I Never Win Anything... Until Now!

I never win anything.  Ever.  Even when there are ten prizes for eleven people, I will now win.  So, imagine my surprise and elation this past Tuesday when I was notified that I won a DROID!  (For my not-so-technologically-savvy readers, a DROID is only the coolest new phone on the market.  Similar to the iPhone, but on the awesome Verizon network.)

To win my DROID, I entered a contest that I saw on Twitter.  Basically, you had to follow a guy by the name of Pek (click here to follow him youself) and retweet a hashtag that he had created.  (For those of you who do not use Twitter, I had to post a certain link.)  I am not sure how many people entered the contest, but I clicked on the hashtag (link) after I won and it looked like there were quite a few people.  

I have to admit, when Pek messaged me on Tuesday to let me know that I won, I was a bit skeptical that is was a scam.  He asked for my address to ship me my phone, so, to be on the safe side, I had him ship it to work.  I figured if it was a scam, he could do a lot less damage with my work address rather than my home address.  :)  Low and behold, it was NOT a scam and Pek is a pretty awesome guy!  He has a pretty interesting blog, which just happens to feature a post about yours-truely if you want to check it out.

To make this whole thing even better, I have wanted a DROID since I first heard about them in October.  I love having the latest phones and was hoping and praying that Verizon would get the iPhone sometime this year.  Since they have come out with the DROID, it is obvious they have no desire to play ball with Apple for the rights to sell the iPhone, and honestly, now I don't care.  The DROID is freaking awesome with LOADS of free applications.  In fact, I may do some posts about my favorite apps sometime soon... The stuff that phones can do now is just amazing - does everyone remember using their parent's bag phones in the early 90's and thinking they were the coolest people ever!?  :)

Anyway - huge shout-out to Pek and thanks again for my new phone - I love it!  If any of you are considering getting one - DO IT!  You won't regret it.  As for me, I will now be entering ever contest I see from now until the day I die. :)

Snowy Shoes Solution

I saw this on MSN.com today and HAD to share!  One thing I HATE, HATE, HATE about winter is when you come in from outside with snow on your shoes.  You have one of two options, take them off and leave them on the rug or take them off and leave them on the linoleum.  Either way, something that is not suppose to get wet, gets wet.  Then if you step on it with your socks, you have wet socks.  Well, enter this Martha Stewart solution:

Make a boot tray by the door even better: Fill it with stones (found at garden centers). Ice and snow will melt and drain through the rocks to the bottom of the tray so your boots won't stand in a puddle. Most of the moisture will evaporate, but you should clean out the tray regularly.  You can view the whole article here.

I am not sure how I will do this with the animals in our house... I can see the cat finding it amusing to take the rocks and hide them and the dog will think that they're treats.  If anyone has any suggestions on how to keep my animals out of this, I would love to hear them! :)

Happy Birthday to Me

This post is a little late... Only a week late though!  Last Thursday I celebrated my 27th birthday (ah!)  I used to LOVE my birthday.  I was excited all day, I was one year closer to some kind of milestone (21 was probably the one I was MOST excited for) and everyone treated you extra special during the day.  Now... Well, now that I can pretty much legally do everything except apply for Medicare and Social Security, birthdays are kind of just another day.  I think I need to have a kid to dote on and have fun with their birthday.  

However, I did have a great day on my birthday.  B got  me all sorts of stuff, a new heart rate monitor, PJs from Victoria's Secret and some bath stuff.  My parents took us out to eat.  I made cupcakes and proceed to eat most of them by myself and lots of people wished me a happy birthday (thanks to social media.)

It was kind of fun to look back at the last year and think about all that has happend:

• I got to spend my entire 26th year with my best friend B
• We got a kitty
• We also got a puppy!
• I moved back to the town where I grew up
• B & I moved into together
• Went to Arizona twice
• I was asked to be apart of two different friend's weddings.
• I decided to go back to school for my MBA
• I learned to knit
• I discovered my love of DIY projects
• I took on a lot of new responsibility at work
• I discovered that I am actually a pretty decent cook if I try
• I became much more domesticated - which is weird
• I bought my first car on my own (this actually happened at the end of January 2009, but it's close enough)
• Learned how to use Twitter
• Helped roof a house
• Helped renovate a house for that matter

There are probably a million more, but that's about all I can think of for now.  Thanks to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday!  It's cliche, but I have the best family & friends EVER! :)

Happy 50th Birthday Don Hommer!

This post is a little belated, but my wonderful father recently celebrated his 50th birthday!  To celebrate this milestone, my family rented out the Grand Master Suite at Riverside Casino and Golf Resort and invited about 100 friends and family to come down for some food, adult beverages and a little gambling.  I would say that the event was a hit - everyone we talked to had a great time.  A ton of our family was able to make it from south-central Iowa and lots of people from our hometown as well.  I think my dad was very surprised at the turn out, but it's always nice to be reminded of how many wonderful friends my family has made in our 20+ years in Mount Vernon.  

Sorry

So, I wanted to apologize to all of my readers for my negative Old Navy post (which I have removed).  I wrote the post to get Old Navy's attention - as a marketer in the 21st century, I feel it is extremely important to use social media to find out what your consumers are saying about your brand.  Sadly, Old Navy is not that progressive and my post did little more than to make me look like a two year old throwing a tantrum.  In retrospect, I should have posted that post on a separate blog as it totally does not fit the tone of my blog.  So, from now on, you will only get positive updates on my life as well as my fab finds, recipes and DIY projects (which, I have had zero time or money for lately!)

XOXO

Katie