Ladies {& Gents} we have some winners to announce. First off, the winner of the Chains of Love giveaway.
Samantha who said she would wear the Gretchen chain like this:
“I would wear this over a boxy silk shift/tunic with leggings in a pop color (like plum!) and ankle boots. The chain would give some shape and interest to the shift but would hand well over the silk.”
Now for the Dace giveaway, I must admit all those sandwiches made me really hungry. The sandwich that really made mouths water over at Dace was submitted by Lindsey Barttels.
“mmm… a replica of a smoked salmon with brie, tomatoes & rosemary on a poppyseed baguette i ate in paris. i still dream about that sandwich…”
Congrats to you both! I will be contacting you for your info.
Do you want to own one of these? Well, this is your last chance to get one this season.
Ashley is absolutely sold out of all her ornaments and almost all her fernanimals. That means she’ll be making this ornament with love, just for the winner. {A little bird tells us she might also be taking a break from making the lovable critters to work on some quilting.}
How to enter:
1. In the comment section, tell us which of the three precious ornaments you’d like to win.
2. Tweet this giveaway for an extra entry.
3. Get two extra entries if you tweet about Pencils of Promise {tag @bitsofbeauty} or makes a donation of at least $1 {USD}
Contest ends December 16th at midnight. The winner will be announced on December 17th. Ashley will make your ornament as soon as the contest is over!
If you read one post this week on my blog, please make it this one.
We focus on the beautiful here everyday. As you know, it is impossible to live a beautiful life without giving and kindness. It’s vital to take the time to consider the value of others. It helps us be aware of our own value and our role in this life. I firmly believe that we are all made of something precious and shared. I believe that everything in this universe is connected. So, today I’m asking you to take a moment and do something kind for someone else. Do something beautiful for your universe…
Paloma at La Dolce Vita approached me with this wonderful project. She rounded up several bloggers to give back this holiday and make a difference for a very special charity. Pencils of Promise is a kick-ass 501c3 {aka non-profit} that partners with local communities and organizations to build schools of early-stage education in developing nations for some of the world’s most impoverished and undereducated children. There are more than 75 million childrenin this situation worldwide. I find that totally unacceptable, as I’m sure do you.
Last December, the Pencils of Promise team visited a small village in Laos. By July 2009, they had built a new school for the village children who started attending classes on September 1st.
The next step?
Pencils of Promise is focusing on helping the girls of Champet, a village in Laos that is home to the only high school in the area. In order to attend this high school, the students in the village and surrounding villages must leave their families and homes to live in dormitories. These dormitories are basically makeshift bamboo huts. They are not safe, but the girls are taking this huge risk to get an education. They are taking the risk to better their lives, their community, their world. How courageous is that?
In the spirit of the holiday season, we are asking for your help today on behalf of these children. Just think of the enormous impact we could have if each person who reads this post donates just $1.00. If you are willing and able to give more ($35.00 buys shelves for a classroom, $50 provides pencils for one year, $100 provides a teacher’s salary for three months and so on), it would be greatly appreciated. We are in the midst of the giving season and hope that you will find it in your heart to make a donation to this worthy cause today. If these girls can put their lives at risk to better themselves and their universe, can’t you spare a minute and one dollar? I think we all can.
The goal for Blogger Action Day: Build safe, legitimate housing for the female children to have access to further their education. Currently, some parents are unwilling to send their kids to school because of the danger of these huts that you will see others living in. This dormitory size will fit about 200 young Laotian girls.
The top dress is by Alexis Mabille, lover of all things bows. It’s couture. For most of us, I’d say this is fantasy. The bottom dress is under $200 from Anthropologie. Granted, it isn’t as luxe, but it is massively precious.
Photos: 1. walter pfeiffer for vogue china via {this is glamorous}, 2. anthropologie
edg·y –adjective
daringly innovative; on the cutting edge. bad·ass–adjective
1. (of a person) difficult to deal with; mean-tempered; touchy.
2. distinctively tough or powerful; so exceptional as to be intimidating.
Today’s guest is Amy of Old Sweet Song. Now, I’m going to be completely honest. I only asked her to be part of this so maybe she’d ask me to be part of her Blogger Crush series. Ok, not really, but it would be cool. The truth is that I have a blogger crush on Old Sweet Song, and I’m extremely envious of her {any other bloggers} living in NY. Granted, I’m not sure I could handle living in NY, but I like to pretend that I could. Besides living in NY and having a pretty cool blog with one of my favorite series’, Amy shares some of my tastes. I call for another blogger meet up next time I’m in NYC. Amy, you are officially invited!
{Being in love} My boyfriend Anthony is the love of my life. He makes my heart smile.
{Chocolate} The darker the better. My favorite is Green & Blacks dark chocolate with dried cherries. Seriously, I cannot get enough of it. In fact, I am eating some right now. Not even lying.
{New York City} It’s an amazing thing to live in the greatest city in the world. After 5 years I still have moments where I think “wow, I live here!”
{Etsy} I can waste hours peeping all the lovely things. People who make things totally inspire me. One day I will join them. Some recent pretty finds here and here.
{Food Blogs} Another tine suck of mine, food blogs. I never tire of looking at them and reading recipes. Bonus points for food blogs that feature gorgeous photography like SproutedKitchen.com which is one of my faves.
{Good Books} I like to fall asleep reading. Right now I’m reading Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls. I’ve just started it but have high hopes, considering she wrote probably the greatest book ever.
Sure you can get them games for PS3, Xbox, Wii, or whatever game system they have, but you will earn major points with the parents for buying something different and wholesome. Not to mention, you’ll spare the kid a childhood devoid of whimsy and imagination.
play·ful –adjective
1. full of play or fun; sportive; frolicsome.
whole·some–adjective
1. conducive to moral or general well-being; salutary; beneficial
{p.s.} Brooklyn 5 & 10 is offering 20% off for the entire month of December.
{p.p.s.} Hit the “Shop” tab at the top of the page to get to the {Bits of Beauty} shop. Tons of gift ideas there and we get a few bucks every time you buy. Yay!
I’ve raved about Christian Cota’s collection and use of chains. You may have read my post on the Chains of Love and the fabulously affordable chains available there. Chains of Love has a new shop and new items added to the fabulous collection. In celebration of the new shop and the upcoming holidays, Chains of Love is giving away a Gretchen body chain {worth $60} to one lucky reader!
Before I announce the lucky winner, I wanted to share a few great images I pulled from Nina’s blog. These two are from Nylon magazine. You can see two of my favorite necklaces that were up for grabs in the giveaway. However, the winner chose a piece featured on the cover of an international version of Elle. Ready for the winner?
Thanks to everyone who participated. We loved reading the answers! Don’t forget that the Dace giveaway is going on right now and ends tonight. And, another giveaway begins today!
