Hey girls,

I answered two lovely questions about hair and fashion…boy do I love being a girl err..woman! Don’t forget to enter in the contest! just “like” us on facebook, subscribe to my email’s, and then comment below…its as easy as 1, 2, 3! If only it were legal for me to enter in my own contest…*sigh*…

keep those beautiful questions coming to askabigail@dearabigail.net.

Remember we can’t do it alone,

I miss you! I have good news and bad news….

Bad news: I am tardy…

Good News: I have been working on some videos I will uploading soon!! And….

Our contest winner for the Julia LoVan tshirt is……

EMILY. I loved her thoughtful post and thought it was a good reminder of the power of friends/community.

You can find her post in the comment showcase section

Emily | November 19, 2009 at 11:30 am | edit

Music and walks are a simple getaway from reality when times get tough. But the best thing is being with the girls. No matter where we are in our lives or where we are in the U.S., we can always count on one another. I’m blessed and fortunate to have the friends that I do, and know that my true ones are never too far. It’s the simple things in life like a phone call, a text, facebook message, or old school slumber parties when everyone is in town that keeps me grounded and makes me realize that I can do anything with a little help from my friends. Laughter is the best form of medicine.

Remember we can’t do it alone,

]]> http://dearabigail.net/our-contest-winner-is/feed 0 http://dearabigail.net/contest-giveaway-julia-lovan-tshirt http://dearabigail.net/contest-giveaway-julia-lovan-tshirt#comments Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:11:14 +0000 Abigail http://dearabigail.net/?p=109

Pictured here is the amazing Julia Lovan and the contest giveaway tshirt

So…all of that talk about pain and tears made me think that it’s time to wipe our (black metallica) tears, and cheer up gosh darn it all! And I couldn’t think of a better way to do it then through a… fashion giveaway! (You better not cheat and skip to the bottom to enter in the contest.)

So ladies, meet Julia Lovan, fashion designer and owner of Julia Lovan Designs.

And Julia meet…the ladies

Julia is extremely talented at what she does and has some stunning pieces that you girls will love! But what’s even cooler is that Julia also has a heart for justice. (As you will see below). And I love that she found a way to mix both her passion for fashion and her heart for justice.

I asked Julia a few questions…

Abigail: What message do you hope that your line (fashion line) sends?

Julia: I want to be able to help women feel great by what they wear. Confident and beautiful without having to bear it all. Of course, the purpose of my company goes beyond that by creating sustainable jobs for people locally and globally, so women buying my clothes can feel confident that what they’re wearing didn’t create more oppression.

Abigail: What’s a current fashion trend that you can share with us. (or a fashion no-no).

Julia: If you don’t want to look like you’re a blast from the past, don’t wear more than one big vintage piece, but modernize it with current pieces. i.e. Skinny jeans with a pump, a vintage shirt, clutch, and artistic or rocker earrings.

Julia was kind enough to donate one of her fabulous t shirts that she said is “suitable to lounge around in or fancy enough to wear out”. It has a hand painted red poppy flower, on an ultra-soft fitted tee from American Apparel. And it comes in all sizes. (The photo of the tshirt can be found in the photo collage above)

You can find out more about Julia and shop at Julia LoVan Designs at: julialovandresses.etsy.com

CONTEST DETAILS

1.) to win you have to “Sign up for Abigail’s emails”. So that I can contact you if you win with details.

2.) The contest will end Nov. 25th. And I will announce the winner and put their comment in the “comment showcase”.

3.) The way that I will pick the winner is by the most creative ,insightful, thoughtful, funny, honest or brave answer to the following question. (phewph. All in one breath).

*ahem* So…sticking with our topic of pain and attempting to see beauty in pain,

Contest Question: What is one way that you try and make yourself feel better when the going gets tough? (You can answer below)

(The answer can be anything from silly to *crazy* deep)

Remember we can’t do it alone,

Kelly!

The post touched me on a practical….and fun level. I loved the “challenge” to be crafty with what you can create with the ingredients that you already have.

Congrats Kelly! Please email me at askabigail@dearabigail.net for further instructions.

Kelly | October 22, 2009 at 9:42 pm | edit

One piece of cooking advice that I have is to make enough to have leftovers for the next night! It saves on cooking time Also, to save money… I buy bargain food items and experiment to see what I can make with the cheap food that I bought. However, my favorite advice is skip the cooking and clean up and head to cheap happy hour food specials

Remember we can’t do it alone,

CAUTION: content below may contain long, laborious rambling that the author assumes the reader would be interested in. (hmm) for the good stuff. (AKA contest info skip to the bottom where it says contest)

*ahem* “Hello, my name is Abigail, and I am…officially freaked out by cooking.” (Insert simultaneous “hi, Abigail” reply here) Oh cooking..or lack thereof (if your referring to my dilemma). So, here’s the deal, I swear that I was doomed from the start. It all started in 7^th grade home ec class, the beginning of my cooking journey. 

So, It was cookie baking time…A seemingly easy task right? (You’re probably gathering that the answer is no). So, here we are. Emily, myself, and my 7^th grade boyfriend (who I told my mom reminded me of a porcelain doll.) We have the eggs, flour…(Ok, I’m going to be honest here, I don’t even know what else goes in..ah!) in the mixer. So naturally the next move is to turn the blender on, so I do. The only problem was, Emily’s finger was somehow still in the mixer. (Ok, I’m officially sensing the stink eye from all of you) Before that stink eye turns into an eye roll with gasp I better quickly add that fortunately, Emily’s finger survived and the only damage that she suffered was missing the cookies and being forced to smell the aroma of the freshly baked cookies from the nurse’s office. The only damage that I suffered was a huge, swift, blow to my feminine ego. I mean after all I was a women, I was supposed to know how to cook…right? (Or at least know how to turn on a blender without killing my fellow female Allies).

So, I’m here to report, (and if you want official evidence please consult my freezer stocked with lean cuisine) that it’s all been downhill from there. I don’t know about you guys but the kitchen freaks me out! I’ve always said, (either verbally or in my head as I stare at my empty freezer with my stomach singing a rather loud opera) that I wanted to cook. But recently I decided, this was it, I need to know some basic skills. Because I’m sick of being forced to eat unhealthy food because I don’t know how to make anything. Now where to go from here is a mystery. This is where I need you guys.

So…I’ve worked out a deal.

Back story: I was shopping at Williams Sonoma (and no I wasn’t actually shopping there I was tagging along with my more domesticated and highly skilled in the kitchen sister) and I found my kind of cooking gear. It was a pancake mold of a fashionable hat, a high heel, and a purse. I thought, now that’s something that can make me excited about my new cooking extravaganza! So, I am going to try passing that excitement along to one of you who may need a little jazzing about this whole “taking on the kitchen one pie at a time” thing. Or to someone who already has the cooking bug as a token of appreciation (and jealousy) for sharing your knowledge from those of us who don’t.  Now onto the…

CONTEST

To enter the contest:

1.) http://dearabigail.net/subscribe-to-my-newsletter go here and subscribe to the newsletters so that you can be notified if you have won

2.) post a comment below. I will decide on the best comment that makes us laugh, cry, or simply think. (And the winner will go in our “comment showcase” section!) Here are some ideas of what to write about:

-          Offer  an easy and helpful recipe or share any cooking/baking advice you have

-          Shares a horror cooking story (perhaps similar to mine) that will make all of us newbie’s feel a little less alone in our rather rough Betty Crocker journey.

-          Tell us what you are going to do with the sassy pancakes (have a girls night..etc)

-          Or make us laugh, cry, or probe our little brains and make us think with your unique response to this post.

The contest officially closes on Oct. 22nd.will announce the winner on the site and will send out an email with further details. (Although you are more than welcome to post your cute and sassy replies after this date. You just won’t be entered in the contest)

I am so excited to start my cooking journey. (Well ok maybe excited isn’t the perfect word) But I am excited to journey with all of you guys so we can help each other out. Because remember…

We can’t do it alone.