To a t

We are trying some new t shirt concepts . . . we'd love to hear what you think of this one.

This was designed to go with the alien flowers skirt for our Facebook contest winner, Su. When I went to drop it off at her house, there were two storks in her front yard. She had twins! So exciting. I am hoping that the outfit will make her oldest daughter feel special as she finds out what having siblings is all about.

A Chicken in Every Pot

I made a stir fry yesterday from "Cuisine at Home," and it was not good -- at all. So, I had to redeem my dinner-making prowess tonight. I ran to a Giada for help. I love her family cookbook.

I made this amazingly simple baked chicken tonight for dinner, and Maggie said it was the best meal she has ever had! It really was delicious. Here's the recipe:

Giada's Garlic Citrus Baked Chicken

That's Giada photographed above, not me... I'll have to work on that one. I don't think there's a recipe.

Halloween Sugar Cookies, oh my!

Just a bit confused Saturday morning... I woke up thinking Halloween was this week and I needed to make sugar cookies for Henry's Halloween party at school this week. It's opening pheasant hunting season so the kids and I were husband/fatherless on Saturday and I started sifting powdered sugar and mixing the dough, using the delicious sugar cookie recipe my mom always used from the Betty Crocker Cooky Book. I usually double the recipe, which means I have to use 3 cups of powdered sugar and a whole pound (gasp) of butter. Wouldn't Julia be proud? At any rate, I must need to brush up on my multiplication tables because I went to double the eggs... and, well, the recipe calls for 1 egg and soon I realized I had put 4 eggs in the dough! I was a bit sad about needing to dump a pound of butter when Maggie suggested that I quadruple the recipe instead. I decided we could easily give away sugar cookies and went for it. It was 6 hours later, when I was on the phone with my mom, that I realized Halloween is two weeks away... So, now I have a bakery size lump of sugar cookie dough in my fridge. I'm steeling myself to roll out all these cookies. I think they'll keep okay in the fridge if I bake them now and frost them just before Halloween? Any bakers out there with some advice?

Early Fall in maggie delaney

Thanks to Maureen for these adorable shots. How did they know that hydrangeas are our favorite?

And the winner is . . .

And what an adorable winner she is! An alien flowers zebra style skirt is what Su has selected! We're going to surprise her with the other fabrics! Hope they love it.

Thanks to everyone who shared their great pics with us. We will definitely do another give away soon. Keep an eye out for our md emails!

New Skirts: Part 2

The other cute Boden t-shirt that came is screaming to be paired with the Kaleidoscope purple. What do you think?

New Skirts for the Girls

Received some really cute t shirts from Boden this week . . . have been working on md skirts to complement them. This is what I have decided: pink cord, fabulous cream and minnie. I am loving it!

I'm not here to make friends . . .

In the craziness of the first soccer Saturday of the season, I managed to catch a couple minutes of NPR's This American Life. This week's topic is frenemies. A segment of the show covers the reality TV phenomenon known as, "I'm not here to make friends." I love this. . . Where else in life would you say this? I think I'll walk into the kindergarten coffee on Wednesday and just throw out a, "I'm not here to make friends." That will go over big. I will definitely be voted off the island.

Marvel at this . . .

If you haven't found Jane Marvel and you are looking for an affordable bag, luggage, wallet or make-up case, go to www.janemarvel.com. So cute and practical. I bought the ALL DAY LONG HANDBAG. Let us know what you choose!

Spice Up Your Life

My girlfriends from high school can COOK. All of them. When we get together for dinner, we usually skip the restaurant. We do a pot-luck evening. I cannot get a recent birthday dinner out of my head. Click on this link for the amazing shrimp that Nellie made. Her friend from college dreamed this yummy creation up.

This is perfect for Labor Day weekend grilling.

love the name bubbles

We got our name bubbles in the mail just 5 days after ordering them. And, they turned out really cute. The kids and I put name bubbles on everything this weekend - tap shoes, sweat shirts, coats, and folders. Here is Maggie's favorite snoopy folder that she added a "fun sticker" name bubble to -- right on the surf board. They are easy to apply without getting air bubbles (except the very biggest fun sticker, which is probably 4 inches long - we used them on their pencil boxes), even for my kids. I have not washed any clothing with a name bubble yet - need to wait 24 hours before washing after applying. I'll keep you posted. So far, we are excited about the purchase!

Give Away - maggie delaney zebra skirt

Enter the maggie delaney give away on facebook. Post a picture of your favorite girl in her favorite maggie delaney on the facebook wall for maggie delaney, and you will be eligible to win a zebra skirt featuring either alien flowers blue or alien flowers cocoa.

On our model: zebra skirt in Tammy blue, alien flowers blue, Lexie blue, size 8, $32.

If you don't do facebook, you can email the photo of your girl in her maggie delaney to Erin at: erin@maggiedelaney.com

We will choose a winner for the zebra skirt give away on September 15, 2009!

labels for school days

So, I secretly want the label making machine on that episode of Seinfeld... but then I never buy one because I just really want to be that organized and am not. However, I'm really tired of my dear Maggie losing her sweatshirts at school. They never reappear in the lost and found, either. Last week, I was packing for our family lake vacation, and I couldn't find her favorite sweatshirt anywhere. The answer: labels. Cute labels. I figure it's kind of like me and my reusable grocery sacks. I use them all the time because they are cute:

http://www.envirosax.com/products/graphic_series/

If I want Maggie to label her clothes, lunch box, water bottle, and all her school gear, I must go for cute. I found cute at Name Bubbles: http://www.namebubbles.com/labelpack/school-labels.html

I just ordered them this morning. She went with the "aren't I bright" color series, not this one. Looks like she will even be able to label her tap and ballet shoes with these. I'll let you know how they look and work when they arrive.

Happy back to school preparations, everyone!

fashion design on line

maggie delaney lets you design your own dresses and skirts online without fear (check out the new maggie delaney return policy). And, did you know you can design your own fashion magazine? Totally just came across this site on the New York Times website when I was procrastinating this morning. It's called Polyvore.com and you can look at fashion magazine pages designed by others and you can also design your own. Too much fun -- cannot get started this morning or I will never get anything done!

maggie delaney size chart

We posted the maggie delaney size chart under the "info" section of the maggie delaney website yesterday. The measurements are of actual maggie delaney skirts and dresses and are given in inches. The range on the skirt waists shows how far the skirt will stretch at a comfortable fit. Please remember that every maggie delaney garment is custom made, so if you need something tweaked to make it fit your little girl, just contact one of us:

kelly@maggiedelaney.com

erin@maggiedelaney.com

summer at maggie delaney

It's hard to believe it's summer. In our house, summer does not start with the solstice, it starts after Henry's birthday (a Super Mario theme this year for turning 6). The kids have been on summer break here for two weeks already, but I know Chicago area is just getting out and NY has a couple of weeks left.

Kelly and I mark summer by the twirl of maggie delaney sun dresses. Put away your t-shirts and cardigans and throw on your maggie delaney sun dress! Check out these beautiful images from our photographer, Heidi Peters....

maggie delaney in Disney

We made the trek to Disney World at the end of February. I had to order a skirt for maggie with the Minnie dot fabric in it, and since she's old and bold, we paired it with Tammy blue and PB stripe. It looked great with her bright yellow crocs (my least favorite shoes - but don't get me started on my shoe issues). Right before I took this photo at Animal Kingdom, we rode Expedition Everest. Maggie had a cute kerchief with Tammy blue and PB stripe on it, but it flew off on the big drop of that wild roller coaster. So, whoever cleans up Animal Kingdom, be on the look out for a maggie delaney kerchief. Or, maybe the Yeti is wearing it :)

Stephen Colbert takes over the Smithsonian

I was in Washington, DC the first week of January... two weeks before the inauguration of President Obama. The crowds were non-existent, and we flitted around the city, except for the buffer of street closings around the Hay-Adams Hotel where the Obama family was staying. We went to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History which was recently reopened after a major renovation. The new exhibit for the star spangled banner is the first exhibit when you walk in the door, and that exhibit is far better than it was in the pre-renovation museum. Another new addition is Julia Child's kitchen, and I could have spent at least an hour in there watching the videos of her and inspecting every detail of her entire kitchen from Cambridge, MA, that was dismantled and reassembled in the museum.

Three renovated exhibits were disappointing. The fashions of the first ladies used to be in the basement, and it's now on the main floor, but the new exhibit space feels smaller than the old one, and they do not have all of the fashions I know they have in their possession on display. The display of the lunch counter from the Woolworth's in Greensboro, NC where the sit-in occurred in 1960 is poorly done. You can see a picture of the counter in the original Woolworth's, and you can see four seats from the lunch counter, but the display does little to help people appreciate the significance of the counter or the broader context of the civil rights movement. Finally, you can no longer see the Fonz's leather jacket --- it's not on display! The museum still has an "American Memories" exhibit, which displays the Americana memorabilia including Kermit the Frog and Dorothy's slippers from the Wizard of Oz. A huge painting of Stephen Colbert (the one he used to have on his set) hangs to greet people walking into the "American Memories" exhibit. I just can't count Stephen Colbert as a "memory" when he's still on TV! In 20 years, maybe... but right now, he's not a memory. Bring back the Fonz.