Headband Giveaway: Lemons and Blueberries!

I've never been trendy. Well, let me clarify. Outside of those oh-so-attractive mall bangs that I rocked in 1992, I don't tend to follow trends. I think colored denim looks good on all of you, but I don't see myself buying it anytime soon. The only reason I ever even attempted leggings was because it occurred to me that they might be comfortable. (If someone would have told me that wearing them felt like pajamas, I'd have been the first to sport them. ) I have sensory issues, and I'm a big huge hippie lean to the bohemian side. The only reason I'll buy clothes is if they are more comfortable than something I have. Clearly, I'm not too interested in fashion.

But accessories? I love them. I can't pull off very big earrings and bracelets drive me bonkers but I love small earrings and necklaces. My favorite accessory, though, is headbands. I have bought headbands from everywhere from Walgreens to small businesses. I'm picky about them.

One day, I got an itch for a new headband and started poking around Etsy. I saw the cutest shop called Lemons and Blueberries that had headbands....and pillows and nursing covers and fabric flowers and painted plates and even some adorable felt crowns. And it was all cute. I started chatting with Elena, who I could tell from our conversations has a kind heart.

Here's a little blurb from Elena herself:


Hullo there, all! My name is Elena, owner and creator at Lemons and Blueberries. I'm a twenty-something young woman, highly interested in serving God with my hobbies and time; Lemons and Blueberries is an industrious way for me to do this and have an awesome creative outlet at once. I've learned much over the years and is excited about growing and expanding my business, but my main goal is to glorify God and I'm constantly striving to make much of Him in my life. When I'm not creating items for the shop, you can find me reading vintage mystery novels, drinking homemade kombucha, laughing/talking with my family, working as a post-pardem doula, a caretaker for a special needs little boy, traveling wherever I can, and rearranging furniture. One of the things that I find most encouraging is from 2 Corinthians 4, "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

Sweet, right? She's so kind, in fact, that she wants to give away a headband to one of my readers. I got the opportunity to review a couple of her headbands first. The first day I wore one to work, I got six compliments on it by lunch. (You can see it HERE.) It's snug but not tight, and well-made. The other one I got was just like the one she'll be sending to one of you, a five-strand, beautifully made headband. And trust me, you'll want it. I love it. It's a brand new item, and here's a peek...

I'm actually wearing this one as I type and I love it. If you want to be my headband twin, you need to go check out her shop, then leave me a comment below telling me your favorite item there. Your comment must either be linked to your email or include your email to be entered. I'll choose a winner one week from today, on Monday, May 7.

Good luck, and namaste'!

**I was not paid to do this giveaway; however, I was given headbands to review. The opinions are all mine and 100% genuine!

Etsy Giveaway: In Olivia's Closet

Remember that one time when I got tipsy from two drinks and convinced my girl Laura to cut my bangs? And remember how I had to let them grow?

Well, because of that very wise choice, I had to search for cute bobby pins that were not made for kindergarteners. And that is no small feat.

And then I stumbled across In Olivia's Closet. So! Many! Adorable! Bobby pins! Seriously. Her stuff? Super cute. I adore Etsy, but we have all had the experience of ordering something that was disappointing when it arrives. So I only ordered a few pins, because I wanted to check out the quality.

How were they? Well, the short answer is that I ordered more within days of receiving them. Not only were they even cuter than I expected, they were more well-made. They were also high-quality and tight enough to hold my hair. Considering I have the hair texture of a 2-year-old, this thrilled me to no end.

I messaged Michelle through Etsy, and she couldn't be sweeter. So sweet, in fact, that she's sponsoring a giveaway here.

If you're the winner, you'll get:

some cute earrings about which I literally just told B, "I wish I could keep these for myself."



a ring, which I think is so unique and gorgeous.....



...and one of those awesome bobby pins that I was raving about.


I know, right? Good stuff. How do you enter? It's easy.

1. Leave me a comment telling me what you'd do with these adorable items. Would you keep them all to yourself? Give me the earrings? Gift them?

Optional entry:
2. Buy me those adorable red owl earrings in her shop. What? It's my blog! Okay, fine. I'm kidding. But go look at them. Could they be cuter?

I'll choose a winner a week from today; Wednesday the 8th. Good luck, and namaste'.

*************

Come on down!

Okay, perhaps winning my Scentsy giveaway isn't quite as exciting as being chosen on The Price is Right.

But a winner has been chosen (thank you, random.org).

Drumroll please.................

Congratulations to JANET!

Janet, shoot me an e-mail at namastebyday@gmail.com and I'll hook you up with Cheryl.

Namaste!

Scentsy Giveaway!

I live in a house with three boys. One is in diapers. One misses the toilet about half the time. And then there's L.

I kid.
Kinda.

Moving on.

Needless to say, things get a little stinky around here. What? Boys stink. It's a fact of life.

I've tried it all and we've found, loved, and stuck with Scentsy. In case you aren't familiar with them, they are wax burners. No flame. No mess. Really. I have two very busy little boys, and I juse the plug-ins in the bathroom and have not had one incident to date.

My favorite scent is French Kiss, but we burn a lot of Satin Sheets around here too. Just a few weeks ago, I ordered Embers and Baked Apple Pie, and I LOVE those too.

The fantastic news is that my friend Cheryl wants you to love Scentsy as much as I do, so she's giving away a gorgeous mid-sized warmer to one of you.

Pretty, right?

Here's the scoop. First and foremost, you need to go to Cheryl's site at www.cherylnitz.scentsy.us and browse around, then come back and tell me what your favorite Scentsy product is.

For your entry to count, your email must be attached to your comment in some way...if you don't have it set up on blogger, include it in your comment. But seriously. Set that shizz up on blogger. Nothing is more annoying than going to respond to a comment and not being able to do so.

And if you buy something from Cheryl, I'll throw in an extra three entries.

Easy peasy, no?

I'll choose the winner a week on Tuesday, January 9. Namaste.

Tip Toe Thirty GIVEAWAY!

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting behind a hippie-ish chick at church and noticed that she was wearing the coolest earrings. They almost looked like a bunch of grapes, but of course they were in earth tones. My mom makes jewelry, so I asked her to reproduce them, but hers didn't quite turn out right.

So I did what any girl would do...I began to scour etsy for something similar.

And I stumbled upon a shop that made my heart flutter. You see, I love earth tones. I love small jewelry. And I love good deals.

Tip Toe Thirty had all three of those. So I started chatted with Melanie, the mastermind behind the shop, and she agreed to let me check out her jewelry and...(this is where YOU come in)...host a giveaway! She's very generously giving away $15 credit to her shop, which will take you far with her prices. Holla!

She sent me earrings very similar to these, which were exactly what I was looking for....

...and this necklace, which thrilled both me and L. ("It's Hedwig!! Put it on RIGHT NOW!" he cried, upon spying it.)


The items I received were fabulous. They were adorable and well-made, and Melanie was super friendly and wonderful to work with. She instantly became a new favorite Etsy shop.

My birthday is coming up in about a month. (December 22 if you are taking notes. I kid.) I might have to buy myself a couple of gifts from her shop. Because I'm also in love with these earrings....


...and I'm dying over this tree necklace, of course. I think it's a given that this one has moved from the "want" column to the "need" column.


I know. I know. You want to enter. I don't blame you. If I could enter my own giveaway, I'd be all over it.

The Rules:
1. You gotta be a follower of mine. Mama's gotta track you down! Leave me a comment telling me that you are a follower, and if you won, what you'd get from Tip Toe Thirty.

2. You can earn an extra entry for buying anything from her shop and leaving me a comment telling me so. Christmas is just a few weeks away...take advantage!

Lucky for you, Melanie is super cool (and not just because she uses biodegradable packing peanuts, although that DID make me love her shop a little more). She suggested giving a discount code on top of the giveaway, which will come in handy for that extra entry. So use namaste to get yourself an extra 15% off of that tree necklace you buy me for my birthday. Er, I mean, for your own little splurge.

I'll choose the winner via a random number generator a week from today!

What are you waiting for?? GO! And namaste.

Breaking the Cycle, Giveaway Style

When I was in elementary school, I was in Girl Scouts. That means that I sold Girl Scout cookies. I usually did pretty well, but every year, a little blonde girl named Heather invariably outsold me. Her dad worked in a big office and brought the cookie form to work, where he sold hundreds of boxes of cookies for Heather. Grrr.

It appears as though little blondes kicking me into second place is not just a thing of the past.

You see, G is doing well in the model search I posted about yesterday. But a little blonde girl is kicking his butt. She is about 35 votes ahead of him. I know full well I have more than 35 followers who have Facebook. Yep, I am talking to you.

Let's break the cycle.

Go to Facebook, and "like" all three of the following pages:

Posh Principessa

Bliss Eleven Studios

Puddle Ducks

Then, on each page, vote for this cute face by "liking" this picture:

One lucky person who leaves a comment saying they voted, tweeted, blogged, or set their FB status to advertise for us will get a blog post by moi highlighting your blog or site of choice (Etsy shop owners, are you listening?)

I'm also trying my hand at a new item...a hand-lettered custom 5X7 canvas. Pick your colors and quote. Here are a couple I hurriedly created today. Forgive the lack of perfection (they were my first tries) and the crappy phone camera quality. If you prefer that the canvas is painted completely rather than some white showing through, that's fine too.

Oh. And FTR, I got the idea from Jodie, who painted something similar last week. I also looked on etsy for some inspiration. Gotta give credit where credit is due.

So you want to vote. Trust me. It takes less than 5 minutes and it will totally count as your good deed of the day.

Namaste.

The post in which I use my child's illness and attempt to bribe my followers

Mr. G has lived an exciting life as of late. He's been eating a wide variety of food, both pureed and diced, he has finally started babbling (to his SLP's mama's delight), and most recently, has begun "cruising," meaning he is walking holding on to the furniture.

Walking.

I tried to tell him that he had plenty of time to grow up. I begged him to slow down a bit. And boyfriend looked me squarely in the eyes and promptly laughed at me.

Sigh.

Then, last night, I had my baby back for a while. Sweet little man is fighting a nasty double ear infection and irritated throat, as diagnosed by the pediatrician this morning. (For the record, I diagnosed him last night...mama's instinct say what?)

So there was a lot of rocking and swaying and nursing and up-every-two-hours soothing sessions last night. There was a little co-sleeping and a lot of screaming. And an instance of nipple-biting, but we won't dwell on that, mkay?

Anyway.

My poor baby is exhausted. And hurting.

And I? Am exhausted. And hurting.

This is where you, my beautiful, thin, and fabulous followers come into play. You can make us both feel better.

Remember that model search that I mentioned for baby G? Well, it's voting time!

All you have to do is open trusty ole Facebook and "like" the following three pages:
Bliss Eleven
Posh Principessa
Puddle Ducks



On each of those pages, there are 51 pictures of wee ones. You have to "like" G's picture on each of their pages. This is the cute mug you are looking for:

So that's six "likes" in all. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

What's in it for you if you hit "like" six times?

A giveaway! Who me, competitive enough for bribery? Nooo.

You'll win a full write-up about how cool you (and your blog/Twitter/business/page of choice,etc) are.

*cue cheesy announcer voice*

But that's not all! If you vote between now and Sunday and come back and tell me that you did, I'll custom make you a 5X7 or 8X10 canvas with your choice of {short} quote and paint colors. I'm hoping to get one finished and photographed in the next day or two so you can really get a good idea of what I'm talking about. But hey, it's free. And I'm a huge perfectionist so I promise it'll be super cute.

So hook up a blog-sister and her sick wittle baby, would ya?

Edited to add: If you tweet, blog, or set your facebook status to beg shamelessly ask for votes for G, you'll get another entry in the giveaway. Just leave separate comments telling me what you did. 

What are you waiting for? GO! Uh, please. And thank you.

Sunday Snippets

I don't have much going on at the moment. Goodness knows that's not necessarily a bad thing, but as for blog fodder? Meh. So I present, Sunday snippets.

***

G continues to hold the title of The World's Worst Sleeper. I've tried sleep training. I've tried cosleeping. I've tried everything. The boy just does not enjoy sleeping. Last night he was up three times. Sometimes, he'll sleep through the night seven nights in a row...and then he's all, "You liked that? Too bad, sucka." Oh well. I'll sleep eventually. Or not. 

***

Speaking of G, I am doing something today that is very un-Gina-ish. I'm taking G to a model search. Before you write me off as a psycho stage mom, understand this. My friend Tiffany has her own clothing line and is holding the search for her company. I'll get professional photos of G and whoever gets the most "likes" on Facebook will win. My competitive side is considering doing a giveaway over here on the ole blog. One entry for voting, another for reposting/sharing/tweeting. What should I give away? Maybe I'll give an extra few entries for a winning idea. Aaaand....go!

***

L is learning to read and loving it. I am constantly answering the question, "Mommy, what's dat say?" Last night, he sounded out (with a little help) "On The Run" at a gas station. Then I had to explain why it said "on the run" when we were actually "in the car." He has reached the "why" stage and it's exhausting.

***

Last Friday, I had to say, "Your hand does not belong on my bottom," to two different students. They were not both male.

***

This morning, L brought up his private parts in conversation, which is a common occurrence lately. I reminded him that they are indeed private and quizzed him about who is allowed to touch them. His answer...his girlfriend in his class! Both B and I almost died. And yes, I turned away before he saw me laughing.

***

As if I needed another one, I found the trillionth reason why I love Trader Joe's. They have signs in their store explaining why dark chocolate is good for you and insisting you should eat a little every day. Dark chocolate covered cranberries? Don't mind if I do. Oh...and one more thing, they carry these:

...which taste just like a particular chocolate/coconut girl scout cookie. Seriously. Go buy them. And if you have milk and/or wheat allergies like L? Try these. L is tickled pink that we don't mind that he eats them for breakfast. And we are tickled pink that we found another protein source for him.

And that concludes the most exciting parts of my life right now. Try not to be jealous of the glamour. Namaste.

Giveaway winner and an update on mah life

Dum da da dum.....

The winner is....

Brittany Ann! 

I used a random number generator, and it cracked me up, because Brittany won another of my giveaways awhile back. She's got a little lady on the way and it makes me smile to know that her little girl and Mr. G will have similar prints in their rooms.

If you didn't win, go check out Kristen's shop and enter the code "Namaste" to get 10% off your order. Hurry...it's only good through April 15. 

****

You may have noticed that I've been a bit absent around these parts lately. 

I used to check my blogs while on my lunch break and any other time that I had a few minutes between students but I've been ridiculously busy at work lately that I haven't had time. 

Well, I've been busy and I've found the addiction that is Words With Friends. Seriously...are there subliminal messages in that game or what? 

In the evenings, besides making G's food/squeezing in workouts/training for my 5K with my students/playing with L, we are attempting to do some work around our house to prepare it to be put on the market. 

Want to know something crazy? I'm thinking about attempting to sell it myself. I know, right? I know. But we don't have a ton of money, and I am really good at sales, and I have family members who can help me, so I'm considering it. At least at first. Then when it doesn't sell, I'll come to our real estate friend with my tail between my legs. Anyone ever attempted it? Have anything I must know? 

Besides that, things are good. 

L is doing fantastically. I just attended his parent-teacher conference the other day and his teacher glowed, telling me about the progress he's made. His strengths are language, gross motor, and social, and his weakness is fine motor. If he didn't constantly make jokes about "stinky toots" and "smelly feet" and tell me to "come look at my poop; it's as big as a garter snake," maybe I'd be surprised that his teacher described him as all-boy.

G is still doing great at his "school" (that's for you, my twistas) too. His artwork (painting with a green pepper) is hanging in the hallway and he has finally started babbling. Finally. I started getting a complex when all he did was grunt. Doesn't look good as a speech-language pathologist mama...just sayin. I am grateful that one of his "classmates" started babbling, because G started that night. Whew. He's also pulling up and last night, let go while standing for a nanosecond. He's not listening when I tell him he's our last baby and slowing his roll would be greatly appreciated. 

B and I are doing great. Loving our church like whoa. It is still mind-boggling to not only say we go to church but that it's a non-negotiable in our weekend schedule. We plan everything around it. We love it so much that we download the podcasts each week and as we drive away from the church each week, we already can't wait for the following week's service. This weekend, a group from the church participated in a local half- marathon to raise money to provide water for people who don't have clean drinking water. We agreed that next year, we'll be wearing the Living Water tees. 

So that's that. I'll try to be around a little more. Now if you'll excuse me, I have several coughtwentyfivecough Words With Friends games to play. 

Namaste!

Hump Day Giveaway

In case you are wondering, G does have a nursery. It's actually cute, if I do say so myself. Granted, it wasn't finished until, oh, I don't know, four months after he was born? But it's complete. And one of these days, I'll take some photos and post about it.

One of my favorite things about it is a print that one of my favorite bloggers, Kristen, made for me. I was ridiculously picky a tiny bit particular and she re-did it until the colors were perfect. And was gracious and funny in the e-mails to boot.

I'd show you a photo of it, all cute and framed on top of his bookshelf...but I don't know how to blur certain details that I'd rather not post. I know it's probably super easy, and feel free to tell me how to do that.

For the time being, I'll show you a similar masterpiece by KLaw (as she's known to her bloggy followers).

Cute, right? I know.

But she's multi-talented. She's expanded to other things besides birthday prints.

She does adorable thank you notes, also known as  those things that I totally should have sent out after L's birthday party. Whoops.

and these fantastic prints (how perfect would this be for G? Well, with the right name, obviously. An "Olivia" print would look funny on his wall. And God knows B would nix anything purple. Heck, the man won't allow his boys to have a toy kitchen. But I digress.)

But yeah. She's great. And folks, I have some good news for you.

One of you is going to win a set of notecards or a custom print. Oh. Didn't I mention she can customize anything? Yeah. Got a theme? She's on it. Just a color or an idea? KLaw will hook you up.

And? All the money from her items goes directly into a college fund for her adorable son. I love that.

Here's the deal. You have to first "like" her Facebook page .

Leave me a comment telling me that's done, and then you can get an extra entry for

a.) checking out her shop and leaving another comment telling me what you'd design/choose if you win

b.) tweeting about it (hit me up at @namastebyday ) or blogging about it

Leave me a comment for either of those.

Also, if you head over to her shop, she'll give you 10% off with the coupon code "Namaste."  Buying anything from her shop will get you an extra entry as well.

I'll choose a winner on Sunday evening (but the discount will last until Friday, April 15). Good luck!

What goes around....

I am happy to announce my giveaway winner...

I used a random number generator as always and I gotta say, I'm pretty stoked that another green-loving earth mama scored this one.

The winner is....

(bongo) drumroll please......

ABBIE!

Must be meant to be...I just won a giveaway from Abbie not too long ago! What goes around comes around, right? Yay!

Abbie, e-mail me at namastebyday@gmail.com and we'll get you hooked up.

In the meantime, head on over to Shakedown Surplus and pick out a gift for your favorite flower child.

Namaste.

A giveaway from Shakedown Surplus? Right on, man.

My dad has always told me I was born in the wrong era.

You see, according to him, I should have been born in the 50's so I could have really enjoyed the late 60's and early 70's.

And, well, he's not the only one who has told me that.

Considering my (mostly) liberal views, my penchant for peace signs, my uber-casual wardrobe, my love of music from that era, and my save-the-earth mindset, I'm kind of a hippie.

Well, a clean hippie. B likes to remind me that I shower far too often to really qualify as a true flower child. And the fact that I can't go even one day without shaving (hello Italian heritage) also disqualifies me as being really Bohemian.

But anyone who knows me well knows I'm a little bit hippie-esque.

And honestly? I'm proud of it.

So the other day, when I was browsing Etsy, I found Shakedown Surplus.

And oh my goodness did I feel a connection with Tiffany, the shop owner. A girl who carries hemp cell phone cases and made this bag that I so desperately want...how could I not love her?

So I started chatting with Tiffany, and as most hippie-ish people are, she was super friendly. She agreed to not only give me some products for a review, but also wants to hook one of my blog readers up with a giveaway.

Not only was Tiffany a sweetheart, she was also beyond generous. She sent me a flaxseed and lavender pouch that made my whole mailbox smell amazing. You can heat or freeze them for your eyes and let me tell you, they are phenomenal. I love the smell of real lavender and it didn't disappoint. It is well-made and I am officially in love with an inanimate object. This thing rocks.



She also sent me not one, but two necklaces that made me so happy. They are hemp, of course, and have charms attached. One says "peace," and the other? "Namaste." She says she can do any word you want, and her stamping is gorgeous. Check it out.


The coolest thing about these necklaces is that they are adjustable, so you can change the length according to your outfit.

And in true Bohemian fashion, I took a picture of myself sans makeup and, well, without running a brush through my (desperately needs to be colored) hair to show one of them off.


Did I really just post that unflattering picture of me on the internet? Yeah, I think I did. Let's focus on the beauty of the necklace, shall we?

I digress.

The good news is that one of you is going to win one of these items!

How to enter....

1. Head on over to Shakedown Surplus' shop and check out her items. Come on back here and tell me your favorite item as well as whether you'd choose an eye pouch or a necklace of your choice if you win.

2. You can get up to two extra entries by blogging and/or tweeting about this giveaway. Leave me a separate comment linking to your post/tweet.

Good luck...and peace, man.

Pendant Winner!

The winner of the Pieces of Me Pendants giveaway is.... Lucy Marie!

I love me some Lucy,but I promise I used a random number generator and she won, fair and square. Must be their Canadian connection! Anyway, congrats to Miss Lucy...e-mail me and we'll get you your prize, lady!

Happy Birthday to Me, er, You....

The other day, a friend of mine (hi, Mel!) sent me a text, asking if I'd heard of Etsy.

"Are you kidding?" I replied. "I did half my Christmas shopping there."

It's true...I got lots of things on Etsy. But there's one thing I've been drooling over forever that I haven't bought for myself yet...a Scrabble tile pendant. Have you guys seen these? They are made out of actual Scrabble tiles and I've seen so many cute ones. For instance, Pieces of Me Pendants has several that I'd love. Here are a few of my favorites...





Gorgeous, right?

Well, guess what. Even though I haven't bought myself one, I've decided that one of my lucky readers needs one.

So...drumroll please...I'm hosting a giveaway and you can choose a pendant and a chain!

How to enter this contest:

1) Visit the sponsor’s shop. Pieces Of Me Pendants http://www.etsy.com/shop/PiecesOfMePendants

2) Return here to Namaste By Day and post a comment telling me which pendant you would like to win and either ball or snake chain.

3.) My birthday is on December 22. If you buy me a pendant or any other birthday gift, you get three extra entries. I kid. Sort of.

I will choose a winner this Sunday, December 12, at 7 pm CST.

Good luck!

The blogosphere is a funny place.

In the last couple of days, something really crazy came about from one of my blog posts. Ultimately, it was a very positive thing, but I'll be honest...the whole thing freaked me out a bit. When a family member who did not know about your blog forwards you one of your own posts, that will happen.

The whole story is crazy but I'm still gathering my thoughts on it and my blog in general.

So I'm taking a very brief blogging hiatus of sorts.

In the meantime, go check out the giveaway on Abbie's blog. She is a supermama and if I could, I'd make her a cape, of course made out of recycled materials.

I promise to be back with more details of the drama and new blog posts soon.

Namaste.

It's all about priorities, people.

My house is a wreck.

I forgot to give G his thrush medicine all.day.long.

My eyebrows desperately need to be waxed. And trimmed.

I failed to give L even one of the four daily vitamins he takes.

I didn't fold one item in the two overflowing laundry baskets in my bedroom.

There are still dinner dishes on my kitchen counter.

However, I DID get the all-important monthly picture of my littlest man yesterday...

(I took about ten of these. This was one of the worst ones, but the one my husband chose to e-mail me when I asked for it. Men.)

And even though I have been the worst commenter ever, I am reading while I nurse.

Want proof? I really want to win this giveaway. So don't enter. But go visit Laura's blog and/or Etsy shop and tell her I sent you.

Namaste.

Twitter: Social Networking Site or Virtual Counseling?

I joined Twitter a while back...and promptly fell a little in love with it.

At that time, I deleted my Myspace. I figured something had to go, considering I had three email accounts, a blog and a Facebook.

Yeah. I know. Sign me up for Social-Networking-Aholics-Anonymous. What can I say? I crave personal interactions. When I'm a SAHM in the summer or on maternity leave, I'd go bonkers without it.

I love me some Facebook. It's actually my home page and I admittedly spend too much time on it. I also adore my blog, and connecting with others through theirs.

But my sweet little Twitter has a special place in my heart.

I throw out a mommy question, a speech/language inquiry, a too-personal-for-the-internet pregnancy query, and almost always, I immediately get a response of some sort.

I can whine shamelessly about my lack of sleep and promptly get supportive ::hugs:: from my "tweeps." (For those of you who haven't discovered Twitter yet, that would be "Twitter peeps." Don't knock it.)

And I have met some really, really great girls, and a few guys, through Twitter. I can't believe I can honestly say that I have made real friends through Twitter, but honestly? I have. I couldn't live without them and their questions, advice, and funny tweets that make me laugh when I am sleep deprived and on the verge of tears, all written in 140 characters or less.

And if, God forbid, I was forced to choose, I am pretty sure I'd give up Facebook for Twitter. I just really hope I never have to actually make that choice. Ahem.

One girl I have met on Twitter through another mutual blog/Twitter friend is Jess, who I adore. She and I have a whole lot in common and her tweets are always extremely honest, like her blog. She has opened her own Etsy shop and you all need to go check it out and give her a little love. She's hosting a giveaway on her blog and I am dying for this print for Baby Gray's room.

And then go join Twitter if you haven't already, and look me up at namastebyday.

Drumroll please.....

The winner of my Coppin Beads giveaway is.....

Mrs Werginz, at Diary of a Newlywed!

She's a new follower and a fellow speech-language pathologist!

Mrs. Werginz, email me at namastebyday@gmail.com and we'll get you hooked up with your new bracelet. Thanks to all who entered!

If I can't win DaVinci beads, at least I can give them away!

I have never claimed to be a fashionista...far from it, in fact. I bet I'd easily win the "Most Casual Dresser" award at my work.

However, I love me some accessories. To be honest, I think it's how I get away with dressing so comfortably at work. Throw on a cute headband, a snazzy necklace, and voila! Work-acceptable clothing!

When my girl Brittany hosted a giveaway with a really cute bracelet on her site, I wanted to win it. Badly. But I didn't. The next best thing happened, though...Coppin Gifts contacted me this week and asked if I'd like to host the same giveaway!

Would I want to give away Coppin Gifts Signature DaVinci beads? Heck, yes!

The winner will receive this starter bracelet :

...and your choice of three beads.

I had so much fun checking out their beads. They have all kinds of things, from animals (turtles are my favorite):


to all kinds of gorgeous birthstone beads (this is mine, which I'm drooling over):


to initial beads:


to beautiful colored glass beads:


to cutesy colored daisies:


...and many, many more. Their collection is extensive, to say the least.

Want to win as bad as I did?

Thought so!

Here are the ways to get entries:

1. Let me know that you are already a follower of my blog (2 entries)

2. Become a follower of my blog (1 entry)

3. Go check out Coppin Gifts and tell me the three beads you'd choose (1 entry)

4. Blog about this giveaway (1 entry)

This giveaway closes at midnight on Saturday, August 14th. As long as I am not in active labor, I will post the winner on Sunday, August 15th.

Good luck!

WTF Wednesday

Never heard of WTF Wednesday?

Me neither.

But it fits, after what happened to me and my good bloggy friend Jess yesterday.

I need to back up a little.

I won Jess' giveaway a while back, which included a cupcake green Vera Bradley all-in-one wristlet and $25 gift card to Panera. I was beyond thrilled. First of all, Jess was taking my Vera virginity, and second, Panera is the one place that we can take L out to eat. So this giveaway was made for me. I had some great luck, winning it.

Too bad my great luck came to a screeching halt yesterday afternoon.

My package came and B handed it to me, saying something about it being open. I wasn't really listening as I opened the (already-open) envelope and pulled out the card. Jess had written me a sweet note inside and after I read it, I realized that there was nothing else in the package.

Nothing.

Nada.

No wristlet. Sniff, sniff.

No gift card. Sob.

Someone had stolen my giveaway prizes! WTF?

I know they didn't steal them out of my mailbox, because I had received some (adorable) headbands from Katie that I had ordered, and another IRL friend had sent me a sweet package too. They were all in the exact same type of envelope.

So someone involved in the United States Postal Service had found my giveaway, pocketed it, and decided that Jess' card was a good enough delivery for me. Not that I don't want her card, but I want my prize!!! And I finally got to talk to her on the phone, which was nice and all, but not under the circumstances. Boo.

And before you ask, no, she didn't insure it (who actually does that?) but she had a tracking number. I guess that won't help either.

Can someone help? Got an "in" with Vera or Panera? Or some advice on tracking down the asshole that stole my prize?

Honestly...WTF?