And So It Begins

The crowds, the pushing, the shoving, the rude store clerks.....the mall. If you want a bit of a different shopping experience, head to Curtsyland. Filled with gifts of all sizes and price ranges, where you can browse and not be hassled. Don't forget that our beautiful gift wrap is always complimentary. Stumped on what to get for Aunt Isabel or Uncle Frederick? Let one of the Curtsy Girls help you find the perfect thing - it's what we do best!

If you've been fighting the mall crowds, it may be time to treat yourself to a little pre-holiday something. After all, you've spent the whole day buying gifts for others, you're tired, a bit cranky, you deserve something pretty! We just received the most luscious Silk Baby Dolls & Rhumba Pants from Honeydew. The perfect thing to slip into after a hard day of shopping - you'll feel beautiful, which will restore your holiday cheer. Glad we could help!

We normally don't sell lots of baby gifts in November, but today was the exception. Seems like many new Seattle-ites are being born this month. One of our favorite new items are the Ribbon Onesies and T-Shirts by Designs By Nickole. Each one is hand made and is perfect for the new bundle of joy this season. The biggest surprise is that yes, they are machine washable and will come out looking great time after time.

XOXO

Curtsy Mama

Mary Jo

Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our wonderful customers! We're grateful for your friendship and support. We will be closed Thursday, November 27th to get our yearly stuffing fix. We will re-open at 10AM on Friday.

XOXO
The Curtsy Family

Welcome Newest Curtsy Girl

Welcome to our newest Curtsy Girl, Heather. She will be helping us out around Curtsyland during the holidays and beyond. We knew when she showed up to work yesterday riding her Harley with a blinged out license plate holder and helmet and a pink motorcycle jacket that she would fit right in.


Got to love the new Paper Voodoo Pads that arrived today. Use white pins for good and black pins for evil. Have a boss or co-worker that's been driving you nuts? Take your frustration out on the pad. Stick in black pins everywhere....now don't you feel so much better? Got a mad crush on someone? Use the white pins to drive them wild -they'll be putty in your hands!

Do you have someone in your life who's a bit of a hypochondriac? You know they type, a sore throat is a sure sign of cancer and every head ache means a brain tumor. The Complete Manual of Things That Might Kill You was written with them in mind. There are over 300 deadly diseases profiled and conveniently organized by symptoms (real or imagined). Truly a hypochondriac's dream reference manual!

XOXO

Curtsy Mama

Mary Jo

Are You a Good With or a Bad Witch?

A new shipment from Tarina Tarantino arrived this afternoon containing several pieces from her sold out Wizard of Oz Collection. So, who do you identify with? Glinda pink and pretty and surrounded by tiny"bubbles"? Or are you a little darker, more like the Wicked Witch of the East? Maybe you're like me a a little of both! We received a total of 5 gems from this collection and I've been told by our rep at Tarina that we will not be able to order any more pieces, that the collection is sold out.

Did you know that 2008 marked the 50th anniversary of the Peace Symbol? Gerald Holtom, a British artist and textile designer created the symbol. A conscientious objector during World War II, he created the symbol for the Nuclear Disarmament Campaign. Tarina's nod to the anniversary is seen is the Peace Love and Sparkle Collection. This wood and crystal stretch cuff features a crystal adaptation of the symbol we all know and love so well

XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

Glitter Goodness

Most customers are aware of my obsession with glitter after a single visit to Curtsyland. I do believe almost everything looks better with glitter. So understandable that I started jumping up & down this morning when Mr. UPS brought us our first Deux Lux shipment. Deux Lux is a wonderful accessories company. Most of the items we picked to bring in this holiday are part of their glitter collection!!! We received the Crystal Glitter Wallet in oodles of sparkly colors....it is the perfect size to use as a wallet or a little out-on-the-town clutch. The snap closure has a big jewel, and the interior has card slots & a zipper compartment. The material makes me think of the booths or chairs in a 50's diner.....or the seats of a roller coaster....not sure either of those descriptions will help you to visualize how pretty they are! In the same glitter material, we received little snap closure business card cases, and little zip-around square coin pouches.


Some super cute wine glasses arrived today as well. Great for girlfriend gifts....the feature a vintage looking pic of a gal on one side and a sassy quote on the other: "Friends don't let friends wine alone"..."If you don't have anything nice to say, sit by me!"....and "Life's too short to drink cheap wine."

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A Piece of History

Danielle made the absolute coolest discovery at a downtown antique store last week. She came across an original copy of the Mother Stork's Baby Book. It's been 100 years since the Dodge Publishing Company first introduced this unique, classic and timeless baby book. The 104 page updated version includes the original illustrations by Albertine Randall Wheelan and quotes by well known poets of the day. It's broken up into 50 different categories to help the new parents chronicle those cherished early days.



The copy that Danielle found is for James Hoge Sullivan, born on January 18, 1921 to James Colbert Sullivan & Mary Louise Hoge Sullivan at Virginia Mason Hospital! Mrs. Sullivan was a wonderful record keeper. She included all of the cards of congratulations she received and detailed lists of gifts, which were many. She chronicled many of her son's firsts such "Baby's First Creeping" (love the wording on that one). This couple was obviously well loved in the Seattle area. There are some great photos of the proud parents, even a lock a Baby Hoge's hair.

Nest time you're in, you've got to spend a few minutes being transported back in time looking at this wonderful treasure. If anyone out there knows Mr. Sullivan, let him know we've got his baby book.

XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

Baby It's Cold Outside

So many adorable presents arriving for the new little humans in your life! I had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of those faux mink coats that Curtsy Mama told you about yesterday....they are amazing! The coats come in Classic Mink or Cream Couture....we have booties & bibs to match both coats and some in Luxe Leopard (my fav!). We are all stocked up again on the bling-a-licious binkie clips by Designs by Nickole. She started making adorable new styles for little boys....little sherrif badges, cowboy boots or footballs. Also back in stock this winter...Designs by Nickole's bling mitten clips! These are so sparkly and totally essential for wee snow bunnies...otherwise you may spend a fortune replacing all the mittens that get burried in the snow.

We received a new shipment of sparklies in from Mirror Mirror on the Wall. We just started carrying this line about two weeks ago and already had to do a reorder! We have oodles of new necklaces & brooches & rings & earrings...all make great affordable girlfriend gifts. I love the "Life is Good" pendant and the "Queen Mom" brooch.

xxxx

So Cute It Hurts!

This Mink Couture Coat arrived in Curtsyland this afternoon, part of a series of adorable faux fur baby goods we ordered. Can't you just imagine a little cutie patootie snuggled up warm in this jacket? Add a pair of the matching booties and bib and you'll have one stylin babe! All of the items are sooo soft and machine washable.

Need a perfect little gift for the girls at the office? The Stiletto Bottle Opener the accessory for every red blooded Manolo loving girl. Looks cute just sitting out on the counter and it's priced to not take a huge bite out of your shoe budget (priorities you know),

XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

Meow

I recently moved downtown...to the same complex as Curtsy Mama, although we are in different buildings. She was out walking the Snick dog one night and came across a sign for the Bad Kitty Book Club that meets at Arundel Bookstore on 1st & Madison. She mentioned it to me, thinking it might be a fun way to meet some new friends downtown. I looked them up and was tickled with the description..."The Bad Kitties are a group of fun-loving younger Seattle-area women with razor wits, a taste for frosty beverages, leopard-skin attire and designer handbags... oh, and they read. Yes, really."

I rushed in to sign up and find out what book they were reading, when the next meeting was, etc. So my first time attending was last night. At this particular meeting...in lieu of having a normal book club selection they asked everyone to bring a copy of page 13 from a favorite book. All the pages were then posted on the wall and we had to try and guess as many as we could. I was very excited & confident going into this challenge. My confidence started to dwindle when I had read five of them and had no guesses. Out of fifteen....I got two right....and we were allowed to fill in our own selection.;-) I didn't feel too bad as the winner only got four right....it was hard! But the first place winner got a $30 Sephora and the runner up received a gift certificate to Parfumerie Nasreen (which is right next door & I have heard wonderful things!) Anyways, after the challenge we headed out for drinks. It was a blast....check the kitties out here if you want more info.

We received oodles of perfect girlfriend gifts in today from Mariasch Studios. I adore the doorknocker pillows. They come with an assortment of trims (like pom-poms!) and ribbons that they hang from. Curtsy Mama and I were of course drawn to the Shoe Lover styles....my favorite has a quote by Cinderella..."One shoe can change your life." Another one sure to fly out of here reads "Not diamonds but heel's are a girls best friend." We also got a good assortment of Parisian inspired ones. All of our Francophile customers-after-our-own-hearts will love the one that says "Whoever does not visit Paris regularly will never be elegant."

Also from Mariasch Studios, lots of wonderful snarky dishtowels arrived. I giggle every time I read the one that says "I don't exercise. If God wanted me to bend over, he'd have put diamonds on the floor."

xxxx

Pretty in Pink

Pink seemed to be the color of the day on this beautiful Thursday. The Pink Passion Hostess Apron is the perfect accessory for the holidays. Think of how absolutely smashing you'll look serving Thanksgiving dinner to your guests. Not cooking? It makes a truly unique hostess gift. In fact the hostess is liable to slip you an extra slice of pie to show her appreciation - SCORE!

Robert is the owner of Inside Out Window Washing and he keeps the glass of Curtsyland sparkling on a monthly basis. He was in this morning and I was asking him how the recent economic downturns had affected his business. He told me he didn't believe in letting the current state of affairs affect him and so therefore it hadn't! Wow, what a cool way to look at things. Want to have the same rosy outlook? Try slipping your business cards into the Roses Card Case by Acme Studios. Who knows, it may alter your perspective which will help you to achieve a rosier outcome.
Pink Sequined Shoe Ornament. What's not to love?

XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

Explosion

Today was one of those days where the piles on my desk just kept getting higher and higher and higher. The back room tonight looks like a glitter bomb exploded!Seriously, I have sparkly stuff that is clinging to my face that doesn't seem to want to come off! Oh well, it will be an interesting conversation starter on the elevator tonight. We received a shipment of some of our favorite Holiday Glitter Signs which included these new vintage looking additions. The pics don't even do justice to them - very 1950's holiday style. I've always loved decorating every room for the holidays, even if it's just a touch of sparkle or whimsy and these signs will do just that.

After a hectic day like today, there's nothing better than finally getting home to my cozy little apartment, changing into my sweats and lighting loads of candles. It makes the space feel so homey and warm and yummy. A box of new goodies from Voluspa arrived this afternoon and I love, love, love the new Japanese Plum Bloom scent. We ordered the candle in 2 different sizes and both the smaller container (pictured below) and the larger one will make beautiful gifts either for yourself or someone else.

XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

Red & white & sweet all over...

It's always a tough transition from Halloween to the holidays at Curtsyland....but we certainly have been finding ourselves in the holiday spirit. We were swamped yesterday and today with lovelies getting a jump on their holiday shopping...certainly helped get us in the mood as well. We are always on the lookout for great gifts for all ages. This year, we are loving the holiday Lollipop Onesies for the new humans in your life. These treats come from the designers at The Baby Bunch....which are fabulous bunches of baby clothes made to look like a bunch of flowers. Their new Lollipops contain a red & white striped onesie sized 0-6 months...rolled up to look uber sweet. It makes a fabulous package topper or a fabulous festive gift all on its own.

If the Lollipop onesies don't quite hit your sweet tooth....our edible Candy Cane Shot Glasses are sure to. We couldn't keep these in stock last Christmas. Each box contains a set of two edible, peppermint flavor candy cane shot glasses. We had a ton of hostesses stock up on these last year to use as dessert cups at their holiday shindigs. Love that idea! Fill each cup with a some vanilla ice cream, top with chocolate sprinkles & a cherry and you have an inexpensive, super festive holiday treat!

xxxx

Sparkly, Shiny Curtsyland!

Danielle worked much overtime this weekend turning the store into a beautiful, sparkly, shiny Wonderland. Our John Toole Ornaments are just spectacular this year. Considered by many to be jewelry for the tree, each ornament is hand crafted in the Czech Republic to John's exacting specifications. The results are treasured decorations that will be passed down from generation to generation. Ornaments make wonderful gifts for those hard to buy for people on your list and don't forget, our complimentary gift wrap.

In the Curtsyland forest, there once lived two great stags. They tended to be elusive and for a long time their very existence was just an urban myth. One great stag had white fur around his neck and the other brown. with coats that glowed like the moon. The Glitter Stags seem to have taken up residence on one of our front tables, constantly trying to out shine one another. We guessing they just felt so at home here, they just decided to stay.


One of the trees in the Forest of Curtsy has jewels on the end of each branch. When Danielle had finished putting up that tree this year, we looked away for only a second and when our gaze fell upon it again, it was covered with jeweled butterflies and jeweled dragonflies. We think maybe they were attracted by the shiny stags, and we're not sure how long they'll stay, but they really do make quite an extraordinary site.

XOXO

Curtsy Mama

Mary Jo

And So It Begins....

It's been a busy day at Curtsyland. Danielle packed up all of the Halloween items and has been glitterizing the front of the store all afternoon! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! We normally request all of our holiday orders to arrive mid-October, as checking in ornaments can be a time consuming process. This year, one of our suppliers decided it would be fun to wait until the beginning of November to ship one of our largest ornament orders! Gosh - thanks for that guys! It arrived this morning and the back room is truly filled with boxes and ornaments. I'm trying to speed through so that the adorable holiday decorations can join the party out front.


It's Murphy's Law that when UPS brings us a big load, they bring us a BIG LOAD!! Included in today's boxes is Obsessed With Golf. This is the perfect gift for anyone in your life who spends most of their time on the links. It's more than just a book, it's an interactive game for 1 or 2 players complete with 2,500 trivia questions to test your knowledge of the game's most popular and obscure facts.


OK Guys - listen up! Want to score points with the woman in your life? Pick up a set of the Porn For Women Fantasy Coupons. These gems will make her wishes perfectly clear! She'll have coupons for things like one hour of snuggling or a full body massage, or laundry duty. Sure to win you points, just make sure you're ready to serve when she's ready to redeem.

XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

Rain Rain Go Away

We had a leaky roof at Curtsyland today ;-( Soggy paper towels filled the counter where our beautiful Tarina jewels usually sparkle. It made me grumpy all day!! We are in the thick of that oh-so-fun time of the year between Halloween and the holidays where we are receiving so much UPS everyday that we can't walk in the back room. And not being able to walk in the back room means that making Halloween go away and turning Curtsyland into Christmasland is a difficult task. However, every time we open a new box fulls of goodies, we get giddy with excitement and all our worries go away. So you can imagine how our spirits were instantly lifted when we unpacked our new holiday cards from the folks at Uncooked. Now many may not think of Thanksgiving as a card giving holiday......us included......which is exactly the reason we loved the Uncooked Thanksgiving card. It reads "i think it's so stupid that i'm giving you a card for thanksgiving. but i almost think you're even stupider for taking it."



Some highlights from the Uncooked Holiday collection include one that says "it brings me such joy to see everyone sharing in the holiday spirit. just yesterday i almost gave a homeless man one of my meatballs." I also love "snowflakes probably wouldn't be as lovely if they were shaped like prostitutes."



We also received a new shipment of holiday cards from Cerebral Itch. My fav reads "You better watch out, you better not cry, you better watch out...." on the front, and the interior reads "Santa hates pussies." hee hee! Anyways.....our selection of single and boxed holiday cards is wonderful this year and they are all out on the sales floor ready for you to snatch up. The rest of the store is another story;-)

xxxx

A Better Mousetrap?

I have to say, yesterday was an amazing day! It was exciting to see so many people engaged, excited and talking about the election. As I fell asleep last night I could hear the huge crowd that had gathered downtown cheering and chanting "Obama". Pretty cool to witness something first hand that will be looked upon as a turning point in American history.

Have you ever heard the expression if you want a better mousetrap, build it yourself? One of our customers did just that! Rachelle Courtney wasn't thrilled with any of the purse hangers that were on the market. She felt that most were too small to hold many of today's bigger bags. Instead of whining about it, she went about making a version that is bigger, stronger and so much cuter than anything we've seen. We love that she named the series Steppin Out and the different styles Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte after our favorite Sex in the City Girlfriends.



XOXO
Curtsy Mama
Mary Jo

Happy Election Day!

Sooooooo very excited for closure with all this campaigning. Never thought I would say this....but I miss hearing the Sleep County USA jingle on TV! (Why buy a mattress anywhere else?!! tee hee) I hate all the political commercials. Curtsy Mama & I got our votes in via absentee ballots a week or so ago. I am upset I didn't get an "I Voted" sticker with it though.

I have always been slightly obsessed with countries that have Queens....and Kings & Princesses & Princes & Dukes & Lords etc. I just love royalty. I think it is very fancy. One former Queen that always gets my vote is the divine Marie Antoinette.....which is why I adore the new set of dessert plates by Rosanna inspired by her majesty. Each plate is illustrated with Marie Antoinette and the names of her homes.....in an out of Paris: the Tuileries, Versailles, Hotel de Ville and Le Petit Trianon. The scenery & floral images found filling her dresses are gorgeous.

xxxx

Monday Blahs

I've got the Monday blahs. Actually, technically, I have the Friday blahs as tomorrow is my day off. It's one of those rare days where I just don't feel like doing ANYTHING! Last night Danielle and I decided to go to dinner and a movie after work. We headed up to Il Fornaio at Pacific Place to eat before the show. As the hostess showed us to our table, she announced that we had been chosen as the customers of the day. We were seated at a special table and served several really delicious complimentary appetizers, beverages and a dessert. SCORE!!




At least I have some fun new items to check in, so I can say I did something productive today. These new espresso sets will make fabulous holiday gifts for prefer to brew their own. The Marilyn Espresso Set has "Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend on each little saucer. The Crown Espresso Set has 6 little silver saucers with a crown on each as well as platinum pictures of the royal head wear on each cup.


Over the holidays, we'll all be hosting our share of gatherings of friends and family. It's always so frustrating trying to keep track of everyone's identical glasses at a party. I love the new sets of re-usable Fill in the Blank Glasses. Each set of eight comes with it's own marker. Fun to see how crazy of a group your friends/relatives can be and a great ice breaker as well.

XOXO

Curtsy Mama

Mary Jo