For the Love of Pink and Glitter, It's Give Friday!

I remember the first time I walked past Sweet & Sassy and saw a store full of pink and glitter, all I could think was, "Man, am I glad I don't have little girls!"

But . . . we all know how THAT turned out!

And yet, even once I had girls, I totally didn't get the attraction.  Okay . . . so you can take your little girl in there, let her get a pedicure, or a fancy hair do, have a party with all her friends, and ride in a pink limo?  "And why is that special again," I asked myself.

For the Love of Pink and Glitter

Complete outfit from Sweet and Sassy (oh my gosh!)

Then one day, we went in to visit.  And the magic of pink and glitter came to life in our household!

The stage, the runway, the costumes, the music . . . there was pretty much nothing they didn't love about Sweet & Sassy.  And the love affair was born.

Discovering the stage and the runway!

We have spent many, many hours at Sweet & Sassy. We've gotten our ears pierced, picked out our school backpacks, bought birthday outfits, had manicures,  (I know, but they're little girls ...it was a special treat!) gotten haircuts; we've done it all (well, they've never ridden in the pink limo, but someday!)


And I have to confess, I used to have a real attitude about stores like this.  But there is something special about Sweet & Sassy, something magical.

So, when the girls are old enough (they're still a little young), I'm sure they'll want to have a birthday party there. And we probably will, because it's pink and it's glittery and they're little girls.

In honor of the goodness of pink and glitter, I am giving away an awesome gift package to Sweet & Sassy. When I asked the owner at Sweet & Sassy if she'd donate a package for my blog, I expected she would donate a sweet little manicure, so I was shocked at how generous she was!  And guess who benefits? (Sadly, neither of my girls . . .)  

But you do!  woot woot!

It's Give Friday!

What are you going to win? Something awesome! You will win the "Everything Spa Package" which is valued at $90 and includes:

• mini-mani & mini-pedi 
• mini-facial 
• sweet hand treatment 
• 2 nail arts 
• ring & toe ring, and a 
• create your own lotion and sugar scrub

But You Gotta Enter to Win 

I'm making it simple today.  Comment here and go like Sweet & Sassy on Facebook (I even provided the link for goodness sake!) And, because it's in The Woodlands, TX, you pretty much have to be fairly local to win or willing to drive a long way. :)

All that to say, I hope you love Sweet & Sassy as much as my girls do.  But be warned, you WILL come out all glittery.  Don't say I didn't warn you.  And have fun!

THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON MONDAY!

Launch Day at ThatCarolJones

UPDATE:  AND THE WINNER IS:  CATHY HENRY

It's Launch Day at ThatCarolJones.com and that is so full of awesome goodness I can't stand it! This day has been in the works for months and it's finally here!

I hope you'll take the time to click the links to my other blogs and visit each one today.  There are special giveaways on each blog, and I know you won't want to miss out on all the greatness you'll find there!

If you're a regular reader here, welcome back, and if you're brand new, I'm glad you're here!

Today is a day of celebration so I'm celebrating and giving stuff away!

On "All That to Say" I'm giving away a gift basket from a sweet friend who owns an online shop called Office Candy.  I love her stuff because she makes organizing life fun!

If you want to be entered to win this fun package, all you have to do is follow this blog, leave me a comment that includes a burning parenting question you might have, and then pretty please with sugar on top tweet, post and pin this blog so others will find out about its goodness and follow me too!

All that to say, Happy Launch Day! And thanks for stopping by! (And Zack Jones, thank you for your tireless work to make this happen!)

ThatCarolJones

It's Give Friday - He Gave

I had an interesting conversation this morning with a woman about salvation. (I'm talking the eternal kind here).

She's really been struggling with the notion, the theology, the belief that you can lose your salvation.

After a lengthy conversation I realized that she wasn't really trying to nail down the correct theology, she was trying to nail down a very deep seeded fear that she was going to lose her salvation.

She was struggling with a belief that she could do something that would be so heinous in the sight of God that He would say, "That's it. I'm done with you."

Finally, I keyed in to the fact that she was deeply, deeply afraid of losing God's love.

I asked her, "If this God that we worship gave up His ONLY son so that we could have salvation, do you believe that He would so casually withdraw it from you?"

She sighed a very deep, long exhale and said, "No, I don't believe He would."

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I don't know what you believe.  I know there are many faiths that believe you can lose your salvation.  I don't believe that, can't believe it, won't believe it.

I am so grateful for a God that loves me far beyond my ability to screw up.  I am grateful for a God who cherishes me enough to want to spend eternity with me, enough that He gave His one and only Son, that Whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

All that to say, it's Give Friday here at All That to Say.  It's Good Friday for those of us who are Christ Followers.  Good Friday.  The ultimate Give Friday.  So grateful.

Christmas Weekend Giveaway

UPDATE:  And the winner is . . .  Jennifer Dearmore!  Jennifer, contact me @thatcaroljones@gmail.com so we can arrange your pickup!

Crèche (also spelled creche or cresch) - Nativity scene, a group of figures arranged to represent the birth of Jesus Christ

Some years ago, I started collecting Nativity scenes.  My collection started with a very large, white, milk glass nativity scene that my mother-in-law made for me to be able to put under my Christmas tree.  After that, I seemed to get a lot of nativity scenes as gifts.  And pretty soon, it became a tradition that Mike would buy me a new nativity scene each year.  I now own over 50, far too many to set out in my house, but I love all of them!

One of my favorites is from WIllow Tree (those wooden doll people without faces, sounds creepy but they're pretty).  Anyway, this year  I unpacked my Willow Tree nativity scene, only to discover that Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus are missing.  MISSING.  Seriously, how does that even happen?  I packed all my Christmas stuff away at one time?  And the only thing missing is the baby Jesus?  I mean, he's kind of the point, right?

Every day when I walk past that nativity, I think, "What am I going to do about my missing baby Jesus?"

So with that brilliant segue, I am going to tell you about my wonderful weekend giveaway!

My Christmas Weekend Giveaway is a Crèche, handcrafted by a local business owner here in Texas where I live.  It's from rough hewn lumber, simply painted white.  I love it.  It's a simple statement in my front yard.  It says, "Baby Jesus.  He's kind of the point."  (It doesn't actually say that.  In case you win, I don't want you to be disappointed.  But it does come with the light, so that's a bonus!)

But to win, I'm going to mix it up this time.  You have to follow my blog by clicking on the blue "Join this site" button, and then leave a comment.  You also have to have a friend comment on the blog and include "I'm _______'s friend."  You can increase your chances of winning by pinning, posting and tweeting the link to this blog as well!

Check back with me on Monday when I will draw the winning name!

All that to say, I'm off in search of my baby Jesus.  If you were the baby Jesus, where would you be hiding?

Oh, and in case you don't win, if you'd like to order one of these, let me know and I'll hook you up with the guy who makes them!

Grinch Me Green Weekend Giveaway

UPDATE:  AND THE WINNER IS - TERRY!  CONGRATS TERRY!  SEND ME YOUR INFO SO I CAN SEND YOU YOUR PRIZE!

My mom's in town, visiting me from Mesa, Arizona.  She's here for a month, which I think she is a bit nervous about (at least she was when we were planning her trip here!)  A month is a long time to be away from home, for anyone, but especially when you are brand new to the retired life.

So far we have had a cookie party, decorated the tree, gone Christmas shopping (and even made a few returns!)  But just to prove she's my mom, she spent 3 hours cleaning my kitchen on her first day here!  Some people might be offended by that, but not this girl.  I love it!  I hope she gets that "bug" in every room of my house!  Seriously.

But anyway, I tell you all that to say that I got so busy enjoying my mom's visit that I totally forgot to post my weekend giveaway.  But, I'm a woman of my word, so I'm posting it now, on Sunday night (technically still the weekend) at 9:00 p.m.!

Remember when I said I couldn't decide between Grinch Green or Burlap and White?  Well my giveaway this weekend is what inspired me to think of going with Grinch Green.  It's so pretty, and something I know Nikki and Shannay would have just loved!  I say "loved" because I went with the Burlap and White.  (Wait till you see the pics!)

So this weekend's giveaway is a Grinch Green Ornament Package with 4 Caged Ornaments, 2 Glittery snowflakes, 4 bell balls (so cute), 1 Metal Holly Stocking, 3 yards Grinch Green Garland, 1 dozen Grinch Green Icicles, and something I'm sure I'm forgetting.  Anyway, it's worth about $60!

Here's how to win!

Follow me on this blog.  (Do that by clicking the join this site blue button on my sidebar!)  If you are viewing this on a mobile version, you have to scroll down, click View Web Version or View Full Version and then click the blue Join this Site button.

Comment on this blog post!  (That's your official entry!)

Tweet this post, pin it or post it!

That's it!

Then don't forget to check back to see if you won!  (AND IF YOU DID, I NEED YOUR ADDRESS SO I CAN MAIL YOU YOUR PRIZE!)

All that to say, since I didn't get this posted on time, I will leave it up until Tuesday morning and then I will draw the winner.  Hope you win!

CHRISTMAS WEEKEND GIVEAWAY

UPDATE:  THE WINNER IS COMMENTER #6, DEBBIE LEBAUVE!  Send me your info Debbie so I can mail you your prize!

My family Christmas decor is pretty traditional.  Traditional red, traditional green, garland, stockings, pine cones, traditional.

I've thought about changing it a few times, but then I think about my sister-in-law, Debbi, and the year she decided to change her Christmas decor.  She went from a traditional "family ornament" tree to a plum and fruity tree.  Her children had all left home, and she was trying to mix it up, do something different, so she kept all the family ornaments boxed up and went out and bought these purple fruity tree ornaments.  Her kids revolted (I thought it was pretty) and she went back to her traditional tree.

So whenever I think of changing, I think two thoughts.

• "Will my kids revolt or even notice at all?"
• "Will I like it?"

And I inevitably end up leaving it the same. 

But this year, I'm toying with a couple of ideas.  I'm thinking of either going totally "Grinch Green"

or burlap and white.  I'm leaning toward the burlap and white though, because I saw some amazing photos last year on Pinterest.

So, in honor of Christmas decorating, and grinch green, I'm giving away a cute little napkin holder.  It's the size of a dessert napkin holder (thought I don't know how big that is in actual inches.  Maybe 6"x6" . . . I'm terrible at guessing stuff like that, so maybe we should just call it "the size of a dessert napkin holder.)

Here's how you enter.  1.  Follow this blog by clicking on the blue "JOIN THIS SITE" button in the right sidebar.  2.  Comment below.  Your comment IS YOUR ENTRY.  3. Pin this, post this, or tweet it!  And 4.  Check back on Monday to see if you won!  I will post the winner her, on this blog entry.

I will also post the winner on Facebook and Twitter.  And LASTLY, and this is REALLY IMPORTANT, you have to give me your contact info if you are the winner!  You can do this by emailing me at thatcaroljones@gmail.com.  I can't tell you how many winners I have had that don't do this last step, and I can't get their prize to them!

All that to say, each week I'm going to be giving away a bigger and bigger and bigger Christmas prize and you are eligible to win them all!  So follow, comment, pin, tweet, post!

All That to Say: Weekend Giveaway

I remember when I first learned that when talking about what you put on your hair, you refer to it as "product."  Really, it was like the whole world knew to say "product", and I had somehow not gotten the message and was walking around being totally unhip or uninformed, both of which I hate.

So whenever possible (right  after I learned this new fact) I would work the word "product" into my conversation.  I'd be real cool and say, "so what kind of product do you use?" And miraculously people somehow new I meant hair!

Now I don't know about you, but we have a product morgue at our house.  This is the place where failed product has to go.  I don't know why I don't just throw away the failed product.  I mean, it FAILED.  But I guess maybe because it's so expensive, I hate to throw it away.  Or maybe I think by storing it in the cabinet for a few months, it will magically somehow work when I take it out of the cabinet again.  I don't know.

But nonetheless I have dry shampoo, and serum, and hair spray, and sleek conditioner and several other failed products in my morgue.  The girls have bottles and bottles and bottles of oil and grease and tonic and detangler and moisturizers and puddings.  OMG the list could go on.

Hair, glorious hair.  :)

So, in honor of hair,  and "product," this weekend's awesome giveaway is a gift package of TeaTree Lavendar Mint Moisturizing Shampoo, Conditioner and a body bar. (and it's worth a pretty good bit of money) which you know if you buy "product."

It's from Paul Mitchell, The School, in Houston.  Some pretty awesome people I know work there and they tell me all the time what a great place it is to work, how well their students do, how high their job placement statistics are, you know . . . all that.  It's where we take the girls to get their hair braided, and it is INCREDIBLE and inexpensive.  Two things I love!

All that to say, if you would love to win this great gift, please do two things:  1. follow my blog (if you are not already a follower) and 2. leave a comment.  I'll post the winner on Monday morning, so be sure to check back and see if you won!

AND THE WINNER IS:  CECIE LANGHAM