Welcome to the world, Limone.
You can shop Limone right here. We are shipping now!
Dear friends,
Fourteen years ago, Stuart and I sat at the counter of our local bank. A man in a suit, perhaps not aware of the frown on his face, looked through his glasses and quietly thumbed through our paperwork. It was painfully quiet and the coffee in my styrofoam cup had grown cold, the nerves of the entire ordeal making my hands even colder. His worn expression told us long before his words did: he wasn’t impressed. Still, we sat still and quiet, hoping that despite it all he would, in fact, loan us the money we needed to buy a business. A business that I hadn’t built, but had spent the better part of ten years working at on and off - through high school, through college, even through my first year as a mother.
It was a European-inspired garden house, called Bloomers (Hi Janine!), and it is where I learned about flowers, about creativity, about color, and about how much joy it brought me to curate a beautiful space. My very favorite days in the shop were the ones slow with customers. I’d put French Jazz on the radio, light the candles, and after filling the days flower orders, would happily tool around the shop, pricing merchandise, rearranging displays, and creating a whole mood from my workings. If all went well, at the end of the day, I’d be mopping and reflecting back on the wonderful emotions curated through the inspired objects I’d set on display - objects that told stories, enriched the beauty, served a purpose. It was palpable. Magical.
(Janine, the owner of Bloomers, is also who I first backpacked through Europe with at 20 years old. It’s a fantastic story in and of itself, should we ever sit down over a cappuccino together someday.)
Life is rarely anything if unpredictable. Our business loan fell through and instead of settling into my desired-life as the owner of Bloomers, we ended up moving to Southern Alabama. Alas, that’s a decade and a half of history that doesn’t need repeating today.
Still, it’s how, and why, I’m here today - giddy - to tell you that even though it took me a bit longer than expected, we are finally ready to welcome to the world our brand new store, Limone.
(Lee-moh-nay.)
What we sell may not be the meat and potatoes of your home (read: toilet paper) but what is a kitchen without the zest, the color, the fragrance, the beauty, the vibrancy of the lemon? This is beauty. This is what makes food sing!
Allow me the pleasure of showing rather than telling:
We will be sharing some of the special artisans who craft our products in the coming months - just like we can know our farmer, we can also know the maker of our products. Many of the products are limited run, for short stints of time, so stay tuned for lots of new products circulating in and out in the coming months.
The fine art photography featured by yours truly will also be limited seasonally.
The deepest, most heartfelt thank you to those of you who supported the launch of Limone with your preorders. You enabled us to kickstart our business! In many ways, you did for us what the man-at-the-bank could not. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for waiting patiently for your products - they’ve shipped and will be arriving any day! Tag us when you get them on Instagram, won’t you? limonegoods & shayeelliott.
There’s much more that I can and want to share about how much this business means to us, such as the ability to connect with you all in a tangible way, but for now, I want you browse, explore, and let me know what you think. No really! You can email limone@theelliotthomestead.com with comments, suggestions, or products you’d like us to try and source.
Orders are shipping now! Ladies and gentlemen, this means we’re open for business!
Will you do me one more favor while you’re here? Follow Limone on Instagram at @limonegoods and you can be the first to know about newly released products, along with the ability to enter giveaways and more. As a “new” business over two decades in the making, it’s a real boost to us. We could not make this happen without our community.
Thanks for being a part of it.
To a life of flavor, beauty, and all the other wonderful things we can make when life gives us lemons. Perhaps it’s actually given us the best of all.
Love,
Shaye
