Tuesday, August 27, 2013

A Call To Write: Golden Paris

This month’s giveaway is a bit tardy. I spent a week on Cape Cod this month and allowed myself to push back August’s giveaway until now. Hopefully you’ll think it has worked out well for both of us…

While on vacation I made sure to pack a few books for beach reading. The weather was a bit windy and I didn’t really have one good beach day of pure reading this year (I’m used to having at lease two). One day it rained. We’ve gone to Cape Cod most summers since I was very little, and whenever it rains- we shop. This year we changed it up and went shopping in Harwich and Orleans later in the day. As you may guess, I love to hit up all the bookstores I can find when on vacation. There are always fun local authors and regional cookbooks. This year I found myself picking up Paris, My Sweet at Main Street Books in Orleans. I’d had my eye on it and after flipping through it, I felt like it might be the vacation read I was meant to discover. I ended up whipping through it in just a few days. Amy Thomas is passionate about sweets, Paris, New York and thinking about her love life – I could instantly relate to her.

After being back in New York for a few days and having started seeking out some of her NYC recommendations (mainly Vosges chocolates which is right by where I work – I’m not obsessed with their Verde Caramels) I was feeling wistful for Paris. Hopped into Paper Source for my monthly stamp searching ritual and found an excellent Eiffel Tower stamp. Et, voila! This month’s giveaway was born:


The embossing powder I used on these is called "Queen's Gold" and I'm a little obsessed with it! I love the clean metallic gold it creates. As for stamps, this month's winner will get a smattering of Forever Stamps from my collection. 

Now the question. Amy loves Paris, studied there in college, dreams about visiting it, fantasizes about living there... I do the same. So I want to know:

Where is your fantasy home? 
If you could live anywhere new - even just for a year - where would you choose? 

As usual if I have more than 10 entries I will randomly choose a winner, otherwise with 10 or fewer I will choose my favorite response. After only one week (September 4th) I will choose and announce the winner on The Culinary Librarian. The winner will need to email me the address they would like me to send the stationary and stamps within 48 hours. If the winner doesn't respond I will choose a new recipient and announce the new winner on blog. If you are having trouble commenting in the comments section, email your response with the subject line “Golden Paris” to theculinarylibrarian[at]gmail.com by 11:59pm EST on September 3rd.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

WINNER: A Call to Write: Sirens and Lighthouses

This month's giveaway may be my favorite stationary/stamp combo to date - I LOVE the glittery mermaids and the lighthouse stamps remind me of my mom and aunts who love lighthouses. As we didn't get ten comments, it is up to me to choose the winner. 

The comment that spoke to me did so due to personal vanity. One of my favorite physical qualities is my hair. Thanks to its natural thickness and wave and the fact I've never, ever dyed it - I have locks to brag about. Mermaids are known for their amazing hair and Willy D hit upon how they get it:

           Mermaids are the children of the sea, and would never eat their siblings. Mermaids 
          eat kelp and wakame which accounts for their lustrous hair and shiny scales!

Willy, please email me the address you would like me to send your stationary and stamps: theculinarylibrarian[at]gmail.com.