meet Matilda Jane

or perhaps you already know her well.

If you already know the awesomeness that is Matilda Jane clothing, then raise your hand.

okay, thank you. You can put your hands down.

If you're hearing about Matilda Jane for the first time today, then please raise your hand.

Okay. Great. Then allow me to introduce you two...

 Matilda Jane Clothing offers fabulous pieces for little girls (and boys), as well as tweens, teens, and grown-up gals.



I attended a trunk show for this line a few weeks ago, and I'll be honest, I don't usually go ga-ga over clothes. Come to think of it, it's been a while since I went ga-ga over anything, besides Downton of course, but this was an exception.

Why, you ask?

Well, I'll tell you.

Not only are the clothes cute, quirky, and incredibly well-made, but most of the pieces are also made to be mixed and matched together. The ruffle pants I bought for Eliza also work underneath the dress that I bought for Mary Martin. The dress I bought for myself (far left of the photo above) looked great with a cardi and boots, but I'll also be able to wear it this spring/summer with sandals. Each of the pieces is so versatile, and the colors/patterns of each of the collections is truly unique and unlike anything I've seen before. Especially the knot dresses for the little girlies. LOVE the different fabrics/colors spliced together to make a single garment. Pure genius.

So why am I going on and on about these clothes?

I'm so glad you asked.

I'll be having a trunk show at my house in two weeks for any of you locals who'd like to come and have a look for yourself. I loved the fact that I was able to actually touch the clothing and try it on before I bought a single piece of it. I also loved that I was able to pick the correct sizes for my girls since I wasn't familiar with this clothing. It runs pretty true to size, btw. Even if you're not local and would still like to purchase items, there's a way to do that too. I'll be glad to set you up with my 'trunk keeper' so that you can be a virtual party guest. Also, and this is BIG, if you're just meeting Matilda for the first time today, (just as I did a few weeks ago) you might not be aware of her popularity. Well lemme tell ya, she's popular. SO popular that there is a facebook fan page for "Matilda Jane addicts" where gals post items for sale as well as list items they'd like to buy once their little ones have outgrown a piece and they need a larger size. There's also eBay. Ohhhhh eBay. I dare you to type 'Matilda Jane' into the search bar, dare you. Not only do most used items sell for 75-90% of their original purchase price, some particularly scarce/hard to find items sell for even more. So just think, you buy your littles or yourself some pretty duds and within several months or a year, they've outgrown them or you decide that maybe it's time for your dress/cardi/skirt to find a new home, you'll recoup most of the moolah you spent on those pieces in the first place.

Nice, huh?

There's also a new line introduced each Spring in 3 seperate launches (Feb, March, and April) and the newest collection, Serendipity, will have new pieces on the 1st of March. The trunk show at my house is March 2, so yay for getting a first look at the new goods!

I also need to mention the accessories, because I've decided to do something a little unconventional. Or maybe it's totally conventional, not sure...

As most of you know, I make hair accessories and sell them from my house as well as on etsy, and after taking a look at the clothing, I decided I would whip up several headbands, hair clips, and pins that would coordinate with several of the pieces in the collection. I'll have all of my items for sale during the trunk show as well so that you can dress your little gal or yourself from head to toe. I'll also have new pillow covers, camera strap covers, and banners in the shop in new 'Springy' colors. I've been a sewing machine lately. Okay, that doesn't work since that's an actual thing...let's try maniac. I've been a sewing MANIAC lately. Yes, much better.

I'll also have food.

Free food.

Free yummy food.

You can check out all of the Matilda Jane goodness HERE on their site, and here's your official invite:

hey, that rhymed....

March 2, 2012

4:00-6:00

For more info, you can contact me at Funnygirl33180(at)aol(dot)com

Happy Tuesday!



Happy Prez Day and a song from Eliza

Happy President's Day from the Mathews!

We're having a super-lazy morning here and I wanted to share a quick video of what's been happening. As in, 20 minutes ago. Love that I can upload to youtube straight from my phone.

I call this, my little soprano who composes as she goes. Besides the long, sustained notes, I caught the words 'mommy' a couple times, and 'kisses'. I promise this song is NOT about me. I don't think...

I'll be back tomorrow to talk clothes and share some pics of what I've been working on in the shop. Until then, I'm gonna try to see how long I can stay in my pj's today, because, ya know...........I've gotta have goals.

Happy Monday!

our week via instagram

Happy Friday friends! Hope you're having a fabulous day at whatever hour it happens to be in your neck of the woods. I've been a bit MIA this week which is a sure sign that hubs has been working a crazy amount of hours. Thank you, hubs, for working crazy hard for us. Even when I don't have time to sit and write a post, I've always got time to snap a few photos. I'll be linking with Jeannett today who came up with the brilliance that is InstaFriday. Here's a look at our week via Instagram:

worked on some monogrammed notecards for my aunt over the weekend. plan to list this item in my shop...whenever I find the time.

the hubs made a late night trip to Target Sunday night and picked this up for me. Because he knows I loves it. And also because....

the purpose for his late night trip to Target was to pick up ingredients to make homemade-made-from-scratch blueberry muffins. I think the blueberries he found in the fridge sparked the idea. Do we eat a lot of blueberry muffins? No. Does hubs do a lot of made-from-scratch cooking? No. Just a hankering he had to make something spur-of-the-moment, not unlike my late night "I have to make this craft thing right now while I'm thinking about".

they was real good, by the by.

real good.

Sometimes I buy things on eBay that come from distant lands. Like Batman cookie cutters from Hong Kong.

Makes me feel ever so important to pull things like this out of my mailbox.

My little man had a Fairy Tale Valentine party at school Tuesday. Here he is with his best bud from his class, pre-party-

and here's a during-party shot-

His teacher had the cutest decor- everything from a Snow White sitting on a full-sized well, to center pieces depicted different fairy tales. See the pumpkin, mouse, & glass slippers on O's table? (Cinderella) Pure cuteness...

Rachael Ray has arrived at our Target. That garbage bowl totally came home with me and I need her cookware. No really, I do...

I made little somethin somethin for myself and little man as sort of a Valentine-before-bedtime treat. Bananas split down the center, filled with peanut butter, topped with vanilla ice cream, caramel syrup, and chocolate cookie crumbs.

As Rachael would say, "yum-o"

I found my 3 just like this on Wednesday night.

Be still my heart.

Ready for ballet Thursday and wearing a new rockin' flower headband made by me. Hubs said it was ridiculously big, but I disagree. I think it's presh.

Yes, I just said presh.

During class...

Found some inexpensive cabinetry to make our kitchen banquette out of. Nearing the end my friends. We may just win the longest-kitchen-reno-process-ever award...

This is how MM likes to snack on goldfish:

lying on the kitchen floor, blanket in hand.

And why not?

and this is where E likes to eat goldfish.

In my bed.

Making lots of under-the-cover crumbs on her daddy's side that he finds when he comes home from work.

Made some awesome thrift store finds this week. This horsey was only 1.48 and with a fresh coat of white spray paint looks 100% better than it did when I brought him home. And yes, it's totally a 'him'.

And that was our week in a nutshell.

What about you?

How was your week? Any Valentine goodies you're excited about? Or was your hubs working on V-day so you're celebrating this weekend, like me? Make any great thrift store finds lately? Have a kid that likes to eat on the floor?

Do tell....



British Invasion

I don't know about you, but my Sunday night was spent enjoying the talents of the British. I've talked about her here before, but Adele made a sweep of the Grammy's, picking up all 6 awards that she was nominated for. Good gravy how I loved her 'snot' comment as she picked up her last award. Anyone else find that genuinely endearing? I also love that she sounds a wee bit like Eliza Doolittle pre-Higgins, because let's face it- I'm a bit My Fair Lady obsessed. Have you met my daughter Eliza?

If you don't know her music, I highly recommend that you run to your nearest music shop and pick this up. No, really.....run.

When I wasn't watching the Grammy's,(because let's face it- not all of it was worth watching. Nicki Minaj? And a giant mouse head? No thanks) I was watching a 2-hour Downton Abbey on PBS. Do you watch? Because, I must say it again, if you're not watching Downton you're missing out on a fabulous piece of work. The talent in the cast is stellar and the writing? Fuh-get about it. It's got drama, comedy, love, heartbreak.....everything you could want in a historical mini-series which I sincerely hope runs for years to come.

psst- you can watch full episodes online HERE, but only from the current season

***

Since today is Valentine's day, I found it ironic that my son's V-day party at school would also fit into this British phase happening as of late. His class will be having a Fairy Tale party to celebrate love day and he dressed as a Knight in shining armor-

oh the cuteness...

So what about you?

Enjoying anything British lately?

Any of you start drinking hot tea? Because I've started having an honest to goodness tea time every afternoon thanks to my keurig. No joke. Feel free to join me anytime. I'm still trying to figure out how to have it on the ceiling like Mary Poppins though...

Any of you watch so much Downton that you start speaking in a British dialact?

Or is that just me....?

Dirt Cheap Missoni and a 3D date

Happy Friday friends!

Wanted to share a little news bulletin with those of you that are local, AND, even if you're not, you may want to head to the Dirt Cheap nearest you anyway...

are those everywhere? Hudson's Dirt Cheaps? Are they nationwide or just in Southern states? I've been to a few in other cities while on vacation but I wasn't sure...

Anywhoo, I got a text from my SIL last night (thank you MK) that said she'd been to one of the Dirt Cheap's in our town and had spotted lots of Missoni goods. That's right. Missoni. As is 'Missoni for Target'. As in, goods that sold out online and in stores and caused a website crash, not to mention several cat fights. THAT Missoni. Well, evidently not everything sold out, and our Dirt Cheap got a shipment from a Target store somewhere out there of the goods they had left. Of course I was in my car and headed to Dirt Cheap within 2 shakes of a lambs tail.

Here's what I found-

flats in various sizes (children & adults)

heels in various sizes

a couple chevron plates,

as well as a few floral ones (not pictured)

poufs

I grabbed a buggy and pretty much threw anything Missoni inside until I'd picked what I wanted. I also found a notebook and a couple clipboards, as well as the set of platters in my hand and the one in the buggy. Almost bought the big platter too, but in the end,...

this is what came home with me.

The blk/white platters, (nevermind that one's missing from the group- at $5, who cares?) and 2 pairs of little girl flats. E has already worn the fabric off of the toes on the pair that currently fit her, and I bought the next size up at Target already, so I picked up a size 6 for little MM, and a size 9. Now E will have an 8 AND a 9. Ya know, for when she grows.

I also brought home this cricut cartridge for a sweet $12.

Beach party anyone?

Did I find anything else I wanted to bring home, but didn't?

I'm so glad you asked.

Why yes. Yes I did.

I wanted this:

That's right.

A lucite chair on wheels.

Never in a million years (or 31) have I seen anything this cool at a Dirt Cheap. The Zig zag flats come close, but this wins.

(*ahem....attention family...I have a birthday coming up....ahem*)

In other non-dirt-cheapy news....

Hubs and son are stoked to be seeing this in 3D today. Will any of you be heading to the theatre as well??

Happy Weekend to ya!



An evening at home

One of my favorite things to do is grab my camera and shoot my kids in their most familiar environment. Well, not shoot my kids.

 Take pics. Capture moments.

Yes, we'll say "capture moments".

Tuesday night while we were at home, I grabbed my camera and after the initial,

"Look at me mom! Take my picture!" phase wore off, they forget my camera and I were watching. That's when the good, natural, everyday moments occur.

No posing.

Just play.

Here are a few of my faves from Tuesday night.

In other news...

6 loads of laundry last night.
2 were sheets, 4 were from my 4 weeks of neglect
still have 2 to go.
blargh.
On the bright side, I'm now back on the A team.
Good stuff all the way.

Happy Thursday friends!



Smash, the B team, and a little bit of Wu

So,

if you've watched anything on NBC for the past month, and I do mean anything, including flipping throught the channels and landing on the network for 3.8 seconds, then chances are you've seen some of the promos for the new show Smash. Since the premise of the show has to do with Broadway and auditions and staging a musical such, and since there's also a real honest to God broadway actor in every scene, I was of course intrigued.

It premiered last night.

I watched.

And I loved.

I'm curious-

did you watch? What were your thoughts? Are you in Sutton's fan club and therefore find it hard to like Christian? Are you a McPhee fan from AI? Do you love the fact that Hilty is a real-deal broadway gal? Do you want Debra Messing's glasses as bad as I do? And how cool is it that she's married to Shrek?

If you're a Broadway lovin' gal/guy and you just got every single one of those references, raise your hand.

Awesome.

Moving on.

Remember my boycott? The one where I put off washing my own clothes, forcing me to wear things in my closet that must still be there for a reason? Showing love to the pieces that I deemed a necessary purchase at some point in time but maybe pushed to the back once newer stuff came along? Well friends, lemme tell ya- it was going great, and I mean great until I had to go to the B team. You see, while I'm still going strong in the "I still have clean clothes to wear and so what if they're not my favorites" department, I've had to go to "so this underwear doesn't make me feel like having an awesome day but it'll do". You all know what I'm talkin bout. The A team undies are the ones we all have that are the favorites and make us feel awesome. They make us smile when we wear them because they're a bright color/lacey/accent the bootay/help suck in our tummy...

basically, you think about whatever it is that makes you love a pair of undies and THAT's what puts them on the A team. For me, it's the Body by Victoria seamless in pretty much every color they come it. Did I just talk about my favorite type of undies on the internets? You bet your sweet bippy I did.

So...when you neglect your laundry for so long that you no longer have A team left, well then it's time to no longer neglect your laundry. The B team's been treating me fine this week, but I miss the good stuff. Hubs always buys me the good stuff for Christmas/birthdays/Tuesdays and I'm ready to get back into the A team. And if you're wondering what a C team would consist of... well that would be undies that you've been hanging on to since college (or high school , or basically whatever you were doing 10 years ago, depending on your age) and should have thrown out ages ago. I got rid of my C team last summer and really couldn't believe that I'd been hanging on to some of it. And while I like to be completely honest in sharing the good/bad/ugly, I'm sharing the mountain that is my dirty laundry as of this moment. And just as a reminder, no other members of my house were harmed in this experiment. Everyone else has clean clothes and is wearing their A team, although I did come across some B team 3T undies while putting away my son's clothes this morning. Might need to throw those out since he's nearing 7.

Enough of that.

It's time for a little Wu talk.

Did any of you head to Target on Sunday to snag pieces of Target's latest partnership with a hip design label?



Jason Wu's line for Target hit the sales floor early Sunday morn, and while there was buzz of a crazed-mob-snatching-Missoni-goods-crashing-website-and-selling-out remake, things were actually pretty calm here in t-town, and in the rest of the world. My sis arrived a few minutes before I did (yes I totally just ratted you out. No Chad, she didn't buy anything.) and texted that there were a total of 4 people in line, one of which happened to be my friend and hair stylist, Lindsay.

Hey Lindsay!



My honest opinion of the line?

You need to be supermodel-stick thin to wear it.

I had checked out all of the pieces online well in advance and knew I wanted to try on the navy dress with the stripes across the bottom. (Front and center of that first pic) The waist hit right below my boobs and poofed out creating a bit of a bump which would no doubt cause people to ask when I was due.

The dress did not come home with me.

See what I mean?

 Some of the other pieces I tried made me feel downright grandma-ish. Specifically that blue floral number hanging in the dressing room with me. WAY too much fabric in the boob area. Picture Sandra Bullock in the too-big wedding dress in the proposal. Dontcha love when Betty White asks where her boobs are? Sorry...I digress.

Not all of the clothes were ill-fitting though. This dress was awesomeness, and while 1 of those 4 people in line must've snagged the only one in my size, I grabbed one on ebay yesterday for the same price as the store and scored with free shipping. So take THAT all you suckaz who thought you'd make a quick buck by buying up a buggy load of Wu and listing it on ebay like those folks did with Missoni. Doesn't seem to be working this time. There are even still items available online. (gasp)



Of course, another HUGE difference between this line and Missoni is the number of pieces. While Missoni's line included everything from dresses and shoes to vases and bicycles, the Wu line sticks to a handful of dresses, sweaters, tops, and a few accessories:

I didn't go to Target today (I know, shocker) so I don't know what's left, but I'm curious- did any of you go to check out the pieces? What did you think? I loved the handbag in the lower right corner of the pic above, but I swear to you it weighed 10 lbs EMPTY. No joke. I wanted to like all of it after seeing the look book online, but I just wasn't over the moon for it like I was for Missoni.

Ah well...

I'm off to start on this crazy huge mound of laundry so hopefully next time I write or see you in person I can happily say that I'm back on the A team.

Happy Tuesday!