December 16, 9am pacific: This contest is now over. Thank you so much for all of your entries— I love reading your messages. Winners will be randomly selected (during nap time) and will be notified via email. Have an absolutely wonderful Holiday season and a fantastic 2012. xoxo steph

I love my job. Not only do I get to work from home (in my pajamas!!) I have talented friends who write and develop wonderful things and they send them to me. I’d like to share some of my bounty with you—- these books (and dvds) all make wonderful gifts, or you can keep them for yourself!  Because we’re getting awfully close to the beginning of Hannukah and Christmas Day, I’m going to run this giveaway pallooza until Friday morning (12/16), 9am pacific, so I have time to get your packages in the mail before the weekend.

I have 18 items to give away.  The winners will all be randomly selected, and winners will be notified by me, via email on Friday, December 16th.

The Spunky Coconut Cookbook (1) by Kelly Brozyna. This is a sugar free, casein (dairy) free, gluten free cookbook– what more could you ask for?! There are 115 recipes in this book, with 65 gorgeous color photos. Kelly is a homeschooling mom to three, and is kind of my mommy idol. I ADORE her.

The Future of Food DVD (2) by Deborah Koons Garcia. Elana Amsterdam sent these videos along— Adam and I watched this documentary over the summer and were quite inspired to boost up our own vegetable garden. (actually, the movie made us want to leave the suburbs, buy a plot of land, erect a yurt, and live off the grid. We needed to settle for growing more basil…) If you want to learn more about genetically modified foods and what they do to our bodies/planet, this is a life-and-mind-changing piece of work.

Gluten Free Cupcakes (1) by Elana Amsterdam. Speaking of Elana…. she’s got a new cupcake cookbook out and the kids and I LOVE it. I’ve got a new one to send out to a lucky winner, because our own copy is dog-eared and drawn in. Our family favorites include flourless white chocolate cupcakes, triple chocolate cupcakes, and the cream-filled chocolate cupcakes.

The Money Saving Mom’s Budget (5) by Crystal Paine. Is 2012 your year to pay back outstanding debt, finance the college or retirement accounts, or learn to live simply? Crystal’s new book is perfect for anyone trying to make sense of budgeting in this crazy economy. Crystal’s book includes a bare bones spreadsheet, and worksheets for goal setting and time management. Crystal knows her stuff—she paid CASH for her house, and has been featured by Dave Ramsey.

The Pure Kitchen (1) by Hallie Klecker. Hallie is a certified Nutrition Educator and former personal chef. Her new cookbook has 100 recipes that are gluten, dairy, and refined sugar-free. This book will teach you how to shop, how to read nutrition labels, and how to cook from scratch— but in a clear, not-preachy way. I met Hallie last year at the Gluten Free Expo in Chicago—she’s an absolute delight, and you will love her no-nonsense recipes.

The Gluten Free Grocery Guide (3) by Triumph Dining. 30,000 products and 1200 brand names are listed in this guide. There is no need to wander aimlessly around the grocery store, Triumph Dining has done all the research for you already. Are you looking for cereal? bread? fruit rolls? Triumph has gone aisle by aisle, and given you the specific brand name of all the gluten free items housed in national grocery store chains. This is a wonderful tool for the newly-diagnosed; I wish I had one 4 years ago.

Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life (5) by Stephanie O’Dea (that’s me!). I began work on this book over 10 years ago, when my youngest was still a baby. I wanted a resource that included ALL my to-do lists— home, work, and personal. In this purse-sized book, you’ll get 7 Daily To-Dos, and weekly, monthly, and seasonal lists and planning ideas to help you turn chaos into calm–plus a simple organizing system that can prevent you from ever again having to do a last-minute company’s-coming cleanup, desperate purse purge, or frantic family dinner. Take a deep, cleansing breath….. help is here.

There are 18 items here to win! To enter, simply leave a comment below. If you’d like to garner additional entries, you can tweet about this contest, or write about it on your own site and/or facebook page. If you do, leave another comment here with the link so I get you counted.

Best of luck to all! The winners will be announced on Friday, Dec 16th 9am pacific. Have a wonderful Holiday Season. I’m looking forward to 2012! It’ll be a good year, I promise. xoxo

Posted in Giveaways | 600 Comments »

December 2, 5pm pacific. This contest is now over. Five winners have been randomly selected, and will be notified via email. Thank you!

updated (again!), 12/7:

The winners have been notified via email, and have all responded. Thank you very much to all who entered!

Happy Cyber Monday! I hope you had a wonderfully relaxing Thanksgiving weekend. We did, but I’m happy to send the kids back to school today. 4 days of nonstop togetherness is fantastic. It’s a gift. I treasure the time.

but today? the school can have them back.

we’ve got shopping to do.

I’m a huge fan of cyber shopping. I hate getting dressed as it is, and the idea that I can get all of our holiday shopping done without taking my slippers off is something I can whole-heartedly support.

In honor of Cyber Monday, the wonderful people at Hamilton Beach have generously agreed to supply FIVE 6-quart slow cookers to give away.

TO YOU.

The Set n’ Forget is a 6-quart slow cooker with a rubber gasket and a locking lid. I used three on Thanksgiving— and they looked great sitting on my countertop. The cooking is even, and the rubber gasket really works to keep valuable moisture and steam in the pot, where it belongs. The locking lid keeps everything from sloshing out when you take your crock on car rides to PTA events or grandma’s house.

It retails for about $45 on Amazon, and has wonderful reviews. I sell quite a few each week through my storefront— this is a great slow cooker. I currently own three of this model, and have given many as gifts.

Would you like to win one of your very own?

To enter, simply leave a comment below, and the winners will be randomly selected and notified via email.

You may garner 3 additional entries by: tweeting about this contest (example (only an example…)):

woo-hoo, I just entered to win a FREE slow cooker from @stephanieodea and @hamiltonbeach! http://stephanieodea.com/category/giveaways/

or by “liking” my fan-started-and-maintained facebook page or by “liking” Hamilton Beach’s facebook page. Then leave additional comment(s) letting me know.

This contest will run from Monday, November 28th until Friday, December 2 (5pm pacific).

Good luck to all, and happy shopping!

Posted in Giveaways | 1,025 Comments »

This contest is now over. Thank you to all who entered—we had over 500 participants! Congratulations to Kerstin, who was our big winner. Kerstin, look for an email from me! have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I was given a Deny Designs Bling Box, free of charge for this review. I have since donated the Bling Box I received to the PTA silent auction.

updated 11/15: hey! I got the pricing wrong, this is actually worth $399! holy toledo.

This is one of the nicest things I’ve ever given away— it’s beautiful. It’s a piece of functional art, and makes a phenomenal gift.

It’s a large, 16 x 22″ jewelry armoire that can either be mounted on the wall, or left free-standing on a desk or dresser. The back of the door has a mirror, and there are plastic hooks that can be arranged a number of ways to best display/house your jewelry collection: earrings, necklaces, bracelets, watches, etc.

it’s gorgeous.

What I really like about this Bling Box (I can’t type BLING without smiling; most of my bling is made from colored pasta or playdough beads…) is that the art panel on the front is magnetic— you can choose whatever design you’d like from a featured artist, or you can upload a design of your own: a family photo or cherished piece of art work.

For this give away, Deny Designs have gone WAY BEYOND the call of duty to allow the lucky winner of this beautiful jewelry armoire to choose your own artwork — it’s absolutely your choice.

that is really cool. Thank you Deny Designs.

This contest will run from today, November 15 until Monday, November 21 at 5pm pacific. A winner will be randomly selected and will be notified via email.

To enter this contest, you must CLICK HERE to fill out the online form.

BEST OF LUCK TO ALL! Thank you to Deny Designs for this giveaway!

Posted in Giveaways | Leave a comment »

Head’s Up: I was compensated for this post. I was paid by BlogHer to learn the ins and outs of Chime.In, and to moderate a BlogToBooks community room at Chime.In for one week. I was not given a Kindle Fire (kind of bummed about this), but I have one to give away to you. For free.

November 14, 5pm pacific: This contest is now over. Thank you to all who entered. A (randomly selected) winner will be notified by a member of BlogHer via email, and once I’m informed who that is, I’ll let you know. have a wonderful day, and thank you for playing along at home!

I’ve been asked to share my blog-to-book story. I haven’t really written too awful much about it because it still doesn’t seem real. I can not believe that I have books, real books, with my name on them. And one of those books spent six weeks on the New York Time’s best sellers list and now because of that I can refer to myself (although it’s probably better to let others do so, because of the whole vanity thing) as a NYT best-selling author.

that’s kind of cool.

I didn’t plan on ever writing cookbooks. I wanted to be published, and I wanted Totally Together to come to life— which it did, but not until I proved myself with the cookbooks.

The cookbooks came about after I emailed the Rachael Ray Show in February, of 2008 (my slow cooking challenge year) and wrote something obnoxious like: Ack! I just made the very best creme brulee in the history of the universe in my crockpot and I am the most wonderful crockpot cook and you should have me on your show to let your audience know how I awesome I am!

and then they actually called. I was filmed at the end of March, in my home, and in-studio, and the episode aired in July. I signed a confidentiality agreement to not discuss the show until we had a set airdate, and because of this I was quite determined to fulfill my resolution. I also became quite convinced that you could do anything in a crockpot: playdough, yogurt, shrinkydinks, candles, soap, tamales, and cheesecake. But not hardboiled eggs. Don’t do those.

After the show aired, publishers began emailing. I had four offers to sort through, and I chose the best one, with help from my literary agent.

This is not normal.

The normal route is a much longer, much twistier road. With potholes. And detours.

I started writing Totally Together 10 years ago, when my oldest was still a baby. I started by doodling notes and creating charts. I wrote and rewrote my opening chapter (by hand) while pregnant with my second daughter. After talking with friends, I felt confident enough to try to get it published.

I was determined to find a literary agent all on my own, and I did. It took me 2 years.  I sent out dozens and dozens of query letters (with a self-addressed-stamped-envelope) to agents I found listed in the Writer’s Guide to Agents. I sent them out in batches of 10, and everyday received back a new reject letter. Most were form letters, many just had a NO written across my query. A few were “the good ones” with a hand-written word of encouragement here or there.

And then I stopped querying. We moved. I began working at a “real job.” I stopped daydreaming about writing books.

The day I opened an email from a real, legitimate agent asking if this book was “still available,” I felt weak in my knees and I almost puked. I signed on the dotted line, and expected to hear good news.

I didn’t. My agent sent the rejection letters in batches, about once a month, with a post-it note attached to the top reminding me to keep at it; to not get discouraged; these things take time. And boy did it. She queried on my behalf for almost two additional years before we got an offer.

a measly, piddly, offer.

I WAS ECSTATIC.

I met my deadline, turned in the transcript, and waited.

and waited.

and waited.

And then the publisher terminated the contract. The economy had turned—- they didn’t see the market for this book, and bowed out. I was able to keep the money they paid me (it wasn’t a lot), but I was back to square one.

and quite discouraged.

and then the crockpot thing took off.

Now. We are here to talk about Chime.In, which is a new social media site. What I like about Chime instead of Twitter (I’m still not on Facebook. Don’t laugh.) is that you can decide what you want to be notified about—- you can opt in to threads that you are interested in and not be notified each time someone you are following makes an announcement. or Chime. whatever.

not that I don’t want to know that you had broccoli in your teeth all day, even when you went to the bank—–

but if I only want to be alerted if people are talking about gardening, or publishing, or HOW TO GET THE BABY TO SLEEP PAST 5am, I can. and I appreciate that.

Right now, I’m mostly interested in helping as many people as I can figure out how to get published (traditionally or non-traditionally) and am currently only following the BlogToBook community BlogHer set up on Chime.In. I am fascinated by all things publishing right now, and have spent many more hours than I’d like to admit reading up on marketing, querying, royalties, ebooks, and contracts.

I would LOVE you to join me in Chiming this week over at the BlogtoBook community— if you have questions, I’ll try my hardest to get you answers. It’s November, which is known for National Novel Writing Month, and/or for National Blog Writing Month. I’ve done both. (the novel never made it….but I’d like to try again….)

Thank you!!!

ALSO, as a reward for reading my super long post, I’ve got a give away for you. A BRAND SPANKING NEW KINDLE FIRE. for free.

Please leave a comment below to be entered in the contest. This contest will run from Tuesday, November 8th 9am pacific to Monday, November 14th  5pm pacific.     A winner will be randomly selected, and will be notified via email. You can garner additional entries by joining Chime.In and participating in the BlogtoBooks community.

Click here for all the rules and fineprint.

Best of luck to all! Join me over on Chime.In!

Posted in Giveaways | 679 Comments »

October 1, 7:01 pacific time: This contest is now over. THANK YOU to everybody who entered! I love reading all the comments—-you are all the best people, ever. Kathleen K. was our big randomly-selected winner. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and while I won’t be posting giveaways-a-day for a while (I’m kind of pooped)—I do hope to have a nice variety here and there to help with your Holiday Shopping.

Happy Crocktober!

Day 30 of 30 Days of Give Aways!

Happy Friday, and happy September 30th—- thank you for having fun with me this month! Since Crocktober ( ) begins tomorrow, I figure you’re in the need for a new slow cooker.

This is the brand-new Crock-Pot Countdown, part of Crock-Pot’s designer series. It’s so new, it’s not in stores yet (or on Amazon), and I haven’t had the chance to play with it yet.

But it has everything I look for in a slow cooker: good-fitting lid, programmable in 30-minute increments, cord storage, and large safe-to-the-touch handles on the side. I really like how the Designer Series pots (I have a smart pot, only 4 settings) have a deep well for the lid to sit— it retains all moisture without needing to lock in place.

it’s  a good pot.

And I have one for you today!

Since this is our grand finale, I’ll throw in copies of my three books, too. (shhh. don’t tell adam.)

To enter this contest, simply leave a comment  below and I’ll randomly select a winner tomorrow, (Crock)tober 1st at 7am. The winner will receive a 6-quart Crock-Pot countdown, and all three of my books.

good luck!! thanks for playing along this month!

This is Day 30 of 30 Days of Give Aways. This month of give aways is designed to help you get a jump-start on your holiday shopping as outlined in Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life and to spread good cheer. If you have a book or product you’d like to give away, please email me at contact AT stephanieodea DOT com with the subject line: GIVE AWAY PRODUCT

Posted in Giveaways | 1,197 Comments »

Sept 30, 7am: This contest is now over. Thank you to all who entered, and congratulations to Sandy D., who was our winner! This has been a fun month for me, thank you for playing! One more finale giveaway on the way!

Day 29 of 30 Days of Give Aways!

We’ve only got today and tomorrow to go— thank you for playing along at home with me! I started these giveaways really to help jump-start the Winter Holiday season gift-giving season. I know, I know. It’s only September. I don’t want to see Christmas trees in stores yet or hear Jingle Bells right now any more than you do.

But the reason we don’t want to see those things (as adults. Kids LOVE to see it all!) is because the Holidays (for many, not all) remind us of all we *have* to do: Cook. Clean. Buy presents. Wrap them. Spend money we don’t have, or don’t want to spend.

and the Have Tos start to get in the way of the Want Tos: sing, play, frolick (it’s okay to frolick, right?), give with a thankful heart, love openly, make cookies, decorate for fun.

and I don’t like that.

I want to enjoy my December, and look at the magic and the twinkling lights the way my kids do—or at least try. So, I start collecting gifts in the back of the master bedroom closet as early as I can. Also? EVERYTHING is on sale right now, thanks to the end of back-to-school shopping.

My favorite way to shop is at home, in my fuzzy slippers. Today’s gift card reflects that.

I’ve got a pretty detailed Holiday Time Line in Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life, but if I had to select one piece of advice, it would be to follow your children’s lead and begin thinking about the end of the year, now. Make a budget, make a list, and start crossing things off.

and have a wonderful day.

To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment below. This contest is open to all, and will end tomorrow, 9/30 at 7am pacific. Happy shopping!

This is Day 29 of 30 Days of Give Aways. This month of give aways is designed to help you get a jump-start on your holiday shopping as outlined in Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life and to spread good cheer. If you have a book or product you’d like to give away, please email me at contact AT stephanieodea DOT com with the subject line: GIVE AWAY PRODUCT

Posted in Giveaways | 178 Comments »

Sept 29: This contest is now over. Thank you to all who entered, and congratulations to Heather for winning! have a wonderful day—- more fun stuff for the next two days.

Day 28 of 30 days of Give Aways!

It’s Wednesday! I’m wearing a Shabby Apple dress in this picture, and I have one for you, too! I was given the opportunity over the summer to review a Shabby Apple dress, and I picked this one, called Toe The Line. I liked it because it was a shirtdress, and that I (you!) can easily dress it up or down— you can wear flip flops, or boots (I wore wedge sandals), switch around belts, add funky jewelry, etc.

It’s pretty much a blank canvas. The belt I’m wearing didn’t come with the dress. I bought it for $18 at Target, and I’d definitely recommend a wide belt with this dress. I am wearing an XS. When I first opened the package, I thought the fabric felt starched and kind of funky. After hanging for a while, the creases disappeared and the starchiness went away.

I wore it over the weekend and received many compliments. It’s fun, feminine, and modest. I like that I can pick the kids up without worrying about an (ahem.) wardrobe malfunction.

Would you like your very own Toe The Line dress? You can win one by leaving a comment below, and I’ll randomly select a winner tomorrow morning (Thurs, 7am pacific). You can earn additional entries by tweeting about this giveaway, and by “liking” Shabby Apple’s facebook page.

and? Even if you don’t win, they are having a sale through September 30, and the entire site is 15% off with the code: IVY and there is FREE shipping on all domestic orders. score!

yay! have a wonderful day.

This is Day 28 of 30 Days of Give Aways. This month of give aways is designed to help you get a jump-start on your holiday shopping as outlined in Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life and to spread good cheer. If you have a book or product you’d like to give away, please email me at contact AT stephanieodea DOT com with the subject line: GIVE AWAY PRODUCT

Posted in Giveaways | 101 Comments »

Sept 28, 7am pacific: This contest is now over. Thank you to all who entered, and a big congratulations to Tina K., for being our (randomly selected) big winner! Thank you for playing, and have a great day.

Day 27 of 30 days of Give Aways!

Good morning! We’re the proud owners of a new kitchen floor this week. Last week we ripped out the black and white peel-and-stick linoleum floor and subfloor our house came with and installed porcelain tile.

AND I LOVE IT. Our old floor was super hard for me to clean— I’d have to scrub it with a Magic Eraser, then mop with hot water and disinfectant, then use wax (Mop and Shine) for it to even look clean. And since that’s a COMPLETE pain, I’d really only do that once a month, which is kind of disgusting.

When we ripped the base floor out I smelled something. A smell I recognized from working in a vet hospital in college. A not-very-good smell.

I think the former home owner locked the dogs in the kitchen during the day while she was at work.

ew.

Anyway— today’s give away came to mind after the 42nd (slight exaggeration, but not really…) time we went to Lowes this weekend. The Saturday before we went (no exaggeration, here!) FOUR times. FOUR!

and I figured we can’t be the only people who spend a good proportion of the weekend playing Marco Polo at Lowes.

I’ve got a $50 gift card to give away today–no strings attached. To enter to win, please leave a comment below, and I’ll randomly select a winner on Wednesday morning, 7am (which is the hour our friendly-neighborhood Lowes opens!).

best of luck, and happy hardware store browsing!

This is Day 27 of 30 Days of Give Aways. This month of give aways is designed to help you get a jump-start on your holiday shopping as outlined in Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life and to spread good cheer. If you have a book or product you’d like to give away, please email me at contact AT stephanieodea DOT com with the subject line: GIVE AWAY PRODUCT

Posted in Giveaways | 158 Comments »

Sept 27, 7am pacific: This contest is now over. Congratulations to Tracy, who was our big (randomly selected) winner! Yay!

more fun stuff on the way—- thank you for playing!

Day 26 of 30 days of give aways— it’s the last week!

Good morning! I would like to give away one of the most-used kitchen appliances in our house, outside of the slow cookers: the hand held immersion blender.

I use this thing A LOT.  I really like that I can thicken soups or bean dishes by blending the potatoes, vegetables, or beans instead of adding extra starch to thicken. It feels and tastes more natural, and I like not adding additional bulk.

The hand blender in the picture up above was given to us as a wedding present 12 years ago, and it’s a Braun. According to Amazon, the Braun’s are no longer good, and the best reviewed and recommended hand blender is now made by Cuisinart. So that’s what someone (randomly selected) will get!

To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment below expressing interest, and I’ll use the random commenter selector thingy to pick a winner on Tuesday, September 27th at 7am pacific.

good luck! Happy blending!

This is Day 26 of 30 Days of Give Aways. This month of give aways is designed to help you get a jump-start on your holiday shopping as outlined in Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life and to spread good cheer. If you have a book or product you’d like to give away, please email me at contact AT stephanieodea DOT com with the subject line: GIVE AWAY PRODUCT

Posted in Giveaways | 154 Comments »

This contest is now over. Congratulations to DeLurking Di for being our (randomly-chosen) winner! Thank you to all for playing. More fun stuff on the way! Have a great week.

Day 25 of 30 Days of Give Aways for the month of September!

Hello there! I have a pedometer for you today. I know, it sounds kind of boring—- but it’s for your own good. Everyone thinks they get enough exercise throughout the day by parking a bit farther away at the grocery store, or taking the stairs instead of the elevator at work.  But unless you make a concerted effort to actually work out– either at a gym, or to go for a run, or walk the dog for longer than around the block, (etc. etc.) chances are you aren’t actually moving enough throughout the day.

We’ve (royal we, here)  turned into a pretty sedentary group, it seems. I thought I moved enough on a normal day. I walk the kids to school and walk again in the afternoon  to pick them up. I spend a lot of time walking the aisles of the grocery store, and I chase the baby around at the park or in the backyard. Because of this, I was astonished to see that my normal routine only added up to about 4300 steps a day—– well below the recommended 10,000 steps.

I’ve had this exact same pedometer for about 4 months, and I love it. You can either clip it to your waist band or pocket, or put it in your pocket. You can even put it in your purse or in a backpack and it will somehow keep track of your steps. It’s pretty durable, too. I’ve accidentally washed it at least twice, and then it went for  a ride in the dryer. I was pretty sure I killed it the last time, but after a few days the water evaporated from the screen and it went back to working perfectly.

I like that it “remembers” the last 7 days of accumulated steps, and I like that there is a clock. It’s easier to glance at it to check the time then it is to wake up the phone to check the time (I don’t seem to wear a watch very often anymore).

I’d like to share this same pedometer with a lucky winner. To enter, please leave a comment below and I’ll randomly select a winner on Monday morning (sept 26) at 7am.

best of luck to all! and remember to MOVE!

This is Day 25 of 30 Days of Give Aways. This month of give aways is designed to help you get a jump-start on your holiday shopping as outlined in Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life and to spread good cheer. If you have a book or product you’d like to give away, please email me at contact AT stephanieodea DOT com with the subject line: GIVE AWAY PRODUCT

Posted in Giveaways | 72 Comments »