ThisNext goodies!
Originally uploaded by calobee

Oh, I am stoked. Why am I stoked? Just look at what showed up on my doorstep yesterday and you’ll know why I abuse the word “stoked.”

As you may or may not remember, back in May I won a neat wine gift set for participating in a contest on ThisNext.com, my favorite social shopping site.

Last week I realized that I hadn’t seen the wine set come through yet, and it’s been over a month, so I sent an e-mail to one awesome ThisNexter to ask about it. She looked into the issue and sure enough, the wine set shipped much later than expected. This was actually a relief, as we’ve had disappearing-package issues at our place recently (very frustrating), and I imagined that somewhere in my neighborhood roamed a very full, very drunk guy with a pink wine backpack slung over his shoulder.

Thankfully this was not the case (although the mental picture kept me amused for a good five minutes), and the awesome ThisNexter said that they’d also send along a second prize to make up for the delay. I thought it might be a gift certificate, or maybe some stickers or promo materials, which is why I was really surprised to find a sizable box on my step yesterday evening. I was even more surprised to open it and find all sorts of wonderful kitchen goodies from Tovolo! Eee!

I’d never heard of Tovolo until now (read: I’ve only shopped for kitchen stuff at Wal-Mart) and the design is really something else. Our current setup is basic - we have the essentials, but none of it is very pretty to look at, and most of it is well-loved (read: old, and from Wal-Mart). But the Tovolo stuff - I want to frame it and hang it on my wall. It’s solid and sturdy, too - I can tell these pieces will be with us for a long time. So thanks, ThisNext, for giving me the opportunity to ditch the old Wal-Mart spatulas and mixing spoons for something more chic.

Oh, and the S.O. thinks I should win things for him more often, so maybe ya’ll could hook me up with an iPhone in the near future. Just sayin’.