And the winner is . . .

I'm so sorry for the delayed posting about the giveaway winner.  I didn't expect to be so busy this weekend!

So, I put all the names into my magic caldron

and closed the lid to shake up the teenie strips of paper with my wand.

And the magic caldron revealed our winner!

The winner is Penny from Palaver from Pellie & Ghengis Khat!  Congratulations!  Please e-mail me at greenwillowofthewoods AT gmail DOT com with your name and mailing information.  Thank you so much to everyone who entered!  I look forward to the next giveaway with all of you.  If any of you have a shop online (or in the real world) that you would like to promote, please feel free to e-mail me at the address above with your information and the item you'd like to give away.

The Countdown to Samhain

Thank the Goddess and the God for October!  September seemed to take forever and I'm happy that the days are closer and closer to Samhain and Hallowe'n - my favorite time of year!  My friends and I have each and every weekend packed with fun fall activities and tomorrow is no exception.  We'll be heading to the Headless Horseman in Ulster County, NY.  I've never been to this particular attraction before, so I'm really looking forward to it.

And . . . tomorrow is the last day to enter my first giveaway!  Get your entries in now!  There are multiple ways to put in extra entires so if you've already put your name in once, put your name in a few more times!

Plus, remember to stop by Mrs. B's Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom for the 31 Days of Halloween.

Wandering Around House Shopping

The hubby and I looked at 8 houses around Long Island today and both of our heads are spinning.  I'm hoping to be out of my parent's house by my birthday in November.  We saw some houses that have potential and then some that just needed a bulldozer.  Part of me feels like I'm going to be stuck with my parents forever and I'm growing more and more resentful of their meddling nature. 

Here's my main issue: I hate the town I grew up in.  I'm tolerating this place while I live with my parents and the hubby and I save for our own home.  I'm grateful that my parents are doing us this huge favor.  I know I have it real easy right now, especially since we do not have to pay any rent.  However, my parents don't understand my utter loathing of this town and my need to escape it as fast as possible.  It's caused quite a few fights in the past few days and now my father and I are not even speaking.  They've basically backed my husband and I into a corner and are pushing this, excuse my French, shithole house onto us.  It's a great deal but you need another $150K to fix it up and make it liveable.  Let's just say animals have dug through the roof and there is black mold in the upstairs.  It's awful.  But they keep repeating over and over, "It's a great deal.  It's going for $100-200K less than other houses in the town. Blah blah blah."  No matter how many times I tell them, "I hate it here and I never want to live here/raise a family here," they keep pushing.  I understand the great school district (my husband works for them).  I understand.  I get it.  It's not what I want.  It's everything I don't want. 

But in other news, I'm getting a lot of great feedback/comments about the giveaway!  However, I wanted everyone to know that The Fairy Apothecary is not my shop!  I wish it were but I cannot take credit for the wonderful work my friend Kristin does.  I do help her out from time to time at craft shows but all of the work is done in her Fairy Den in Upstate New York.  Also, if I could make your screens scratch and sniff I would!  All of her soaps smell amazing!  My personal favorite is Love Spell.  I've used all of her products, so feel free to ask me about any of them.  Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

My first giveaway, featuring The Fairy Apothecary

It's finally here!  I was originally going to wait until I had 100 followers but The Fairy Apothecary had too many great things for fall to pass this up.  Plus, this giveaway is in honor of Sally's Bath Product Shop for The Practical Magic Blog Party.

So, who/what is The Fairy Apothecary?  She is also known as the Bath Fairy and she creates amazing hand make soaps, lotions and other bath enchantments out of her basement studio in Upstate New York.  The Bath Fairy draws her inspiration from the colors, sights and smells of the natural world and, of course, that wonderful feeling people get during and after a wonderfully relaxing or invigorating bath or shower experience.  All of her soaps and lotions are made from all natural materials, including goat's milk and shea butter (which is organic and fair trade).

The Fairy Apothecary and I are giving away fall scented, leaf shaped soaps.  They are infused with the spicy scents of fall and just having them in my house makes me long for Samhain and Halloween.

So, how do I enter?

Giveaway Requirements

•  Have an blog accessible through your user name or leave an email address with each entry.
• Have a mailing address within the United States, United Kingdom or Canada
• Visit The Fairy Apothecary's Etsy store , come back here and leave a comment about your favorite item.
• All entries must be submitted by midnight on October 2nd

  

Extra Chances to Win! (You must leave a separate comment for each extra entry)

• 1 entry each
• Post about this giveaway on your own personal blog
• Become a follower of this blog
• Become a follower of Wandering in the Woods on Facebook 
• Become a follower of Wandering in the Woods on Twitter
• Become a follower of The Fairy Apothecary's Blog
• Become a follower of The Fairy Apothecary on Twitter 
• Tweet about this giveaway on your own Twitter account (one tweet per day - leave a comment for each tweet)

Special Notes:

• If your blogger profile is set to private, I will be unable to find your blog or email via your profile.  If there is no email address in your comments, and your blogger profile is private, your entries DO NOT count.
• Entries submitted in one comment posting will only count as one entry
• If you're reading these Special Notes, enter a comment with simply the word "soap" for an extra chance to win!
• Spam or comments with links unrelated to the giveaway will not be counted as an entry
• Please submit all entries in English

Woah.

It's been a long two weeks.  Last week was Open House and I'm running the clock and scoreboards for both the JV and Freshman boys soccer teams as well as going to Graduate school Tuesday nights.  Friday night was the hubby's cousin's wedding, Saturday was the family brunch and then we were off to Windham Mountain for the Warrior Dash on Sunday.  This week, was more timing on top of my wonderful sinus infection.  I finally broke down yesterday and went to the doctor.  I was also an insane person and I worked out for an hour after going to the doctor.  Part of me was hoping to sweat the illness out of me.  The Z-pack has kicked in a little bit but my ears are still popping like crazy and I feel the ickiness in my head swishing around.

I'm still a little upset that I was too sick to doing anything for Mabon or the Harvest moon on the blog or even personally.  Tomorow is the Practical Magic Blog Party and I'm going to infuse it with Mabon/Fall goodies, including . . .

My very first give-a-way!

Look for more information tomorrow afternoon.

Photo located here.

Giveaway from Mrs. B!

Mrs. B is having another great giveaway.  It is an 8"x10" ceramic tile by steampunk artist Brigid Ashwood (see picture on right)!  It has an .08" cardboard easel back that features a hinged angled let with two hangers for table display or wall hanging.

Plus, as a HUGE bonus, Brigid is going to sign the tile for the winner!

Hop on over to Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom to enter the giveaway.  I know I'm excited!

Check it out!

Witchin' in the Kitchen is doing her first giveaway!  Pop on over to her site and check it out.  She's giving away some Turkish Delight (yummy!), Turkish Coffee and an Evil Eye symbol.  She blogs all the way from Turkey and now I know where my Turkish visitor is coming from!  I was wondering who was looking at my blog from over there!  I love her blog and if you haven't visited her, you should!  Now that I've mentioned Turkish Delight I want to read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe! 

Simple Abundance Giveaway by Domestic Witch

This is a beautiful giveaway by The Domestic Witch and I'm really excited about it. It includes a copy of Simple Abundance, a Day Book of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach, a copy of Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book, a wood element candle with coin, a homemade sage smudge, Banded Amethyst, a homemade set of stone prayer beads, and a box of perfumed stationary.  WOW!  This is an incredible giveaway and I'm really crossing my fingers over this one. 

I hope that once I have a larger number of followers that I can do a few giveaways.  I have so many ideas!

Giveaway from Mrs. B!

Mrs. B at Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom has a great new giveaway from Starrlight Jewelry!  The best part about Starrlight is that money from jewelry sales go to fund her independently owned and operated animal sanctuary.  She saves mostly kitties, but there are a few birds on her facebook page.  So, even if you don't want to enter the contest, purchase some her beautiful work to help cuties like this one:

I just want to adopt them all!

Giveaways

I just started following The Wizardess Epi today.  She has a great blog, so if you're interested, take a visit over there when you can.  She's also doing a great giveaway for Ostara.  I just entered the giveaway today and I'm really excited about it.  Even if I don't win, I think I may order the book, Magic When You Need It, on Amazon.