will continue to grow and thrive.

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Missing Persons

I am not a total slacker. I decorated for Christmas. Admittedly, the other holidays are seeing a marked reduction in decoration of the home.

I used to decorate for every holiday. Valentine’s. Easter. Fourth of July. Halloween. Thanksgiving. Of course, Christmas. This was when we had a young child at home. I am not sad about not having the child at home. I am a bit sad about not seeing the things that others gave me throughout the years to decorate with.

One was my dad’s mother. If there was ever a woman on this planet that loved to celebrate every little thing, it was my grandmother. She was not a wealthy woman, and many of her decorations were tissue and, in particular, honeycomb and cardboard shapes. Turkeys. Eggs. Pumpkins. Five-and-Dime treasures. At the end of the “season” they were delicately folded back down and clipped shut with plastic-covered steel paperclips. I inherited a turkey and a baby chick. Both have very little wear and tear from over 50 years of use. One, the turkey, sports a 29-cent price sticker on the inside.

I have to admit that only one item for Valentine’s Day has made it out of the box this year, and that is the hand-worked and painted heart that I love hanging on the front door. It made it out a few days ago. I didn’t have the energy to pull out the other favorites. Too tired from a business trip, I promised myself next year would be different.

When it comes to the mid-winter holiday of Valentine’s Day, both of my parents embraced it to its fullest. Little keepsakes and sweet bites. Dainty bouquets. Notes of love and sweet cards. Small silly gifts. Any and all of the above was pretty normal when we were kids and young adults. My mother still is amazing at giving little gifts of love on a day that can seem unimportant and contrived. She reminds us every year that we are “still kids.” To her.

Valentine’s Day can be just a spot of fun in a winter that is often all too drab in the Midwest. I sent little gifts to my nieces in Chicago this week. Our son will be receiving his mail delivery from home with a few extras stuck in to remind him that he is adored. We will eat heart-shaped pizza with my mom and my other niece on the “big day.”

I will miss my grandmother. She, like the others, is a missing person on these days. I was lazy to not get out the plastic straws she gave me right after our son was born. I am certain of that. They are bendy (her favorite kind of straw) and look like stacked conversation hearts (a favorite holiday candy). I can only imagine that the combination of the two was a no-brainer when she saw them. I carefully washed them every year after our son used them and then packed them away. Last year saw them in a small glass vase sharing their bright perkiness when I entered the partially dark kitchen on my way to work every morning.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

p.s. Featured in all the photos are items we are selling at our store this year. My grandmother would have loved them all. I am giving a few myself to ones I love. It’s how I was raised….

p.p.s. I am not a total slacker. I decorated for Christmas. Admittedly, the other holidays are seeing a marked reduction in decoration of the home.

A Love Story in Two Parts: Part Two

If you haven’t read Part One, you can find it here.

Our customers are remarkable. You are all real, alive, three-dimensional, diverse, and interesting people. You are not statistics on a printout to us. You are not numbers in a database. You are Carl, Roxanne, Erika, and Beth. Ashley, Stephen, Michelle, and Kirk. You make a choice to shop at our store. You are parents, friends, spouses, work colleagues, family, collectors, and community partners. You are YOU. We celebrate YOU, and we are deeply grateful for your openness, kindness, and thoughtful shopping. You are why we come to work every day. Thank you for choosing our store. We can never thank you enough. Keep the laughter and shared stories coming. The joy you share is inspiring. Thank you for your faith in us and in our dream business.

Last week we received a giant stack of boxes. We are conditioned to piles of boxes rolling into our store every day. In October, November, and December, the piles grow pretty tall. Some days our deliveries fill half the UPS truck that Rafael – our UPS driver who, like us, also loves the lemon cake at Cafe Europa! – drives to our back door. On this day, however, a small box was cushioned in the pile. It was addressed to us personally in the most fantastic lettering you can imagine. Inside we found a handpainted ceramic bowl, made especially for serving our traditional party M&M’s. It reads: “PURSUE GOOD STUFF…LIKE M&M’S”. It is quite perfect, and we are humbled by the thought, kindness, and generosity that created such a meaningful gift. Thank you, Julie and Robin Cates. You “party girls” are forever in our hearts, and you will now be with us at every party we host at STUFF.

Our lives are incredible. They are not always simple, yet they’re not too complex. But they are always extraordinary. There is so very much to celebrate – graduations, returning travelers, small cancer victories, anniversaries, and birthdays. As we look ahead to 2016, we are already planning parties at our store and in our homes. We have no doubt it will be another year filled with celebrations and meaningful connections.

We invite you to join in all our celebrations at STUFF. We encourage you to plan parties of your own as often as possible. You will not regret it.

We would also like to recommend serving a bowl of happy and colorful peanut M&M’s. We have found it makes for a joyful journey. And added protein for the ride.

Happy holidays!

A Love Story in Two Parts: Part One

We have been gifted almost twenty years of success, and we are thrilled to be experiencing a busy holiday season again this year. We are constantly grateful.

When we started our store over 19 years ago, we were younger, naive, and deeply passionate. Many people told us we would never succeed, and there have been many times over the years when we feared the same. But we kept our dreams alive, with not much more than sheer determination and blatant denial as life support. Honestly, this business has never been easy. There have been times when it has crawled and walked by sheer willpower. Much like a toddler, it has always taken daily management and our constant attention.

We have experienced many, many challenges over these incredible years. But one thing has never changed at our store: the celebrations. We started our store by hosting art opening parties, and to this day we have continued to host an increasing number of events every year. We love a good party. Yes, we are self-professed “party girls” who believe that life should be celebrated as often as possible.

We also believe that it is not a party without a bowl of peanut M&M’s. Since our first event, we have always offered a bowl brimming with those colorful sweets. It is both a tradition and a superstition at this point. We believe the business might fold if we forgot the M&M’s. If you have had a peanut M&M at STUFF, you are part of this tradition, and we thank you.

STUFF is our careers and our creative muse, and it has been a foundation for self-discovery. Professional and personal growth came along with that. Our store is the extension of our family. Our work team is extraordinary. Today, and for the last 19+ years, we have worked with people who we are proud to call our work family. Our past team members have gone on to nestle into rich, full lives. We have attended weddings and baby showers. We have held many babies, and we have hugged past employees tightly when they drop in for a happy visit or during difficult times. They are part of the STUFF story. And the team we have this season is no exception. We are grateful for Ryoko, Maggie, Lynne, Rebecca, Andrea, Christopher, Cori, Abby, Joy, Sherry, Vivian, Ella, Sean and Sue Ann. They have offered 110% every day and in every way. They make our work together playful and happy. We offer each other support, love, and kindness. We are very proud to have a team that puts people first. These people embrace the true mission of our store. They all have seen the power of peanut M&M’s at every one of the twenty-two parties during our Season of Giving this year alone. Thank you, team; we love you!

Many things have changed over the last 19 years. Our store was designed to evolve. We recognized early on that this special project had a spirit of its own. We strive to let our treasured artists grow creatively by finding their own paths. We do not push our artists to make work based on profit. We encourage our artists to challenge themselves, to gain confidence, and to become better small business owners themselves. We try to share our experience and wisdom openly and freely. We even find ourselves offering seminars in small business, customer service, and creative motivation beyond the walls and mission of STUFF. This last part is a journey we did not foresee but continue to explore. To our artists: we admire your talent and are grateful that you have chosen STUFF to share your work with the world. We look forward to supporting you and many artists for years to come.

We, in many ways, have become the stewards of this magical little place with a very big heart. We have always worked hard to let STUFF take shape somewhat on its own.

Stay tuned for Part Two…

Giving Thanks

We are indeed thankful. In so many ways, and for so many reasons. We wish you the most delicious and peaceful Thanksgiving. Ever.

We are indeed thankful. In so many ways, and for so many reasons. Each year, we take a moment right about now to thank our lucky stars for this amazing planet we all ride on and the lives we’ve built within that powerful grace.

We are thankful for each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
We are thankful for our parents’ continued gentle guidance.
We are thankful for our childrens’ patience in our absences and silences.
We are thankful for our employees’ diligent work.
We are thankful for our customers’ trust in our dream business.
We are thankful for the artists we represent and their commitment to handcraft.

And we are very thankful that you take the time to read our blogs and emails. We wish you the most delicious and peaceful Thanksgiving. Ever.

The Why Is Important

STUFF made a commitment many years ago to support local artists and to be active members of our vibrant community. This is true of both of us in our personal lives as well.

We all want to know that we are making a difference when we shop. Heck, when we do just about anything. The “why” in all our actions is important, and the effects can be long-lasting.

STUFF made a commitment many years ago to support local artists and to be active members of our vibrant community. This is true of both of us in our personal lives as well. Each year since the first one, we have renewed that commitment by setting higher goals for our support of local not-for-profit organizations.

Please join us this year on any of the 20 different nights listed below. By shopping during one of these great charity parties, that charity will receive 15% of your purchase, and all the money raised stays local.

Yummy drinks, delicious snacks, and STUFF’s signature bowl of M&Ms makes each night complete. Magic serendipitously shows herself almost every evening when connections are made between the dedicated charity partners and our customers who want to know just a bit more about possibly doing just a bit more.