I’m not a fan of uncomfortable silences, particularly in business settings, so I have a few conversation starters that I like to use when things are looking grim. The one I always reach for first is, “if you could have your own signature sandwich at a deli, what would it be?” Yeah, it’s weird and you need to have a large degree of humility about yourself for asking it, but it works. Curiously enough, no one ever shuns this question, but are actually usually rather proud to describe the sandwich creations they’ve made up in their head. And because it’s always important to have the upper hand in any business transaction, here’s a quick guide to who you’re dealing with by what’s in their sandwich:

- multi-grain breads (minimum 7 grain) = multiple personalities. this is going to be a tough meeting
- anything with sprouts = forget it. you’re not up for the challenge.
- any form of horseradish = erratic, unpredictable. make sure to get everything in writing.
- potato chips on sandwich = workaholic
- ketchup + mustard + mayo = indecisive, overzealous (at least when it comes to condiments)
- soft cheese on sandwich = pushover, you have this deal in the bag
- rye bread = traditional. make sure you talk about the “old days” and mention things like “Roosevelt”, “bee’s knees” and how “catsup” is much better than “ketchup”
- exotic cured meats = refined, but possibly a bit pretentious. (exception: european)
- only ingredients that start with “s”: weird. make sure to wash hands after meeting.
- trimmed crusts = dainty, pushover (see: soft cheese)

And, if you need a follow-up, the question is, “so what would you name your sandwich”? The rule of thumb seems to be that using the words “Sir” or “Captain” in your sandwich name = instant funny.

I need an image to use with this post, but Janet said that we don’t have any recent pictures that we’ve taken of sandwiches….or past sandwich pictures either. That’s probably a good thing.

If you are searching for something unique for your sweetie at Three Potato Four, be sure to take advantage of our valentines special of free ground shipping for domestic orders over $100.

I got a sweet cake stand for my birthday and am now motivated to make delicious cupcakes. Maybe red velvet or dark chocolate? These lovely treats are from a eleni’s at chelsea market in new york.

We are working on a a shop update for tonight and be sure to check out the amazingly beautiful restored typewriters just added to the shop.

We’re missing summer over here. Holly keeps asking when we are going to plant our seeds and water the flowers. We still have snow on the ground and many more days of winter but I’m longing for long summer days, eating popsicles on the porch, evening bbqs and sandy feet. Here is Holly this summer beach-side with her cousins. Oh, summer…

Enjoy your weekend and look out for some great new products in the shop on Monday morning.

We passed this really great looking drive-in movie theater on one of our recent trips. It was still functioning, but unfortunately closed for the season. This is the first one that I’ve ever seen that was still functioning as a drive-in and not a mini-golf, go-kart track, flea market or tire dump. I’ve always wanted to go to a drive-in and experience it first-hand. There was a dry cleaners in a town near where I grew up called “Dry Vin French Cleaners” that I went to, but it kind of left me wanting more.

On another note, we’ve just finished up Series 2 of our Wooden Box Series, now available in the Originals section of the shop.

And lastly, we stumbled upon a small lot of these great surplus Postal Service bags that work great as laundry bags or…for hauling mail, if you have a lot of it.

This weekend is my birthday. The three of us are going on a little weekend trip. My parents just stopped by and brought over a strawberry shortcake for me and I got a new gnome from my sister for my garden. I have been obsessing over listening to this song over and over again by Ingrid Michaelson. She hails from NYC and has a beautiful voice and this song is so sweet, The Way I Am, you can hear and see the video here. Have a great weekend!

The snow is coming down today. We are busy inside making things, waiting for the snow to stop so we can go out and play and make a snow man family. Holly made her valentines today out of paper and felt, to send to her friends and family and Stu and I finished up the Wooden Box Series we were working on for the shop. They will be added to our Originals section in the shop. We hope to further down the road add more things we’ve made to this section.

It’s late and I’m trying to do good and post more on the blog. Here are some of my thoughts on fruit-related things:

1. Grapefruit spoon. I can confidently say that, growing up, for about 5 years of my life my breakfast consisted of a grapefruit and fruity pebbles cereal. I had only 1 grapefruit spoon during this time and it’s since been lost. Having re-found my love of grapefruits recently, I’m now on the hunt for a serrated spoon with the bamboo handle.

2. Pineapples grow on the ground. Discovered during our honeymoon in central america, I thought that the hotel had placed these in the ground as a joke to the tourists. I’m still in disbelief to this day. I just really can’t wrap my head around it. I thought they grew on trees just like coconuts. How can this be?

3. Home-grown banana tree. A long time ago I saw an ad in a strange catalog where you could buy your own mini banana tree and grow it in your home. The picture in the ad showed that the person had their banana tree in the bathroom. Yes, that image is still in my mind and to this day I can no longer accept bananas people offer me in their home.

4. Backyard fruit trees. Growing up in NJ, this is a totally foreign concept to me. Janet’s relatives were in-town from California and they brought some avocados from the trees in their backyard. What? I can’t explain how dumbfounded I was. All I could think in my head was, “wow…that sounds like something you would need a license or permit for”.

5. Fruit by the Foot. Nothing beats the original. All these peelout shapes are just distraction. Everyone just mushes it into a ball anyway.

When one of us is sick, it is definitely harder to balance work and home life. I have not been feeling well and caught another cold from miss holly. Of course, my cold is always worse than hers. She has so much energy and lately I just feel like taking a nap. Stu is a trooper and has been doing double time. Today I managed to take more photos, because we have a lot of inventory waiting for their photo to be taken for the shop. So, look for another update today and tomorrow. We’re gonna catch up this week, post more on our blog, and I’m going to get over this cold!

Holly accompanied us on a weekend shopping trip for the shop. She has developed an eye for spotting things we like, some of her finds on this trip were a wood bank from the fifties shaped as a beehive, a red Las Vegas pennant with a howdy cowboy on it, and a little wooden puzzle of gnomes. She has been especially helpful in finding inventory for the kids section, which is growing fast. On our trip this weekend she carried a bag of Shrimp Chips to munch on as we shopped (an asian snack that her and i love, stu on the other hand thinks it is very unappetizing).

Look out for our weekly shop update tonight or check it Monday morning.