The Accidental Olympian

AT THE END OF THIS, SOMEONE GETS A MOOSE.

AND THE WINNER IS......

Biscuit from I Heart Velveteen! She was all about the moose plate, so lady, it's yours. 

Which I have to admit I'm a little excited about because now I get to keep the print for my office! EVERYONE WINS! 

Biz, email me (accidentalolympian (at) gmail (dot) com) your address and I'll get that plate ordered and mailed your direction right quick. 

I need to give more moose things away. 

That was just too damn fun. 

MOOSE GIVEAWAY. NO JOKE, I'M GIVING AWAY A MOOSE.

Ok, that's a lie. I can't ship you a moose. Only because they're simply too big to fit on a UPS truck. I know, this is a shame. But if I could physically send you a live moose, I totally would. Those guys are awesome. 

What I am giving away is a moose themed gift! That I bought with my own money just for YOU! 

Does anyone remember when I was all about winning that online contest and offered everyone who voted moose cakes? See, after I read a little deeper into the contest rules I realized I actually did NOT want to move onto round three, because WOW too much work (yes, I'm lazy) but I did love the idea of moose cakes. Or simply moose themed items. So of course I turned to my friend Kelly and asked her to work her online magic and find me all the moose themed gifts she could possibly find on Etsy. 

Warning. If you ask Kelly to find you moose themed items online, she will send you the best email in the world with literally a crap ton of amazing moose items (a moose in a bow tie, why yes please!) and before you know it you will want to drain your bank account to purchase all of them, right this instant. 

I did manage to restrain myself long enough to pick one perfect, hilarious, awesome moose item to give away to you, my lovely readers. 

I give you, the moose print. 

Now, I not only ordered this print, I also went to Target and got you a sweet frame, nothing like this one. It's a hardy frame with a nice white border and everything! I'm just too lazy to photograph it. Things happen. 

The other honorable mention was this moose plate, because it was just too perfect coming on the end of this desire I had to give you all moose cakes. I mean come on, that's a moose, who loves cake! How can you not love this? 

If you find that you actually would love this moose-cake plate I would be happy to keep the moose print for my office and give you this instead. Yeah, this giveaway is so advanced it has OPTIONS. 

So all you have to do is comment. Tell me if you'd rather have the plate or the print, or just scream MOOOOOOOOOOSE into my comments and you'll be entered to win. If you post on Facebook (come back and comment the link or live link to my Facebook page so I can track you) you get another entry, or if you spread the contest via a link on twitter (please throw my twitter handle in your entry so I can see it) I'll throw another your way as well. So many chances for moose love! 

Contest closes on 12/9 whenever the hell I feel like it, so get to commenting!

WE HAVE A WINNER

I just got a call from Adam who is currently in Vegas. Having a tooten good time I'm guessing seeing as he called at 7:55am as I was arriving at work to tell me he was ON HIS WAY TO BED.

No, I'm not jealous in the slightest.

Ok, well not about the no sleeping thing obviously since I love me some sleep, but the vacation in Vegas part does stir up some serious jealousy.

 

So in other news, turns out I suck at following rules. Even when I'm the one who created them in the first place. When I posted the giveaway for the beautiful earrings created by Cecily Furlong I said I would close comments on FRIDAY the 23. Then yesterday on THURSDAY I wrote a post about how this was the last chance and bla bla bla and then at 5 I closed the comments. ON THURSDAY.

At this point I'm thinking I'll just go with my mistake.

Congrats Kelly of the Startup Wife! You are now the proud owners of these lovelies.

My only request is that you remember when people ask about them to gush that they are handmade oneofakind earrings crafted by the artist Cecily Furlong, who also happens to have an Etsy shop.

No pressure, but you are now officially human marketing for Mrs. Cecily in the Bay Area.

But, seeing as you make jewelery too, I think you get the idea.

I'll email you today to get your address so we can send the beauties your way!

Ashley, the Accidental Olympian

LAST CHANCE FOR THE GIVEAWAY + MY DOG IS CUTE

Two things. First, today is the last chance to enter yourself into the running for a shot to win some lovely handmade earrings from the oh-so-talented artist Cecily Furlong. You have until 5pm Pacific Standard Time to enter and then I am closing the comments and picking a winner.

It's good to be the boss.

Enter the giveaway here, and be sure to also take a second to check out her Etsy page for additional treasures!

The second matter of business today is that my dog is adorable.

True statement.

BUT, she is also a rescue dog. This is an important detail pertaining to her cuteness.

Today Oly and I are being featured on the wonderful blog Fido & Wino as the representatives for Washington state in a new shelter/rescue dog awareness campaign called R.O.A.R. (which stands for Rescue Owners Are Rockin'). I submitted Oly's story, as well as the tale of how she came into Adam and my life because I think anything raising awareness about the power of rescuing animals is something that should be shouted from the rooftops. 

No kill shelters like the one where we adopted Oly swoop in and do the hard work of rehabilitating and rehoming dogs that people have abandoned/discarded/tossed aside. The Humane Society of the United States estimates that anywhere between 6-8 million animals are taken care of by shelters each year in the US. That's a lot of pets tossed aside looking for a home, and most aren't as lucky as Oly to be dropped off at a no kill shelter either. 

All it takes is a few minutes on PetFinder.com to show you that your perfect pet is out there waiting. And lucky for you, rescue dogs don't come with the $1500 price tag of a designer mutt. At a shelter, mutts are not only abundant, but they're CHEAP!

Don't be scared, take a look. 

Ashley, the Accidental Olympian

WINDUP GIRL GIVEAWAY

Last week the lovely, funny, and very very talented Jamie of Grumbles and Grunts made me a collection of thoughtful and oh-so-lovely gifts for winning a contest on her blog. The fact that Jamie was capable of sitting down and drawing me an exact replica of one of my very own photographs AND designing two beautiful cds in her free time between working, blogging, being a mother and wife left me wondering where exactly my own creative side was hiding.

Someone had taken time out of their life to make me these wonderful things, and if I was to hold my own contest I would only be able to offer them a sentence or two littered with bad spelling and horrible grammar, or a picture of my dog. And although I think she's adorable, I doubt me giving you a picture of Oly would bring you to tears the way Jamie's gift left me.

I am never going to make someone a delicate handmade card, or a piece of spectacular jewelry. I am never going to knit you a scarf, or sew your daughter her first pair of slippers. Any and all Christmas ornaments I ever give as a gift will come from a store, you wont see me baking something as delightful as this anytime soon, and if I am going to draw you something, it is going to come out looking like a deranged stick figure mauled by a rabies infested stick figure alien. Picture that one please.

But before you feel like I'm on the downer train there is light! and laughter! and happiness! because I might not be able to make you lovely people those things, but I know others who can.

Let me introduce you to my dear friend Cecily Furlong.

As you will note, if you can manage to tare yourself away from her fabulous hair for a second that Cecily is wearing some amazing earrings. The kicker? She made those herself. Cecily has always been artistic, so in High School (we were friends in High School, we aren't STILL in High School) instead of passing notes she would pass me elaborate cartoons, or instead of doodling on paper she would craft sharpie tattoos of mermaids that stretched the entire length of my calf. Seeing as she has two little ones now (ADORABLE I might add) she has lately been focusing on her jewelry instead of her art and selling it on her Etsy page. And when I say 'focusing' I mean creating the sort of shit I might think about stealing from her if she was stupid enough to leave me alone in her house it's so pretty.

So here is the deal. 

I want to give you something one-of-a-kind, beautiful, something that you will treasure and people will stop you to ask where you got it, AND I want Cecily to gain more and more eager and dedicated clients at her Esty store.

It's a match made in creative heaven if you will.

Cecily and I would like to offer one lucky reader these beauties.

Here is what Cecily has to say about them,

On Etsy, you get the opportunity to name your creations. I love this. Before I even start, I usually have a name in my mind. I am inspired by my environment, and southern California is a pretty inspiring place. Whether it be a swarm of bees looking for a home in our pine trees, or the Spanish moss floating ethereally in the White Oaks, or just a simple trip to the beach and finding a seashell in the sand, I am constantly inspired by nature. I specialize in earrings, because I absolutely am obsessed with them! Each piece is handmade by me, and one of a kind, to ensure a completely individual look.

 For this particular pair, "Rosy Outlook", I just fell in love with these tiny pink coral pieces, and the miniature pink beads that top them. Just looking at them made me smile! They are so delicate and beautiful, and make a subtle statement all on their own. I wired each one individually and attached them to a length of silver chain for a fluttery and glimmering effect. These would retail for thirty dollars on my website. This is what I do and I love it, I hope that they will make someone as inspired as they make me!

The giveaway will work as follows. You check out Cecily's Etsy page and gaze at things like this,

and this,

and then be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of THIS post. I don't care what you say, maybe you could answer the question, "Where would you wear these lovely coral earrings?"

The contest will be open from today (April 16th) until next Friday (April 30th). Then I'll close comments and pick a winner. Note, I'll let you enter twice if you repost this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter! Think of it, extra chances to look amazing.

Now GO! Comment! Shop! Gaze at the artistic talent of someone with great hair!

I'll see one of you with a new pair of earrings next week. 

Ashley, the Accidental Olympian