Thursday, September 8, 2011

The Sum of Its Parts... and a GIVEAWAY!!!

Everyone is doing bloggy giveaways these days. EB offered up an awesome book back in June. AspieMom is giving away a very different but also awesome book right now. It's inspiring! I am nothing if not a sheep, so I am going to do my own version of a giveaway. It's not a book, but it was inspired by my book club. Sort of. It's always more complicated than that in my warped brain. Here's how it unfolded.

I spent Labor Day unpacking (still; shameful) and organizing because I am hosting my book club dinner in a couple of weekends and started to have mini panic attacks at the thought of my friends throwing open random closet doors to see how the G Family really lives.

Would anyone actually do this? No, probably not. But the fear felt very real this past Monday, and since it was productive fear, I embraced it.

As any super quirky house should, the G house has some secret closets. They're hidden behind these panels. Can you see them?

Photobucket

Wouldn't it be cool if these opened to a panic room? Or if I were important enough to have a panic room? But I digress.

They are simply doors to storage in the form of shelves, drawers, and a bar. A bar!!! This is what those sneaky little alcoves looked like before Labor Day:

Photobucket

Photobucket

Wow, that's embarrassing.

I'm excited to share the after pics. You see, when I opened the boxes, sorted out the junk, let the kids rabble rouse with the scraps of bubble wrap until they were suffering *pop* *pop* auditory hallucinations (all in the name of getting them out of my hair), and gave each piece a home, the sum of the parts was actually lovely.

Photobucket

Photobucket

I find the spaces calming and aesthetically pleasing. I've stood in the open doorways more than once just to allow the control freak within breathe in the quiet organization. I have been so happy with it all, I was inspired to do a giveaway based on the experience.

And then my brain hit a wall, which is what happens when I try really hard to have my best thoughts. I couldn't imagine anything cool enough. I could give away my favorite organizational product, but that's only if I had one. Or I could give away my favorite cleaning product, but who gets excited about the Tarjay version of Clorox wipes. Other than me, I mean.

It was an MBG-brain-funk-idea-clogathon until tonight, when some really special randomness presented itself to me.

Photobucket

The little Gs said things like, "Ewwww! Mom! Kill it!" BG was confused when I offered it to him on a piece of notebook paper [<--there's a hint about scale!]. But I knew exactly what needed to happen. Out came the camera. It was just what I was hoping for to complete the Labor Day blog post / giveaway of my dreams!

The reason this... item... is so perfect is that it makes little sense without the rest of... them. In context, it's normal, but when it's isolated, as it is above, it's got the WEIRD! factor I just crave. And as a bonus for those of you who have shown excessive patience by reading this rambling mess from the top down, it fits the sum/parts theme I'm forcing here.

Here are the rules:

(1) Leave a comment saying what you think the item is.
(2) You may guess more than once! But please only one guess per comment (multiple comments are welcome).
(3) The contest closes Monday, September 12, at 6PM Central time.
(4) I'd love to open this up internationally, but it won't work :(  US only, please. 
(5) You need to have an email address or blog link, etc., tied to your profile so that I can circle back for your shipping deets.

The first commenter to guess right wins __________. You know what's coming, right? The sum of its parts!

Good luck!

Hint: It is not an anatomically correct Grinch heart.

23 comments:

  1. Good lord! I can't even imagine WHAT that is LET ALONE why I would want to win it!!! .... it looks moist and organic-y...Ummm, a fungus of some sort?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Er... some sort of root?

    Also - I, too stare at my house keeping accomplishments like a... um... weirdo. Hahaha. (After a particularly good house cleaning, I've been known to get out of bed in the middle of the night just to bask in the cleanliness with no interruptions. I know... I truly am weird.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mel, we are of the same tribe :D <3

    Interesting guesses! Yay!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Um, caramel?

    (Please ignore my profile.)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Is it green? It must be because you referred to the Grinch. Hmmm. If it's edible I'm scared. I'm going with some sort of wood polishy type something. Wait, but you're a food giverawayer type. I'm so torn.

    Wood polish OR the innards to a delicious chocolate only found in your area of the world.

    ReplyDelete
  6. partially masticated beef jerky

    ReplyDelete
  7. leftover Thanksgiving Turkey gristle!

    ReplyDelete
  8. OMG that is disgusting! Looks like a mouse caught in some sort of sticky trap. And if I'm the winner, I respectfully decline my prize...

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm going to say...it looks like an artichoke heart to me! And yay for copycatting! :D

    ReplyDelete
  10. a seed? are pumpkins in season yet?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Some kind of root vegetable? You're lucky I'm not too keen on winning this since you're discriminating against me! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Awww, I hope it isn't what Jenna said, that didn't end well for the mouse :(

    It looks like a chewy candy to me

    ReplyDelete
  13. I have a few guesses. My first:

    Unpolished amber

    ReplyDelete
  14. Violin / fiddle rosin.

    And that's the end of my guessing.

    ReplyDelete