Guest Blog Post by Susan Fehrenbacher, Owner & Head Chocolatier of Suzy’s Chocolates, LLC
You rack your brain. You want to express just how much you care. Because you do. You care so much for this person. And this person is so deserving. Deserving of something wonderful. But you don’t want to overdo it. You’re not trying to buy their love; that would be tacky and ridiculous. You simply want to figure out the perfect gift to warm their heart, tell them how special they are to you and show exactly how you feel.
And then you find it. THE perfect gift. You know it precisely the moment you lay eyes on it. You get an overwhelming feeling of “YES, they will love this! I am a gift giving genius! I must procure this item.”
You can imagine the delight they will feel when they first open the gift you scored for them – something deep within their subconscious tells them that your gift-giving, hunter-gatherer prowess is rivaled by no other. You did it. You found THE PERFECT GIFT. And you made their day.
Or did you? Have you ever stopped to think that maybe what just happened is that you made your OWN day? Yes, it can feel so satisfying to hit that gift-giving nail on the head. By giving full consideration into what might make someone else happy and being able to deliver upon that awareness, you have given yourself the best gift ever. A sense of accomplishment. A wonderful sense of giving. Possibly even joy.
Yes, it is wonderful to receive a great gift, but it can be much more immensely rewarding to be the gift giver. And so, as the holidays approach (often times faster than we anticipated), we look, we shop, we contemplate, sometimes we settle, but when we discover that perfectly superb gift that we just know our special gift recipient will adore, it really feels good. It kind of feeds the soul. It brings us joy to bring joy to others.
At least that’s how I see it. And that is a huge part of why I do what I do when I make my artisan chocolates. Making chocolates is my passion. Each one is hand-crafted with love using local ingredients and careful attention to detail. I carefully splatter, spray and paint each shell with colored cocoa butter to give it a brilliant, colorful look using only the finest, Fair Trade chocolate available. Then I fill them with delicately balanced and flavorful centers using the wonderful local ingredients available to us in the Willamette Valley: hazelnuts, berries, wine, honey and lavender, and many more. And finally, when the chocolates are turned out of their molds, they are arranged into a perfectly lovely, yet subtle packaging that is adorned with a beautiful hand-tied bow. Just for you.
They are for you or for your special gift-receiving person to enjoy. For as much as I know how you love them, believe me, it does a little something for me, too, to see you so happy. So, for those of you who have purchased, enjoyed, and given away Suzy’s Chocolates to your special person – thank you. You just made my day. 😊
If you would like to continue the perfect gift giving cycle this holiday season, I would be honored and thrilled to help you out. Please check out my website at: www.SuzysChocolates.com. You will also find me on Instagram (@suzyschocolates) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/suzyschocolates). Orders can be placed by emailing me at suzy@suzyschocolates.com.
Enjoy and be happy!!
Susan Fehrenbacher Flood
ABOUT THE AUTHOR— SUSAN FEHRENBACHER FLOOD
Susan grew up on a farm and ranch in Terrebonne, Oregon. She graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. After college, she moved to Southern California where she worked as an engineer and held various corporate leadership positions in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, and Regulatory Affairs, the majority of which were in medical device manufacturing. After she and her husband had their daughter in 2015, they decided to move home to Oregon to be closer to family and decided upon McMinnville. Susan maintained her medical device manufacturing job while working from home. The move and the shift to working from home made Susan realize her desire to pursue something more creative and to further connect with the people in her new community. And so, a chocolatier was born.