It's Friday! Cheers!! {Self-Portrait Project)

It's Friday!  Cheers!!  Today I'm cheersing with a really yummy glass of red wine.  It's a new one I like, called Honey Badger.  I'm such a sucker for good graphic design work and cute wine labels.

Have you been following along with Amy's self-portrait project?

Rolo Chocolate Martini

Okay, just a quick story today, and then I'm going to go back to watching Marquette trounce Miami.  (I'm a fair weather fan if there ever was one.)

Banana Monkey Bread with Nutella Ganache

So do you want to hear my latest addition to my new series (i.e. every blog post): Ramblings of a Mad Woman??

Of course you do.

White Chocolate Graham Cracker Crusted Blondies

It's been a long day folks.

I know I say that a lot, but holy man.

And when I say holy man, I mean, can I get a holy man up in here to say some prayers that this mama doesn't loose her marbles??

Forest Themed Nursery Art

Recently we celebrated the pregnancy of my dear friend Erin.  She jokingly calls herself a celebrity because of how often her pregnancy has been the focus of my blog (you can see it here and here).  And even though I loved every second of celebrating the awesomeness that is her sweet baby boy, I love love loved spending time with my friends.

One Lucky Blogger Giveaway!

Although I love all my readers, in a way that makes me a little teary to think about, I know that most of them (maybe like all but . . . two?) are fellow bloggers.  

And sweet holy brownie covered in chocolate frosting do I love my fellow bloggers.  

They make me so happy, leaving comments for me, entering my giveaways, giving me endless amounts of support and virtual pats on the back.  I am under no delusions that I don't owe about 95% of my success as a blogger to the blogging community.

And with that, I am sooooo happy to say that I'm part of a great group of bloggers, headed up by Frugal Foodie Mama, bringing you the One Lucky Blogger Giveaway.

Want to see what's up for grabs??

~$25 Etsy Gift Card~

A blogger can find everything they need on etsy from web design services to cute note cards to send with swap packages.

~$25 Target Gift Card~

What blogger doesn't love Target?? ;)

~$20 Starbucks Gift Card~

To fuel all of those marathon blogging sessions

+
~A custom photo watermark from Hummingbird's View~

12 ad spots on 12 different blogs!!

The right exposure & promotion is blogger gold!

There is just one mandatory entry for the giveaway- you do have to be a blogger to win the One Lucky Blogger Giveaway, so the first mandatory entry is to prove that you do indeed have a blog. The rest of the entries are optional.

Now, let's meet the sponsors...

~Kendra from Adventures of Brad & Kendra~ Ultimate Adventure ad for 30 days

~Julie from This Gal Cooks~

~Carrie from Frugal Foodie Mama~ A Pin-t Ad for April

~Julie from White Lights on Wednesday~ 250 x 250 ad for April

~Kendra from The Flower Hazard~ The Big Bang ad (250 x 250) for a month

~Raquel from Organized Island~

~Leanne from Top This by Leanne~ 200 x 100 ad for 30 days

~Aubrey from Homegrown & Healthy~ 200 x 200 ad for a month

~Jaime from Mom's Test Kitchen~ 300 x 100 ad for a month

~Melissa from Melissa's Cuisine~ an ad spot for a month

~Kathe from Kathe With an E~

~Sarah from Fantastical Sharing of Recipes~ an ad spot for a month

~Katie from Clarks Condensed~ an ad spot for one month

~Lisa from Wine & Glue~ custom photo watermark

~Erin from Wholly Delicious Dishes~

~Laurie from love, laurie~ 150 x 150 ad spot for two months

~Evelyn from My Turn for Us~ 225 x 225 ad spot for 30 days

~Lisa from Paintbrush & Screwdriver~

*This giveaway is open internationally. You MUST be a blogger with an active blog to win. All entries for the winner will be checked and verified, so please make sure you are doing what you are claiming in the Rafflecopter or all your entries will be voided.  No funny business, folks. ;). By entering you give the right to use your name and likeness. Number of entries received determines the odds of winning. One winner will be selected. This is a giveaway sponsored as a group buy, which means the bloggers pooled their money together to purchase this product for you.  Target, etsy, & Starbucks are not sponsors of this giveaway.  Any & all social media outlets used in the Rafflecopter are not sponsors of the giveaway or are responsible for this giveaway in any way.  Gift card prizes will be sent as egifts via Carrie of Frugal Foodie Mama.  Each individual blogger that has provided ad space for the giveaway is responsible for awarding the winner their ad spots in a timely manner.  Protected tweets do not count as an entry method for tweeting. Tweets must come from a public account. Bloggers in this group giveaway and their immediate family members in their household cannot enter or win the giveaway. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.

Please see the Rafflecopter widget below for additional Terms & Conditions.  Good luck, all! 

RAFFLECOPTER HTML- a Rafflecopter giveaway

It's Friday! Cheers!! {Another Giveaway!!}

It's Friday! Cheers!!  And to celebrate, I have a sweet giveaway for you, awesome reader, but first you are going to have to suffer through some of my inane chatter and randomness.

Baby Carrot Truffles

It was a couple of years ago when I only had one child, and didn't really have anywhere I HAD to be during the day.  I was kind of a good mom then.  Gavin, who was about two, and I would go and do really productive and educational things during the day, like visiting the zoo or the library, or Target.

Let's rewind a little bit.  When Gavin was about 18 months old he had a language explosion!  What he lacked in physical ability (buddy, they are just stairs, they aren't Mt. Everest), he made up for in language ability.

And he was a funny toddler too.  I remember at one point standing in my kitchen with him at my feet begging for a  snack while I was in the middle of something else, and me saying, "Gavin, hold your horses!"  His response?  "Neigh!!"

Easter Egg Fudge

Have I told you about my friend Cathy?

{Ok, I know that I have, here and here and here, but indulge me.  I love blogging about my friends.  Life is often too busy to tell people how awesome they are.}

Sunrise Mimosa

Dear Brunch,

Why do you have to only come on the weekends?

With your meals made of sugar, fruit, and deliciousness.

With your alcohol before noon.

Please come visit me more often!

Forever yours,

Lisa

Five Pinterest Tips & Tricks for Bloggers

Okay, now that I have been blogging for a little over a year, and pinning for even longer, I feel like I can write a post on using Pinterest as a way to drive traffic to your blog, especially when about 50% of the traffic I get on my blog is from Pinterest.  I am by no means an expert, but there are a couple little tricks that I have done in the last month or so that have almost doubled the number of pageviews I'm getting each day.

Here are a few things that have helped:

The Day My Five Year Old Hijacked the Blog

My plan for today was to take a ride on Ninja Mom's Character Assassination Carousal.  I mean, after reading her awesome book, "I Just Want to Pee Alone," (review here) I am going all out to be her new bestie.  I was all pumped up to write this hilarious post assassinating some pitiful character who had the audacity to tell me and my kid that everyone poops or some giant red dog who gets on my last nerve or those idiot animals who are all holed up in a boat together and don't recognize how stupid it is to take a bath and then exercise.  I was especially pumped after reading Kelley's assasination of the famed and beloved book, Love You Forever.

And then guess what happened??

My five year old hijacked my blog.  He took my spot in line for the ride like the greedy little moocher that he is!  Is there nothing in this house that can just be mine?

Book Review: I Just Want to Pee Alone {Or how I peed myself and fell off my elliptical}

You know those moms who talk incessantly about how much they love their kids, and how perfect and wonderful they are?  When Gavin was a little itty bitty tiny baby, I had a friend like that.  (Can you see all my friends thinking to themselves, was that me?  Don't worry, it wasn't you.  Or you.  You either.  Yup, it was you.)  Those friends are great, but they kind of make you want to scream, "I get that you love your kid!  We all do!!  But this is one crazy ass ride!!"

The writers of the book, I Just Want to Pee Alone are my long lost best friends, they just don't realize it yet.  I want to invite them all over to my house for coffee (or wine drank from coffee cups, whatever) and tell them tale after hilarious tale of my own motherhood journey and hope that they think I am one tenth as hilarious as they are and accept me into their clan.

Biscoff Butterscotch Apple Pie {with Sugar Cookie Crust}

Perhaps this should be named the Better Late Than Never Pie?

Spring is Coming. I'm Almost Positive. {Free Printable}

It occurred to me today that the number one reason I am ready for Spring is because my kids are ten times more obnoxious when they are being forced to bundle up and put on boots.  For the 80th time in one day.

I love 'em, but man.

The other day I took Quinn grocery shopping.  She was completely bundled.  Heavy coat.  Hat.  Mittens.

And bare feet.

Why?

Mint Chocolate Truffles

My husband is, for all practical purposes, an extreeeeeemly patient man.  I mean, he is married to me after all.

He has a couple . . . let's call them triggers, that call his patience into question.

To name a few:

Gender Reveal Scratch Offs

My good friend Erin finds out the gender of her baby tomorrow.

TOMORROW!!!

I'm so excited I could pee.

Cake Batter Cheesecake

I have a problem.  Should we call it an addiction?  No.  No, nevermind.  Not an addiciton.  Because then we would be talking 12 step programs.  And I'm really just not ready to sit in a room with strangers and talk about this.

I'd much rather talk about it with you.

It's Friday! Cheers!! {Restoring My Faith in Humanity}

It's Friday!  Cheers!!

Have you had a good week?  Mine has been okay, but BUSY. Want to see what I have been up to?

{Mint Chocolate Brownies}  {Personalized Pie Plates}  {Customized Guess Who} {Leprechaun Traps}

Okay, but all that is not why you clicked to open up this post.

You want your faith in humanity restored too!

Let me tell you what happened.

Skylanders Guess Who

You are already probably well aware of this, but I live with a little boy.

Things about this boy:

Personalized Pie Plates #PiDayPieParty

Did you know that just around the corner is a very very special day??

Mint Chocolate Brownies

 

So a few weekends ago, we went to visit my brother and sister-in-law to celebrate my niece's birthday and just to hang out.  Oh and to eat cupcakes.  (And . . . now I'm drooling.  Obsessed with those cupcakes.)  Remember?  I made her that cute doll?

We were sitting around, chatting, when my husband decided, in his most affectionate way, to mock me.  And given that we were with my brother, there was no lack of willing participants to jump on board.  He decided to bring up, nay, Google, a guy who I was . . . let's go with obsessed . . . with in high school.  (Seriously, my cheeks are getting red just typing this.)  And of course, he couldn't remember his name.  Enter my brother, who what he lacks in brotherly affection he makes up for in memory.  He quickly supplied said name and there we had a Google-fest of information.

Sigh.

It Comes in Waves

This would be where I normally say, "It's Friday!  Cheers!!"  And while I certainly feel like raising a glass, it's more just to my lips than in cheers.

For those of you who are new to reading Wine & Glue (hey, glad to have you! most posts aren't so bummer-ific), you might want a little background before you really sink your teeth into this post.  In addition to creating wreaths, castles, and delicious pies made out of cookies and breakfast bars, sometimes I write about me.  Most of the time it has to do with these two hilarious little people I happen to be raising, Gavin & Quinn, but sometimes it has to do with the loss of my mom (you can read more about that here) and the loss of my son, Elliot (you can read more about him here).