Always Inspire

It's been a long time since I won a contest or giveaway I've entered. I did win a Washington Metro poster contest in second grade ("Be safe on Metro/Stay off the tracks" made out of cut paper, as part of a school project. My mom still has the framed poster and certificate. And going to the prize ceremony provided me with my first time on the red line, having previously stuck to the orange line that moved my family and I from the suburbs into DC to see the Smithsonian and other things downtown.) But I digress.

I don't think I started entering web/blog-based giveaways until I started this blog. My usual process was see giveaway, dutifully comment, and never hear back. But yesterday that changed. I won the giveaway over at Always Inspire, and chose this lovely scarf as my prize (the bibs and burp cloths use fantastic fabric but that's not exactly my life these days).

Speaking of scarves, I spent a few days at the National Archives a week and a half ago. One morning I was in the audio-film records area* and I overheard two men at the research desk talking about a recent email and phone exchange, noting somewhat derisively that the caller/emailer is "one of those scarf-wearing women, you know how they are." At that moment I walk up to the desk to ask a question, and I happen to be wearing a soft knit blue scarf wrapped around my neck (for warmth, not fashion). The [very nice and helpful to me] man looks up, smiles, and stammers out a "scarves are ok" line. I chuckled internally at the whole situation because I know the academic, scarf-wearing population to whom they were referring, if somewhat stereotypically and unfairly.

Julie from Always Inspire may be helping me transition into one of those academic scarf-wearers, and that's just fine. Thank you, Julie! You can check out her work on her blog and in her etsy shop. She uses bright and fun material, and her wares are very reasonably priced.

Speaking of giveaways, I'm inching closer to post #150 which may call for a giveaway. For the moment I'll leave you with this image -- perhaps inspiring, perhaps mouth-watering.