Sew, Mama, Sew!

Okay, I'm a little late to the party on this, but there's still plenty of time to enter all of the awesome handcrafted giveaways in the Sew, Mama, Sew! giveaway day. I want to especially direct you to the giveaway being hosted by my friend Hannah - an awesome flower barrette/brooch. You should also take a peek at her Etsy shop if you have a moment...she makes the cutest stuff!

Cleaning Out My File Box

My Google reader has more starred blog posts than I care to count. See, the point of my blog is to be my online file box - the place I store the fun things I find, so I can find them again when I need them. But I've been slacking on the blog...have you noticed? And my files are overflowing. So over the coming days and weeks, I'll be attempting to go thru and post my favorite things from the blog o' sphere of late.

After I post more pics of my newborn babe, of course...

Don't Forget To Bid!

I'm sure all of the bloggin' world is aware of Nie Nie Day today - if you're not, head over to Design Mom for all the details. I just wanted to especially direct you over to my good friend Darleen's blog. She's hosting an auction today for the gorgeous necklace pictured above, which she designed especially for Stephanie. Personally, I'm in love with it and am headed that way right now to place my bid.

And don't forget to check Design Mom for a list of all the auctions going on today.

Sucked In

Because, you know. All the cool kids are doing it. {Even my Mama?!} I still don't know what the heck I'm doing. But let's be friends, okay?

50s Housewife

You Belong in 1959

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

I'm not surprised to find out that I belong in 1959. I'm huge on the Clever lifestyle! Minus the cooking and cleaning, of course. But you can't beat the fashion! How about you? What year do you belong in?

{Thanks, Mindi!}

High On Life, I Assume

Natalie --

[noun]: A person who is constantly high

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

I really liked my dictionary definition. Because, for the most part, I am usually "up". So how about you? What's your definition?

{Thanks, Rusti!}

Recommended

Howdy, y'all! I never get around to updating my side links anymore...(does anyone look at them anyway?). So I wanted to take a moment to share some of my latest and greatest favorite blogs, in case you need MORE to read!

• If you're looking for some seriously clever ideas of things to do with your kids, check out Chasing Cheerios and Make And Takes.
• If you find food storage as overwhelming as I do (or even if you're an expert!), head on over to Everyday Food Storage.
• If you like beautiful things (homes, jewelry, clothing, etc.), you'll want to stop by the absolutely lovely Simply Elegant
• If you're into design (paperie, interesting objects, clever things), don't miss checking out the eclectic finds over at Design Crush
• And if mouthwatering baked goods are your thing (and if they're not, how are we friends?!), make your way over to Bakingblonde
  

And please, do tell! What are some of your current favorites? I'd love to stop by and check 'em out!

Happy 4th Of July!

Happy 4th to you! We're spending the weekend with my bro + his family in the lovely town of Grapevine, TX.

Enjoy your BBQs + fireworks!  I'll be back next week.

Memory Swap

Here's a fun tag for ya (Thank you, Suzie!):

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you knew me a little or a lot, if we’ve actually met in person or not, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you don’t want to play on your blog, or if you don’t have a blog, I’ll leave my memory of you in my comments.

So...let's hear it! Lucky me, I don't embarrass too easily - so hit me, baby! And you should do this one, too! Because I'm just sure I have something fantastic and hilarious and/or heartfelt to say about YOU, my friend!

{Dandelion photo because...I like it. And dandelions are nostalgic, right?}

Utah Dream House, Anyone?

My lovely and talented friend Tiffany (blogger extrordinaire and excellent writer) is selling her beautiful West Jordan home. You're in the market for a gorgeous new home in Utah, aren't you? You are? Well then! Check it out here.

{In case you were wondering, there is a reward involved for me if you buy her house. Seriously. You should buy it.}

We Have Winners!

A big thank you to everyone who played along with my "guess the gender" game! Geez, you know how to make a girl feel good, with all that caring and stuff! :)

Our big prize ($25 Target gift card) goes to:

Parker, who said:
Miss Pretty,
I love reading your blog. I think you have great style. I'm loving your cute pregnancy clothes posts. I'm hoping to have a baby in the next year or two so they are helping me think things out a lot (I care too much about what I'll wear.) But, I must say, I think you'll have a little boy.
I'm guessing you'll name him Samson. Little Sam. If I'm wrong then I figure that your little girl will be named Suzanne, Little Suzie. Regardless, my thoughts are with you.
HUGS

And our runner up (winner of $15 iTunes) is:

Stina, who said:
Hmmm....I dont know. I'm going to say girl. :) As for names: Girl - Sariah Boy - Sean

I also want to send Suzie & Christina each a Keep Calm pendant as their reward for guessing our baby names {Simon & Sadie} correctly. (Just tell me what color you want!)

So, winners...e-mail me {100percentcottam AT gmail DOT com} with your addresses, pretty please, so I can send your prizes on their merry little way to you.

And to everyone, thanks again for playing!

Blurb'in It Up

Yo yo yo! We're back from our cruise, y'all! Not to worry, full cruise-coverage is coming up, but first, look what was waiting for me when we got home: my very first Blurb Blog Book (say that three times fast)! Please forgive the fact that I cannot take a decent photo to save my life {Flash on = flash spots. Flash off = blurry.} but I wanted to give you a peek! This is the first 2 months of my blogging life {really, about a month and a half}. Generally, one post per page (some took 2 pages). I left it all in - blurry photos (they're not too bad), recipes, products, randomness and of course, family memories. It makes for a yearbook of sorts of what I was "into" at that point in time! Fun, fun! 193 pages, hardback - under $60! I did it in an afternoon/evening and didn't play too much with the formatting, although there are plenty of options you can work with. Overall, I'm super satisfied and thrilled to have it. Up next: 100 Percent Cottam, 2 months at a time until I'm all caught up.

If you're considering using Blurb, I'd say go for it! Great quality, great prices! Just be sure if you're a blogaholic like I am, you break it down into manageable segments, otherwise it's just sooo overwhelming. Or maybe that's just me...

Crafty Crow: A New Favorite

Here's an awesome source for all you Mama's looking to feel inferior...er...I mean, looking for inspiration. The Crafty Crow is FULL of amazing, fun ideas of things to do with your kids. What a great resource! Do check it out...

I'm feeling inspired right this very minute, in fact.

Kick-Starting Your Spring...

The lovely Merry Marleen has a great picnic giveaway going on her blog - a picnic set, handmade table cloth and homemade jam! Are you kidding me?! I SO want it! Or I want one of you to have it. So head on over there and enter, won't you?

Belated.

As usual, I'm running behind, missing important dates.

I just noticed that 100 Percent Cottam turned 1 on April 11! So happy belated birthday to my blog! Blogging has turned out to be one of my favorite things ever. It combines my love of writing with my love of people! I have had such a blast meeting so many new people and getting to know them via the world wide web.

A big THANK YOU to you for your support. I'm certainly not a blogging "big dog", but I'm always surprised at how many people stop by here to see what we're up to. Thanks for your comments and e-mails and especially for reading!

Here's to year #2!

Fried Ice Cream

My friend Natalie throws the best parties. Her latest was a "Welcome Back Scranton" costume party (she dressed as Phyllis) to celebrate The Office finally being back on TV. How fun is that?! The menu was Mexican, and included homemade fried ice cream, my absolute favorite! She was kind enough to pass along the recipe to me, and we made it last night. Mmm mmm mmm. It was deeee-lish!

Here's how you do it:

1 qt. vanilla ice cream
3 egg whites
2 cups crushed cornflakes
1 tbsp. cinnamon
2 qts. oil

Scoop softened ice cream into balls according to whatever size you'd prefer. Refreeze for one hour. Put egg whites in one bowl and crushed cornflakes and cinnamon in another bowl. Roll ice cream balls in egg whites and then cornflake mixture. Refreeze for three hours at least. Fry in oil for 10-15 seconds. Serve hot! (We always add some of the good stuff--caramel syrup! I'm sure chocolate would work too.)

Thompson Family Life

I've been rather in love with the blog Thompson Family Life for a while now. First of all, her photographs are amazing. She does the most clever projects and finds the coolest things. Today she shared the step-by-step of this amazing silhouette project, which almost made me fall out of my chair...

And she showed us her latest furniture acquisition, which I love and covet with all my heart. So I couldn't keep the fun to myself any longer. If you haven't seen this blog yet, get over there! It's amazing.

Bagtastic Winners!

Thanks to everyone who entered my Paying It Forward Reusable Shopping Bagstravaganza! I first have to say that really and truly, my RSB-mentor Sharla was indeed the first winner randomly picked! But since, as she said, she's hoarding more than her share of these bags already, we moved on to pick another winner. I just thought that was an interesting piece of trivia. (Probably only for me and Sharla, sorry. Are you still reading this?)

Right then, on to the winners, drumroll please...

• Grand Prize - winner of all 5 bags goes to the Busy Blaine's, who said: Hey Natalie! I love this and have been trying to think of a way to pay-it-forward. I will be posting on my blog by tomorrow what my idea is. Hope you will like it. Count me in. I hope I win, I need some of these!!!
• Runner Up #1 - winner of a Whole Foods bag: Nat Lud (one of my best buds, yay Nat!), who said: Ooh, ooh! Pick me! You'll totally help me move up a step in my greenness!
• Runner Up #2 - winner of a World Market bag: Marleen, who said: Yesterday I bought the colorful whole foods bags and have loved them. I'm always up for more. I also have been needing to do a giveaway for my readers but felt I needed a good excuse. This would be a great one.
• Runner Up #3 - winner of a Central Market bag: Lulu, who said: Count me in! :)
• Runner Up #4 - winner of a small Target bag: Melinda, who said: This is bringing out all the stalkers! I'll pay it forward, too! Yippee!!
• Runner Up #5 - winner of a large Target bag: Mia, who said: I have two bags, but I could use a few more, so count me in! Fun stuff.

Hooray! Ladies, send me your addresses: 100percentcottam AT gmail DOT com. And I'll be watching for you guys to pay it forward!

Don't Forget: Bagstravaganza!

Don't forget about my reusable shopping bagstravaganza contest! You have thru Monday at midnight to enter by clicking over to this post...

Paying It Forward - Reusable Shopping Bagstravaganza

I have been racking my brain ever since I won Christina's fabulous Pay it Forward contest a while a back, trying to figure out what to give away. I finally settled on one of my favorite things, something I'd love everyone to have and use: reusable shopping bags! So here's the scoop. There will be 6 winners. One lucky winner will win a starter set of 5 of my favorite bags:

• a big + colorful Whole Foods bag
  
• a super-durable canvas World Market bag
• a sleek, black Central Market bag (A Texas-based gourmet + organic grocery store. Side note: every time I hand my reusable Target bags to a certain Target checker, he tells me about how he uses Central Market bags because "they're more manly". Umm. Okay.)
  
• small + large fold-out Target bags (These are my go-to bags and are always in my purse. The small holds a lot - the large holds a whole bunch o' stuff!)
  

Yahoo! No more excuses at the grocery store, or anywhere else - these bags hold a TON! And, to make it even more fun, I have an extra of each bag. So 5 lucky runners-up will each get 1 bag! That makes 6 winners in all! Yee haw!

How does it work? Just leave a comment on this post by Monday night at Midnight. The catch? If you want the grand prize (all 5 bags), you have to be willing to "Pay it Forward" and do a contest on your own blog - any contest at all, give away whatever you want! If you don't have a blog or just don't want to do a contest, that's fine, too...you're still eligible for a "runner-up" bag, so be sure to leave a comment! Just let me know if you'll be paying it forward in your comment, and you'll be in the running for the grand prize!

Thanks for playing! Tell your friends!