My Weblog

I really was gonna wait till after this weekend to post, but you have to see the Beast in these Overall thingies. I love them.

I cannot tell you how many people stopped me to talk about him. Oh, and you will not believe this. If only I had looked half way decent and  not so stressed (due to kids screaming for round 3 of ice cream) I would have stopped her. WHo is her? The most darling little girl wearing one of my Knot dresses at Disney. No joke. I felt pretty cool, it was the weirdest thing, so darn cool.

Other than the Beast not sitting still on the plane and everyone starring at us, like they have perfect children or something, we had a great time. Joe and Gabe were just so fun and in awe of it all, well, Gabe was, Joe is more like me, low key and it takes a lot to get him worked up about anything.

A few more things, I am still working on emails, sorry. And we have been getting some sneak peaks of Fall, oh, my!! I am thinking it is going to be pretty good. And on time, I cannot, nor can you, handle one more season of shipping like this! And lastly, I have a ton of pics to share but I am off to Chicago to chaperone my nieces 8th grade class trip, so once again, the wiating game begins....

yes, I know my pics are blue, but I am rushing as fast I can to get this post up!!

I'm stuck on Band Aids

So rumor has it a lot of our friends have started a MJC message board, With the MJ Band.  I must admit, I felt pretty cool, ya, I felt really cool. Almost honored that some of you like MJC enough to share the love. It is wonderful. There is power in numbers.  You, we, all of us could do some great things together for some deserving people. And trust me, I have a few ideas up my sleeve. If you have not checked the message board out, go for it.

I have talked to a lot of the girls on the board and the 2 who started it. They are all as nice as they come.  I  know the moment I register, I'll become obessed with what people think about me. I am way too self conscious.  So I need to wait a bit, but don't you. You'll be glad you did. Plus, I need to focus on catching up on emails not creating more.

I almost forgot another great piece of info that I am over the moon about. Amy started a Flickr group the other day for MJC pics. I need to put a, whatever they call it, streamline, feed, something on my blog for it. I just love pics of MJC, I really do. I honestly think it is cuz I never see it on.

Okay, thank you all for being so wonderful and supportive. This is a fabulous journey for us all.  Talk to you Monday and have a great holiday weekend.

If you were to ask Megan, one of our Trunk Keepers, where she likes to dig around for MJC, she would promptly say my garage. Yup, that is where is all started. Here's is my first booth mock up back in say, early 2004.

and then the first real Matilda Jane Show in March 2004

It is so funny to look at that pic, my art fair booth looks totally different now. Don't laugh, it was my first try. If you look way back in the pic you can see some of my painted wares. After the show seaon went well, I decided to kick it up a notch and really get to work.

before you knew it the house was a disaster zone, pallets of fabric took up the front yard, there was junk on every table,

and poor Goliah was not too happy

so we moved here

and have quickly filled it up

BUt you kow what they say, what comes around, goes around and our shelves

still look like the garage (and yes, this is an old picture, it is all sold)

Though Matilda Jane may change, the Beast never does.

You think they'll let him on the plane like this? Now, I am leaving early Thursday and have vowed not to take my laptop, so I'll miss you all! I really will.

Fear not, I am working on a real good post for tomorrow. Just had to warn you. We are in a cleaning/working frenzy here before we leave to Florida.  Joe and Gabe still have no clue we are even going somewhere.

If you live in the Chicago area and do not know Kate, you may want to get to know her. Or at least her site, KateBogot.com. And be sure to look at the baby with the spikey hair, I love him. No he is not mine, I just love his hair.

And a word to the wise, (ewww... that sounds snotty, it is not meant to be) but for real, the sale has ended. And  I know our Trunk Keepers are amazing but guess what? They really have no clue what is left and so on. Yes, they all want to live in my garage and go through the art fair stuff, but that is forbidden.

Okay, I promised David I would not be on the computer all day/night. He actually hid the laptop and then unplugged the Mac, and I have never use it so you can imagine the words coming out of my mouth when I could not get it to turn on. 

Back to cleaning and promise a good post tomorrow. You guys set the bar way to high for me. It's tough trying to sound interesting 4 days a week. But hey, good thing I get lots of emails with pics. And my, do you guys have the best girls or what? Whew, good thing I have boys, competition would be tight. Here's the other Denise's sweetie.

Honesty is the Best Policy

I learned that quickly in 5th grade. I had to write it on the board 350x and miss the year end field day. Go ahead and feel sorry for me. It was okay though. I remember all to well, it was a hot day and I never wore shorts cuz my legs were too hairy, so I was fine in the a/c building in my courderoy Levi's. Just fine.

In all honesty I loved Mighty Acorns when I first got it back from production. But not in love. You know, you marry someone you are in love with, not someone you love. Get my point?  I was on the fence. It a a bit of a sleeper at MJC so I have tons of it. Today was the first day of many years to come that they will have to wear it. Guess what?

I think I am in love. That track jacket has got to be the softest fabric on the planet. It is not fuzzy soft, it is silky smooth. My boys looked so freakin' cute today.  I know this pic (below) sucks, but just look, and you should have seen him earlier with his little converse on, he nailed it.

See, pretty fly huh? That is the only word that describes it, "fly".

Okay, now one more thing to fess up while I am on the honesty kick. I will not be able to take anymore sale orders via phone or email. I tried super hard to take care of all the ones I got. I know I did miss some of you. My email box had been flooded with at least 100 or so emails a day. I just don't have 4 hours a night to spend answering emails and then all day trying to figure out what I can fill, what I can substitue and who needs what. It gets messy and very confusing. We'll test out Version Two for the program June 14th. Stay tuned.

I am so not complaining cuz I don't mind doing it. I am getting into a time crunch for fall and I need to start working on that checklist. I have plenty of sewing ladies who are waiting for work.

And I could not pick a better photograph than this one of Ellie from Pascale Wowak. It looks like Ellie is in the same, "no more" mindset as I am.

Okay, that sounded bad. I am laughing write now at myself for being so frank. You do know I wanted to name Gabe that. Wouldn't that be cute, Frankie and Joe?? Okay, no I do not mean to sound rude. In short, it is just  I cannot do it. I don't have enough time to keep taking orders and do a good job at it. I suck at packing. I really do. I am sure plenty will fess up to that.  Plus, I miss emailing my dear friend Michelle with all my fancy uses of swear words. I am so stupid.  But it is fun, well, funny, kinda. Okay I will shut up while I am ahead. Maybe I will just go back to high school. Well, wait, I never said a single swear word in high school. Ask Renee, she'll vouche for me. She used to tease me and try to make me swear.  Okay, I am done.

So let's end this with a happier pic of Ellie now that I have made a fool of myself. I could delete it all, but I do believe it isone of my hidden talents waiting to blossom.

Shoot! She is going to watch LOST. I had better follow. And with what I ate today there is no hope for me to ever look like Kate

I am finally almost down to 100 emails. So please if I have not responded, I am getting there. Patience, my friend, patience. Why do I really like David CooK? Did you see how cute his brother was? You could so tell they were the best of friends, it was so sweet. Ahh... cute boys, love 'em.

Man, I cannot get a pic to upload. Yup, a boring post without a pic, huh? So I won't keep you long, plus I am seriously getting carpel tunnel from this lap top. For real, it can happen. Nice that I am laying in bed, watching Tv, typing, eating and being dumb and David is doing sit ups? Nothing like making me feel like a slug.

Okay, still no pic. I'll try again tomorrow. I just really wanted you to know, I am not ignoring anyone,  (David is now doing sit ups with weights, yup, I am a slug) I am  trying to answer each email. Can I also tell you, it is so fun talking to you guys on the phone. Emails are great, but it is hard to get the tone sometimes and then when I call, it's like I almost know you. Sorry if I scare you off talking so fast and about Laker Hockey. I just get nervosa tongue and spill out too much info. 

OKay, this is acting crazy now.Who knows.

The Look

Remeber the look your husband gave you when you dialed the phone for 2-3 hours straight? The "are you insane" look. Well, David just gave that to me as I walked in the door at 9:30 tonite and went to update inventory.

So story short, I am thrilled we do not have a single backorder left. We are free  of the Wall of Shame, as we called it. It is empty.

So what is a girl to do? Well, the sale caused an uproar and it was so much fun that I need to start digging through my art fair trailer and see what else I can pull out. And there is lots, David always says, "just look in the trailer, that is where all your money is". I have decided that is the best way to do it, I went through all the orders and still have many that were sent over. What I thought was gonna be left is now becoming slim pickings. And I love selection. What a great idea is an online art fair? Afterall, I only have 2 booked this year so we have plenty of time.

I will not be able to open the sale back up until the beginning of June. It kinda sucks, but in all seriousness what I have left, is a lot of nothing.  And this time I promise to have 4-5 phone lines. Please remember Kayla has no clue what we have left, she only knows what was shipped. This is kinda my side gig to test out the new computer system, which I love. BUt fear not, she is so in on the gig next time, she is the one that offered up the 3 extra phone lines and computers. Way to go Kayla and I am holding you to it.

Now before I get in more trouble, or the "Look" I have to say the reactions we have been getting from the Random Acts of Kindness have been amazing.  It is so fun, and thank you. Remember, if you did not support MJC the way you do, I could never do this. So take some credit.

Lastly, I know many of you are waiting for me to email you back and I am on it. I have never had 241 messages in one day. I kinda feel cool, okay, I feel really cool.

Finally,

Finally it has happened to me
Right in front of my face
My feelin's can't describe it
Finally it has happened to me
Right in front of my face
And I just cannot hide it

We sat down for breakfast this morning and the waitress handed Joe a grown up menu. His eyes lit up and he threw his hands in the air. "Finally, I get this kind of menu" he shouted. Ahh, to be young again.

(one of my faves from Amanda , gosh, I miss chatting with you)

Something also tells me that some of you were feeling that way when your call actually went through on Saturday? Wow, talk about Operation Pure Mayhem, oh my, it was crazier than I could have expected. Though, the night before I dreamed no one called, they all just showed up at the door. YIKES. But I did shower, so I looked cute. Well, in my dreams I did. Anyways, I applied for Government relief for my very own natural disaster.

It is quite the long story. I'll sum it up quickly then get to what matters. The phones started ringing when I walked in at 9am. We started answering calls around 9:45. I had to let Sarah and Chris take a call to practice prior to 10 so they were not just thrown into something they had never done. They were fantastic. We were rocking with 2 land lines and my cell.  But around 10:30ish, we realized the items ordered were not being pulled from inventory and needed another game plan.  So now instead of processing an order every couple minutes, it is taking about 10 minutes.  Around 11 or so we notice the credit cards are not being processed correctly. The battery dies in one of the phones. My cell phone battery dies. We are down to one phone. Luckily, I live 5 minutes away. Now we are so backed up, we have to hand pull everything to be sure we are not overselling, and the saga continues.

I cannot tell you how nervous I was to even check my email. It sucked. I so underestimated you all. Thank you, thank you and thank you again for being such good sports. Have I told you lately that I love you?

The best news is, the program really does rock. It is gonna be so sweet for next season, talk about a smooth operator. Once we get the few bugs out we'll be ready to go. I can hardly wait, little did you know we can spend 1-4 hours a day just processing credit cards.  The program will free up that time so now we can spend 1-4 hours chatting with you on the phone!! And maybe get a lunch break.

What you really want to hear begins here.  I stayed late tonite and got almost all the orders packed, I just have to update inventory from the stuff we had to hand pull.I was hoping to get that done tonite. BUT,  I had to watch LOST, I had been waiting since Thursday. I will surely get that done tomorrow afternoon and re-post what is left. I really think there is quite a bit left.  We were busy, but were were mostly busy with fixing the "bugs" in the program so we had to call it a day early. I only ate 1 pizza, 4 candy bars and a bag of chips from 10-3. Did I mention I am a stress eater.

Please do not call Kayla and ask her what we have left. She will not know. I am doing this on the side. The workshop and shipping is plenty busy with trunk shows and back orders. The sale is my gig. That is why I have been working all weekend, they need to keep focused on the trunk shows.

Lastly, thanks for all the support, comments and emails. You made my day. David just said to me last night, "Gosh, remember when you sold online, you had the great site, the shopping cart and no customers?"  This is wonderful and I am so thankful. And so sorry that your husband had to give you the "sweetie, they are just clothes" look. I get that often too. I have stalked plenty of people, mostly over..WAIT a minute, David used to make me wake up at 4am to buy Star Wars figures. I am quite sure I never gave him the look.

Okay, I'm off to start updating and I'll let you know tomorrow after I get home from my day job at MJC.

I promise to post by tomorrow night, and for those of you whom I have spoken with I'll shoot you an email tomorrow. I had hoped it would be tonite, but you know.

Please, Mom???

NEW UPDATE: The sale will be ending at 3:30 Eastern.  The phones will not stop ringing. We've taken more orders than we expected and our new program is on OVERLOAD.  Thank you so much, and I'm so sorry if you haven't been able to get through.  Denise

UPDATE: PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE DISCOVERING SOME BUGS IN OUR NEW PROGRAM...SO THINGS ARE NOT RUNNING AS SMOOTHLY AS WE'D LIKE.  PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH US AS WE LEARN THIS NEW SYSTEM.

See this cute boy, Joe? All night long he has been asking, "Please mom, can I play Backyard Football?" My response, "Now sweetie, you must realize girls love clothes and they need to  have MJC and I wanna buy a new lens, so NO!! And don't ask AGAIN".  He is so patient. He does love Matilda Jane. He may just be answering the phone tomorrow if we get crazy..

Items for sale are in the "Stackin it Deep, Selling it Cheap Photo Album".

Okay, here is the lowdown:

1. You can call at 10am EST, 260-745.1607 or 260-745-1609.
2. Please understand that we are not set up with a huge phone system.  You may get a busy signal.  If so, just keep trying.  This sale is a one-of-a-kind event and there is no way for us to handle these phone orders like other companies may.  (But hey, at least we opened up two phone lines for it)
3. You may get sent directly into our voicemail.  If this happens, don't leave a message as we will not be able to return your call.  Just keep trying to call. (this is kind of like what Ryan Seacrest says on American Idol about voting...if the line is busy...keep trying)
4. If you call, and we never pick up, it either means we're on the line with another customer and can't click over to get your call (so you'll need to call back) OR we've run out of merchandise and have gone home :(
5. Please know the item number, it will help us a ton.
6. We have very limited qty's on everything, so if you cannot handle that an item (or items) may be sold out, be nice or don't call (oh,I am getting so mean as the clock ticks)
7. Many items are from my art shows. Trims, bands, pockets may vary. Note: some of the hems are not rolled hems. This is not a biggie, but you know I am picky.
8. There are no returns/exhanges NO EXCEPTIONS.
9. Be considerate.  A lot of people have wish list. If you have an ULTRA HUGE order, please remember to save something for the sweet gal who really just wants one skirt.
10. Patience is a must. We are using our new ordering program for the very first time, it may have bugs, we'll find out tomorrow, eh?  Plus, Chris is not the most skilled computer user!
11. Do not plan on getting a so called "matching outfit". Most items should be thought of as "pieces". Almost everything matches the tanks form this season and Cora Ruffles. It is weird the way that happens.
12. If you are buying to sell on eBay, please wait till the end of the day. Let's all play fair.
13. Lastly, no I cannot take any early orders, for anyone, for any reason. Sorry.

And that is that. I need to get back to posting the pics and poor David still has to program all this into the inventory. Oh, Friday nights have never been so fun.  And guess who took these, David! And guess who won, Joe.

I am working hard to get all these pics up for you. Be patient. Gee, seems I ask that alot lately, huh? But the darn camera battery just died. So give me a bit, and I'll keep putting things onto the Fall Look Book as the day turns to night .

We'll open at 10 am Saturday morning. The phone number is 260.745.1607 and 260.745.1609. I'll give you more details as soon as I get all this wonderful stuff posted. And oh, my do I have a ton of stuff. I had no clue what was in those tubs. YIKES

Okay, back to counting, counting and counting. A little bit of folding and eating too. Man, I love to eat and I am really thinking I am good at it. I can eat anything. I should be in one of those eating contests. ya, there's a new goal.