This made cooking a little more exciting!

Everyday I pick up the kids from their preschool and scramble about to make a meal that is semi healthy, sort of balanced and maybe even slightly tasty. This is challenging for me mostly because I don't enjoy cooking and quite frankly, I am not a great cook. My food isn't bad but my menu is limited and I have on occasion burnt a thing or two. There isn't too much that makes weekday cooking exciting for me but yesterday was different. I was making spaghetti with meat balls (which my daughter "looooves" unless it's made be me) and since the kids were playing so well with each other, I decided not to entertain myself by playing with them. Instead I checked my email while I stirred the pasta and what do I see in my inbox? I see that I had won a Blog giveaway! 

I truthfully don't participate in lot of these but I am particular fan of this site and her product. "Her" is Laura Clempson from www.cupcakesforclara.com and she makes the cutest paper dolls, awesome stationery, sewing kits and even toys. What I like about her line from a creative perspective is her branding, her humour and how she has successfully given her characters personalities. As a mother of a young and very girlie girl, I love the idea of paper dolls, the simplicity, the portability and the opportunity to have free, creative, unplugged play. I entered the giveaway more as a way to support a product that I like and plan to buy but then I also ended up winning! I didn't win the grand prize (it was a good one too) but I did win the Runners Up prize of her Colin Gift Set which you see above and can check out here in more detail. It'll be a few days before we get him but I am eager for my daughter to have some new old school fun.

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In the little burst of excitement of finding out I won, sending Laura some info and showing my daughter her whole line of dolls...I forgot what I was suppose to be doing, oops! So although my spaghetti was a little overcooked and the meatballs a little browner then intended, it still tasted pretty good - even my daughter ate all of it. Perhaps I was just in a good mood of winning something, perhaps my daughter was in a good mood from the promise of a new doll or maybe my cooking is getting better?  Pretty sure it wasn't the latter but either way, it made cooking much more exciting for me.
Hmmmm...perhaps this can be the start of a new trend, Colin today...lottery tomorrow! Hellooo personal chef!
What is the last thing you won and what would you outsource?