Tidbits, a Giveaway, and Girls’ Night Out!

Thanks for all your help on my wedding registry! Seems like the most common piece of advice is to

• register for a variety of price points
• register only for things you’ll actually use

Two great points! I’m trying to stay away from one-use electrics (i.e. quesadilla maker) but I may have been talked into a bean pot by a friend last night…

Anyway, today I have a few tidbits of information to share with you, plus another giveaway. Who doesn’t love giveaways, especially on a holiday weekend?!

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First, the winner of the Whooptee giveaway is comment #16…

Congrats Katie! I’ll email you instructions on how to order your shirt!

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The St. Louis United Way is hosting an online auction until September 6, and there are some great prizes to be won. The United Way is an outstanding organization that pays for jobs like mine – non-profit organizations that serve those in need benefit when you donate to the United Way.

Some of the amazing prizes include:

• Truffle making class
• Savor St. Louis food tour
• Beer School                      
• Bissell Mansion Murder Mystery Theater Dinner

Proceeds from the auction benefit United Way of Greater St. Louis to help more than one in three people in the St. Louis/Southern Illinois community. Check out the auctiontoday – prizes are being bid on at this very moment!

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Speaking of helping those in need, I thought this was a unique opportunity as well. Romano’s Macaroni Grill is partnering with Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry (I’ve posted about them before, with our food blogger bake sale) to share a million meals with kids in need.

If you’re a blogger, all you have to do is create a blog post with a recipe, message, or photo of a favorite Italian meal and Macaroni Grill will donate $50 to connect a child with up to 500 meals!

For everyone: tweet using the #macgrillgive on Twitter or Instagram and Macaroni Grill will connect a child with a meal, simple as that! You can also go to any Macaroni Grill restaurant and donate $2 and get $5 off their next meal, OR share an artist-inspired image from the Mac Grill Give Facebook Gallery and help Macaroni Grill connect a kid with a meal that way too.

My favorite Italian meal came last night, at Acero in Maplewood. I tried their egg raviolo for the first time – ravioli with egg and a blend of three cheeses, in a cream sauce with bacon. It is mouth-watering and one of their best-known dishes.

The rest of the meal certainly didn’t disappoint. Corn soup topped with truffle salt, a meat donut (!), scallops over roasted corn and potato, and the crème de la crème of the meal – panna cotta with caramel sauce and salt!

This was one of the best girl’s night outs that I’ve ever experienced – the only time we stopped talking was when the food arrived! And yes, that is me in the background of this excellent pic:

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Last but now least – a brand spanking new giveaway!

Have you heard of Headbands of Hope?

This generous organization sells handmade headbands that benefit young girls with cancer. Not only does part of their proceeds go towards childhood cancer research, but the headbands themselves are meant to help little girls feel beautiful – with or without hair.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and in support, I’m doing a giveaway for one headband of your choice!

The best part of this giveaway is that even if you don’t win, you can get $1 off your purchase by using the discount code “hopejen” at checkout!

To enter this giveaway:

1. Check out their website and comment with your favorite color and style headband! (please leave your email address!)

Extra entries:

1. Follow Headbands of Hope on Twitterand comment saying you did (one extra entry)
2. Like Headbands of Hope’s Facebook pageand comment saying you did (one extra entry)
3. Follow Every Little Thing on Twitterand comment saying you did, or that already do (one extra entry)
4. Like Every Little Thing on Facebook and comment saying you did, or that already do (one extra entry)

Fine Print:

• Giveaway starts September 1, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. CST
• Giveaway ends September 9 at 11:59 p.m. CST
• The winner will be chosen using random.org
• I will contact the winner and they have 48 hours to respond. If they do not, I will use random.org to choose a new winner.
• Contestants must reside in the United States to win this giveaway.