Thanks to the good folks over at Random.org, we have some winners! Yes, today was the drawing for my birthday blog candy giveaway. After entering the info at Random.org (names were entered in the order in which people commented), here is who it selected as the winners:

Shepherd’s Bush kit: Annette
Weight Watchers cookbook: Nicole

SB Kit:

1. Missy Ann
2. Nicole
3. Margie
4. RC
5. Tricia
6. Debby
7. Kat
8. Annette
9. Sher
10. Agnes

Cookbook:

1. Missy Ann
2. Nicole
3. Margie
4. Kris
5. Laura
6. Alison
7. RC
8. Tricia
9. Cindi
10. Kat
11. Sher

Congratulations, ladies!! I’ll be sending each of you an email tomorrow to get your mailing information.

On a side note, there were several other people who commented to my birthday post who are not listed. If you did not specifically mention the drawing(s), then I assumed you were not interested so I didn’t include you. If you did want to be included and weren’t, please accept my apology!!

Next, in my continued series of video blog (vlog) entries, I filmed my grocery haul for this week. These haul videos are very popular among the weight loss losers group on YouTube, so I decided to give it a go.

Lastly, I just have to brag on myself a bit. I had an AWESOME workout last night at the gym. I managed to burn an amazing 675 calories while on the treadmill!! Gotta love an incline workout.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Until next time …

Yep, that’s right. It’s my birthday, but YOU get the presents! I have two gifts for which I’ll be drawing random winners. One of the items is a cross stitch kit and the other is a Weight Watchers cookbook.

Here are the rules for the giveaway:

1. Leave a comment to this post by no later than 6pm ET/3pm PT on Sunday, Feb. 22.
2. Indicate whether you want to be entered in the stitching drawing, the cookbook drawing, both, or neither if you’re not interested.
3. I will perform a random drawing using Random.org on Sunday evening.
4. Winners will be notified by email on Monday, Feb. 23.

Here are details of the items I’m offering in this giveaway (click to see larger view of each photo):

Liberty from Shepherd’s Bush. Kit includes 9″x9″ piece of 32-count linen, silk fibers, needle, button, and chart. This would make an adorable fob. The design size is 22 x 29 inches or 1.5″ x 2″ finished design size.

Best Eats cookbook from Weight Watchers. This cookbook is a collection of 140 recipes deemed favorites by Weight Watchers members, leaders, and online subscribers. All recipes include full nutritional information, so they could be used with a variety of different eating plans other than just Weight Watchers. Of course, they also include the Points information for those who are following the Weight Watchers plan. Examples of some of the included recipes are:

Spinach, Tomato & Feta Omelette
Creamy Asparagus Soup
Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore
Lemon-Herb Roasted Salmon
Country-Style Short Ribs with Horseradish Cream
Grilled Margherita Portobello Mushrooms
Lemon-Ginger String Beans
Apple-Streusel Cupcakes
Brownie Crunch

As far as my birthday plans go, if the weather holds and the rain stays away, I’ll be spending my day with Mickey over at Disneyland. After that, I’ll be meeting up with some friends for dinner and then heading over to the LNS for the Tuesday evening stitching group.

That’s it for me for now. I hope you all have a great day on my birthday. ;)

Well, at least that’s what it was supposed to be. I went to my LNS for an all-day open stitching class. I seemed to do a LOT more socializing than stitching though. I did have a great time though, so I guess that’s all that matters.

I did treat myself to one little splurge while at the shop. I bought myself a new pair of Dovo scissors that I’ve been wanting for the past couple of years. The handles are silver and the forged steel blades are blue. They are such a beautiful pair of scissors, I think!

On the scissors is a pretty little fob I bought from my local stitching friend, Cindi. I thought since my birthstone is amethyst that the purple quartz crystal would sort of pass for being a birthstone fob for myself. Since it’s silver, it also matches my new scissors quite nicely.

Another of my stitching buddies, Lindsay, started pulling fibers to stitch the Sophie Stocking from Shepherd’s Bush. I’ve had that chart in my stash for several years with the intentions of stitching it for myself, but never got around to it. After seeing her pulling the fibers, I decided it would be something fun that we could do as a SAL (stitch-a-long) to help keep each other inspired/motivated. She agreed, so I pulled the fibers for it as well.

I’m thinking this might actually stitch up fairly quickly as well. It’s done on 18-count Natural linen using a single strand of #5 pearl cotton. I started on the little pudgie last night, but I don’t really have enough done for a progress photo yet. I’ll be working on it more over the next couple of days and will post a progress photo after that.

I just want to close by thanking those of you either commented or sent an email about my video in yesterday’s post. I really appreciate all the support! It’s nice to know I’m not alone and that others can relate to how I’m feeling.

My heart is hurting right now for my dear friend Terri. I found out last night that she lost her beloved pup Bandit on Tuesday. Here’s a photo I took of him a couple of years ago sitting on the back of her stitching chair.

Terribelle’s Heartbandit ~~ August 26, 2003 – February 11, 2009

You simply could not have asked for a sweeter dog than Bandit. Every time I would drive down to visit, Bandit would greet me at the door with a plethora of puppy kisses. He would occasionally curl up next to me when I was stitching, but he generally would head over to keep his Mom company just like he was in the photo above.

I’ll miss him so much when I go down to visit. I know it will be nothing compared to how Terri, her DH, and their other pup Harley will be missing him though. You guys are in my thoughts!

I heard a song today on the new release from India.Arie that immediately brought tears to my eyes as I thought of someone very dear to me. So today’s blog entry is just the lyrics to the song as a dedication to that person whom I am so grateful to have in my life. In fact, a photo of this person was the first thing that went on the new gratitude board that I’m creating.

If you like, you can also listen to the song here.

He Heals Me

I told him my biggest secret
And he told me four
He smiled at me and said
that makes me love more
And then he made me laugh
And I knew it was a sign
That he was a man
That I wanted in my life
And with every passing day
I feel more and more of that way

He heals me
He knows the real me
And he accepts me
he never hurts me
He heals me
He knows the real me
And he accepts me
he never hurts me
He heals me
He heals me

I can play him songs
all through the night
And he will listen to every line
And even when I’m wrong he is still kind
He chooses his words wisely
when he tells me I’m not right
Yes he is a beautiful man
But he’s also a beautiful friend

He heals me
He knows the real me
And he accepts me
he never hurts me, no
He heals me
He knows the real me
And he accepts me
he never hurts me
He heals me
He heals me

The moment that we met
he made me smile
He has so much compassion in his eyes
I have no idea
how long he’ll be here
A season or a lifetime
forever or a year
But for the first time in my life I’m not worried about the future
Because we have such a wonderful time when we’re together
However things turn out it’s all right
Cause he’s already changed my life.

He heals me
He knows the real me
And he accepts me
he never hurts me, no
He heals me
He knows the real me
And he accepts me
he never hurts me
He heals me
He knows the real me
And he accepts me
He never hurts me
He heals me
He heals me
He never hurts me
He heals me

It’s late so I’m not going to take time to write a long post. I had a wonderful time on my weekend cruise. There was lots of socializing, but lots of stitching time, too.

We had an option of two class pieces. One was a cross stitch needlebook and the other was a counted canvas piece. I decided to start the needlebook piece while I was on the ship and do the canvas piece at a future date. I was pretty shocked that I was actually able to get the stitching on the needlebook completely finished by lunch on Sunday. My focus this weekend will be on assembling it. Here’s a photo of the finished stitching:

After I finished stitching on the needlebook, I decided to start another new project that has been calling my name since I picked up the charts a couple of weeks ago. It’s Boo Club from Lizzie Kate. I’m loving it so far!

I do have a lot more photos of the cruise up in my online photo albums. If you’re interested in seeing those, you can find them here:

Ensenada Cruise Photos

That’s it for now. I hope you all had a great weekend and enjoyed my pre-published posts that popped up as I was away.

I recently discovered these new granola bars from the folks over at Quaker. They are called True Delights, and boy are they! They are currently available in the following flavors:

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Almond
Toasted Coconut Banana Macadamia Nut
Honey Roasted Cashew Mixed Berry

I haven’t tried the cashew mixed berry bar yet, but I have tried the other two flavors. I thought they were both amazingly good, but I think the coconut macadamia nut flavor won the flavor test (for me) by a nose. These really do seem more like a candy bar almost, yet coming in at only 140 calories each, it’s a nice sweet treat that won’t blow your calorie budget. Each flavor also provides 3g of total dietary fiber.

For those of you on Weight Watchers, these bars come in at 3 points each. That makes them a bit higher in points than some other granola bars, but I really think it’s worth it now and again for a really nice treat. These are way better than the typical granola bar, in my opinion.

Oh, by the way, if you click the True Delights link mentioned earlier in this entry, you can actually get a free sample. Just fill out their online request form and they’ll send you one of their Dark Chocolate Raspberry Almond bars.

A couple of new charts arrived in the mail on Thursday. These came from Cynthia at The Drawn Thread. The chart on the left is called Kindred Spirits. I just thought the little designs were adorable, especially the little bunny and the witch. Each design is 33 x 50, so I thought they might be cute for seasonal fobs if I stitched them over-1.

The chart on the right is called Give Peace A Chance. I was immediately drawn to it because of all the specialty stitches and the cute little over-1 doves. This one will definitely have to go pretty high on my “to start” wish list.

As this entry is being published, I should now be at sea on my cruise. I’m sure I’ll be eating good, so I thought I would post about one of my own recent cooking adventures.

I actually made this 2-3 weeks ago, but I don’t think I ever got around to blogging about it. This was a vegetarian mushroom etouffee that I made when a friend was here visiting from out of town.

I adapted it from a recipe I found on another blog. I skipped using oil to saute the mushrooms and opted to use a little broth instead to help reduce the fat & calories a bit. Other than that, I pretty much stuck to her recipe. Instead of serving it over the traditional white rice, I served it over a bit of bulgur in order to have a whole grain. I thought it turned out fabulously and I’ll definitely be making it again.

Well, actually, on the sea again. I’ll be leaving tomorrow for a 3-day weekender Carnival cruise from Long Beach down to Ensenada, Mexico and then back. It’s a stitching cruise put together by my LNS, and I’m really looking for to it! There are about 20 of us going, and I’ll be rooming with my good buddy Darla.

In preparation for the trip, I headed over to Target tonight to pick up a few travel size goods. There was a who aisle full of options, but I finally found everything I needed.

I also found something else I didn’t necessarily need but have been wanting. I picked up a new piece of luggage. The fabric on the side of my largest bag (28″ pullman) in my current set got ripped a few years ago during a flight down to Mazatlan. It recently got torn again back October during my trip to Hawaii.

I’d previously just kept a piece of duct tape over the ripped fabric since the bag itself was still structurally sound. The duct tape actually made it pretty quick to find on the baggage carousel as well. After the latest rip though, it would mean a piece of tape going pretty much the entire height of the bag, so I decided it was probably time to just fork over the money and get a new one.

I ended up with a 24″ upright on four 360 degree spinning wheels. It’s by Swiss Gear from Wenger (the Swiss Army Knife people) My previous bag only had two wheels on one edge which meant tipping it over to wheel it around, so I still had to deal with a good portion of the weight of the bag/contents. With the four wheel system, I don’t have to do that. All I have to do it control the direction of where it’s rolling. Yay!!

There is actually a smaller wheeled duffle bag that matches the pullman. I didn’t get it for this trip, but think I may go back and pick it up at some point. Having those two pieces would pretty much handle all of my luggage needs and I could donate the four pieces, not counting the torn one, from my other set to Goodwill.

Well, it’s time for me to get into bed. I still have some more packing to do in the morning before heading over to the port to get on the ship.

I do have a couple of other photos that I want to share, so I’ll set those to publish while I’m away. Once I get back on Monday, I’ll likely be sharing cruise pics for at least a couple of days next week. ;)

Have a great weekend!