Independence Day

The 4th of July is only days away, I can't believe it, we are midway through the summer. I thought it would be fun to share a few "fun facts" about our Country and her Independence Day.

2.5 Million
In July 1776 the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation

311.7 Million
The nation's estimated population on this July Fourth

$3.2 Million
In 2010, the dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags. The vast majority of this amount ($2.8 million) was for U.S. flags made in China.

$486,026
Dollar Value of U.S. flags exported in 2010. Mexico was the leading customer, purchasing $256,407 worth

$190.7 Million
The value of fireworks imported from China in 2010, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imported.

31
Number of places that have "liberty" in their names. The most populous one as of April 1,2010 is Liberty, Missouri (29,149) Iowa with 4 has more places than any other state: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty, and West Liberty.

35
Number of places that have "eagle" in their names. The most populous is Eagle Pass, Texas (26,248).

11
Number of places with "independence" in their name. the most populous one is Independence, Missouri (116,830).

9
Number of places that have "freedom" in their names. The most populous one is New Freedom, Pennsylvania (4,464)

5
Number of places with "American" in their name. The most populous one is in our very own home state American Fork, Utah (26,263).

All of these fun facts can be found on the US Census Bureau Website. Have a happy & safe July 4th.

What to Wear Wednesday

It is a wonder I am able to take home a paycheck with all of the cute things that we get in. This week is no exception I absolutely adore this Slub Jersey Top by Adiktd. It features a cap sleeve, with a raw neck edge, soft screen print, and stones. It definately falls in to the 3F category, Feminine, Flirty and Fun.

Help Get 1,500 People to Like Us

We are having a great contest on Facebook. All you have to do is let all of your friends to go on and like us and leave your name in the comments under the post. For every person that leaves your name in the comments, you will be entered to win a $100.00 gift certificate that is good in the store or for you to call in your order. Tell your friends to tell their friends too, the more likes we get, the more chances you will have to win. Contest ends June 30th and results will be posted Friday July 1st.

Friday Favorite

This week, Sherry our boot gal galore, picked her favorite item and it is the Justin Gypsy's. She has her own so she knows, they are so comfortable and wear very well. The Justin Gypsy comes in several color combinations and styles. This is an excellent boot choice for someone just starting out wearing boots.

Inspiration

If you haven't already, I encourage you to check out my sister blog Danna's Bla Bla Blog for Horse Lovers. Danna is our amazing and inspiring leader and Burns Saddlery has been in her family for 135 years. I absolutely love her positive attitude and energy. Being around Danna just makes you excited for life.

On her blog, she often refers to books she has studied and the lessons to be learned. I have been reading Napoleon Hill's Keys to Success and I am genuinely inspired. Danna's daughter in law, Misty (also one of my very close friends) quotes from the book often, "What ever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve" If your mind conceives negative thoughts, then negative things you will get, but if your mind conceives positive thoughts then positive things will happen.

That is where PMA comes in to play, Positive Mental Attitude, will help how you live your life as well as the outcome of your situation. PMA is not always and easy thing to have, but it is so much easier when the people around you practice the same. That is one of the many things I love about my position with Burns Saddlery. I am constantly inspired and constantly given the opportunity to better myself in ways I didn't know were possible.

To me, learning something new each day makes every day a success. I have been so fortunate to be able to not only to obtain new general knowledge daily, but having the opportunity to learn and develop ideas that will better the person that I am.

What to Wear Wednesday

To be perfectly honest, I don't know who reads this blog or if anyone does at all (I'm hoping I have at least a few readers), but I do tend to focus more towards the ladies. So for what to wear today, I'm going to pick something for the guys.

I am loving these plaid western style snap shirts by Southern Thread. I think they are extremely attractive on a guy. They are young and hip giving you a casual, relaxed look. Complete the look with some Southern Thread Jeans and your favorite boots.

Click on the pictures for more information on these great shirts.

Queening

I have officially been introduced into the world of "Queening". Having no prior experience or knowledge of the rodeo queen world other than occasionally seeing a western clad girl sitting atop her horse in our annual 4th of July parade and thinking I bet she is warm in that outfit, I volunteered to help my fellow co-worker Amanda with the local queen contest.

Amanda has never run a queen contest, but she does have a lot more knowledge about the entire situation than I do. However, I am pretty good at organization and moral support so we put together a contest for 26 girls ages 2-19, and what a day it was.

We began at 8:00 am with registration and by 9:00 we had 3 no shows. Not too much of a problem. We had the "Pee-Wee" competition first. There were 3 girls age 2-4 that answered a few questions and rode a stick horse for the judges, they all won a tiara, buckle, sash, bag of treats and got to keep their stick horses. It was adorable.

We then moved on to the interviews. Things were going smoothly until one of the judges got a call that her husband had "wrecked" his horse and may have broken his leg. Mind you she lives an hour away and had ridden with the other judges. She called her mom and she & I headed north while her mom headed south. Luckily we got the mom of the reining queen to fill in. Crisis averted.

Then the reining queens horse began to colic. Caught it early and another crisis averted. Then things began to flow. I had the opportunity to sit in on interviews and learned some interesting things. I didn't know a Rodeo Queen never removes her hat, for obvious reasons I suppose. It pays to draw a late number, especially if your fellow contestants choose to discuss the questions they were asked. Even though the judges mixed it up a little, there is no way to come up with 150 + different questions with similar answer potential.

Horsemanship was so much fun. I loved watching the mini girls ages 9-13 do their figure 8's in the arena, they were so adorable. The junior and senior girls did great as well, they looked beautiful. We presented the awards and all of the mini girls recieved a tiara, buckle and treats. They were so thrilled even if they didn't get a sash. The junior and senior royalties recieved some awesome prizes that we had a blast picking out.

All in all it was a long and fun day. There were a lot of positive comments, and as of yet no complaints. Not too bad for a couple of girls with no experience :)

Friday Favorite

I've been a bit of a Friday Favorite Flunky as of late, but I'm back on track and this weeks favorite comes from our super sweet and cute Emily, display and sales girl extraordinaire. Emily's favorite item in the store is this sweet and sassy hot pink handbag. We have some extremely cute and fun handbags in courtesy of Emily's great taste. This came in last week and I can't see it being here much longer. It is the perfect punch of fun for summer.

Shout Out to Cowgirl Diary

I've said it before and I will say it again, I have the best job in the world. As part of my work, I get to check out all sorts of social media including blogs. I just got finished reading an article on Cowgirl Diary entitled Pick Your Battles. I absolutely loved it, I've always been a firm beliver on picking my battles especially when it comes to my children. Not having been around too many horses and having that as a goal in the near future, it was great advice that I definately will remember.

Also speaking of social media, I along with the girls in customer service will be taking over the Burns Saddlery facebook. We have some fun contests, give aways and specials in the works so be sure to "like" us to keep up to date on all of the great new things going on.

What to Wear Wednesday

I am in love with this top from Cruel Girl. This 60/40 poly-cotton blend, grey striped, burnout tee with hood is light weight and perfect for summer. The grey tone on tone screen print design is a subtle and classy touch to this great shirt, making it a perfect choice for a little dressier occasion. It will be adorable with bermudas, capri's, a skirt or jeans

Father's Day

Father's day is this Sunday and Burns Saddlery wants to help you show the special guy in your life that you care. We have our men's shirts at buy 1 get 1 half off. Belts, wallets and felt hats are all 20% off. We can also hook him up with a new custom Burns Saddle, a new pair of Lucchese Cowboy Boots, or a beautiful Tom Balding bit.

Reno Rodeo

It's that time again and the Reno Rodeo is on our doorstep. Burns Saddlery is excited to be taking our show on the road. We invite everyone to stop by and check out our booths and say "hey" and let us know what you think. The rodeo runs June 16th-25th.

What to Wear Wednesday

This lipstick pink v-neck athletic style tee with green and white accents is brought to us
by Cruel Girl.

This soft and comfortable 100% cotton tee is a fun addition for summer. Pair it with your favorite shorts, bermudas, capri's or jeans.

Great Deals on Facebook

For all of our social media friends we will be having some great deals on our facebook page this summer. The first feature items will be from our home decor collections. Below are a few of the items that will be featured.

Be sure to check out our facebook page often and I will let you in on our great facebook deals.

What a Week

Last Friday, my son graduated from high school and my daughter graduated from middle school. Then Saturday morning he left on a 2 week trip. Needless to say, I missed 2 days of work. Then Monday I came in ready to play catch up and the power went out for 5 hours, which ended up in all of us going home.
Excuses aside, I have let the blog go this week. I'm all caught up and ready to bring you some fun posts for the month of June :)

Boot of the Month

The boot of the month for June is one of my most favorite boots that we carry, the Eden. Hand filigreed, hand tooled and hand painted, the Eden is an eyecatching, and breathtaking wearable work of art. The detail in this boot is absolutely stunning, each element comes together telling a beautiful story.

The Eden is avaliable in white, pursaline pink, and black. It can either have a formal finish giving the boot a classic look or a destroyed finish giving the boot a more worn and casual feel.

This boot is definately too pretty to hide, they look amazing paired with skinny jeans or a skirt. The Eden is most certianly a timeless addition to any wardrobe.