Enjoy the rest of your week!

There is some heavy rain coming this way so we're leaving early for our short vacay to try and avoid driving in the heaviest of it. I'll be back Saturday, but there will be a lack of posts here for the next couple of days. Leaving early is a last minute change of plans, so I'm sorry I didn't get things ready before leaving!

I hope you all have a wonderful end of the week! And Happy October a bit early!! :)

Lovelies For Less Than $20 Shipped

Fall Trees Coaster Set from Pine Hill Preserves

(Autumn cheer for your coffee table too!)

$8 + $5 shipping

Gourds!

I have Halloween fever. I'm so excited to get the decorations out and start really celebrating. I have vowed to wait til October to actually put anything out, but that doesn't mean I can't obsess over it on my blog, right?!

So I was window-shopping on Etsy this morning. If you read my blog even semi-regularly you know I love etsy. It's like a crafter-wannabe's playground. I'm sorta crafty, but I'm am always impressed with the cool stuff I find there. You Etsy people are a very talented bunch!

While browsing I found the Pinch Me Boutique. The artist makes these fabulous decorative gourd sculptures!

I love these! They're so fun! I love the expressions how the natural shape of the gourd plays into the character! Many of the gourds in the shop are priced under $20 too, so they're affordable too! Wouldn't one of these guys look great on your mantle or bookshelf?

Wordless Wednesday - Staredown!

So a few weeks ago I told you about my camping trip near the Grand Canyon of PA in Wellsboro. While we were there, we also stopped at this little zoo (where we spotted this very interesting sign). Here is my favorite shot from that visit to the zoo.

(If I thought the cat might be at all interested in those pieces of corn on the bench, I might be concerned for the goat!)

For more Wordless Wednesday, visit WordlessWednesday.com and 5MinutesForMom.

Pear Tree Greetings Halloween Giveaway!

 *Giveaway is now closed. Stay tuned for winner announcement.*

I love Halloween! I love everything about it! The costumes, the candy, the decorations, the parties! You name it! (Well...except for really scary movies....I don't love them.) Over the last few weeks I've been putting together a bunch of Halloween themed posts and what better way to start of the season, but with a giveaway!!

Pear Tree Greetings seems to love Halloween as much as I do! They have a great new collection of Halloween Photo Cards, Halloween Invitations and Halloween Personalized Stickers! The designs are fresh and fun and perfect for this time of year!

There is a great variety of family friendly and scarier designs too, making it super easy to find one that's perfect for you! Pear Tree Greetings cards come on 100 lb card stock too. In everything I've seen from their company, the colors are always vibrant and the text or images are crisp and sharp. You will not be disappointed by the quality of these cards or labels!

So remember I said something about a giveaway?! Pear Tree Greetings is offering a set of 24 Halloween Personalized Stickers to one of my readers!! The winner will be able to choose the design and customize them to their liking! These labels would be perfect for closing treat bags or the backs of card or invitation envelopes! The labels are $2.99 for a sheet of 12, so these are a great buy, even if you don't win!

*Giveaway!!*

Prize: 1 winner will receive a set of 24 Halloween Personalized Stickers from Pear Tree Greetings.

Mandatory Entry: Please go to Pear Tree Greetings and comment here telling me which sticker design you'd choose if you win!

*Be sure to leave a valid email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win!*

Extra Entries: (The mandatory entry must be completed before any of these entries will count. Leave a separate comment for each one you do.)

- Follow my blog on Google Friend Connect (1 entry)
- Follow Jodibee Designs on Facebook (1 entry) *Leave FB name*
- Follow Pear Tree Greetings on Facebook (1 entry) *Leave FB name*
- Follow Jodibee Designs on Twitter (1 entry) *Leave Twitter name*
- Follow Pear Tree Greetings on Twitter (1 entry) *Leave Twitter name*
- Tweet about this giveaway! Include @JodibeeDesigns @PearTreeGrtngs and a link to this post in your tweet! (1 entry daily) *Leave me a link to your tweet in your comment*

That's it! Giveaway is open to U.S. residents and will end on October 5 at 11:59pm est. I will choose 1 winner using Random.org and contact them via email. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email or I will have to choose another winner.

*Disclaimer: Pear Tree Greetings is sponsoring this giveaway and supplying the prize to the winner. The opinions here are mine and have not been edited or influenced by the company. I was not compensated for this post.*

Storkie Winner!!

Out of 91 entries, Random.org chose #29 as the winner...

Congrats to Erika!!

Erika said... I love the snowflake ornament postage stamps! Super cute!

Congrats Erika! I'll be contacting you by email shortly! Thanks to everyone who entered!!

Lovelies For Less Than $20 Shipped

Bronze Brass Acorn Earrings from Antique Inspired

(Don't let the squirrels bury these in the yard. Keep them for yourself!)

$6.95 + $2.95 shipping to U.S. and Canada!

Giveaway Reminder

I just wanted to remind you all about my giveaway from Storkie! They are offering one of my readers a sheet of 20 custom postage stamps. Real postage stamps! We can all use stamps, especially cute, free ones!! :) The entries are pretty low for this one too. It ends 9/26!

Trivia!

So on Wednesday nights, I go to Trivia Night at a local restaurant with some friends. We all took the summer off because of vacations, golf leagues, etc. but now we're all back. I thought it'd be fun to share some of the trivia I learn each week with you on Thursday morning. Learning interesting facts, to me, is always helpful. You never know when that random fact is going to help you out. You just might win a contest or a bet for knowing it!

I was debating on how to give you the trivia, so I thought I'd leave it up to all of you. Would you rather me just tell you a bunch of random facts, or would you rather I leave the questions up on the blog so you can see what you know already? I think, either way, it will be fun! Let me know what you all think!

Tonight, I'm going to post some random facts and then add a few bonus questions to the bottom. See if you know the answers, post if you want and/or look them up on Google. Either way, you're learning, right?!

So here goes! Thanks to tonight's trivia game at the Blue Dog Family Restaurant & Tavern in New Britain, PA.

• The National Flower of India is the Lotus.
• Robert Ford assassinated Jesse James for a promised reward of $10,000.
• The Supreme Court of The Netherlands is known as the Hoge Raad.
• Halophobia is the fear of speaking.
• Mr. Magoo's first name was Quincy.

Here are a few questions to try and answer too! I'll post the answers next week!

1. What kind of creature was Sam on The Muppet Show?
2. Phobos is the name of a moon of which planet?
3. What name is Edward Teach better known as?
4. Which Charles Dickens novel is said to be his most autobiographical?
5. What was Tom Cruise's birth name?

I thought of this new blog posting idea after the fact and now I'm having trouble remembering the questions. Next week I'll make a point to write down or remember more. Have fun with these though!

Glee Gum Review & Giveaway

*Giveaway is closed. Stay tuned for winner announcement.*

I'm a gum fan. I started chewing it back when I quit smoking and it kind of stuck with me, so to speak. I like the chewing action. I like the different flavors. I like how it settles my stomach after a big meal. So when I heard about all natural Glee Gum, I was intrigued.

Does it concern you that you can't pronounce half of the ingredients listed on your regular brand of chewing gum? Are you a vegetarian and want to make sure your chewing gum is too? Check out Glee Gum. It might just be your perfect solution.

Glee Gum is gluten-free and all natural with no artificial colorings, sweeteners or preservatives.

Glee Gum is also Vegetarian, Additive Free, Lactose Free, Dairy Free, Wheat Free, Casein Free, Egg Free, Yeast Free, Nut Free, and Peanut Free.

*Glee Gum is also soy-free, but it is made in a plant where other products containing soy lecithin are made*

Glee Gum is made with chicle, a natural tree sap harvested sustainably from the rain forests of Central America. All chewing gum at one time was made with chicle, but then companies turned to synthetics. Glee Gum is now the only company in North America using chicle to give their gum that great chewing texture. They use chicle because it is an eco-friendly way to help conserve the rain forest. Glee Gum also keeps their packaging eco-friendly, making the boxes from biodegradable, recycled cardboard.

Glee Gum is a hard, candy-coated chiclet style gum. It comes in 6 great flavors: Cinnamon, Spearmint, Peppermint, Triple Berry, Tangerine and Bubblegum. Glee Gum also comes packaged in Mini Glee packs (4 pieces per pack) and in a 1 oz. Wee Glee Gum variety box (containing a mix of 4 flavors: Tangerine, Bubblegum, Triple Berry and new Banana!)

I really enjoyed the gum that Glee sent me to try! I really like the firmer texture of the gum. I find, sometimes, that some chewing gums are too soft or stringy. Glee Gum lets you feel like you're really chewing something, if that makes sense. The flavors are great too. I think my favorite is the Cinnamon. It's a strong cinnamon flavor without being too biting. I've always been a fan of cinnamon gums, and this one was very good. I enjoyed the other flavors too. The fruity flavors were sweet and really tasty and the mint ones tasted really authentic.

Glee Gum also makes "make your own" candy kits to make your own gum, chocolate or gummy candies! Doesn't that sound like an activity your kids would love?! I think it sounds so fun! The kits are also all natural and eco-friendly!

You can purchase Glee Gum or Glee Make Your Own Candy kits online at GleeGum.com or check their store finder to store near you. (Whole Foods and Giant Food stores near me carry it.) They also have bulk bags of gum and t-shirts for sale on the website!

Glee Gum has also offered a very generous giveaway to my readers!! 3 of you will each win 3 packs of Glee Gum (your choice of flavors!!!) and a coupon!

**Giveaway!**

Prize: There will be 3 winners. Each winner will receive 3 packs of Glee Gum (in the winners choice of flavors) and a coupon!

Mandatory Entry: Go to GleeGum.com and comment here telling me something interesting you learned from the Glee Gum site. (Check their About Us page for cool facts and info!)

*Be sure to leave a valid email address in each of your comments so I can contact you if you win!*

Extra Entries: (Leave a separate comment for each one you do!)

- Follow my blog on Google Friend Connect (1 entry)
- Subscribe to my blog (1 entry)
- Follow Jodibee Designs on Facebook *Leave FB name* (1 entry)
- Follow Glee Gum on Facebook *Leave FB name in comment* (1 entry)
- Tell me what 3 flavors of Glee Gum you'd choose if you win! (1 entry)

Giveaway is open to residents of the Continental U.S. and will end on September 30 at 11:59pm est. I will choose 3 winners using Random.org and contact the winners by email. Winners will then have 48 hours to reply with their name, address and flavor choices or I will choose new winners! Good luck!!

*Disclaimer: Glee Gum sent me samples of their gum to facilitate this review. I was not compensated for my review. The opinions and views here are mine and were not influenced or edited by the company.*

Lovelies For Less Than $20 Shipped

Mini Chrysanthemum Post Earrings in Lilac by Lemon Kissed

(I love the flirty feel of these! They're a great shape and the bright lilac shade adds a ton of whimsy! There are different flowers and colors in the shop too!)

$12 + free shipping!!

It's Apple Time!

When I think of Fall, what immediately comes to mind? Candy!! Ok maybe first I think Halloween and then I think candy. But candy is on the brain. But besides the crazy, sugar-rush haul that your children receive (and you snitch from) on Halloween, my favorite treat is a caramel apple. Maybe it's the bobbing for apples at parties and the appearance of cider on the menu at Starbucks, but Fall is always paired with apple-goodness.

Gertrude Hawk Chocolates is featuring their Caramel Dipped Apples and they look amazing! YUM!

Right now, they're priced 2 for $10! (Reg. $6.99 each) Gertrude Hawk has stores in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania or you can get the same deal online + shipping. Go on. You deserve a treat!

Jodibee Designs is now on Facebook!

So I had been using my personal Facebook account to promote the giveaways and reviews I host on my blog, but I thought it was time to start a Facebook page specifically for my blog! I joined Networked Blogs (who made it really easy to publish directly from my blog to the Facebook page) and I'm all set.

Now I just need followers! :) If you're on Facebook, please come link up and say hello! And by "liking" my Facebook page, you'll get an extra entry into every giveaway I hold on my blog for the rest of the year!! Just a bonus thank you from me to you! Thanks!!

An Adorable Gift

Don't you think these would make a wonderful birthday gift 

for someone you know?!

Happy Birthday Sterling Silver Earrings from Tiny Tokens Designs

($14 + $3.50 shipping in U.S.)

Storkie Review & Giveaway!

 *Giveaway is now closed. Stay tuned for winner announcement*

This week marks the beginning of fall. Soon we'll be planning costumes and decorating for Halloween. I hate to say it, but the holidays will be here before we know it. Every year, I try to start my search early for the perfect Christmas cards. I'm picky with them, I admit, but I love to find just the right cards.

This year, I found some really beautiful holiday cards from Storkie Express. They have a great variety of designs specifically for Christmas and Hanukkah as well as general holiday and even New Year's cards. These holiday categories contain both photo and non-photo designs. I know many families love the photo card designs, but many of us, myself included, like the non-photo designs. Storkie has lots of options. (There are a ton of Photo Christmas Cards too, if that's your preference!) They also sell matching return address labels, envelope seals and custom postage stamps. (Yep! Real postage stamps! But we'll talk about those in a bit!)

 

Aren't the designs nice? I think they're really fun and festive. Whether your taste is modern or whimsical or classic, I'm sure you'll find a design to your liking. And because Storkie separates the card designs for you (into Christmas Cards, Holiday Cards, etc.), it's really simple to get exactly what you are looking for!

I was given the opportunity to choose a card design to personalize and receive for my review. I love modern cards, but I was looking for a more classic card to send to relatives this year. I have family and friends who celebrate Hanukkah and some who celebrate Christmas and I wanted a card that would be appropriate to send to everyone. I chose these beautiful, embossed cards.

The picture here online doesn't even really do the card justice. It's really a gorgeous card. The card stock is a good, substantial weight and the embossing is intricate and clear. We have a bunch of bird feeders in our backyard and we love watching the chickadees, so when I saw these cards, I knew they were perfect. I love the simple touch of the snowman's red scarf as well. So pretty.

The card I chose can only be personalized on the inside with the message, but many of the other cards offered on Storkie can be altered by color, design, etc. And Storkie makes it super easy with their iDesign web editor. It's really simple to get the exact look you like. I was especially impressed with the text help. I wanted to change the sentiment inside my cards, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to say. As soon as I clicked on the text to edit, a list appeared with a ton of suggestions. When I saw one I liked, it only took one click to replace the original text with my chosen text. The iDesign editor really made the personalization process easy and fun.

It's true with the holidays coming quickly, I have holiday cards on the brain, but Storkie also offers beautiful party invitations, wedding invitations and thank you notes. If you have any of those events coming up, be sure to check out their selection.

So not only was Storkie super generous in offering me free cards to review, they also are offering a giveaway prize to one of my readers! Storkie is giving one of my readers 1 sheet of their custom Holiday Stamps. (1 sheet contains 20  $0.44 stamps!) They can be personalized to match many of the card designs offered on Storkie or you can use one of your own holiday photos for them! Isn't that cool?! It's real U.S. Postage and you get to choose the design! I'm jealous! This is a wonderful prize!

**Giveaway!**

Prize: 1 winner will receive a sheet of 20 $0.44 personalized postage stamps. ($19.99 value)

Mandatory Entry: You must go to Storkie.com and leave a comment here telling me which card design or stamp design you would love to have. (Please make sure you leave an email address so I can contact you if you win!)

Extra Entries: (You must leave a comment for each extra entry you do. These are optional, but in order to get credit for them, you must do the mandatory entry first.)

- Follow my blog on Google Friend Connect (1 entry)

- Subscribe to my blog (1 entry)

- "Like" Storkie on Facebook (1 entry) *Leave FB name in comment*

- "Like" Jodibee Designs on Facebook (1 entry) *Leave FB name in comment*

That's it! Giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian residents and will close on Sunday, September 26 at 11:59pm EST. I will choose one winner with Random.org and I will notify that winner by email. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email or I will choose another winner. Good Luck!

Disclaimer: Storkie Express sent me 20 free holiday cards in order to facilitate this review. I was not compensated for this blog post. The company is also supplying the prize to my giveaway winner. The opinions and views stated here are mine and have not been edited or influenced by the company.

Happy Friday!

So it's Friday! I feel like it's been a very long week, but the weekend is almost here! We don't have any big plans, but we might go see a movie tomorrow night. We haven't been to the movies in over a month, and that's usually our go-to date night, so it's long overdue.

How did you all enjoy Blogmania?! I was really amazed at all of the wonderful prizes offered by bloggers and sponsors! You all are a very generous bunch! Last night at about 11pm est I finally finished entering them. My fingers were a little sore, but it was well worth it! I found a ton of new blogs to follow and entered to win some unbelievable prizes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! Good luck to everyone who entered!!

Later today, I'll be posting a review and giveaway from Storkie! Stay tuned!

Something Pretty For Your Kitchen

Wouldn't this look lovely in your kitchen? It comes in a plum color too, but I love this orange. Sunny and just gorgeous!

Hot Spot Rolling Pin from Anthropologie

($18 + 5.95 shipping)

Wordless Wednesday

I took this photo at a small zoo in Wellsboro, PA. There's really not much more you can say about it. 

It speaks for itself.

View more entries at WordlessWednesday or at 5MinutesForMom.

Safeway Winner!

There were 61 entries and Random.org chose #10 as the winner....

Congrats to JC!!!

JC said... I entered the sweepstakes because winning and earning BTFE can help our school getting new equipment for the library and classroom.s

Congrats JC! I'll be emailing you shortly for your address. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Lose-A-Palooza Day!!

Today is Lose-A-Palooza, benefiting Weight Watchers Lose For Good campaign! Through my posting this blog post and including the phrase "Lose For Good", Weight Watchers will donate $1 to benefit Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger.

You can also help by commenting on this post and including the phrase "Lose For Good" in your comment! For every comment made here (that includes the phrase) Weight Watchers will also donate $1!  So please, leave a quick comment and help fight hunger worldwide! No one should go to bed hungry and through this program with Weight Watchers, Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger we can help fight this worldwide tragedy!

You can also help through Facebook or Twitter. Check out my main post from yesterday to see all of ways you can raise money to help fight hunger!

BlogFest Winner!!

First of all, I want to thank everyone for visiting my blog and entering my giveaway during BlogFest. My giveaway had over 350 entries and I gained 100 new followers! This really amazed and shocked me! Thanks so much everyone!! I hope that I'll be able to keep your interest and you'll keep reading!!

And now to announce the winner!

The winner is...  Patty who said, "I follow on GFC (as Patricia)"

Congrats Patty!! I've emailed you so please check your inbox and reply as soon as you can.

Thanks again to everyone who entered!! You guys rock! :)

Jury Duty

So today I did my civic duty and showed up at the county courthouse bright and early for Jury Duty. In my 31 years, I've never been called. I had no idea what to expect. My only ideas about the process come from scripted television and movies and something told me it wouldn't be quite like that.

Well I never got to find out. I sat there from 8 to 2, minus an hour for lunch, but never got called. I got about halfway through a book I've been meaning to read for awhile now though. (Spiced by Dalia Jurgensen is pretty good so far! Right now, she's talking about working as a freelance pastry chef for Martha Stewart TV and I am jealous!!) And I had a nice lunch with some ladies I'll never see again.

They say I'm good now for at least 2 years. But it took me 31 to get called this time, so maybe it'll be a bit longer of a stretch. Or is it, now that they've got me, I'm in? If that's the case, I hope I get picked next time for something interesting. I didn't necessarily want to be picked today, but I wouldn't mind an interesting case next time. I bet the process is fascinating. But then again, ask me next time I get called and I may have a different answer for you.

Lose-A-Palooza & Lose For Good

More than 1 billion people worldwide are hungry. More than 1 billion! Hundreds of millions of them are children. Weight Watchers has joined with Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger to raise money to help combat hunger worldwide.

Lose For Good® is a 7 week campaign running now til October 23, 2010. Weight Watchers members are losing weight every day and during this campaign they are losing weight AND raising money to fight hunger. For every million pounds lost, Weight Watchers is donating $225,000 as well as dollar donations for every "Visit a meeting for free" coupon redeemed.

Tomorrow (September 14) is Lose-A-Palooza, a one-day social media event that Weight Watchers created to benefit Lose For Good® and raise money for Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger. Weight Watchers will donate $1.00 (up to $60,000) for every approved mention, action or acknowledgment related to "Lose For Good" made on blogs, Twitter or Facebook. This is a super-easy way that we can do our part to fight hunger in the world. Many of us are online everyday, updating our blogs, Facebook, or Twitter accounts. In one small mention of Lose For Good, we can raise money to help the cause.

Here's how you can get involved:

Blogs:

Tomorrow I will be posting another blog post featuring "Lose For Good." The easiest thing you can do is comment on my blog post. Be sure to mention the phrase "Lose For Good" in your comment so it counts and earns $1 to fight hunger!!

I also encourage you all to write your own blog posts, mentioning "Lose For Good" and encouraging your readers to comment and continue the chain.

Facebook:

On Facebook, "Like" the Weight Watchers, Share Our Strength or Action Against Hunger Facebook pages. You can also "like" or comment on any of the Weight Watchers "Lose-A-Palooza" posts throughout the day on Sept 14.

Twitter:

On Twitter, Follow @WeightWatchers, @ShareStrength or @acfusa. Also tweet or retweet using the hashtag #LoseForGood!


So please, get involved! With very little effort, we can do our part to help end hunger in our world. No one, especially a child, should go to bed hungry. With Weight Watchers, we can really help to change things. I will be posting again tomorrow, so please come back and comment on my post. And if you have a blog, write your own! I will comment on your blog as well and we'll help benefit Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger! Comment through Twitter and Facebook too! Together we can really make a difference!

One2One Network introduced me to this program and by posting this blog post, I have the opportunity to possibly win a gift card. My opinions and this blog post have not been influenced by the One2One Network or by Weight Watchers.