8 and counting: then and now

A lot can change in eight years. Just ask my daughter Mira, who was born just 15 weeks before Magic Beans opened its doors on July 7, 2004. Eight years ago, she was sitting in the window of the store while Eli and I worked, smiling at anyone who made eye contact (and usually scaring them half to death, because they invariably assumed she was a mannequin). I never let her out of my sight. Today, she’s at overnight camp and I haven’t talked to her in almost two weeks (I might be counting the minutes until pickup day).

One of them hasn’t changed much.

Our oldest daughter, Audrey, has also had her fair share of changes. She was a precocious two-year-old when Magic Beans opened, way too distracted by her active imagination to care too much about her lump-on-a-log new sister. At Magic Beans, she was smart enough to know that her chances of bringing something home were infinitely better if the product’s package was damaged in some way. So she would wreak havoc. Now, her sister is her favorite playmate (even if they occasionally want to kill each other), and she’s more likely to offer advice to a customer than to choose something for herself when she’s in one of the stores.

And of course, there’s one kid who wasn’t even around in 2004.

In eight years one can apparently go from non-existent to astronaut. Just ask Zev.

Time flies when you’re having fun, and the last eight years have been a rollicking good time for all of us in the Gurock family. It has been our great privilege to be a resource for the families in Boston and beyond. We’ve learned a lot, and we’ve come a long way. Here’s a look at our original store, which opened for business eight years ago today, and our newest store, which opened in November.

Come and celebrate with us today. Shop with us (it makes us really happy when we see orders come in), come visit our stores and enjoy cupcakes from Party Favors, Glitter Tattoos from Glittertainment with some great babysitters from UrbanSitter, and Elmo. Here’s a complete schedule of festivities. Thank you to all our customers – we could never have done this without your support, feedback and referrals. And finally, the biggest thanks goes to the Magic Beans team, who are just the finest group of people with whom we ever could’ve hoped to share this journey.

Don’t forget to enter today’s giveaway in our 31 Days of Giveaways celebration. It’s a really good one!

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