the pleasure of your company

  1. How to Prepare a Brie for Baking
    One of the easiest and most-loved party appetizers is a baked Brie with a scrumptious topping. There are several ways to prepare a Brie for baking and how you do it depends on personal taste. The purpose of preparing it is to allow steam to escape and prevent the Brie from puffing up or bursting, and to facilitate the serving process.
    The simplest way to prepare it is to score the top rind of the cheese in a star pattern.
    Another way often used is to remove the top rind of the cheese entirely; this is the best technique for those who like a bit less rind with their cheese and it allows the toppings to mix into the cheese better.
    The third way is a combination: Score the top rind of the cheese in a star pattern. Then cut the Brie in half horizontally. Place the bottom half of the cheese in a baker, top with 1/2 the toppings, place the top half of the cheese on top and cover completely with toppings.
    Whichever way you choose, it will be delicious. The Brie bakers we carry at the store, pictured above,  are always popular gifts - $22.50 each and they come with a box of topping mix. And the toppings we carry - both dry mix and ready to serve - make quick work of preparing the Brie:  Cherry Jubilee, Cranberry & Almonds, Maple Walnut, Apple Pecan, Pear & Rosemary, Sweet Onion, Maple Apple and more - yum!

  2. A Child Leaves Your Home......
    This is the best card ever to send to a son or daughter off to college. Can anyone read this without tearing up? And laughing at the same time?


    Inside: One day I was boosting you onto a school bus and the next you're leaving home. I didn't know it would be this difficult because believe me, there were times I couldn't wait to get you out of the house. But now as you're leaving to begin a new life, I'm recalling a million ordinary moments.....the jokes, the triumphs, the failures, even the fighting.....because HOME is where you are loved, not for what you do or who you are but just because you're there.

  3. Off to College
    So many kids are getting used to their new college routines and some questions are bound to come up about how to handle situations they encounter. Plus how to make healthy quick meals that don't break the budget. We have a couple great books for you to mail off to your favorite student:



    The College Dorm Survival Guide gives expert advice on everything from avoiding the Freshman 15 to decorating a dorm room. $12.95

    College Cooking has healthy recipes for people with very little equipment, very little experience and very little money. $19.99 Tuck a couple recipe cards with easy family favorites inside and maybe they'll eat a little better.
    Surviving Your Stupid, Stupid Decision to Go to Graduate School! Adam Ruben spent 7 years at Johns Hopkins University getting his PhD in Molecular Biology and turned his experiences into a standup comedy act. the book is hilarious and gives a wecome break to anyone who is overwhelmed and burned out by grad school. The book has gotten great reviews by graduate students and they recommend it to new grad students. $12.00






    Tomorrow, we'll post about some really funny gifts to send along
  4. Congratulations to the Louie Winners!



    The LOUIE Awards are the greeting card and stationery industry's Oscars and Grammys. Card designers and publishers submit the very best of their best work for judging in 53 categories and they are truly little pieces of art and poetry on paper. I've been a judge for the LOUIE's several times, and it is a very difficult job to help pick one winner in each category when so many of the cards are so beautifully done - the kind of cards and sentiments that give you goosebumps or a hearty laugh when you read them.

    This year we are pleased that some of our favorite publishers won top awards. Crane & Co's beautiful sympathy card won the honorable mention (3rd place) for overall 2011 Card of the Year, Great Arrow Graphics' cards took top honors in three categories, and other categories were won by Museum of Modern Art, Anna Griffin, Compendium, Madison Park and Amy Smyth. Congratulations to everyone who stood out in a large crowd of exceptional work!
  5. Need Gifts for the Class of 2011 Graduates?







    Haute Papier is having a Graduation Promotion!


    Stock up on the perfect gift for all the graduates in your life with the "five for the price of four" special on petite silk stationary boxes.


    Each Petite Stationary Box includes one beautiful Thai silk box with 35 letterpress note cards and envelopes. (Return address and liners optional).


    Choose from a variety of monograms, motifs, and ink colors to personalize each stationary set.


    The original price per box is $90 and with the special promotion each box costs $72.


    Stop in to place your order before June 13th!
  6. Dabney Lee Moderne on sale!
    Here's the first of a series of specials and offers during the month of April: 20% off personalized stationery from the Dabney Lee Moderne album! Dabney Lee Moderne is one of our favorites - a modern mix of notecards, letterpressed or flat-printed on luxurious papers in bright colors and contemporary patterns. I have some with my name on it and always get compliments when I use it for personal notes.
    Sales runs through April 20th - delivery will be by May 7th in time for Mother's Day and graduation gifts.
  7. Something Special for Your Birthday!


    A great way to celebrate birthdays in your house is to have a birthday place mat and apron made by Peking Handicraft for the person of honor for their special day. Starting with breakfast and continuing throughout the day, think of how special the honoree will feel when they get to wear the apron or use the place mat. Not only is this especially true for children but for the child in all of us! They also add a little extra when you need a birthday something to give to a friend or colleague.
    Both are made of cotton and can be machine washed and dried.

    The apron costs $22.50 and the place mat just $10.
  8. My Glass Runneth Over With Love
    Some places bring back fond memories. Some places are on your list to visit. We are now carrying Cat Studio glasses from 45 states and cities and one would be perfect to fill with Hershey's kisses as a Valentine's Day memory or a surprise to come. Hide tickets to Paris in a Paris glass? That would be one fine gift for your honey!
    Cat Studio glasses: $12.00 each
  9. We're Lovestruck!


    We have personalized Valentine's Day cards for the first time ever! 50 cute designs for girls and boys and each order comes with matching stickers.
    20 cards, 20 stickers - $18.00
    40, cards, 40 stickers - $32.00
    Larger quantites available

    Orders have to be placed by February 1st for delivery the week before Valentine's Day, so come on over!


  10. Baltimore Magazine Shop Crawl


    Baltimore Magazine and the shops at Green Spring Station hosted a VIP Shop Crawl last night. The wine flowed, the strolling musicians had everyone singing along, and there were discounts and specials everywhere!
    Betsy Rider was at The Pleasure of Your Company offering free on-the-spot personalization of Graphic Image leather journals, passport covers, dated diaries, luggage tags, photo albums and notebooks and it was a hit with our customers. You haven't missed out - we are continuing the free personalization through December 7th with delivery for Christmas.
    We had a big crowd turn out and this morning the store looked like we'd had a party the night before, but we're putting everything back in place and still have great gifts galore!
    On our Christmas wish list: that Baltimore Magazine continues to hold the Shop Crawl here at Green Spring Station - it's a great event and becoming a wonderful annual tradition.
  11. The Perfect Finishing Touch
    With the stock for Envelopments invitations, we can now order postage in matching Envelopments patterns and artwork. Another company, Lallie, has begun offering postage with artwork for their invitations, too. What a nice finishing touch for invitations! We remember the days when we were still trying to get our suppliers to add matching colors of envelopes - who would have ever thought the postage could match, too?
  12. Posting on Facebook Revisited
    Deborah Hefter, one of the partner/owners at Envelopments, emailed me this comment in answer to our earlier post about pictures on Facebook. Hadn't thought about Facebook turning everyone's life into a reality show, but it's so true.
    "Andy Warhol once said "Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes." Little did he know that with the Public Forums of Facebook, Twitter and Video chatting, that anyone can now have their own reality TV shows going 24/7.
    It is an interesting dilemma, this mash up of social graces and technology, I would imagine that etiquette books will continue to re-write passages to include all these new mediums. The question is, how do we now control our own preference for what is made public and what is reserved for our families and closest friends. Will future invitations need to include a non-disclosure agreement?"
    The Envelopments blog is always good reading - the owners and designers all post and there are many points of view: http://blog.envelopments.com
  13. This is an Interesting Idea

    We understand that customers hate the hassle of having to go to the post office to get stamps for greeting cards they need to send, so we have stamps available for purchase with your greeting cards at The Pleasure of Your Company. But here's a new approach under consideration at the USPS, and it's an even more convenient idea. The article is long - if you want a one-sentence synopsis, it's that greeting card manufacturers would supply postage-paid envelopes with greeting cards.


    The news that the United States Postal Service has been experiencing hard times is not news. Hoping to breathe some life into the struggling mail system the USPS has proposed a postage-free greeting card test. With correspondence volume dropping 14 percent since 2002 and first class letters and cards dropping by nearly three billion pieces in 2010, the need to revitalize correspondence is obvious. Many blame the increasing popularity and pervasiveness of electronic communication, but many consumers have bemoaned the extra step required of providing postage. In fact at the recent Greeting Card Association (GCA) Convention in Sanibel, FL, a young woman on a panel of college students noted that she would be more likely to mail cards if a stamp was included.
    The experiment which was filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission on November 8, relies on the use of the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) and is based on the concept that consumers will be more likely to use first class mail if they don't have to provide postage on their own.
    While the idea has merit, there are still many issues to iron out as even those in the industry who are proponents of the plan will attest. Under the proposal, greeting card manufacturers will pay the postage based on sales information along with a scan of the IMB captured during the mailing process.
    The IMB encodes tracking information that is read by the processing equipment and price information is recorded. The greeting card companies that participate would receive a unique mailer ID for the market test as serialization is required for envelopes used in the program. This would identify the company who will be responsible for paying the postage once the envelopes are mailed. An imprint stating "No postage Necessary if Mailed in the United States" will be placed in the upper right corner of the envelope where postage would normally go. The greeting card companies will be charged 48 cents for cards and envelopes with a combined weight between one and two ounces plus the second ounce price for sales/scans. This pricing is just for the test and the agency has stressed that the pricing is open to adjustment in the future.
    Participating companies will have to meet specific mailpiece design requirement and have design approval before distribution. The mail will be processed and delivered the same as standard single-piece first class mail.
    This is just the early stages of planning and clearly there are many concerns for greeting card manufacturers to consider before deciding to undertake this system.
  14. Congratulations to Prince William and Kate!
    Weddings, or at least one long-anticipated wedding, will be in the news spotlight for the next nine months or so. It will be fun to see what predictions are made, and what choices Kate Middleton actually makes for her wedding.
    I found this website for London wedding planner, Mark Niemierko. It is interesting to see how the British do so many things just a little different than we do. Loved the photos of the buffet tables and desserts and some of the locations are to die for. We'll be looking at more British websites to get new ideas for our Baltimore brides.
  15. 30 Years and Counting
    Today, November 15th, is the 30th Anniversary of Lynn and I opening our first store at Harborplace. That first little store in Harborplace was more of a party and entertaining store than the stationery store we've become. We were reminiscing about some of the best sellers from the early 80s: pinatas, Murphy's Law posters, funny cocktail napkins (remember the one with "Dinner will be ready when the smoke alarm goes off"?), Rubik's cubes, Paper-By-the-Pound, Mrs. Grossman's stickers, the Preppy Handbook, Baltimore shot glasses, aprons with funny sayings and the first personalized items - mugs, paper lunch bags, and balloons with names on them.
    We were remembering people who have worked for us over the years. In 1980, most of them were college girls and a few guys, and they were all younger than me. In 2010, most of the staff have mothers younger than me! And it's always a big surprise when someone from the past stops in to say hi, with a teenager in tow who looks exactly like I remember their mom or dad looking when they worked at the store years ago.
    We opened a second store at Green Spring Station in 1983, and gradually added more stationery and invitation printing to the mix, which grew into the niche we've become known for. In 1984 or so, we started printing birth announcements and it was always fun to watch the kids we announced as they celebrated milestones in their lives. Christenings, 1st birthdays, kindergarten graduation, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs as they turned 13, camp stationery, Sweet 16s, high school and college graduations, 21st birthdays. And then, last year, we started working on weddings for five of them - a very big milestone. Will 2011 have the first baby born to someone we did birth announcements for?
    It's ironic how full circle we've come in 30 years. When we opened The Pleasure of Your Company, the economy was in a recession, the nature of retail was changing, and mind-blowing new technology was about to change everything. So many things we take for granted were very new in the 80s. For the first time, food, entertainment and shopping were all mixed together and people wanted shopping to be an experience rather than just a trip to the store. And new technologies were just emerging - car phones, desktop computers and printers, VCRS, video games, fax machines, bar coding, a microwave in every home. How many people truly remember what it was like to not be able to buy the latest version of Windows, or the Adobe Creative Suite off the shelf and have to do the programming themselves? Thank goodness we had Lynn, who could write the programming we needed. The learning curve to incorporate these into our lives was a lot like now, as we learn to use smart phones, all the social media, aps, the possibilities that GPS opens up for retail, compete with internet shopping, and so on.
    And so we've come full circle - in 1980, there were a handful of stationery stores in Baltimore. The number grew to 11 or 12, but the recession has cut it back to a handful again. Technology is an opportunity and a challenge - the motto over my desk, "everything is changing and change is accelerating" has never been truer. Entrepreneurship is thriving - I think the megabusinesses who can drive pricing and the little businesses who can change on a dime and morph quickly are the businesses who will survive another decade.
    We are at 30 years and counting - still standing, still morphing, still keeping up with the changes. The photographs of the store will look as different in 5 years as they have in all the pictures we've taken in the last thirty. We are thankful for this wonderful adventure - thankful to Jim Rouse for his vision of a downtown renaissance where we could start a business, thankful to the great staff we've had over the years, thankful for the relationships and friendships we have with our vendors, thankful for great landlords, and most of all, thankful to the wonderful customers who have come in year after year and always supported us - you are THE BEST!!!