Thank You for Following + Giveaway

Dry As Toast's Facebook page reached 200 likes last week! To celebrate, I'm having a big giveaway to thank you guys for following through all these years. When I first started up the blog back in 2007, I had finished grad school and was having the toughest time landing a magazine job. During a networking session, one contact suggested I start a blog so that I could continue to write and learn how to edit myself. I was so shy and nervous about the idea that when I finally hit publish on my first post I didn't tell anyone other than my sister. Well fast-forward nearly seven years and 1,575 posts later and here we are. There have been quite a few times when I've had to back away for a bit because work + life + lack of inspiration, but I'm so thankful for those who've been reading all along. Whether you stumbled upon Dry As Toast in the early days or are a recent reader, I'm very grateful that you take any time out of your day to read the randomness that spews out my brain. I'm really looking forward to sharing the next year ahead with you.

As a token of my appreciation, I'm giving away a box filled with paper goodies to three readers. Over the years, I've realized that I'm quite the formidable paper hoarder. I have drawers and bags filled with greeting cards, notebooks, note sets, postcards, bookmarks, and other lovely items I've collected from stationery shows, PR reps, friends, and my own purchases. Silly thing is, they're just so pretty I've never been able to part with them or *gasp* actually write in these. Crazy, I know, but here's where you can help. Save me from myself (read: help me make room for my paper obsession). I hope the winners will share their goodies, use them to bring a smile to a friend, send snail mail, and jot down thoughts and dreams. Each box will be randomly filled with swag from my stash so it'll be a complete surprise, but a really fun one.

To gain multiple entries for the giveaway, just log into the Rafflecopter widget below and a winner will be announced Wednesday, Jan. 22.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CONGRATULATIONS: This week's giveaway winners are Jenelle, Cody, and Dariany!

Minted Personalized Stationery + Giveaway

When it comes time to shop for the perfect announcement, birthday invitation, or wedding suite, it can be hard to navigate through all the choices available. Not only do you want to make sure the price is feasible, but that your personalized stationery truly represents who you are and the aesthetic you're seeking. Minted is just the marketplace for those looking to buy cards, art, and décor created by indie designers worldwide.

Designs are crowd-sourced through various graphic design challenges with the best selections then offered on the site. Both shoppers and designers help curate the site's offerings with their feedback and votes, which ensures that some really fantastic artists get added to the mix.

Now I'm nowhere near needing to shop for save-the-dates, but I have several friends who are tying the knot over the next year and this site offers such an easy way to make a beautiful statement. With their wide variety of styles including whimsical, rustic, modern, hand drawn and all out formal, there's really something for every bride.

Not walking down the aisle or birthing a little human? Minted still has plenty to offer that you can either keep for yourself or give as a thoughtful gift. You can personalize gift wrap, wall art, business cards, and pretty journals and customize bunting banners with photos and your own special message. And nurture that love of snail mail writing in your kids by treating them to their own stationery set with their name on it like mom and dad's collection.

GIVEAWAY: Minted is offering one Dry As Toast reader $50 to use in their shop! Just leave a comment letting us know what special moment you'd create personalized paper goods for and a winner will be announced Wednesday, Jan. 8. It's too late to send out proper invites for my own birthday (Jan. 11!), but I've been wanting to send out moving announcements and now that the holiday craziness is over and we're finally settled in, I think it's time to spread the word and our new address in a fun way.

CONGRATULATIONS: Vera Khule is this week's winner!

Images: minted.com

Tuesday Giveaway: CupcakeStop

Fittingly, this week's spotlight is on one of the participating bakeries for Cupcakes for a Cause Week. CupcakeStop began as a food truck in 2009 after Lev Ekster found himself fresh out of law school and facing a suffering legal job market. But rather than let his circumstances hinder his entrepreneurial spirit, Ekster took an unexpected turn and soon found himself launching NYC's first mobile gourmet cupcake shoppe. "I created the CupcakeStop Truck because I thought it'd be a more affordable way to get my business off the ground," Ekster says. "It was also a great way to get a lot of exposure and bring our cupcakes to the people rather than wait for them to come to me."

His business model was a hit in a city where instant gratification and convenience is key. Today, more than 14,300 people follow their tweets to see where the CupcakeStop Truck will turn up next in the hopes of grabbing a quick treat during a break. (I stalked them earlier this year and tasted their yummy Drunken Raisin cupcake. So good.) Within a year, the business has grown to two trucks, a retail location in the Limelight Marketplace and another bakery in Montclair, New Jersey that each serve their handmade, made-from-scratch delights. Their flavor menu is extensive with 49 available year-round and 16 seasonal flavors.

Luckily, in their success they've still set time and money aside to pay it forward. "We do a lot of charity work and this is our second year participating in Cupcakes for a Cause," Ekster says. "If it's a cause we feel strongly about, as we do with this one, we participate full force." And what can be sweeter than doing good by eating cupcakes?

This week, one of you will win your choice from their dozen cupcakes selection. To enter, leave a comment below AND send me an e-Cupcake to dorkysramos[at]gmail.com. Cupcakes for a Cause presenting sponsor Göt2b will donate $1 for each one sent. If the name attached to your e-mail address differs from the one you comment with, please let me know so you can be included in the draw. This giveaway can only be shipped within the United States and a random winner will be announced next week Friday. Good luck!

CONGRATULATIONS: TheCuttingEtch is this week's winner! A big thanks to everyone who sent in such lovely e-cupcakes :)

Image: store.cupcakestop.com

Tuesday Giveaway: Melancholy Greetings

Life can seriously suck sometimes (like when you have to return to work after a holiday weekend) and while a glittery Hallmark might fail to convey the desperation in your soul, perhaps Melancholy Greetings will do the job. These "blank cards for empty lives" is the depressed brainchild of illustrator David Zapanta who developed his business idea after suggesting that an illustration of a woman he'd paired with the caption "No longer fulfilled by her children" would make a sweet Mother's Day card. I can thing of several moms that could apply to. In fact, I can hear one screaming for one right now.

Like many of the world's great minds I'm sure, Zapanta finds inspiration by doodling along spreadsheet margins during long meetings. "The longer a meeting is, the more drawings I produce so I guess you could say abject boredom is my greatest inspiration," he explains. "Sometimes a random drawing will really speak to me and I begin to wonder what makes a particular character tick. That in turn inspires me to write a caption that expresses a character's world view with only a handful of words." Truths like "inner peace is overrated" is really calling out to my pessimistic nature.

Zapanta is also the self-published author of Hairbat, a comic book about a man who gets a large talking bat stuck in his hair, and is currently working on a novel he describes as "Raymond Carver meets George Romero meets Douglas Adams" while unsuccessfully trying to explain the concept of sarcasm to his four-year-old son. Actually, I think I just discovered the true source of his dark tendencies: sleep deprivation. Lord knows I can relate and is probably why I was so drawn to them at Barnes and Noble. "I hope people see a little bit of themselves or someone they know and care about in the cards," Zapanta says. "Deep down I've always viewed Melancholy Greetings as sympathy cards, albeit ones drenched in existential dread."

This week, one of you will win a pack of Melancholy Greeting's bestsellers (shown above) to share and express the eternal oppression that is life with those you give a crap about. Just leave a comment below and a winner will be announced on Friday!

CONGRATULATIONS: Nell is this week's winner!

Monday Giveaway: Essence Cosmetics

To this day I can't bring myself to spend tons of money on brand-name cosmetics no matter how wonderful they claim to be. Diamond-infused lotion? No thanks. Caviar face mask? Um, pass. Regular old mascara that's marked up way too high so you check the other ones right behind it just to make sure it's not a mistake only to discover that it is in fact overpriced? Argh. Plus, I'm so picky (and my skin's so sensitive) that it could very well get a one-time use before it expires. But when I get into girly mode, I do like having different options and colors to choose from especially when it comes to eye shadows and nail polishes so I usually head to local drugstores to find bargains there.

Well Essence Cosmetics, a popular European brand that recently made its way to the United States via Ulta, offers trendy products at super cheap prices. So if you can't choose between this lip gloss and that bronzer, you don't have to worry about making a dent in your pocket if you go for both. (The subtotal is less than five bucks.) The company definitely seems to aim towards the younger crowd with their shimmery colors and nail art, but they also sell beauty tools that come in handy no matter how old you are. And starting in October, they'll be expanding their line with new shades and products for everything lips, eyes, nails and face, which is good because they could definitely bulk up their current U.S. offerings.

This week, one of you will win a Glossy Lipbalm, Eyeshadow Quattro and Colour & Go Nail Polish in the colors of your choice. Just visit the site, take a look a round and leave a comment below. A winner will be announced on Friday!

CONGRATULATIONS: Anonymous is this week's winner! (And yes, we all know who that is.)