Giveaway Winners!

It's a beautiful Saturday here in Michigan ... sun shining, blue skies, mid-60s temperatures. I love spring! Rather than write a big ole crazy entry today, I'm headed outside to play in the dirt and soak up the sunshine. But, first ... the winners are ...

Round 1: Bag 'o Sample Goodness

Comment #15 -- goldenecho


Round 2: Starbucks Chocolate Heaven

Comment #3 -- Sarah

These two ladies have 48 hours from now (so 5pm Monday, May 4) to email me at jesuisem AT gmail DOT com with their contact/shipping info to claim their prizes. After that, if there are no emails, I'll draw another winner.


Thanks so much for playing along, everyone! I loved all the comments, and hopefully you've found another cool place on the web to hang out. Thanks again go to Laura at HeavenlyHomemakers for hosting the Giveaway Carnival!


Simply,

Em.

Springtime Giveaway Carnival!

I like springtime. I like carnivals (ooooh, elephant ears ... drool, please), and most importantly, I loooooove presents. I'm so stoked to be able to join in the Springtime Giveaway Carnival at HeavenlyHomemakers that I have not 1, but 2 giveaways for you this week. Wahoo!

-----(( Round 1 ))-----

The first giveaway is partially pictured above. It's a Meijer bag currently filled with all kinds of sample sized goodies from travel bottles of Sunsilk (as pictured) to little foil packets of this and that to a tin of Flex mints, a full sized Schick razor, and even a diaper from Huggies. It's a hodge podge of things from my Back Up Box (which you can read about here), and it's for you (Awwwww ...).

-----(( Round 2 ))-----

The second giveaway is this collection of Starbucks chocolates. There are Cafe Mocha truffles, Vanila Bean Truffles, Caramel Macchiato Truffles, and Milk Chocolate Espresso Beans. Coffee + Chocolate?! Is there possibly anything better? Ever? Ah yes, freeeeeeeeee coffee chocolates.

-----(( To Enter ))-----

1. Leave a comment on this post. I looooooooooove comments. They make me smile.

2. Check back (or you could subscribe ... ) on Friday, May 1 after 12 Noon for winners.

3. Respond within 48 hours with your contact info to jesuisem AT gmail DOT com.

4. Wait not so patiently for your chocolates to arrive and eat (most of?) them on the way in from the mailbox.

5. While you're waiting, head over to the rest of the Carnival and check out the other sweet giveaways in progress. Enter away!


Simply,

Em.

Giveaway Winner: Take 2

I'm terribly sad that the first winner of our giveaway didn't email me.

A word to the wise, bloggy giveaway entrants: always put the blog whose giveaway you enter into your Reader or subscribe by email so you don't miss out on your name being announced.

And so, I went back to the random number generator and plugged in the info for round two. This new winner will also have 48 hours to contact me to claim the prize, so by 1130pm on Saturday, April 25th. The new winner is (another drum roll, perhaps?) ...

<3

Yes, that's right, an entrant without a name. She's like the blogger formerly known as (insert name here). So! Congrats to her and thanks again to everyone who entered!


Simply,

Em.

Menu Plan Monday and a Winner!

One would think that the point of menu plans would be to know what's for dinner any given day in a week. Apparently this week at my house, the menu was for knowing what absolutely wasn't for dinner instead. We had frozen pizza on Monday, as planned (and by planned I mean it had already happened when I posted Monday night) and then not another day of the week did we stick to the menu. The good news, though, is by some fluke we still managed to eat only from the pantries and freezers. Hooray for that! I didn't even have a Super Saving Saturday to post about because I avoided the grocery deals entirely this week. I would be lying if I said I didn't cringe a little about missing out on freebies at Walgreens, but alas, I seemed to made it through ok.

As for the menu, this week we'll be having ...

M: Frozen pizza
(Am I beginning to see a trend? Someone seems to keep having papers ... well, finals this time ... that need writing on Mondays. Good thing we have that stash of nearly free to us frozen french breads!)
T: Em Hash
W: Grilled and Glazed Ham Steaks with au gratins, green beans, and rolls
R: Crockpot Whole Garlic Chicken, mashed potatoes, green salads, roasted carrots
F: Mongo Night
S: Out with friends for Irish food, beer, and the.best.band.ever.
U: Chicken Pot Pie (from leftover crockpot chicken) with biscuits

The Updated Month of Menus is as follows ...

Crockpot Pork Roast x2
Seared Beef Roast x2 (One of these went to stir fry on Sunday, and the other will go to stir fry this week.)
Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Spaghetti with Meatball Marinara
Corn Tacos x2
Em Hash (recipe ... er ... well, general concept forthcoming) x2
Homemade Pizza x2
Crockpot Whole Garlic Chicken
Chicken Pot Pie Casserole with Biscuits (from leftover whole chicken)
Ham and Potato Casserole
Grilled and Glazed Ham Steaks x2
Venison Helper (I still have the venison, we used beef instead, which may mean I run out of ground beef for the other menu items early ...)
Soup and Grilled Bacon & Cheese Sandwiches x2
Baked Pork Chops
Grilled Marinaded Pork Chops
Grilled Cod/Tilapia
Chicken Mongo (so much fun ... hopefully with pictures when we get to it)
Sausage and Spinach Lasagne
Sauce Your Own Meatballs and Potatoes (you pick: sweet & sour, bbq, swedish, marinara ... I keep the sauces frozen in bags and knock a chunk off to warm up based on what everyone wants)
Breakfast for Dinner: Pancakes, Eggs, Sausage
ItaliSoy Grilled Chicken Breasts (the easiest marinade in. the. world.)
Popcorn Chicken and Fries (from a recipe at the Heavenly Homemaker)
Fried Chicken Salads

Oh! I nearly forgot.

Now, the fun part ... the winner of the giveaway. The random number generator tells me that the winner of the Practical Cubed Cookbook Set is ... (drumroll, anyone?)

heavenleigh6751

Congrats to her and thanks to everyone that participated! She has 48 hours from now (so, 11pm on Wednesday, April 22nd) to email me at jesuisem (at) gmail (dot) com or I'll have to randomly generate another winner.


Simply,

Em.

ps, for a ton more menus, by people who seem much more skilled than I in keeping to them, check out Menu Plan Monday at the Org. Junkie.

Frugal Friday: Date Night?

I have long heard about the wonderful advantages of having planned date nights to reconnect, spend some quality time together, and not be distracted by the everyday happenings of life at home. I have promptly ignored all of it. I often say we can't afford date nights. We don't have room in our budget for take out let alone dinner in a restaurant or a movie or the like. I know, I know, there are a million 'frugal' date night ideas. In any other situation, I would have probably blogged about 100 of them already, but I've been busy ignoring the most obvious thing in the world: Be and I should probably spend some time together on a semi-regular basis.

We are that couple that is more hands-off than hands-on. I mean that in the best way. We adore each other. We live in the same house. We share a life ... but we also go in 283 other non-together directions on an average day. From when we started dating (has it been 8 years? Ah!) and went 2 or 3 weeks without speaking to living 3 hours apart to living on different continents to Be's on the road job that kept him away from home for 4 weeks at a time once we did finally live together, we're kind of used to this. It's how we roll, and until now I haven't really had any issue with it.

Then, I sent an email.

Yes, an email, to Be, this morning to give him an update on our finances for the next few months. An email?! Who does that? Who automatically clicks into business management mode and sends off a stodgy sounding electronic message about net gains and accessibility rather than having a 10 minute face to face with the person she sleeps next to? Ah yes, apparently I do. This has been bothering me all afternoon ... like ... what kind of 'wife lady' (Be's less than adorable name for me) does that make me? I panicked momentarily and decided those date night people have likely been right all along.

Now, to solve this problem.

How in the world can I find space in our budget and time in our schedules for us to share a meal at a table for 2 rather than a table for 5? Ah yes, the internet. The good people at Restaurants.com are having a mid-month sale where all their $25 certificates are marked down to $3 if you use the promo code: FEAST at checkout. In addition, Restaurants.com is a participating retailer with Mr. Rebates (my online shopping cash back service of choice who happens to have a boatload of coupon codes and offers $5 cash to new sign-ups) so by clicking through their link to the resto site I get 20% cash back on whatever I spent there in my Mr. Rebates account.

$25 certificate to fancy schmancy Tap Room
$25 certificate to Be's favorite wood fired pizza place
--------
$6
- Mr. Rebates cash back
--------
$4.80

It should require magical powers to turn $4.80 into $50, but really it's as easy as a few clicks and a website registration. I can find $4.80 in the budget for two date nights with my lovely at places that do not serve food on plastic trays or have inside play areas. I could probably find $4.80 in my couch cushions right now (someone should really vacuum those ...), and if you're in need of a cheapie date night idea you may well be able to too.

Now, to find room in the schedules ...


Simply,

Em.

PS: For more Frugal Fridays, check out its new home at LifeAsMOM.

PPS: Have you entered the giveaway yet? T minus 8 hours left to post your comments and score your entries for the set of 5 Practical series cookbooks. Go, right now, there isn't time to wait. <3

Gratituesday: Just Add Water & Stir

Need more of your gratitude fix? Check out Heavenly Homemakers!

I am kind of a control freak. I don't really care about controlling your life, but I am nearly hyperventilate level (ok, not that bad) controlling of mine. I plan. I schedule. I make lists and charts and color codes. I like to have an idea of what's going on now, tomorrow, next week, and probably November. I want to see all the pieces in place before they even begin to come together. I want. I want. I want.

I used to think that made me one of those 'on top of her game' kind of people. Self-starter, multi-tasker, uber-organized ... all labels I enjoyed (except that I'm more a self-get 'er done at the last minute than a self-starter). Every part of my life was about having a plan, knowing the 47 million possible consequences and scenarios for every action (or inaction), and a lot of worrying about all of it tumbling apart 'house of cards in Oklahoma' style.

This would be a sweet Gratituesday if I was grateful for a full recovery from my control freak affliction.

It's not.

I'm not.

Well, because I haven't (recovered, that is).

The thing I'm learning, though, is that most times ... even if I get stressed about imperfections ... even if the plan gets tossed out the window ... even if I don't trust the process ... things pretty much wind up alright. Life really can be an unplanned hodge podge that you just add water to and stir. I'm finally learning to be patient, to relax, to calm down, and to just let it go. I'm learning that what I want isn't always what should be. I'm learning the trust The Plan rather than my petty attempts at planning. For that continuing lesson, for the one patient enough to teach me everyday, and for the understanding that it's ok if I don't get it the first time (or possibly, the 100th), I am grateful.

Always simply grateful,

Em.


Ooooooh, you know what else I'm grateful for? You! I can prove it! There are presents involved and everything! Did you check out the Giveaway yet this week? Details are here.

It's a Blog-iversary and a Giveaway!

Photo: Cellach

365 days ... 112 posts ... the inaugural year of Gratitude. Simplicity. Frugality. comes to an end today.

I was not new to blogging a year ago, but I was entirely new to blogging for people other than my friends, that was targeted around a topic other than me getting cranky about something, and that was (mostly) curse word free. I had started posting entries about using up leftovers and grocery store deals, but save a small handful of my friends, my other blog's readers weren't so much interested. After some prodding by Be, my mom, and others, GSF became a reality and you know the rest of the story (or at least you can find it out by clicking through the archive).

I hope that you've enjoyed the posting here so far. I've really enjoyed writing over the last year, scoping deals, telling you hilarious (and often disastrous) stories of our frugal endeavors, and being a part of the frugal/simple/saver/personal finance/homemaking bloggy community. I have learned a ton about the mechanics of blogging for an audience, and I appreciate all of you for sticking through that learning curve.

In the coming year, look for more coupon strategies, deal alerts, stories of crazy frugality, gratituesdays, and a special spring/summer series coming super soon. If you have any suggestions for material you'd like to see, or questions about ... well, anything, I'd love to get a note from you about them.

Photo: Jen Chan

Now, on to business ... an "-iversary " be it Anni-, Blog-, or otherwise wouldn't be complete without two of my favorite things: cake and presents. Being that it is likely impossible to ship cake without it turning to mush ... and that I don't know that cake would ever last here long enough to get to a post office ... we're sticking with presents. I have a giveaway for one of you, a set of 5 cookbooks from the P Cubed Practical Series. They are quick reads with glossy pictures of all the recipes which always helps me decide 1: if I should try to make it or not and 2: if I screwed it up at the end when it doesn't look at all like the picture. Included are a copy each of Practical Pizzas, Practical Stir-fry, Practical Baking, Practical Desserts, and Practical Chocolate; all are approximately 20-30 pages.

Sooooooo, how do you enter?

1. Post a comment to this entry saying ... well, whatever you want to for your first entry.

2. Include in that comment your favorite part of GSF and/or a question or suggestion for the next year for your second entry.

3. Post the giveaway info to your blog and link back to GSF, then come and tell me you did it (including the link) for your third entry.

That's 3 chances to win for each of you! The giveaway will remain open until midnight EST on Friday, April 17, 2009 so you have plenty of time to get in on the fun. Once closed, I will use a random number generator to choose the winner who will then have 48 hours to respond or forfeit their prize.

Thanks again for a great first year. I'm looking forward to an even cooler second one. Now, quickly, run off and tell your friends about the giveaway so you can get all your chances in and I can send you this stack of yummy cookbooks. While you're gone, I think I'll have some cake ...


Simply (and thankfully!),

Em.

(I'll be back soon with the menu ... )