More Giveaways

Lately I have been entering to win giveaways on my fellow bloggers blogs! I have been pretty lucky so far!
An Embroidered Duffel bag from Sew Cute by Katie (I only paid shipping)
A super soft handmade scarf from Amy's Creative Corner
Sugar Scrub from Sandy's Soap ScentialsA Super Cute Belt from Hickity Pickity
An Igo Wall Charger- It turns itself off when the charge is complete so there is no phantom draw from the outlet! Good for the environment and the electricity bill :)A beautiful Calendar from Felicia Kramer
An adorable Note Pad from Sweet Life Paper
And a handmade wristlet from Made By Ciel!

I LOVE everything and am amazed that people are so generous. I am going to be having a giveaway for my shop in November on Mrs. Nespy's Frugal World! So be on the lookout for it!

Books

Many who know me know that I love books and love to read. I generally hate tv (I have a sick fascination with Jersey Shore, but otherwise) and movies, and would much rather read books. Lately I haven't been reading as much as I like to. I really don't have a lot to read and I haven't come across anything new that strikes my interest. I think what I really need is a Kindle!! I came across some book- blogs, and one of them is actually giving away a Kindle to their readers! The giveaway ends Sept 16, but there is still time to enter your name in the drawing! So get over there and enter, and if you don't want a Kindle do it anyway and give it to me for Christmas if you win! :)

Here is a link to enter- http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=30559

Taco Soup Recipe

One of my dearest friends passed away a year ago. This was a recipe she shared with me, cooked for me, and I for her. I make it all the time, and it always reminds me of her. I might as well re-name it Veronica Soup:

1 pound lean ground beef
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can great northern beans
1 can corn (I don't like corn, so I don't put any :-p )
1 can rotel
1 pack of taco seasoning
1 medium onion
1 tbsp crushed red pepper
1 cup water
salt & pepper to taste

Chop the onion. Drain and rinse all the beans and corn. Add rinsed beans, corn, rotel, seasoning, onion, water, and spices to a large pot on med-high heat. Brown the beef and drain. Add the beef to the pot and bring to a boil. Let simmer for about 30 minutes. Top with shredded cheese and tortilla chips.

Simple, quick, and inexpensive. Perfect :)

Orlando!

As many of you know, I drive a Mini Cooper S. Whenever I get a chance, I like to look at other Mini's and dream of having a better one. I just can't seem to find THE perfect one. Mine is great.. but it has little kinks that they worked out in the newer years.

Anyway, Sunshine Minis of Florida is having a Meet in Orlando Oct 1-3. And we are going! We found a hotel for $40 a night woo hoo! They are having a car show, a wine tasting, go-kart racing, comedy shows, dinners, etc etc! We are def going to do the drive to the Vineyard, the Go-karts, and the Midnight cruise around Orlando.

The tough question is whether we want to take Friday to go to Universal and see Harry Potter World.. we reallllly wanna go, but tix are $82 each! So it's going to turn into an expensive trip quickly. We will have to see how much money we can save up in the next month I guess :)

Giveaway!

I found this super cute bracelet giveaway on etsygiveaways.com!

I don't usually go crazy over people's giveaways, but I love this bracelet and if I don't win it I might have to buy one like it!

I like to support my fellow Etsy-ers, so I decided to blog about this giveaway to help out.

Here is a link to the giveaway (and the rest of her blog)
http://chimericalperfection.blogspot.com/2010/08/giveaway.html

Registry Freebies

Finally I have a bit of time to update. As I mentioned last week, I LOVE free stuff. But really, who doesn't? I spent quite a bit of effort getting these freebies from Williams-Sonoma gift registry, but it was worth it!

First I received a pair of Wusthof kitchen scissors. They are great! Super sharp and comfortable to hold. They are so sharp I don't even want to use them because I don't want them to dull haha.

Next I received a Le Creuset mini cast iron baking pot... worthless but cute! It's about the size of a creme brulee.. which I will never be able to make!
I also get a set of 3 All-Clad stainless steel measuring cups in odd sizes. Also a bit worthless, but they are heavy and nice if I need 2/3, 3/4, or 1 1/2 cups of something.

I can't decide which of the next two are my favorite: A Calphalon non-stick skillet, or a Shun paring knife.

The Calphalon non-stick is AMAZING. It makes me WANT to cook! (Truly amazing!) The skillet is small, 8", but by them sending it to me free, I really want to purchase the rest of the set. It's that good! Excellent marketing I think. Sending out something free makes me think the company really believes in their product.

Lastly I got a Shun 3.5" paring knife. I have never heard of this brand before, probably because they are so expensive, but the knife is incredible. It was crafted in the way Japanese swords are, folded to an extreme point. It is super sharp! I have never diced so much in my life! They sent it in a very nicely packaged box, complete with care instructions. I would also LOVE to complete this set.



So, if you are getting married, I recommend a Williams-Sonoma registry! Its easy, fun, and full of Freebies!! Hmm I wonder if I could blog for them and get more free stuff...

Wedding Registries

When Chuck asked me to marry him, the first thing I did (after crying like a baby and saying yes), was look at bridal registries. This is probably not where most girls start... but we still haven't set a date, so we aren't going in the traditional order of things anyway.

Anyway, a great new trend that couples are doing now is a Honeymoon registry- you register for things you want to do on your honeymoon, and essentially your friends and family buy pieces of your trip. I feel like this will be really great for us, since we already have towels, sheets, plates, pots, etc. People can contribute to your candlelit dinner, horseback ride in the surf, or whatever other cheesy romantic things you want to do on your first trip as a married couple. They can even 'purchase' part of your plane ticket or hotel. All the money technically goes to the couple, then they are responsible for booking the honeymoon with their funds. Giving to the honeymoon is more personal than just handing over money, but I felt like some would still prefer a traditional registry...

Which brings me to my point. Then I found the Williams-Sonoma gift registry. You can register online, people can purchase online, and ship gifts to you- no one ever has to set foot in an actual W-S store! Which is great because there aren't any around here.

So to show their appreciation, many companies will send you a free gift just for registering for their products! And ANOTHER free gift if your guests purchase a certain dollar amount of their product for you! Sign me up!

It was a bit of a pain to do, each vendor has certain guidelines for how much of their products you must register for. For example, Calphalon's was $500 worth of merchandise. Then you print your registry, print out a form with your name and address, and snail mail(!) it all to their home office. All in all I did about 5 of these offers, and 6 months later have received them all! Now if everyone will buy me thousands of dollars worth of presents maybe I will get some more! Ha!

Stay tuned to see what all I got!