There are some people you work with that make the day go by easier, and then there are those rare people that somehow end up thinking like you, finishing your sentences, and jumping on board with your crazy ideas before you even finish saying them out loud. That would be Julie and me.
Honestly, sometimes I think we have become one person with two different hairstyles and let me not forget our age difference 😉. As now, Julie refers to me as Mom, and I am quite content with that as well.
Customers call the store all the time and can’t tell if they are talking to Julie or me. We answer the same way, laugh at the same things, get excited over the same yarns, and somehow end up headed down the same squirrel trail at the exact same moment. It is pretty funny.
And the best part? We truly have so much fun together.
Wednesday night was the perfect example of how our brains work together. We were talking about doing an event collaboration with Red Fish Seafood Grill, owned by one of my customers turned dear friend, Rolita, and her husband, David. They have this wonderful upstairs space that holds about 75 people, and immediately my mind started wandering into “Hallmark movie mode.” Can’t you just picture it? A room full of knitters and crocheters gathered upstairs, yarn everywhere, laughter bouncing off the walls, food being passed around, projects spread across tables. Just pure happiness.
Now, on Tuesday, I had stumbled across the cutest crochet pattern called the Dumpling Bag. Then Lynn, one of our newer employees, had knitted a dumpling bag. Pat had crocheted a larger version. Suddenly, dumpling bags were apparently taking over Yarn Store Boutique.
So, there we were Wednesday night brainstorming, and I casually said to Julie, “Hey… why don’t we do a Dumpling Party? We could have three teachers, different versions of the bag, Chinese food, and make it a whole night.”
Without missing a beat, Julie says, “You are brilliant Doris.”
Which, for the record, I am NOT. I just have lots of random ideas floating around at all times.
But this is exactly how we work together. One of us throws out an idea and the other immediately starts building on it. Before I knew it, Julie had texted Rolita, picked a date, set a time, and suddenly this little dumpling idea became a real event.
That is how fast things happen around here.
Sometimes we even show up dressed alike without planning it. Same colors. Same sparkly shoes. Same energy. It is honestly a little scary sometimes.
But what I love most is that all this fun, creativity, and excitement spills over into the atmosphere at YSB. It is not just Julie and me. It is Lynn, Pat, Dianne, Kim, and all the people who walk through those doors and become part of this wonderful community we have built together.
So now it is official.
Our Dumpling Bag Event at Red Fish Seafood Grill is scheduled for June 16, 2026, at 5:30 P.M.
Rolita will have delicious food set up buffet style, and your event fee will include dinner, instruction, and your choice of Dumpling Bag kit. We will have three teachers on board, lots of laughter, and probably a little bit of chaos too — which honestly sounds exactly like us.
We are hoping this becomes a new tradition. Good food, good friends, beautiful yarn, and a new project on our needles or hooks.
And truly, that sounds like one of the best evenings I can imagine.