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Thankful Thursday

I spent the last 30 minutes cuddled next to Joe watching Oswald. Love that show, love Joe.  I told a friend the other day, it is so amazing how your child can just melt you with love and yet break your heart worse than your high school sweetheart. Joe has just taught me so much. Okay, I have always been pretty nice, and never really part of a clique. But I was bad at judging people who were different. Not blue hair different, I thought that was cool, but physically different. It was mostly that I did not understand. I am sure I already blogged this, but when Joe was just 3 he once told me he did not want to wear his brace cuz kids would know. It threw me and broke my heart....kids now are being judged at 3?

What is my point? Nothing really. We were just watching Oswald and I was looking at him and I am so in love.  I am so thankful that I get to be home for Halloween or actually that I had a couple hours just to hang out with him. No work.  For a time Matilda Jane consumed me, long before we did Trunk Shows. It still does, but in a different way.  And I need to give a big thank you to all my Trunk Keepers for helping me out and being such a  great part of Matilda Jane.  It is really them who have allowed me to start to have a life again (well, and Lynette and Kayla and Chris, and everyone else down at the Matilda Jane office). They work harder than most of us realize. Ya, they are great at making it look easy.

And lastly I have to thank all the great gals who have hosted shows for us. Without you, were would we be? Thank you. I may not say it often, that is one of my flaws. I am not all that great at saying thanks, I am good at sending surprises but actually saying something like I love you, well, that just flusters me. For real.
 

I was talking to Sarah about all this today and was telling her how lucky we are. You may not remember but at one time it was Shannon, Sarah, Megan, and I trying to figure out how we could possibly do trunk shows. We were clueless and you all took a chance on us. Thanks for that.  Now the news? We have decided that all Janes in the month of November will get double benefits. What does that mean to you? This is why I love my Trunk Keepers. They can help you out, they know all the details. It is simple, book a show and get double benefits.  Twice as many MJC bucks to spend on Matilda Jane....twice as many half-price items!!

And now for Thankful Thursday. Jodi is helping me out. I kind of sprung this on her. I knew I wanted to do something for the holidays but knew with the Peace by Piece donation that Kayla is working on and my Figure it Out Fridays, I would only be over committing myself. Jodi once told me she loved to write so I said, "Have at it and do my Thankful Thursdays".

 

And here she is.

Hello there everyone ! It is I , Jodi Lacasse the Northeast NH trunk keeper of Matilda Jane Clothing. Well it is that time of year again. The leaves are falling in their bright beautiful colors & yes the cold is setting in here. The first of many snowstorms fell last evening on New England although somehow sadly it missed us.

I have been fortunate enough to have Denise ask me to blog for her on Thursday nights each week. I was honored to accept & wanted to thank her for including me in such a wonderful totally unpredictable idea . As you know Denise is a very giving person. She has decided to have a blog on Thursdays for someone in need over the holiday season. It can be an organization, a family, a special needs daycare program, a foster care program. So,  dig deep into your heart & find me a special situation.

The blog will run on Thursday nights. I will have each person who enters email their  short story/idea directly to ninelivesracing01@yahoo.com I will then choose & post the winner on Sundays blog.  


The season is about giving. It is a time to reflect on your past year , your family, your friends & others in need. To be grateful & thankful for what we have & to help others who are not so fortunate.

To share a little about myself, for me it is a difficult time of year . Thanksgiving 5 years ago now, I lost my own mother just after having my preemie baby daughter Alexandrine . My mom was a very giving person who volunteered in everything she could or, could not make time for. She was the most selfless person I know. She taught me about giving , helping, & sharing with people who had less them myself & others. People who have situations that devastatingly change their lives forever. That is what I am looking for! Since that time I have decided to teach my own children in her memory of her about giving, sharing, caring & helping in any way they can. This was a perfect opportunity for me.  So send me your stories !    

This is my first season as a trunk keeper.  I have been amazed at the stories I have heard from people about Denise & her “big heart ".  I am so proud to be a part of this. I have met & made a family with many people this season from Matilda Jane Trunk Keepers, to the girls at the office & (yes, you too David), & many wonderful Jane’s who have opened their homes to me. I traveled to Vermont several times this season & although it seemed to take a lifetime to arrive it was well worth it!  You see it is not just the trunk of clothing, it is something more. It is like bottling the creativity, ideas, warmth & love of her creator & taking it along on the road with me. I am delighted to have become part of spreading such spirit & warmth . So….. “PIECE BY PEACE"  Matilda Jane Clothing will be giving back this season. We need your help with this. Please remember by giving a piece of me & a piece of you it will bring someone great Peace. The peace in knowing someone out there cares, it may be the very thing that restores their faith in this world. May peace be with all of us this season & throughout the New Year.

Coming Soon

I ended up running to Milwaukee to help set up. Chris had to work at her day job.....you do know she is a cake decorator, right? Well, she had to get that organized before she left so we shared the duties. Love that girl more than one will ever know.  It was so awesome of all 3 of them to do the show.  This will only be my 2nd Halloween home in all of Joe's 7 years. Sucks, huh?  SO I am so darn excited.

The Beast is thrilled to be a Star Wars Wookie (Beast)

Joe, thought he'd wear two costumes: Clone Trooper and Jango Fett. Ya, he thinks he needs to wear 2 costumes to be tricky (Clone Trooper underneath)
and then there is Tim, the songwriter of Such a Beast (a tribute to Gabe), fruitcake, husband of Chris. Love him.
and you know that super fantastic apartment in my shoot from Betsy? Well, this is Miss Rosie (on the right) and she lives in that apartment. She is the famed baker at Matilda Jane and on the side she packs a few orders for you guys. And with her is the GORGEOUS Anna.  She came to see us in Milwaukee and I am sure she thinks we are fruitcakes, too. We took so many pics. I have REAL big teeth and we were trying to find an angle where they did not look so big. Ya, my brother'n law says I have horse teeth. Hmmm.

Talk about baked goods, is she not the most perfectly delicious little bit? When I opened up the email with Lily's pic I literally gasped. I continued to open emails and found this.

I see Tara's name around the office. I had no clue she was a photographer. Great name, eh? Chixie and Honey?

Lastly, we have great things in store for Thursdays. Starting tomorrow we will be doing Thankful Thursday's hosted by Jodi. It's been a while since we've done Random Acts of Kindness and Spread some Love. It has been a bit crazy around here and I knew Jodi liked to write and had a great soul so she is gonna help me out.
SO stay tuned for tomorrow's Thankful Thursday.

Come'n Clean

I asked David to pick me up some dish soap yesterday thinking Dawn or whatever is the cheapest thing on the shelf. He brought home this.
Ya, last of the big spenders, eh? But man, does this stuff smell good. Kinda like my new Gain kick.

The Beast and I had the house, the messy house all to ourselves. David and Joe went to Detroit for a football game. I love how Joe says "Gabe, you cannot come, only the DeMarchis boys." So what is Gabe? By the way, Joe has decided his new nickname is Rocket.

So never the less it has been a challenging day. This kid is so funny. Oh, you see those lovely teeth. Ask Chris about that. Her and Tim are usually great babysitters.

He followed me all over the house today stating that he was a "real good helper" as I was packing for the show. It is never ending fun. I ironed most of the morning and then packed.


Good thing it takes him 15 minutes to figure out how to put a skirt on a pant hanger. I may have lost my mind. Then I got this vaccum attachment in the face about 20x.

I know it's difficult to see in this pic, but I saw it real clear in my face.  Cute red pants, huh?

And as the day goes on I realize my house is a pit. Remember after Plymouth Art Fair I said I was getting a new bathroom. It is still in the works.

and no those are not my Frito's. I could only wish, but then I would need a Dt Coke, too.

As the story goes, my computer is still right here next to my bed. What the heck is up with Verizon, I guess they lost the work order. Ha, and it didn't even bother me. You know those days I get so excited when someone else make a mistake. It make me feel normal! Here's to the messy desks.

See my life and my house are a mess. This is why I have to stay home this week. I am sure Lynette and Chris's house are much more presentable. And if Gabe does not stop hitting me with that thing I may freak out. This is the problem with blogging. I have to sit on the edge of my bed and he bounces all over the place and drives me nuts.

Dang, he is cute.  FYI that is marker all over his arms, not blood or scars.

Saturday Slueth

I just love this pic. She has all my most favorite things on and her pig tails are so dang perfect.

My house is a wreck and that is what I have to blame for the entire bag of chips and dip I just finished off. I have a HUGE stress eating disorder.  If you could have seen me today, you would have cracked up. I was beyond freezing in my garage packing for the Milwaukee show.  Our house is from the 20's so the garage is not attached and is pretty much pointless. I kept the door down and had a little space heater to keep me from turning blue. Okay, not really funny, boring huh?

Off to the next story. Oh, and for real, what about that shark bite thing? The other thing I have been pondering is, what flavor are those candy corn things? Are they even a flavor.

My middle name? That would be Dana. We have a Denise Dana, Dana Diana and Diana Dee. We also have a Douglas Doyle and a David DeLoss in my family. Ya, my mom and dad like the D's.

And the winners are Stephanie (FINALLY), Mitra (ya, Stephanie helped you out, huh?) Felicia L., Jen (E or R, I can't tell your last name and I  now there are tons of Jens) and Heather B.. So shoot me an email with your address and size. Be sure to call it FOF cuz I am way behind on emails.

I was looking for a pic and ran into this one. I think it may be one of my fave's.  You know when I first started doing Trunk Shows back in Spring of 2007, is that the right date? Well, anyways I knew I needed pics and had seen Shannon on ebay. I was so nervous to call her, oh ya, I remember I was at an art fair in Cincinnatti and told Chris "Okay, I am just gonna do it, what is the worse that could happen".  I am so easily intimidated by people. And then she had this strong valley girl accent (don't kill me Shannon, but you do). I felt like such a, okay, now everyone kill me, such a midwesterner.  Midwest is cool, but Shannon seemed way cooler. I think I went on and on all day to Chris about it. Like I had just talked to a movie star.

And one of the first pics I got was of this gal. I about fainted, she looks just like me when I was young. Okay, I have looked everywhere for a pic. No luck, but here is one of Steph and I. Sorry Stephanie but it's not a great pic of either, but can you see the resemblance of me and this little girl, can't you?

Can you see it?  I think we are like 19 in this pic? And you know we are ready to go out cuz Stephanie has her "Aqua Helmet" in her bangs. And I know you guys used Aqua Net too. Or am I way older? 

On a side note, here is my cute Stephanie during one of our modeling sessions. Ya, we'd get all cute'd up and take pics. This was my favorite shirt of all time. Till the day came when my ex-boyfriend walked into school wearing it.  What the heck, a friend had borrowed it, and then to be real funny let Paul where it just to get at me. Nice. I don't think kids share clothes anymore, do they? But when I was in high school , that is all we did.

Okay, here is Stephanie.... and I love this pic of her. She is darn cute.

Lastly, be warned we have so much cute stuff for Milwaukee. OMG, David nearly freaked when he saw all the stuff, he was like, no wonder we don't have any money, it is all sitting her boxed up.  So Chris, Lynette and Rosie (the one with the cute apt.) will be at the show to help you all out. I doubt I am gonna make it. My kids are so attatched to me right now, I cannot handle leaving for 5 days. Ya, the new thing is, I tuck Joe in and he says, "But mom, I barely got to see you today". Man, it is tough.  So, staying home is on my wish list.  But don't worry, the show will go on with our without me.  Try to make it to Milwaukee.  You won't be disappointed.

Figure it Out Friday, I am a slacker

I strolled across this pic the other day and instantly fell in love. Those blue jeans are dynamite underneath the cow knot. My gosh.

Figure it Out Friday has to be put on hold for a few weeks.  No good reason, I just can't figure out any good trivia questions. Great, now I feel bad. Hmmm..okay, let's see how about this....I will take the first 5 to figure out my middle name. It is simple and I do have lots of friends that know it. Okay, first five in the comment section, no emails. And limit it to 3 guesses per comment.

No Laker Hockey tonite for us. We are busily getting ready for Milwuakee. Here is the link for the lowdown . There is a fee at the door, this is a huge fundraiser for the school. But let me tell you, these gals are so sweet they sent us over a coupon for 1/2 prices admission. Got to love that. So be sure to print it and bring it to get in. Heck, use the couple bucks you save to go to McD's and get yourself a Dt Coke. Here you go:

Download chshalfpriceforemailfinal.doc

Back to tagging and hanging and eating and being tired and feeling fat and eating more candy and feeling sick from eating so much.......but loving every bit of it.

Aside from eating 3 short of an entire bag of Halloween candy, I am feeling pretty darn good. Fat, but good. They were Butterfingers, so how could I say no?
You've been waiting to see the Holiday Knot, huh? I am to blame. Shannon sent it over and I was clueless how to download it. I am telling you, I am having so much fun playing with all the pics I took this weekend, be good or not, my mind is so far removed.
David just looked at this pic and says I am free to quote him and say "oh, that is cute..it is really good, it has a little hint of Yama". Yup, so it is David approved. Now he has to stop reading over my shoulder. I just may lose my mind..... You know I asked him today, and you may know the answer, if a a great white shark swallows you, can you feel it? You know, if he doesn't bite you, just end up in his mouth, are you alive going down his throat? Would that be so weird? Is it possible?

See my mind is crazy huh? This is always the oddest time, when one season is in full swing and the upcoming season is just getting it's feet off the ground. I almost get bored, I am such an "idea, project, give me a challenge" girl. This is also the time, when I totally become a hermit, but my house does look scary for Halloween, so I guess I am a scary, freakish hermit. Nice.

  So I love these darn stripe pants. And I will admit, the Beast looks pretty darn swell in them. Have you seen these? I am so getting them for Gabe.

And that darn little Mighty Acorn shirt with striped sleeves, Mr. Lucas is so under the radar. The Beast wore it today, with the sweet Red Oilily pants I got. Oh, my...he looked like such a big boy. You can get some too, here.
  Now back to Matilda Jane, cuz we all know how I love to talk about Matilda Jane. Actually, in reality, person to person, I don,t talk about it much. Well, except for at work.  It has just been amazing lately, everyone has their own groove and things are running pretty good. It is weird to be able to stay home and work. I am so thankful to have such a great group of gals. And our Trunk Keepers this season are pretty darn swell, too. Gosh, I don't talk about them much. I should. Maybe we'll do a Trunk Keeper Thursday. Ha. That'd be fun...hmmm..
And I love Fern with Brown. And Joe said he was no longer my "lovebug". Yup, he sure did. OH, that boy has a temper just like me. It takes me a while to get there, but once I do, watch out. You know, and I should not say this. I had a store once and there was a real mean lady next door. She was so mean and would always screw with me cuz I was young. So finally I walked right up to her and said.."Don't $*^@ with me or I'll $*^@ with you." Ya, you should have seen her face. Hilarious. She never messed with me again.

On that note, I can hardly wait for Milwuakee. I am not sure if it cuz I love hotels, or I have so much darn stuff to sell form cancelling Louisville or it's just I get to hang out and watch movies at night in a fluffy bed, no kids and room service?

Goodnight to all and I have to get out of this hermit shell before my lovely friend Michelle is no longer my friend. I have so blown things off, I have about 127, to be exact, emails in my inbox waiting for replies. I am just not there.  Does that make sense? It is not a bad thing, it is just my mind is somewhere else. Ya, like on Halloween candy and this computer has to be moved back downstairs. This 6" from my bed is not a good thing, and Rosie says it is bad for your posture. Nice, I will have a big gut and bad posture. Beautiful.

So I am now on to the Tootsie Rolls and David is jumping roping. Something is  wrong with this picture.

I was moving some boxes around the other day and realized, oh my gosh, we have oodles of xsmall adult hoodies. Whoa... and I cannot handle inventory sitting in boxes. Ya, ask Chris or Lynette, they'll quickly tell you "Hide the boxes before Denise sees it".  I prefer "sell" the boxes but sometimes "hide" the boxes has got to do. When I saw all these xsmalls I was like, "We need to get rid of them."

I instantly thought of Jodie who has the most gorgeous daughter. My nieces love Matilda Jane, as well as their friends. There's a group of rocking' 13-16yr olds who look pretty cool in these hoodies and big ruffles. And Corky at 14 is phenominal in the knot. It is all in the attitude. It is all  in the personality.  And check her out.

and I love this one.....she has got the cutest boys and what do you think of those fancy Might Acorn pants??? Okay, I will come clean, no they are not for sale. They were Joe's, but when you checkout Jodie's blog you will see why she needed them. Her boys have so much personality, I just had to see them in them.  Love how she "pops" all the colors. Her colors are amazing.. and yes, this dress is more pastel in person.

I am not really sure but I think my little Joe is pretty darn handsome. He is sitting here starring at me as I type. He is telling me his Plecko, an algae eater fish thing (named "Mr Clean") keeps starring at him. Why are his eyes so darn cute (Joe's, not the Plecko's)....now I need to get a pic if him......

12 minutes later...... Man, the things we do for love.

and yes, he should be in bed....but I just love him on my lap.

Okay, back to Matilda Jane..and it is so far from my mind these days. I tend to go in cycles, I am a project girl and right now nothing is catching my attention. Okay, I need to stop and get to what I am trying to say, Xsmall hoodies, we have over 100 of them and I hate them for sitting in that box. So Lynette is making them 30 bucks. Your teen will love them...hint hint.  So call your Matilda Jane Trunk Keeper to get yours!

And shoot, one more thing. We'll be in Milwaukee next week. I'll get details tomorrow. But talk about boxes of MJC.....we have oodles of them packed and ready to go. Well, almost....okay, in my mind. This weekend. Maybe?

Sweet Rosie

A few weeks ago, Rosie ( a sweet workshop girl at Matilda Jane) invited me up to see her apt. Yup, her and Kayla both live upstairs, different rooms, different floors. It just happened to be on the same day Betsy was coming by to do some pics. And of course I fell in love. Rosie has the most amazing taste, I was blown away. If I could have been that cool at 24? or no clue, how old she is. I was so in love, I had to ask her to let us use her apt. 

And here is what Betsy+Rosie+Matilda Jane='s.

OH, and there will be no FOF tomorrow. We will be at the game...

The guys at the hardware store told me last night that the faucets I picked out were "baller". Have you ever heard of this word. I felt like I was 80...He said it was a compliment?

a little bit more

and here is to crossing my fingers everything else will be posted on the site SOON, like tomorrow eve.

I am sitting here working on trim for next season. The problem is I have been doing this for 7 days. The other problem is, I just love this dress. I like how Cindy calls it metropolitan Matilda Jane. It doesn't have the folksy look of most wares. Very understated, just the way I like it.

Off to finish this up, talk to Joe's teacher and then to the hardware store. Adn then back to the computer. Yup, the one that sits 6inch from my bed because the internet connector man never showed up after I waited for 3 hours  the other day.