Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway!  I wish I had enough to give to all of you!  I'm excited to have some of you as new friends and twitter followers, I have some great stuff coming up in the next few weeks for you!

Now, since you've been so patient with me all day...

Congratulations, Camille!  I will be emailing you later today with the details of your prize!  I can't wait to see how you like the necklace!

Giveaway Reminder!

Today is the last day to enter the fabulous GIVEAWAY!

So head on over and enter!  Happy Sunday!

Friday Ramblings

Wahoo!  The weekend is here again!

I can't fricken wait for the NKOTBSB concert!!  It's going to be epic.  EPIC, I tell you!
I hate spring/I wish we had a screen door.  I am constantly squealing for Sean to kill the bugs that the furball is playing with in the apartment.  I will try to capture one of those moments on video for you all...hilarity always ensues.
Since I'm a new Twitter addict...are we twitter pals yet?...I thought this news on the new photo sharing with twitter was AWESOME! 
I'm off to a staff retreat today...good thing I like the folks I work with!

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY...only a few days left!


What are your weekend plans??

Weekend Recap and a Recipe

So, it's still technically Wednesday right??

Before I bring you my fab Weekend Recap...don't forget to enter the GIVEAWAY!

Ok, so now...my awesome recap and a recipe!

Sean's Grandpa turned 80! We named a Star for Him...Ozzie

Louie was cute and cuddly...as usual

We went strawberry picking...I ate as many as I picked!

Homemade strawberry shortcake mmmmm

So, the recipe is not for Strawberry Shortcake since, let's be honest, any store bought poundcake will do when covered with berries and whipped cream.  For me, the whipped cream is always the best part...and once you've made homemade whipped cream, you'll never go back to canned!

Whipped Cream Recipe:

1 pt. Heavy Cream
Powdered Sugar (1/4-1/2 c. or to taste)
1 Tbs. Vanilla Extract

1. First, put a metal bowl into the freezer to get it chilled.  Even better if you put the beaters in with it.  I would put them in about half an hour before you want your whipped cream.
2. When you're ready to beat it up, take the bowl and beaters out of the freezer and pour in your heavy cream.  Turn your beaters on High in the cream, and beat for about 2 minutes or until the cream is starting to fluff a bit.
3. SLLLOOOWWWLLLYYY add the powdered sugar while continuing to beat on high.  This is a good time to taste your whipped cream (someone has to do this job, sadly), and add until it's sweetened to your liking.
4. Add the Vanilla as the cream is beginning to form stiff peaks to get lots of vanilla flavor. 
5. After 5-7 minutes, your whipped cream should be light and fluffy and ready to scoop on any dessert!
6. ENJOY!

Best giveaway EVER!

Well, at least I think it's the best giveaway ever!! 

You'll remember this post where I talked about all of my gardening desires.  Well, when I told Jennifer from etsy shop GemSprouts that I had featured her on my blog, she was sweet enough to offer a giveaway for all of you!  But before we get to that, a little bit about Jennifer:

Tell a little about yourself, your life story in a nutshell.My name is Jennifer and I am a 28 year old computer geek living in central Florida with my boyfriend and two cats. I work at a software company during the day, go to school full time at night and in my spare time garden, work with animals, paint, and design web sites.

What inspires you?
Nature. I absolutely love nature and the beauty around us. It doesn't matter how good, or bad my day has been - just stepping outside into my garden seems to make everything a lot better. I work in a small space with no windows, so I surrounded myself with moss terrariums, and photos of forests and flowers, which is where my inspiration from GemSprouts came from... a small piece of nature that is with you no matter where you go.

What motivated you to start your own business?
I really wanted to get out of the corporate environment and do something that truly makes me happy. To be honest, I have created several other Etsy stores, which fell flat and didn't make it anywhere, It wasn't until I gave up trying to start my own business and just enjoy my hobbies that GemSprouts were born. I started making them out of different random plastic containers I found, and received so much positive feedback and suggestions, that I finally came up with an idea that stuck.

What advice would you give to someone starting their own creative business?
Don't do it for the money, and never give up. If you can find something that makes you happy, keep doing it, because there is an audience for everything, you just need to find them. And once the sales start coming in... give back. I donate a portion of all of my sales to Conversation International - an organization that helps with all kinds of great causes such as reforestation, helping animals, and feeding poverty stricken areas.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I would love to go to England. I dream of the day I can visit the British country side and shop in London. I have become overly enamored with BBC travel shows and to actually visit the places I get to see on TV would be awesome.

Anything else you want to share?"Nature is so powerful, so strong. Capturing its essence is not easy - your work becomes a dance with light and the weather. It takes you to a place within yourself." -- Annie Leibovitz

For one of you lucky ducks, Jennifer is letting you pick any pendant from her shop!  With so many different shapes, sizes, and plants the options are endless. 

To enter the giveway, visit GemSprouts and leave a comment below letting me know what your favorite item is!

Extra Entries: (leave a comment for each)

1. Become a follower of TheScarletCardinal, or let me know if you already are one
2. "Like" TheScarletCardinal on Facebook
3. Follow @ScarletCardinal on Twitter
4. Tweet about the giveaway
5. Blog about the giveaway

The giveaway will end at midnight on Sunday June 6th and a winner will be announced on Monday June 7th. 

GOOD LUCK!

Friday Ramblings

TGIF folks, for realz. 

This has been a long week and I'm looking forward to three days of blissful relaxation!
Saturday is Sean's Grandpa's 80th Birthday!  So we're going up to New York to wish the old guy a Happy One. 
He is the man who has everything so we ended up naming a star for the birthday boy.  Yes, it's cheesy but I'm pretty sure he's going to love it.
We're hoping to stop by a friend's BBQ on the way home.  My college roommate Morgan is hosting and she's the best.  She's also a budding event planner so this is bound to be a great partay!
On Monday I will be announcing my giveaway!  WAHOO!  So if you're not a follower, you should totally get on that.

Confession: I keep bubbles in my office at all times.  I use them to relieve stress.  It's an awesome thing and you should try it...plus it's definitely a conversation starter. 

Therefore, this is on my wishlist:

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Cleaning is also on the agenda for the weekend...my Mother-in-Law is coming to visit and she probably wouldn't appreciate having to walk over heaps of clothes and dog toys to get to the bathroom.  Although an unexpected test of agility is great for keeping in shape. 

Happy long weekend everyone!  Hope it's filled with sunshine and picnics and bubbles!

Friday Ramblings

It looks like we will finally have some sunshine after rain, fog, and thunderstorms all week.

I'm not complaining though...it seems as though the rain has knocked a lot of the pollen out which makes my sinuses super happy.

This weekend I have a big event with my staff, and then it's off to the Rittenhouse Row Spring Festival.  Lot's of yummy food and of course, great people watching!

Although I've been fighting my cookie craving, Lauren over at The Elephant's Trunk posted a recipe so amazing sounding I absolutely need to try it.  So I will be doing that this weekend as well. (Hopefully the gym too....maybe...Bueller?)

I have a GIVEAWAY coming up!  Wooo!  I'm pretty psyched.  I'll give you a hint...it has to do with this post.

I got the exciting news that one of my friend is expecting a baby BOY!  Which makes me think of all the fun boy things there are...I love a baby in a tie!





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Here's hoping for good weather and fun times this weekend!  What are all of you up to?

Giveaway Winner and Link Love

Happy Friday everyone!

Well, my first giveaway has come to an end.  Thank you much to everyone who entered and commented, I hope you'll stick around and join the blog family!

But Sara B.at yesteachercrafts.com (comment number 11) is our winner!
I will be in touch shortly with your gift code!  Congrats!
This weekend, Sean and I are heading up to Long Island for the wedding of my lovely friend, Marisol...remember the AWESOME bachelorette party?!  I will definitely be posting some pics next week!

I think I MUST make this YUMTASTIC looking lasagna posted over at A Cup of Jo.  With lemons, chard, and sausage all available at the farmstand this week, it's pretty much a no brainer!

Loving vintage lately...this springy DRESS makes me smile.
And speaking of vintage Freckled Laundry's NEWEST SPONSOR seriously has the cutest vintage things in her shop.  love love love.


Hope you all have a terrific weekend!  Is it warm where you are?

St. Patty's Day Recap

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!!
I will be using random.org to choose the winner and posting it tonight!


So although I mostly identify as being Italian, I do have some Irish in me as evidenced by my freckles upon freckles that show up in the summer time.  Plus, any holiday where the whole deal is to wear kitschy green outfits and drink a bunch can't be all bad right?  So this year my St. Patrick's Day included my first EVER Shamrock Shake...apparently I just haven't lived until now.

And they do taste like Mylanta if you don't drink them right away...yum?

St. Patty's Day was also Resident Assistant Selection Day (which is one of the LOOOONNGEST and most tedious days of the year) and so in order to dull the pain a little and motivate my colleagues to keep plugging I made a Guinness Chocolate Cake using the recipe from THIS POST. 

I made some icing using Bailey's instead of milk (Start with about half a cup of powdered sugar and add the Bailey's/Milk/Cream SLOOOOWLY stirring constantly until the icing is runny enough to pour onto your cake, but sticky enough to stay on the cake).

Rave reviews from my co-workers so I vote a yumtastic success.  The gold sprinkles on top were a nice touch too if I do say so myself.  *Pats self on back*

We also went out for some Irish Car Bombs (the drink, don't worry).  And so it was a good night had by all.  Sean has been corning his own beef....no, seriously you can actually do that....yeah, I didn't know either.  And that turned out delicious!

But do you know what the best part of St. Patrick's Day is?  The fact that St. JOSEPH'S DAY is right around the corner, so wear some red and pass me a zeppole!  Yum!

Weekend Link Love

Here are a few things to keep you occupied this weekend.  I'll be around, but being on call means I'm getting very little sleep...apparently the students are celebrating Mardi Gras this weekend...fun for them, not so much for me. 

Team Boo has started a series on Motherhood.  As many of my friends are starting to have kids, and Sean and I begin to think about that next phase in our lives (not for a while...a serious while), I think this is a fun, and thought provoking series.

I would love to have this cardinal print for my apartment.  Lots of other great prints in that shop too!

From Etsy Shop Strawberry Luna



With all this Charlie Sheen drama I can't help but chuckle Live the Sheen Dream.  Bi-Winning.

And of course don't forget to enter the GIVEAWAY if you haven't already!

GIVEAWAY TIME!

I'm so excited to host my very first giveaway!  This is something everyone can use!

Whether you are shopping for home goods, decor, baby supplies, fitness equipment, or basically anything else you can possibly think of...you can shop online at any of the CSN Stores.  Just some of the fun things I found:

Beanbag chairs!

Diaper bags

Awesome clock

Servingware

Not surprisingly, Sean was into the LCD TV Stands---that man loves his media technology, and pines for the day when we have a house and room to have our own furniture to house all that technology.

But luckily, you can use this giveaway at any of the CSN stores to buy whatever you want!  CSN offered me a gift card for either myself or one of my readers, and being the selfless blogger that I am I am giving it up to one of you!

The winner will receive $25 to spend on anything the CSN stores offer which is pretty much anything you could possibly think of.  See...good as cash!

How to Enter:

1. Go check out the CSN stores and then comment on THIS post letting me know what you would use the money to buy.
2. Extra entry if you are a follower (leave a comment telling me so!)
3. Extra entry if you link back to this post on your own blog (leave me another comment!)

The winner will be chosen randomly and announced on Friday, March 18th as well as contacted by email, so make sure to leave me a way to get in touch.

Good luck!

Check it out!

I have 2 snazzy new pages!  Up there, at the top!  By now I'm sure you're all going "oooooooooohh, snazzy!"  Check them out.  You will like them.

Also--are you a follower yet???  Have you subscribed yet???  The giveaway is coming...


and some Louie love for those of you in need of cuteness...he loves to help with laundry.

Vintage Love

In my blog scouring, I came across this giveaway from The Shabby Nest and absolutely had to share.  I love love love vintage accessories and wish my modern apartment would not look insane with more vintage things lying around.  But if you have a home that would welcome some antique fun head over to The Shabby Nest and enter the Timeless Settings giveaway.  Good luck!

My favorite thing are the keys, I have a thing for antique keys and would love to add these to my collection!

HAPPY TUESDAY!