Drumroll please ... timpani with a side of snare, perhaps?

Giveaway time :) Yea!

Well, I went old school again :) I wrote all the entries on slips of paper, scrunched each slip up, put 'em in a hat, and then had two people close their eyes, spin around a few times (for fun - you know) and pick a slip.

The gift cards aren't here, but enjoy the sight of the books (once again, the laptop stays with me)

All that being said, the winners are ...

1) Kelly!

and

2) Lee!

Congratulations

Kelly (of Part of Life is Having a Good Ponytail) and

Lee (of Photographing the Days)!

Just e-mail me your addresses - you can find my e-mail address on my profile - and I'll send those lovely gift cards and books right out :) Remember to tell me which gift card you would prefer (Barnes and Noble, Target or Amazon) - the book choice will be random.

I'd just like to say thanks again to everyone who participated - you guys are wonderful! Thanks again everyone for participating, commenting, and following :)

I'll leave you with some birds. Ahh, the joys of city pigeons.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

It's the three-hundred-and-sixty-fifth day, so how about a giveaway?

Picture found here

Wow, today is my blogoversary. I was thinking back to when I started this blog-o-mine and realized both how little and how much my life has changed. I'm happy that I started this, and extremely happy that people actually read and comment of my ramblings, and that I have found so many wonderful blogs to read and comment on as well :)

In honor of reaching 365 days, I feel like having a mini giveaway. Let's say two readers will each receive a gift card in the amount of $13.65 (representing the 365 days of my first blogging year, of course) and a copy of one of my favorite books. The two books will be Jane Eyre and My Antonia (random selection of which goes to who), but the winners can each pick whether they would like a Barnes and Noble, Amazon or Target gift card.

How to enter you ask? Leave a comment (about anything) for one entry, and let me know if you are a follower for another entry. I'll announce the two winners in a week on Friday, April 2nd.

So, what has been happening with all of your lately? The weather here has been ridiculous. Last Friday and Saturday were beautiful, sunny, 70+ degree days. I'm not a big sun person, but after the craptastic weather winter has provided, I was loving it. The wind and rain were so bad at one point that two trees came down on the road to my house, blocking two roads so that everyone had no choice but to take the long route wherever they were going.


It didn't help that it took the city a few days to clear the path and get the streetlights working again.

I also took in a bit of the St. Patrick's Day parade on the 17th. It's hard not too as it's right in front of my job. I stayed and watched for about a half hour before heading back inside.


This guy was one of my favorites. He was laughing and joking around while they waited, but then quickly put on his serious face when they started moving again.



I hope you all had a wonderful week. TGIF though! I am so ready for the weekend - I just need to get through the rest of the workday first :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

The two-hundred-and-fifteenth day...

Today was an especially hard day at work. There is just way too much political nitty-gritty going on behind the scenes and it's starting to affect everyone's mood and attitudes toward one another. As if work itself isn't hard enough :) I don't need to deal with attitudes from adults who are, apparently, still stuck in high school clique mode. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Hopefully. Well either that or that the rest of the week flies by so I can enjoy my Halloween weekend :)

Sephora's got Halloween spirit :)


Nice :)

What was the most amazing today? I received my wonderful prize from the giveaway Novelista Barista had a while ago :) She gave away this lovely Twilight inspired bookmark created by Ocean Dreamer over at Ocean Dreams! Thank you both again, btw!

The picture doesn't do it justice :) It really is lovely, and I can't wait to show it to the other Twilight fans in my life :)

You all should definitely visit both blogs (i.e. Novelista Barista and Ocean Dreams) as both sites are great; and for more lovely Ocean Dreams items her Etsy shop, Ocean Dreams Studio, can be found here.

Enjoy the rest of the night everyone!

Who here loves ice cream?

I know I do :) and that's why I love Floreta's giveaway that she has going on over at her wonderful blog, The Solitary Panda.

She is giving away one of these cool Big Love Ice Cream Bowl and Spoon sets to a lucky winner.

Sold by AllModern.com

Check out her site :) All the details to enter can be found at Floreta's site here; and the contest ends on October 29, 2009.

The hundred-and-seventieth day...and the winner is...

Happy Friday again everyone. Well, there's no new pic today - for multiple reasons - one of which happens to be that it's that time...

Gift card giveaway time :) Yea!

Well, I took a tip from Sunshinemeg (you can find her awesome blog, Float On, here) and went old school :) I wrote all the entries on slips of paper of identical size, scrunched each slip up, put 'em in a hat, and then had someone close their eyes (and turn their head - can't be too careful) and pick a slip. It worked like a well oiled, old school machine :)

All that being said, the winner is ... miss cindy!!!

Image found here

Congratulations miss cindy (of the wonderful simple life and reading)! Just e-mail me your address - you can find my e-mail address on my profile - and I'll send those lovely gift cards right out :)

I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who participated - you guys are so awesome :) I hope to do another giveaway sometime soon. We'll see. Thanks again everyone for participating, commenting, and following :)

Have a wonderful Friday night!

The hundred-and-sixty-ninth day...Candy!

Fossil is celebrating it's 25th Anniversary. I've always loved the look of Fossil watches, but they are a bit too expensive for me to actually buy one. However, I happily accompanied P to the store today so that she could get her watch fixed. Why? Because to celebrate their 25th they were giving away free bottles of water and...vintage candies :) It was fun to go through the box and find Necco Wafers, Bit-O-Honey, candy necklaces, candy dots and wax lips. Mind you, the only candy out of those I just mentioned that I actually like it Bit-O-Honey, but it was still fun to see a lot of the candies that I remember from childhood.

P and I each took a pair of wax lips to wear around the office. Yeah, we're big kids.


We got a few chuckles and then tossed 'em.

It was also interesting to see all the candy that I have never even heard of before, like Clove Gum and Teaberry Gum.

It was a cool 15 minute break away from the office :)

So how was the day for all of you?

Have a wonderful night everyone. I'm off to sleep :)

*** Oh, and remember to enter my gift card giveaway here if you haven't already done so. I'll be choosing the winner tomorrow. Good luck! ***

The hundred-and-sixty-third day...Today's box of goodies includes a 200th post giveaway to test those giveaway waters :)

This is my 200th post! Yea!

To celebrate I'm having a little giveaway :)

The prize? These two (2) gift cards (a $10 Target card & a $10 Itunes card).

The computer in the background stays with me :)

So, how do you enter? Leave a comment for one entry (you can comment of my site, the giveaway, or tell me something interesting about yourself or your own site, if you have one). Become a follower and leave me another comment letting me know that you became one (or already are one) for a second entry. The drawing to decide the winner will be held next Friday (September 11th).

Now...I just have to get through a half-day of work today and then I can enjoy the 3 day weekend...I am so ready.

Have an amazing day everyone!

The hundred-and-forty-seventh day...My care package is here :)

Happy Hump Day everyone!

Work was hard today, but a huge smile came to my face the second I got home. Why? Because I had a care package waiting for me (I love care packages :) I was the lucky giveaway of an amazing care package-o-stuff-to-make-you-smile hand selected by the wonderful SunshineMeg over @ the upbeat and fun Float On...

My smile grew wider and wider as I started taking stuff out of the box; and when I reached the silly string, I started laughing out loud. I haven't played with silly string in years :)


I took the yo-yo out of the packaging the instant after I took this picture. I'm such a kid sometimes :)

I have had the pleasure of winning one contest and one giveaway - both with awesome prizes that simply made my day and made me smile :) So, I'd just like to say thanks again Jeanette (@ Cooler Ranch or Nacho Cheese?) for the candy, the wonderful letter and for allowing me to guest post on your site a few weeks back; and thanks to SunshineMeg for sending me a great letter and fun-filled box-o-snacks-and-goodies (care package notes included)!

I just have to decide when to make the cake. I almost baked it tonight, but I think that I'm going to heed SunshineMeg's suggestion and save it for a day when I need a pick me up - it's so hard to not bake it though...it's Funfetti cake and she included Funfetti icing...maybe tomorrow :)

Have a wonderful night filled with Funfetti or [insert a desert of your choice] dreams everyone!

A camera strap giveaway :)

For those of you out there who are looking to 1) find a great photography blog, and 2) jazz up your camera a bit, you should head over to I Heart Faces. The lovely folks over there are having a designer camera strap giveaway (sponsored by “Pepper: Spice Up Your Camera” :) My favorite strap design would have to be the Retrofresh (it’s all gorgeous colors and stripes), but you can head over to the sites and check them out for yourself. The contest ends on Sunday, June 28, 2009.