Google Reader Griever

Well, I guess I can't procrastinate any longer.  It's time to say goodbye to the easiest way that I read and follow blogs, which was via Google Reader and Google Friend Connect. Why they are fixing something that ain't broken is a puzzle to me-I guess they don't realize how hard we all work and the thrill that we get seeing that follower number rise rise rise.  I feel like it's back to square one.

Many people are making the switch to Bloglovin', and that switch is easy since it imports all the blogs you currently subscribe to.  I don't think anything that is "starred" in reader (which is saved) is imported.  So all those blog tips, pictures, and ideas are down the drain.  One thing I don't like is that all the posts are truncated in Bloglovin, so that means you have to click through to every blog to see the whole post.  I can't see myself doing that, so it probably means I'm going to miss a lot of good stuff.  But of course i'll expect you to click through to mine.  Wink wink. 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Pretty pretty please. 

Somehow I have followers on bloglovin' already.  Bless your hearts.  When I figure out what i'm doing, i'll put a follow widget up.  Or, you can tell me how.

Please also consider signing up for emails and Pinterest and Facebook over on the right hand side.

I'll never let go, internet friends.  I'll never let go!

It's Electric.

The kitchen. A space none to seen on the blog.  A space next on the list (at least, my list!) A space i stare off into during dinner, imagining the could be's and the should be's. So for sure that's where i'd focus if i won Barn Light Electric's annual B.L.O.G giveaway.  Let's take a few moments to lose ourselves in that fantasy, shall we?

Thankfully, the kitchen needs nothing more than granite, back splash, paint job and lighting. 

And lighting does it need. 

With our dark cherry cabinets, it's well, it's dark.  The plan is to install pot lights-instant solution to cave like dwelling-and update the fan.

Well hello fan update, where've you been hiding?  You're so sleek and retro modern.  I like you, ball ceiling fan.

With all those pot lights, we wouldn't be relying on the fan as the only method of illumination, so this silver sleek fella would be a nice option.  This guy's totally customizable, as many of their products are.  You could choose all silver, like i would, or other blade colors to match your space.  Light or without light options, too.

Ooh, this sphere pendant is pretty and perfect for above the sink. Actually it's a fabulous counterpart to the ball fan, don't you think? Great, now i'll never get this combo out of my head! 

Look at this raindrop light!

It's like a tiny tear.
Like those i'd shed if someone else won this gorgeousness.

And these would be full on waterworks and tears of joy if they told me i'd won. 

Thankfully, even if i don't get picked (why, Barn Light Electric, why??) the prices aren't so outrageous that you couldn't afford to beautify your space with some of these anyway.  But let's keep the fantasy alive while we still can.

Who's gonna join me?

1. Look around online at Barn Light Electric and pick lights you’d love to own
2. Feature your lighting picks on your personal blog, and link to the lights if you can!
3. Copy/Paste these rules at the bottom of your blog article
4. Once your personal post is up, you must email your blog link to: marketing@barnlightelectric.com to be qualified to win – the contest ends July 2nd, 2012
5. Don’t have a blog? Find out how you can enter by visiting our website or read these Official Rules

For those that do not have a blog but want to enter, please email the following information to marketing@barnlightelectric.com:

• First & Last Name
• Mailing Address
• City,State, Zip
• Valid Email Address

Ramsign Giveaway

I'm seeing lots of refreshing and brightening and general foofing and futzing now that spring is here.  Perhaps you'd like new house numbers in a fun color to give your curb appeal some pizazz?  Well, the generous folks at Ramsign would like you to have that chance.

You read correctly.  Ramsign, a small Danish company that specializes in classic enamel signs, is offering one lucky reader any house number sign of their choice.

Seriously, look how great!

There are fab inspiration images on their facebook page, so do check that out and like them, or follow them on twitter.

Giveaway details:

This is open to everyone, not just US readers.  

 1-5 digit plaque of your design and size. 

Free shipping!

To enter:

This is a good one, so i'm asking that you be a follower of the blog.  Leave me a comment telling me you are.

Check out their facebook page and leave another comment telling me which design you like.

Leave another comment if you facebook/tweet/shout it from the rooftops.

Giveaway will be open until Wednesday April 4th.  Good luck!

 Ramsign on Twitter

  Ramsign on Facebook

Not too shabby winner

How was everyone's Thanksgiving?  I don't know about you, but when we got home last night i was full and i was sleepy.  Too sleepy to go online, that's for sure.  That meant this morning was time to draw the winning number for the Shabby Apple giveaway.

Lucky number 13 was Christina, who said "i like shabby apple on facebook."  Yay, Christina, i'm super excited for you.  Now it's back to coffee sipping and paper reading for me.

Enjoy the long weekend, my friends.

Not Too Shabby (Giveaway)

Maybe if i excitedly squeal really loudly you'll be able to tell how super pumped i am to bring you a fabulous giveaway from Shabby Apple.  Who'd like some new clothes to wear for the holidays?  This gal would (hint hint, shabby apple powers that be!)  If you're not familiar with Shabby Apple, not only do they have tons of women's dresses, but they also have some great jewelry and shoes i'd be equally excited to try. (subtle, right?  i know).

Look at these beauties-they're called Gasp.  And i literally did just that.  For reals.  I want them.

Santa? 

Chanukah Harry? 

Size 8, if you please.

What we are offering you, dear readers, is this little black skirt. I chose this one because i thought it would be the most versatile piece and would work on all figures. Do you not love it with that sweet bow? 

 Know what else has a sweet bow?  My future shoes. 

If you want this skirt to be in your future, here's how to win it.

1.  You must like Shabby Apple on Facebook.  (Mandatory entry)

2.   Do you happily follow the blog?  Let me know with another entry.

A winner will be chosen on Thanksgiving. 

Thought it'd make somebody a little more thankful.  And that somebody has to be a US resident...sorry, my foreign friends!

Good luck, everyone!

Friday Thoughts on Wednesday

Well hello there.  How's everyone's week thus far?  Are you having a temporary break in humidity?  We are, and i think it's making me abnormally giddy and upbeat.

We're going to do Friday thoughts today-I've had a lucky week and there's things that need to be said and Friday is sort of up in the air.

1.  Why is Friday up in the air?  Because i am supposed to have jury duty this week!  Gah!  I am very curious about jury duty, actually, and wouldn't mind serving, but we are supposed to spend the day with my dad and (although it isn't even 100% certain) i'm already freaking out and imagining being stuck in a trial instead.  If you're new here, it must be said that i have a tendency to get easily excited, and jump to conclusions, and freak out before events even happen, and just get ahead of myself.

2.  My sickness is back, darn it all!  I don't want to visit with my dad and his compromised immune system if i am sickly. 

3.  Quadruple score-a surprise package from my sweet friend Linda,  a win from Chelsea, a win from Brittany, and a win from Stephenie Lynn.  Feature posts to follow.

4.  Speaking of feature posts...Laura and Andrea from Ever After Blueprint asked me to be a part of their Front Door series.  Please pay their gorgeous blog a visit.

5.  I have rediscovered the forgotten joys of honey roasted sesame sticks.

6.  Hey big money-JC Penney and Pier 1 coupons for $10 off a $10 purchase?  It's like stealing!

7.  A trip to Ocean City Maryland is in the immediate future...any recommendations of places to eat or other must sees?

8.  The sticker giveaway ends tonight!  I wish it could have ran for longer, but jury duty (or the possibility of that) is mucking up the timeline and there are rules i must adhere to involving the giveaway. 

9.  So enter it, for goodness sakes!  It ends tonight at 11pm eastern.  Good=your chances of winning.

Sticker Shock

**This giveaway is closed.  I was asked to edit the links from uprinting, so i don't know if that means it will post again**

I am so stinkin' excited to offer this giveaway from Uprinting! 

250 customizable stickers for one lucky winner. 

Do it as an address sticker.  Do it as a "Good job from Mrs. So and so" if you're a teacher.  Do it as an awareness raising aid.  Do it to promote your Etsy shop.  In the immortal words of Nike, just do it.

They also offer these labels, using the standard label templates.

The particulars:

*You need to be a follower of this ever so wonderful blog
* Leave a comment telling me what you'd do with your stickers

For extra entries:
* like Uprinting on facebook
* like my facebook page
*leave a separate comment for each

Giveaway will be open until 11 pm Wednesday July 27th.  Good luck, my friends!



*Stickers are 2" x 3.5" 70lb Label Matte, Front Only Printing, with 4 Business Days Turnaround.  Giveaway limited to US residents 18 and over, and ineligible if won another Uprinting giveaway in the last 6 months.

This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given but I will receive stickers for hosting, which i shall use for my outreach events for my agency.  See, totally selfless, i am.  Check out the standard label templates on Uprinting.

So Wonderful, So Marvelous

I'm guest posting at Michelle's fabulous and smart and snarky blog whilst she's on maternity leave.  I list a few like and dislikes...want to see if we share some?  Want to see awesome makeovers, like her son's rockin' big boy room?  Seriously, that's some good gallery wall. 

 Head on over to So Wonderful, So Marvelous!  Tell her i sent ya, and maybe congratulate her on baby number two!

summa, summa, summertime

*Check out my guest post at Lauren's blog, Life Uncluttered.  She does a super fun series about her top ten, and with me at the helm,  i've got the Top Ten Ways to Get More Bang for Your Buck*.

Also a big thanks to Diann for featuring my "new" table at her Nifty Thrifty Things party.

Ok.  I'm not gonna lie.  Summer is my least favorite time of the year.  I know, i can see you all pressing the unfollow button as i sit here and tell you i won't be decorating with shells or other sea life.   I think it stems from a childhood spent going to day camps, then working outside at camps, then post degree still working outside at camps.  Nothing against those places, but I'm just a girl who loves her air conditioning.  However, summer inspiration link parties are abounding, and i can't put off its inevitable arrival, so let's remind ourselves about the good points of summer with pictures from my old school favorite.  Since i need some convincing...

Summer-the only time i really get a craving for ice cream.  A cone of soft serve or mint chocolate chip on a warm day?  Refreshing.

Out door concerts and festivals.  Best when free, of course. 

No denying the gorgeousness of fireworks for the fourth.  I love feeling that pop pop pop thump thump in my chest during a killer finale.

Fire up that grill!

Get those fruity drinks a flowin'!  Love those pina colada's at our yearly luau.

Wish this is what the pool was like.  Wish this is what the view was like!

The shore, a summer staple, means boardwalk fries, funnel cake, and "watch the tram car please."

Followed by moments of heat induced "maybe this is the lucky one."

I'd take this relaxing set up any day.

Notice i left out things that are unpleasant, like green head flies, mosquitos, gnats, humidity, heat, sunburn, traffic driving to the shore, around the shore, and home from the shore.

What (pleasant things) does summer mean to you....anything else you would include on your list?

Having fun in the sun at the fair weather forum @ centsational girl, seasonal sunday @ the tablescaper, countdown to summer @ domestically speaking, weekend bloggy reading @ serenity now.

Giveaway ending tonite

In case you never noticed that little "extra, extra" sidebar thingy where i add random nonsense like link parties and thank yous, i wanted to be sure you knew that the

$40 CSN giveaway ends tonite at midnight

That's about as in your face as i care to get, so hopefully that suffices.  And while we're here, let's do a shout out to some friends who i need to thank for awards, etc.  A general "taking care of business" type day.

Marjorie from Crazy Cat Decor bestowed upon me the versatile blogger award and K from Big K, little a  tagged and bestowed me the stylish blogger award.  Thanks ladies, you rock!  I agree with you 100%. HA!

Beth's kick ass Halloween mantel party garnered a feature for my halloween tablescape, so thank you Beth from The stories of A-Z. 

I think that does it.  Don't forget to enter the giveaway, and i can't wait til i can stop saying that!

She's extremely versatile, you know.

Firefly at Throwing Paint thinks I'm versatile! And award worthy!

I found Firefly when she left a comment on my fave musical voices post and it turns out she has Musical Mondays on her blog.  What i love is that she posts the lyrics, so you can really get a sense of why that particular music means something to her. She also saved my blog when Blogger wasn't working and came back to follow!  Unheard of!  Love her for that!

Versatile Blogger rules:

 Thank and link the award giver, list 7 things about yourself, and pass it on!  No number to pass it on to, thank goodness, b/c that part stresses me out for sure!

7 things:

1.  No matter how technologically advanced we get, i refuse to stop buying cds.   i need the cds for my collection, to play in the car, and they can easily be loaded to my mp3 player.

2.  No matter how technologically advanced we get, i refuse to buy a kindle type apparatus.  i need books for my collection, and i need to get them from the library first.

3.  The word apparatus reminds me of My So Called Life, and i am absolutely 100% obsessed with that tv show.

4.  I will be seeing my first ventriliquist comedian this weekend and i'm afraid it's going to be awkward.

5.  I love chicken salad.

6.  I am obsessed with the dalai lama merely b/c he's a cute little man.  I have a picture of him up at work. He's smiling at me.  He's so happy.

7.  I can't wait to decorate for fall, glorious fall, this weekend!

I am passing this award onto 4 ladies who are fabulous commenters (since i found the awarder thru comments) and whom i greatly appreciate!

Danielle and Clint @ The Newlyweds Paradise
Jeralee @ Seeing the Potential
Crazy Garden Lady
Christy B @ Achieving Simplicity in Life

Go forth and be versatile! 

you like me, you really like me

Well, at least one person does anyway.

Jill of Jembellish gave me my very first blog award, and i am super excited.  Thank you thank you thank you, Jill who i am insanely jealous of.  She gets to live here:

No, it's not Hawaii, it's Australia.  I know, right?

So here's the deal with this award.  First, i display it.

Check.

Then i must link back to the person who gave it me.  Check.

Then i must come up with 6 truths and 1 lie about myself.  

This amused me-which one do you think is the lie? 

1.  I love halloween so much, i tattooed it on me.
2.  In college, i became addicted to the shop at home channel QVC.
3.  My passion is working to empower women who are victims of rape, sexual assualt, and domestic violence.
4.  S and I, though not married, have been together for 15 years.
5.  I think I was born in the wrong era.  I go weak for the "wah wah" of 40s jazz.
6.  My favorite ice cream flavor is Birthday Cake.
7. I am determined to host an Academy Awards party this year.

Then, I must pass the award onto 7 other bloggers.  This was rather hard to do, because I wanted to ask people if they would accept it before i passed it on.  Some were a no, some i haven't heard from, so i'm just gonna go ahead with it and if they don't pass it on, that is entirely up to them!

First up is Alyssa from 33 Shades of Green.  She was one of my earliest supporters, has inspiring ideas like her summer mantle and fun letter art.  I also really appreciate the time she took to answer a question i had, and included the link in the answer.  That took time, people!

Next is Linda from A La Carte, who comments instead of lurks, has awesome thrifty finds, and loves her cat crazy like i do!  She also just turned 60.  I just noticed Linda has an award free button, so she she is opting out of passing this along.

Sarah from Hennessey House is a super talented artist and first time homeowner.  Her tales of gardening are too amusing, and she isn't above some dumpster diving.  She also opened at Etsy store....personally i love the drawing in her blog header b/c it reminds me of the art in my sunroom.

I feel like Tana from Orange it Lovely and i could be friends IRL, yo, for real.  We live semi near each other, and with the consistent comment interaction we've had, yes, it could happen.  She's on a mission to take her sunroom from drab to fab, and started with these great chair finds.   She baked her first cake for her best friend who is a Styx fan.  I don't think i could even name one Styx song, but i can appreciate her effort! 

Sandy from  The Wonders of Doing is awesome.  She turn a dated old light fixture into a much more modern piece.  I am desperate to get a new one in our upstairs bath, and this may be just the "after" to motivate me to diy it, instead of paying more for a good lookin' chrome piece.

So yeah, that's only 5.  That's all I've got right now.  Love to Debbie Doos who also opted out, but know that i think she rocks!

So, did you guess which one is the lie? 

 

S and I haven't been together for 15 years, it's only 13.  Not bad for college sweethearts who survived long distance while at school, and then living an hour away from each other until 3 years ago.  You're reading the chronicle of our first home, and our first cohabitation after years of only seeing each other on weekends!  It's taken some adjusting, mostly by me, having to cook and launder while he works on the house.  You know how i feel about gender roles, right? But really, nothing is better than coming home to each other every night.  To our home, that we are making together.  Sappy.  I'm done here.

"interesting blogi"

Hello, Russian friends.  Or shall i say....no, i don't know what Hello in Russian is, sorry.

 My new friend at La Maison Reid let me know that we, along with many others, were featured as "interesting blogi" on a russian blog.  This clarifies why as of yesterday i had a russian follower (hello sir).  She translated it via Babelfish if anyone is interested, and i would imagine his US readership is skyrocketing once everyone figures out they're highlighted.  I have to admit, being skeptical and pessimistic, that i am not 100% sure this isn't some sort of scam/spyware/evil virus infiltrator.  After checking other sites he joined and recognizing those blogs, i feel somewhat better about this.  This is strange...i'm talking about him, and he is probably reading this translated since he's a follower.  (hello again, sir, please don't be offended by my skepticism b/c you are 1. male and 2. russian.)  And why must i be so formal?  You don't see me calling anyone else ma'am!   

So if you are interested in seeing what other fun Babelfish has in store...."creamy is the kitchen table to repeat"(savvy chic home) and "it is built from zero shelf" (My Repurposed Life) go check out his blog.

On another note, i was awarded my very first blog award (yippee!!) from Jill and can't wait to get into that.  It shall be it's own post later in the week.

This has been the strangest day, and it's not even 9:45 am.