I use a local vendor to do my manufacturing. They will tell you, I’m a perfectionist. This vendor now understands if I send something back, a simple repolish is not going to meet my standards. They work hard for my customers. In appreciation, I often buy their staff lunch, and at Christmas, I usually present the owners with a liquid gift. Last year, it was a fabulous bottle of red wine. In my haste to get out of the city, I packed the wine in bags from the case in my trunk, and I tipped the doorman to please deliver the bottles to their suite. Later that afternoon, I got a phone call asking if these bottles were from me? “Of course! Couldn’t you tell by the incriminating evidence?” Laughing, they replied, “But you didn’t sign your name.” I replied, “Who else would send you wine in a ‘nutcracker’ bag!” — Denise Oros, Linnea Jewelers, La Grange, IL