La Petite Chic

Guess the Gender Contest Winner

So I'm a little late, but I finally took the time to tally the votes on my "Guess the Gender" contest from a couple of weeks ago. It turns out that 28 of the 47 comments were for a baby girl making about 60% of you correct! Woo hoo! Keeping the correct guesses in order of receipt, I turned to the trusty random number generator and kt, you are the winner! Coincidentally, she is also expecting a baby girl!

In honor of my baby girl and all things pink, the prize is this gorgeous little pair of bright pink chrysanthemum earrings from etsy seller elbiefish. I received a similar pair as a gift and adore mine as I hope you do yours. Katie, send me your address (or really, we should just meet up because we live so close!) so that I can get these to you.

Thanks to everyone for playing along!

Photo Credit: http://www.etsy.com/shop/elbiefish

Leaving On a Jet Plane

Before I get started, I want to send a big congratulations to Maria P, the winner of my Pepsi Super Bowl Party Pack giveaway!  Though I no longer have a vested interest in the outcome of the game (ohh, my poor sweet Ravens...), I hope you enjoy hosting a fun party with your awesome prize!  Thanks to everyone who participated :)

Moving on, Jon and I leave for Puerto Rico in (ohmyholyheck) 10 hours!  I had planned to do a super packing post last night like I did for our European vacation, but I was having a seriously difficult time packing last night.  I got started at 7:30 PM, right after I kicked Jon out of the bedroom and out of my hair to go have a beer with our neighbor, figuring that I would be done in a couple of hours or so.

WRONG.  I didn't go to bed until after midnight last night and I didn't finish until 6:00 tonight.  I usually don't have a problem with packing but I just couldn't seem to get it right this time because I kept second guessing my choices.  Oh well, I decided to just give myself plentyof options so I think I'll be fine, rain or shine, fancy or casual.

We've had this cruise booked since last January and I'm thrilled that it's finally here!  The ship departs on Saturday so that means we have a day in Puerto Rico and then we'll set sail for St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbados.  We haven't been back to St. Lucia since our honeymoon so it's going to be so lovely to get to spend some time there again.  We've never been to Antigua or Barbados though Antigua has been on our list of places to visit for quite some time so Jon and I are both very excited to finally see those islands.

I decided not to do guest bloggers as I think I'll try to check in at least once next week and say hello and post a quick update.  I'm not making any promises though!  I might get too swept up in the sunshine and margaritas to make a trip to the internet lounge!  When we return, we'll be meeting with our realtor to discuss our plan to get our condo sold, so I definitely want to make the best of this vacation before it's back to reality.  I hope you all have a wonderful week and I'll catch up with you soon!  

Putting the SUPER in Super Bowl Party

This has been the best football season ever!  My Richmond Spiders won the NCAA National Championship in December and yesterday my beloved Ravens beat the Titans to move onto the AFC championship game.  And today?  Jon's Eagles bested the Giants to move onto their respective NFC championship game.  This could be a very interesting Super Bowl if both of our teams advance! 

Of course, what's the Super Bowl without a fabulous Super Bowl party?  The delicious snacks, the hilarious commercials and for those who are actually paying attention, the actual football game! You know what would make that Super Bowl party even more fabulous?  Letting Pepsi take care of it!

Leave me a comment telling your favorite Super Bowl party snack (if you're feeling fancy, feel free to leave the recipe as well) and you'll be entered to win the Ultimate Pepsi Super Bowl Party Pack which includes:

• one Super Bowl XLIII football
• one Super Bowl XLIII beverage pail
• one Super Bowl XLIII snack helmet
• two Super Bowl XLIII key chains
• two Super Bowl XLIII hats
• two Super Bowl XLIII tee-shirts
• five Pepsi 24 packs coupons
• five Frito Lay coupons

Do you want an extra entry?  Link back to this post on your blog and make sure you e-mail me to let me know that you've done so.  Comments will be open on this post until midnight on Wednesday, January 21st at which point I'll let a random number generator select one very lucky winner.  I'll announce the winner on Thursday, January 22nd and then your awesome party pack will be mailed to you in time for the big day.  Make sure you leave a valid e-mail address so that I'll be able to get in touch with you.  And sorry, Dad and Jon, you guys aren't eligible to win!

Game on!  Let's hear those favorite snacks!  And a big thanks to Pepsi and Tara for giving me the opportunity to share this with you all!

Congratulations to the Wii-ner!!!

I am stunned by how many of you entered my Wii and Wii Fit Giveaway!  Thank you to everyone who participated and let me just say how glad I am I used a random number generator to pick the winner because it would have been very tough otherwise.  After compiling all of the comments, removing double entries and adding in additional entries for those of you who linked to the giveaway on your blogs, we have a winner....

Congratulations to Wishcake of Simply, Me!!  I hope this amazing prize sends a lot of holiday cheer your way!  Thank you again to Nintendo and Brand About Town for making this contest possible :)

Don't You Want to Wii-n It?

Just a reminder that my Wii and Wii Fit Giveaway contest ends at midnight EST tonight!  Comments will closed at that time.  If you haven't already done so, don't forget to enter before it's too late!  The winner will be announced on Monday...wouldn't that be a nice way to start your week?

Partying Like Wii Fit Stars!

Last night's Wii Fit party was a smashing success!  The Nintendo girls were fabulously fun and at one point had us doing three way hula hoop competitions!  I, sadly, did not win but holy crap, did I get a great ab workout out of that!  We enjoyed yummy smoothies, to-die-for sangria and a delicious spread of good for you food like hummus, tabouleh, chicken satay and fresh fruit.  Best of all, my guests each walked away with their very own Wii Fit, Wii yoga mat, tote bag and adorable Wii track suit.  Thanks for everything, Nintendo and Brand About Town!  If you haven't already done so, don't forget to enter my giveaway for your very own Wii and Wii Fit! 

As promised, here are some pictures:

My mom was fantastic at hula hooping!

Delectable array of smoothies...

Fellow DC area bloggers Laurie

and Jackie

Lisa and Taylor taking a break between games

You can check out the rest of my photos on Flickr!

Wii and Wii Fit Giveaway!!!

If you're a regular reader, you'll know I've had my fair share of drama at our ridiculously overpriced gym.  There was the incident with the creepy kickboxing instructor and then there are all those crazy characters to deal with and dear lord, let's not forget that excruciatingly embarrassing incident in Pilates class back in the spring.  It's enough to make me never want to go back!

What's a girl to do?  I could just stop going and sit on my couch eating Candy Cane Jo Jo's instead, but that might not be very healthy.  Or I could just go running for all of my workouts but that's b-o-r-i-n-g and besides, after all those years of running competitively, I promised myself some variety in my workouts.   

And that, my friends, is where the Wii comes in.  Jon and I enjoy playing our Wii Sports games together when we can't muster the will to go to the gym, but frankly, I'm getting tired of whooping up on him in Wii Bowling and I'm boring him to tears with my lack of Wii Tennis skills.  We've been wanting to get our hands on the Wii Fit, but do you realize how hard it is to find one of those things in stores?  It's near impossible!   I think the Nintendo gods must have heard my silent pleas because I was selected to be a Brand Advocate for the Nintendo Wii Fit!

What does this mean for me?  It means that I'm hosting a Wii Fit party next Monday for some of my friends and other DC area bloggers!  There'll be wine and snacks and lovely ladies to show us all of the cool and wonderful things the Wii Fit has to offer us girls.  Don't worry, I will definitely post pictures of the party because it's sure to be a fun time.

What does this mean for you all?  It means that I'm giving away a Wii console and Wii Fit with balance board on this blog thanks to the kind folks at Nintendo just in time for the holidays!  Sweet!  We can all get in shape together for the New Year!  Would you like to be the recipient of that shiny new Wii and Wii Fit? 

Well, here's what you have to do:

1.  Leave a comment on this post telling me how the Wii Fit would impact your life.  Would you use it to lose weight and to track your weight loss?  To gain flexibility?  To reconnect in a fun way with your kids?  To gain bragging rights over who can hold a yoga pose the longest?  Tell me!  Make sure you use a valid e-mail address so that I can get in touch with you if you're the lucky winner. 

2.  Want a second entry?  Mention this giveaway on your blog by linking back to this post and you'll be entered for another chance to win.  Just make sure to let me know via e-mail that you've done so.

It's that simple!  I will be accepting comments until midnight EST on Friday, December 5th.  The winner will be drawn randomly and announced on Monday, December 8th and one prize (consisting of a Wii console and Wii Fit game and balance board) will be shipped by Nintendo within 2 weeks. 

That's it!  Now get commenting and let's hear how you would use it!  Don't forget to spread the word about the contest.

This will be me soon, the latest internet sensation:

And this will be Jon, champion of downhill skiiing:

Exhaling...

The procedure worked!!  It only took one shock (eek!) to get my Dad's heart back into a normal rhythm which is a very, very good thing.  Before the procedure, his heart was functioning at 20%; it went up to between 50-60% functioning level just after!  He was happily released from the hospital last night and is in very good spirits.  He's not completely out of the woods yet as there is another minor heart issue to deal with, but the worst is over.  Thank you to all of you...the texts, the twitters and e-mails were all very uplifting and served as such a sweet reminder of how lovely and close and real these blogging friendships are. You guys are the best.

Though I never take my parents for granted, this whole situation made me realize more than ever how much they mean to me and how truly deafening the loss of one of them would be.  It also brought to light that sure enough, I am my father's daughter and my sister is my mother's daughter.  While my mom and my sister aren't negative people, not at all, they braced for the worst and treated it as such.  My father and I, on the other hand, expected, perhaps naïvely, the best and thus had a hard time hearing what the doctors were saying about life and death.  It was a good balance to have all of us in that hospital room, equal doses of reality and humor and hope to pull us through.  Again, thank you for keeping us in your prayers.  Life, thankfully, goes on. 

I have a big announcement to post tomorrow (no, I'm not pregnant) so make sure you stop by because it may or may not involve the words "contest" and "giveaway" and "Wii".  Woo hoo :)  Stay tuned!