About Us

The first thing I need to tell you, dear customers, is that I am not Greek. I feel it is important to lead with this because I can see why there may be an assumption that I am. The fact is I was born in Pittsburgh, and as a person who comes from a city where Heinz has been a major corporate presence, I also identify as a "Heinz 57", meaning, I am of many mixed ethnicities. Most of my family came to America from England and Germany four generations ago before migrating to Pittsburgh. 

However, I was just a girl who met a Greek boy, not an American Greek boy, but a boy from Greece, when I was in my first year of college. I honestly thought the relationship would not last because of all our differences. But it did, and I found myself in northern Greece, meeting the people who would become my in-laws. I did not just marry a Greek, I married into Greece and all things Greek.

We live in the United States, but I've been back and forth between America and Greece more than 20 times over the last 30 years. My kids were baptized in Greece and go over to see their "thea" and "yiayia" and to be spoiled by their cooking and care. 

I come from a small, quiet family and it has taken my lifetime to accept the chaos, quirks, eccentricities, and sheer cacophony and commotion associated with Greek life. And the odd daily spectacles I witnessed in our small, sea village to the north have been something to behold.

This may sound as if I don't appreciate my Greek family and our special village, but on the contrary! It's as though my life before its Greek influence was in black and white and I've been living in brilliant and vibrant technicolor since, like The Wizard of Oz. And Hellenic Sun Gifts is truly my way of honoring this life, its people, the culture, music, language, history, philosophy, architecture and all positive Greek contributions to humanity.

And full transparency...not all of my items are made in Greece. This is also important for me to share. Some items are, and I do try to source real Greek items, but when I offer items that are not made in Greece, I offer them because they capture the essence of Greece based on my own observations and experience. And I personally select all of the items that are sold at Hellenic Sun Gifts.

Additionally, while some of the photography on the site, like the home page main banner, are stock photography, I am also trying to keep most of the photos authentic, the photos on the home page beneath the main banner is an authentic photo of Olympiatha Beach to the north, near our village of Nea Vrasna, as is the photo of the beach above. The home photo is of our home in Nea Vrasna. And if you want to stay, my sister-in-law rents apartments and a small home at this property. You can visit VrasnaCove.com to inquire.

You may also discover that I lovingly wrap my products in stories of my travels to my village in Greece, and to the many islands and sites I've visited in this grand, ancient country.

So if you know how to suck the marrow out of life, you are in the right place. Kαλώς ήρθατε!