CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Love is in the air during the month of February, with Valentine's Day on the minds of those surrounded by special people in their life.
"Valentine's is just like a day to show love," Corpus Christi resident Faith Reyes said. "Not just specifically to your significant other, but also just like your family and loved ones. Just taking the extra day to spread extra love."
Reyes said there are different ways to show love. On Valentine's Day, giving gifts is one of the first thoughts that comes to mind. She said chocolate, teddy bears, and flowers are staples for the holiday.
"To me I think flowers are beautiful," she said. "So I see it as when they're giving it, they're saying "you're beautiful to me."
LaToya Rodriguez wanted to share that feeling by using her passion to open up a flower shop called Rose Soiree.
"Flowers are there for us in all the times of our life, whether it's happy times or sad times and I just wanted to bring that joy to people on a daily basis." Rodriguez said.
However, the labor of love came with challenges from the start. She decided to open her business in 2020, then COVID-19 hit.
"I left my job and two weeks later we were quarantined. So, there was no going back to work after that, and I've just had to persevere and push forward," Rodriguez said.
In the last three years, she's had to battle ongoing issues like inflation, floral shortages, and shipping delays.
During the time, many flower farm's crops were discarded because of the uncertainty, and new crops weren't planted. Pandemic-related supply chain issues, labor shortages and poor weather conditions in major areas of the country caused a global shortage of flowers.
In response to the continued issues, she's been advising customers to order products early to ensure products arrive on-time. Rodriguez said they've started receiving orders for Valentine's Day, and they are gearing up for the busy weeks ahead.
