Preppy Planet

A New Preppy Handbook!

2010-04-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

"Hey, Muffy. Did you hear that Lisa Birnbach is coming out with a new preppy handbook in September 2010?" I have three copies of the original Preppy Handbook, so I'll definitely be checking out the updated version.

It's called True Prep: It's a Whole New Old World and it can be pre-ordered here: http://www.amazon.com/True-Prep-Its-Whole-World/dp/0307593983/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271784669&sr=8-2

Trade Your DVDs, CDs, Video Games and Books at Swap Tree!

2009-04-17T12:22:00.000-07:00

Are your books just collecting dust on the shelves? Do you have piles of CDs that you never listen to because you got an Ipod? Do your kids have Nintendo DS games that they never play with for whatever reason? Does you family play with a only a handful of the WII games that you actually own?

If you've answered "Yes" to any of these questions, then Swap Tree might be a site for you. It's a website where you can trade your unwanted books, CDs, DVDs, and video games for others that you'd like instead. All you pay is the postage.

Once you establish an account with Swap Tree, you post items that you'd like to swap by entering in the UPC code and rating the condition. The next step is to list some items that you'd like. You do this simply by searching for the item by name and then clicking on a button to add it to your want list. Obviously, the more items that you list, the more likely it will be that Swap Tree will be able to make a match.

Swap Tree searches its database to see if matches can be made between its members. Swaps are not necessarily one for one swaps as you may send out an item to someone other than the person who will be sending you one. You also don't need to swap like items, I've traded DVDs for both books and video games. Swap Tree always has you authorize a swap, so you can decide if it's one you'd like to make.

Upon completion of the swap, you post feedback regarding the shipping speed, condition, etc., similar to how you rate transactions on EBAY. Although I've had no problems and have received all of my items very quickly, the site does rely on the honesty of others so I'm sure that there are probably instances where people have failed to send the item that they've promised to swap.

My experience with Swap Tree to date has been very positive and its a great way to clear your house of clutter, and get other things in exchange. Try it, I'm sure you'll like it!

Check out "Great Preppy Products" Blog!

2008-09-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

My friend (and fellow Chickadee) Lisa has just created a great new blog featuring preppy products. She intends to spotlight great products created by mom-owned businesses in the hopes that by featuring their products on her blog, she will help to spread the word about the products and reach new customers.

Check out her site, Great Preppy Products, and see the great preppy products she's found so far. She just started the site recently and would love it if people would contact her and let her know about products to feature.

Sort Floor Books! 17 Books for $24.75!

2008-09-05T08:10:00.000-07:00

It is safe to say that I am a delinquent blogger. The fact that I figured out again where to go to post to this blog is evidence that I have something worthwhile to share with you.

I had to tell you all about a great new website that I found for book buying. Miss E (who previously had no interest in reading) is now obsessed with the Rainbow Magic Fairies series of books, and since she's finally interested in reading, I decided to hunt down other related series (the Weather Fairies, the Jewel Fairies, the Pet Fairies, etc.) Trust me there's a lot of these books!

Well, I searched on-line and found a site called sortfloorbooks.com. They are a book wholesaler out of Massachusetts and sell books very, very cheaply. Plus, if you spend more than $15 you also get free shipping. I also saved an additional 10% since I found a coupon code on-line.

The site says that although the books are new, they are remainder books or publisher returns and may have black lines drawn across the spine to prevent someone from returning them to a book store. I purchased the lot of 17 books shown above for just $24.75. Only three had small black lines across the spine. Eight had pen lines drawn across the UPC code and six were free from any markings at all.

Although I was looking specifically for kids books this time, they have any type of book you could want. I'll surely be back again for books for me! By the way, you'll have so much fun searching for books that it would be wise to check your cart before you check out to make sure you don't have duplicates. I didn't realize that I had two of the same book in my cart, thus the duplicate copies of "Princess Ellie's Camping Trip."

All of the books are new and the minor markings are a small price to pay for the huge cost savings. Had I purchased these books for the retail price, I would have paid $74.83!

Clue Me In, Please!!

2008-01-21T17:55:00.000-08:00

As you can probably tell, I am very lax in my blog posting. Now that's not that I have nothing to write about what with Miss A deciding on Saturday that it would be great to sign (let's say scribble) her name in black pen in 11 different places on the walls in my hall and in her bedroom. By the way, hair spray does a great job of removing ballpoint pen, you just have the indentations in the wallboard to worry about, LOL.

Well, for some reason today, my blog stats were on fire and 73 people have visited today already and the day is not over. Right after 9AM EST the numbers skyrocketed. I checked to see how people found me and it was all through Google searches for "preppy mom", "preppy mommy" and/or "Today Show." I'm assuming that my blog is not what you people were after, I'm just curious about what was said on the Today Show that prompted you to find me. Since I do consider myself to be a preppy mom, I bet I'd be interested in what you're looking for. And if shopping was involved, I'd be doubly interested, LOL. Can anyone shed some light on what everyone is looking for?

Skirts Have Arrived! Yippee!

2007-06-06T07:15:00.000-07:00

At Three Chickadees, our skirts have finally arrived! We have been working for several months getting the skirts just to our liking and we just received them from our manufacturer last week. I photographed them and loaded them on the site on Saturday and the two styles are selling at pretty much the same pace. (I have a fondness for the wrap skirt as I'm not a shirt-tucker-inner.)

We started with some sketches and samples late last year and then went through two revisions before we decided on the versions that we have. The Bourne is a traditional button fly, front zip skirt and the Sagamore is a wrap skirt. In case the names are familiar but you don't know why, they are named for the two bridges that give you access to Cape Cod.

Depending on the success of these skirts, we may add other clothing products, probably capri pants and dresses for ladies; and skirts and shift dresses for girls (after all, I have two, LOL!) So far in three days, we've received requests for larger skirt sizes, bermuda shorts and madras tote bags. Let me know if you have any other suggestions. I'm keeping a list.

I've already got some great ideas for next year's fabrics. We'll probably keep the patchwork madras, but I have a great idea for two other fabric types that I've never seen done before! Preppies will love them!

Officer Webkinz, We'd Like to Report a Robbery!

2007-05-28T06:51:00.000-07:00

WANTED: WEBKINZ THIEF!

It all started innocent enough...

For Ms. E's 6th birthday, I bought her a Webkinz. Although she had never mentioned them before, I knew they were all the rage with kids about her age and I wanted her to be in on the fun. When she opened her present, she did not look at all thrilled with the pink poodle stuffed animal - - the fuschia Crocs were more to her liking. My 7 year old niece recognized the Webskinz tag immediately and excitedly explained about the virtual world that came along with the stuffed toy.

Miss E was definitely not addicted as some kids, but she decorated Pinky's room and bought her a wardrobe of clothes and an adjoining yard. She enjoyed playing some of the arcade games and loved shopping in the W Shop (my shopping addiction is apparently a dominant gene, LOL).

I liked the real life aspect of the virtual world where you need to feed and care for your pet to keep it healthy and earn money if you wanted some to spend. In addition, the website appeared to be safe as only specified phrases are allowed to be transmitted to others and you can't even communicate with someone else unless they authorize it. Philantrophy is also promoted as you can gift items to others via e-mail. My niece apparently has quite a future in philantrophic endeavors as she gifted Miss E numerous things including a swimming pool and a color tv.

Well, all was right in Webkinz World until this weekend, when Miss E logged in and discovered that she had been virtually robbed of all of her virtual possessions. Pinky was safe and unharmed but everything was gone except for the wallpaper and flooring in her room and the pool in her yard. All of her Webkinz cash was gone except for a lowly $9.00.

I'm assuming that she must have innocently told one of her friends her password thinking it was her ID, and another evil, sociopathic, future criminal classmate heard her and wrote it down. Then that evil, sociopathic, future criminal classmate probably logged in as her and gifted him or herself all of Miss E's things.

It's a sad commentary on today's society that this would happen in an innocent child's game, but maybe Webkinz World is more real than it appears - - it has a criminal element just like our world. I've now changed her password to something that she doesn't know, so hopefully this won't happen again.

And there is somewhat of a silver lining to this whole experience. After Miss E told her friend, Nicole, about the robbery, Nicole gifted her with a new Ballerina bed so that Pinky wouldn't have to sleep on the tile floor. Good prevails in Webkinz World! And wait until my very philantrophic niece gets wind of the crime!

Friendly Little MADRAS SASH Contest!

2007-05-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

Chickadee Lisa and I were chatting today about what delinquent bloggers we've been lately and we decided to liven up our blogs with a good old fashioned contest!

While Chickadee Melissa is away for the week, Lisa and I are giving away free madras sash belts to anyone who purchases at least $125.00 from our website, www.threechickadees.com from now through Memorial Day, May 28, 2007. To take advantage of this free offer, you must enter one of two specified phrases in the gift message section.

Now here's where the contest part comes into play. Lisa thinks that she can give away more sashes than me, but I say, "Don't count your chickadees, before they're hatched!" To get a free madras sash, just enter "KAREN'S FREE SASH" in the gift message section of the payment screen. Be sure to let me know which one of our madras sashes you'd like to receive, and I'll be sure that you get it along with your order. (The one pictured here is our Oyster Cove sash.)

Also, since I need to give away more sashes than Lisa in order to win, please spread the word about our friendly little contest. I'm not sure how many people read my little blog, so feel free to post the details on your own blogs or just e-mail all your preppy friends.

Spending $125.00 at Three Chickadees to get the free sash will be really easy. Just yesterday, we added some great new seersucker belts (with more to come soon), and I'll be making some seersucker headbands for the site as soon as I finish this post.

Is Meredith dead??

2007-02-15T19:08:00.000-08:00

Holy Shit! I just watched tonight's episode of Grey's Anatomy. Could they have possibly killed off Meredith Grey?

I'm assuming that she'll live since after all she is the Grey of Grey's Anatomy, but you never know. Last season, I was so happy that Denny Duquette survived his heart transplant and was on the road to recovery and then they up and killed him leaving poor Izzy laying next to his dead body.

Tonight's ending was such a surprise! Meredith flatlined and the Chief said, "We're losing her." Then the very next scene shows her waking up coughing looking pretty healthy. For a second I thought it was one of those dream sequences like when Bobby Ewing woke up on Dallas, or when the autistic boy in St. Elsewhere dreamed up the entire show while watching snow fall in a snow globe. This one doesn't appear to be a dream though since she wakes up and in her room is the very dead cute guy that got blown up last season and poor dead Denny. She asked "Am I.....dead?" and Denny said, "Damn right, you are."

I'm hoping that she's just having one of those medical near death experiences where you head towards the bright white light and see dead people, before you're sucked back into your broken body. I can't wait until next week!!

A Disney Working Vacation

2007-01-29T19:59:00.000-08:00

For some reason, I keep stumbling on to interesting Disney information lately. I just got an e-mail from CareerBuilder.com announcing a Disney Dream "Job" Contest.

In conjunction with Disney's "Year of a Million Dreams" Celebration, CareerBuilder and Disney are offering "Dream Job" vacations where you can be an honorary Disney Pirate, Princess, Jungle Cruise Skipper, Park Parade Performer or Haunted Mansion Butler/Maid. The 4 day, 3 night "Dream Job" vacation prizes will take place in Disneyland.

If you're interested, you need to act quickly and make a 45 second audition video telling what "Disney Dream Job" you would want and why you should be chosen. All contest videos must be submitted by February 20, 2007. Once the videos are narrowed down, the videos of the finalists will be placed on-line for a website vote.

Full details of this contest can be found HERE at the CareerBuilder website.

Dream Yourself a Night in Cinderella's Castle

2007-01-26T13:03:00.000-08:00

Have you heard about the new Cinderella Castle Suite at Walt Disney World? Apparently last night the first guests stayed in the brand new, one-of-kind luxury suite located inside Cinderella's Castle in the middle of the theme park. The family that stayed there was selected randomly though the Disney Dreams Giveaway, a program connected with the "Year of a Million Dreams" celebration. For the rest of the year, guests will be selected at random (sometimes based on the particular seat that they're sitting in on a specified ride at a pre-selected time) and they will get dinner at the castle and a one night stay in the exclusive Castle Suite.

A slide show of photos of the Cinderella Suite can be found on the website of the Orlando Sentinel. Wouldn't you love to stay there?

While you obviously have to be in Disney World to have a chance at winning the one night stay in the Castle, since it's a same day thing, there are other prizes that you can win. According to Disney's press release, prizes include unique Disney vacation experiences, special events like serving as the grand marshall in a Disney parade, special Fastpass badges which grant immediate admission to the most popular attractions, memberships in the Disney Vacation Club, and exclusive trading pins.

What's great is that since they are touting the Disney Dreams Giveaway as a "no purchase necessary" contest, they have opened it up to mail-in entries. Check out the complete contest rules. It looks to me like all you have to do is mail-in a 3.5 x 5 postcard with your name, address, daytime phone number, and date of birth to: Disney Dreams Giveaway, PO Box 8629, Elmhurst, IL 60126. The deadline for entries is January 14, 2008. Hey, if your a Disney fanatic like me, it's worth a shot! Too bad you have to be in the park to win the Cinderella Castle stay!

"Pants are for boys!"

2007-01-25T19:49:00.000-08:00

Here's my latest problem... Miss A absolutely refuses to wear pants. It's been going on for a few weeks now. She claims that pants are for boys and she only wants to wear dresses, preferrably pink dresses. Now, if the weather was warmer, I'd have no problem with it, but it's the middle of winter and tights with a dress are just not warm enough in my mind, especially when the daycare makes them play outside twice a day.

This morning, another fashion battle ensued. I forced her to wear jeans with a cute Gymboree top and she was screaming and trying to pull them off as I was putting them on her. She's 3 and I was late for work, so I won the battle. But as soon as we got home today, she ran upstairs to her room and came out with a Lilly shift dress that she wanted to wear. I told her that that dress was a summer dress and she needed one that had sleeves. She went back in her room and came out with her only other Lilly dress. I told her no again, and took her in her room to show which dresses were "winter" dresses that she could wear. She refused each and every one that I showed her (and there were several), so I finally took all of the short sleeve and sleeveless ones out of her room and left her with two long-sleeved options. After all that, she came out in a nightgown!

While I'm typing this after 11PM, a really weird thing happened. A telephone started ringing in the room - a toy telephone! I hunted it down in one of the toy baskets under the coffee table, and pushed the speaker phone button since the handset was missing. Guess What? It was Barbie! She was calling to ask if she could come over to play. What's strange is that since Santa brought us that phone, it has never rang on its own before. Maybe Barbie just got our number?

A Wonderful Read!

2007-01-04T19:09:00.000-08:00

I wanted to tell you all about a new magazine that I just discovered. It's called Wonder Time and it's from the editors of Family Fun. If you're not familiar with Family Fun, it's a great magazine for moms of young kids, with tons of party ideas, games, craft projects, etc.

Since I'm a subscriber of Family Fun, I received some advertising propoganda inviting me to be one of the premier subscribers of Wonder Time. I sent in my subscription and kind of forgot about it until last Friday when I was in the waiting room at the pediatric dentist, and there on the table was the Wonder Time issue shown in this photo. I had lots of time to read it as Miss E was having a cavity filled and we had to wait an hour for the sedation medication to take effect. Well, every article that I read was interesting, from why young kids like to play with scotch tape (currently Miss A's favorite hobby), to the histories of many classic toys. I could identify with many of the topics as the magazine is geared toward moms of children 6 and under, and I have two of them.

When the hour was up, I took the magazine with me into the treatment room , but my hands, my husband's hands and the hands of three nurses were required to hold down feisty and supposedly medicated Miss E, so I couldn't finish the magazine. When it was time to leave, I so wanted to carry it out the door and pretend that it was mine from home, but my conscience got the best of me and I returned it to the watiting room table.

Cooincidentally, I received my first issue of Wonder Time the next week. It was not the issue that I had started reading in the dentist's office, but one just as good. The day it arrived, I stayed up until 12:30AM reading every article. That's really rare as I never have time or take time to read the other magazines I get. Then tonight when I came home from a PTA meeting, I found hubby reading it, which is even rarer!

So, if you're the mom (or dad) of young kids, you may want to check out this magazine. There's even some kind of deal now where you can get 10 issues for $10.00. A bargain in my mind!

Of course, that little voice in the back of my head is wondering what articles I missed reading from the first issue. I'm embarrassed to say that I'm actually considering scheduling an appointment for Miss A's first dental checkup so I can get that magazine. I mean, she's nearly three, isn't it about time that she visit the friendly pediatric dentist with that great issue of Wonder Time? My only worry is that it might be a wasted trip (magazine wise) as another mom may have swiped it!

My Family's Italian Christmas Eve Tradition

2006-12-29T09:09:00.000-08:00

Growing up in an Italian family, Christmas Eve has always been more important to me than than Christmas Day. It was the most anticipated night of the year and not just because it was the night when Santa delivered the toys! In fact, I wrote an essay about my family's Christmas Eve tradition in high school which was later published in a genealogy magazine.

Christmas Eve was always celebrated at my paternal grandparents' house where a traditional "Feast of the Seven Fishes" was served. I'm not exactly sure where the number seven comes from, although I've heard that it stems from either the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church or the seven days that it allegedly took Mary and Joseph to travel to Bethlehem. Whatever the origin, seafood entered the picture because the Catholic religion dictated abstinence from eating meat on Christmas Eve. Luckily for finicky eaters like me, the Catholic Church relaxed the eating rules, so my grandparents also made meatballs, sausage, and braciole along with gravy (sauce to you and me) and pasta.

My grandparents would rise early on Christmas Eve to begin the cooking and oftentimes the cooking was started days before. When my brother and I were young, we would go to my grandparents early in the day to assist with the rolling of cavatelli pasta. My grandfather would make and roll the dough and then cut it into small pieces which we would roll with our thumbs onto floured cloths.

The meal would consist of several courses each served separately. We would begin with a traditional toast (of course the grandchildren had grape juice in their wine glasses), followed by an orange salad.

The orange salad consisted of orange slices drizzled in olive oil with chopped garlic and sugar sprinkled on top. It sounds odd, but it actually tastes good! Next would come stuffed escarole with pinoli nuts and raisins, fried eels, codfish cakes, fried baccala (salted cod), stuffed clams,

squid cooked in tomato sauce, cold baccala salad, and finally the meat and pasta dishes that I had waited so patiently for. The last course before dessert would be a garden salad to clean the palate. Dessert varied but it usually included panettone, spumoni ice cream, my grandmother's famous chocolate crazy cake, pizzelle, biscotti and ancinetti cookies.

Since the death of my grandparents and uncle, we have kept the tradition intact, although some of the courses have been eliminated and my brother and his family only partake every other year when they're not with my sister-in-law's family for the holidays. I now make the sauce, meatballs, sausage and braciole using my grandmother's recipes, and my dad makes most of the other dishes. One tradition that we have continued with my children and my brother's children is the making and rolling of the homemade cavatelli. My dad rolls out the dough and then we all help roll the cavatelli.

My brother and his family hosted the meal at their home in Sudbury, MA this year and it turns out that my sister in law (who I don't think has an ounce of Italian blood in her) is the best cavatelli roller amongst us. Here's a photo of her at work. She's even a double roller and can roll pasta simulataneously with both thumbs. She says that she finds it very relaxing, LOL.

Here's a photo of the cooked pasta that we all helped make.

What's ironic is that my dad didn't make some of the fish dishes this year and my husband and my sister-in-law (who both married into the family and were not part of the original tradition) were disappointed. I think that next year they might be back on the menu, LOL!

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-24T18:13:00.000-08:00

Hope you are all enjoying the holidays! It's Christmas Eve and we are all ready for Santa's arrival! Thanks to a link to Norad's Santa tracking site posted by the Preppy Princess, we have been tracking Santa's travels. In fact we just checked and he is somewhere over Peru right now.

Miss E has selected four Christmas cookies for Santa and has milk ready for him in a sippy cup minus the top. I guess she figured that since Santa is an adult, he doesn't have to worry about spillage, LOL. Unfortunately, we didn't have any carrots on hand for the reindeer, so she chose some oatmeal cereal for them and sprinkled it out on the front lawn for them to nibble while Santa was inside. She also got a bowl from her Little Tikes kitchen and filled it with water for them. It's outside on the front walk ready and waiting for thirsty reindeer...

Caroler Etiquette?

2006-12-17T20:10:00.000-08:00

Last night when we were watching television, the doorbell rang. It was a little after eight-o-clock and the kids were just about to go to bed. My husband joked and said, "Maybe it's some carolers!" and believe it or not, it was. This was the first time in my life that I had been treated to caroling. I've always lived in very residential areas where houses are not close together, so this was a pleasant surprise. The carolers were a group of high school cheerleaders and they sang two songs for us on our front porch. When they were done, we clapped and thanked them. If I had had some candy canes on hand, I would have passed them out, but I had none. What is caroler etiquette anyway? Should we have invited them in? Made them hot chocolate? I have no idea what people traditionally do, but I feel like we should have given them something. Anyone have any ideas? I'd like to be prepared for next year...

If it's Christmas, we must be sick...

2006-12-17T19:59:00.000-08:00

Well, we couldn't let another holiday season pass without the stomach flu. I have no idea why, but for the last four years we have all gotten and shared the stomach flu right around Christmas. On two of those occasions, we got it while visiting my brother and his family in Boston, and once we had to stay home by ourselves on Christmas. I guess lucky for everyone we got it this week, so we'll be be germ free when we go up to Boston on Saturday. I was speaking to my brother yesterday about it, and he mentioned that his family often passes around head cold type illnesses, but not stomach sickness. LOL, I guess that's only if we haven't visited to pass the germs. What's odd is that we rarely get the head cold type illnesses, just the stomach flu. Why is that?

Not So Subtle Request for an Invite from PP

2006-11-15T17:18:00.000-08:00

Every few days, I enjoy checking out what's new on my favorite blogs. While I've never met any of them except my fellow Chickadee, Lisa, I do enjoy reading about their lives, shopping finds, craft projects, etc. Some of my regular stops include Preppy Days (Lisa's blog), Monogram Momma, The Muddy Dog, Grosgrain Garage, Preppy Cafe, and a few others.

Sadly two of my favorite sites have recently become closed to the general public. The message states that they are open to invited readers only. Preppy Princess, if you happen to stop by here, can I please get invites to your blogs? I know that its terribly unpreppy to beg, but I really do miss reading Confessions of a Preppy Princess and Shopping with the Preppy Princess. I'm starting to have withdrawal...

Skinny Fit NOT!

2006-11-15T16:44:00.000-08:00

I want to go on the record to say that I absolutely detest the "skinny fit" shirts out now. Now, I know that they've been out for a while, I just haven't had any first hand experience with them until recently, when I was in a Ralph Lauren Polo Outlet looking for some new pinpoint oxford shirts.

I took a bunch of size 10 shirts into the fitting room and could not even button them. I had to check the label again to make sure that I had not mistakenly brought is some size 6's. Discouraged, I turned over all of the shirts to the dressing room attendant and went out and brought in the same exacts shirts in a size 12. I was shocked to find that even these did not fit. Oh, I was able to button the shirt, but there was serious stress placed on the upper buttons. I smiled at the dressing room attendant as I handed her all on the size 12s and then again when I arrived with the 14's.

Now, I have never been a size 14 in my entire life, and sadly these shirts did not fit either. The main problem was in the bust area, where there was obvious pulling on the main bust button. While the bust area was tight, the stomach area was way baggy. A totally unflattering look. Apparently I do not have the body type for the "slim fit" look.

Of course, none of the patterns that I liked came in the "comfort fit" so I guess that Polo assumes that only frumpy people want the comfort fit.

Today, I am boldy announcing my own personal buycott against the "slim fit" style trend. Hear that shirt manufacturers? This Preppy Mom has money to spend and she will just not stoop to your body image harrassment. LOL, in all honesty, I know it doesn't much matter what I think about the "skinny fit" trend, but in my own warped mind, I feel that if I post news of my boycott, maybe some shirt manufacturer will read it and come to his/her senses.

Long live the comfort fit of old! Thank God for EBAY and Paypal!

Happy Halloween

2006-10-30T21:00:00.000-08:00

Hope you all have a great Halloween! We have an action packed day planned from school parties and parades, to trick or treating with friends in two different towns at their sponsored events. Miss E will be a purple fairy and Miss A will be whatever she feels like at the particular time we are getting dressed for Halloween. Ah, the joys of being 2! I bought her a darling Raggedy Ann costume and she refuses to even try it on. She turned her nose at last year's Ladybug costume which still fits her, so I believe that she will either be a Pumpkin, Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty) or Cinderella. I'm hoping she picks the Pumpkin costume because it fits the season and it's not your run of the mill, everyday Disney dress up outfit. Cross your fingers for the Pumpkin costume, LOL!

M'Sevumba: An Inspirational Story

2006-10-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

Did you happen to see the Oprah show on Monday? I just rewatched it before my DVR automatically deletes it. The topic was Mothers Around the World and she featured moms from Alaska, Brazil, Norway and the Congo.

The piece about the mother from the Congo was the most awe inspiring. Oprah showed a clip that she had seen on ABC's Nightline several years ago. She mentioned that she remembers the woman's story to this day.

Ted Koppell profiled a woman named M'Sevumba, twice widowed and the mother of 10 children ranging in age from 2 to 17. In order to provide for her family, she works as a porter - - carrying things for people who pay her to transport items up and down hills in and around her town.

The clip essentially showed an average day in her life. In the morning, M'Sevumba got a job carrying a mattress from her town to the next town. She rolled the mattress in a tarp and carried it on her back as she walked barefoot down a steep hill and over logs that had been placed across a stream. She spent the entire morning delivering the mattress and she received 25 cents as payment!

She then made her way back to the center of her town to look for another job. She saw another porter struggling to carry 400 pounds of beans. She and that porter made a deal to split the work and the wages, so M'Sevumba carried a 200 pound sack of beans up hill for 2 miles. Her pay? Just 40 cents.

She then stopped to buy food so that she could cook dinner and spent 56 cents of her day's wages. Later that day, one of her daughters bought a small bottle of oil using up the last 9 cents.

It's hard to imagine a life that difficult, yet M'Sevumba persevered each day for porter jobs so that she could provide for her children. And she never complained. She took great pride in the fact that her meager wages had put 4 of her children through primary school.

I still can't fathom that she received payment of only 65 cents for an entire day of back-breaking manual labor. Imagine how much $20.00 would mean to her? We spend roughly that amount on a DVD or music CD and don't think twice about it. Tomorrow I am going to place a $20.00 bill in an envelope simply addressed to M'Sevumba, Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo. I hope it reaches her and her family!

Like Oprah, I will remember her story. And I'll also think twice the next time I complain that I'm too busy and my kids are driving me crazy.

White Daisy Dukes in October??

2006-10-16T20:10:00.000-07:00

That's a question my husband needs to answer... Last week, I flew to Orlando to attend a business conference. Before I left, I made arrangements for my mom to pick up my kids at daycare and school, and my older daughter also slept over at my mom's house one night as her school was closed for Columbus Day. I also left my husband with three outfits for each of the kids to wear complete with matching socks and hair accessories. I also instructed him on the fine art of creating pony tails. Now you might laugh at that, but my kids have looked like street urchins in the past when he has been responsible for dressing and grooming them. In any event, as soon as the car service brought me home from the airport, I drove to the daycare to pick up my 2 year old. She was dressed in a short sleeve dress (at least a nice Gymboree dress) and her hair was a mess. Not one of the long sleeved outfits that I had left for her to wear. When I arrived at my parent's house, my dad warned me that my 5 year old was wearing shorts and a short sleeve shirt. By the way, these were not ordinary shorts either, but white Daisy Duke hot pant shorts. I could not believe my eyes, nor could my mom who was the one who picked her up at school for me. LOL, my mom told me that when she saw what Miss E was wearing, she said aloud so the other moms waiting in the hall would hear, "She must have dressed herself." My husband claims in his defense that my daughter wanted to wear a wild flower power short sleeve shirt with an equally wild floral skirt that did not match. He figured that white went with everything, so he found the white shorts for her to wear. White capri pants were hanging in her closet along with many pairs of jeans and khakis, but he apparently felt a short sleeve shirt demanded shorts. Thankfully, he had written the teacher a note saying that I was away and my mom would be picking up my daughter instead. It appears that the teacher chalked my daughter's wardrobe up to a poor choice on my husband's part, as I have not yet heard from the school social worker or anyone affiliated with a child welfare agency. I have no idea what he was thinking, short shorts in mid-October? Now he would never know that wearing white is a faux pas after Labor Day, but he should have known that shorts are not appropriate fall clothing for a crisp fall day in Connecticut! by the way, did I fail to mention that the darling clothing outfits that I laid out were left in the same places that I left them? Go figure! Luckily for my kids, I rarely travel for business.

Fabric Anyone? Shop Three Chickadees Textiles!

2006-10-05T20:18:00.000-07:00

Folks, you heard it here first! Three Chickadees launched its second website earlier today at www.threechickadeestextiles.com. Three Chickadees Textiles will be exclusively devoted to fabric sales, and we'll eventually add ribbon and hardware to the product mix.

The whole idea started when we began to receive inquiries on our accessory site (www.threechickadees.com) from people that wanted to purchase our patchwork madras fabric for their own use. We had difficulty finding this fabric ourselves which is what led to our decision to import it directly from India. To accommodate the fabric requests, we started selling it by the yard in our EBAY store.

My partner, Lisa (also a fellow blogger at Preppy Days) is the one who had the initial vision for a separate fabric site. We started our IT people working on the programming, and purchased many great new patchwork fabrics from our Indian supplier. A few of them are already up on the site, and there are more to follow within the next two weeks. The photo up top is of our Nantucket Summer pattern. It's one of my favorites!

Since we know that there is already a demand for patchwork madras fabric, we decided to start with that material. Eventually we'll add exquisite fabrics from France and Germany. I just love the German Farbenmix fabrics, so those might have to be next...

There are also some other exciting things happening behind the scenes at Three Chickadees that I can't talk about yet! Stay tuned as we may have more big news soon!

Fruit Flies, Oh My!

2006-10-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

For the last two weeks, we have been fighting a minor fruit fly infestation at our house. When I first spotted them, they were milling about apples in a glass bowl on my counter. Since we had recently gone apple picking, I assumed that they arrived on one of the apples that we picked in the orchard. I washed all of the apples and put them in the fridge so that the fruit flies would no longer have their food source. For the next few days, I sprayed them and clapped them to death with my hands. Over time though, the number seemed to be increasing and they had spread from the kitchen to my upstairs hall bathroom. I searched and searched for a lost potato that may have rolled under the cabinet or a piece of wayward food that ended up underneath the baseboard heater and I could find absolutely nothing. Since I pay a cleaning lady, I'd actually have been mad if I found something somewhere, but her job is safe as nothing was found, that was until....

One night, hubby was walking through the dining room and yelled into the kitchen that the dining room "smelled old." Mind you, my dining room is the one room in my house that is so never used that I'm even contemplating turning it into a sitting room or den. Well, I went in to see what he meant by "it smells old" and when I flicked on the light, I saw a mass of fruit flies hovering over my beaded fruit centerpiece. It turns out that Miss E had placed an orange in the centerpiece at some point and that orange was now serving as the official Fruit Fly Conference Hotel. I ran for the can of bug spray and sprayed it so long that the can became too cold to hold, my finger hurt from pressing the nozzle, and my throat was irritated. The Hotel del'Orange was moved outside in the backyard and it sits there still.

Unfortunately, that has not completely solved the problem. We still have about a half dozen survivor fruit flies flying around looking for a new hotel, although their flying speed has slowed so they are getting hungry, LOL. (By the way, did you know that fruit flies have red eyes?)

Are Pink and Brown the new Pink and Green?

2006-09-24T15:18:00.000-07:00

My partners and I at Three Chickadees did a boutique and craft fair today in Fairfield, Connecticut. I couldn't help but notice the number of people choosing items that were pink and brown. I almost wonder if pink and brown are the new pink and green in preppy fashion? That combination is everywhere - - it must surely be a close second.

Speaking of pink and brown, this season GAP Kids is offering their Warmest Coat for girls in a great brown color and a darker pink. While I would love to buy Miss E the brown version, she lives in a pink world, so brown would never be acceptable. From her pink world, she would say, "Mommy, brown is for boys." GAP also has a super cute sweater, scarf and hat in the most adorable argyle-ish pattern. Isn't this a cute take on the traditional argyle? I just love the heart! This sweater doesn't photograph well - -it is so much cuter in person! Well, can't wait for the GAP markdowns on this one, LOL!

Happy Birthday to You! Pencils Anyone?

2006-09-17T19:16:00.000-07:00

What's a Birthday without edible treats? That's a question for Miss E's kindergarten teacher! On the first day of school, Miss E came home with various notices and one of them advised that cupcakes and brownies were not allowed at birthday celebrations, as they were too messy. Suggested birthday treats were listed as cookies, donut holes or rice crispy treats.

Well, last Tuesday was Back to School night and my husband and I both went. Miss E's teacher announced that she and the other kindergarten teacher had decided to amend the birthday policy due to various allergies. Nothing edible would be allowed. Instead, students would be allowed to bring in pencils to pass out, or other small party bag items, and they would also get to borrow the class Birthday Bag containing books and activities about birthdays. (Oh Goody!)

Remember the good old days when you could eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day of the week and bring in decorated cupcakes on your birthday? My how things have changed - - now you get sung to by pencil toting classmates. Oh, what fun! I guess the big plus is that the summer birthday kids don't miss that much!

I'm all for health and well being and I do feel bad for the allergic kids, but I think that we have to draw the line somewhere. Juice boxes and pencils, anyone?

Where are the postings?

2006-09-06T06:37:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. I created a blog and I haven't been posting anything. I have been busy completing a large special order for ribbon bracelets from the parent company of a tween mall store. The funny thing about it is that we had already discontinued bracelets as a product and we had even deleted them from our site when we received the inquiry. I made more bracelets last week than I made all of last year. Now I'm officially retired as a ribbon bracelet maker, LOL!

Now it's on to headband production! We can tell by the orders that we've been receiving that you all love the headbands. I've been a headband wearer for years so that just thrills me, and I'm so glad that headbands are "in" again as an accessory. Of course, they were always in for us preppies! I just added the pink madras headband that's shown above to the site and I'm soon going to be making a great Black Watch Plaid on Navy double layer version!

Potty 101: Just Say No to Pull-Ups

2006-08-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

I did not listen. Three years ago, when I potty trained by oldest daughter, I vowed never again to use Pull Ups. I have nothing against them personally. My experience is that they just don't work. When we were young, we all learned in training pants and there was a reason we did. In my mind, Pull Ups just prolong the agony. Oh, I tried the learning designs and cool sensations varieties this go round, and in the beginning they were a novelty and Miss A thought of them as underpants, so she actively started participating in the whole process. At some point though, she must have realized that they work just as well as diapers, so why bother with the toilet.

A few weeks ago, I casually discussed potty training with my daughter's day care teacher. Imagine my horror to discover that every child in the class was trained except my daughter, and some of the kids were younger! I went home that Thursday night in a sweat and put her immediately in training underpants. The next night started a weekend of Potty Boot Camp. We stayed at home the whole weekend and put her on the toilet every 20 minutes. She did rather well with only a few accidents. The next Monday she wore underpants to school and she has ever since. She has had a few of the nasty accidents (if you know what I mean), but she has now seemed to master that bodily function as well. This coming weekend, we are going to the mall to pick up the potty prize that she picked out for herself - - beautiful silver glittery dress up shoes from the Cinderella collection at the Disney store.

Three Chickadees

2006-08-28T04:25:00.000-07:00

If you're reading this blog, you'll hear mention of Three Chickadees. What is it you ask? It's a company that 2 friends and I started two years ago. Since we're all from Fairfield County, the headquarters of preppydom, it seemed natural that we do something that we all enjoyed ourselves and fun, preppy ribbon accessories was the answer. We knew that they'd at least sell around here, as preppy styling never went out of vogue in the 70's like it did in most of the rest of the county. As luck would have it, to cooincide with the launch of our website (www.threechickadees.com), preppy ribbon watches and belts came back in fashion. Don't they say that if you keep something long enough if will eventually come back in style?

Why a Blog?

2006-08-26T21:16:00.000-07:00

I honestly have no reason, other than the fact that I know that my husband does not listen when I relay stories. Oh, he pretends to be paying attention, but then I'll mention something a couple of days later, and it's like I told him something for the first time. I joked that I would get a blog so that he won't have to pretend that he's listening any more. He can just read my blog when and if he wants.