The Queen B

Let The Fun Begin (including a little giveaway :) (Now Relocated)

So.  Um.  Apparently I am not the rule follower that I thought I was.

I forgot that BlogHer Ads has guidelines for giveaways...

So the giveaway from All Modern for a fun selection from their modern furniture and decor has moved to my never-before-used QB Review Blog.

Go check it out!

Winner!!

The winner of the $30 Amazon gift certificate is...

Happy Geek!!

Congrats!!  

I'll email you or you can email me and we'll work out the details!!!

Thanks to all who entered.

We'll do it again soon.

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

71

Timestamp: 2009-04-06 04:09:06 UTC

The Queen Received Her Crown

Unfortunately, it is in her mouth.

The medication had me a bit loopy, so I couldn't post about my big surprise.  Though it seems that you all certainly have a lot of ideas of your own...

Because I'm leaving you hanging, I thought I'd have a little giveaway.

(And maybe because I'm still a bit loopy.)

Leave me a comment telling me, um...I don't know...your plans for the weekend maybe?  Or the weather at your house?  Or what you had for breakfast?  Or what you are reading right now?  I'm pretty flexible.

I will randomly pick a winner on Sunday.  

Oh.  I guess you want to know what you'd win.

How about a $30 gift certificate to Amazon?

Let's do that.  That's easy.

Happy Friday. 

The Tastiest Giveaway I've Ever Had

Some bloggers are recognized for their excellent writing.  Some are acknowledged for the quality of their photography.

Some are singled out because they are so stinkin' funny.

I got a little email giving props for my love of a good roll.

Like, a bread roll.  The kind you might butter.  

Sister Schubert contacted me because they heard I love their rolls.

(Sister Schubert as in the company.  Not the actual sister.)

And I do.  I love their rolls.  I will proudly proclaim that I love me a Sister Roll or 27.

(That's how The Palace refers to them...Sister Rolls.)

As long as Sister exists, there will never be a reason for me to work on my yeast skills.  Or lack thereof.

Where was I?

So Sister Schubert asked if I'd like to review some of their products and host a giveaway.

WELL YES.

A few days later, I received an ice chest stocked with Sister products.

The Palace immediately burst into song.  (I believe it was Glory, Glory Hallelujah.)

Let me give a quick review of all the Sister products:  THEY ROCKED.

We received a couple of packages of the good 'ole Sister yeast rolls.  Truly, I cannot think of a taste that is more divine.  

One package was enjoyed with our dinner of roast, carrots and potatoes.  The Sister Roll was used for soppin' up the gravy and OH MY WORD.  The deliciousness knows no end.

I am embarrassed to say that the second package was consumed by The Palace as a Saturday afternoon snack.

Stop the judging.

We ate them with butter and honey.  

My eyes are tearing up.

I also received a couple of packages of the individual serving dinner rolls.

Which happen to be delightful.

It is so simple to stick a few rolls on a cookie sheet for 5 minutes and have a perfect addition to the meal.

Or you could just have the rolls as your meal.

Which I've done.

Well, I have.

Sister also sent us two packages of her cinnamon rolls.

(Have you noticed that I'm now pretending that Sister actually sent them to me?  Like, THE Sister.)

Her cinnamon rolls are incredible.  INCREDIBLE.

A little story...  The King and The Princess decided to make the first batch of cinnamon rolls for me on Valentine's Day morning.  

I woke up to a tray of cinnamon rolls and a Diet Mountain Dew on ice.  (Oh, what a beautiful morning.)

I thanked my peeps and prepared to take my first bite.  

It was ice cold.  Frozen.

I assumed that The Princess had made them for me, so I didn't want to ruin her forever by saying that the sweet gesture had some issues.

So I kept eating.

Here's how you know that the rolls are incredible:  I ate 4 of them while they were frozen.  And I liked them.

The Princess finally ate one and said, "Dad! What did you do to these?  They're frozen!"

I'd been all sacrificing and keeping my thoughts to myself so as not to offend The Princess and it was THE KING?  THE KING HAD MESSED UP MY BREAKFAST?

Apparently, the doofus forgot to hit Start on the oven.  He had baked the cinnamon rolls in a cold oven.

Freak.

I baked the remainder of that pan in a HEATED OVEN and they were heavenly.

We've made them a few times since and they are phenomenal.  You must buy them.

So if you've made it all the way through this post, you deserve to win something.

How about this?

Here's the scoop:  This custom hand-painted basket comes complete with two pans of rolls and your choice of one of the following: Sister Schubert's own Cranberry Nut Bread; Fly-Off-the-Plate Pancake Mix with Blackberry Patch Syrup; or Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake Mix with Blackberry Patch Fruit Butter. These baskets also include Mook’s Cheese Straws, 2 packs of Red Diamond Estate coffee and a hand-decorated, seasonal cookie.

Leave a comment telling me how much you'd love to eat rolls for a snack and I'll randomly draw a winner on Thursday evening.  Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you so that Sister can send you the basket of perfection.

Sister also has a really cool contest going on right now.  The On A Roll Recipe Contest will reward the tastiest original recipes using any variety of Sister Schubert's Homemade Rolls.  

The grand prize winner will receive Frigidaire Professional Series Appliances.  Four first place winners will each win $1000.

I think that would be worth checking out.  You can read all about it here.  

Much thanks to Sister Schubert for the delicious breads and the chance to participate in this giveaway.

Enjoy!!

A Stocking Full Of Fun Stuff

I love Christmas.

I love good ideas.

I love giveaways.

The Tide people contacted me to see if I'd be interested in giving away a stocking filled with examples of fun, inexpensive stocking stuffers.

Why yes.  I would.

There are so many great ways to fill a stocking and not spend much money.

My family loves to find new toothbrushes, lotion, chapstick and all kinds of necessities in their stockings.

My grandmother's house always found stockings filled with candy, fruit and nuts.

Which also describes the family found there.

I only speak the truth.

Anyway.  

Tide wants everyone to know that you don't have to look farther than your local drugstore when shopping for stocking sutffers.

Here is the stocking that one of you will win...

 

Here is a closer picture of the goodie.

 

A brief description of what's what:

*Bring a familiar holiday scent into your home with this DELIGHTFUL Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day peppermint candle.  When I opened the box, I was overcome with wonderful smell. 

And I despise peppermint, thanks to an unfortunate episode involving motion sickness and a peppermint candy.

But this candle is a definite must have.  

I will be finding one of these little lovelies for myself.

It sells for $9.99.

*Prevent chapped lips this winter with this Burt's Beeswax Lip Stash.  It contains a three-pack of their famous lip balm.  

I love this stuff.  The balm with a slight tint is my most used lip color in the winter.  

It sells for $9.99.

*I'm thinking that an actual reason to include chocolate in the stocking is not necessary.   

It is chocolate.

But this Russell Stover gift box is easy for everyone to include in their stockings at $1.19.

*Holiday parties are THE place to drop food on your clothes. I am notorious for using my hands to talk.  Hands that may or may not be holding food.  The Tide To Go Mini pen will save me from walking around like a dork with artichoke dip on my shirt.   And it is tiny enough to stick in my purse or pocket.

Not that any of you would ever spill artichoke dip on your shirt.

One of these pens sells for $2.99 and a two-pack sells for $5.49. 

These items are just an example of what can be found at your local store.  I'd love to hear some of your favorite inexpensive stocking stuffer ideas!

Leave a comment (with a way to contact you) and I'll randomly choose a winner on Saturday.

Thanks to Tide for this fun giveaway!

We Have A Winner

The winner of the Warren Barfield CD is

Tiffany!

Congrats, Tiffany.  

Thanks to all who entered!

The King Fell Down And Broke His Crown

I'm totally not talking about all that again today, but wouldn't that have been the perfect title for yesterday's post?

Karen thought of it, and it was just too good not to use. 

So I'm using it today.

Moving on.

Are you ready to hear about the giveaway that I promised??

Hold on to your computers...

It's The King's crown!!

I'm totally kidding.  He never "found" it.  And I can promise you he was looking.

I'm just sayin'.

Here's the story on the real giveaway.

Assuming you are still reading and not throwing up.

Where was I?

So we went to this fundraiser thing for The Princess' school on Saturday night.  To be honest, I was dreading it a little bit.  Each ticket was $75.  There was a silent auction, which I knew would be a huge temptation to spend money that I am supposed to be not spending.

I must say that I was quite impressed with the silent auction.  There were some great items.  I scored 4 house cleaning sessions for not too much money.  And dog boarding at the place where we usually board our dogs. 

So that was just plain being responsible.

Oh. And I got in a tiny bidding war with a certain someone over a Cold Stone Creamery cake.  (You know who you are, TG.)  But I didn't win the cake because I was showing fiscal discipline.

Or was I hovering over the housecleaning bid sheet?  I can't recall....

My favorite part of the night, however, was the entertainment.

Warren Barfield was kind enough to bless our small school fundraiser with his incredible talent.

I was familiar with a few of his songs, but I didn't really know much about him.

Y'all.  He's a really cool guy.  

His song, Love Is Not A Fight, is THE song from the movie, Fireproof.  He shared his story of how that song came about, and it was very powerful.

Did I mention that he's a really cool guy?

The concert was very intimate and personal.  He just sat on a stool with his guitar and his drummer and blessed us for an hour.  And the most amazing part?

He drove himself 8 hours (one way!) from Nashville.  In his car.  To our little event.

How un-rock-star-like is that?

See?  Cool guy.  

And he signed a copy of his latest CD, Worth Fighting For, for me to give to one of you.

It is a phenomenal CD.  If you don't win this copy, you should buy one for yourself and several for Christmas gifts.

Oh.  And his first baby is due in about (his words) 50 days.

How sweet is that?

Just leave me a comment with a way to contact you, and I'll randomly pick a winner on Friday.

Happy Tuesday.

It's Bloggy Giveaway Time Again

Woo Hoo!  It is that time again.  Bloggy Givewaway Week....I also like to refer to it as The Week Nothing Gets Done Around Here.  I am giving away 5 autographed copies of Chris Coppernoll's A Beautiful Fall.  

He autographed them. 

Not me.

I am including a $10 Amazon gift certificate with each book, too.  Because you are gonna love reading A Beautiful Fall so much that you are going to want to read his first book, Providence.

Leave one comment with a way to contact you and I will randomly draw 5 winners Friday morning.

Thank you, Melanie, for hosting this fun event!  Be sure to check out the Bloggy Giveaway site for all kinds of fun stuff!!

If you are just here to sign up and leave, then go.  There is not any more information about the giveaway.  But I really want to tell you about the book.

If you are still reading, then thank you.  Now.  About A Beautiful Fall.

I really liked Providence.  I thought it was very well written.  The story sucked me in early and I couldn't stop reading until it was resolved.

Then Mr. Coppernoll called my book club to discuss the book.

He'll call yours, too.  He's nice like that.

He told us that he wrote Providence over a lengthy period of time.  And that he had a new book coming out that he'd written in 12 weeks.

So I assumed it would be not as good.

Sorry, Chris.  It is true.  I kind of thought "bless his heart".  

I put off reading it for a couple of weeks because I couldn't bear to not like it.

I was so wrong.

I loved the book.  

I now have to be really careful because I am totally capable of spilling the beans.

Totally.

A Beautiful Fall is about a girl who is a corporate attorney and has been 110% focused on her career.  Circumstances force her to come home to deal with some stuff. 

See...I have to be really vague to not spill.

I also thought that I would not like her.  I was expecting her to be all corporate-y. Kind of a snot about having to return to her small town life.  I was fairly certain that I'd read similar books about snotty girls returning to their little towns before.

I was so wrong about that, too.

I loved her.  She was a great character.  

The book tells a wonderful story of lifelong relationships.  True friendships.  Loving people where they are.

And grace that knows no measure.

I hope you will read it and that you enjoy it!

Good luck with the giveaways!!  And with getting stuff done this week...

We Have A Winner...

The Winner of

is...

Kayren!!

Congrats, Kayren!!

Thanks to all who entered. I'll do another giveaway soon!!

The Proof:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

41

Timestamp: 2008-09-21 20:06:59 UTC

It's No Wonder I Need To Lose A Few Pounds

Um. I made enough.

For an army.

I had plenty of cake left.

And I left the dip(s) at their house.

What up with people not eating cake?

Health nuts.

Anyway, because you were all so nice to give me encouragement and recipe ideas, I am going to have a cookbook giveaway!!

Leave me a comment with a way to contact you, and I will randomly pick a winner on Sunday.

I haven't tried this cookbook. I have no idea if it is good or not.

But it is called The Food You Crave. So it can't be all bad.

Now then. I'm going to have a piece of cake.