giveaway winner announced - and happy thanksgiving!

so here's a secret i'm going to let you guys in on.  usually i write my blog posts in the evening, tweak them in the early a.m., and then post them for all the world to see (er...if 12 people were "the world").  not today.  today is LIVE BLOGGING from the calliespondence international headquarters, which also will double as the underpinnings for a thanksgiving feast tomorrow.  hum, that's funny, how is that you say?  well, i do most of my business right here at my dining room table.  my seat here at the head of the table gets great light, most of the time has ample layout space and if i need a snack obviously it makes things easy. 

something funny happened just now, which really is JUST NOW (remember we're broadcasting live here).  well, let me start earlier this morning - little man and i made a quick trip to whole foods to pick up a few things in preparation for the feast tomorrow.  while i was standing in line to check out, i checked my blackberry for emails and texts.  well - abbie (you may recall, the last giveaway winner whose notecards we featured on monday) texted me and said that the 'google doodle' (you know....the image on the google home page that is representative of something going on in the world that day) today was courtesy of ina garten, the barefoot contessa, whom i love and adore.

note to self: must check out google.com today.

so i go about my day, which also consisted of a doctor's appointment with rush, as he woke in the middle of the night last night, unable to sleep because of a worsening cough.  poor little thing.  made me thankful for good healthcare in our country, and the ease at which i called, made an appointment, saw a doctor and was sent on my way with a prescription so my baby can feel better.  we are so fortunate!  then, i went to lunch with my dear friend pam who lives in denver and i don't get to see very often - but she always makes a point to schedule lunch with me when she comes in town and i love that.  i am so thankful for good friends!  after that, i came home and thought about how i REALLY need to cook at least one thing immediately so i can feel like i've made the tiniest of dents into my thanksgiving prep. i mean, it is tomorrow after all.  i had already decided to make ina's pumpkin banana mousse tart.  you have to make the crust first, bake it and then let it cool to room temperature...so that would be a good little dent to take care of.  preheat the oven, crush some graham crackers, melt some butter...press the mixture into the tart pan with a measuring cup just like ina does in the picture alongside the recipe...into the oven, done!

ok, so it stays in the oven for 10 minutes - i'll get started on the giveaway winner blog post (rush is napping).  oh yeah, i need to check out google.com.  so i do - and lo and behold, what is there but THIS:

ladies and gents, do you see what that is?! it's a friggin' graham cracker crust even WITH the measuring cup that you use to press it into the sides and bottom of the tart pan - and when you click on the google logo, it takes you to the recipe for the pumpkin banana mousse tart recipe.

eerie.

so, with my #1 giveaway number drawer down and out for the count, i had to resort to random.org.  first i had to figure out how it works.  turns out it's pretty simple.  put in a minimum, put in a maximum (we had 15 comments)....it gives you a number.  and drum roll please.....here is the winner it spit out!

True Random Number Generator

Min:

Max:

 

Result: 6

Powered by RANDOM.ORG

and the 6th commenter is....MARY CLARE SILVA!  yay!  mary clare is a friend from high school that just moved from a bustling life in NYC to life on a dude ranch in rural colorado with her husband.  love it!!!  she is also the client behind the black and green bachelorette party invitation you may remember.  (or maybe you just remember the midget strippers.)

mary clare's comment:

I am thankful for re-connecting with you! And of course, my fantastic husband, our wonderful family, adorable if not mischievous pup, this killer table I recently bought for a song at auction, our Jeep, the Colorado free range Turkey I'll be picking up today, the bubbly I'll be enjoying all weekend, and a roof over our heads:)

everyone had such wonderful comments and i LOVED hearing what all of you are thankful for.  so very many different things ranging from costco, mini-pie molds from williams-sonoma, invisalign to perfect grills, sweet dogs, babies currently cooking, gravity-defying bras, bob dylan and bethenny getting married.  i love it all!!   what fun this has been, and thank you for taking the time to respond!

now, i've got to go finish that tart and transform my dining room / HQ to look like this:

happy thanksgiving to you and yours!!!

xo

above images courtesy of sunday suppers