Giveaway Winner!

Happy Wednesday!

I feel Wednesdays are good days to get good news because it helps your week go by faster.

Thank you to everyone who entered. I loved reading all of your stories, and as soon as I am done with my mountain of homework, I will try to respond to everyone. You guys are great and I love it!

But, the random number generator was in charge this time, so….drum roll please…

The winner of these fun goodies:

Is Ashley from The Accidental Olympian Alaskan!! Congratulations!! E-mail me your address and I will get that into the mail this week!

 

And I DO want to blog about everything going on, but it has been crazy busy, or by the time I have free time, my brain is fried and all I would do is ramble, and no one wants that. So maybe later tonight after I finish grading sample essays, but definitely by the end of the week. There are some hilarious stories.

 

Congratulations to Ashley, again, and I hope to have another giveaway in the near future!!

Back to School Goodies

When I was a kid, one of my favorite days was when I received my teacher assignment in the mail. Now only did I learn who I would be spending my days with, we also received our school supply lists. It was like Christmas in July.

Visions of new notebooks and pens and folders would dance through my head.

It was like a whole event for me. My mom would always start the trip saying that we would get what the list said, but we shouldn’t just buy frivolous things or the most expensive things. (I realize now how freaking expensive it can be to buy ALL those supplies. And some things on the list are ridiculous.)

I would wander the aisles, meticulously picking out notebook colors and coordinating folders. Searching to make sure I didn’t repeat colors, because how else would I tell the difference between my social studies and my math notebooks?!

The lists always said no mechanical pencils, but my mom usually gave in, or we compromised. One pack of regulars and a couple mechanicals. Pretty sure the regular ones ended up smashed and broken in the bottom of my backpack.

And then there were the crayons.

You could tell who was cool in grad school simply based on the crayons, colored pencils, and markers. Crayola folks. Crayola all the way. Those crappy Roseart ones were too waxy and never colored properly and their colored pencils were a strange color. Luckily, even my money conscious mother understood the importance of Crayolas. Even better? The package with the built in sharpener. How else can you precisely darken your outline and shade in the interior?!? Life in grad school sure was hard…

And this love affair with new school supplies has not decreased as I’ve gotten older. If anything, it’s gotten worse. I can now not only just go to Walmart with mom to get everything, I can go to Target, Office Depot, Staples, Barnes and Noble AND search the internet. The options are endless.

I mean, when Barnes and Noble and Target didn’t have any of the Molekines that I wanted, hulloo internet! (And side note- cheaper from moleskine’s website usually than the store.) Our living room is full of shopping bags from various stores filled with binders and planners and pens and highlighters and other silly things that I probably don’t really need, but man they sure sound important right now! I mean, colors and patterns and 1 inch or 2 inch binders and how on earth will I decide which pens I want to mercilessly butcher grade with?

My moleskines arrived on my doorstep today and I was like a little kid ripping open the box and looking at my pretty new notebooks. Thinking about the notes I would take in them about Beloved and Turn of the Screw. Yes, I am a complete nerd and I’m good with it.

But I figured I wasn’t alone in my obsession. I mean, how could anyone not like getting new things before the start of a new school year?

So, here I am with a Back to School Giveaway!!

Yep. Just for you wonderful readers.

I truly love giving gifts and just wish I had a never-ending checking account so I could send things to ALL of you. I really do. Unfortunately, until I win the lottery, I can only give one prize package away. (But don’t worry. The holidays are coming. I will come up with something!)

So here is what you can win:

I found some fun things that I thought would be great as the new school year starts. Even if you aren’t a student or a teacher, I think these things are usable and might just put a smile on your face.

Yes, that IS a Berenstein Bears coloring book in the back! Who doesn’t love to color? It’s a nice little stress reliever and I loved those books when I was a kid. So of course there are some Crayola crayons. (And hey, nice to have around in case any nieces or nephews or friends’ kids come over. )

I’ve been talking about these notebooks so much, that i just figured it wasn’t right to share. And I picked black because never know which color the lucky winner would like. Black goes with everything.

There are some pens and a pack of Sharpie pens. They are ultra fine and just great for notes and such.

And whether you’re headed back to school or not, a calming candle is great. This was a unique color combination, but it smells amazing. Might be nice after a long day, accompanied by a glass of wine.

This is a fun dry erase weekly calendar. Would be perfect for an office or a refrigerator. And black pens are boring, so i threw in some fun colored dry erase markers as well!

 

These were some fun Post-its. The blue says, “I’d rather be shopping” and the purple has some shoes.

And this was so fun that I bought one for myself. It’s a girl statue that holds two pens in her hands. She’s fairly sturdy, so shouldn’t tip over, even with the fanciest of pens.

So there it is!!

Now, for the rules:

To enter the giveaway, you must post a comment with one of your favorite school memories. Anything at all. Naptime, recess, school shopping, lunch, art class. Anything! Just tell me a fun story and you are entered!

For a second entry, leave a comment with your blog address and your Twitter name! (if you don’t have either, just leave me your email address!)

This contest runs through 11:59pm on Tuesday, August 9th.

I will use a number generator and announce the winner on Wednesday, and hopefully get it in the mail Wednesday as well!

**None of the companies that make these products paid me or paid for the products. These were just things I found and liked, so I bought them myself.

Good luck and have a great school year to all the students and teachers! And just have a great rest of the year for all you non-school people!

Birthday Present to You

March is my favorite month. Weather starts to get warmer. It’s the anniversary of Mr. A and I dating. Even more so, it’s my birthday!

I love birthdays. Love them. I always joke that I will be 90 years old, in a nursing home, and still excited about my birthday. I love the fun and the cake and the presents. Yes, presents. I KNOW it’s not about that, but it’s fun to get gifts that my loved ones thought about and put effort into.

But, this year, I’m not as excited. I don’t really know why.

It’s not a big deal number. We get to go home, and while I’m excited for that, there isn’t the level of anticipation that usually hits me on March 1st. Also, my actual birthday is a Sunday, so no real fun on the actual day.

So I thought I would do something different.

I’m giving one of YOU a birthday gift.

Yes, you wonderful readers have a chance to enter in for a giveaway from me.

So, what is in this fun little birthday basket?

First, you will get to choose between 3 different cookbooks. All focus on healthy eating, but I know people look for different things, so no point in me forcing one on you!

A. Bethenney Frankel’s The Skinnygirl Dish

(source)

or

B) Hungry Girl 300 under 300

(Source)

or

C) Cooking Light Complete Cookbook

(source)

All of these look great and I’m trying to share my new ways of trying to eat healthier. (Just ignore my tweet about the DQ tonight. I AM a girl after all…)

But a birthday package of just a healthy cookbook is lame. And I don’t want to be lame.

So, to add, I will throw in a $20 gift card to:

WHOLE FOODS!!!

You can use it for food for your new recipes in your new cookbook. Or if you use it on their awesome wine and dessert selection, I won’t blame you. Just tell me what you bought so I can make sure to get it next time.

If you win and aren’t close to one, we will chat and work something else out.

And because not everything should be about food, I shall throw in a…

(source)

$15 iTunes gift card!! Who doesn’t love new music? Or a movie? Or some apps for your fancy schmancy phone?

And knowing me, I might just throw in some other small treats just because…

I think it looks like a pretty awesome birthday basket. I hope you do too!

By now you are wondering how to enter this little deal. And I will make it simple for you.

All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me about your favorite birthday present/event/occasion/tradition.

You can get a bonus entry if you write a second comment with a link to your blog or Twitter account, even if I already follow you and read your blog. And if you’re new, it’s a good way for me to meet you! If you don’t have either, tell me one fun fact about yourself and we will call it even.

So you have TWO chances, but please put them as separate comments and please include an e-mail address in each so I can easily reach you!

I will use the random number generator to pick.

You have until 11:59pm Thursday March 24th to enter. No late entries will be allowed. And then, if all goes to plan, I will mail the package on Friday so the lucky winner will have their “birthday” present early next week!

 

Good luck!!