An Introduction and a GIVEAWAY!

I have to tell you guys why I've been largely M.I.A. lately. It's partly due to my hectic work schedule, like I told you last time I posted. But there's something else. I have an announcement.

I have a new baby!

No, not that kind of baby.

I'm talking about my Etsy shop, Sticky Chic Boutique!

I make vinyl wall decals. You know, the removable kind that look hand-painted? They're all the rage in home decor. They're sticky, and they're chic. Get it? I knew you would. I have such smart, stylish readers.

Photo by Ashley Erin Photography.
Get the decal here.

I also make car decals, painted signs and subway art, and personalized items like water bottles and tumblers.

Photo by Ashley Erin Photography.
Get the tumbler here.

Photos by me (in case you couldn't tell by the inferior quality).
Get the beach bucket here.

Now that the shop is more or less established, I promise not to abandon you again. I love this blog and I love YOU, but what can I say, I love to get my craft on, too. I know, right?? Totally unexpected. This won't become a craft blog or anything, but you might expect to see a few more posts relating to crafts, kinda like this one.

Only now, you can buy the crap I make!

Or...you can win some of that very same crap in my first-ever blog giveaway!

That's right! To make up for leaving you all these weeks, I'm introducing you to my shop with a giveaway. The winner will receive ONE of the following (winner's choice!):

1. One custom tumbler, or
2. One 12"x12" custom wall decal, or
3. One custom kids' sand bucket and water bottle set

See how nice I am??

This is good stuff, you guys. You already know I'm beautiful and talented, and now in addition to allowing you to read my words, I'm allowing you to purchase items I have actually made with my hands. You're welcome.

Look! It's a Rafflecopter widget. Get to it:


a Rafflecopter giveaway


I love you guys, and I've missed you. I'm back on the blogging horse now, new and improved with crap for sale.

The winner will be contacted by email sometime after the contest ends. I know I'm supposed to give you some kind of to-the-minute winner notification schedule but that's not really how I roll. If you win, you'll know about it. Promise.

*contest only open to residents of the United States. Sorry, lovely foreigners! I love you but I can't afford to ship you free stuff!*

Let Me Tell You What To Buy

Full Disclosure:

I'm now an Amazon Associate!  Wooo!  Basically what that means is this:

• I get to make lists of awesome stuff on Amazon and post links to them on my blog.
• If you click on those links...well, nothing happens except you get to look at some cool stuff on Amazon.
• If you BUY something after clicking on those links, I will be rewarded for my hard work with an incredibly tiny percentage of what you spend on awesome stuff!  So buy something expensive, ok?
• Nobody's paying me to say good things about Amazon or put their stuff in front of your face.  I'm just doing that because I love you.

I know you love Amazon.  How do I know this?  Because you live in the 21st century, you have a computer, and you are a person.  Also because I love Amazon, and I'm assuming you're just like me.  Ergo, you love Amazon.

I love Amazon because I love to shop.  What I do not love is shopping with my children.  And I always have my children when I shop.  Don't you?  Yes, you do.  If you are a mother (and you are, remember, you're just like me), this is the way life works.  With Amazon, I can buy anything I want, seriously, they have everything, and I can buy it without having to get my children fed, cleaned, clothed, napped, strapped into a car, strapped into a cart, through a store, through a check stand, and back into the car.  I can do it in my pajamas while my children watch Sesame Street.  And a few days later the things I purchased will be delivered to my doorstep.

Because you're just like me, and because I know how you value my opinion, I've taken it upon myself to create a Near Normalcy shop, tentatively titled "Let Me Tell You What To Buy."  For short, we'll just call it "Stuff You Need."  Because really.  Let me tell you what to buy.  This is stuff you need.  You're welcome.

Here's a smattering of the Stuff You Need.  (Click images to see more info.)

Stuff You Just NEED

Of course you need these boots.  Do you SEE these boots?

The Hunger Games.  I don't care that you're not 12.  You need to read these books.

Stuff Your Kitchen Needs

Ashley has one. So you need one. (Remember, you are just like me.)

Stuff Your Baby Needs

Babies like to hit stuff.

Babies like mail. A LOT. So get them their own. They'll still try to tear up yours, but it's worth a shot.

Onesies. Just, like, a million of them, ok?

Stuff Your Big Kid Needs

Dr. Seuss's Beginner Collection.
Buy them together, buy them apart, just buy them, and read them.  A lot.

Whimsical rain boots are a MUST.

You can access the entire store by clicking the handy "Stuff You Need" tab up top.  Again, you're welcome.

Special Offer

Today only!  Everybody who subscribes to my blog today (and, ok, the 5 of you who subscribed yesterday...you're welcome) will receive one limited edition promise from me to remember* you when I'm rich and famous!

*By remember I don't mean I'll like, take care of you financially, or send you presents (even on your birthday), or mention you on my household-name blog, or acknowledge you in public.  I just mean, quite literally, I promise to remember who you are.  Possibly this will require my assistant to keep some kind of roster, or make flash cards or something.  Actually it's starting to sound like a lot of trouble.  But I'm willing to do it for you, loyal readers, because you were here for me before I made the big time, and I love you, and many of you are related to me by blood, and one of you is my mother.