B2B (Back to Blogging)

Well, it's been a while...a looooong while since I last blogged. Lately, I was getting the itch to start back up again. I actually made a "Summer Bucket List" and getting back to Madras Matters was the first thing on the list. Here are a few more items on my list...
~buy a hammock~plant a vegetable garden~paint a picture~run a 10K~make weekly trips to the farmer's market~reconnect with an old friend~start a cocktail club~write some poetry~bake a cake from scratch~read Jane Austen~bring flowers to a neighbor~visit an art gallery~take cooking lessons~learn how to meditate~
I'll keep you posted on my progress. In the meantime, I look forward to reconnecting with some old blogging buddies and meeting some new friends along the way.

What A Deal

I love Swoozie's!!! If you've never visited, either in person or online, you're missing out. It's fun and fresh name says it all...it's a shop full of fun and fresh items, from stationery to monogrammed everything to Tervis tumblers to those great new Lilly Pulitzer paper and gift items. I've done most of my holiday shopping there this year. Now, they're offering one item at 50% off. through October 31st Simply enter code ENJOY50. That means you could get one of those adorable Lilly P coffee mugs for less than $10. I'm off to choose my stuff right now.

Great Deal at Tucker Blair

I absolutely love the needlepoint belts, headbands and key fobs at Tucker Blair. The best news is that they're celebrating Columbus Day by offering 30% off everything on their site today with the coupon code COLUMBUS. How cute are these needlepoint headbands??? They are actually on sale for $25 plus the additional 30% off makes them a steal. Check them out plus the other fun stuff and have fun shopping.

More Fun Giveaways

With Bonus Baby being sick today, I've had nothing but time on my hands. I've spent a lot of that time right here on the computer and stumbled upon a bunch of fun giveaways from fellow bloggers who are giving away some really cool stuff.

The Pleasures of Homemaking is a great blog full of wonderful ideas. Right now Manuela is giving away two books that sounds great ~ a copy of Tracey McBride's fabulous book Frugal Luxuries by the Seasons (Celebrate Holidays with Elegance and Simplicity on Any Income) and Jonni McCoy's Miserly Moms (Living Well on Less in a Tough Economy -revised edition).

Lauren Nicole Gifts has some great monogrammed preppy things. Right now, Lauren is giving away an awesome Vera Bradley purse. Visit Lauren Nicole Gifts blog here to enter the giveaway.

Another fun giveaway can be found at Mille Fleur. Cathy is giving away a great collection of items from Williams Sonoma. Click here to enter.

One of my best finds today was this blog that highlights all sorts of giveaways from artists and crafters on Etsy. You can enter tons of giveaways here. It's so much fun. Here's just one of the great giveaways I found on the Etsy Giveaway blog.
http://stuffundertwenty.blogspot.com/2009/10/giveaway-beautiful-functional-beautiful.html#comment-form

I Love Surprises

Today's been a day sprinkled with several little unexpected suprises...some good, others not so much...

• First snowfall in the Twin Cities.
• Bonus Baby woke up with a hacking cough, runny nose and fever.
• I found several winter accessories I thought were lost forever.
• Have to cancel date with Mr. Madras since BB is sick.
• Discovered the great "surprise giveaway" at Nautical by Nature's blog. Click here to enter.

Twins Win!!!

It's been a thrilling week of sports around the Twin Cities. The Twins played their way into a playoff game and beat the Detroit Tigers for the American League Central Division Title. Brett Favre led the Vikings to a huge (a slight understatement) victory over the Green Bay Packers. Half the town is hoarse from all of the screaming and cheering we've been doing nonstop.

Even though I'm not much of a baseball fan, I must admit that I've caught Twins fever right now...not just because they're a great baseball team with really nice, classy players...they've also got some really nice players to "watch." ;) With the Twins playing the Yankees now, here's the one matchup where the Twins win hands down.

Best Looking Baseball Stud

vs.
Minnesota's Joe Mauer easily beats New York's Alex Rodriguez as baseball's "hottest" player

GO TWINS GO!!!!!!

Dandy of a Deal

If you've never seen any of the adorable products from Barn Dandy's then you've really been missing out. Their vintage-inspired items like backpacks, luggage, lunch boxes, thermoses, tents, tv trays and so much more come in the greatest designs and fabrics. I often visit the website and just oggle all the great stuff. So imagine my thrill when I got an email today announcing their biggest three-day sale ever -- 50% off EVERYTHING in the store. People that's huge!!! Just enter BIGSALE at checkout in the promotion code box and your total cost will be CUT IN HALF! This is a great time to stock up on some holiday gifts. Their fun tv trays are only $24; the adorable backpacks only $17 and half off all their luggage makes a sleepover so fun. Check out Barn Dandy's today through Oct. 4 to get HALF OFF.

A Perfect Match

I was thrilled to see two of my favorite brands teaming up for what is sure to be a "slam dunk." Lilly Pulitzer and LeSportsac have joined forces and collaborated on an absolutely adorable collection of bags due out this spring. I've loved LeSportsac bags ever since high school when I saved up my babysitting money to buy a "must-have" wine colored purse. I'm still delighted when I stumble across a cute LeSportsac bag as I'm meandering through Marshall's or TJ Maxx. Trust me, I won't be waiting for these fresh and bright Lilly LeSportsacs to hit the racks of Marshall's or TJ Maxx. I'm sure I'll be paying full price so I can carry one of these cute bags asap. I'm starting to save my pennies now.

Preppy Pennies

Long time no blog. What can I say??? Life just seemed to get in the way…between juggling the lives of the Madras family; managing this whole house remodel project; and maintaining some sense of order and normalcy while we live in our little two bedroom apartment while the house is under construction. It’s been a wild and crazy ride. One of the more positive things to come out of all of this is that I’ve learned how to stretch our dollars and all while not really having to compromise the Madras family lifestyle. I’ve had so much fun uncovering great preppy bargains and discovering ways to do and get a lot for less that I just had to share. So, I am announcing the birth of my alter ego, Penny Prep. Penny Prep is where I’ll blog about the latest bargains and ideas we’ve discovered at the Madras house. Who doesn’t need to save a few pennies in today’s economy? As we began making all of the choices that go into remodeling a home, I quickly realized I didn’t want to have to sacrifice a Lilly shift for my kitchen sink fixture. I challenged myself – could I be frugal and wear Vineyard Vines at the same time? Is it hypocritical to carry clipped coupons in a Tory Burch tote? I’ve decided you can be a fun-loving, penny-pinching prep. Click on over to see how Penny Prep tries to accomplish just that.

Easter Bucket Fun

Count me in for a couple of these absolutely adorable Easter buckets from my friend Hazel. If you remember, she does those adorable monogrammed key chains and is such a talented artist. I was thrilled to see that she is going to be selling these cute buckets at her Etsy shop starting Friday afternoon and for only $25. How sweet would these look with your little chickadee's monogram? No doubt, these buckets would have tons of uses far beyond holding the Easter Bunny's goodies. I know that the Madras family will have a couple of these filled with fun on Easter morning.

Luck o' the Irish

It appears a little Irish luck headed our way today as we finally got a contract on our home in Texas and if all goes according to plan we'll close at the end of April. While I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, we're cautiously optimistic about the sale. We can finally devote our full attention to our home remodel. That process is definitely going to be a learning experience. My first lesson is going to have to be how to majorly cut down on my "wish list." Unfortunately, with today's economy we didn't sell our home for as much as we thought so I've got to give some real thought to what I really want & need in our "new" old house.

The next few months we will be pinching our pennies so my trips to TJ Maxx and Marshalls will be few and far between :( . I've also got to think of some ways to make a penny or two... Should be an interesting spring...

A New Home

While it's no news to most of you I'm a very irregular blogger. Always seems there's more interesting stuff going on in other people's lives than mine...so I spend most of my time reading blogs rather than posting on my own. Add to that the fact that we have now moved and are working on getting settled into our new lives in Minnesota, you can see that my excuses abound. As I have tried to keep up with family and friends with news on our move, home renovation, etc. I decided the easiest way to do that was with a blog. So here's the scoop...I've started a new blog Raising the Roof that will chronicle our family's journey through the renovation of our 1300 square foot cottage. I hope you'll stop by and visit. No doubt, I will need your help with all kinds of renovating decisions from light fixtures to flooring to toilet bowls. Let's try and keep in touch.

My New Addiction

OMG~I have spent the whole day on this wonderfully fun website called Wordle. It makes those fun "word clouds" from any combination of words you create or from any website or blog you submit. Below is the cloud I created when I submitted my blog address.

What makes this site super cool is that you can choose the colors, font, layout and text. The site also includes a gallery of users' creations that can provide for tons of inspiration. It took me a little while to figure out how to save my creations and format them as jpeg images, but my perseverance paid off and now I'm hooked. My mind has been racing with all the ways I could use this. I'm thinking who needs a Christmas letter when I can just type in our year's highlights; format the text for red and green; and then print on a foldover card. How cute is that? I just finished making one for Big Sis that she proclaimed "really cool" and I'm planning to print and frame that one. The possibilities are endless. I'll keep you posted on other ideas I have, but right now you HAVE to head over to Wordle.

What a Deal!

Just had to pass along what I think is one heck of a deal from Brocade Home. With the coupon code: SUMMER, you can get 50% off all of their sale and clearance items. While I realize a lot of their stuff would not necessarily fit in with my decor, I still love to look through the catalog and dream. I do think some of these pieces might have to find a place in the Madras house since they're such a steal.

This gorgeous king sized duvet was originally $149, on sale for $79 50% off = $39.50. The matching square pillow covers are only $12 each.

This neat storage unit was originally $299, on sale for $149 50% off makes it $75

This chair was originally $299, on sale for $179. 50% off makes it $90

Maybe you'll find something to tickle your fancy...

Most Embarrassing Moment

I must admit I'm pretty embarrassed/ashamed to not have posted in over a week. I'd love to say I have several really good reasons why...but, truth be told, I just couldn't think of anything worthwhile to write about. Some of my favorite blogger friends can be so witty, insightful, articulate & intelligent in their posts that I think who would want to read anything I have to say...I can't do it as well as these other ladies. I just sit around and hope for some inspiration and divine intervention. I guess you could say that came tonight at dinner when I was sharing an embarrassing high school moment with Big Sis. After I finished telling the story, she said, "Mom, you should write about that in your blog." So here goes...

I was 17 and a high school senior at my New Jersey prep school. Our class was headed on the annual "Senior Trip" to Orlando. Wouldn't you know Aunt Flo (my period) decides it would be nice to join me on the trip? So, to be on the safe side, I packed an extraordinarily large amount of "sanitary protection" so as to not run out. Turns out, I used maybe a tenth of what I brought and had to stuff the rest back into my overloaded suitcase for the trip home. On our way to the airport, we made one last stop at some souvenir shop and fruit stand where people bought big bags of oranges and grapefruit to bring home. Fast forward to my entire senior class and some other random travelers at the Philadelphia airport's baggage claim. As the luggage started to make its way onto the conveyor belt you would see a lone grapefruit or maybe an orange on the carousel and it soon became apparent that the luggage handlers had been pretty rough on our stuff. Then, a wave of laughter broke out and fingers were pointing at this sad suitcase with a few maxi pads and tampons hanging out along with some more on the conveyor belt. My boyfriend at the time nudged me to point out the site and to my horror I realized it was mine. I looked him straight in the eye and said, "That's my suitcase. Get it off, close it and meet me at the bus. I'm getting out of here right now." Fortunately, for me, this was one time that he actually acted like he cared and handled the situation for me.

Let me tell you to have your entire senior class seeing your feminine protection spread out all along the baggage carousel is quite harrowing for a 17-year-old Catholic school girl. As I shared with Big Sis tonight, I did survive and the story makes for interesting conversation. What's your most embarrassing moment??? Care to share?

Favor, please...

Remember my absolutely adorable pink & green monogrammed tennis key chain??? (can you get any preppier than that?) Well, my blog friend Hazel, the wonderfully creative and talented artist who custom designed that little gem among many other delightful pieces, needs our help to win a great prize in Girl Indie Blog's Designer Chick Contest. If you can spare a second just click here and vote for Hazel's adorable custom kid's key chain which is #17. The grand prize includes a lot of wonderful items to help Hazel take her business to the next step. After you vote for her, visit Hazel's blog Just Add Dots and leave a comment that you voted for her. You'll then have a chance to win your very own custom key chain. Just look at some of Hazel's creativity at work. I would just love to help her take her talents to the next level.

Thanks for helping Hazel out. I know she appreciates it.

There's No Place Like Home

I could not agree with Dorothy more...We got back from our 15-day, 3,000 mile road trip on Sunday and I'm soooooooo glad to be home. While I love my family, I'd have to say this vacation included a little too much togetherness...

• 3,000 miles through mid-America in the middle of summer with a 4-year old constantly asking to watch "The Polar Express" (her all-time favorite movie) while the 11 year old wants to watch Napoleon Dynamite for the umpteenth time and whines how unfair it is that Bonus Baby "always gets her way." (Her whining is just a little more annoying than his so she wins) Meanwhile, Big Sis just puts on her iPod and all I want to do is play a family game of License Plate Bingo, which never happened.



• A 3,000-mile road trip means LOTS of public bathroom visits with Bonus Baby...I HATE public restrooms, particularly the hot, steamy, crowded, unclean ones at the ever-interesting interstate rest stops. To add to my disgust, is the fact that I am the only one that can take her "potty" at all of these places...Mr. Madras says how much he wishes he could help out, but he wouldn't dare take her into the men's restroom...(Another reason I love WDW is the very clean FAMILY restrooms they have, where dads can take their precious little baby girls). In all fairness to Big Sis, she does make a few trips to the potty with BB and I do appreciate the break.



• Luckily, the long miles were broken up a bit by our visits to our family lake house in Wisconsin; another visit to my brother-in-law's island farmhouse and yet another stop to visit family in Minnesota. Mind you, all of these visits are with Mr. Madras' family (whom I dearly love, but once again a lot of togetherness!!!) It's hard to really relax with your in-laws everywhere. I wanted the kids to be so well-behaved, look cute and all while making it look so natural. That's a lot of stress on a mom!!!



• Add to the stress the fact that the 5 of us shared one bedroom..bunks, air mattresses, etc. The best part of all is sharing one bathroom with the 11 of us that were there. The lake house is so cute and everything a cottage should be except for the whole bathroom thing. I spent most of my time there brainstorming how in the heck we could add a second bathroom...



• Fortunately, the weather was great!!! I was able to run 5-6 miles in relatively cool, and wonderfully unhumid weather. Boy, that makes a huge difference... I think 3 miles in hot, humid Texas is equal to 5 miles in the upper Midwest.



• Other trip highlights included Big Sis conquering water skiing; BB "swimming" with no life vest; Big Bro driving the boat; trip to the American Girl store in Chicago and the American Girl OUTLET (yes, it's true there's an outlet) in Oshkosh, WI which is also where the Land's End Outlet is.

All in all, a fun trip but I really do yearn for a relaxing vacation one of these days. Right now, I have to conquer Mount Washmore...I cannot believe the amount of laundry we have. I am really beginning to think that less is more...the less clothes we have, the less laundry we have to do.

Off To The Lake

We're headed on our annual trip "up north" to spend time at our family lake house in Wisconsin. Think "On Golden Pond." We'll be gone two weeks so I'll catch up when we return. Have a great Fourth of July!!!

Lilly, Lilly, Everywhere....

Look at these classics that are getting decked out in their "Lilly-finest" to celebrate Lilly's Jubilee Year.

A Steinway Piano

A Lilly Jeep Wrangler~ I really want this.

Lilly is also partnering with some other companies who will be incorporating traditional Lilly prints and themes: Hasbro will introduce a Palm Beach version of its Monopoly game called "Lilly-opoly." Florida Natural Orange Juice containers will be decked out in Pulitzer prints. How cool is that?!?!

For anyone who's headed for a hospital stay anytime soon, might as well do it in Lilly style with these custom made patient gowns in Lilly Pulitzer prints. I stumbled upon this website Raspberry Bee and thought, "what a great idea."

Have you seen any neat Lilly stuff lately???

Sweet Treats

I just love all the fun stuff at Swoozie's. I absolutely adore it when it's on sale!! Thought these bargains were worth passing along. These would make great hostess gifts. I've stocked up on several things for the Madras house, as well as for gifts. The Initial Guest Towels are only $3.97; the Initial Cocktail Napkins in a lucite holder a mere $7.47; Initial Notes in a lucite holder just $7.47; and the Initial Soap Sets are only $7.47. Just too good to pass up.

Speaking of too good to pass up...I've fallen in love with these yummy Sara Lee Cheesecake Bites. Basically, these little treats are a Sara Lee cheesecake cut into small bite-size cubes. Each cube has only 20 calories, and, truly, two or three satisfy my sweet tooth . They're on sale right now at Kroger for $2.20 instead of the usual $3.79. Needless to say, I stocked up. As that old jingle goes... "Nobody, doesn't like Sara Lee..."