Door prize giveaway

Well, I used a random number generator to pick the winner of the door prize and the computer gods were smiling down on LORENA!




She will be the proud new owner of this $45 gift certificate to Williams-Sonoma...provided she emails me back. If I don't hear from her in 2 days I'll pick someone else to win.







Winners: I'm still waiting to hear back from a few of you with your paypal confirmations. Drop me a line so I can send you your winnings!

Auction results

I am totally blown away by the generosity of everyone involved in my auction. From the sponsors to the bidders, everyone has been so amazing. Not to be too corny, but participating in this little online endeavor has been one of the more personally rewarding experiences in the past year.

Alright, onto the winners.

With a last minute bid, the Orange Bell bracelet went to Katharina for $115

The wonderful little handmade box went to Dubya for $25

The darlybird earrings were purchased by Nurse Graham for $60

Jacqueline won the felted pieces with a bid of $50

Maggie (not my sister) is going to be the proud owner of these Snow&Graham papergoods with a $65 donation

cj will be doing some sun salutations on this Lotuspad Yoga Mat for the generous bid of $60

Guess what, Nell won the Tretorn sneakers for $85. She really wanted these.

Amanda will be strutten her stuff in this turquoise Shabby Apple 90 Words Per Minute dress because she bid $70

Last but not lease, Melinda out bid me to score this great brown Tuxedo III dress from Shabby Apple for $70



Winners: If you haven't already done so, make your donation via paypal. They will email you a donation confirmation. Forward that to me at katie.cardon (at) gmail.com. Then, I'll either mail you the prize or put you in touch with the sponsor to collect your goodies.



If I added this up right, that means this little auction generated $600 for the Nielsons. I could not possibly be happier. Thanks to everyone who participated. Tune in tomorrow for the door prize results!

Auction for Nie Nie

Reminder: Today is the final day of this auction. I've been so amazed by everyone's support and each little bit is really making a difference for the Nielsons.

Things you can bid on until 5pm (MST):

Beautiful bracelet from The Orange Bell
A gorgeous covered, handmade box by KKD Boxes
2 pair of cute Darlybird earrings
One of a kind felted pieces from Julie Persons
Stunning Snow&Graham papergoods donated by Broadway Paper
A hot pink, eco friendly Lotuspad Yoga Mat
Any pair of Tretorn sneakers
A turquoise Shabby Apple 90 Words Per Minute dress
A brown Tuxedo III dress from Shabby Apple


And remember, each time you bid your name is entered into the pot for the $45 Williams-Sonoma/Potterybarn giftcard giveaway, so BID BID BID.

Nie Nie Day

Stephanie and Christian Nielson have a great little family. And they are grateful for it every single day. The joy that fills their lives is obvious to anyone who has ever stumbled across Stephanie's, or NieNie's, blog.

However, a little over a week ago they were both in a horrible small airplane crash. The third passenger in the plane with them, their brave flight instructor Doug Kinneard did not survive the impact.

Daily thousands of people checked back in to NieNie's sister's blog to check on the status of Stephanie and her brave husband. The prognosis is not good. 80% of Nie's body is covered in burns and 30% of Christian's is likewise. It is likely they will be in the hospital, away from their 4 darling children for months. Obviously, the bills are going to go through the roof.

I couldn't get the image of this wonderful family's tragedy out of my head and neither could a lot of other people. So, Gabrielle Blair named today NieNie day. All over the internet bloggers are uniting to raise money for the Nielsons. Strangers are stretching forth hands to help a family they've never met. Virtual shoulders are being outstretched for weary heads to lean on.

Today I'm holding a silent auction, all of the proceeds will be donated to the Stephanie and Christian Recovery Fund.

If you can, make a bid. The object you purchase will forever remind you to open your heart and help others in their time of need. Couldn't everyone use that kind of reminder?

Oh, one more thing. Everytime you make a bid on this auction, for any item, you're name will be entered into my doorprize give away. What is this great giveaway?

A $45 gift certificate to Williams-sonoma, that can also be used at Pottery Barn!

The more times you bid, the more chances you have to win!




---------------------


How this silent auction works:

1) Please place your bid by leaving a comment with your Bid Amount, your name and your email address in the comments section of the item you are bidding on. Check the comments frequently to see the most recent High Bid.

2) Following the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (make sure your comment bid includes an email address or link to your blog or some way to contact you). The winner will pay the amount of their winning bid to the Stephanie and Christian PayPal account. The winner will then forward the PayPal receipt to katie.cardon@gmail.com and I will either put the winner in touch with the sponsor or mail them their prize.

3) Please bid in increments of whole dollars. The auction will end at 5 pm MST on Tuesday, Sept 2, 2008. (so that anyone going on vacation for Labor Day will have a chance to get in on the action)

Oooh la la

Last December Nie featured Kevin and Robyn Olson in her Friday face feature. From then on I've been secretly pining away for this bracelet.

I contacted these two talented artists and asked if they'd be willing to donate something to this little auction and, JOY OF JOYs, they accepted.

Not only that, but they've offered this EXACT bracelet to you, in support of NieNie.

You all may have to keep up with me in the bidding!

Who couldn't use more pretty things?

Next up? A Happy Box! by KKD Boxes



In the words of the artist's daughter:

This Cherry Blossom Happy Box! is handmade and covered with a hand printed Japanese chiyogami paper by Karn Dunn, a boxmaker living and working in Cold Spring, N.Y., on the banks of the Hudson River.

The box (5inx5in) comes with removable *wheatgrass* which adds a bit of whimsy to your table and is perfect for nestling pens, notecards, even the occasional chocolate bar!

The box is also well suited to holding cocktails napkins for your next fête and makes a perfect hostess gift. Our Etsy shop will open on or around September 15 (username: kkdboxes) so please stop by. If you have questions or are interested in ordering a box in a custom color scheme please contact us at kkdboxes@gmail.com. Thank you.

Finding attractive ways to store the odds and ends is always a challenge for me, but this little box would be a great solution. Who wants to start the bidding battle?

Benefiting baubles

Let's just all agree to one thing. Rachel Schultz owner of the amazing online store Darlybird is fantastic. Not only has she donated items for the auctions on Design Mom and Tangled and True, but she offered to support this little auction as well?!?!?

Bid here for the chance of owning not one, but TWO pair of beautiful vintage earrings. These, perfect for day:

And a bit sparklier for night:






Not only that, but she's named a set of her vintage earrings after Stephanie herself. Half of the cost of each pair of NieNie earrings purchased will be donated to the Nielson recovery fund. What a great and stylish way to show your support of the family.




Wouldn't it be rad if we all made these earrings the next Livestrong bracelet?

Cute like Jane

Last December Nie pledged to go handmade for the Christmas gift giving season. A lot of other people did too.

In an effort to make it easier to find great handmade gifts, Nie put together a handmade Christmas gift giving guide. She's just great like that. I immediately remembered this adorable picture of Jane:

Part of me remembered that adorable clip and part of me remembered that if I don't get a red headed daughter some time in my future I might throw my fits into the air and curse the cruelties in life.

I contacted Julie Persons and told her about Stephanie and Christian's accident. Quicker than I could click refresh on my in-box there was a lovely offer awaiting me. Julie has graciously donated to this auction to help the Nielsons.

You can pick any 3 items out of her etsy store, as long as each item is listed for less than $9. Any 3 items, people! What a DEAL! That means you could get these:

or these:


or even these!

Or 3 of anything else that Juile sells for less than $9! Let's start the bidding....

A bit of inspiration

As I was getting ready for this auction I was clicking around to other people's blogs to see what they were planning to sell. That's how I came across Tracie at Broadway Paper. Not only is she hosting her own auction today, but she's offered to donate items to anyone else holding an auction! That's pretty amazing.

Oh how I wish there was a way that my career could directly benefit someone like this. Anyone interested in auctioning off some satellite drawings? How about an electrical schematic? Any takers?

I thought not.

How about this instead:

1 blossoming vine journal , 1 set of pom pom thankyou notes, and 1 noteblock, all from the awesome letterpress shop, Snow & Graham.

Awesome right? Who'll start the bidding.....

Be more like Nie

Get your Yoga on! Because Stephanie loves yoga so much I thought it only fitting to contact Lotuspad and see if they wanted to donate. You're all in luck because they IMMEDIATELY offered to help!


Get yourself this hot pink yoga mat and get yourself in shape.




The thing that is so great about these mats in particular is that they aren't the standard sticky gross PVC mats. They're made out of an earth friendly, non chemically thermoplastic elastomer! 100% biodegradable and recyclable. Not that you'll ever want to get rid of it, but if you do, it won't hurt our earth!

Ummm, did someone say they love shoes?

In my house back to school meant one thing: NEW SHOES! I remember my mom taking me to Nordstrom and letting me pick out any shoes I wanted. More times than not, I ended up with a new pair of casual sneakers. Had I known about Tretorn back in the day I'm pretty sure I would have ended up with these shoes year after year after year.


And, LUCKY YOU, they've donated 1 pair of ANY of their sneakers! Mens or womens...you pick! And there are some awesome styles to choose from! Just take a gander.


Literally walking on sunshine:

Purple is supposed to be the popular color this fall, right?

It doesn't get much more pretty/vintage than this:

I sort of LOVE when shoes have interesting fabric on the inside:

How can you not love a company that uses this photo for it's ad campaign

Dress #1 from Shabby Apple

Hold onto your hats, because this one is a doozy! Shabby Apple has donated this awesome turquoise 90 Words Per Minute dress to help benefit the Nielsons! Not only will you look great wearing this dress, but you will feel great that you helped out an awesome family!

The competent, professional red personality can wear this to the office:

Or the out of control yellow personality can sport it for a night out:

Either way, it will look amazing!

Dress #2 from Shabby Apple

Can you believe your good luck?!?!? Shabby Apple donated not one, but TWO awesome dresses! This dress, called the Tuxedo III is so awesome that I want to buy one for myself.




This dress will make you SOOO happy. See what it did for her:




Look how smart this girl looks wearing it. You will look smart too!




What, not a book worm? No fear, this dress is great for the edgy belt-wearers out there too!

It's what I call a perfect "bridge" dress. Gets you perfectly from summer to fall! Do I hear $10...

Sneak Peek

Are you all getting excited for the auctions tomorrow? I sure am. Actually, excitement doesn't even begin to describe the jumble of emotions that this incredible gesture is bringing out. I'm so proud to be part of a community that opens their arms in such a concrete way. Inspiring.


Anyway, I thought I'd throw some chum in the water to get you excited for my auction tomorrow. Just take a look at all the goodies that will be up for sale tomorrow, right here:







And the coolest thing is that since I don't get as much traffic as some of the other blogs, these goodies could actually end up coming to YOUR doorstep!

Door mat update

Remember my neighbors from this post? Well, don't worry I ended up cleaning all traces of the surprise the my puppy Roscoe left them. I was actually a little embarrassed that he pooed on their mat.

Anyway, you'll never believe this. The day after I wrote that post they got rid of the mat!!!! Could it possibly be that they read my blog and found out about the little accident? I am pretty horrified at this prospect. The ear doctor thinks it's hilarious.

Oops

I just realized that I left my flash drive plugged into the main computer in the big conference room. The big conference room where we host all our really important meetings with our big wig customers.

I left it in there for a month.


It wouldn't be so bad if it hadn't been the flash drive holding all the ear doctor's baby pictures and our engagement (AKA making out) pictures.


Not the most professional thing I've ever done....

I'll have the THICK crust, please!

When I first moved to Colorado I didn't know a soul. I moved into an apartment that my company provided. It was a nice place, had air conditioning and furniture. The only serious component missing was a phone. I had no way to call anyone. When I left work at 4 pm I came back to my empty apartment. Sat alone and wondered what I was going to do until it wasn't embarrassingly early to go to bed.

This was probably the most lonely I've ever felt.

After about 3 days of this I decided it was time to get a cell phone. I rushed over to the Veriz0n store and tried to get a phone. Unfortunately, I'd never used a credit card or even paid utilities under my own name. The deposit was going to be $800! To get a phone! Ridiculous.

There, in the Veriz0n Wireless store I lost it. I broke down and begged the manager to give me a phone. I NEEDED a phone. I wasn't leaving without one. He was immovable. He made me call my mom and ask her to co-sign for a phone to waive the deductible. Ridiculous and humiliating to have to ask my mom for help.

Anyway, its been 6 years and I've had my phone by my side ever since. The models come and go, but my love for connectivity remained constant.

That is, until this weekend.

I was down in Arizona and the beating intensity of the sun was just too much for this fair haired girl of British Isles heritage. Somewhere it fell out of my purse and could not be found anywhere.

At first I was distraught. Would I experience that same isolated loneliness of yesteryear? Could I handle being cut off from everyone I know and love? I woke up in the middle of the night in a strange bedroom scared out of my little noggin. I turned everything I owned inside out.

I looked in the most improbable of places.

It was gone.


But, you know what? The strangest thing has happened in the 3 days I haven't had it. I feel free. Sometimes people can't get ahold of me, and that's OK. I've found that, for me, it really isn't that important to be connected to everyone int he world at EVERY moment. It's nice to slow down and disengage.

Of course, I haven't had the craving for Papa J0hn's pizza yet so we'll see what happens when I do.....

Here goes nothing

The weekend before school started my senior year of high school I was invited to a party. It was a girls only party and was thrown by the most popular girls in school. To this day I don't really know why they invited me. I was a honors class, orchestra nerd who'd never even kissed a boy. I did not fit in there.

My mom thawed some zucchini chocolate chip cookies, handed me the plate and practically pushed me out the door. I was terrified. The whole way over I was a nervous, sweaty palmed mess. What was I doing thinking? I couldn't hold my own at this party.

As I drove up to the house my bravery failed. Who brings lame healthy homemade cookies to the coolest party of the year? A dork, like me, that's who. I sped on by hoping no one caught a glimpses of the incriminating Tasmanian Devil mud flaps that my dad insisted on hanging from the fenders of my 1983 red Ford Ranger. My mind flipped back and forth while I decided whether or not to go back and attend the party. I could just drive around for an hour and tell my mom I went. That way no one would ever know what happened. Surely no one would miss me.

Then, I realized was I being lame.


Nerves steeled, I slammed my foot on the clutch and spun that little truck around. My finger shook as I pushed the little white button. The sound of the doorbell reverberated in my ears. Seconds ticked by and I could feel my resolve slipping. Insecurities reared their ugly head. As my weight shifted, enabling me to run away in shame to the safety of my old moldy-smelling truck cab, the door flew open.

The girl who lived there and eventually was on the prom court took one look at me, smiled widely and said, "Are those homemade zucchini chocolate chip cookies?!?!?!? They're my favorite! I'm SOOOOOO glad you came!"




I sort of feel that way again. Design Mom is pretty much the most popular girl in school and she's decided to initiate NieNie day to benefit the author of one of my favorite blogs. Stephanie Nielson and her amazing husband were in a small airplane crash and need all the help they can get.

And guess what, Design Mom has invited me to come to the NieNie day party.

Me.

I'm not nearly as popular, nor do I have a pretty well-designed blog layout. But I do have something to share and would love to help make a difference.

So,

on Thursday I will be hosting a silent auction, along with a lot of other bloggers out there. If you have the means, please come and bid. I'm going to work it the same way Gabrielle is going to:

I'll write a post about the prize and then I'll leave the first comment, saying something like: I bid $1. The next person could comment: I bid $2. And so on.

As the auction progresses, bidders will need to check the most recent comments, to see what the current high bid is. I plan to leave the auction open through the weekend. Allowing bids through Sunday night.

Once the winning bidder is identified, they'll send money directly to the Stephanie & Christian Paypal fund. And I'll mail their prize.

Here's hoping someone out there really likes my homemade, semi-defrosted zucchini chocolate chip cookies.


Also, if someone would like to donate something to my auction, don't hesitate! Even if you think it is something small, every little bit helps. Leave a comment with your contact info and I'll be sure to get in touch!

I can do this, right?

You'll forgive me if I post a video my sister took of her daughter? A totally mundane moment in her life, once captured on video becomes a moment her auntie can obsess over and post on the Internet. Like other people even care.

I think it's just about the cutest thing there is.




You moms of little kids out there probably won't get much of a thrill out of this, but to me it is hilarious. My favorite part is the grunt while trying to extricate herself from the chair...or the part where she gets dizzy from shaking her head too much.

Hey, share the covers!

When we got married we spent a sizable chunk of our gift money on getting a bed. And, boy oh boy, did we get a BED. It's a king size beauty that weighs about a million pounds. Actually, since we live on the third floor it's the driving force behind my refusal to ever move again. I just can't see how we're ever going to lift and carry the beast down 2 flights of stairs.

Anyway, this bed is amazing. It has a deep, lush pillow top that envelopes me and makes me feel like a new-born bebe, swaddled in love by my mothers tender touch. At least that's how it feels when I first lay down. After about 6 hours of sleep, during which I don't move at all, the dead weight creates a deep impression on my side of the bed. Each night this impression gets deeper and deeper, as if I were a sawdust stuffed body laying immovable on a bed for 20 years.

I hate sleeping in this body rut. My back gets all messed up and my neck hurts. I don't even have to use a pillow anymore because the impression is so deep.

The ear doctor does not believe that this sink hole occurs on my side of the bed. He's tested my side and just doesn't believe that its as bad as it is. He thinks I'm make up the severity of the situation. I can't understand why he'd think that I NEVER exaggerate or embellish a story for effect. NEVER!

Well, guess what. Last night I slept on HIS side of the bed. Ha! I reveled in the rut-free-ed-ness. I tossed back and forth amazed by the lack of a downward pull from gravity to drag me to the bottom of my body impression. I slept deeply and soundly. My back and neck feel like a million bucks and I'm one happy wife.

So after this highly scientific study I've decided that I am now fully justified in sleeping in the dead center of the bed, where this is a beautifully unsquished segment of bed stuffing. Sorry, ear doctor, you'll just have to sleep on your side with your bum hanging off the edge. It's the only way I can really get some good ZZZ's. Thanks for being so willing to sacrifice.