Pretty Princess Gifts

When my kids were growing up, it seemed like there was a birthday party every other weekend! It's hard coming up with original ideas that won't break the budget - especially these day when gas is like $10 a gallon! This adorable case from Bubblemui can be a purse, a cosmetics case or pencil case. We love the pink chain and giant diamond zipper pull!

Who doesn't want to feel like a princess on their b-day? The Fiona Fluff Crown Headband is great for both little princesses and for those of us who just want to feel like a princess. We gave one of these to the Captain's mom when we went to her slumber party several months ago - she wore it all night (and looked spectacular I might add).

This little tutu reminds me of the first one I bought for Danielle when she started dancing at age 4. It's fun for even the littlest ballerinas to have a pretty little outfit to twirl and swirl and imagine in.


XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

CurtsyGirl SarahRose here! Danielle is froliking about her apartment so I have stolen the computer!

Before Danielle and I trotted down to QFC for our picnic dinner, she showed me the brand new gift wrap from Whimsy Press. CurtsyBella already has the cutest gift wrap I have ever seen (I save all of it!), but Danielle was itching to get some new wraps. Even though I only got a quick glipse, I can already tell that both CurtsyBoy's and Girls will be craving their gifts to be wrapped in the cutest gift wrap around. The company features fun and playful gift wrap with reversible patterns, bright colors and eye catching designs.


I'm sure Danielle will fill you in with more about the gorgeous wrap when she can!

XoXO,
S.Rose

P.S. Be sure to keep posted to hear about our new development...the adventures of the CurtsyGirls....

Wedding Parties

Boy, is wedding season in full swing! Every other customer through the door is shopping for engagement, shower or wedding gifts. Our friends at Classy Bride have come out with new accessories in Tiffany Blue. We have Bridesmaid and Maid of Honor Tanks in the new hue. Pair them with the Bride Tank tank in black and you're set for a summer bachelorette party night on the town.


My plan was to also show you a picture of the cute new Wedding Party Tube Socks that we brought in. Unfortunately, blogger has apparently decided that I'm going to do no such thing.....so you'll just have to use your imagination. First, I know the words "Wedding Party" and Tube Socks" aren't usually paired together, and up until now there was a good reason for it. Picture this.......it's a night or two before your wedding, you're camped out in your posh hotel suite with your best gal pals, who are also in the wedding party. Nobody wants to chip the polish on their pedicures before the big day after all you spent all afternoon getting those posies looking perfect. Whip out these adorable pink and white tube socks that are embroidered on the side with Bride, Bridesmaid and Maid of Honor. Howls of delight will ensue - what a clever bride - you've thought of absolutely EVERYTHING!

XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

Summer Favs

Now that summer has finally arrived, it's time to show some skin. For those daring girls out there, Nippies will add spice to your life and sass to your wardrobe. It's rumored that these are popular cover ups on many of our local watercraft. In fact the owner of the company told me she saw a You Tube video of girls sporting Nippies at Seafair. Not quite that brave? They're brilliant under those featherweight tee's that we all love this time of year.


Bare arms and legs take on the perfect summer glow when you spritz a little Glitz on them. I spray it on my skin, my clothes, my hair. I love it's fresh scent and that it never makes me look too too sparkly.

It's hot, it's steamy, it's sultry and you are one sexy babe. One never knows where the hot nights of summer will lead, but you're a smart girl and you're prepared for anything that comes your way - right? You are if you've stocked up on Proper Attire Condoms. Brought to us by the folks at Planned Parenthood, these gems come in little designer boxes and pouches - so chic, so in control, so you!

XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

Butter me up

During the sale madness last week....our fabulous UPS man delivered the new butter LONDON line of pedicure collection. I am absolutely loving butter LONDON. Their lacquers are 3 free....meaning they are free of the 3 toxins found in most lacquers: formaldehyde, toluene, & DBP. The nail polishes have been flying off the shelf so we rushed in the new pedi goodies. Even more fabulous is that butter LONDON is born & bred out of Seattle....they currently have four Seattle locations and one in the Dulles Int’l Airport, Wash D.C. that you can jet to to receive full service manis & pedis with guaranteed hygiene & speed. On their website...I was tickled to find the butter LONDON Dictionary....it defines each of the names of their lacquers.

The packaging for the pedicure collection is amazing.....all adorned with leopard & florals & a royally crowned raven. My fav part is on the back of each bottle it states that butter LONDON believes in Rock and Roll, Great Britain, & Fashion. The pedicure collection consists of five divine treats for your tooties and gams. I super wished I would have thought to try out the Pumps Energizing Foot Spray during our F***ing Ridiculous Sale. It instructs to spritz puffy, tired, overworked legs and feet with this Energizing Foot Spray to tighten and revive. Helps reduce swelling, stimulate blood flow, and deodorize.....sounds like just what we needed after each uber long day! I am also looking forward to using the Powder Finish Foot Creme during the (hopefully) upcoming hot summer days while showing off my tooties in some fancy sandals. It claims to instantly hydrate, yet leaves a soft, powder finish to help keep your feet dry and odorless. Also good for the summer months....the Silk Stockings Finishing Gel. It contains Marine biology, multiple Plant extracts, and added Collagen to detoxify, lift, and smooth. All these qualities are suspended in a luscious, light-reflecting gel that will glamorize your gams and hide blemishes.


If your tooties are a bit rough around the edges.....the Rock Off Callus Remover reminds us that rocks are for fingers - not feet! Shake well and apply liberally to hard skin using a cotton pad. Wait 3 minutes then gently file treated area with a foot file. (We do have the butter LONDON prestige foot file in stock to use with the Rock Off). And last but not least.....the Stiletto Stick - Hydrating Heel Balm. The gals at butter LONDON know that extremely dry, cracked heels are difficult to treat, since most products are heavy, greasy, and not at all shoe-friendly. With Stiletto Stick your heels will benefit from a high Urea content and Macadamia nut oil, while staying silky, soft, and never greasy, because of the unique “solid formula”. Love!

xxxx

Books for a Fabulous, Wacky, Eccentric Life

Sorry that we've been blog-less for the end of last week - our sidewalk sale took on a life of it's own and became all consuming! It was a great event and we're thrilled that so many of our customers took home some great bargains. For those of you who had to miss (I've had 3 people in today who had to be out of town and were soooo upset) not to worry - it's an annual event and will return next July.

The Curtsy Girls love to read, so we were excited to find 3 new books for Curtsyland. The first one Mama Gena's School of Womanly Arts - Using the Power of Pleasure to Have Your Way With the World had been requested by several of our customers. Turns out there's quite a following of not only this book, but the author, Regina Thomashauser. I took the book home over the weekend and I'm hooked! We've already sold out of half of our order, so apparently word's out that it's fabulous.

Simon Doonan, the brilliant window dresser for Barney's New York & New York Observer columnist is the author of our other two great finds. A Wacky Chick is B.R.U.N.C.H - belligerent, resilient, uninhibited, naughty, creative and hilarious - ooooh yeah!! The book is subtitled Life Lessons from Fearlessly Inappropriate and Fabulously Eccentric Women it's full of stories about women who are bold and brazen and outrageous.

Eccentric Glamour - Creating an Insanely More Fabulous You is not your typical how - to manual. Included are interviews with some of today's biggest glamour eccentrics - Iman, Lucy Liu, Tilda Swinton, Malcom Gladwell. Doonan helps readers figure out their own individual sense of style and achieve a mysterious and tasteful image.

XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

F***ing Riduculous Sale!

It's the Curtsy Bella F***ing Ridiculous Sale!!! This is no regular, namby, pamby poser of a sale! When the Curtsy Girls do something, we do it right - most of the items in this sale are at least half off! We want to make sure that if you're going to use your precious gas to drive over here that it's worth your while. Lingerie, baby, wedding, holiday, stationary and housewares...oodles of great goodies!

Thursday June 19th through Sunday June 22nd - it starts at 10 AM.

We're using a vacant store space in the same building as CB, so look for the big pink glitter SALE signs.

XOXO

Curtsy Mama

Mary Jo

Countdown has begun!

Unfortunately another short & sweet blog tonight.......promise to catch you all up more after our F***ing Ridiculous Sale! We are in full sale mode.....Curtsy Mama just got the e-mail reminder sent off to all those that receive the Curtsy Royalty newsletters. We both have spent most of our days off at Curtsyland and are pulling long hours to prepare.....poor Curtsyland is looking quite neglected since I have been concentrating on sale merch. Hopefully everyone will be so excited about sale goodies they won't notice ;-) Anyways....hope to see you all there! FYI......the sale will take place during our normal business hours - Thursday & Friday 10-7, Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 11-5.

xxxx

It's Wedding & Baby Season!

Ever have a cranky Monday? I think that's what I'm having today, even though today is actually my Friday. The morning began with Snickers being an absolute stubborn, stubborn jerk on his morning walk. All he wanted to do was to stand in one place and sniff and every time I tried to get him to walk, he's just pull back on the leash and sit down. So much for my resolution to enjoy several minutes of zen peace during his morning constitutional.

Once at work, every time I start on a project, either the phone rings or someone comes in, so I've accomplished basically nothing. I thought that I would at least get the blog done and I've been trying to upload photos for for half an hour now and it's just not working. I finally checked the maintenance updates and saw that they are doing some routine maintenance on that feature, so today's blog may or may not have visual aids.

Did you watch the Tony awards last night? I love watching them, it's made me so excited to go to New York in August for our fall buying trip. I think I was really supposed to be a star on Broadway - somehow I got sidetracked.......ok, I can't sing, dance or act, but still, I shoulda been a star!

Ok, well I've tried for over an hour to upload photos, so I'm guessing their maintenance is taking a little longer than anticipated. I'm not going to write about products you can't see - I mean what fun would that be> Instead, I'll leave you with the reminder that the F***ing Ridiculous Sale starts this Thursday at 10AM and will continue until Sunday at 5PM. Danielle and I have been furiously slashing prices with our little red pens. This is a SALE, not some namby pamby poser of a sale like some shops, this is the honest to goodness real thing!

XOXO

Curtsy Mama

Mary Jo

Sleeping Beautiful

We received oodles of new Mary Green sleep masks in today! I love love love her sleep masks....she is always coming out with new designs that I find I must take home ;-) I definitely pulled one over my sleepy eyes last night.....the Captain & I went to see a concert that didn't end until 1:30am. We saw the Two Gallants....they were AMAZING live! Highly recommend checking them out. Anyways.....all Mary Green sleep masks are 100% silk....they are super soft & comfy and make you look ridiculously cute while getting your beauty rest.


My favorite new design has a frog prince embroidered on it and reads "It's only a dream." I also like the fuchsia mask that screams "Never Enough!" and is trimmed in jeweled lace. The new "Queen for a night" mask is gorgeous....trimmed in gold with a royal crown embroidered on it. We also got stocked up on best-sellers we have been out of....."Dreaming of Paris"...."Sleeping Beauty"....."Counting Sheep." And just in time for Father's Day....we have the pirate sleep mask that reads "Arrr....Don't be bothering me now!"

Save the date for our F'ing Ridiculous Sale which will run Thursday June 19th - Sunday June 22nd.....F'ing Ridiculous savings on a f'ing ridiculous amount of goodies!

xxxx

Dressing in the Dark

EEKK!! We missed yesterday's blog! So sorry Curtsy fans. I normally wait until Danielle leaves at 6 to write. Yesterday the store was quiet all day until, you guessed it, 6 PM. All of a sudden, I was swamped and then I flew out of here 15 minutes early so that we could take Curtsy Girl Sarah Rose out for a graduation celebration dinner. She is graduating from UW on Saturday and we are so proud of her! Being the go getter that she is, she already has a job, so we are sadly losing her as a Curtsy Girl. We're just grateful that we were able to work with her for a little while.

A few more ideas for Dear Old Dad. Dressing in the Dark Lesson in Men's Style from the Movies . In the past, guys learned to dress from their fathers. Today, nobody really wants to dress like their dad, instead they take their style cues from John Travolta, Sean Penn and all the other cool guys in the movies. This books looks to the stars of the silver screen for common sense examples of how to dress comfortably and stylishly.


Stacked Decks - The Art and history of Erotic Playing Cards gives a fascinating history of what are also known as wolf decks, stag decks and nudie playing cards. The book features images of hundreds of erotic playing cards from 1807 to the present, all illustrated with nude or semi-nude models, burlesque singers, flappers, pin up girls and international superstars.

Don't forget to save the date for our F'ing Ridiculous Sale.....F'ing Ridiculous savings on an F'ing Ridiculous amount of goodies! The sale will take place in the vacant space in our building - June 19th - 22nd.

We are still looking for a couple of Curtsylicious helpers for the sale....interested or know someone who is? Call, come by or send me an e-mail.

XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

Short & Sweet

I don't usually do the blog on Tuesday as it's my day off, however Danielle was swamped at the store today and asked me to help her out. I'm an early morning person, normally hitting the gym by 5:30 AM, so by 9 PM, my brain is pretty ready to shut down. Hence, the Short & Sweet Title for tonight's blog.


Curtsyland was busy today with both Father's Day shoppers and parents finding some little token of gratitude for their child's teacher. We have loads of great cards, like this Thank You from the Papaya Card line and lots of small gift options to show your appreciation for educating your little darling over the past year. Not sure what to get? We're always happy to help you find just the right thing in your price range.

Don't forget to save the date for our F'ing Ridiculous Sale.....F'ing Ridiculous savings on an F'ing Ridiculous amount of goodies! The sale will take place in the vacant space in our building - June 19th - 22nd.
We are still looking for a couple of Curtsylicious helpers for the sale....interested or know someone who is? Call, come by or send me an e-mail.

XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

It's all about Dad

It's my first day back from vacay and I'm so happy to be back at Curtsyland. I had a great time hanging with the Curtsy Grandma - lots and lots of games of gin rummy! Florida was hot and sunny, but while the sun was a nice change, a really, really nice change - I hate the heat. When it's over 90 degrees and humid, it just sucks the life force right outta me. I'm having a little trouble getting back in the swing of things today evidenced by the fact that it has taken me ALL DAY to balance our bank statement - something that normally takes me less than an hour. Guess the nasty heat sucked the life force outta my brain as well.

Father's Day is this Sunday and we just received in this nifty little travel frame. Perfect for a couple of pics of you, this little canvas frame is lightweight and will fit into his suitcase without taking him over the weight limit at the luggage counter.

A favorite gift for guys is the Grenade Oil Lamp by designer Piet Hooutenbos. Made from actual US Army surplus grenades and available in 3 different finishes, these make a great addition to Dad's den or office.

Don't forget to save the date for our F'ing Ridiculous Sale.....F'ing Ridiculous savings on an F'ing Ridiculous amount of goodies! The sale will take place in the vacant space in our building - June 19th - 22nd.

We are still looking for a couple of Curtsylicious helpers for the sale....interested or know someone who is? Call, come by or send me an e-mail.

XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

TGIF

Today started out stupid....I was just having one of those mornings where every silly little thing was going wrong and annoying me. Anyways....while carrying on with my morning routine at Curtsyland, I hear pounding on the door at about 10:45. It was the UPS man....I totally forgot to unlock the door. Great for business. The day definitely picked up once customers were able to get in.

Quick update on new goodies tonight....the Captain and I still don't have internet at our new place and I always get so wrapped up in playing store and leave myself 15 to blog ;-( We received uber stylish cake servers today. They look just like a high heel shoe! There are three styles...leopard, zebra, and black...and each come in a matching gift box. The heel part is magnetic - so you can remove it when serving.

We also are all stocked up again on pacifiers. I swear I tie one of these pacifiers on the top of every baby gift I wrap! They are too cute and a perfect little something extra to add to a gift. The most popular styles are Bad to the Bone, Rock Star, Princess & Prince Charming. A few new styles arrived.....Whine Connoisseur & Mommas Boy.

Don't forget to save the date for our F'ing Ridiculous Sale.....F'ing Ridiculous savings on an F'ing Ridiculous amount of goodies! The sale will take place in the vacant space in our building - June 19th - 22nd.

xxxx

Luscious Leopard Love

Today was the best day ever.....my Tarina Taratino handbag arrived!!!! It was absolute head-over-heels love at first sight. I sent the Captain a pic immediately and told him he should be worried....the new love of my life is leopard trimmed in bronze leather with a giant jeweled tooth ;-) We don't keep any TT handbags stocked at Curtsyland....we have the full line sheets here for you to choose your new love from and then we special order it for you. I thought I better take one for team Curtsy & our cherished customers and make sure these handbags are really as fabulous as they appear in the catalog. SarahRose and I are taking it out on the town tonight....I will report tomorrow on its first outing. I think we will have a lovely life together.

Today was also an accident prone day at Curtsyland. I had a customer accidentally break a mirror used for when customers try on jewelry. No one was hurt and I wasn't attached to the mirror at all....but I am terribly worried she may have bad luck coming her way ;-( Then I broke a glass dish in the stock room.....a little piece of glass flew up and cut my leg and tore a hole in my brand new, first-time-wearing $18 tights. And of course I don't have time to run home before going out tonight. Luckily the tights are footless.....I was able to put a Hello Kitty band-aid on the wound, then I put some black electrical tape over that so you can't really tell there is a hole. I am counting on my handbag demanding all the attention anyway.

A new shipment of The Box Girls arrived today....we can't keep them in stock! We received The Family Dinner Box of Questions, Girls Night Out Box of Questions, Slumber Party Box of Questions, and Sex Box of Questions. Each box contains 52 cards that will create great conversations. The Sex Box of Questions has been an absolute hit for Bachelorette parties......and I was cleaned out of the Girls Night version for all of the Sex and the City parties that were happening last weekend.

xxxx

Itty Bitty Accessories for the Lush

The Curtsy Girls need some help! We are looking for two fabulous, divine, fun, responsible, hard-working girly-girls to help us out for a few days during our sale.....which from here on out I will refer to as our F'ing Ridiculous Sale ('cuz there is an f'ing ridiculous amount of goodies at f'ing ridiculous prices!) Anyways....as Curtsy Mama mentioned....our landlord is letting us set up shop in the vacant spot in our building. We need some helpers to make sure customers find where the sale is...escort them back to Curtsyland when they are done shopping the sale and ready to pay....and just generally provide extra hands as we are expecting lots of peeps to come out for it! The sale runs from Thursday June 19th - 22nd...if you anticipate being bored once school is out and want to help....please email us at info@curtsybella.com....muah!

I have always been a shoe whore....but today we received something that may change all that. The Purse Party by Lolita is a set that includes a purse-sized mini 4oz flask and a matching 1oz mini-tini glass. It comes with a velveteen pouch to carry them in and are packaged in a purse shaped gift box. Now that my handbag can be outfitted with itty bitty bar fun....I feel myself converting to a bag whore as the day goes on.

Also from Lolita...we received fabulous hand-painted "I Love my Wine" glasses, "I Love my Martini" glasses, and cocktail shakers. Each glass has a theme....we received martini glasses for the shopaholic in your life - adorned with shoes & handbags galore. One is titled "It's 5 o'clock Somewhere" and is decorated with jeweled timepieces all tuned to that magic cocktail time. One is perfect for that millionaire we all know.....decked out with Rolls Royces, pimpin' gold watches, and major bling. If you know a wine connoisseur who also happens to be a princess....we have a glass embellished with tiaras and diamond necklaces & earrings. Each Lolita glass has a drink recipe painted on the bottom meant to please that shopaholic, princess, or millionaire with whom it was painted for in mind.

xxxx

Mr. & Mrs.

The Captain & I attended a wedding down in Portland this past weekend....a girlfriend I grew up with in Arizona got married to a wonderful guy (I don't know him very well but have an uber good feeling....and he looks like Matt Damon...never hurts ;-)). They are now off in St. John (jealous!) hopefully enjoying an fabulous honeymoon. Anyways....arriving three days too late....we received the cutest Mr. & Mrs. travel accessories that I would have loved to send them off with.

Part of the amazing Mindy Weiss wedding collection....the set of two passport cases include a travel journal inside each and spaces to keep cards & other paperwork. The set of two luggage tags perfectly coordinate with the passport cases allowing you to look oh-so-chic jetting from country to country. And I imagine strolling through airports with Mr. & Mrs. accessories could only help in getting an upgrade to the honeymoon suite!

I had a customer today who wanted to buy her husband one of the Mysterio Predicts baby t-shirts for Father's Day. Normally...you buy the tee in a cute bag that is sewn closed so you don't know what Mysterio will predict for your child's future until you pull the string. (These are always a hit at baby showers) She wanted the specific one that was on display....Mafia Accountant....as her husband is an accountant. I was happy to oblige...although kinda sad to give up my Mafia Accountant unborn-child's future. You see......the first one I opened to put on display, Mysterio predicted I would have a Donut Tycoon. I am not a donut lover (would have supported him/her no matter what....but secretly wanted a Criminal Mastermind or a Monkey Wrangler)...so was more than happy when a customer wanted to buy the Donut Tycoon tee...which in turn led to my little Mafia Accountant. Well guess what Mysterio predicts my third child will be?!? Another f'ing Donut Tycoon!!! Stupid Mysterio.

xxxx

Heelarious

Our divine, fabulous, splendid May Curstylicious Customer of the Month is Judith Clark!!! Judith and her family have been brightening our days on a regular basis since the begining of Curtsy time. We have so enjoyed getting to know them all. Her daughter recently got married and we felt uber privileged to play a small part in it......we decked out the groomsmen in our Cyberoptix ties and dancing girls cufflinks. Judith's husband pays us a visit before gift giving holidays to pick out her favorite new bracelet or earrings. As you all know.....Curtsyland is a family affair - so we just adore when entire families enjoy shopping here! For being so wonderful...Judith will receive a $50 CB gift card and 10% off all her purchases for the month of June. Pretty please remember that no purchase is ever necessary to be the Curtsylicious Customer of the Month! You just have to make us smile (not hard to do...promise!), do a little dance & curtsy (we aren't super strict with this requirent), and make sure we have your email address to contact you.

So today we received an order in that I have been absolutely DYING to receive. Seriously. Like haven't slept well because I am so excited to see these in person and just can't believe that some fabulous person created such a perfect product and Curtsyland couldn't go another day without these in our baby section. The order is from Heelarious....makers of her first high heels. I know.....if your initial reaction is anything like mine was.....try to relax your stomach muscles and pick up your jaw. All is right with the world.....Curtsyland now has high heels for babies.

The exact definition of Heelarious - noun: extremely funny, completely soft, fully functional high heel crib shoes for babies. Not intended for walking (heel will collapse with weight). Not intended to harm children in any way. WARNING: May cause extreme smiling and hysterical laughter when in use (this is completely normal).

Current styles include:
Brooke: Leopard satin heel with black satin lining (definitely my fav)
Elle: Hot pink patent heel with zebra satin lining
Kate: Black satin heel with black & white polka dot satin lining
Kayla: Zebra satin heel with hot pink satin lining
She's a Little Lady: Black patent heel with hot pink satin lining
Sophie: Hot pink satin heel with black & white polka dot satin lining

Now what would be cuter than dolling your little one up in these and taking her along with your girlfriends to see the Sex & the City movie??!? It is times like this I hate not having a baby....and I think Juliet (my kitty who is at home now!) is too small and I would have to buy two pairs...damn.

xxxx