Monday, December 03, 2012

Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!

About a month ago, I was feeling so lucky, I thought about going to Vegas! Not seriously, because I hate the noise and gambling... but it sure did feel good around here.

First, I entered a photo contest called Who Do You Support sponsored by Archipelago Botanicals on Facebook. I entered this photo of my sister:

This photo is magic to me for so many reasons. It was taken at Laguna Beach the day she finished radiation back in 2003. Knowing my sister as I do, I can see the relief in her body. I just love her rolled up jeans, her perpetual sweater over her arm and the flip flops as sunshades in her hand. And I can feel the hope coming off of her.  As luck would have it, we wandered into Laguna Drug - THE most amazing drug store (gift store would be more accurate) on the planet! There we purchased some lip balms and lotions made by Archipelago and I've been a fan of their products ever since. 

Much to my surprise, I won the contest. The prize was two gift baskets of products. One for the photographer and one for the subject of the photo. When I saw the breast cancer survivor with her baby daughter in the 2nd place photo, I requested my basket go to them. My sister LOVED her basket and I was pleasantly surprised when the nice folks at Archipelago sent me a lovely prize box anyway! And it was full of my favorite lip balm!


And then the week kept getting better! I won a bead by one of my favorite artists. Judith Billig makes stunningly elegant glass beads and jewelry. She had made a necklace she was having a hard time naming using her float beads. She called out to her friends to suggest names. I made several suggestions including Mumbai Magic. Unbeknownst to me (I was terribly busy with classes that week!), Mumbai Magic won the poll on her fan page! And I won one of her float beads!


And finally, that chicken dinner! The bestie and I were headed to the community center where we both teach. Since she was staying extra late after her class to clean up after MY class, I bought her dinner at our local Panera. We both ordered the black bean soup... I written about my passion for that soup here before! When they went to fill our order, they discovered they had sold the last black bean soups they had! My bestie, the I-love-all-soups girl, happily substituted. But I was flummoxed... I tend to get locked in on what I want to eat and no substitutions really make me happy.  I finally ordered the much more pricey chicken sandwich. To my surprise, Panera wouldn't take my money for the upgrade! They simply apologized for disappointing me and told me they hoped I would come back for soup another day.... as IF they could keep me from that black bean soup!

It was a nice, fun winning streak while it lasted!

7 comments:

GOOSE said...

WOW it's win after win. Good for you. My MOM loves Panera although she has never had the soup always gets the Smoked Turkey Breast. Yummmm I say.
Blessings,
Goose

♥♥ The OP Pack ♥♥ said...

We hope the good luck streak continues. That photo is so nice, we can see why it is so special to you. How kind of you to give your basket to another!

Mom loves Panera too. She used to love their chicken with wild rice soup, but they changed the formula and she says it isn't as good now:( But she still gets it so it can't be that bad.

Woos - Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning

rottrover said...

That photo is stunning!! Too bad it doesn't have a dog in it. THEN it would be spectacular!! BOL!!

-Bart and Ruby

Millie and Walter said...

I suppose asking to win that huge Powerball jackpot might have been a little too much, but you sure had a great week.

That picture of your sister is very special.

Cindy

The Daily Pip said...

I love the picture of your sister - it is so peaceful and beautiful. You can almost feel the story behind it ...

Congrats on all your winnings!

kissa-bull said...

Beautiful photo! Much deserved win!

Pibble sugars,
Brinks and bella

Unknown said...

I like that picture too! It's one of my favourites!