Simply leave me a comment (on my blog, this post, below) before Friday, June 17th at noon PST and I’ll randomly draw one name that afternoon. You are welcome to leave more than one comment, but if you do share something fun!

For example, you can post your 6-word memoir or three adjectives that describe you. These suggestions are drawn from my sangria party ice breaker games list at http://dirtandsunshine.com/sangria-party.html – if a different one appeals to you, go for it!

Since one little jar seems lonely, I’m throwing in a copy of “dirt&sunshine: random thoughts on the art of raising children”. Good luck!

Oh, and if you are the lucky winner? Please come back after you receive your prize and let everyone know how it tasted!

This Sunday is 10-10-10. It is also the 10th anniversary of an amazing organization called Right to Play. Founded by the organizers of the 1994 Olympic games in Norway,  Right To Play is a pioneer in international advocacy on behalf of every child’s right to play, and it is actively involved in research and policy development in this area. Their vision is to engage leaders on all sides of sport, business and media to ensure every child’s right to play.

I participated in a Right to Play event several months ago and have become a huge fan of their efforts. This mini-PSA is a small contribution to help raise awareness and remind myself how lucky I am to have two children who are happy, healthy and free to play.

In the spirit of acting locally but thinking globally, please take a moment on October 10th to encourage your child to play outside!

Thank you!

kathy

From the Right to Play website:

Right To Play evolved out of an awareness and fundraising organization called Olympic Aid, which was conceived in 1992 by the Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee (LOOC) in preparation for the 1994 Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway. The focus of Olympic Aid during these Games was to show support for people in war-torn countries and areas of distress.Olympic athletes were chosen to be Ambassadors of Olympic Aid to assist in the fundraising efforts. The lead Athlete Ambassador was Norwegian speed-skater and four-time gold medalist Johann Olav Koss, who donated a large portion of his winnings to Olympic Aid and challenged fellow athletes and the global community to donate money for each gold medal won. An unprecedented $18 million US was raised. The funds supported five main projects in 1994: building a hospital in Sarajevo; building schools in Eritrea; supporting a mother/child program in Guatemala; supporting refugees in Afghanistan; and a support program for children living with disabilities in Lebanon.

http://www.righttoplay.com/
 

In other news, tomorrow is our neighborhood’s inaugural ‘harvest walkabout’, an event I’m co-chairing with my friend, Barb. If you live near me (Northern California) and want to join us, please let me know! We will be sharing the bounty of our summer harvests within our immediate community and I will be sharing how easy it is to make these Moroccan preserved lemons! Lemons, salt and TIME (3 months).

I will be posting photos of the progress and end result on dirtandsunshine.com… stay tuned!

[Photo by Kathryn Besser]

As a passionate home gardener, I am always looking for ways to enhance our yard. Thank you, Sheila, at Lookiloos* for introducing me to the garden markers of my dreams. Not only do they embody the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ ethic, they are GORGEOUS to boot! You may find them on Etsy if you are not this month’s lucky winner http://www.etsy.com/shop/WoodenHive; however, here’s hoping YOU are!

Please leave a comment in THIS post to enter the giveaway; the winner will be randomly drawn from all entries on Friday, September 10th (noon-ish, PST).

*If you are not familiar with Lookiloos http://www.lookiloos.com/, it offers amazing peeks into stylish Bay Area homes, remodels, parties and more. One of the founders is Julia Prodis-Sulek who also writes for the San Jose Mercury News and SCENE magazine (Julia wrote a profile on me, ‘The Party Evangelist’, for SCENE’s inaugural issue last fall)

Good luck to all!

In order to win this beautiful handmade fruit assortment, simply leave a comment on this post before Wednesday, March 10th at noon (PST). A winner will be drawn at random from all Posterous-posted entries… please invite your friends to participate!

Thanks,

kathy

P.S. I’ll be back tomorrow with the continuation of our Seattle culinary adventure (got a little side-tracked prepping for yesterday’s tax appointment).

In the spirit of the season (and hopefully inspire others to dig deep and share what we are so blessed to have), Paul and I will be giving a $250 cash donation to the winner’s charity of choice. All you need to do is leave a comment of any length below (be sure to include your name and the name of your chosen charity – the donation will be made in your name). Note that you do not need to register with Posterous in order to leave a comment.

Please do not leave contest entries on previous or future dirt&sunshine blog postings – I will only be looking for entries on this post!

You have the usual 7 days to enter; the contest will close at noon on December 9th. The winner will be announced at 1pm (12/9). You may enter more than once if you like, the only request I make is that you enter for a different charitable organization each time. The winning entrant will be chosen at random (using a random number generator).

In addition, here’s a little something for you…

My friend, Mathew Lodge, is helping me thank you for participating in this endeavor. He is offering a FREE color print (up to 11×14 inches) from his travel photography website, http://lodgephoto.com/. This is a little something for you to enjoy this holiday season. It also makes a great gift. If you’ve been to our house, you’ll note the profusion of Mathew’s prints thoughout – we are huge fans! Mathew will print and deliver any photo from his site so be sure to look through the multitude of albums before making your selection.

Lastly, in case you are having difficulty waiting to see if you’re the winner, I will be posting a recipe a day from the girls’ fall luncheon featured in SCENE magazine. If you haven’t seen the article and wish to, please view it at the following link: http://dirtandsunshine.com/assetlibrary/SCENE_Fall-2009.pdf

Good luck to all! I can’t wait to learn about your favorite causes!

kathy

Kathy

It’s time for this month’s giveaway and in honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, our theme is “Cooking”!

Between now and Monday, November 9th (at noon PST), please leave a comment below with your name and, if you’re feeling up to sharing, your favorite Thanksgiving tradition.

A random winner will be drawn at 1pm next Monday (11/9); be sure to come back and see if you’re the lucky one!

This month’s prize package includes:

– Two white poplin chef’s hats handmade by my sister, Lori (an example of them may be found here: http://www.dirtandsunshine.com/chefs-hat.html)
– A bag of children’s cooking utensils (from IKEA)
– A felt pumpkin pie slice by my favorite Etsy seller, BeckyM (http://www.etsy.com/shop/beckym)
– The Il Fornaio Pasta Deck and authentic Italian sea salt from Il Fornaio, San Jose (http://www.ilfornaio.com/)
– A set of fall-themed flannel dinner napkins from PicnicBasketCrafts (http://www.etsy.com/shop/picnicbasketcrafts)
– A 1 lb. container of ground Korintji cinnamon with 12 3×3″ glassine envelopes and custom labels* for sharing
– A set of dried ‘Chez Besser’ spices*

*Check back on Wednesday (11/4) for a peek at the custom labels; this year our holiday project is home-dried spices (and sharing the bounty of our own 1 lb container of cinnamon). I hope to encourage you to pass out cinnamon packets this season!

Happy Holidays!

Kathy

(Even if you’ve won before, you are still eligible to enter!)

[Photo credit: Elina Manninen/Veer]

Thanks for entering everyone! Check back next month for our cooking-themed
giveaway (starting November 2nd)!

Kathy

[Photo credit: Marcus Miranda/Veer]

This month’s giveaway is a Halloween Cookie Decorating Party and includes:
a custom designed invitation for your event (on 5″ orange round cards),
Halloween-themed cookie cutters, 2 vinyl tablecloths (black with candy
corns all over – one rectangle and one square), a large plastic
Halloween-themed pitcher, a large round Halloween-themed platter, napkins,
crazy skull drinking straws, tableware decorations, a 24-oz tin of caramel
popcorn (my sons the scouts are selling popcorn this month!), and any
other fun Halloween stuff I can find between now and the entry end date
(Friday, October 9th).

To enter, simply leave me a comment below. Please include your name and
email address so I may contact you if you are the lucky winner. The
giveaway will be open for exactly one week and will close at noon on
Friday, October 9th. A winner will be randomly drawn and notified that
afternoon.

Here’s hoping it’s your lucky week… thanks for entering!

Kathy

Be sure to check back for our next contest (October 2nd); the prize
package theme is “Halloween”.

Be sure to check back for our next contest (October 2nd); the prize
package theme is “Halloween”.

[Photo by Kathryn Besser]