Gary Miller, from Jori International (linens), pays me a delightful visit (sales call) several times a year.  He lugs in three very large cases of linen samples and Pamela, our money manager immediately cringes in fear of what I will spend!  Gary is from Toronto and drives these samples all over the country, and thus knows pretty much everything about fabrics, wash ability and color trends. 

Hanging out with him in my office for nearly five hours last week, attracted lots of attention from the rest of the girls in our office, as Gary and I basically drowned ourselves in color swatches, separating the maybe’s, the yes’s and the absolutely nots into three separate piles.  While I try and be practical, ordering lots of black, ivory and white, I am immediately attracted the the lively prints and bright colors.  I really just wanted it all. 

Having beautiful table linens can make a party’s ambiance superior.  Color is a simple way to improve the look of any event venue… but how many requests will I have for deep purples and hot pinks, green shimmer sequins and pastel vintage Laura Ashley prints?  Once Tracy came in to help me sort, she started a list and insisted I be practical…no I couldn’t just have everything.   Soon my pile became an acceptable size and the purchase order Gary wrote up was finalized.  Pamela had to leave the room!

  We all came to an affordable agreement and a shipment is now on the way.  May the party that is planned for the day the linens arrive be flexible enough for me to break out the new linens, even if they weren’t the chosen  colors!  Thanks Gary, our exploration of your three sample cases will be needed again very soon!