Feelin Lucky?

Feelin Lucky? Then buy that winning lottery ticket and come check out our new finds from Honeydew. The Dolla Dolla Bill Rumba and the Feelin Lucky Boy Short are two of my favorites. Not the gambling type - then check out their new Sweet Tooth Rumba - mini cupcakes....very sweet!

One of our customers is giving her daughter a birthday party and just had me order Surprise Balls for each of the guests. As you unwind the crepe paper ribbon, trinkets, fortunes and little surprises fall out. These are perfect gifts for just about anyone - who doesn't love surprises?

I was lucky enough to take yesterday off and even luckier to be able to do one of my favorite hikes. If you've never treked out Dungeness Spit to the lighthouse, you've missing out. It's a 10 mile round trip hike, but it's flat, so it's not hard. I've seen lots of amazing wildlife during my different times out there. Yesterday, there was a seal that had beached itself and was dying - soooo sad!!

XOXO

Curtsy Mama

Mary Jo

Sooo Stinkin Funny!!!!

What the hell is going on with the weather? I, Ms Hate the Sun and Heat - Love the Rain, AM SICK OF RAIN AND COLD!! Just a day of sun and I'll be good, but I'm just sooo over winter for this year. It's making me a little cranky! I'm still carrying Snickers the pitiful injured dog everywhere and every piece of clothing I own is covered in dog hair. Really, everything. Apparently the dog thinks it's spring and he's getting rid of his excess locks all over me. Oh yeah, it's real attractive. I finish getting ready for work in the morning and carry him down to the car and my black rain coat looks white! The dog hair lint rollers won't remove it, so I end up leaving my coat in the car, preferring to be cold rather than look like Pig-Pen with crap flying all around me as I walk.

Anyhoo.......Danielle found the funniest new card line from Cerebral Itch. You know the Curtsy Girls are always on the lookout for the edgiest, most outrageous cards that push the limits of good taste, and well, these cards do just that. It was a tough, tough job trying to narrow down my choices as everyone of their cards are so stinkin funny! If you believe the "experts" that we're in a recession, then the least you can do is send your pals a card to remind them to LAUGH!!!!

In the realm of delivery services, Fed-Ex kicked UPS's butt today. We got 8 boxes from Fed-Ex, but no love at all from the guys in brown. Danielle's favorite arrival today are the Pink Phoenix Sunglasses. They're actually made for little girls, but they fit big girls as well. They're pink, they're full of jewels, what's not to love?


XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

Marley....Charm It!

The new bangles from Marley arrived today!!! We started carrying the divine bracelets by Marley just before Valentine's Day....we rushed in the jewelicious LOVE bangles and ones engraved with "Te Amare Por Siempre" meaning "I will love you forever." We have been anxiously awaiting the Positive Meaning bangles....each is engraved with three inspirational and positive attributes (each combination of three words starting with same letter). My favorites include "Chic*Charming*Captivating".... "Fabulous*Fashionable*Flawless".... "Sophisticated*Stylish*Sexty"..... "Wonderful*Witty*Wise".... I could go on and on - I love them all! We have the bangles in matte gold and antique silver. Pick one that perfectly describes a friend or one that screams you..."Dreamy*Divine*Darling!"

Also just arrived....some new charms from High Intencity! We just started carrying the adorable Charm It! line by High Intencity and have already had to do a re-order. As predicted.....they are popular with big & little girls alike. I don't care what age you are.....a jeweled bracelet adorned with itty bitty, amazingly detailed charms that you can arrange in endless combinations and change everyday is irresistible! We received a fabulous Hello Kitty bracelet ready to be charmed....also little jeweled stud earrings with a place to hang a charm on each.


xxxx

Every Woman is a Rebel

I've just finished e-mailing pictures with descriptions and prices to one of our customers who has several gift giving occasions coming up, but lives too far away to come into the store. We frequently have customers contact us with their gift lists along with a little info about the intended recipient and a budget. We'll search through the store for some Curtsylicious gift ideas and e-mail everything to the giver. Once they make their choices, we'll call them for all the particulars and either have it delivered locally, shipped by UPS or waiting for them to pick up at their convenience. You know the Curtsy Girls are all about making you life a little easier.!



Today we received a large order of these amazing Art Prints and Giclee Canvases. The one on the left is called Marie Antoinette and has the caption "Every Woman is a Rebel". I just love that one! The art prints are 12" X 16" and are so colorful and reasonably priced, you can afford to fill up a wall with them! We also brought in several of the Giclee Canvas by the same artist. These are 14" square and are printed on actual canvas.

Yesterday was my day to volunteer at the Denise Louie Center down in the International District. It was one of the little girl's birthdays and they had a party. The birthday girl was dressed up as Jasmin from Aladdin and her mom brought in a cake that looked like a castle! When it was time to sing, Happy Birthday was sung in Spanish, French, English, Chinese and some other language that I'm not sure of. What a cool celebration of diversity! Doesn't matter if I'm cranky or not smiling when I walk in the door of that place, within 5 minutes I'm cracking up at my silly little friends!
XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

The Grizzlies....Sappy Cards

The Grizzlies season has started back up! The Grizzlies are Seattle's national Footy league (Australian Rules Football). The Captain got asked to be one of the team captains this year....very exciting! I will keep you up to date as to when his games are. If you know any boys who enjoy a rough sport....be sure to tell them about The Grizzlies.....they are always in need of American players. At the national tournaments - they are required to have half American & half Aussie players on the field at all times. Also very exciting.....April sees the launch of Sports NW (a new magazine I believe affiliated with Sound Magazine) and they did a whole write up on Footy with a full page pic of the Captain!!! (He is the ridiculously handsome with all the tattoos - he assured me he isn't actually getting tackled in this pic...just looks that way....he totally pulled out of it) Word has it that every attendee will be receiving this first issue at the first Mariners game!!

We finally have a new order of Sappy Cards on the way.....definitely one of our favorite card lines. Our absolute best selling card from this line reads "Just wanted to let you know that I was thinking about you." on the front.....the inside reads "Well, obviously. (You're probably thinking to yourself.)...why would I send you this card if I wasn't thinking about you...and what a stupid thing to say in a card....and even stupider to affect stupidity, as if that's funny? Well fuck you then."

Another best seller - front reads: "The other morning I had an itch in the back of my throat and when I scratched it the only way you can those deep-down ones, with muscle contractions at the base of my tongue, for a moment there..." inside: "...I tasted you." Great one for any holidays reads "fuck holidays" on the front, "and fuck words on paper" on the back.


One of my personal favs says "You're one of those people who's only pretty because you're almost ugly" on the front, and the back reads "you come so close to being completely repulsive that the sense of danger in teetering on that brink gives your look an excitement that's somehow attractive, like if a butterfly had flapped its wings somewhere the moment you were born, everything might've been different enough to make manifest your face's latent hideousness. Know what I mean?" I hope these few examples have given you an idea of how you can really depend on this card line to find the words you sometimes struggle to find. Bravo Sappy Cards...we adore you.

xxxx

This is Just Dangerous!

It's been a slow day in the store today. Great for catching up on all my bookwork and the million other things that end up in my "to do" pile each week. It is however, dangerous when we still have Easter Chocolates calling me from the front of the store. I can hear them now - the bunnies just begging for their ears to be bitten off - AAAAAKKK!! Save me from myself - all of our Easter goodies are 50% off this week - including the aforementioned talking chocolates. Sorry - I get a little weird when I'm here alone all day.

Of course, now that I'm trying to write the blog - the store is filling up - go figure!

I'm wearing one of my Jessica Kagan Cushman Resin Reproduction Scrimshaw Bracelets today. It always has people trying to get close enough to read the cute saying - mine says "Out of my mind, back in five minutes". We currently have the black & white series, but will have some of her new brights scheduled to arrive in May.

I'm going to end there today. One of the million little projects I want to finish today is sweeping the back room and cleaning the bathroom. I know, I know - it's just soooo glamorous being me!

XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

La Vie Parisienne

One of our favorite jewelry lines is La Vie Parisienne. Owner and designer of this international jewelry and accessory company is Paris native, Catherine Popesco. A visionary, Catherine's artistic and creative sensibilities have taken her into numerous creative fields beyond fashion and jewelry design. The pieces in this beautiful line are manufactured by her team of highly skilled artisans at her workshop in the heart of the Loire Valley in France. She has just came out with some new styles of enameled, embellished bangles and rings. We've received part of our order and love, love, love the new pieces.


Easter Surprise Balls by Tops Malibuare always a favorite treat for Easter baskets or egg hunts. Unwind crepe paper ribbon to retrieve surprises and trinkets hidden in each layer. These are fun gifts that are loved by all ages.

Curtsyland will be closed Sunday, March 23rd. The Curtsy Girls have important things to do, like hunting eggs, gorging on Peeps and biting the ears off chocolate bunnies!

XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

It's my party & I will wear a princess hat if I want to...

Last night we had a FABULOUS dinner at Pair (restaurant around the corner which we raved about before...def go there!) to celebrate my brother's birthday. Our divine January customer of the month was also dining at Pair....she was enjoying the company of all the mom's from her kid's 2nd grade class....we love running into our customers outside of Curtsyland! Tonight we are heading to an Italian restaurant in Kirkland named Lucia's. They have live music every Thursday night....tonight should be amazing because it is my brother providing the sweet sounds! He will be playing trumpet and I am so looking forward to it...he is amazing! We will give you all more of a heads-up next time he will be playing there.....more the merrier (and he gets paid well for these gigs....more peeps there to see him = they keep asking him back! ;-))

We received an adorable birthday party hat line in....It's My Party Hat! As with most of our fancy toppers....they are made with little ones in mind but it is us big kids that love them just as much. These hats are definitely big enough to fit most heads. My favorite ones are for the Birthday Princess....complete with a veil! They come in dark pink & light pink. Another style is leopard trimmed with pink marabou and reads Happy Birthday Princess in pink letters....the i's dotted with pink jewels.




We received a bunch that are first birthday specific and are freakin' adorable ;-) They are trimmed in big fabulous, fluffy pom poms and say 1st Birthday. The line also includes a great selection for boys in navy colors and classic birthday colors.

xxxx

Happy Birthday Josh!!

Today is my son Josh's 27th birthday. Yes, I know I couldn't possibly have a son that old, but I guess the fact that I had him when I was 12 explains all that...... right? Josh is an amazing musician and has turned out to be a pretty fabulous son as well. He keeps us all laughing with his weird sense of humor, so when I passed by the birthday card pictured above - I just had to do it. I know it's a little unconventional to give your own son a birthday card that calls him a freak, but I meant it in only the nicest possible maternal sort of way.

Josh is an inspiration to me. When he was in the 4th grade, he brought a trumpet home from school and announced that he would be playing it in the school band. I wasn't sure our ears could handle it, those early practice sessions were pretty rough (OK - really rough) to listen to. He kept at it all through high school and eventually went on to be accepted at Berkeley Institute of Music in Boston for college. He had just finished his sophomore year there and had done some touring with several different small jazz bands when he decided to quit. He was tired of school and wanted to be a musician and be active in the music scene. Being the parent that I am, I let him know that I didn't agree with his decision, but he was old enough to make his own life choices. I added that if he did quit, that on an emotional level, I would always support him in whatever he did, but on a financial level, he would be on his own.



That was about 4 years ago. Josh eventually migrated from Boston to Seattle where he is now deeply involved in the music scene. He plays in 3 different bands, has expanded from just trumpet to keyboards, vocals, guitar and bass. His life is filled with music - rock, punk, jazz and he loves it! He delivers pizza to survive and is one of the happiest people I know. When my kids were growing up, I always told them it didn't matter what they wanted to do, as long as they worked hard at it and loved what they did. To me that makes him a great success!
XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

The Box Girls

I had so much fun at Curtsyland today playing with & displaying the Mindy Weiss collection! I love all of the bridal shower goodies.....I adore hosting & planning parties and it all totally made me want to host a bridal shower. I will be helping with a baby shower in the coming months so I suppose I can translate some of the ideas & activities. Another one of the Captain's sisters is preggers! She will be having a baby boy in June....which will be number 18 in the niece & nephew tally for the Captain!


We received a big new order in from the fabulous lovelies who are The Box Girls! I absolutely adore giving these Box of Questions as gifts..whether it be for the hostess, birthday girl, or making sure my next shindig involves them. Lots of new versions arrived with this shipment. My fav is the Truth or Dare Box of Questions...it has a mini game spinner that determines if you must face a truth, dare or double dare...then 83 game cards and instructions. It is recommended for guys & dolls over the age of 12....perfect to keep those teens entertained at their next sleepover or birthday party.


Another new one is The Sex Box of Questions....perfect for bachelorette parties or get-togethers & guaranteed to provide an unforgettable night ;-) This box contains 52 questions cards that inspire everyone to kiss-and-tell......pick a card and prepare to share your dirty laundry & saucy secrets!


The Happy Birthday Box of Questions is also new.....great conversation starters for any group of people celebrating a birthday. We are all stocked up again on the Slumber Party Box of Questions......always popular with our slumber party princesses & the mom's who love them ;-)(this set also includes temporary tattoos!) And for my kind of party....the The Girls Night Box of Questions. Nothing beats sipping cosmopolitans and having a fab dish sessions with girlfriends!!



Last but not least.....and definitely a best seller for The Box Girls....The Family Dinner Box of Questions. This wonderful game & conversation starter will get the whole family sharing & laughing & connecting over meals. Love!


xxxx

Mindy Weiss Collection...Part Deux

God I love the stuff in this collection!! I received another 2 boxes of goodies today and it's one of those orders that I love each item I un-wrap more than the last. I wish I had someones wedding to plan! One of my favorites that came today is the
Bridal Bow-quet. There is a long standing tradition of creating the rehearsal bouquet from the ribbons and bows on the bridal shower gifts. This kit makes it a snap to do. Included in the folder is a heart shaped cutout with the holes already punched - forget trying to mess with paper plates. There's also 2 lists - one to write down all the gifts received and the givers names and the other to record the bride's comments as she opens each gift.

This little book of Wedding Planning Sticky Notes would make a fabulous little engagement gift. The perfect size to tuck in a purse, it includes a pad of regular size post it notes as well as tabs that can be used to mark pages in all of the wedding magazines. There are 7 different tabs that say I Do, Must Have, Love It, Maybe, Great Idea, Perfect and Unforgettable.

We always have customers requesting bridal handkerchiefs and we've never seen any that we liked enough to carry in the store. This little set not only has a hankie for the bride to catch her tears, but a little blue lavender sachet to pin inside her dress. A very thoughtful gift.

What's a bridal shower without at least one game? If you're the shower hostess, you've got enough to do without having to come up with games to play. Bridal Bingo is a wonderful ice breaker sure to bring some laughs to a bridal shower and if there are good prizes involved, some competition as well. The kit includes 20 bridal bingo cards, 150 jeweled heart markers, bridal bingo word markers and master sheet.

XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

The Mindy Weiss Wedding Collection

It's finally here!! The much anticipated Mindy Weiss Wedding Collection by Two's Company. For those of you who aren't up on the wedding industry, Mindy Weiss is one of the top wedding/event coordinators in the United States. Her creative and unusual ideas, her unexpected decor accents as well as her attention to even the smallest details have helped put her at the top of her field.

She has created weddings for such luminaries as Gwen Steffani & Gavin Rossdale, Heidi Klum & Seal and Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams.

The line has great gifts for the bride to be like the Delivered With Love Response Card Organizer. This nifty little box has one side for the "yes" responses and one for the "no" responses with alphabetized guides which will make organizing all those little cards a snap.

A Tip to Remember is a set of 8 tip envelopes with thank you cards and decorative seals. A handwritten note included with a tip is something that's appreciated by all the people who helped make the big day special. This adorable set will help the happy couple deliver their thanks in style.

XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

Busy day at Curtsyland, so this blog will be a short one. We received boxes and boxes of the Mindy Weiss Wedding Collection, so we have been opening and checking and pricing. We'll have pics on the blog within a day or two and Danielle will have it all out by next week.

With the baby season upon us, we always have a lot of requests for baby shower goodies and decorations. Some of the cutest decorations are from Bethany Lowe. The Welcome Baby Stork Container is irresistible - a stork with a pink of blue heart around their neck standing on top of a miniature hat box. Hang the matching Baby Garland and you're set.


One quick note before I go. Curtsy brother/son Josh's band Change Versus Comfort is playing an all ages show tomorrow night at Roy's Place in Lynnwood. The address is 4926 196th ST SW and the phone number is
425-775-4226. The doors open at 7PM and there are a total of 4 bands playing. CVC will play last at about 10PM. Should be a great show - of course I'm rather biased. They are a fabulous original band - you can either visit their website at www.changeversuscomfort.com or find their myspace page.
XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

Wishful Thinking

The Captain and I just finished watching a movie titled Eagle vs. Shark....it was odd and silly....it has Jemaine Clement in it from Flight of the Conchords. I highly recommend checking out Flight of the Conchords if you have never heard/seen them....they are hilarious & amazing! The Captain was Jemaine for Halloween....he stayed in character all night....Marie Antoinette didn't like that.

Today was full of wishes at Curtsyland......we wished for sunny skies, we wished we owned every piece of the new Tarina Tarantino spring collection (of which the catalog just arrived....AMAZING!)....and we received the new Make a Wish collection from Bethany Lowe. Bethany Lowe creates many of the wonderful goodies we carry for every holiday. They just started doing some everyday collections for weddings, babies, and making wishes!













My favorite piece from the Make a Wish collection is the wand.......seriously - who doesn't adore wands?!? It is made of pressed paper, decoupage, crepe and glitter on a wooden stick adorned with bells. Perfect to stick inside a bouquet of flowers for a friend or as a party favor for the guest of honor. We also have a Make a Wish crown....the size is adjustable and it can be worn or used as decoration. If you put the crown on while holding the wand.....you will most likely have an uncontrollable desire to sing Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo.



The last two Make a Wish goodies are containers....one is a gorgeous star that would look amazing at every place setting at a dinner party. The other is cake....the top comes off to reveal a box underneath. Great gift box for a small present or table decoration. And a perfect complement for all this wishful thinking....our roll of wish tickets by F.G. & Co. It is a roll of 100 tickets with a tag that reads "If I had a hundred wishes, I would give them all to you."


xxxx

CHOCOLATE!!!!!

I started wondering today why we associate chocolate with the Easter Holiday. Apparently, both the Aztec and Mayan cultures discovered that the seeds of the cacao tree can be processed into chocolate. These early cultures mixed the cacao seeds with spices to form a beverage. The Aztecs used cacao seeds as money and in their culture only royalty or the elite could drink chocolate. Both cultures used chocolate as religious offerings and in sacred rituals. The Spanish Conquistadors after exploring Mexico brought the seeds back to Spain and they eventually spread all over Europe. The first solid chocolate Easter Eggs were produced in Germany and France in the 1800's. With the Industrial Revolution came machines that could mass produce hollow eggs and they have since become a favorite in Easter baskets. The Curtsy Girls have brought in stunning delicious Easter Chocolate Bars from Bloomsberry. I love the one that says "Do these ears make me look fat?" We have lots of great little goodies for filling Easter baskets for kids of all ages.

Here's the latest news on the Snick dog's torn ACL. He and I were on the road by 5AM on Monday, driving to the Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. That is one long-ass drive with very few rest rooms on the way. There should be BIG signs when you're coming down from Snoqualmie Pass saying "Don't drink 3 cups of coffee or you'll regret it". Anyways... What an amazing facility! They are truly service orientated. My Veterinary Medical Student met us in the lobby and took a full history. We then went to an examination room, where she performed a thorough physical exam. After that she came back with the teaching Veterinary Doctor and they reviewed his case together, drawing me diagrams and really helping me to understand every aspect of his injury. At this point, the teaching Vet gave her suggestions, which were 4-6 weeks of extremely limited activity or surgery. She let me know that small dogs like Snickers have a good chance of recovering without the surgery - YEA!!!!! So I'm going to keep carrying him everywhere for the next 4-6 weeks to see if we can get it to heal.

Since there was to be no surgery, I decided to turn around and drive home the same day. In fact I was so giddy that I was not going to have to shell out $2000 that after filling my gas tank, I drove off with the nozzle still in my car. Can we say embarrassing....really, really embarrassing? The gas station man was very nice and told me that the gas hoses are actually designed to break-away when some ditsy broad forgets she's finished pumping (he didn't really use the term ditsy broad). So for the next 6 weeks, I will continue to sport dog hair on every piece of clothing I own, but now at least I can afford some lint/hair removers :).

XOXO
Curtsy Mama

Mary Jo

More on Mor

The other week Curtsy Mama told you about the arrival of the AMAZING Fruits of Cornucopia Imperia collection by Mor Cosmetics. She had a bunch of other goodies to report about that day, so I have been meaning to give you more details. This was definitely one of my favorite orders we placed for this spring. I have been a fan of Mor Cosmetics for a long time and have been wanting to start carrying them in Curtsyland. While wandering in Atlanta....we laid eyes upon Mor's new Imperia Collection and seriously fell head-over-heels!! It is so Curtsylicious.....the sales rep even thought the outfit I was wearing that day perfectly complemented all of the packaging and was sure we did in fact need to have it in Curtsyland ;-)


My favorite piece is the Bathing Elixir which comes in an amazing black glass decanter. Mor describes the Imperia Collection as "A Cornucopia of lush scents from bygone times. Flowers of Narcissus amidst hushed temple ruins, immortal offerings from the Garden of Hespera. God or Goddess, nymph or mortal, immerse yourself in the heady strains of mystical, classic mythology." There are three scents in this collection.....Flowers of Narcissus, Garden of Hespera, and Fruits of Cornucopia which is scent we rushed in. We will most likely bring in the rest of the range ASAP...until then, the rest of the Fruits of Cornucopia goodies to get you hooked include....

- Hand & Body Milk.....sooooooo in love with the packaging. Hurry in to try the tester....I am addicted and can stop testing it ;-)
- Hand & Body Wash....a luxurious companion to the Hand & Body Milk....perfect gift or house warming present
- Body Cream......LOVE this lotion - it is infused with botanical extracts of Ivy, Hawthorn, and Yarrow and feels just like a silky cocoon
- Black Glycerin Body Bar.....black soap!! It is triple milled and has a Shea Butter base....uber yummy

xxxx