B Chill Mama here:

Retail Therapy is just what the doctor ordered. Ok, so I am not a doctor but still….it’s a good thing. I promise.
It’s late March and it’s muddy and cold. Hell, we are still getting snow storms! I know, I know we live in the Berkshires blah blah blah. Well I want Spring! I also NEED a day to myself to refuel. I love my kids dearly but I could use a few hours of solitude and some good old fashioned Retail Therapy.

It’s amazing what a new bag and pair of shoes can do to lift your spirit. I suggest Retail Therapy for everyone.
Here are some signs of Spring at Blue Q that may just put the Spring back into your step! Go on now. Get out to your local Blue Q Retailer and start your “therapy” today. Or if it happens to be a snowy day and you don’t want to venture outside, just click on www.blueq.com/ from the comforts of your home.
The Spring Night Zipper Pouch for all your new spring makeup.

Tote your lunch around in fashion with this lovely Pretty Print Handy Tote.

What could be more Springy than this Sunny Side Up Shoulder Tote?  Birds, blooms, birds, bees oh my!

There are oodles more to check out.  Get inspired and happy shopping!

Have you ever been to Awkward Family Photos online?

Well, we have.  

Let’s take this beauty for example.  Here’s what it says on the site about it:

“My Mother and I. We are wearing the same jacket and when I say same I don’t mean matching, I mean literally we are wearing one jacket. My right arm and my mothers left. This was a gift from an aunt who custom made the jacket for my mother and I to wear for our Coverlook photo shoot.”

And this is the Awkward Family Photo Vacation WINNING Picture (I forget what she won, but she won something…take a look):

This is Bill’s Favorite.  Here’s the description:

He may not be able to do that, but did you see this?

And then of course….there is the sharing of food.

and now we leave you with….people walking into glass doors.  Of course.

What, is this the tasteless week here at the Blue Q Blog?

Mebbee.

Now, we usually reserve our Fridays to talk about our own stuff, but there is just some stuff out there that must be investigated….

Yes, these are “hollowed out” roadkill…by Brew Dog. 

Now, you can try their link here, but this must be one hot commodity because I got onto their site only long enough to get you these pics…..and now they’re over capacity.

Only 12 bottles have been made and the beer is 55% alcohol.

If you get on the site, be sure to read the readers comments section.

Bottoms up!!

Let’s look at this Blue Q car air freshener closely, shall we?

Every once in a while there’s a Blue Q product that gets a TON of attention.  This time, it’s this one; the Nelson Mandela Car Air Freshener.

Damn Nelson Mandela, you smell so good!

It was designed by Mother NYC.

Sometimes, they think of just the strangest things.  I mean, this car air freshener smells like freshly baked cookies.

Speaking of freshly baked cookies, check out This Chick Bakes.  The bakers friends of ours….and so are their cookies.  But I digress…..

I don’t get out much.

It’s pathetic really.

But yesterday I was convinced to get out and go see Kick-Ass.  I went over to the Beacon Cinema (oh, thank god for you, Beacon Cinema – it’s finally a REAL movie theater over here in the boonies) and checked out that knucklehead up there in that picture there.

For the record, I loved that knucklehead.

I don’t care if everyone pans this flick – the music in Kick-Ass rocks and the sound was loud and I forgot who I was for 117 minutes.

ANYWAY – look.  There’s a recurring scene.  In the beginning and scattered all around the film – of Kick-Ass (a.k.a. Dave Lizewksi) sitting with his dad at the kitchen table.  It’s supposed to set a depressing mood.  It shows routine and boredom and tedium and like….regular-ness with a smattering of a lower income situation.  Not poverty but – middleness.  Thoughtless-ness and blah.  And there, right smack in the middle of the table, is a bottle of squeezable grape jelly – SMUCKERS?  or maybe WELCH’S? (Woah, and that’s pathetic, I can’t even remember the brand).

Although, now that I look at it, it might have been Welch’s.

That’s a well thought out product placement for the squeezable people, right?  Were they psyched about it?

Were the grape jelly people like, “Woah, dude!  This is a huge picture!  Sure, take our crap and stick it front and center and we’re just gonna watch the coin roll in!!”?

Sometimes we get inquiries here at BLUE Q about some of our bags or bath products to be featured in something.  But….I just think….it’s different.

I wonder….

Once again, Blue Q is the darling of yet another trade show.  This time it’s the Natural Products Expo West show in Anaheim. 

This was a four day show (that  ended over the weekend) and the Blue Q shoppers were singled out by the Editors at the Natural Foods Merchandiser.

This trade show is all about natural and recycled and environmental concerns and the Blue Q bag collection is a perfect fit for their purpose.  Not only are the bags manufactured using recycled materials, but a portion of each sale is donated to charity.

The show is a great venue for remembering that healthy living isn’t just about what you eat.

What?    I’ve got a serious and sensitive and concerned side to my personality too.  I’m multi-layered.

Shut up.

Meryl Hooker named Blue Q Sales Rep of the Year for 2009
(psst:  if you don’t know what the heck a Rep is, see ***Paragraph 5)

 The announcement was made in Booth #1509 at the New York International Gift Fair on Sunday, January 31st.   Upon receiving this recognition she thanked  “the baby Jesus, KISS, Blue Q and all of my fabulous customers.  Now that I have this sales thing down, I’m moving on to world peace!”  In attendance were Seth and Mitch Nash – the owners of Blue Q.

Refreshment platters of cheese, nuts and dried fruits were accompanied by red wine.  Also on hand for the festivities were Blue Q Sales Department honchos Jen Cummings and Paul Boulais. 

Ms. Hooker was not seen wearing velvet or taffeta, though she was spotted sporting the quite fully glittered and equine worthy 1st Prize ribbon.

A monetary award was presented – and not refused.  “Hey, I might not get that world peace thing figured out on the first attempt,’” quipped Hooker.

***Paragraph 5:
Since Art Star and Handyman can’t do it all ourselves, Blue Q enlists the services of Sales Reps all over the country (and Canada, too) to show our products to store owners, buyers and merchandisers at gift stores, grocery stores, etc.  Their voices are part of the Blue Q choir.  Meryl Hooker belts out loud and clear in the mid-Atlantic area.

A resident of Washington DC, she also covers Maryland, Delaware and Virginia  for Blue Q as well as other (less notable) lines.  Though a full time sales rockstar, she occassionally moonlights as a garden gnome.

Her favorite flower is the daisy.

Visit her blog - Road Rage – to keep in touch with all that she’s got goin’ on.

Not last night – cause I was sleeping with Evan Lysacek.

The night before that I was with Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso.

On Tuesday I was consoling Lindsey Jacobellis.

But I slept with Tiger Woods.  Many times over the years.

The first time we met was back in what ? 1995 when he won the US Amateur Championship title for the second time?  That’s when we met.  Yep, we slept together that very night.

Our paths have crossed over the years.  Nothing serious but, you know how it is with old friends, one thing leads to another and before you know it . . .

So I’m just another one of his conquests.  One of many.  And I’m not ashamed.  Many of you have slept with Tiger as well.  You know that you have.

I’ll sleep with him again.  And again.  And again.

Cause he ain’t going away and his greatness will continue long after the media whores have dumped him for the next scandal.

I am ashamed that I also slept with Johnny Weir.  I  have a weakness for pink tassels – what can I say.

I’ve been coming late to the music scene these days.  Never used to.  Honest.  I saw the Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s  down at the Bowery Ballroom at a time when you could hang out with them and have a drink and ask their manager if they’d ever like to be on NPR and she was like, “Oh my god, yes, totally.” and then cool, I did a piece on them.

But now.  I live up in the boonies.  And I have a kid.  Look, she loves music.  Especially in the car.  But she also loves listening to the same thing over and over and over and over (and over and over and over).  But it’s February and the Christmas Music HAS to stop.  So Jenny in Accounts Receivable lent me Vampire Weekend.  I was like, “What’s a….did you say Vampire WeekEND?”  (Jenny, I still have the CD - I promise to return it in a little bit, is that cool?)

These guys are totally perfect for me.

Because I’m also obsessed with Ben Folds.

And I really dig Weezer.

And Wilco.

(you get the idea…..are you seeing a visual trend here?)

Did I ever graduate completely from college?

Anyway, Vampire Weekend has a new album, Contra.  I saw it at Barnes and Noble last week and I got a little more excited than perhaps the people in line at checkout wanted  me to get – I might have squealed, I’m not sure.  But at the moment, I can honestly say that there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing a 3 year old in my rearview mirror, in her winter hat with pom-poms and scarf and mittens waving in the air, singing the lyrics:

Why would you lie about how much coal you have?

Why would you lie about something dumb like that?

Why would you lie about anything at all?

And then….Mommy, I want a snack.

What do you say?

Pllleeeeeeaaasssseeeee?  Please can I have a snack?

Finding a decent place to eat in Manhattan is a hideous chore.
Only because . . . where do you even start ?

On my most recent trip to Manhattan, I was lucky to meet up with my Cousin Margaret .  She had a thought or two.  And it was restaurant week !

Originally it was going to be two of us at the Fig and Olive .

But, when it became three of us and the Fig and Olive wouldn’t be able to accommodate our enlarged party – we had to find an alternate eatery.

Margaret suggested Spice Market on the corner of 9th and West 13th in the Meatpacking District of lower Manhattan.

It was fantastic!

It’s an Asian something or other type place with a decent wine menu and lots of choices.  All were very attractively presented and we had an animated waiter guy.  He was real, not a cartoon or anything.  Well, he could have been a cartoon but he was a real human – you know the type I mean.  Anyway,

I didn’t know anything about Jean Georges Vongerichten so I didn’t know that I should have been paying closer attention to the decor and food and such.  I’ll need to go back now that I know I should have appreciated it more.  You can have a very good dining experience for $60 – $70 per person – easily.

Visit Jean-Georges’ blog to read about the new restaurant opening – The Mark Restaurant on the Upper East Side.

I know that some of my co-workers went to the Fatty Crab.  They do like that place, but I’ve never been.  We used to go to Florent - but it closed.  I had another dinner at the Lasagna Restaurant (really, that was the name) right on 9th in Hells’ Kitchen.  I had a lobster lasagna.  It was good.  I was trying to find Thalia but it was on 8th not 9th so I thought it was closed.

See, there are so many place to eat!

Where should I go next time I’m in the city ?