Weekend Snapshots: Meetups, Chaperone Extraordinaire And My Babygirl

This weekend was Busy. That's right, people…with a capital B. It started off with a sunrise walk with my friend Smitha (I can call her that, right??) who was in town for a work conference.

Smitha writes the blog Running With SD Mom and frequently hosts fun giveaways. She hosted a Run Lites giveaway in October...and I won!

Super lightweight and cute, these handlights have such great visibility.
They're perfect for camping and morning runs!

I'm a nerd about all things fitness related, and Smitha and I started chatting online about everything from RX Bar flavors to her favorite hydration recommendation (Orange Mud brand, in case you were wondering). She is always quick to reply and has been nothing but kind. I started seeing photos of Smitha at various spots around my town in my Instagram feed. I hope I didn’t fangirl too hard and freak her out! Smitha is a fabulous social media presence and truly the nicest person. When she learned I had been having back issues -- despite being an avid marathoner -- instead of going for a run, Smitha suggested we meet anyway and go for a walk instead. Runners really do make the nicest friends!

It was such a beautiful sunrise along the waterfront.

Runners make the nicest friends! I got to meet @runningwithsd for a sunrise walk this morning! 💪🏼👭#instafriends #bloggers #fitness #werunsocial #runchat #sweatpink #girlsgonesporty #santabarbara #southerncalifornia #luckyme 🤗

A photo posted by Babydoll's Bloggie (@babydoll_brea) on Nov 4, 2016 at 7:37pm PDT

Later that morning, I went to the chiropractor for another adjustment and physical therapy. This made a significant difference and tipped the scale in favor of being able to chaperone Boydoll's marching band competition afterall. Thanks to my portable TENS unit, I was able to work on my craft project during the bus ride, too! 

The band won all three categories in their division on Saturday: Best Overall Score, Best Auxillary (drumline), and Best Color Guard. Go Chargers! 

Uniforms and instruments

Horns and hats. 

Boydoll warming up in the bass line. #notreble

I saw this bumper sticker on a parked car, and it was too cute a photo opportunity to pass up. I'm a bunny Auntie, so I know a thing or two about the awesomeness that is this bumper sticker. #bunnyfamilyftw

I took this photo for reasons. So cute!

After a long day down south, we were pleasantly surprised to come back and find Girldoll at home from college for the night. I'm certain that I say this (every...single... time), but I am so glad my girl is an only hour away. I offered to wash and fold her laundry, and made her favorite homemade mac and cheesies for dinner. It was a toss up as to who was happier to see Girldoll, me or The Browns:

Lots of happy sneezes and wrestling. These boys love their girl!  

I was reflecting yesterday about the past few months leading up to this election, and that tomorrow will my daughter's first time voting. In 30 years, this is by far the craziest election cycle I have ever seen. It's certainly one for the history books. 

By this time tomorrow, we will have a new president. I am ready to elect a new POTUS and move forward. To quote Forrest Gump, 'That's all I have to say about that.'

Not on the actual ballot, although nothing surprises
me anymore during an election year.  

Thank you to Katie for her weekend linkup! Have you ever won a contest or any online giveaways?

Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!

My Silpada Designs giveaway closed on Friday, Sept 19. It's time to announce the winner!!

And the beautiful rugged pearls bracelet goes to...

 

...Rebecca P. of Washington, DC. 

Congratulations, Rebecca!! ::applause::

I wanted to thank everyone who entered my giveaway. For my first go at a raffle, I think it went swimmingly. I am working hard at gaining more followers on my social media sites and, obviously, more traffic to my blog. What I didn't anticipate was that it would work both ways: I discovered some amazing blogs and Instagram accounts. Two of my new favorite blogs are MarathonHarry (a lovely young marathoner living in the UK) and From Ice Cream to Marathon (hosted by an gracious woman named Katie, who hails from Kentucky and was super nice when I asked her about her gorgeously formatted header. That sounds like it's code for something suggestive, but I promise it's not). 

I also discovered that I'm not very good at promoting myself. There is definitely an etiquette to social media, but I am convinced that most people have a greater understanding of different platforms while I'm bumbling along, offending people as I go. For example, I didn't want to post too many pictures to promote my giveaway on Instagram. My own son 'unfollowed' me for posting more than one photo in a day. I suppose the rules for adults and teenagers are somewhat different, though. There are many accounts that I follow that post more than once a day. Unless it's incredibly excessive or one of those fake accounts that is a front for those wretched body wraps, I am happy to see their photos. Thankfully, my son followed me back.

I want to give a special shout-out to Kelly at Silpada Designs. She was really excited when I approached her about donating a piece of jewelry for my raffle, and was such a pleasure to work with. Kelly was very encouraging and super fun to chat with while we worked out the details of the giveaway. Success!

Big News

I am excited to announce my very first give-away on my blog! 

Like most good ideas, it came to me during a run. A friend of mine recently became a representative for Silpada Designs, and she has been posting some gorgeous jewelry on her Instagram account. I worked up the nerve to approach Kelly and ask if she'd be willing to donate a piece to raffle off on my blog...and she said yes!



This may or may not have been my response after I got her message. (Okay, it wasn't really - even though I do a mean 'vogue'.) Suffice it to say I was STOKED. Kelly generously gave me three items to choose from, and I settled on this beauty:

Rugged Pearls Bracelet

Kelly models the bracelet.

The bracelet stacks beautifully with other pieces.

Since this is my first go at anything like this, it's also my first time using Rafflecopter. I figure if it's good enough for my girl Danielle at the T-Rex Runner, then it's good enough for me:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please enter to win! Each follow on our social media sites increases your chances of winning, and you can also tweet about the contest daily for additional entries to the raffle. On September 20, I will announce the winner of this gorgeous bracelet. 

If you are interested in seeing Kelly's whole Silpada line, feel free to check out her site. 

Happy raffling!