And the Winner Is...

The random number generator picked 111...I counted and counted to get the winner...

...Drum roll please!

KELLY!!!

Kelly, I have your address already somewhere in my files. :) I will ship out your goodies early next week. I hope you love them! And I hope your leg feels better soon...Rachel Lucas has some great tips on fighting off dog attacks.

And I have another special announcement. All the comments and participation was SO wonderful! I can't thank you all enough for helping make this a fantastic birthday month. There were over 400 comments!!!!! Which for some blogs might not seem like a lot but for my little piece of the blog world is tremendous. :)

The top commenter was ...

Bunny B with 59 comments. Wow.

And first runner up is blueviolet with 47!

And they weren't lame comments...I think I only had one or two "please sign me up" without any other contributing thoughts. People took the time to read posts or look at photos. It's just incredible.

Oh...and the surprise. :) LOL I'm going to send Bunny B and blueviolet a little surprise. I haven't quite decided what yet but it'll be something nice. So, ladies I need your addresses. I e-mailed you from my hotmail account ... check your spam folders. :)

I hope everyone who visited in April will continue to visit and read my chaotic ramblings about random things. =) I plan to continue blogging daily...I enjoy it so much!

Only ONE More Day!

Wow. This month has just flown by! I can't thank everyone enough for helping make this the best birthday month ever.

There is only one more day to take advantage of the 30% off discount for my website. If I have any extra goody packs I may include them in orders in May but I only have a couple left.

And Thursday I will be drawing a name for the grand prize!!! I have had SO much fun reading everyone's comments. I've met so many new people and discovered some incredible blogs.

I will post the winner's name here on Thursday and just might have a surprise in store. :) If the winner didn't leave a way to contact them and doesn't check in by next Monday I will draw a new name.

You still have over a day to get your comments posted - each comment counts as an entry (one comment per post though). And if you make a purchase, not only do you save 30%, but you get 10 entries!

Thank you all!!!

She Gave You Life

Mother's Day is all of 17 days away. Have you thought about what you're going to give your mom yet? Instead of the same old flowers or chocolate how about ordering something special just for your mom (don't forget your mother in law too!). Is she a crafty mom? Etsy is the perfect place to find unique and special items for the crafty mama.

If you don't win my April Birthday Giveaway, which includes a great crochet hook holder from Good Karma, you can buy one directly from her. Excellent service and an incredibly well made product. She has knitting needle holders too. I love the fabric she used for this one. Perfect for the knitting mama.


What goes great with knitting? YARN! That's right. And there are talented folks out there who actually take apart old sweaters and clothes to recycle the yarn. Talk about patience. I don't think I could do it. Black Coral has the patience and the results are fabulous. Win the Birthday Giveaway and you'll get a stunning Cotton Candy skein, but if not head on over to her shop and pick out your favorite!


Since I'm on a good roll with this theme, complete the knitting package with a custom pair of knitting needles! Again, if you don't win the Birthday Giveaway head on over to Chelle and pick out your favorite pair of customized knitting needles. I love the Knit Wit pair. :) But I don't knit.



Or is your mom into rubber stamping and scrapbooking? How about a really unique and custom rubber stamp? Perfect for making special cards, accenting scrapbook pages, or stamping on envelopes. It amazes me that Craft Pudding carves and creates these herself. Her kitty stamp is part of the Birthday Giveaway but I really like this Russian Doll one too.

If your mom isn't the crafty type, don't worry. I'm on the hunt for exciting and unique gifts to recommend for the anti-crafter (like my own mom). Have a great Friday!!!

Birthday Celebration Sponsor - InVita Paper Studios

People don't write personal notes or cards anymore...at least not nearly as often as they should. It's so fun and uplifting to receive a special letter in the mail. For no reason at all. I've had a couple of customers even send hand written thank you notes and those mean SO much. I save them all.

What better way to motivate yourself to send cards is to have amazing and classy cards at hand? InVitaPaper Studios is there to provide! I started buying Adriana's cards last year and was so impressed that I asked her to do custom Thank You cards for my jewelry business. Every time someone gets their order they also receive a thank you note written on my InVita note cards.

And for all of April people are receiving a free card in their Birthday Party Favor gift. There are two different cards available and this lovely Thank You card is one of them. I actually ordered a set for myself because I liked them so much, and sent them out to folks after my birthday party. :) While supplies last of course and the stock is getting low!

InVita has great customer service and I love supporting handcrafting. All of her cards are designed and created from her home. Oh and she's pregnant! Congratulations, Adriana!!! :) I am so excited for her.

She also kindly contributed two packs of cards for the big Birthday Giveaway (ending in just over a week!!!). A pack of recipe cards that make even me want to cook just so I can use them! And a set of So Sweet super classy and elegant cards.

She also does Wedding Invitations and Birth Announcements! If I were getting married I would totally have her do my invites. And when my little cousin finally ties the knot (we're waiting guys!) I'm going to pony up and pay for InVita's amazing work. My JoJo deserves it. =)

If you love surprising people with a special note I highly recommend InVita's professional and handcrafted work. Oh and visit her blog One Blue Chocolate to say hi!

Birthday Celebration Sponsor - The Dippy Chick

Veggies need a little pick me up? Looking for a little added flavor with those chips and pretzels?

May I recommend The Dippy Chick? I've been ordering her yummies for over a year as gifts and they are always a huge hit!

With fun names like "Don't Squat With Your Spurs On" and "In the Dill of the Night" it's hard not to want to learn more.

Christine, owner and stay at home mom of two boys, started her Dippy business in 2004 and is a huge hit. All of her products are made from scratch and you can be certain that she only uses the finest ingredients.

Food allergies? Gluten sensitivity? These are the dips for you. All of her recipes are gluten free and she even has a Special Diets page.

With every purchase from Casto Creations in the month of April you will receive a special "party favor" gift pack, which includes a Dippy Chick pack!


And the winner of the 30th Birthday Celebration wins the big bag of goodies which includes several Wickedly Delicious Dips!

Birthday Contributor Post - Herb & Ginger

I am not a tea drinker but I'm getting close to converting. Just the smell of Herb + Ginger teas make me crave the hot soothing drink. I've purchased a couple of times from them for family gifts and their delicious creations are always a huge hit.

Enjoy their Berry Fruity tea if you win the Birthday Celebration Gift Giveaway!

And if you place an order with Casto Creations during the month of April you'll receive an absolutely divine smelling sample of tea, Queen's Caramel. You better hurry because hubby is itching to drink all my samples!

Herb + Ginger's service is outstanding and I highly recommend them. My family loves their teas, sugars, and other goodies and I know you will too.

Birthday Contributor Post - Allyson Hill

Keeping my car clean is a constant challenge but when I found Allyson Hill that challenge got a little easier to manage.


Her car litter bags are beautiful and functional. I am so impressed with the quality of her work. I bought mine over a year ago and it's still in great shape. I also bought one for my mom for Christmas and she loves hers.

And she donated one for my special Birthday Gift Giveaway! She even sells biodegradable plastic liners, which are super convenient and keep your litter bag nice and clean.


She also put together the most adorable little gifts as part of the Casto Creations Birthday Celebration special "party favor". You can get your party favor (not to mention 30% off) by making a purchase at Casto Creations. While supplies last of course.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy Birthday to Me!
Happy Birthday to Me!
Happy Birthday to meeeeeee!
Happy Birthday to me!

Is that too narcissistic? LOL

I rarely celebrate my birthdays with any big exciting event. The last biggest one was probably my 16th ... or my 21st. And trust me they were not that exciting. I didn't even drink that much. My friends kept ordering me drinks and I didn't like any of them so they all got wasted and I was the designated driver! HAHAHAHA Story of my life.

I walked into work today and what do you know...my desk is 'decorated'...black and white 'over the hill' and little '30' confetti everywhere. OMG those things are a nightmare to clean up and I know I'll be finding them everywhere for the next 12 months.



Don't mind the messy desk...I consider it "lived in" rather than disorganized. I even have a little sign that says "organized people are just too lazy to look for things!" hahahaha My desk is a joke at my work.

My friend on Posh Mama posted this hilarious video on my page that has me cracking up!


I certainly feel very blessed today. I need to call my mom and say Thank You. I was a BIG baby. 8 pounds and 4 ounces and I think I was 21 inches long! Poor woman.

It's still weird to think that I'm 30. Hubby was kind enough to excitedly yell Happy 30th when he got home...at 3 a.m.! The goof ball.

I hope everyone has a fabulous day. I'm going to try to go home early. *grin* Not to do anything fun just to have a few extra hours off. I'll probably end up doing work! heh Orders come before birthdays. ;)

My Coworkers are Nuts!

Oh my goodness! My team took me to lunch today for my birthday (which isn't until tomorrow...but our team is only fully together on Mondays since three of us have alternative schedules) and surprised me.

I thought lunch would be my gift but then they handed me this cute little box and a tiny little card with a silver apple on it. Yup. They got me an I-POD!!!!!!! It's even engraved! LOL

And it is so freaking cute and tiny. I love it. It's going to fit perfectly in my Tyger Lily purse too. :)

It's a Nano and it plays video apparently. It's aqua. Now I want a cool i-Pod cover!

Need Graphics?

In preparing for my big Birthday Bash I decided that I needed some special graphics. I am not so creative in the graphic department. I can do basic things like editing my photos and removing dust specks. But designing? Not so much.

So, I hopped on Etsy and wrote up an Alchemy request. I got more than ten people who responded and it was a tough choice because many of them had great designs in their shops. However the clean and crisp designs of Zomb.

And the graphics you're seeing on my website and here on my blog are her designs. I LOVE them! She was so great to work with and did a fabulous job. She gave me several options for the design and made the (minor) changes I requested. And voila!

It's simple and classic which is exactly what I wanted. Nothing to foo foo or frilly. Sort of like my designs (at least I think so). And she has some really cool products like t-shirts with unique designs as well. I love her "Little Bird has a Lot to Say" t-shirt design.


And if I had a little boy I would totally get this Elephants print for his room. This is one of her designs that really caught my eye when I was previewing artists. :) I just love elephants.

I was super impressed with Zomb's professionalism and skill and I will definitely go back to her when I need more graphics. I highly recommend her.

Birthday Contributor Post - The Tyger Lily

When I saw this knit purse designed and handcrafted by Karen of The Tyger Lily I knew it would be mine. I bought it for myself as a birthday gift to me. :) The second it came in the mail I jumped up and down and made hubby take a photo of me with it. It just rocks!


This isn't your granny's knit purse. And I can't even count the number of compliments and oohs and aaahs that I've received from people all over the place - the grocery store, teriyaki restaurant, work, everywhere. People can just see the quality and then when I open it with a little snap they are even more impressed. It's hard to believe that it's handmade!

It holds quite a bit but when I first got it I was using a D&B leather wallet that was just way too big so I just "had" to order a smaller wallet and now everything fits like a glove.

Karen sent along a special little extra with my birthday gift - a fabulous knit covered journal for the Grand Prize Birthday Giveaway! It is SO cute!!!

Perfect to carry in your bag or keep by the phone for a stylish notepad helper. It matches my purse! But I'm not keeping it. :) Ha!

I highly recommend The Tyger Lily's products and service. She is excellent!

Thank you Karen for participating in my fun Birthday celebration!!!

Birthday Celebration Clarification

I'm so excited by all the great comments so far! It seems that some of ya'll aren't reading the details of this celebration very carefully. :)

I'm not giving away my jewelry except for the two pairs available via Bloggy Giveaways - and to win those you have to enter on her site.

If there is a particular piece of jewelry that you love it makes sense to buy it during the month of April while it is 30% off. I won't have such a large discount any time soon (if at all). Use the code HAPPY30 on my site.

The Grand Prize giveaway will include one small piece of jewelry but that's it. No other jewelry is being given away. I appreciate those who have commented on their favorite pieces and how they'd like to win those. But if you love them a lot and must have them in your wardrobe buy them now. =)

Regular blogging resumes tomorrow but remember that EVERY comment during the month of April counts as one entry for the grand prize.

Birthday Contributor Post - MiSpa

Mi Spa is an Indie bath and body business I discovered at least a year and a half ago, maybe even further back. I've ordered several times and their products are excellent. This yummy Mango Iced Tea is part of my Birthday Giveaway.


I'm not a big perfume person - I usually forget to even put it on. But she has a fabulous roll on perfume that is super convenient. I'm able to swipe it on my wrists before I get out of my car and head inside to work.

My scent is Peony Blossom. I also have the matching scent in a great pump bottle lotion that I keep at my desk. It's super convenient and it's non greasy and doesn't linger or stay sticky on my hands. I need it at work because our soap is so drying.


If you place a jewelry order during the month of April you'll get one of MiSpa's amazing soap samples as part of your birthday "party favor" pack (not to mention the 30% off!).