FIVE DOLLAR FUN FACT FRIDAY!

Contest Closed!
We have a winner!

NECKMEAT WINS WITH AN ANSWER OF $24.04

Thanks for playing Five Dollar Fun Fact Friday!

Note: Read the comment section for clues and to see what the other guesses are so you don't guess what others have guessed that are incorrect : ) And blogger comments might still be messing up! UGH!

Hey guys! First of all, if you haven't been able to comment to win the books up for grabs, I have no idea what's going on with Blogger, something whacky, that's for sure.

I know there's been a random error that some of you get that starts with a bx- because I've gotten it too when I try to comment...

Please try back to enter to win the books, and if over the weekend, you still weren't able to comment, on Monday, please email me your name and email address and I'll enter you into my excel document. (If you were one of the few to already email me about your commenting problems, please EMAIL ME AGAIN so I can get you on that list.) Thanks.

Let's see if there's a problem with this post as we go forward. Ugh, I do not want to have to change blog sites after more than 1,000 posts!

So here it is, FIVE DOLLAR FUN FACT FRIDAY and here's how it works in case you missed last week:

I'll ask a random question and all you gotta do is answer it. I'll let you have two guesses per your comment this time, and the one who gets the EXACT RIGHT ANSWER first will win a crisp five dollar bill to buy whatever you'd like -- three and a half iTunes songs, a coffee, almost a full tank of gas, a bag of chips and a pop, a five-dollar foot-long, a half a movie ticket -- the list is endless!! Hahaha. It's my way of saying thanks for reading my blog, and it's fun for me too!

So here's the question for this week:

I went to the post office again this week to mail out a birthday package for my niece. It went to Connecticut. I also mailed out three book packages to some of you winners. I also mailed out three letters of not necessarily your basic letter sized envelopes. So that was seven items total.

How much was the final post office bill? Exactly?

Bonus points but no money for guessing what songs were playing while I was standing in line! And if you follow me on Facebook, you know!

Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't make note that today marks the anniversary of the 11th month we've lived in Arizona. Wow. This is how I felt at seven months. This is how I felt a week into it. And this is when I felt like everything was crumbling.

We're OK now. We're all OK.

PeaCe uP!

HERE, HOME, HOPE by Kaira Rouda

Winner: Kirsten of Notes from a Human Napkin!
Please email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com with you full name and address to receive your book! Thanks everyone for entering! A new book coming tomorrow!

Another Book for You!

Book: Here, Home, Hope

Author: Kaira Rouda

Have I got a treat for you all! Here, Home, Hope comes out May 1, and it’s going to be big! I’ve got a feeling Kaira Rouda is going to have fans right alongside those who love Sarah Pekkanen. Here, Home, Hope is a heartfelt story that all women can relate to, no matter what age you are, or what stage in life you’re facing! This is going to be a great summer-time read for all!

The Blurb:

Kelly Mills Johnson becomes restless in her thirty-ninth year. An appetite for more forces her to take stock of her ordinary middle-American existence and her neighbors’ seemingly perfect lives. Her marriage to a successful attorney has settled into a comfortable routine, and being the mother of two adorable sons has been rewarding but exhausting. Meanwhile, Kelly’s own passions lie wasted. She eyes with envy the lives of her two best friends, Kathryn and Charlotte, both beautiful, successful businesswomen who seem to have it all. Kelly takes charge of her life, devising a midlife makeover plan.

From page one, Kelly’s witty reflections, self-deprecating humor, and clever tactics in executing that plan—she places Post-it notes all over her house and car—will have readers laughing out loud. The next instant, however, they might rant right along with Kelly as her commitment to a sullen, anorexic teenager left on her doorstep tries her patience or as she deflects the boozy advances of a divorced neighbor. Readers will need to keep the tissue box handy, too, as Kelly repairs the damage she inflicted on a high school friend; realizes how deeply her husband, Patrick, understands and loves her; and ultimately grows into a woman empowered by her own blend of home and career.

I LOVE sharing the first chapter of books with you and Here, Home, Hope's first chapter will pull you in immediately! I had to laugh out loud because I was in this same position, quite literally as I was just fitted for a mouth guard!

To win Here, Home, Hope tell me this:

If you could reinvent yourself today, what would you be doing with your life right now?I think you all know, I would have my novels published by now!

Thanks to BookSparksPR for offering up this copy today!

Winner will be announced at the top of this post whenever I'm ready to choose a winner; also if you have not entered to win Fly Away Home, you still may do so by clicking on that link! Another book giveaway may show up for tomorrow too! I'm feeling generous!

PeaCe uP! : )

FLY AWAY HOME by Jennifer Weiner

Winner: KRYSTAL DYER!

Please email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com to receive your copy of Fly Away Home! To those of you who didn't win, I will have an additional copy to give away during Five Dollar Fun Fact Friday this week! : )

Well, well, well what do we have here? A Book Giveaway!

Many of you know by now that my first author crush was on Jennifer Weiner when she wrote Good in Bed ten years ago. She’s a very important reason why I love books so much. Not only did I fall in chick-lit-love with GIB, she also inspired me to start my blog as hers was the very first blog I ever read, and I began MaNiC MoMMy (originally called Manic Mom's Mental Myriads) back in 2004. It was also because of Jennifer Weiner that I was inspired to write my first novel, 40 Weeks (RIP).

And because of Jennifer Weiner and a book signing I attended, I met my BBFF Swishy, who UNFORTUNATELY (ahem!), no longer blogs, but if she did, you would find her here, and love her as much as I do! I can’t believe Swishy hasn’t blogged in almost a year, she had so much wonderful stuff to say. And she still does!

Today, courtesy of Jennifer Weiner, I am giving away a copy of FLY AWAY HOME! And later this week, I might give away ANOTHER COPY! (teaser!)

FLY AWAY HOME is being described as “hilarious, heartbreaking, and insightful” and features a sister duo (I love Weiner’s books with sister combos!) and a politician’s wife. The three women take refuge at the family beach house after Dad’s extramarital affair makes headlines.

I loved all three of the women characters -- each are written so uniquely as only Jennifer Weiner can write them. Fly Away Home boasts strong women, with quirky personalities, and was one of my favorite Weiner books. Read the First Chapter Here.

Win a copy right now – tell me about a quirky/embarrassing personality trait you have that you would rather keep to yourself but you know it will make us all laugh!

To find out if Jennifer Weiner is going to be touring near you, go to jenniferweiner.com/events.

Jen’s next book, Then Came You will be on shelves July 12th! More info here when it’s available! I can't wait for this one!

To find out if you've won, come back here and check at the top of this post where I'll have a name (hopefully it'll be YOUR NAME!) listed at the top! GOOD LUCK, and another book may be popping up for you to win TOMORROW!? Who knows?!?

Winner of Five Dollar Fun Fact Friday!

Hey there everyone! Happy Monday!?!? Right? Right! Well, I loved doing the Five Dollar Fun Fact Friday and I do have a winner for you, and a funny little fact for you as well, but first, REALLY, Carly Haynes?? Eat, Pray, Love is YOUR COMEDY guess!?!?!?

Comedy? hahaha, now that's funny! But that movie was NOT!!

You did make me laugh at your guess though! Thanks for that!

And there were SOOOO many great guesses, and here is the funniest thing...

I HAD THE WRONG ANSWER MYSELF!!!

I thought I saw a movie last and then when I was reading all your answers, I was like NOOOO! I didn't see THAT movie last, I saw THIS movie last!!!

I thought I saw Just Go With It last but I was WRONG!!! (so sorry Bridget, you were close, but there was another movie that got in the way of you being the winner this time!) That was NOT the last movie I saw. So THAT IS NOT THE ANSWER but originally, in my head, that is what I thought the answer was. UNTIL, I kept reading and then I remembered that about a month ago my son had called me from school early (like first period) and he was having a bad day so I called a momdauble. I think I just made that word up ... it's like an audable... and I picked him up from school and I took him to see ...

HALL PASS!!!!

So, the actual last movie I saw in the movie theater was Hall Pass, and that means that EBROWNING wins this first round of Five Dollar Fun Fact Friday!!!

Email me your mailing address and full name and I'm gonna send you a crisp five dollar bill for real! You can get a Starbucks with it, or maybe even see the cheapo movie! And the NEXT movie I'm going to go see FOR SURE is Emily Giffin's SOMETHING BORROWED!

And speaking of books, come back tomorrow because I will be giving away one ...

But I'm not going to tell you which one it is!!!

PeaCe uP!

Five Dollar Fun Fact Friday!

Some housekeeping stuff first, then the CONTEST!!

Christina L. and Ally asked for Falling Apart in One Piece so I want to make sure the book goes to you both for your mom and your friend so please email me your addresses at stephanieelliot@gmail.com and we'll make sure to get the book to you guys. Thank YOU both also for being sensitive and wanting the book to go to someone you know who needs it, and thanks to Carly and Michelle, the winners who wanted to share it with someone who could benefit from it!

Starting SOMETIME next week--ANOTHER BOOK FRENZY GIVEAWAY! Not AS crazy as March, but I've got a list of about 6-10 books (including Jen Weiner!) that I'll give away, maybe not daily, maybe every other day, but that's the fun of NOT KNOWING ... surprises surprises surprises! Who out there knows who Gomer Pyle is? Oh my Gosh I am soooo old. Not that I really know who he is. Or what about that other one, never mind. I'm stopping...

Friday, Friday, everybody's ready for Friday ... have you all listened to that HORRIBLE song yet? I could make you watch that video here if I embedded it on my blog, but I won't. However if you're curious and want your eyes AND ears to bleed, and if you don't have a tweener in the house and haven't heard it yet, just google "Rebecca Black Friday."

You're welcome. To hell.

So anyway, it IS Friday and I'm going to resurrect ... OMG! That was UNINTENTIONAL but IT IS GOOD FRIDAY and Jesus is going to ressurect on Sunday. What a coincidence.

But today, I am going to ressurect an old Blog Dealio I used to do called Five Buck Friday but then I got into some trouble because that Five Buck Friday phrase was copyrighted and a very nice man contacted me and told me I couldn't use it on the internet because it belonged to him and his flowershop. (See, I purposely said it here in the hopes he would contact me again ... HI NICE FLOWER SHOP GUY!)

So I have to change the name of my internet game to ...

Drum Roll ...

Five Dollar Fun Fact Friday!

Here's what it used to be: FIVE BUCK FRIDAY Here's how we'll play today:

I'm going to ask a random question. You guys can answer it in the comment section.

ONE GUESS PER PERSON!

Whoever gets it right will win a crisp five dollar bill from me AND a couple MaNiC MoMMy magnets (Whoooo Hooooo!)

I know, I know, crazy fun right? But it's Friday, and if you're at work, you're bored to death. If you're at home, reading this, well, then you're bored to death too, cuz you're reading THIS. You might as well get paid for your efforts, right?

So, let's just play and see how it goes.

Here's the question, and let me tell you, *I* didn't even know the answer, I had to call up my friend and ASK her the answer! So good luck on guessing THIS one!

The last movie I saw in the movie theater was a comedy. What is the name of that movie?
YOU CAN ONLY GUESS ONCE FOR NOW, SO MAKE IT A GOOD ONE!

Remember, you get one guess for now (Oh, I just said that), unless I come in and offer another clue in the comment section if no one guesses it right away. Also, I will be on the road for part of the day and unable to access the internet so the right answer may be in the comments but I won't be able to respond immediately.

Good luck, and have fun!

Happy Easter to you all as well!

CHOOSE MY KITCHEN COLOR!

Good morning! I need your designer help today! We have some ugly wallpaper in our kitchen. Well, it's not horrible, but I don't particularly like wallpaper and I'd like to have it removed and painted. Although I'm not sure what color to paint it, and I'm thinking bold red, but then I'm worried what if I hate it six months down the road, but doesn't everyone say red is the color for eating and kitchens and manga! (What the heck does that word even mean, and right now my stomach is GROWLING and I want a huge bowl of pasta with pine nuts and fresh parmasan and olive oil and doesn't that sound awesome, but probably not if you're reading this at like seven a.m.)

OK. Digress.

Friday, Friday, everybody's waiting for Friday. HATE THAT SONG.

(Yes, this is how my mind works when I'm blogging.)

Back to the paint and red and being hungry ...

So, I was hoping you guys could take a look at what my kitchen currently looks like and the family room which is right off the kitchen and give me some suggestions of colors to choose from. Because I have NO FREAKING idea!

Here's the wallpaper, up close and personal.

Really? Do I live in ROME??

Here are some pictures of what my kitchen and family room look like. There are black accents in the granite and the paint and carpet in the family room is also black, which I'm not crazy about, but I can live with:

Main large wall:

Family Room

Kitchen Eating Area

See how there is so much black accent? Notice the "'70s porn carpet?" We don't like it that much either and often wonder how much DNA ended up in there before we moved in.

So, seeing those pictures, what color would you go with for the walls that have Roman Numeral Wallpaper covering them?

I just found a place where I can paint a room online!

Can you help me find a color!?!? PLEASE! Or just tell me what I should do!

Thanks!

Calling You Out!

Good Monday morning! I wish I had a book to give away today, but I don’t, not yet, but after Easter I will have some more for you, I promise! I feel like I need to share books with you all or you won’t have anything exciting to read here.

Do you really want to hear about how we left the kids home alone Saturday so we could go out for a birthday lunch and then bra shopping and then for a $300 trip to Sam’s Club?

Probably not.

So I’m really sitting here boring myself to tears trying to come up with something fun to tell you and it’s just not working. But there are so many things I want to know from you guys from when you commented all of the time and if you’re still reading, I’m just going to ask them, and see if you’ll answer them. If you don't want to, that's cool. And if you’re not listed here, would you tell me something interesting about you that you might not have shared with me previously? I had so much fun reading and learning about you guys during the giveaway! So here are the questions I can think of now:

AC – have you had your baby yet?

Kimmi – why is your profile a picture of a penguin?

Neckmeat – WHY Neckmeat??

Crabbymommy – You never seemed crabby in your comments, why are you called crabby?

Crystal – what’s the 717 stand for?

Gen K – How old are you and don’t worry about never having a boyfriend, you seemed kinda bummed about that – when the time’s right, he’ll come along! : )

Jen of Random Acts of Insanity – can you tell us one act of insanity you’ve committed? : )

Christine in NJ – have you always lived in NJ?

Nearl – did you and your boyfriend/roommate get back together? After you mentioned the breakup, then in another comment you said something about your roommate so I wondered if you were back together?

Gun1not – Tell me about your profile name!

Your Invisible Pixie – I wanna know about your name too!

Lucy 872 – what’s the number stand for?

Croppergirl – what’s a croppergirl?

Bridget – what’s the lambtinrb (I could never tell if it was lamb like the animal or an i??)

LindsayK918 – Numbers a secret code?

Jdstec – what do those initials mean?

Absolutanhie – where the heck does that come from? Is your name Annie?

Melissa tmd – What’s the tmd stand for?

Qweska – I’ve always wondered what that stands for?

Equinn – does that mean you love horses?

CAnative – Does this mean you’re from California or Canada? ; )

Dulcibella – what’s this mean? Pretty milk?

Buffy Dee – you a fan of the Buffy Vampire show?

Colbey J – I know this isn’t true but every time I wrote your name I said outloud, Colby Jack cheese! What’s your real name, what does Colbey J signify?

Taylor J 2112 – At one point I thought to myself, “Gosh, does 2112 mean this is the year she graduates from high school?!” If this is the case, I AM SOOO OLD!”

Red Dragon? What’s your story?

Jennyfromthecube – Do you work in a cubicle?

Jenn3128 – What do the numbers mean?

It was so fun learning about you guys when I was doing the giveaway, I really felt like we had a sense of community growing here. If I don’t have your name here, I’d still like to know something interesting about you.

I think I’m going to start up $5 Friday Fun Fact where I ask a random question and whoever answers it correctly will win Five Bucks cash to be mailed to them. I used to do it on the blog and it was a lot of fun! Probably the week after Easter, so stay tuned for that, and a bunch more books! Thanks for sticking around!

Here’s a random fact about me. My parents named all of us kids beginning with the letter S: Stephanie, Stacy, Scott and Seth. (And my maiden name also began with an S.) And there happened to be three Scotts in my wedding. Tell me something interesting/odd/random about you!

Happy Monday!

OK, wait! Did you get this far? Grand prize winner Carly has generously offered up her copy of Falling Apart in One Piece to someone who really NEEDS it. Are you going through a divorce or are you recently divorced and feel like you can benefit from Stacy Morrison's life-changing incredible memoir? If so, let me know and one of you will receive it. Thank YOU Carly; now that's what I call GREAT KARMA!

Oh, and PS, if you feel like stopping by Real Moms Guide, I wrote up something about Emily Giffin's movie, Something Borrowed, which comes out on May 6th! Cannot wait! The link is HERE!

GRAND PRIZE WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

**Please read my comment in the comment section where I try to explain how EVERYONE who commented every day was entered to win, not just previous winners! Thanks!

Happy Birthday to ME! Let's give away some books to celebrate!

Thank you all so very much for participating in the MaNiC MoMMy March Madness Book-A-Day Giveaway! Many thanks to the fabulous authors who contributed their books as well:

Catherine McKenzie * Jenny Nelson * Lissa Rankin * Jess Riley * Michele Scott * Kim Wright * Julie Buxbaum * Jenny Gardiner * Eileen Cook * Trish Ryan * Shawn Klomparens * Shana Mahaffey * Alisa Bowman * Kristina Riggles * Susan Pohlman * Dawn Meehan * Emily Giffin * Maureen Lipinski * Laura Kasischke * Michelle Toth * Annette Fix * Allison Winn Scotch * Juliette Fay * Sarah Pekkanen * Jen Lancaster * Stacy Morrison * Rainbow Rowell * Laura Dave * Laura Munson * Stacey Ballis * Matt Logelin * Bethenny Frankel * Allison Pearson * Julie Metz

And now, here are the two winners who will take home a boatload of awesome books!



Congrats girls! Please drop me an email and we'll figure out just how you two will split the books. You can start by emailing me your list of top ten and we'll go from there!

Thank you all for taking the time to come by, and please continue to do so, even though I know you have a lot of reading to do now! And hopefully some day I'll have a book of my own for you to read too - I'm planning on sending the one I'm working on to my agent next month!

Okay, and PS, what the heck was I doing at the end of that video when I said, "Peace out" ... I just sound lame! And I was THISCLOSE to redoing the WHOLE video over! UGH!

GIVEAWAY ANNOUNCEMENT and MY 1,000 POST!

The drawing for the book giveaway will be tomorrow morning, my birthday and the 1,001st post of this blog!

I've already picked one winner from each day from the list via Random.org. Those winners will be tossed into a bowl and chosen via video for you to view. Some of your names have been chosen TWICE which is what I had planned all along, saying that if you entered daily that would amp your chances to win! So it worked!

We're going to choose two winners for all of the books. Just so you know, there may be a few books that were offered throughout the month that may not be in the final giveaway, but that will be discussed with the grand prize winners. Either way, I'm sure the winners will be thrilled with what they receive -- I hope so anyway!

Stay tuned, and thanks again for playing along! And don't forget, there will be more to come!

xo Steph

ONE OF THE MANY REASONS I LOVE BOOKS

Yesterday, I took Ajers to the chiropractor for the first time. He had a basketball injury. I was talking to the receptionist and she mentioned that her son was the doctor, and she and her husband had moved to AZ to be with him, so of course we started talking about how we ended up here, and how long she's been married, how long I've been married, practically our whole life stories, because that's what I do when I go out and start talking to people I meet - I like to learn about them. Her children are here -- her son is 28 (the chiropractor), her daughter is around 26 or so, and they are all from NY. She and her husband just celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary and decided to move here in October, so actually I have lived here longer than she has.

She moved here to be with her kids and semi-retire and help her son in his office and get away from the cold of NY and enjoy her life.

So I asked her how she is enjoying it.

"I love it here," she said.

"And what about your husband?" I asked.

"He went back to New York after a month. He hated it here. He likes hunting and fishing and being near the ocean. He didn't like it here at all."

My mind clicked. And immediately knew that she needed to have Laura Munson's This Is Not The Story You Think It Is. I just felt it in my gut that she was going through that sort of crisis. I didn't know this woman at all. But the look on her face, and what she had just told me in the few minutes that we talked, I could sense it. I had an extra copy at home, and my house is literally, five houses away from the doctor's office. I said to her, "I have a book you need to read, and I'm going to go home and get it for you. I'll be right back."

So I went home, got the book, and brought it to her. I don't know really anything of her personal story, except that she seemed like she might have been lost, and how could you not be? To spend 32 years with someone, and expect to spend the rest of your life enjoying each other, to make a move to be with your children. I feel for her. I wanted to help her in some way, and I really felt that Laura's words will give her some peace. So that's why I brought her the book.

That's why I love words and books so much. That's just one of the reasons that I wanted to share all these books with you all this past month, and that's why I will continue to bring books and stories and authors to you guys. I hope you'll still read. Thanks!

LAST OF THE BOOKS

Well, good morning, happy Monday! Hope you had an AWESOME weekend. I had a fun Girl’s Day Out with Diva (for those of you who haven’t followed along in the "way long ago" of the blog, that’s what I call my almost 12-year-old daughter!). We needed some Mommy/Daughter one-on-one time.

I’ve finally picked the rest of the winners except for SPIN & ARRANGED (I figured I’d give you guys another day or so in case people weren’t around on Friday or the weekend). And to make things even easier, I’ll list the last few winners here:

Two Kisses for Maddy: Michelle Mierczewski

I Think I Love You: Donna W

A Place of Yes: Dawn from CA

Perfection: Buttah (she’s a two-time winner-how lucky is that?!)

And the winners of the books below have still not contacted me yet, and if I don’t get an email from you by Wednesday night, I am wiping away your names from the blog entries and picking new names. Sorry guys, but the names have been up there for quite a while, and I’m listing them here now too!

You’ll Lose The Baby Weight
Annie Begins
The One That I Want
If You Were Here
Falling Apart in One Piece … this one was recently chosen so I'll give this winner a bit more time.

Have winners all received your books? If you recently won them, you may not have gotten them yet, but if you don’t get your books by like mid April, please do let me know and I’ll contact the author/publicist about it.

After we get all this squared away, then I can focus on the big drawing! Sorry it’s taking so long!

For later this month I’ve got Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner, and another giveaway from Laura Dave! She’s going to be offering her new one again, The First Husband (in hardback!). I’ll be sharing a great read from Kaira Rouda called Here, Home, Hope, and a fun one called The Baby Planner by Josie Brown that I just got the other day that looks fab! So not to worry, lots more books heading your way!

If you’re a mom to a young kid or need a really fun book gift idea, you might want to check out my review on Real Moms Guide about “Get To Know Your Kid”, and I also just wrote about demystifying The Birthday Octave, which is something I think only my crazy family celebrates!

I’ll share a quick Starbucks story from Friday:

There’s this really cute guy who’s always in there, I mean just a beautiful man and I was sitting near him (of course, I planned that!). Another woman is there a lot of the time, who I’ve come to know a little bit. So the cute guy’s there and I try to peek at him because he’s like a piece of art, just gorgeous and I like to look at beautiful things. He’s reading some book. Who goes to Starbucks to just read a book (well, he had coffee too). I should pay more attention to what he’s reading. I do know his name is Jack – thank you baristas for writing names on the cups!

Anyway, so when he leaves, I say to Beth (because I’ve met her before, plus they wrote her name on her cup too so it helps me remember also!)… I say to her, “Gosh he is just soooo cute!”

She says, “Yeah, I think he’s married.”

And I laugh and show her my rings and say, “So am I! I just like to look at him because he is so beautiful!” I wonder if she thought I was strange because I said he was cute. I think she is strange for not thinking he was cute! Or for not looking at him. Yep, she is definitely strange for completely thinking a guy can’t be cute because he is married.

So is that weird? Of course, I told Mr. MaNiC all about it. And he says he looks at women all the time but that doesn’t mean he wants to have sex with them (although those were not his exact words, he said something a little more crude).

Anyway, I thought I would share that with you because you guys have been sharing so much with me but I don’t even know if that’s something you would want to know.

Have a great Monday, and if you feel like it, you can tell me something crazy you did over the weekend because the only crazy thing I did was THINK about what I would do to that guy in Starbucks if I WASN’T MARRIED!

And yes, I am going back to Starbucks first thing Monday morning.

PeaCe uP!

MaNiC MoMMy

SPIN & ARRANGED by Catherine McKenzie

Winner Announced:

Kassie H!

Congrats - you have won Spin and Arranged! Please email me your full name and address at stephanieelliot@gmail.com and I'll get you your copies of these two great books! Coming up later this week -- the GRAND PRIZE DRAWING, my BIRTHDAY, and my 1,000 post on MaNiC MoMMy! WOW!

Is this de ja vu???

Still a chance to win the very two books offered in March!

Hey everyone! So I really, really wanted to get all of the winners picked tonight but it takes about a half hour to do one winner and I didn't have the time to do them all, but if you check out Laura Dave's post and Laura Munson's post, those winners have been announced.

Also, there are a few of you who have not let me know your addresses, so please let me know who you are so I can get your books to you! Still waiting on the winner of Jen Lancaster's book!

Today, since no one claimed our very first books by Catherine McKenzie, I'm going to offer them up again. SPIN and ARRANGED are two awesome books. You can go back and read the review, but come back HERE to comment. EVEN IF YOU COMMENTED PREVIOUSLY, come HERE to comment in order to qualify for these books. The previous post will not count as your entry. You will need to comment on THIS POST if you want to win these books now. Sorry you have to do it again, but this is the easiest way for me to track the entries, and also it will give anyone new a chance to win these fabulous books.

And for this entry, let's do something completely random, tell me something that either looks good or smells good, but tastes completely disgusting. Or vice versa -- something that tastes awesome, but looks horrible. I have no idea where I come up with this stuff, and this has nothing at all to do with the books. I just wanna know your thoughts!

Happy Friday, and we'll get through announcing these last few books and then to the big prize in the next week or so!

Thanks for your patience, and thanks to everyone who went over to check out Real Moms Guide--that was way cool of you!

GOOD MORNING!

I seriously don't know what I'm gonna do if I don't say hi to you all each morning now!

Hi! Good morning! No book today... : (

Here's where we're at. Yesterday I had a migraine, and I think I'm blaming it on the fact that the day before, I took myself out on a date, and only had a frap and a salted caramel all day to eat. You can read about it over at my other blog. Oh yeah, did I ever tell you I blog daily somewhere else? Hahah. In my spare time. Anyway, I'm at SheKnows.com Real Moms Guide every single day. Twice on Mondays. I would LOVE it (and YOU, even MORE) if you could sneak over there sometimes and leave a little comment love. More important, my editors would love it cuz then they'd see people reading it.

So, back to the migraine. It prevented me from MOVING all day yesterday. In bed the whole day. I'm sure it was the combo caffeine (I before E except after C doesn't quite work with the word caffeine now does it?) and chocolate, the long walk, and then funky weather here in Scottsdale today (it actually RAINED ... for like 3-1/2 minutes, but with thunder AND lightning!).

I did have random.org choose three more book winners so go check out Falling Apart in One Piece, Stay and Attachments to see if you're the lucky winners. I will pick the rest of the winners this week, and then I do believe you have all decided to have TWO WINNERS for the books. I wish I could offer two full sets, but I don't have that to offer.

All of the authors have been soooo generous already with giving their books away, and so many of them offered more than just one book in the first place, so we'll just take what we can get! When we have two winners picked via Random.org, I will work with those two winners - maybe either by having them submit a list of their top 10 books to see if any of them are similiar, or let the first winner pick 5, then the second pick five, etc.

The way the drawing will go is as follows: Each day, I have taken all the comments and listed your names into an excel document. So I have 35 columns of names (one column per book). I will choose through random.org one name from each column, so if your name is in each column every day, your name could be chosen every single day. More than likely, I will share those 35 names with you all on the blog.

Does all this sound clear to you because I'm trying to understand it in my head! : )

Either way, I will be doing the grand prize drawing via a youtube video.

Some winners have not contacted me about their books, so please go back and check to see if your name is listed on the following:

Dawn Meehan: You'll Lose The Baby Weight
Michelle Toth: Annie Begins
Allison Winn Scotch: The One That I Want

No one has come forward for the very first books, Catherine McKenzie's Spin and Arranged, and that was so long ago, so I will probably do a post on Thursday offering it up again. Also, if I don't hear from the winners of the other three books by the end of this week, I will be making a decision on these as well, but for sure Spin and Arranged will be available again Thursday, and they are FABULOUS books. Check out what they are about HERE, but DO NOT COMMENT AGAIN. You'll have another chance tomorrow!

Okay, so that should catch you up to date on some things. I hope you all have a terrific Thursday and I have truly, truly LOVED learning about all of you and as I go through all your comments, there are weird things that go through my head that I want to ask ALL of you, seriously! I should just do a blog post where I ask YOU all a bunch of questions, like how you come up with your names on here, why you chose some of your crushes, what you mean when you say some of the things you say. I have enjoyed this waaay more than you can even imagine and I wish I could give every single one of you guys books!

PeaCe uP!

xoxoxo MaNiC MoMMy

Oh, and PS... I have more in store for you all! Since I dumped BlogHer, I can do other stuff on my blog I couldn't before so I might be able to do more fun giveaways, but I'm not gonna pimp it out to a bunch of advertisers or anything crazy. I would most likely wanna know what you guys would want to come here for. I also think I will be able to do a mini-April book giveaway, with about 5-7 books. It's not 40, but it's something!

Back to bye-bye! Over and out! xoxo

PERFECTION by Julie Metz

Winner Announced!

Congratulations to:

BUTTAH!

And check this out! Buttah won previously in the contest, so it just goes to show you how random this really is! It didn't matter when you posted or how often you posted or what you said or how you said it. And this just means that each one of you has just as much of a chance at winning the grand prize which is coming up very soon! And there will be TWO of you to win the books! Congrats Buttah! I still have your address so I'll just send the info to the author for you!

Book: Perfection, A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal

Author: Julie Metz

Website: http://www.perfectionbook.com/index.html

Julie Metz had her Oprah moment, but she probably didn’t expect it would come about the way it unfolded.

Married and living the seemingly happy life, with an adorable six-year-old daughter in the suburbs, Julie’s life changed forever when her husband unexpectedly collapsed and died in their kitchen.

You’d think that’d be the worst the world would give you, right? Not for Julie. Months later, she discovered a betrayal that would have her question her whole marriage. Her husband had been leading a separate life and had been, in fact, having affairs with not one, but multiple women (at least five), and one of them being a very close friend of Julie’s.

Perfection is the story of how Julie overcomes the betrayal and rebuilds her life and identity after becoming a widow and finding out her husband had been an adulterer. It’s a moving memoir and Julie is a testament to all women who face any kind of adversity in their lives!

Read an excerpt here.

And here’s a wonderful video of Julie describing some moments in her life and also some FAQs you might be wondering about regarding her experience.

If you’d like to try your shot at winning Perfection (the very last book of this month-long promotion!) please leave a comment here on what YOU think is absolutely PERFECT! Can’t wait to read your answers!

Thanks for a great month, and come back tomorrow for details on how we’ll proceed to the grand prize drawing, and YES, I do have to still draw names for books from Friday, March 25 on, so if you didn't enter to win those, there's STILL TIME! Get on over to those posts and leave your comments!

*****
Please leave a comment, and all those who do will qualify to win Perfection! I’ll draw the winner in a couple of days and I will post the winner’s name at the TOP of this post, in the highlighted area.


Come back and read about each book every day in March. Choose the books you'd like to win. Enter for any or ALL the books. Each entry will count as an entry toward the grand prize of winning ALL 31+ books at the end of the month. You can win the book of the day and still qualify to win ALL the books at the end of the month!


PLEASE be specific with your name in the comment section, and IF YOUR NAME is listed as the winner, you must email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com in order to claim your prize. Email me with your full name and address so I can have your book(s) sent to you.


Thanks, and GOOD LUCK! And come back tomorrow to see what book I’ll be giving away then too!


It’s MaNiC MoMMy’s March Madness Book-A-Day Giveaway! Read ALL the Rules and Details Here!


Sorry, only U.S. and Canadian residents only!

I THINK I LOVE YOU by Allison Pearson

Winner Announced:

Congratulations!

Donna W

... who happens to have a crush on Jeff Probst from Survivor (and no, you're not the only one - one or two other ladies mentioned him!). But the ones who cracked me up the most were from the one girl who would crawl through crushed glass for George Clooney, and another girl who crushes on Conan -- REALLY? hahaah! Loved everyone's answers for this one!
Donna, please email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com with your full name and address so I can send you your book! Congrats again!

Book: I Think I Love You

Author: Allison Pearson

Show me a girl out there who never had a crush on a musician when she were younger and I’ll show you a big fat liar!

Did I get your attention?

Whether you had a thing for Kurt Cobain, INXS’s Michael Hutchence (why am I picking dead guys?), Justin Timberlake, Simon Lebon, Billy Idol, George Michael, Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, or Donny Osmond, I bet there’s a musician that brings back childhood memories of you screaming in your bedroom while listening to either your:

A) Eight-track
B) Record album
C) Cassette tape on your boom box or in your Sony Yellow Walkman
D) CD
E) MP3 Player
F) iTunes on your laptop

(if you’re young enough to answer E) or F), tell your mom to enter this contest, not you, and go immediately to Wikipedia to find out who THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY and DAVID CASSIDY are. Also, look up Danny Bonaduce, while you’re there. And yes, one Spring Break, my college roommates and I harassed Danny on the beach, but that was WAAAAY before youtube or digital cameras so we have no proof, just the story.)

There was a time when you probably sat on your canopied pink and white bed tearing out pages from your Teen Beat magazine (back to Wiki if you don’t know what Teen Beat is) while listening to your music, and pasting the 8 x 11 posters all over your bedroom while your parental units yelled at you not to get Scotch tape marks all over the walls.

If any of this rings true in your life, you’re going to LOOOOVE today’s book, I THINK I LOVE YOU, by best-selling author, Allison Pearson.

It follows the story of two 13-year-old girls, Petra and Sharon, who are madly obsessed with David Cassidy - singer, teen heartthrob, and star of The Partridge Family. The girls enter a contest with plans to win and meet their crush in person.

Years later, nearing 40, Petra, now with her own teenage daughter, discovers a letter in her mother’s closet – a letter that awarded she and Sharon the winners of that contest long ago.

And guess what? They are not going to let that prize get away, not even 25 years later!

This is a terrific book for anyone who’s ever had a celeb crush, or a best gal-pal you’ve dreamt with about your future. I THINK I LOVE YOU covers all the topics to make a fabulous book – friendship, love, celebrity, that glimmer of youth we all wish we still had. You won’t want to miss out on it!

Here’s an adorable video showcasing Allison Pearson and the editors sharing who their teen crushes were.

To win I THINK I LOVE YOU, leave a comment here on your CURRENT celebrity crush! I’m telling you a few of mine I wouldn’t kick outta bed:

Vince Vaughn, Josh Duhamel, Dane Cook, Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper, and okay … Zac Efron! (I know, I know! But he's sooo cute in all the High School Musical movies!)

*****
Please leave a comment, and all those who do will qualify to win I THINK I LOVE YOU! I’ll draw the winner in a couple of days and I will post the winner’s name at the TOP of this post, in the highlighted area.


Come back and read about each book every day in March. Choose the books you'd like to win. Enter for any or ALL the books. Each entry will count as an entry toward the grand prize of winning ALL 31+ books at the end of the month. You can win the book of the day and still qualify to win ALL the books at the end of the month!


PLEASE be specific with your name in the comment section, and IF YOUR NAME is listed as the winner, you must email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com in order to claim your prize. Email me with your full name and address so I can have your book(s) sent to you.


Thanks, and GOOD LUCK! And come back tomorrow to see what book I’ll be giving away then too!


It’s MaNiC MoMMy’s March Madness Book-A-Day Giveaway! Read ALL the Rules and Details Here!


Sorry, only U.S. and Canadian residents only!

A PLACE OF YES by Bethenny Frankel

Winner Announced!
Congratulations to:

Dawn from CA!

You have won A Place of Yes!

Please email me your full name and address and I'll get your book to you! Congrats! And I think I can write a whole post on all of the comments here on these responses to the question on what is an easy change to make us all happy. I know after I wrote this, I went and walked two days in a row (whoopy!) and I felt sooo much better about myself. There are so many easy fixes in our lives, and what is stopping us!? I'd love to have a discussion on here about why we always put ourselves last!

Book: A Place of Yes 10 Rules for Getting Everything You Want Out of Life

Author: Bethenny Frankel

Website: http://www.bethenny.com/


I have only watched a handful of the Real Housewives shows and don’t know much about Bethenny Frankel, but I know many of you are going to love this book! Especially if you want to know the rules for getting everything you want out of life.

Here’s a video of Bethenny on Good Morning America

And here are Bethenny’s Top Rules:

Break the Chain
Find Your Truth
Act on It
Everything’s Your Business
All Roads Lead to Rome
Go for Yours
Separate from the Pack
Own It
Come Together
Celebrate

Bethenny has certainly come to A Place of Yes and owns her own happiness! To qualify for this book, leave a comment on what you’re not currently doing in your life that you know is an easy change that would make you happier? I’m giving you TWO things for me: I need to go back to yoga, and finish writing my novel! Your turn please! : )

*****
Please leave a comment, and all those who do will qualify to win A Place of Yes! I’ll draw the winner in a couple of days and I will post the winner’s name at the TOP of this post, in the highlighted area.


Come back and read about each book every day in March. Choose the books you'd like to win. Enter for any or ALL the books. Each entry will count as an entry toward the grand prize of winning ALL 31+ books at the end of the month. You can win the book of the day and still qualify to win ALL the books at the end of the month!


PLEASE be specific with your name in the comment section, and IF YOUR NAME is listed as the winner, you must email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com in order to claim your prize. Email me with your full name and address so I can have your book(s) sent to you.


Thanks, and GOOD LUCK! And come back tomorrow to see what book I’ll be giving away then too!


It’s MaNiC MoMMy’s March Madness Book-A-Day Giveaway! Read ALL the Rules and Details Here!


Sorry, only U.S. and Canadian residents only!

A TEENY BREAK

Hey Everyone! I still have three more books to offer up in the March Madness Book-A-Day Giveaway that will take us into next week but I really need a weekend off so I'm not posting on Saturday and Sunday.

Come back on Monday and I'll have a few more books for you ... including one for those Real Housewives fans and another for you Partridge Family David Cassidy lovers!

And I will also be picking the last winners for the previous books featured. I'm really sorry I've been slow on that--we've had company and it's been a busy week. And for those of you who weren't sure where the winners are being announced -- they are listed on TOP of the blog posts -- so go back to the posts and you'll see the names there. The last week or so of books have not been announced so if there is NOT a name posted, that means you can still enter to win that book.

The big drawing will take place in a week or so, and every single one of you who has entered will be entered THAT many times to win! What I will do is draw one name from each day's book and then from those 31 day's names, I will then choose one (or two -- yet to be decided how many grand prize winners to choose) -- maybe comment here and that will help me decide --

Would you all like two winners and have two of you to split all the books -- it will be around 40 books to win -- should we have TWO WINNERS TO WIN ALL THE BOOKS?

Comment here: TWO WINNERS or ONE WINNER and I'll base my decision on how many comment!

Thanks!

TWO KISSES FOR MADDY by Matt Logelin

Winner Announced!

Congratulations to:

Michelle Mierczewski

You have won Two Kisses for Maddy!

Please email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com - send me your full name (well, I guess we got that already huh!? LOL!) and your address and I'll get your book to you! Congrats!

Book: Two Kisses for Maddy

Author: Matt Logelin

Website: http://www.blogger.com/www.mattlogelin.com

This one is a heartbreaker but it’s also a story of inspiration and survival. A book I purposely left for close to the end. One that I want to start reading but that I need to find the quiet time in my schedule to be able to sit down and just really be ready to read.

I’m not sure how many of you know the story of Matt Logelin or follow his blog, but it’s an intense story of how he experienced life and death of the two most important women in his world in a matter of hours. I have goosebumps just writing these words. His blog and his life and how he’s getting through it is an amazing story and if you don’t win this book, you’ve got to read it. This man, oh my gosh, is seriously a pillar of strength, and in his humbleness, he would probably just say to anyone, “I was just doing what I had to do.”

You can watch this video, but, warning, it will probably make you cry. It’s beautiful, and like it says about the book below, it’s “heartwarming and heartbreaking” both at the same time.

Here’s what his book, which is not published until April 14 (but I do have Advanced Reader Copies here), “Two Kisses for Maddy” is about:

Matt and Liz Logelin were high school sweethearts. The pair settled together in Los Angeles and they had it all: the perfect marriage, a beautiful new home, and a baby girl on the way. But just twenty-seven hours after they welcomed Madeline into the world, Liz suffered a pulmonary embolism and instantly died, without ever holding the daughter whose arrival she had so eagerly awaited.

Faced with devastating grief and the responsibilities of a new and single father, Matt coped by returning to the small blog he had created to keep friends and family updated on Liz's pregnancy, which today has become a place for him to share with over a million curious readers the day to day of two lives bound by loss and love. But there is more to his story than just raising a daughter alone: Matt Logelin is an extraordinary human being. Having been sustained through tragedy by the kindness and generosity of strangers, he is now dedicated to helping others in difficult situations by reaching out and inspiring those facing loss or adversity.

A heartwarming and heartbreaking story punctuated by beautifully recollected-- and often humorous-- memories and anecdotes, Two Kisses for Maddy unquestionably has something to offer any reader who has experienced grief, and has sought the courage to live again.

To be entered to win Two Kisses for Maddy, just tell me something nice you plan to do today! Our friends are in town still and Mr. MaNiC is taking the day off and we’re all going to go somewhere fun! Not sure where we’ll end up, but being together is good enough for me! Happy Friday everyone!

*****
Please leave a comment, and all those who do will qualify to win Two Kisses for Maddy! I’ll draw the winner in a couple of days and I will post the winner’s name at the TOP of this post, in the highlighted area.


Come back and read about each book every day in March. Choose the books you'd like to win. Enter for any or ALL the books. Each entry will count as an entry toward the grand prize of winning ALL 31+ books at the end of the month. You can win the book of the day and still qualify to win ALL the books at the end of the month!


PLEASE be specific with your name in the comment section, and IF YOUR NAME is listed as the winner, you must email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com in order to claim your prize. Email me with your full name and address so I can have your book(s) sent to you.


Thanks, and GOOD LUCK! And come back tomorrow to see what book I’ll be giving away then too!


It’s MaNiC MoMMy’s March Madness Book-A-Day Giveaway! Read ALL the Rules and Details Here!


Sorry, only U.S. and Canadian residents only!