Blossoming Gifts

If there's one thing I love, it's surprises. And not even big surprises. When someone says "I've got a present for you", even if it's just a chocolate bar, I love it.

And pretty much the only thing I love more than receiving surprises is giving them. 

I have a reputation in my family as being a great present buyer. I love getting excited about what to buy somebody (I have a secret Pinterest board year-round of ideas, plus an Amazon wishlist of gifts for other people that I add to throughout the year, even months in advance) and I often get so excited about giving them their present that I almost ruin it for them by giving them hints.

Sometimes I just do mini surprises. I'll pick Phil something up from the shop I know he'll like, or buy my Mum a coffee instead of letting her pay. I like being able to spread unexpected happiness.

Which was what I did on Saturday.

I knew quarter of a mile into parkrun that they had arrived. My phone started ringing loudly in my ears through my headphones while I was trying to concentrate on getting a good time for my first mile. I knew exactly who was calling.

I knew when I caught my breath at the end and checked my phone I would have a text and a picture. Which of course, I did.

I knew my Mum would probably cry. Which she also did.

The thing is, as I mentioned last week, I get a lot of great opportunities through my blog, so as much as possible I like to share those opportunities. On Thursday, Blossoming Gifts emailed me asked if I wanted to review their flowers by post. Now since I got my own place I have absolutely loved fresh flowers, something which I'm honest I didn't see the "point" of when I was younger. Now I try to buy fresh flowers every few weeks, and I was especially enticed when I saw their gorgeous bouquet of sunflowers, my absolute favourite flowers.

But then I realised that I knew someone who loved fresh flowers even more than I do. Someone who would love to receive a surprise flower delivery. So I asked, could I have these sent to my Mum instead?

(I also realised I get everything delivered to my work, so I'd have to explain why the beautiful bouquet that arrived at my office was actually to me, from me.)

Blossoming Gifts were awesome. I chose my bouquet (I went for the Summer Garden bouquet, knowing they would match my Mum's kitchen) and was really chuffed to find that if you order before 4pm they do free next day delivery. I sneakily text my Mum asking what her weekend plans were to check she'd be home. 

But enough from me, here's what she said:

"The flowers were delivered by a very careful postman- wondered what he was doing so long in the porch.They were very well packaged and labelled clearly as to the contents.Very securely fastened within the parcel so they didn't move at all with a soaked bag to keep them happy on the journey! A tied bunch beautifully arranged in complementing colours which included a delightful mix of roses, lilles, chrysanthemum and gerberas. Very clear instructions as to how to get the best from the flowers along with plant food and a gorgeous little box of Belgian chocolates, lovely message card with a handy QR code for sharing on Facebook and a £5 discount code for future purchases. Altogether a truly wonderfully presented surprise bouquet which has obviously been put together with great care and attention to detail. Thanks again darling daughter !!"

She also text me later on saying she had already used the £5 discount to send some flowers to her friend in Scotland!

I would highly recommend Blossoming Gifts. I'm so impressed they do free next day delivery, and some days you can order as late as 9pm for next day. And they deliver on Sundays! They also sell hampers, wines and other personalised gifts so they're perfect for that hard-to-buy-for person. I'm also really impressed with their cheap flowers range, where most of the flowers are under £25.

I'm really happy to announce that they've given me a code for all girlnextdoorfashion readers to save 33% on everything except flowers by post range. Just use the code BGIFTS33.

(And here's my Mum with her flowers!)