Mailbox Monday: The Nest and a Virtual Shopping Trip to the Arrangement, a Favorite Local Shop

Book shopping has been my retail therapy during corona time. I got one new book last week, along with some other cozy treats. Did you get any new books last week?



THE BOOK

The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney. The Nest was an impulse purchase for me, mostly based on the beautiful cover. It is a family story about a drunk driving accident that jeopardizes the anticipated inheritance of four adult children. The book is being adapted for a movie.

The Nest was one of the things I picked up on a virtual shopping trip I took to one of my favorite local shops last week. The Arrangement celebrated its 40th anniversary this month, although it wasn't much of a celebration since the store is not open right now because of coronavirus.

THE SHOPPING

One or two people are working at The Arrangement each day to take phone orders. It's a local shop, not set up with a full-on website for e-commerce. So I first got some ideas from pictures on their Facbook page and website. Then I called up and, after making sure the helper wasn't busy, we did a FaceTime call so she could walk around the shop and show me some specific things I had questions about. For example, I asked her to show me which 500-piece puzzles they had in stock, the size and scents of my favorite candles, and to show me the size of the little lemon plate I saw on the website. It worked great! My order was available for curbside pick up or local delivery. What a fun pick-me-up!

I'm inspired by the ingenuity of local businesses to stay in business when they can't be open to customers. Mail orders, sidewalk service, local delivery -- all these innovations are less than ideal, but if it gets a business over this rough patch, I'm willing to meet them half way.



MAILBOX MONDAY

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday!  This weekly "show & tell" blog event lets participants share the books they got the week before.

Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, and Martha of Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf host this fun event.