blah blah blah-g: hello ruby

80/20 Mindset: Shopping Big & Small

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with their loved ones and are feeling the holiday spirit. As the final autumn leaves fall and we enter the thick of the holiday season, shopping for the perfect gifts is at the top of everyone’s to-do list. And it can feel oh-so-easy to open Amazon and purchase with the single click of a button. Hello, timesaver. With a million other hectic things to prepare for this time of year, the ease of buying gifts from corporate giants is tempting. Because as much as we’d all love to spend 100% of our budget on shopping local, sometimes it simply is not feasible.

But that doesn’t mean you should exclusively shop at giant retailers, either! In moderation, you can find a balance. Use the 80/20 guideline: 80% corporate, 20% local.

It’s an easy mantra to apply going into your holiday season, and it helps make a big impact on the local community. Here are just a few benefits of dedicating a small portion of your gift-giving budget to local vendors:

You are boosting the economy around you.

Visualize the money that you spend at a local business staying local — you are literally investing in the betterment of your hometown.

Your gifts will be one-of-a-kind.

When you purchase from a local artist, maker, or small business, you get to give presents that can’t be found anywhere else. Nothing beats that kind of satisfaction.

You are making an eco-friendly decision.

Buying gifts from a smaller-scale business rather than a giant corporation means that you’ve chosen to reduce any additional pollutants.

You know exactly who you are buying from.

Have you ever felt guilty about not knowing where and how your gifts were sourced and assembled? There’s more peace of mind when you buy directly from a local maker.

You are supporting the dreams of a business owner in your hometown.

And you have the chance to directly impact the livelihood of that artist, craftsman, or maker in your own community.

The reality is that it’s not always easy to shop local - but it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. With Small Business Saturday approaching on Saturday, November 27th, remember the 80/20 rule as you scroll through your gift-giving guide. That small push to add a few local gifts to your shopping cart will leave a big impact! So thank you for choosing us to be a part of your list. Anything big or small really means the world to us and we are thankful for you ❤️

Happy Holidays!

xoxo go play, Jill & crew

meet the hello ruby crew!

come kick back at HQ with the hello ruby gals! we're entering the holiday szn (yay!), and we figured you'd want to meet the faces behind all the clothes, packages, and events that you won't want to miss this year! we love the little "family" that hello ruby has cultivated and we get so excited when everyone is in the office, it's so fun!

hello toasters, how are ya?! some call it an obsession... some say it's call it loyalty.... we still don't know which we are more on the boarder of 🤣🤣🤣 

if you haven't already heard the news, we're going to be on the morning toast!! to some a small ad like this doesn't mean much, but to someone who has found comfort, guidance, and friendship through the toaster community, this means everything. like E V E R Y T H I N G. 

claud & jackie have formed a space where all millennials can spill the hottest tea and be fully themselves without society judging everything they do. (including wearing skinny jeans & side parts, lol kidding but like not..?) 

whether you're already a daily listener or a newbie, tune in tomorrow wednesday the 24th to hear a little shoutout to hello ruby and fan girl along with us. if anything comes from this we hope the toast cult following grows just a liiiiittle bit more and we all can start talking all things TMT! 

don't be RHD, and find the pod on these channels: 

audioboom, apple podcast, spotify, & stitcher

SPECIAL BONUS: we're dropping a hot new collection in their honor & you won't want to miss it. pretending the weather is extra ~toasty~ and preparing for the spring sun! shop now!

we don't mean to brag, but seems jackie-o is a fan. see here & here.

didn't you hear? sage is all the rage.

do you ever not realize you're obsessed with a color until you look in your closet and half of your clothes are that color? that's how we feel about our newest arrivals and the color sage!

nothing says spring like a pop of color and these green tones do just the job while staying neutral enough to mix & match. we're getting heavy inspo from Pantone's Spring/Summer 2021 color palettes and think you're going to love them just as much as we do!

Pantone's "Tomatillo" green brings a vibrant, yet subtle, glow to any outfit just like our almost spring knit & almost spring knit mini. this set is trimmed with a cutsie small frill but hugs your curves to make you feel just spicy enough. the mini has an adjustable string to make it as short or long as you please!

if you want to bring the blazer trend into your spring wardrobe you must shop the sage oversized leni blazer, sage square micro top, and sage paper bag shorts! this set together is tooooo die for. effortlessly profesh and on trend. each piece is just as good paired with any of your other fav tops and bottoms!

but not sure if you're ready to totally commit to this sagey trend - shop the double slit mini. a faded tie-dye style pattern gives you a mix of dark greens with just a hint sage. the perfect bottom to pair with your favorite graphic tee and head off to drinks with the gals. 

spring fever is SO real, and so is sage fever. no better color to walk into the new season with! you know what they say - green is the color of nature, it symbolizes, growth, harmony, and freshness.  I don't know about you guys but I'm ready for all of those things - bring it on spring!

happy wednesday all! it's been awhile but we're back on the blog with some exciting news!

we're collaborating with local Omaha based boutiques and are coming to ya with multiple HUGE sticker sales for up to 90% off your favorite items! how is the possible may you ask? here's the DL.

it all started when my friend Katie, owner of Little Mango a kids boutique, and I decided to do a blowout sale to make room for new inventory in our boutiques. we rented out an old Hallmark off 120th & dodge to create a make-shift store front (dressing rooms made of old card holders to boot) and have been doing the same thing ever since.

we search for spaces to all over the omaha area to rent for a weekend and sell everything from sweaters, jackets, graphic tees, jeans, dresses, and more for as little as $5-$25!! (literally up to 90% off you guys, that's insane.)

events like this even sparked a new venture for Katie and I called A Local Collective. through this we've gotten to team up so many new small businesses across the state by hosting online shopping events to connect each other to new opportunity. 

come shop this huge boutique warehouse sale & say hello to me, Katie, & our other local friends!

Boutique Warehouse Sale | West

633 N 114th St, Omaha, NE 68154

Thursday, Jan. 28 / 11-5
Friday, Jan. 29 / 11-5
Saturday, Jan. 30 / 10-4

Boutique Warehouse Sale | Midtown

3201 Farnam St, Omaha, NE 68131

Thursday, Feb. 4 / 11-5
Friday, Feb 5 / 11-5
Saturday, Feb 6 / 10-4

Boutique Warehouse Sale | Online

shophelloruby.com || alocalcollectivene.com

Starts: Monday, Feb. 15 / 8am CST
Ends: Friday, Feb. 20 / 11:59pm CST

Hello all, the intern Denie here! As my time as the intern comes to a close, I wanted to give you the inside scoop on what my time has been like at hello ruby!

For starters, where in the heck did summer go?!? I feel like my first day was last week! I will never forget my first day; it was comprised of me meeting Jill at Scooters {shocking} to go over my duties for the summer as well as my schedule. We ended up being there for hours because we talked about E V E R Y T H I N G - instantly knew that I was in for more than just your norm internship. The next day she threw me into a photo shoot, and by the end of it, we were changing outfits in my car. We were laughing so hard at the situation that we entirely dismissed the fact that we’ve only really known each other for 24 hours {my Jeep is not very large, needless to say, Jill knew a whole other side to me on my 2ND day of work} and the rest was history.

"It's so hard to shoot with best friends sometimes." - Photographer

"We just met." - Us

^literally she said this

Throughout the summer Jill really was everything I could've asked for for my internship. {reminder: I come from a small town and am interested in starting my own boutique someday.} Every time Jill would do something on the computer she would say “okay now watch this” or “okay I’m going to teach you how to do this” or "that's another thing". She never held back information that she knew would help me - even the stuff that went over my head; she broke it down. I also never really worked clothing retail before, so it was so much fun for me to merchandise the clothes in the truck and put flat lays together. Jill would be my cheerleader on the sidelines and tell me how much she loved it and of course that made me feel reeeeal good. Basically, by the end of it, I was more of her personal assistant than an intern lol {example: organizing Jill's shoe closet, taking Ruby on walks, etc.}

Between working { HOT AF } events, ordering inventory, hanging/steaming/tagging inventory, working with brand reps, and planning social media we had pleeenty of time for some fun.

Here are just a few of our fav things to do:

X start every morning with a coffee

X sit in the drive-thru while waiting for our coffee + complain about how many calories are in + how much money we are wasting

X go to Jill’s house and stare at Ruby while she eats treats

X watch an excessive amount of Jeffree Star + complain about how much time we just wasted

X get Indian food twice a week no matter how bad we feel after

And the list could go on and on.

So moral of the story here folks? Go outside your comfort zone!! I wanted so badly to go back to my small town for the summer and be with my family and friends. When I reached out to Jill, I told myself if I got the position I would stay, but if I didn’t get it, I could go back home. Jill having me work for her has been one of the best things that could've happened to me before I graduate. It completely gave me a 180 of what I wanted to do post-graduation, my outlook on retail is completely different, and more importantly, I made so many great connections in Omaha that I will be with me as I try and pave my way in this industry. {And connections are everythiiiing people.} But the very best thing I got out of my internship was Jill. She went from a stranger to my boss, to my mother, to my favorite coffee date, to my favorite Indian food date, to my best friend in a matter of three months. This girl can ALWAYS make you laugh. Ya can’t beat that.

Go find your hello ruby, go find your Jill, and as she would say “go play.”

XO- “the intern” Denie

P.S. this isn’t the last you’ve seen of me 😉

We are living for these new arrivals that are just hitting the floor! This is not only one of the summer’s hottest trends {two piece sets} but this lemon print + pinstripe print has us in love with these looks! They're perfect worn as the whole set but are also super versatile and can be styled in so many ways. Pair the tops with your fav cutoffs, jeans, denim skirt or take the bottoms and add a crop top, tank, or band tee. No matter how you rock it we know you’ll love it like we do! {*cue the heart eyes*} // Take a look at our girl, Ali, rocking these looks!

lemon drop set {top $42, bottom $48}

black woven strip set {top $38, bottom $46}

k bye.