If you are looking to make your dreams come true in 2010, you may want to head on over to The Bright Side Project and check out today’s giveaway.  It’s a good one, and you don’t have to answer a question–this one is all about luck of the draw. :)

Okay, I swear this is the last time you will hear from me today.  I just wanted to announce a new writing opportunity that fell in my lap thanks to the lovely Shari from Bonnin Designs.  Shari was on Twitter a while back when she read a call for Inland Empire bloggers by Suzanne Broughton of Alive in Wonderland.  Knowing I live in the Inland Empire, Shari immediately thought of me and recommended me to Suzanne.  Then she emailed me and told me about the call for bloggers.  (That Shari is a total sweetheart.)  I found out through Suzanne that Inland Empire Family magazine was looking for a few family bloggers to enhance their online presence.  I submitted my blog for consideration, and there you go.

My first post is up (many of you will recognize portions of my blog About page) and I will be blogging over at Inland Empire Family a few times per week.  Stop by and say hi. :)

Last weekend I started baking again.  I made an enormous batch of whole wheat bread dough, enough for four loaves, but forgot I only have two bread pans.  Luckily, I was able to borrow two more from my neighbor.  I returned the bread pans that day with a loaf still warm from the oven.  I recommend this technique to everyone because when I gave her the bread she turned around and gave me freshly canned tuna from her son’s latest fishing trip.  If you have never tasted freshly canned tuna, oh my, try to find a way to do it soon.  It tasted nothing like chicken of the sea.  In fact, all it needed was a sprinkle of salt and freshly squeezed lime juice before I tossed it into a delicious spinach salad for lunch.

On another note, Tristan and I are counting down the days until we can launch Besotted Brand.  (Soon, we promise!)  We will have a number of lovely things, not the least of which are proper labels.  There will be very fancy ones, yes, but we will also offer what we hope you will consider the perfect baked goods label.  Look at my poor label above.  It’s from a national craft store and not a good thing, if you catch my meaning. For me, a good baked goods label should offer enough space for someone with large, loopy writing (ahem) to write something as brief as “Whole Wheat Bread.”  Not everyone writes in a microscopic print, you know.  Some of us like to live large, Palmer Method style.  And, please, how frustrated was I when the label refused to stay down?  Any baked goods label worth its salt has to accommodate the lumps and bumps of a good kitchen outcome.  Wouldn’t you agree?

God willing, we will have something respectable up and running in time for all that holiday baking!

I don’t know how many of you play along with Tristan and I at The Bright Side Project, but today we have a contributor I think many of you will love.  Ruche is an online store that sells clothing with a vintage or romantic style at very, very, very reasonable prices.  That Atlantic coat you see in the picture?  If it wasn’t sold out, you could buy it for under $120.  I know!  Ridiculous.

Anyway, they are giving away a $50 gift certificate to one lucky winner, and if you feel like playing, that winner could be you.  See ya’ there!

I started off this post explaining our decision to send Mikey to a private school but, in typical fashion, the post ended up so long that I decided to shelve it.  I might rework it and post it (if nothing more so that Mikey and Nico can one day read it) if I can make it sound interesting enough, so we’ll see.

The ending of the post-that-never-happened was that we love Mikey’s school so much (three weeks in) that we are committed to doing whatever it takes to keeping him (and soon Nico) enrolled.  And that means putting aside my tendency for perfectionism.

Tristan and I worked very hard on The Bright Side Project all summer.  We also worked on our other project, Besotted Brand, as well.  The problem we have had has been an issue of quality–or at least that is what we tell ourselves.  Secretly, I believe we are both perfectionists who are unable to put our names on anything that isn’t absolutely perfect.  You know the problem with that, right?  Nothing ever is absolutely perfect.  And yet, we spent the summer looking for the perfect paper and the perfect shade of aqua to send to the perfect manufacturer while we continued looking for the perfect packaging.

By the end of the summer we were very discouraged and felt like we would never find perfect.

Then two weeks ago Tristan almost got fired and The Mister and I figured out how much we need to save between now and next year to pay for Mikey and Nicholas’s tuition in 2010.

And that’s when we decided pretty damn good is fine with us.

So we have opened up The Bella Bella Co. again and are selling the wrap labels everyone loves until we can open up a pretty damn good Besotted Brand.  Tristan is calling it her Free Miss B. fund and I am calling it The Catholic School Fund.  When you buy from us, you can decided which fund you want your money going towards.  (Not really.)

Our wrap labels are great because you are buying a downloadable file you can print at home.  I know not everyone loves this system, but when it comes to little luxuries, like labels, I really do because it allows me to print on demand.  I can buy what I like at the cheapest price point possible and I don’t have to worry about frugally holding on to my labels. If I want more I can print what I need and cut them with scissors or with my paper slicer-cutter thing.  (Technical term.)

You can buy some labels right here, but because we are experts at giving stuff away, Tristan also created for you some free wrap label downloads for you to try out.  All you need to do is buy the 8.5×11 label paper, print these bad boys out, and enjoy! (And if you love them come back to the shop and buy some more.)

The Antique Ledger Wrap

{You can download the Antique Ledger Wrap Label by clicking here}

The French Postcard Label

{You can download the French Postcard Wrap Label by clicking here}

There are more freebies on her blog, too, so stop by and take a look!

Can you believe Tristan and I have been doing this for seven months? My, how time flies when you are riding by the seat of your pants!

Since the first of the month falls on a Saturday, I just wanted to make sure everyone knew to head on over to The BSP to check out Viv & Ingrid, the brand launching Sugar, Sugar month. Have fun and, if you decide to play, good luck!

If you are having trouble accessing the free perfume link I provided, please read THIS POST detailing how to circumvent this most annoying problem.