You may call me a hypocrite if you'd like.

I don't like the smell of roses. Also, I think they're kind of plain. It's funny that I think that about roses because my favorite flower is a daisy- which is extremely plain.

Regardless of how I feel about roses, I still accept them. Kev gave me a rose once, and only once. Poor guy.

His dad also brought me a few roses when he brought over the Irises last week. This single red rose did such a good job of convincing me of its beauty that I ended up putting it on my bedside table.

Tricky little flower; getting the best of me. I guess you can say I'm a sucker for flowers, regardless of what variety. I'm telling you though, the fresh flower bug really did catch me in May. I'm afraid I can never go back to NOT having blooms in my house. It's one of my new favorite things.

Giveaway winner!

Thanks to everyone who participated in this great CSN giveaway. It's always so fun to host these and give back to all the nice people who stop by and visit my blog(s).

Enough of the gratitude- what you really want to know is WHO WON.

Random.org generated a winner out of all entries- Carolsue is the recipient of the $40 gift certificate!

Carolsue, I'll submit your email to CSN so you may claim your giftcard.

And remember, I'll be hosting ANOTHER CSN giveaway on Liv(e) this week, so come on back and try again!

Who doesn't love free date nights?

One of my favorite things to do is spend quality time with Kev. We just cancelled our cable (YIKES!) this week because 1) we're cutting back on expenses; and 2) we don't need to waste our time in front of stupid TV.

On Monday we went to the Ogden Amphitheater to enjoy the free concert and family movie. We only went once last year and I regret that we didn't take advantage of the opportunity more consistently.

The weather was perfect and we ran into the dog who made me adopt Maddie.


It was so good to see that little schnauzer and his mom Kerry. Kev and I left Maddie home because she's sometimes a toxic cloud of aggression in public places and neither one of us had the energy to keep her corralled.

Next week they're showing a Star Trek movie, and the week after is The Blindside. Let me know if you'd like to join me and Kev!

Be sure to enter Friday's giveaway!

Tough crowd.

You GUYS. You're a touch bunch. But because I appreciate all ya'll, we're gonna go ahead and have ourselves a giveaway TODAY. I'm in a time crunch and want to make sure we get to enjoy both the giveaways I've been given the opportunity to host.

You're welcome.

As you know, I coveted my IKEA sofa for ages. I wanted a sleeper sofa originally, and I wish I'd thought to look at CSN's website (remember how they offered a free print to one lucky reader in the Spring?). They have tufted sleeper sofas that are the about the same price as the Karlsvik sofa I got on Memorial Day. Too bad I neglected to browse their selection (which offers free shipping). I especially like this one in Mocha.

In order to help YOU remember to look to CSN for future purchases, I have a $40 gift certificate to offer to one lucky reader. It can be applied toward any item on any of CSN's many sites. They have over 200 categories of sites with countless products. That means that whoever wins this gift certificate can basically get whatever the heck they want. Shoes, office supplies, a casserole dish... WHATEVER.

SA-WEET.

Here's how to enter:

You must live in either the U.S.A. or Canada to be eligible.
You may leave one comment to be considered for one entry.
You may leave a second comment with a link to your own blog/facebook/twitter advertising the giveaway to be considered for one additional entry.

That gives each person two entries for the giveaway :)

Good luck and thanks for following my blog! The giveaway will be open until 12:oo am MST on Wednesday, June 23, 2010.

Sharing is caring!

Kev and I browsed some TOMS shoes at The Gateway Mall in April and I was not impressed with the selection... I know I'm a bit of a shoe snob, but seriously, all the styles were ugly. The mission of TOMS shoes though is to provide a pair of shoes to someone in need every time a pair is purchased, which is beautiful. So I've resisted the urge to tell everyone how ugly I think the shoes are. I've only told a few people.

I decided to look at the website to see if I've just overlooked some better styles that exist. I'm really glad I visited the TOMS site because they actually have great wedges that appeal to me much more than the popular canvas flats. Some of the designs on the flats are alright, but in person I really don't like how they're constructed. There just too granola.

This navy striped pair is much more doable for me. It's a summery style and it's a little more sophisticated than the flats, but still casual enough for jeans, bermuda shorts or a sundress. I know granola is the whole point of TOMS, but I'm happy to see that other options are also available for a snobby East coaster like me.