Wow! I don't care if each and every one of you 19 new followers clicked follow simply in an attempt to secure a label maker of your own, I still felt the love after my desperate plea for more followers. I had a lot of fun over the past few days watching my numbers grow and reading each of your comments. I appreciate the fact that no one called me out on the nonsensical-ness of my competitive nature that lead to the contest but, instead, gave me props for my honesty!

Ten years ago I attended the wedding of a best girlfriend... known her since we were in seventh grade, lived together all through college, and shared way too many laughs to recall.

When she tossed her bouquet, it landed square in my hands, at which point her dad-never one to care too much about impressions-cupped his hand around his mouth as if her were at a wrestling match and began shouting, 'Rigged! Rigged!' Well, if he were a follower of my blog, he may be shouting that same word again today. With four entries (new follower herself, posted on FaceBook, and brought two new followers along), Holly Lemly is the winner of the GRAND PRIZE! Pookie was excited to pull Aunt Lala's name from the bowl of contestants, and I'm excited to ship her this and this and this!
Holly, I hope you love each Favorite Thing as much as I do, and thanks so much to all my new followers. I will do my best to keep you entertained!

Desperate Measures

There are many reasons I began this blog: I enjoy writing. I miss the creative outlet that writing provides. I occasionally like to use my brain for something other than remembering the words to the Olivia theme song or the appropriate ibuprofen dosage by weight or the names of all the My Little Ponies. I thought this particular time of my life would be unique to reflect on and look back on in future years. My husband encouraged me to do it. And, lastly, I write this blog because I want people to read it!
It's not like this is my sixth grade diary in which I used Paula Abdul lyrics to proclaim my eternal love for Tommy Watson (or Joey Baynes, depending on the month) which was only comparable to my proclamation of my eternal love for Super Mario Brothers 3. I kept that diary sealed with a heart shaped pad-lock and safely hidden inside a steel box that was only opened with a three digit code (not kidding.) I would have been mortified if anyone had dared to read what I perceived as the baring of my soul via sparkle pen.
The dirty little secret of the blog world is that we bloggers write because we want people (in my case, lots of people) to read our blogs. Now rather than being locked away for fear of the humiliation of exposure, I choose to bare my soul on the world wide web, thus allowing access to virtually any human being on the planet.
A few blogs back I casually mentioned that I have a slight hint of a competitive nature; though, in reality, I am fiercely competitive. My husband often avoids playing board games with me because, as he bluntly puts it, 'It's not fun.' When I worked as a counselor, our entire staff took assessments to identify our personality strengths, and I was the only one of the group to have competitiveness anywhere in my top ten, and for me it was number one. So, when a girlfriend of mine started her own blog after I started mine, and quickly dashed past me in 'followers,' my competitive streak took notice. Then, after consuming just a single Bellini at a girls' night dinner last week, I decided to accost her chat with her about the quick take-off of her blog. Turns out she went to a blog CLASS while she was attending a sewing expo (like the multi-talented, amazing woman needs any more talents), and she offered me a few tips (one of which is that everybody loves swag!) for gaining a little more traction for The Salad Days.
Though my stats show me that lots of people read my blog, very few of you are actual followers. So, for the sole purpose of boosting my fragile little ego, I am putting together a fun contest that will prove to be a win/win for us both. The Salad Days will garner more followers, AND its author will bestow upon my beloved readers a few of My Favorite Things. That's right: if you follow the steps below, you will be entered in a drawing to win one item from each of My Favorite Things lists from each quarter this year.  Here's the skinny on how to quality for the prize(s):

If you're already a follower (10 strong!), you'll automatically receive one entry.

To receive additional chances to win:

If you're a reader, but not an official follower, become one!

Comment on this blog or any previous one. (Though, you'll only get one more entry no matter how many comments you leave.)

Add a link to The Salad Days to your Facebook or Twitter (or MySpace if you're still living in 2006) telling your friends what you like about it.

If your friend becomes a follower, both of you will get an another prize entry. (Be sure the new followers let me know you sent them my way!)

This contest will run through Sunday, October 23 at noon (Denver time.) At that time, I (or quite likely my three year old) will draw a winner's name at random. (The maximum number of entries a person may receive is ten.) First thing Monday morning, I will ship the lucky winner three of My Favorite Things. I'm not going to make any promises, but I can pretty much guarantee that this will be in that package. 

Good luck! 

Q3: Now for the Non-Things

Even as I just think about what to include in my list of My Favorite Non-Thing Things for this quarter, I am overwhelmed by how wonderfully blessed life has been over the past few months. Our home has certainly been full of laughter and fun as we continue on in these Salad Days. I did manage to narrow my list to five Non-Things that were especially prevalent in making life just grand.

My Favorite Non-Thing Things of 2011, Q3...

1. Movies... my Hubby and I really enjoy a going to see a good movie.We like the whole experience: the popcorn, the $7.00 Coke, the bag of candy that is slipped into a box so that it looks larger than it really is, the dark theater, the lack of children, the feeling of being on a date, etc... Over the summer, we saw several grown-up  movies that I would give two very big thumbs' up. My favorite was probably the raunchy Horrible Bosses; I especially loved the unexpected roles played by Jennifer Aniston and Colin Farell. Crazy, Stupid Love didn't get a lot of buzz, but it was a really well-written, well-acted, thought out movie that actually included a fun, unexpected twist. I found Cameron Diaz hilarious and back to her Something About Mary roots in Bad Teacher, and I thought The Help was just as enjoyable as the book on which it's based. 
2. Family Here and There... once again, we've been fortunate to get to spend time with several members of our extended families despite living close to none of them. In July we spent a weekend in Estes Park, Colorado, with my hubby's side of the family including three sets of aunts and uncles (who we were excited to introduce to our Murphy Girl for the first time), two cousins, Aunt Kiki, and Pops-N-Misha. The weather was wonderful and the company fantastic... can't wait to see the whole crew at Thanksgiving. Then, in early August the girls and I flew to North Carolina where we spent a week in the Outerbanks with my sibs, their kiddos, and Pa-N-Nanny. Carter had a ball playing with her 'big' cousins and Murphy relished all the attention. The following week we met up with the Bowman clan in Greensboro. Family from Pennsylvania, South Carolina, North Carolina, and we Coloradans converged at Great-Grandma-Margie's home for a fun afternoon of visiting and reconnecting. It was especially fun to see Murphy side by side with her cousin (second cousin?) Carson who is just a few weeks younger than she, and Carter was completely enthralled with Big Girl Miss Gigi!
3. Organizing Extravaganzas... the rush I get from embarking on organizational projects simply cannot be explained. From coming up with the initial idea and thinking it through to shopping for materials to the actual implementation, I absolutely LOVE it! This summer alloted me several opportunities for major projects. I took advantage of Hubby and Pookie being away for the weekend to rearrange the pantry, making better use of the space and grouping like items in neat baskets with handles that make them act almost as drawers on the shelves. I loved two of my other projects so much that I dedicated entire blog posts to them. The system for keeping track of the Little Things has worked out great as the pictures show Carter exactly where the toys belong making solo clean up a breeze for her. She loves showing her little friends how to put things in the correct spots!
4. Family Firsts... few things are more exciting than watching my little ones experience things for the first time. How easy it is for us grown-ups to take advantage of things we've been doing or seeing for years! For Carter, she really began to stretch her wings a bit and try several new activities as well as attending a new school. She immediately loved soccer and gymnastics and has done a great job of staying on task and listening to her coaches. Though ballet was the activity that she expressed the most interest in trying, after about four weeks of classes, she decided that it wasn't for her. I love the fact that she knows what she likes and doesn't like and feels comfortable sharing her opinions with me. She even asked if she could do a second day of gymnastics in lieu of of the ballet; I gladly obliged! As for Murphy Girl, this has been a period of firsts-galore! She began crawling, standing on her own, and 'cruising' all within a few weeks in August. She now zooms all over the place -including up the stairs- but is still hesitant to take that first step. She has also become quite the little talker! My heart is warmed at hearing her precious little voice. I especially love the sound of her 'uh-oh' although I'm a tad skeptical of the fact that she looks me directly in the eye and says it before dropping an item... 
5. A Whirlwind Wedding Weekend... the Hubby and I had a blast spending a weekend in Raleigh to be a part of the wedding of one of his dear friends. Dash and my Hubby lived together in Charlotte when he and I met; so, having been a part of our early days together, Dash has a very special place in my heart.We were able to reconnect with the all the folks who were a part of the Charlotte crew at that time despite that fact they they are now living all over the world. It was also fun getting to spend more time with Dash's fantastic now-wife, Drake, and meeting all of her sweet friends. I got a kick out of having conversations with all these hip single gals from NYC about my life as a Mommy in Denver... quite contrasting! Being with all these friends both new and old (and being there without my kids) made me feel young again! Additionally, there are few better memories than witnessing my husband, stone cold sober, throw on a viking hat and tear it up on the dance floor! 

As usual, the Non-Thing Things trumped the Things by a mile!

Favorite Things, Q3

Here we are, 75% of the way through 2011. The year is just flying by, and as quarter three drew to an end, I began to look back and take notice of all the things that made life a bit sweeter over the past few months.

My Favorite Things of 2011, Q3,

1. The Container Store...  well, this one isn't exactly a thing, but rather a whole bunch of things found in the same store. I went on several organizational crazes this summer, and each time The Container Store provided the inspiration. In addition to the items that I picked up for my big projects, like this and this, I found several random items that have really come in handy. These car hooks that easily slip onto the headrest are inexpensive and helpful to hold backpacks, purses, grocery bags, etc...  These plastic bottle holders save space in my small refrigerator and are perfect for holding large class containers of water as well as soda or wine bottles. The CableBox- a genius invention- holds the larger power strip as well as all of the cords to our computer and its components. I bought several of these clear plastic baskets with handles to make items in my pantry more easily accessible as well as more space effective. The Container Store
2. Whole Foods Angel Food Cake... to call this pre-made cake delicious is an understatement. I actually don't think I have a word to adequately describe how scrumptious this cake is. I began buying it a couple summers ago to use with fresh strawberries for strawberry shortcake. This summer, however, I picked up one about every two weeks just to have on hand for random munching. It is perfect with a cup of coffee in the mornings or as a semi-sweet dessert after dinner. Even my husband, who's not at all a 'sweets' person, couldn't resist this cake. Hands down, it is the best angel food cake I've ever tasted. Whole Foods Store Locations
3. Immaculate Baking Company Refrigerated Baking Products... crescent rolls, biscuits, and cinnamon rolls are just a few of the products made by this North Carolina-based (shout out to my home state!) company. I had been looking for an alternative to the Little Dough Boy's (I'm not mentioning any names) version of these types of products as, while they were favorites in our home, they are filled with preservatives and artificial ingredients that I try to avoid being a part of my girls' primary diet. I gave the Immaculate variety a try, and we were instantly hooked-especially on the delicious, gooey cinnamon rolls. They are available at our local SuperTarget and are pretty comparable in price to that other brand. The Immaculate Baking Company
4. Golden Oreos... so, forget everything I just said above regarding artificial ingredients and preservatives, and know that these are my guilty pleasure and that I actually hide them from my kids! I first sampled the light-skinned friend of the classic cookie on a Southwest flight from Denver to North Carolina. I was in love at first bite, but at that moment, I wasn't sure if the airplane chardonnay I was drinking via sippy cup was altering my taste buds. Well, when I gave them a try with more a typical beverage companion, ice cold milk, I was just as impressed. I actually like these a bit too much and have now had to put myself on a purchasing restriction from them as I have devoured a good five suggested servings during a single episode of The Soup. Golden Oreos
5. Dyson Air Multiplier Bladeless Fan... I had my eye on this bad boy all summer, but the ridiculous price-tag kept me admiring at a distance. In early August, I was browsing Bed, Bath, and Beyond in search of some photo albums when I noticed it on sale for over 50% off, AND I just happened to be carrying an additional 20% coupon in my purse. I can't say for sure that this So-Much-More-Than-a-Fan-Fan would have been worth its original nearly $300 price tag, but I am pretty crazy about it. The circulated air has a more crisp feel than our other fans, and its breeze can actually be felt all the way across the room. Additionally, it is very quiet and has no blades to to potentially hurt tiny fingers.  Dyson Fan
6. Scentsy Wickless Candles...  I originally started using Scentsy products about a year and a half ago after I attended a home party at a friend's house. I loved them initially, but when I ran out of my scent cubes, I just kind of forgot about them. In early September, I realized how much I missed my Scentsy's when I started using regular ol' candles again. Lucky for me, my cousin Brittany had become a Scentsy rep; so I was able to go online, order directly from her, and have a UPS box on my porch within days. I love the amazing scents that fill my home without adding any of the 'negatives' that come with candles... no dripping wax, no smoke, no burning danger to the kiddos. I'm currently in love with the Thunderstorm scent and am already mentally placing my next order. Scentsy Wickless Candles
7. Missoni for Target... I admit, I got swept up into all the hoopla and went bananas at Target on the morning of September 13. To be totally honest, while I did know about the Missoni launch, I was actually just stopping by Target for light-bulbs that morning after dropping Carter off at school. When I walked into the Missoni madness, I unconsciously joined the chaos and began feverishly searching through the scarcely remaining Missoni items for fun products me, my girls, friends, and family. I scored a skirt, a dress, and a cardigan for me; a coat for Pookie; and a one-piece romper for Murphy. I also snagged a pair of rain boots and a pair of ballet flats for myself, and a couple other things to give as gifts. The prices were great for this high-end designer's knock-offs, and I get compliments literally every single time I wear one of my pieces. Missoni for Target

Looking back over my Favorite Things, Q3, it certainly appears that my sweet tooth was raging with a vengeance this summer; I even unintentionally used the word sweeter in my intro to this post! Cool, crisp evenings are now upon us, and the fall is sure to usher in some phenomenal things (hopefully of the non-edible variety as I'd like to still fit into my fabulous Missoni finds!)