Friday Favorites: Serendipity Chic Giveaway

This week is the big 200th post! If you haven’t checked out the celebration yet, head on over to the party :)

My favorite thing this week is Serendipity Chic. It’s an Etsy shop run by my great friend Ana and she makes the cutest flower pins, headbands, and other accessories!

In honor of my 200th post, she’s made a special pin just for the occasion. Best of all, one of you gets to take it home!!

I got to model it to show you how cute it is – and it’s even red, white, and blue – just in time for Veteran’s day!

The flower is way cuter than my "end of a long week" hairdo :)

Are you excited? I'm excited for you!

It’s super easy to enter, just do any or all of the following:

1. Write a comment about a veteran in your life.
2. Share the giveaway with friends and family (via email, Facebook, and/or any other means!) and comment that you did so.
3. Read through the Big, Fat, Awesome, 200th Post and let me know that you checked it out.
4. Purchase something from any of the stores listed on the Big, Fat, Awesome, 200th Post and comment with the shop you purchased from and your purchase ID.
5. Blog about this giveaway and the Big, Fat, Awesome, 200th Post and include the link in the comments section.
6. Check out Serendipity Chic online and let me know what your favorite item is!

P.S. Use 20OFF for 20% off in Ana’s shop!

Ready, Set, Go! [Comments close Friday night - 11/18 - at 10pm PST]

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Making this party even bigger by linking up with

Soup from scratch – and other miscellaneous things…

.Soup.

Yup, I made soup from scratch today. For some reason it totally freaks me out. I had some acorn squash I had cooked for a previous meal that didn’t get eaten, so I pureed it in a broth, added milk and spices, and voila! Acorn squash soup. I was surprised at how flavorful it was. Definitely a good confidence booster.

.Brenda.

We have a new family member. Her name is Brenda. She is a bread maker. She’s actually working right now on her first loaf of gluten free bread, so I have no reviews, but I am so happy to have her!

Don't be fooled by the "Breadman" sticker - she's all girl!

.Reorganization.

As you can tell by the picture of Brenda, I’ve got some new organization going on! Her presence sparked an obsession with reorganizing – all of the kitchen and Etsy stuff has now been reorganized – stay tuned for the full post on Thursday!!

.Giveaway.

Yup, that’s right: a shameless plug for the two giveaways! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this first. Then head to Facebook and get your friends to start “liking” The Dancing Frog and Dancing Willow Photography. There are coupon codes and free gifts at stake!!!

In case you didn’t catch it – there are 2 simultaneous giveaways! Woot!

.Christmas Cards.

I am determined to be more on top of Christmas this year. I used to have all my shopping and planning done before Thanksgiving – last year I didn’t even start until after Thanksgiving!!! We found Christmas cards and I’m ordering them this week so that they can actually be mailed before we fly back east in December :)

 .Dr Pepper, Cheddar Ruffles, Sour Patch Watermelon.

This is Miscellany Monday after all and I find myself thinking about how much I love Dr. Pepper, Cheddar and Sour Cream Ruffles, and Sour Patch Watermelon candies. I don’t know why – I won’t even try to explain. Just know that if you ever feel generous I will never turn said treats away! My husband cringes (his weaknesses include all types of Ben & Jerry’s).

images from google.com image search

.3 Days.

My students only have three days of school this week. Do you hear me rejoicing?! Today I had a guest teacher in Physic (an accident reconstruction officer for Metro Police) and Wednesday I have a guest teacher in dance. Thursday is Professional Development and Friday is Nevada Day, so there’s no school for teachers either! My grad school advisor told me last year that November is the hardest month for teachers. I can confirm this 100% – if I make it through the next month with a good attitude we can count it a huge success!

.Reading.

I’m still reading a lot. I’m working on The Help right now. I saw the movie first (and still feel guilty about it), but the book is just as excellent! You should read it.

image from google.com image search

 Who doesn’t love a blogging party!? Today I’m hanging out with:

October Giveaway!!!

Is it really almost November?!

In honor of October, I’m sponsoring 2 (yup, two!!!) giveaways!

The Dancing Frog: If you can get 15 friends to “like” The Dancing Frog on Facebook, you’ll get a special coupon code for 15% off through Christmas! Just have your friends comment on the wall that you sent them!

Dancing Willow Photography: The first person to get 10 new friends to “like” the Dancing Willow Photography page will get an 8×10 print of their choosing (you can choose from the Facebook portfolio or what is already listed on Etsy). Have each friend comment on the Facebook wall that you sent them.

This just makes me so happy every time I look at it!

*BONUS GIVEAWAY* If you get a friend to purchase from one or both of the shops, you’ll get a special coupon code towards your next purchase. Just have your friend mention that you referred them in the message to the seller!

Giveaway ends Saturday, October 30th at 10pm PST.

There have been several new listings lately, so be sure to check out The Dancing Frog and Dancing Willow Photography on Etsy!

Giveaway Challenge

Have you checked out the Facebook page for Dancing Willow Photography yet?

You should! I’ve just posted a challenge to my fans – if you can get 10 of your friends to “like” the Dancing Willow page on Facebook, you might just get a special something in the mail!

If your friends are nervous about liking a strange business, send them to the Etsy store so they can get an idea of my portfolio!

Grey Gardens Tempts Me

I totally forgot about the ultimate guilty pleasure Grey Gardens until I saw this at the BX yesterday…

I think I need to see this...

How could I not remember a full-scale film had been made in their memory. I can honestly say this is one cult classic I am addicted to :)

Scrapbooking Giveaway…

It’s been ages since I’ve written anything. I promise I’ve got a good excuse [or several].

For now, I’ll just re-direct you to Jess’s Scrapbook Giveaway!! Plenty of ways to enter for great scrap-booking prizes! I absolutely love scrapbooking, so I’m excited about this – especially since the paper, tools, etc. can get to be so expensive!

Good luck!

Free Knives!

The Provident Woman is having a giveaway of RADA knives. I love knives. Especially when they’re good ones!

We’ve had major issues with knives – the first set we got rusted within a year (they were middle of the line, so we didn’t expect it).

Hubby returned them and replaced them with the set one level better.

They haven’t rusted yet because they’ve been packed away for 6 months, but I’m thinking it’s coming soon.

Therefore, I hope I win!

Here’s a picture of the beautiful knives:

from The Provident Woman

And the link to the giveaway.

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[Read more at My Life In Four Bags]

Giveaway results!

I started a giveaway over a week ago that didn’t work!

A few people did activities on the SocialVibe section on the right hand bar of the blog, but no one commented on the post to say they completed the task – therefore, I can’t send anyone their prize :(

For those of you who read on Facebook: you have to go to the blog to participate.

For everyone: there’s no need to subscribe to SocialVibe or give any personal information, you just have to click a few buttons or watch a short video to raise money for Charity:Water, the charity I support. And if you don’t like one of the activities that come up, you can simply skip it.

I’m really disappointed this didn’t work. I want to give people opportunities to be involved in something bigger. Right now for you that might want to help Haiti and that’s fantastic.

If you’ve successfully done a giveaway on your site, how did it work for you? I realize I was lazy when I wrote the original post and picked an ugly picture online instead of finding the cornbags I have and taking a picture of them. Other than that, I thought I made everything pretty easy – what went wrong?

I’m really interested in feedback on this one. Help!

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[Read more at My Life In Four Bags]

SocialVibe Giveaway!

So after I posted the first time about the SocialVibe Charity:Water badge on the blog, I had hoped you would help raise money for clean water wells in developing nations. You didn’t. So, to encourage you to do so, I’ll give you a gift for helping out. It’s kind of like a bribe.

The first 5 people to participate will receive a corn bag. What’s a corn bag?

courtesy of http://rasonlinestore.com/cat/images/cornbags5.JPG

[I promise your corn bag will be in a funky cool fabric]

A corn bag is a fabric bag filled with feed corn. You zap it in the microwave and then it stays warm for about 30 minutes. Put it in your lap on a cold day or throw it under the covers before you go to bed on a cold night. They’re also handy for helping to relax knots or other sore spots.

I don’t know what I’d do without corn bags. So…if you’re in the first 5 to click on the SocialVibe badge to the right and perform 6 short activities (it will probably take you 2 minutes) and then comment below, I’ll send you a corn bag.

It’s that simple.

[comments will be withheld until Saturday morning, so go ahead and click even if you think you might not be in the top 5]

P.S. I’m linking up to this week’s DIY Day!

Enter to Win a Personalized Sign

The Nesting Place is having a brilliant giveaway right now.

I really REALLY hope I win, because the Day Spring – Danielson signs are absolutely brilliant.

I’ve never been so excited about a giveaway.

I would put our last name “MCCOY” in big letters with our life verse underneath: “The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126:3″

So if you’re interested, click the link above and join the giveaway party!

And then check out this new giveaway: SocialVibe Giveaway