We love, love, love summer! So far this summer's nothing short of amazing. Here in Boston it has been warm and summery since mid-spring so we're really in the chill out mode. OK we are frantically putting the last minute touches on our next MY collection (to be released this Fall) but still it's summer and there is fun to be had!
First of all, there is the long awaited vacay - half of the MY team is off exploring those gorgeous Hawaiian islands. Then there's the staycay - you guessed it, half the MY team is here in Boston enjoying this vibrant city and it's inspiring surroundings with trips to the beach, a hike in the mountains, outdoor concerts and scrumptious gourmet picnics.
To celebrate summer and all the fun the MY sisterhood is enjoying, we're inviting you to let us know what you're up to this summer - whether be it a far flung adventure or a backyard discovery. So for the month of July, anyone who posts a photo of themselves enjoying the summer with their MY bag on our Facebook page will be entered to win the last Butterscotch Weekender. We are totally sold out of this bag!
On Friday, July 30th, we'll be choosing the winner, then celebrating with a Mojito toast on the deck. Can you think of a better reason to cut out early from work?
Best,
Have you ever noticed that the people who just won the car, the lottery, the coveted auction item always say, "I can't believe it, I never win anything." Do they realize that they can't say that anymore? Everyone here at MY oilcloth headquarters loves to win. We can still conjure up the sweetness of that first win: Michele, the 10 year old Girl Scout clutching that bottle of Jean Nate eau de toilette and Yvette, 6 years old, winning a Kodak Instamatic camera from a carnival game at Coney Island. Good times.
MY oilcloth would like to congratulate the winners of the Parenting Magazine MY Wide Tote Giveaway.
Joanna from Woodland Hills, California
Ann-Marie from Nashville, Tennesse
Chelsea from Santaquin, Utah
Sarah from Grand Rapids, Michigan
Dalya from Woodmere, New York.
Congratulating winners is so much fun, it 's time to run a contest of our own! This contest will be for Facebook Fans of MY only. We will pick one winner per month and the winner will receive A MY BAG OF THEIR CHOICE!! Woo Hoo. (The crowd goes wild) To enter the drawing, just write on our wall which bag you would pick if you won and why.
So if you haven't already, join facebook and become a fan of MY oilcloth, enter our contest and think lucky thoughts.
Find us on Facebook!
Your mother; look in the mirror and you will see her. If you can't see her, look closer and she is there. Mother's day is a time for celebration and reflection. Let's face it, half your DNA is running 'round with your mother's stamp on it and if you're adopted, her imprint runs just as deep.
Michele's mom, Anne, raised eight kids and survived without a scratch! When there is chaos all around and Michele is the only one in the room who says, "Whatever, it will all work out," we all know where that coolness under pressure comes from.
Yvette's mom, Tamara, mother of one, was always revered for being an early adopter of the latest electronic gadget and she is the original Fashionista. Their family had the first Betamax on the block and of course her ability to accessorize would put most celebrities to shame. Yvette's been wearing an awful lot of jewelry lately, enough said.
Anne's favorite MY oilcloth bag:
MY satchel in classic
Tamara's favorite MY oilcloth bag: (It's on sale until mother's day!)
MY convertible in chocolate filigree
What's your "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" connection with YOUR mom. We want to know. Tell us by posting a comment.
Happy Mother's Day,
Think about it: The average shopper uses an estimated 260 plastic produce bags each year. Okay, we’ll admit it, this was an area of being green that we, Michele and Yvette, hadn’t considered. Of course, that was until we were introduced to Christine Fiske, who is CEO and founder of Bite – Sustainable Storage Solutions. Her company makes reusable produce bags that are machine washable. Great idea, right?
So, want to have the perfect green shopping trip? Grab a few of your Bite Bags, throw them in a MY Wide Tote and walk to the nearest farmers’ market. Feel good about being kind to the earth.
To celebrate Earth day, Christine is giving a sweet deal to MY customers. Get 30% off all products on www.sustainablebite.com for one week (Earth Day, April 22nd, until April 29th). Use the code MY30.
Creativity is our life and our business. Chobee Hoy, a MY bag fan, real estate expert and community philanthropist, asked us to participate in the Brookline Arts Center Palette project, a show displaying artists' palettes in shops, offices and restaurants throughout Brookline.
So imagine it, we're sitting here with literally a blank slate between us on our partners desk and all we can think about is handbags - Oilcloth handbags, totes and accessories of course, because that's our world! Sophie, Yvette's daughter, had an idea to put our patterns where the paint would normally be on a palette. We liked the idea and it was a catalyst to do what we do best; make handbags. A few hours later the metamorphosis was complete and the once blank palette emerged as a unique handbag. It donned a 54" %100 nylon black strap, MY's signature tangerine fabric, branded chrome hardware and the familiar MY label.
So peek inside Chobee's office window when you are strolling though Brookline Village or visit Chobee's facebook page to see our palette and many others.
Best,
The March issue of Parenting magazine featured our MY wide tote. The fact that we are parents has obviously oozed into the features of our bags. Our bags are similar to who we are (or try to be) by being multi-functional, tough as nails, and let the bad stuff roll off our backs. However, when it comes to parenting - that is the real parenting, not the magazine - it's not always that easy.
We have come up with a list of five gems (we live for lists) of advice we have collected over the years on how to, well, deal with being a parent.
-
Care Less. This a father of five's mantra. It's sort of a don't worry, be happy kind of advice. You know what? Most of the time, most kids will grow up unscathed and ultimately be pretty ok. So does it really matter if Max (Y's son) switches from trumpet to flute next year, even though he's played for trumpet for 3 years. Answer: NO.
-
You are a Parent. Your kids have plenty of friends; they don't need you in that mix. This advice comes from Michele's dad, Albert. He raised 8 kids, you know, like the TV show. They used to have a joke in Michele's house, "8 is too much." Albert is so right-on with his advice: Don't forget your role.
-
This too shall pass. Okay, we're going real old school here. Everything our kids do is just a phase, both good and bad. So savor the good and ignore the bad. This can get you through a lot of adolescent door slamming.
-
Look in the Mirror. Let's face it, they learned that bad behavior somewhere. They don't get everything from the school and TV. How many times have you been "not so in control of your emotions?" Enough said.
-
Take care of yourself. Keep your martyrdom gene in check, grab you're
MY Wide Tote and do something fun for yourself. A happy parent is a better parent. We just made that up.
If you have any gems of parenting advice you would like to share with the MY family, please leave a comment on our blog.
Best,
Nothing is better than whining and wining - you know, getting together with girlfriends over a glass of Pinot Grigio or a smooth Malbec to yap about well......everything. We do this every month or so and we love our
MY wide tote for transporting our contribution to the evening. As if you didn't already know, a regular sized wine bottle fits snugly in the bottle sleeve of our totes. It's great because the wine won't end up rolling all over the car.
Recently, a friend who had spent some time in Italy was lamenting about how difficult it was to bring home a couple of bottles of wine to share with the group.
Well, as usual, the MY gals have the answer! Often in our travels we meet other women entrepreneurs. Our friend and fellow entrepreneur, Amy Dias has solved the problem by developing a line of products specifically for transporting wine safely. Her company is Bottlewise - Wine Travel Bags with Altitude! (Don't you just love that tag line?) Seriously, they're amazing. Just put your wine bottles in these Bot'l paks, pack them in your checked luggage and fly home with no worries!
Good News! Amy Dias has given us a discount code to share with you. It's valid for one week only, March 22-29. So Hurry! The code myoilcloth entitles you to a discount of 15% off your entire order. Check it out at Bottlewise.com
Enjoy!
Now we don't mean the remote control in your hand while you are watching Michael Scott and his crew of The Office. We're talking about the
MY oilcloth world headquarters. Our work ethic is a little more stable than our Hollywood friends and we need to get a lot of work done in a short amount of time. That takes organization. We have done a few small things in the office that have helped us to streamline some of the mundane, but very necessary tasks, by following a simple rule: "Keep everything at your fingertips."
Our printer/copy center: Okay, don't laugh, it's just a couple of shelves, but that printer is producing all day long. There are several ink cartridge replacements and paper changes and refills during the day. We keep all of our supplies together, different types of paper and labels including a little mini recycle bin for our empty ink cartridges.
The Board: Our design board keeps everything we have going on design wise, fabrics, components, beauty shots of our bags. It is all right there in front of us all the time, inspiring us; when we have an idea or something we want to remember to change, it goes on the board.
The Partners Desk: Without it, we are nothing. This basically keeps each other within slapping range if one of us says something stupid. Mostly we do a lot of high fives, you would know that if you watched our youtube channel.
What are your favorite tips for keeping your workspace organized?
Best,
I know you were expecting Michele or Yvette, but it's me, Gretchen, the new intern here at MY oilcloth inc. I've come to them from the Tufts University Entrepreneurial Leadership Program.
Thanks to me, Michele and Yvette are busy Tweeting and Facebooking. I couldn't be more proud of them! In the first three days I was plagued with questions...
"Why do people need to hear that you're still hungry?!"
"Why would people want to see pictures of my grandma's 80th birthday party?!"
"Why does the whole world need to know that your kid needs a ride to the orthodontist?!"
Why? Why? Why? They started to sound like toddlers! So I finally set them straight. I reminded them that people want to know when new styles are coming out, when we're in a new store, and that the MY cult following needs a place to convene. And then when I told them it would make them seem ten years younger, they were all over it.
By the way, this internship's for credit--so please join the MY oilcloth Facebook page! You'll love connecting with other MY fans...and it wouldn't hurt my grade either!
Best,
Gretchen
P.S. Interns get free MY bags...yesss!
We are always intrigued by those books the size of pamphlets that claim to demystify the secrets of life, give you a few easy steps to becoming a better, more enlightened person or simplify the entire real estate market so that "you too can become independently wealthy."
If we were to write a book, it would be called something like, All We Needed to Learn About Life We Learned at MY oilcloth inc. Okay, not so original. We know, but that brings us to our first life lesson.
Don't be afraid to build on others' ideas: Before starting this venture, we had owned bags from other companies with durable straps and tons of pockets. Those bags are inspirations for our MY collection.
Listen up: Sometimes it is the most unassuming folks that come up with the best suggestions. When the UPS guy says something, we're all ears.
Be nice: Nice is highly under rated. And don't be nice just because you want people to be nice to you. How about just because it feels good. And by the way, goodwill is good business.
We don't really know anything: The only thing that could have prepared us for this business is to have been oilcloth handbag designers in another life. Come to think of that wouldn't have even helped because now you have to be an oilcloth handbag maker and an SEO expert at the same time! Just embracing that realization gives you enough perspective to keep an open mind.
It pays to look in the mirror before facing the public: Just trust us..... the M and the Y have lots of experience on this one.
What credo do you live by? Let us know so that we can add it to our list!
Best ,
