College Care Package

 Hard to imagine that school is almost beginning since August has already arrived. Summer goes fast. Youngsters are back in classes and for me it is hardest to say goodbye to the kids who are my family members who are going back to college. It was so cool to see them all summer and now some are packing up getting ready to go to school. Most of the kids I know go to Colorado State University in Fort Collins or Colorado University in Boulder. Two are going to Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Actually there are two of my cousins kids who are coming to schools in Colorado. My neighbor is making up little gift bags for each kid with cookies and goodies from the grocery store to assist get them stocked up for dorm life. She has bought chips, dip, candy, nuts, and snacks and put them into a bucket. They turned out pretty cute. When I asked her how much it cost she said she had no idea. I had a tough time finding a bucket and filling it with stuff to look good. It just did not look like enough. Then I started adding up the cost because I knew I needed to go get more stuff to make it look good. I just that wow factor for college students when they get to school. I know they may be a little homesick and this is the nicest thing I can do for them and probably more for their parents. Shoving the things in the bucket is alright and it gets the task done. After making two of the buckets best friend suggested I check out Snack Gift Baskets. She told me this after she was astonished at how much I had spent on each gift. Her agency uses Baskets by Rita for all the gift baskets they send to visiting clients. There are great wooden crates with mountains and the word Colorado on them packed with products from Colorado. After checking out the website of Baskets by Rita I do not dare tell my hubby that I actually might have sent a Colorado crate for the same price or even cheaper than I spent on my own. http://www.basketsbyrita.com

Please show the Victims of the Theater that you care!

 After the shooting tragedy in Aurora Colorado we are at a loss for what to do or how to help. Aurora is a suburb of Denver. We are all feeling such grief and send our sympathy and best wishes and best hope for recovery to that whole community. The shooting attracted national news and what a devastating tragedy. I am so sorry and want to do something to support. The Aurora police department must be amazing with what they are dealing with. They made it to the scene in 90 seconds. People and businesses in Aurora must be comforted to know the department responds so quickly. Plus what must those heroes from the police department and all the medical facilities in Aurora Colorado feel now as they work to save lives and keep people safe. You cannot put a price tag on that kind of help. A group of friends yesterday had a discussion and we all decided to do something. Some are sending cards and others of us desire to do something far more personal to help our own sense of healing the emotional wounds. My cousin is going to send some kind of food coupons and my neighbor is sending flowers with a message. My brother is a small business owner and suggested we find nearby Aurora Colorado businesses to support since they must really feel the impact. So we are going online to find coffee shops, pizza places, florists, etc. I was going to place an online order to an Aurora company Baskets by Rita to send a Ultimate Sympathy Basket to be shared by everyone. http://www.basketsbyrita.com

Beauty on a Budget

tea and bath gift baskets

Every month I squander way too much cash on spa and pamper services. Every time I turn around I'm in need of another nail appointment, hair cut, laser hair treatment appointment, or waxing appointment. On top of these forms of superficial methods, everyday stress pushes me to splurge for biweekly massage therapy and chiropractic visits and the monthly Jacuzzi. Obviously the expense of makeup and other bath and body products augment the expense as well. At the end of each month I've spent the contents of my checking account just to pamper myself. Talk about stress! Several years ago I started to find techniques to bring down these payments without making a great number of sacrifices. I now purchase at home waxing kits, color my own nails (most of the time), and have sent my boyfriend to massage classes. If you know someone like me or you wind up in my situation, you can almost certainly guess what the very best gift would be for her. Now obviously, a morning at the salon would be ideal, but if your bank account is a little bit smaller than that why can't you send the spa to them? Baskets By Rita has a great assortment of spa and pamper gifts which are stuffed with premium quality items including products by Body Eclipse, the distinctive supplier of spa products for the Brown Palace hotel in Denver. Next time you need a gift for a deserving woman, save her some money off her normal routine and give her an evening of relaxation with the Tea and Pamper Her Gift Basket. Our gourmet tea gift basket comes with a combination tea pot and wonderful bath product a great combination for relaxation. Offering a great assortment of tea, cookies, chocolates, soaps, lotions and a candle. A nice sentiment for bereavement gifts of thank you tea gift basket. Tea gift basket with gourmet foods for a woman.. Believe me, she'll thank you!!!  http://www.basketsbyrita.com/Tea-and-Pamper-Her-Gift-Basket_p_24.html

Baskets By Rita, a Colorado Gift Basket Company, Celebrates its 20th Anniversary

Ten years after being laid off from Agilent Technologies, Marge Van Woerkom and her business, Baskets By Rita, are still going strong. As a previous Reporter Herald article outlined, Van Woerkom was one of many Loveland residents who found themselves unemployed in 2002 when HP and Agilent downsized. After 19 years of working for HP and Agilent, Van Woerkom refused to be a victim of her situation. She pulled herself together after the lay off and bought an existing business in Aurora, Colorado. She chose not to change the company's existing name, Baskets By Rita, which already had a strong reputation in the Denver metro area and this choice has served her well. "We've built our business on the philosophy that the customer come first" says Van Woerkom.
Since Van Woerkom took ownership of the company, she has managed to grow sales despite the economic recession of the past few years. In addition, she has grown the company's clientele and web presence year over year with the help of her staff and dedicated members of her family. As a sign of its ongoing growth, Baskets By Rita began plans several months ago to create a sister company, Gift Agent. Gift Agent will offer customers a slightly more specialized product line packaged in specialty boxes which will allow the company to be more eco-friendly and create more of a recognized brand identity. The hope is that receiving a gift from Gift Agent will be comparable in recipients' minds to receiving a box of Godiva chocolates. While Gift Agent gives cause for much excitement at Baskets By Rita, that is not the only exciting news for the company.
This year, Baskets By Rita is celebrating it's 20th year of business. While many other gift basket companies have gone out of business, Van Woerkom and her staff have managed to maintain steady growth despite the public's growing need to economize. To show their gratitude for the continued support of their customers and celebrate their 20 years of success, Baskets By Rita has planned a series of sales promotions for each month of the year. These promotions include deals such as 15% off when you spend $50 or more and a gift of a free basket for the winner of a video commercial contest. For every dollar saved by their customers through these ongoing promotions, Baskets By Rita will donate a dollar to a local charity. Each month, the company will choose two local charities to support and they will match the savings of their customers to determine the donation amount. The best part of this campaign is that customers are encouraged to vote for their favorite charities so that everyone can be involved. As a local business, Baskets By Rita does its best to support local programs and Van Woerkom is excited to have an excuse to give back even more than her usual holiday charitable donations. Like us on Facebook and vote for your local charity. When doing so we will send you a coupon code for 20% off your next purchase.

Spring Back Into Action

Now that Easter's around the corner many of Americans are starting to think about making Easter baskets, celebrating Christ's resurrection, and making Easter cookies with our closest of kind. Even folks who aren't particularly religious often still enjoy religious holidays for instance Christmas and Easter seeing as these festivities are an important part of our national culture. Regardless of whether you're Christian or not, Easter comes at a time when everyone has something to honor. Easter marks the onset of spring. With the fabulous 60 degree weather we've been having currently in Colorado I can already feel Spring right around the corner and I'm ready to welcome yet again the season of rejuvenation. If you are a parent you are most likely getting ready for fun crafts and activities for your kids as they anticipate the Easter Bunny's visit. The Easter Bunny is an instance of how we've turned a religious holiday into something that anyone can celebrate. Let me ask a question. Why do people honor Easter in any way but its religious sense? The answer… Spring tugs us out of our winter shell and drives us to begin working on resolutions we may have been avoiding.

Though New Year's resolutions are often made in January, it isn't until Spring that we usually start to focus on them. Nice weather, new growth, and sunshine are better motivators than snow, icy winds, and dreary days. In spring people start eating less, spending more time out and about, working out more, and thinking more positively. These are all things that make us happier and why shouldn't we share our happiness with others around us? People living in colder climatic regions tend to wrestle more with depression. Any chance this is a coincidence? When you get back into your New Year's resolutions for the first time since starting them back in January, why don't you share your positive energy with your friends?

Easter is a good time to celebrate in the rebirth of new life. We rejoice by giving Easter gifts to our neighbors, family, and children as if saying life's a present, let's honor it! We enjoy the new growth of nature and hopefully appreciate our natural surroundings a bit more. We plant flowers and work in our gardens and revel in the loveliness of the season. We use less heat and electricity as we get ourselves out and about enjoy the best of the spring air. If you embrace these elements of spring like I do, why wouldn't you share in your good mood with the ones you love? Send an Easter gift to a far off friend, your family in another country, or your grandchildren. Put together a gift that incorporates one of the previously discussed subjects. How about giving a health food basket or put your gift in a "green" container? Or, display thankfulness for your countless blessings by sending a gift packed full of items that donate proceeds to charity. If you do not have the time or the ability to get something together yourself, why not let Baskets By Rita assist you. For this entire year Baskets By Rita is making monthly donations to Colorado non-profit organizations of their clients' choice. Order a Easter Baskets for Children Girls. Our little girl's Easter Basket is oh so cute and filled with goodies and fun. Our white willow basket contains Butterfly coloring sketch pad, activity book, 12 pk crayola crayons, plastic filled eggs, M& M candies, Starburst candy, Crayon tube filled with chocolate covered sunflower seeds (yes the crayon top really works), Disney straw, Jelly Belly beans, Gold fish crackers, large plush bunny, Butterfly ornament, mini soccer ball, rubber ducky dressed up like a fairy, Easter cookies, lip gloss, popcorn, playing cards, peeps candies and a chocolate bunny. This is a great way to say "Happy Easter" to special kids far away. When this filled Easter Basket is empty, they can keep the basket for the Easter egg hunt. We can customize this basket to make it more appropriate for younger or older kids, just mention her age at checkout in the additional information box. It always feels good to send a gift, so why not do something else to supercharge your bright spirits?

<a href="http://www.basketsbyrita.com/Easter-Baskets-for-Children-Girls_p_138.html">http://www.basketsbyrita.com/Easter-Baskets-for-Children-Girls_p_138.html</a>

An Easter "Tail"

Have you ever questioned where the myth of the Easter Bunny comes from? I mean really, do the Easter Bunny and colored eggs really represent Jesus' resurrection? The answer is "no". The legend of the Easter Bunny goes all the way back to the 13th century and comes from pre-Christian Germany. The pagan people of the era worshipped multiple gods and goddesses. The goddess of spring and birth was called Eostra, which is where the word Easter comes from. As most people know, spring is the season of new life. Because of this, Eostra's image was the rabbit. The rabbit signified new life due to the fact that rabbits are well known for their significant rate of reproduction. Over time, this symbol of Eostra lead to other legends and in the 1500s, the first fable of the Easter Bunny was recorded. Now since you know where the Easter Bunny originates from you are probably wondering about the eggs. Eggs have been a symbolic representation of fertility for ages and were likely integrated in early pagan celebrations of spring. As Christianity became more widespread in Europe and in Germany, ancient pagan customs began to merge with modern Christian holidays. Today, we say that Easter eggs signify Jesus' resurrection. Over the years the Easter Bunny chronicle developed even further and grew to become what we know it as today. Comparable to the fable of Santa Clause, German families would convince their little ones that if they were good the Easter Bunny would appear and lay eggs that the children could trade for candy and various other treats. The tradition began of making nests for the eggs which ultimately transformed into the vibrant colored Easter baskets that we have today. The legend of the Easter Bunny first arrived in the United States in the 1700s when German immigrants arrived in Pennsylvania. Currently, this Easter belief is a prevalent part of our traditions along with scores of other norms which come from the roots of our immigrant ancestors. If you'd like to play the Easter Bunny this Easter, purchase a gift such as our Easter Baskets for Children Girls for someone you love. Baskets By Rita provides quite a few Easter baskets to choose from and is providing 10% off all Easter gift baskets for the month of March. Our little girl's Easter Basket is oh so cute and filled with goodies and fun. Our white willow basket contains Butterfly coloring sketch pad, activity book, 12 pk crayola crayons, plastic filled eggs, M& M candies, Starburst candy, Crayon tube filled with chocolate covered sunflower seeds yes the crayon top really works, Disney straw, Jelly Belly beans, Gold fish crackers, large plush bunny, Butterfly ornament, mini soccer ball, rubber ducky dressed up like a fairy, Easter cookies, lip gloss, popcorn, playing cards, peeps candies and a chocolate bunny. This is a great way to say "Happy Easter" to special kids far away. When this filled Easter Basket is empty, they can keep the basket for the Easter egg hunt. We can customize this basket to make it more appropriate for younger or older kids, just mention her age at checkout in the additional information box. http://www.basketsbyrita.com/assets/images/easter-baskets-for-girls.jpg  http://www.basketsbyrita.com

Valentine Gifts in Fort Collins Colorado

Love likely the most potent word in any language. This tiny one syllable word has resulted in warfare, betrayal, and lunacy, but it has also been the cause of harmony, unanticipated thrills, and unparalleled inspiration. How can it be that a force that is usually so positive can direct us to such bad? The French, acknowledged for love, have many captivating love stories to tell. Take the story of the sculptor Rodin and his apprentice Camille Claudel. Claudel worked for Rodin when they began their affair. His refusal to leave his wife for her made Claudel insane and she destroyed quite a lot of her pieces of art during bouts of paranoia a symptom of her schizophrenia. Claudel spent the last 30 years of her life in a hospital. How can a thing that can direct someone to such bouts of despair be the one thing that we all seek in this life? On the other hand, let us consider another french couple. Voltaire and Emilie du Chatelet carried on a 15 year long romance which was scorned by the people, but permitted by Chatelet's husband, the Marquis Florent-Claude du Chatelet. Chatelet and Voltaire shared a strong scholarly bond and spent time philosophizing together, accumulating books for their library, and sharing suggestions on each other's work in mathematics and science. Their shared values and devotion to each other fueled their love even after she died. Upon her death, Voltaire wrote of Chatelet, It is not a mistress I have lost but half of myself, a soul for which my soul seems to have been made. Regardless of her arranged marriage to the Marquis, the affection between Chatelet and Voltaire was tolerated and not envied. They were the topic of contempt but were allowed to live their lives together in shared respect. Their story reveals love in its ideal form. In my point of view, love is the sole thing worth living for. Whether it's love of kin, love of something, or love for a significant other, without love life is trivial. Maybe that is why love can force us to such extremes. For many, love is worth dying for. For many, it is worth living for. As Valentine's Day gets closer love is on everyone's minds. I wish each and every one of you a blissful love story packed with all the best love may bring and none of the worst. This Valentine's Day, demonstrate your love with a Red Hot Valentine Gift from Baskets By Rita.This Red hot Valentine's day box is perfect for all the special ladies in your life. An adorable teddy bear, milk chocolate truffles, dark chocolate and raspberry Chocolove bar,trail mix,a scented votive candle,chocolate chip cookies, Jelly Belly candy,caramel corn, hot cocoa, mixed nuts and a brownie. Say you are hot to your Valentine this year with our sweet treat. Everybody needs a little reminder from time to time of simply how much we are loved. If you like this blog, be sure to forward it on via Twitter or Facebook. Thanks a bunch!