My Secret Garden’s
Valentine’s Day Contest
YOU SEND THE LETTER … WE’LL SEND THE FLOWERS!
It is not only necessary to love, it is necessary to say so. ~ French saying

Do you have a FAVOURITE CLIENT
that you would like to
recognize and appreciate?
This Valentine’s Day,
MY SECRET GARDEN is inviting you
to tell us a bit about the
CLIENT that YOU love!
Our favourite client (of yours),
will be the first to receive our
NEW Hat Box of Flowers,
delivered to their door on
Friday, February 12th ~
just in time for Valentine’s Day.
As well, our TOP 10 favourite clients
(of yours), will receive a
Francesco Rubinato Calligraphy
pen set with personalized stationery
(for writing their own love letters).
It’s SIMPLE to enter our contest …
Post your “Client Appreciation Letter”
in our Comments Section below
or
EMAIL us at mysecretgarden@mts.net
All you have to do is send us your client’s full name, company name, website (if applicable), as well as a brief description explaining WHY they are so special to you!
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Here are a few of our favourite Love Letters in History …
Napoleon Bonaparte to Josephine De Beauharnais
Paris, December 1795
I wake filled with thoughts of you. Your portrait and the intoxicating evening which we spent yesterday have left my senses in turmoil. Sweet incomparable Josephine, what a strange effect you have on my heart! Are you angry? Do I see you looking sad? Are you worried? … My soul aches with sorrow, and there can be no rest for your lover; but is there still more in store for me when, yielding to the profound feelings which overwhelm me, I draw from your lips, from your heart a love which consumes me with fire? Ah! it was last night that I fully realized how false an image of you your portrait gives!
You are leaving at noon; I shall see you in three hours. Until then, mio dolce amor, a thousand kisses; but give me none in return, for they set my blood on fire.
~ Bonaparte
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Beethoven to His Immortal Beloved
July 6, in the morning
My angel, my all, my very self -
Only a few words today and at that with pencil (with yours) -
Not till tomorrow will my lodgings be definitely determined upon – what a useless waste of time -
Why this deep sorrow when necessity speaks – can our love endure except through sacrifices, through not demanding everything from one another; can you change the fact that you are not wholly mine, I not wholly thine -
Oh God, look out into the beauties of nature and comfort your heart with that which must be -
Love demands everything and that very justly – thus it is to me with you, and to you with me.
But you forget so easily that I must live for me and for you;
if we were wholly united you would feel the pain of it as little as I -
My journey was a fearful one; I did not reach here until 4 o’clock yesterday morning.
Lacking horses the post-coach chose another route, but what an awful one;
at the stage before the last I was warned not to travel at night;
I was made fearful of a forest, but that only made me the more eager – and I was wrong.
The coach must needs break down on the wretched road, a bottomless mud road.
Without such postilions as I had with me I should have remained stuck in the road.
Esterhazy, traveling the usual road here, had the same fate with eight horses that I had with four -
Yet I got some pleasure out of it, as I always do when I successfully overcome difficulties -
Now a quick change to things internal from things external.
We shall surely see each other soon; moreover,
today I cannot share with you the thoughts I have had during these last few days touching my own life -
If our hearts were always close together, I would have none of these.
My heart is full of so many things to say to you – ah -
there are moments when I feel that speech amounts to nothing at all -
Cheer up – remain my true, my only treasure, my all as I am yours.
The gods must send us the rest, what for us must and shall be -
~ Your faithful LUDWIG
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Henry IV to Gabrielle d’Estrees From the battle field before Dreux
June 16, 1593
I have waited patiently for one whole day without news of you; I have been counting the time and that’s what it must be. But a second day–I can see no reason for it, unless my servants have grown lazy or been captured by the enemy, for I dare not put the blame on you, my beautiful angel: I am too confident of your affection–which is certainly due to me, for my love was never greater, nor my desire more urgent; that is why I repeat this refrain in all my letters:
come, come, come, my dear love.
Honor with your presence the man who, if only he were free, would go a thousand miles to throw himself at your feet and never move from there. As for what is happening here, we have drained the water from the moat, but our cannons are not going to be in place until Friday when, God willing, I will dine in town.
The day after you reach Mantes, my sister will arrive at Anet, where I will have the pleasure of seeing you every day. I am sending you a bouquet of orange blossom that I have just received. I kiss the hands of the Vicomtess if she is there, and of my good friend, and as for you, my dear love, I kiss your feet a million times.
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Here are a few exerts from a favourite book of ours
Love Letters
~ An Anthology of Passion ~
Michelle Lovric
“I have seen only you, I have admired only you, I desire only you”
~ Napoleon Bonaparte, French ruler, to Madam Marie Walewska, January 1st, 1807 ~
“I have told you my passion,
my eyes have spoke it,
my tongue pronounced it,
and my pen declared it:…Now my heart is full of you,
my head raves of you,
and my hand writes to you.
~ George Farquhar, English writer of comedies, to Anne Oldfield, an actress, around 1700 ~
My darling dear, delightful Ringo,
could you please send me something of yours?
Anything, a lock of hair,
a thread from your coat,
a smoked cigarette,
a button from your shirt,a piece of old toast, or
a bristle from your toothbrush.
I would treasure it forever.
~ Mary L, a New York fan, to Ringo Starr of the Beatles ~
MY FAVOURITE CLIENT IS
LESLIE RINELLA at RINELLA PRINTING
http://www.rinella.ca
I have been so fortunate to have had so many clients that I love, it’s really hard to choose!
One person that I would really like to recognize for outstanding customer service is Leslie Rinella at Rinella Printers on Tache Avenue in St. Boniface.
I have had many opportunities to work with Leslie and her staff over the past few years, and I am always amazed at how hard they work to make their customers and clients happy.
I often take them cupcakes, but I’ve never sent them flowers before, so this would be a nice change!
Please pick Leslie:)
Thank you,
Yoko Chapman
One of my favorite clients are Alexander and Danielle Svenne from bistro 7 1/4. They come into the Haberdashery with friendly and pleasant attitudes. They have been customers for years and Its always a pleasure to serve them.
I believe that they are deserving of the package. Running your own business and having a family can be hard. But they seem to be pulling it off successfully.
Luke Nolan
The Haberdashery Guys and Girls.