Chocolate Giveaway Winner!

Time is up to enter into my 'best ever ever' (that's what Greyson would call it) chocolate giveaway!  And now to announce the winner of her very own 1/4 lb. box of artisan chocolates & collection of chocolate&nut patties from Cocopelli Chocolatier.

I am happy to announce that thanks to the random generator selecting comment #6 as the winner:

We all collectively congratulate (and sort of feel jealous for) Rachael who will be receiving a sweet (literally) little package in the mail shortly.  

Rachael, please email me at studerteam.tabitha@gmail.com with the address that you would like the chocolates sent. 

Thank you all for participating and sharing your chocoholic stories with us.  I am glad to know I am not the only one hiding my chocolate from my loved ones!

two words that should ALWAYS go together: Chocolate Giveaway

I have a bit of a confession to make:  I'm a chocoholic.  I actually claim to have a dessert compartment somewhere in my insides because it does not matter how much 'real' food I will eat at meals - I always have room for sweets.  Its a gift really.

Well, I got an excited call from my sister, Kayla, last week because she was anxious to let me know that she had an 'in' with a chocolatier that was interested in participating in a blog giveaway.  And then my mouth started watering and my husband told me I had a crazy look in my eye.    

Lauren Roybal is the owner of Cocopelli Chocolatier in Santa Fe, NM and she is passionate about making people happy through all things chocolate and sweet.  I have since learned that Lauren has always been a chocolate lover and through a series of opportunities and experiences in her life - she realized that she was sort of destined to open up a chocolate shop.  In an email she wrote to me she said, "Good chocolate is something to celebrate, to be picky about, and also to share...my hope is to inspire others to find local artisan baker/chocolatiers."  She had me at "good chocolate."

The thing is, Lauren isn't just my new favorite person because she opened a chocolate boutique - the most awesome part about her is she is a real life hero.  Lauren may be the owner of Cocopelli Chocolatier, but she is also serving in the National Guard as a pilot flying an H-60 Black Hawk helicopter for Medevac - where she participates in search&rescue and fire fighting missions.  (She came off of active duty in September 2011 but still flies regularly).

She is a soldier AND she makes chocolate...pretty sure those are the makings of the most awesome superheroine ever?

So then Lauren sent me over some of her artisan chocolate to try and review for all of my readers...

And can I just say that it took me all of 30 seconds after taking this pic (while still sitting in the car after getting the mail) to immediately gobble up one two pieces of her chocolaty heaven.  And now here we are a mere 4 days later and I'm ashamed proud to admit, there are only 3 pieces of chocolate left...and that's only because I am attempting to have some type of will power over my sweets addiction.  I claimed my family couldn't try any to ensure the blog review was authentic, but its really because I didn't want to share.  oops.

Each sweet treat in my Cocopelli Chocolatier box was a delight and a happy surprise.  I have a thing for chocolate and sea salt - so my absolute favorites were the sea salt topped truffles.  But a very close second were the swirl pieces (like the one in the pic on the lower right) because it had sort of a cookie type bottom layer that was crunchy and divine.  Each truffle was both beautiful and savory in its own unique way.  I honestly felt like Lauren had created and hand selected each piece just for me; each truffle a little piece of delicious artwork.

Honestly, I was chowing down on my box of chocolate like I was Rachel McAdams in the Vow...unfortunately there was no Channing Tatum involved in my little binge- even more unfortunately for me, my very own hotter-than-Channing husband wasn't involved because let's be honest, I'm a little greedy about my chocolate.

not me.

Let's just say I'm feeling kind of blue that I don't live in Santa Fe so that I could regularly stop by and say hello (and thank you -for her service to our country) to Lauren while lingering and drooling into the display case.  My sweet tooth and I give Cocopelli Chocolatier's chocolate two very big thumbs up.

Speaking of Santa Fe...do I have any NM readers?  If you are reading from Santa Fe - or live near by...or are traveling there - make sure to check out the Cocopelli Chocolatier website for menus, hours of operation, and their list of events and classes.

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And now for the great giveaway news - Lauren is happily ready to send over a 1/4 lb box of some of her high cocoa content, artisan chocolate along with a few select chocolate&nut patties* to one of my lucky readers.  Yes, you read that correctly - artisan chocolate delivered directly to you.

To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is "like" CoCopelli Chocolatier's facebook page here, and comment below with a chocolate story that you would like to confess to all of us fellow chocolate lovers.  Maybe it's where you stash your secret chocolate - or what recipes you add chocolate to (even if it doesn't call for it), etc.   I'll start us off with one of my favorites:

I love chocolate all the time, I truly need a little bit of chocolate every single day.  I read somewhere once that if your body is craving chocolate, it really means you're missing magnesium and that can be fulfilled by eating legumes and I literally laughed aloud about it.  When I'm in need of a chocolate fix, their ain't a legume out there that's going to fill it.  

Anyway, when I'm pregnant, my chocolate situation is a little more severe.  So the truth was finally revealed one night when I was about eight months pregnant with Gemma. I was watching tv in the evening and way too tired and big belly'ed to get off the couch so I yelled into Brandon to bring me a chocolate bar.  Very hesitantly he reported back, "sorry babe, we don't have any candy bars."  Which I quickly shouted back, "no we do.  Check in the back of the snack cupboard on the right side, behind the box of popcorn."  B walked in with the candy bar silent and shaking his head.

Hello, my name is Tabitha and I hide chocolate from my family members so they can't find it and eat it.

Enter the giveaway!!  Winner will be randomly selected on Wednesday, October 10, 2012.



*allergies:  chocolate pieces are possible to have traces of nuts.  Chocolate&nut patties could include (but not limited to) toasted almonds, macadamia, chocolate y maiz, etc.  

My Memories Suite: a giveaway! - Update!

I have some very exciting news (no, our baby girl has not arrived yet), but it's up there- considering that it has seriously curbed my mindless googling of things like "oh em gee, when will this baby come?" and "but seriously, how long is it possible to be pregnant?"  Instead, I've been busy working towards one of my 2012 goals:  creating a family yearbook!

So a little background, I used to be a scrapbook kind of a gal and somewhere between the multiple moves, dirty diapers, slobbery dog bones, and maternity clothes - I kind of lost a place for all my scrapbook papers, stamps, and pens.  Besides tossing pictures into Grey's baby book & scribbling down funny things he's said - this blog and my facebook albums have had the serious pressure of maintaining my family's memories (eek!)  Needless to say, it's been wearing on my mind that I haven't been doing as well as I would like about keeping a physical collection of the 40 million pictures I take a week; thus the family yearbook goal was created.

And then by the grace of the universe, My Memories knocked on my door (aka emailed me) and offered a chance to test and review their My Memories Suites v.3 AND...wait for it...offer one in a giveaway to my readers!!

So, after playing around (and seriously reminiscing about my days on the yearbook staff in high school - hi, Mrs. McBreen!) I became a little bit obsessed and I'm already mostly done with our January pictures and events (currently finishing up Gemma's sprinkle!).  Want proof?  Booyah, Trixie's Arrival; a double-page spread:

What I have really come to love about My Memories Suite v.3 is that its downloaded on my computer - so I don't have to be online waiting for the any site to refresh or wait 45 minutes for my pictures to upload.  I just pull pictures from one folder and drop them onto the template.

I'm even trying to stretch my blogging wings and make things like a blog button and headers (which all the cool bloggers already have and I'm just playing catch up over here).  And although I'm really weird and nervous about it, this digital scrapbook software has made it easy for me with all of their options - and even more digital kits on their website for purchase.  So as seen on my updated facebook page (and soon available for 'grabbing,') I present, the Team Studer blog button:

So back to the good stuff...this is my first giveaway and one that I feel really excited about to share with you!  Not only do I get to work towards one of my 2012 goals, but throw in a little "kindness" too and give one away.  How's that for starting off the new year?  I hope you all are as excited about it as me:)

To enter for a chance to win the My Memories Suite v.3 ($39.97 value), please comment below about why you'd like to win the My Memories Suite v.3.  For more proof on why this giveaway is awesome, please visit:  mymemories.com to check out the digital packages available for purchase or to learn more about the Memory Suites v.3.  On Friday, February 17- I'll randomly select a winner and I'll announce that afternoon.  (If I am incapacitated due to childbirth - my sister will post for me...hi, Tasha!)

But wait, there's more (hhah!),

I have good news for everyone (even if you aren't the giveaway winner!):  My Memories is giving away free money...well, practically.  Use this code:

STMMMS20

And you receive a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software AND a $10 coupon for the My Memories store...Let me do the math for you - that's a free $20...please & thank you.

So comment below for a chance to win!!

Quick shout-out to the My Memories blog where they have creative ideas, memory-making challenges, and giveaways galore.  It's like a gold mine of scrapbook inspiration over there...just sayin'

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With the help of random.org, the My Memories Suite v.3 winner was selected:

CONGRATULATIONS to Cassie!

You have won the My Memories Suite v.3!  Please email me at studerteam.tabitha@gmail.com to claim your prize.  

Thank you to everyone that commented to enter the giveaway, hopefully it will not be my last!  Don't forget, you can still use my code (above and listed in my side reel) for free $ off of your next My Memories purchase.