eat! craft! live!

And the winner is...

Josh Carlson!

Congratulations to Josh, who likes cheesecake! (I'll be in touch to get your address shortly.)

Happy cake and pie eating everybody!

mini pies and cake pops - giveaway!

I haven't exactly been the swiftest of bloggers lately...OK, maybe I never have been. But anyway, I was sent two sweet little cookbooks for review a few months ago and I've never reviewed them! Largely because I have only glanced through them and haven't made any recipes. I've got Crazy for Cake Pops and Mini Pies. Both are adorable - small cookbooks with lots of photos and explanations. The recipes look tasty and fun and my only problem is that I need to accept that I am not in a place right now in my life where I'm going to make tiny pies or cake pops with any regularity. *sigh* If only I could...

I used the tiny pie idea to make some tiny strawberry rhubarb pies for Thanksgiving - I made my own pie crust, cut little pieces and molded them into muffin tins. Then I added my strawberry rhubarb pie filling that I canned earlier in the year, folded some crust over the top and voila! Delicious tiny pies! But that was the last time I've done it and I can't see the opportunity arising any time in the near future, what with a toddler underfoot and other things keeping me busy.

And cake pops would be so cute for a birthday party or something, but let's face it. I am busy. I am tired. I'll be lucky if I can throw together one large cake for E's upcoming second birthday.

So, much as I like to think I am someone who has the time and energy to make these delectable little treats, I'm not. I used to be - and I probably will be again - but for now...nope.

Which is lucky for you, because I'm sure some of you are! And now you can have these lovely little cookbooks, because I'm going to send them off to one lucky reader! Leave me a comment here telling me what your favorite kind of cake or pie is (link if possible!) and I'll pick someone at random on Thursday, Feb. 9.

one last thing...

Remember how when I posted about the cloth diaper giveaway I was waiting on one last donor? Well, better late than never, I received word right after I picked the winner that Fuzzibunz (one of my personal faves) was willing to generously donate one of their Earth Day Every Day diapers! Yay! So the winner (Hi Sherrie!) will be (if she hasn't already) receiving one of those lovelies in addition to the other prizes.

I also want to give a big shout out to Fuzzibunz for having wonderful support. I bought a perfect size diaper recently that had something wrong with it - a weird, random fluke. All my other Fuzzibunz (new and used!) are in absolutely perfect condition but this one bizarrely was not. I contacted their support and very quickly I was OK'd to send it back for a replacement. Not only did I rapidly receive my new diaper in the mail, identical to the one I'd mailed in, but I also received, as a way to make up for having to spend money on postage to mail the defective diaper, two beautiful pairs of Agoo bamboo leggings! They couldn't have picked two more perfect pairs for us - decidedly feminine but not "girly." Perfect. All in all, an excellent experience! Thanks Fuzzibunz!

The Great Cloth Diaper Change...and a winner!

On your mark...

Get set...

Go!

Excuse the crappy iPod pics... We had a blast at the Great Cloth Diaper Change event we attended. (And if you had told me not too long ago that my idea of a good time on a Saturday afternoon would be to go hang out with a bunch of other parents and babies and change diapers, I may have thought you were a little crazy...) There's no official word on whether the effort actually broke the world record, but it was a great event nonetheless!

And now...a winner for the cloth diapering giveaway! I had my best little helper pick.

You want me to what, mama?

Well, you didn't say there would be a box! With little slips of paper in it!

I think...I'll pick...this one!

Don't you love how it looks like she's just going to up and read it out loud to me?

And the lucky winner is Sherrie!

Thanks to all who entered and don't forget that anyone can use code JD65 at Everything Birth to get 5% off. Happy diapering!

apologies!

I've kept you all waiting for far too long...but some things on the homefront have prevented me from choosing a winner in the diapering giveaway, until now! The names are prepared...the box is full of little slips of paper...and as soon as my dear daughter wakes from her nap, I will have her choose a lucky winner! I probably won't be able to post about it until this evening (oh please!) so sit tight and thinking winning thoughts. Happy diapering everyone!

The Great Cloth Diaper Change

Celebrate Earth Day by changing a diaper! No, really. Saturday, April 23, at many locations around the world, there will be an event to change as many cloth diapered baby bums as possible! Go to the official website for more info and to find a location near you. (I bet there is one!)

And don't forget to enter my cloth diapering giveaway! There are some great prizes that one lucky cloth-diapering mama (or papa!) will win!

cloth diaper giveaway!

As the last in my little series on cloth diapering, I'm doing a giveaway! There are some fantastic things to be won. The wonderful folks at Rockin' Green have offered up a 45/90 bag of their awesome diaper laundry soap. (And you even get to pick your favorite scent!) I seriously love this stuff. It's amazing. Next up, my local cloth diaper dealer friend is offering up a $20 gift certificate at Everything Birth - get a diaper, a wet bag, whatever your little heart desires! She puts on cloth diaper parties, so if you're local - keep an eye out! As an added bonus for anyone who doesn't win, you can use discount code JD65 to get 5% off your total order. (I'm also waiting to hear back from someone else about another fantastic prize. As if that isn't enough!) And I'm going to round out the prize package with a few diapers and accessories of my own. Need a snappi? I'm your gal!

So enter to win and spread the word! If I can get even one more person to give cloth diapering a try, I'll be happy. Leave a comment here telling me why you would like to (or already do) cloth diaper. For an additional entry, tweet a link to this giveaway and leave me a comment telling me you did so, with your twitter username. I'll pick a random winner on Monday, April 25, at some point in the evening, so get those entries in sooner rather than later!

and the winner is...

Well, of course I'd put the names in a hand knit hat! What did you expect?

Thank you all for your lovely comments over here. I genuinely enjoyed reading what everybody is looking forward to this summer! It was really uplifting. Seems a lot of you are really itching to take your shoes off and do some gardening! I have a confession to make now. Part of the reason why I enjoyed reading all your comments so much is because I really need a reminder sometimes about the good things in the world. As you may or may not know, I live in Texas. As you also may or may not know, I hate, hate, hate the summers here. (Can you have reverse seasonal affective disorder? Ahoy! After a quick Google search, turns out you can!) Anyway, as the weather warms up I find myself with a sense of dread about the coming months. This year seems particularly hard. So thank you all! I appreciate hearing your little stories.

And without further adieu...the winners are:

Bertha: Gorgeous! I am looking forward to tomato salad! There is no better dinner on a hot summer night that homemade tomato salad with basil and olive oil and fresh, crusty bread to dip in the juices...mmmmm! and

Kitten With A Whiplash: I'm looking forward to the day (hopefully very soon) when Mom is totally recovered from the broken wrist she suffered in January. Thanks for the contest!

Congratulations and I hope you enjoy your new yarn!

:: photo friday :: summer sky yarn giveaway

Well, hi there! I've got two 50g skeins of my very own, hand dyed superwash merino yarn in a DK weight, about 123 yards. It's a lovely, lovely blue and white that looks just like the summer sky to me. Leave a comment here and let me know what you're looking forward to this spring/summer and I'll pick two winners on Wednesday the 15th. (See? Something good can happen on the 15th...it's not just tax day...) And seeing as I'm no Soulemama, I'd say your odds of winning are pretty good... I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!