If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know I LOVE the Oscars. Every year we try to commemorate the occasion in some way. This year we are hosting our first ever Oscar’s Pool! Compete against friends, neighbors, our team, and complete strangers from around the country to win a $100 gift card to one of our three stores.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and now is not the time to skimp on love. Love deserves to be celebrated! All of the love. Romantic or not, love keeps us moving and provides joy in what can sometimes be a pretty tough world. Use this day as an excuse to celebrate the relationships that make your life a bit easier, brighter, sillier, and more meaningful.

Not only does Kristen support events, she supports the local business community by keeping her personal shopping dollars local. She gets that it’s our local business community that makes Alexandria a great place to live; it creates jobs and strengthens our local economy. I asked Kristen to share a few of her favorite picks for this weekend’s Warehouse Sale.

Whether you burn candles all day long or just on special occasions, here are some simple tips to help you care for your candles and make them last longer, burn more evenly, and look even prettier!

The 21st Annual Alexandria Boutique Warehouse Sale returns in a walkable format once again this year! This popular longest-running winter affair will take place over two days the weekend of February 1 and 2, 2025 throughout Old Town.

Get a piece of paper, draw a line down the middle, and write “More” in one column and “Less” in the other one. Then visualize the last year, or the last many years, and ask yourself what do you want more of in 2025. Is it more time with family, more time for yourself, more long walks, more curiosity, or maybe more connection?

We hope you are enjoying the holiday season! If you're still feeling festive and looking for a deal, our Holiday Sale will hit the spot! Holiday items are all 50% off right now. A few exclusions apply, but nearly everything is marked down.

If you’re holiday shopping for someone who enjoys the outdoors – a camper, a hiker, a wanderer, a stargazer, or an explorer of any sort, read on. I hope the guide will simplify shopping for the adventurers in your life and perhaps inspires you to do some exploring of your own!

We love a good tradition. One that makes sense and everyone can enjoy. Now that Old Town has a toy store again, we thought it would be fun to continue Why Not's time-tested tradition of staying open until Midnight the Saturday before Christmas. We’re calling it Midnight Merriment!

There’s always that one individual that makes you sweat come holiday shopping time – because they have absolutely EVERYTHING. They’re on top of trends and have the “it” gadget before it's available to anyone else on planet Earth, they also have a vintage collection that museums would fight over and they’re non-expressive and unimpressed (though polite), whenever it’s time to open your present. But…maybe they don’t have one of these:

Holidays can stir up a lot of feelings, and there is comfort in memories that connect us to people and places of the past. We are feeling particularly nostalgic these days and have assembled a Gift Guide to celebrate fond memories and a few things we grew up loving.

Why does he always say he doesn’t need anything, and then looks sad when all the gifts under the tree are for the kids – and you! Surprise him this year with something unique and something he needs, not socks or a sweater, because you know your mother-in-law has that covered. Here’s a guide from our local experts:

We are incredibly grateful for the women in our lives – and appreciate every minute we get to spend with them while they are already juggling so many things! Giving them an unexpected, thoughtful present is just one way to share our love this holiday season.

As Julia Child famously said,” People who love to eat are always the best people.” I completely agree with this sentiment. If you’re lucky enough to have a foodie in your fam or friend circle, we have some great gifting ideas for you!

Wine and flowers are great go-to gifts. If you want to go that route, then be sure the flowers are in a vase, and you tell them clearly the wine is for later. If you want to go a slightly different route, then here are a few good ideas. Keep in mind that a thoughtful gift doesn’t need to break the bank. The overall theme is to pamper your host and make sure they don’t feel like they have to act immediately.

Since Alexandria is what I consider the best collection of independent retailers around, this Small Business Saturday, a group of over a dozen stores have collaborated to do a day of gifts with purchase. Stop in, shop and get a little gift from us. Just a thank you for shopping small this holiday season and helping us keep the doors to our shops open another year!

If traveling and being with family fills you with joy and is what you need this year, then here are a few tips to make it easy. You don’t have to do it alone. If you’re traveling with a partner, they should share the load. I’m talking to you, Moms. It is not your job to manage everything and make everyone happy. A partnership means they fully participate.

With December on the horizon, we’d like to show you the Advent calendars we have this year! So many creative, fun, and tasty ways to countdown to Christmas. We have several options that all double as darling decorations and a few that have extra special surprises inside, some edible and some that will last for years to come.

In this week’s episode of “What kind of nostalgic goodies does Caiti have up her sleeve?,” I am reminded again of those simpler times. No responsibility, carefree and oblivious. Do I miss them? Sure. Would I trade today-me for yesterday-me? Not a chance. Yesterday-me would not have the appreciation for those wild times that today-me does. 

For us we know that the holidays are full of emotion – love, happiness, stress, and melancholy. It’s our job to make them as joyful and stress-free as possible and we take that job very seriously. I’m extremely excited for the selection that we curated for you this year and can’t wait for you to see it! On November 7 from 6pm to 9pm Red Barn Mercantile will fling open its door to our annual Christmas wonderland!