Spotlight: Rifle Paper Co.

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Surviving the Florist: Pt. 1

Maybe its for a birthday. Maybe its going to accompany an apology. Maybe it's just because.

At some point or another, everyone will find themselves in a florist. If you're trying to make this a truly sweet gesture, you want to pick out the flowers that will constitute the bouquet yourself. But, with hundreds of options, names and colors, it can become almost daunting to even step into a florist in the first place. 

Fear not!

Below, I've compiled a list of four my favorite fool-proof flowers, and included their life expectancy and fragrance intensity. While some of these flowers are already pretty well-known and used frequently, it is important to note that they are available year round, which can be a benefit not only for your wallet, but being able to find them during colder months as well.

(read: this really just gave me an excuse to go into a florist and live out my dream job as a floral arranger, so thank you all in advance).

Roses (roʊz)
color possibilities: nearly endless.
life expectancy: dependent on variety of rose (can last anywhere from four to twelve days).
fragrance intensity: generally, roses do not have a strong fragrance. Try Fragrant Cloud, Mister Lincoln, Double Delight, or America for the strongest intensity.
fun fact: george washington was the first person in the United States to breed roses.


Tulip (ˈtuːlɪp)
color possibilites: white, red, yellow, pink, lavender, orange and multicolored.
life expectancy: up to ten days.
fragrance intensity: not the most fragrant flower.
pro tip: don't combine tulips with daffodils or any other member of the Narcissus family, as the narcissi flower give off a chemical that shortens the life of the cut tulip.

Paperwhites (also called: narcissus) (\när-ˈsi-səs\)

color possibilities: as suggested from its name, these daffodils only bloom in white.
life expectancy: five to eight days.
fragrance intensity: very fragrant, almost pungent (read: not a sweet flower).
fun fact: paperwhites are native to mediterranean regions, like Morocco and Greece.

Lisianthus (lizzie-ANN-thus)

color possibilities: purple, white, pink and yellow.
life expectancy: ten to fourteen days.
fragrance intensity: no smell (still pretty to look at, though).
commonly mistaken for: roses or peonies.

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Much love,

Emily

Beginnings

Let's talk about beginnings. 

Merriam-Webster defines it as taking the first step in a course or process.

 Speaking from experience, we at Quaintrelle believe that this first step is often the hardest step to make. Choosing to seek a new beginning not only requires confidence, but determination and will. 

Regardless of its significance, new beginnings are often scary, but exciting. Coming to college, for both Helen and I, held a great amount of promise, but, at the same time, a great amount of uncertainty. Who did we want to be? How did we want to represent ourselves in the Northwestern community? This new beginning forced us to grapple with these tough questions, and, while some of our answers weren't what we were expecting, the idea for Quaintrelle was born as we started to formulate answers to these questions.

Our goal for Quaintrelle is to give our writers and photographers a voice; an uncut and unedited opportunity to express their creativity, opinions and passions to the rest of the Northwestern community. Through this, we wish to portray a witty, fresh and stylish commentary to college life and style.

We hope you enjoy our first topic for the month of December, which, not surprisingly, surrounds the concept of new beginnings. 

Much love,

Emily