Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Thanks to all of you lovely readers, friends and family, Sammy and I won FIRST place in the Paper Mama's Valentines Challenge!  I am still a little shocked by it all; there were so many great entries and I was honestly just hoping to make it to the top ten.  Once again, thank you all for voting for us and totally making my day--heck, my month!

Pay it forward (and an award!)

Thanks to the lovely and generous Jasmine over at oh boy, I'm going to be participating in Ambrosia Clark's Pay it Forward 2011.  Here's how this works: I promise to send something handmade to the first three people who leave a comment on this post.  To be eligible, you must also post this on your blog, offering the same thing to three other people.  The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it must be sent to your three people *sometime* in 2011.

As of right now, I'm leaning towards making a little something something along these lines for the first three to comment:

Or I could make you your very own pinecone elf:

Or I could go in a completely different direction!  Who knows what I'll come up with?  Take a chance and leave a comment--and be sure to leave your email so I can contact you afterwords.

And now on to some very belated business: Chelsey, aka the paper mama, gave me a Trendy Blog award at the beginning of the month.  Now it's my turn to pass this award to ten awesome bloggers--so here are just a few of the blogs that are continually broadening my horizons, making me laugh and inspiring me, in no particular order:

Katie @The Squid's Accomplice
Jasmine @oh boy
Jess @Just a Geek Named Jess
Sarah @The Hyphenation Diaries
Holly @Holly Days
Adrienne @Right Here, Right Now!
Kitten @Mumsyhood
Eschelle @Mumfection
Clara @Maeve's Momma
Kathleen @The Unlikely Wife Adventures!

• Just post about your award on your blog
• List your Top 10 Trendy Blogs
• Share with them and leave a link to the Trendy Blog Button - CLICK HERE.

That's it, I'm making a calendar

I was catching up on my blog reading this morning and saw that the lovely ladies over at the Trendy Treehouse had announced the winners of the "Happy New Year" photo challenge.   I clicked over and was very surprised to see my photo of Sammy as the unofficial New Year baby clocking in at #3!  With this little accomplishment under my belt, I am now certain that it's only right for me to continue humiliating taking monthly-themed photos of my son.  Now who knows where can I get my hands on some tiny bows and arrows?

Stylin' and profilin'

Lacey over at the blog Guinn and Bare It has bestowed upon me a Stylish Blogger Award; to accept I have to share seven facts about myself and then present the award to other blogs that I consider stylish.  Here goes:

1. I am the oldest of three siblings and the only girl.
2. I say "pop" and refuse to use the word "soda." 
3. I've split my head open, broken my arm, broken my nose, sprained most of my fingers, and have shin bones like swiss cheese thanks to multiple stress fractures.  Yay sports!
4. I have a Bachelor's degree in East Asian Studies...that I have never actually used in the "real world." I am somewhat embarrassed by this fact.
5. After college I lived in Philadelphia; during that time I worked for the Freemasons--you know, the guys who wear aprons and drive funny little cars.  It was an interesting three years of my life.
6. I am three credits shy of claiming a Master's degree in the History of Decorative Arts and doubt that I'll ever get around to finishing.  I am rather embarrassed by this fact.
7. I'm going to see a therapist today for the first time ever.  I'm nervous yet hopeful.  Wish me luck!

And now for the latest round of victims...er, I mean recipients; I've decided to pick some of my newest (and obviously stylish) followers so that I can learn a little more about them.  Drum roll please:

Brea at Utterly Chaotic
Adrienne at Right Here, Right Now
KAE at Anchor's Away
Wife on the Roller Coaster from Riding the Roller Coaster
Sarah from Hyphenation Diaries

Have fun ladies!

Thank you!

Someone who shall remain nameless (hint, his name rhymes with "Hammy") has been a giant Mr. Cranky Pants all day long, which in turn has made my day less than stellar. So finding out that Mumsy, a.k.a. Kitten, considers me a inspirational blogger couldn't have come at a better time. If you haven't checked out her blog yet, I highly suggest you do so. She's chronicling her daughter, Nadine's, first year of life as an online baby book of sorts. It's one of those awesomely creative ideas that you hear about and then you kick yourself because you didn't think of it first. And don't even get me started on the baby couture; you're just going to have to see it for yourself because, seriously, words cannot describe the awesomeness. Thank you so much, Mumsy--you totally made my day!