Today's the day

Hopefully stupid Mediacom will fix the Internet today.

No Internet (again)

Hi, all. We are once again without Internet, thanks to our POS providers. That's why we haven't been around much; using the iPhone to comment sucks! We're calling them today, so hopefully they'll do their job and fix it!

The good news is that, provided this issue gets fixed, next week will be another Review Week! I'm a little swamped with reviews, so I figured I might as well clear things up a bit; we have family visiting soon (they arrive the 16th), and I want to be able to bitch and moan about them uninterrupted!

Kisses,

Nola

PS: the blogger app has improved! 

Wordless Wednesday

Dachshund Nola Reviews: Mattie & Margot

   

     Hi, all! I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend!
Today I'm doing a review for the fabulous company Mattie & Margot, makers of gawjuss collars. Here's a bit about the company:

It's just two humans, two dogs, and two sewing machines here at MATTIE & MARGOT — and one of the dogs is actually named Cooper! More on that later. 

I'm Rachael, and I'm from Cincinnati, OH, currently living and working in Mountain View, CA. My middle school Home Ec teacher used to sew my projects for me because I was so dreadful at sewing. Fast forward a few years, and I have three dogs, all different sizes, and I can't find dog collars that I like, or in the right sizes. Fast forward a little more, and my crafty boyfriend, Garret, is teaching me how to sew because it's the age of DIY and I figured we could make our own dog collars. It took quite a few months (and quite a few broken sewing machines) to get them right, and here we are! Our dining room has been converted into the craft room, which houses our two sewing machines and loads of ribbon.

Garret's from Pittsburgh, PA, and he is really good at making things. He created a ribbon rack for the wall in our craft room. To his dismay, I quickly ran out of space, but we're working on that. He takes a lot of the photos for the site, and keeps Margot out of trouble. Mattie lives in Ohio with my parents, where she has a huge yard and two Shih Tzu mixes to chase. Cooper is the dog that started it all — I got her when I was in college, and my family has taken in 5 dogs since!

So there you have it. It's just the four of us here in California, with our two sewing machines and a rack of ribbon. But we love making dog collars, and we're getting really good at it! 

     I absolutely LOVE the collar I have from them! It's beautiful, durable and it has a metal buckle. I don't think I've mentioned this before, but Mom and I are total suckers for metal buckles on collars. They look so much better than plastic ones, not to mention they're more durable.

     Something about this company that I found to be really unique and very cool is their Recycle Program. Click the link for full details, but the basic gist of it is you send in your old collar from Mattie & Margot back to them, they give you a 30% discount and once you pick the new collar you want, they send you a new collar made with the old collar's metal hardware, and you get a key fob made from the old collar! Pretty cool, huh?

Something else that I liked was they have an option to buy a "mystery" collar for the discounted price of $12. You enter the size you need, and you can either pick a color you'd like or pick total mystery if you're feeling really adventurous!

     They have so many options as far as color goes, so many that I literally lost track when I tried to count them (I got off track at around 125 I believe). I adored that they had so many shades of my favorite color, blue, to choose from. Usually when you're looking for blue you only see two options, dark blue and baby blue. At Mattie & Margot, they offer 27 shades and patterns of blue.

     Here are just a few of my favorites they have:

Tutti Frutti

Mystic Blue

Lavender

     It took a long time, but I finally pick the absolutely gorgeous Turquoise collar in size small (10-15" 1" width) to review.
Mattie & Margot offer two width sizes, the standard 1" for bigger dogs or dogs like me with long necks, and a 5/8" Miniature size for smaller/short neck dogs. Only two things disappointed me with Mattie & Margot, and one of them was they don't offer my favorite width of 3/4". Still, hardly a con in my book!

Cute business cards!

I love getting notes!

Aw, that's so sweet!

Wrapping makes it that much better

I loved that the logo is on the inside, instead of being an eye sore

Here I am modeling it.
Dachshund Mommy: I picked the 1" over the 5/8" width because I love the thicker look on Nola and Boston. They can pull it off!

PROS:
Gorgeous!
Huge selection
Leashes available
Metal buckle
Durable
High quality
Washable
Great customer service
Easy to navigate site
Fast shipping
It came wrapped in yellow tissue paper, which is something I love

CONS (if you can call them that):
They don't make harnesses! :p
They only offer 1" and 5/8", not my preferred 3/4"


     Overall, I give Mattie & Margot my highest rating of 5/5 stars and 2 paws up! I can definitely see us buying another collar from them in the future.
Head on over, and tell em Nola sent ya!

Kisses and Tail Wags,
Dachshund Nola

(Disclaimer: I was provided a free collar in exchange for my honest review. I was not paid or perked to write an positive review, and all opinions are my own. We really do love Mattie & Margot that much!)

Qualities and Things Every Super Model Should Have

A killer smile

Bodyguards (L to R: ME, Boston, Auggie and Phee as a pup)

Attitude and a big mouth

Appreciation for praise (my new take a bow trick!)

Serious fashion sense

A car

A glamorous (not really), over-sized bed

A fit, sexy body

Social media!

Vanity 

Lotsa bling

Flowers, from your adoring fans

A deep, sensitive side well versed in fine literature. 

Over-sized shades

A healthy life style:

Lots of fruits and veggies

And plenty of exercise!

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

Kisses and Tail Wags,
Dachshund Nola

Black and White Sunday

Charlotte Saturday

May Photo Challenge: Week 3

    Hi, all! Dachshund Mommy here with week 3 of the May Photo a Day Challenge.  I'm really pissed right now, because yesterday evening I shattered the screen on my iPhone. The phone still works, thankfully, but the massive spiderweb effect created by the shatter makes it hard to read, not to mention the screen is now rough and raised. I'm going to try and get one of those screen repair kits, and see how that works. Fingers crossed!

     Which of these is your favorite, and why?

Hugs,
Dachshund Mommy

Day 15: 7 o'clock
I watched the movie version of the Stephanie Plum novels, and was disappointed.  While the movie had some funny moments and quotes directly from the book, almost everything was out of sequence, the fake Jersey accents that petered out half way through the movie were really annoying, and most of the actors didn't fit the character. 

Day 16: Mail box

Day 17: Season
It's already bloody hot here. It's going to be a LONG summer.

Day 18: Want
Dan D Doughnuts. They're a local thing, and the best doughnuts ever. Their cinnamon twist is to die for. I won't eat a doughnut from Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Doughnuts, ect, because Dan D's has ruined them for me.

Day 19: My favorite view
My favorite view is actually the ocean, but this looks pretty cool, doesn't it? 

Day 20: Light
Of my life. She has the best smile.

Day 21: I care about this