My First Giveaway!

 Thank you one and all for showing me some new love and following me!! In order to thank you, and in honor of some of my favorite people getting married, I'm giving away an amazing cookbook! Details can be found at the end!

Next week, my beautiful sister-in-law is getting married. I'm so honored to be a part of the wedding and to help her with the wedding prep. Weddings can be a beautiful family affair, and as families do, can bring out some drama. But that's the beauty of families, right? I always have such a blast with my party family - we call it a bit of a circus - 3 generations can get together and laugh and yell together... the last time we stayed up until 2 in the morning, woke up grandma, and she came down and partied with us, too! I'm glad that I can party with my husband's siblings and their spouses, too - we have a blast together! Also - all three siblings will be married within 3 years (about 18 months in between each) - so I'm sure my mother-in-law will be pleased to be done with them!

Next May, my high-school bestie-best friend will marry her "almost" high-school sweetheart, and man-partner of 7 years and I am SO insanely-crazy-excited - they have been going towards an "anti-wedding" with lots of eccentricities, which suits both of them, so I have to gauge myself and make sure I don't go all MOH-zilla on her ;-) I just have so much love for these two - I can never wait to see them and spend more time with them - always. We've had a long-distance friendship for 7 years, and I CAN'T WAIT to move closer to her (or her to me...).

AND - my college roommate, post-grad roommate, blogging mentor, and my best "cooking-buddy-Volcan-mind-meld-chesty-ape-scratch-might-be-married-if-we-were-lesbians" friend (don't you have one of those??) just (FINALLY) set her wedding date for next summer. I am, of course, INSANELY excited to be a part of this wedding. We will be obscene. We will be crazy. We will be... matrimonial? I dunno - take a bride, take a bridesmaid, do a chesty ape scratch. CRAZ-AY!!

There's so much love going on!! Everyone is getting their happily-ever-after! And it doesn't have to be a big formal affair (or even a wedding) for you to be blissfully happy forever and ever with your partner/spouse/friend - but it certainly doesn't hurt. I am definitely still feeling the love from my husband, as well. Which is good, since we've only been at this married business for about 18 months. 

Proof: we are thinking about moving when our lease is up in 2 months. And in the apartment business in this low economy, there is a fine line between "our availability isn't posted yet" to "oohhh, we just rented all of our units!!" and with school starting up, I have no time to be stuck in the second group. So I'm starting to look early! (Plus, I'm, like, an obsessive planner). I spent this last Saturday driving around town, looking at potential rentals with my mother-in-law, and scouring online with her, as well. All while the hubby was hard at work. And I left feeling TERRIBLY dissappointed and frustrated. Rent's going up, space is going down, and it really seems like every single place is set at a certain price bar, and with studios with 450 square feet starting (starting!!) at $950, I can't even stand it anymore. So I came home in a crummy mood, to say the least. And hubby didn't leave me alone - he tried to make me feel better and hang out with me. And it worked! But Sunday, I got some unfortunate news about a family member, and without going into too much detail, I was basically stressed with worry from Sunday AM until today when he was discharged. And after hearing about this and my terrible weekend? On his way home from work on Sunday, hubby surprised me with flowers! Beautiful lilies that the kittehs love to nom, so I took them to work and now they're stinking up the whole office :-) Good job, hubs!!

SO!! In honor of all the love and weddings, and my loving hubby, here's the giveaway!! The book is: Bride and Groom First and Forever Cookbook by two talented sisters Mary Corpening Barber and Sara Corpening Whiteford. They started with a catering business and put together this amazing cookbook (it is one of my favorites, EVER!!) - it has wonderful recipes that serve just 2, more for a party or holiday - some easy, some complex - and even recipes that are broken down so you can share the kitchen (if you're into that sort of thing). Many recipes have beautiful photos, and it's smattered with great family stories. It's just a wonderful staple to start off a great cooking-foundation! Whether you're long-time-partners, newly-weds, or been married for decades, this is a great addition to your shelf!

To enter: leave me a comment telling me your favorite way that your spouse/partner/friend/significant other has ever surprised you with something little. (yes that ring was an amazing surprise... but what about something little?)
That's one entry. THEN:

1. Like me on Facebook.
2. Follow me here.
3. Tell me that you do that.

**UPDATE: A winner has been selected!! Thank you all for entering and sharing your wonderful stories! The winner has been emailed! Thank you all, and congratulations!**


*Note: this is completely furnished out of pocket by myself, and is not an ad or anything. This just happens to be a favorite cookbook of mine... That's all. Also, the winner will be selected randomly via www.random.org*