100th Post Giveaway

I’ve always wanted to have a giveaway for my 100th blog post. This is actually my 106th post; I had my 100th post while I was in China. To celebrate my 100th blog post, I’m giving away a strand of pearls that I purchased from the pearl market in China.



To enter the giveaway, just leave me a comment. If you mention my giveaway on your blog, you’ll be entered twice, let me know if you do (got this idea from another blogger). If you’ve never left me a comment, please do~ I would love to meet you! If you don’t have a blog, leave your email address in the comment so I can notify you if you’re the lucky winner. Good luck! The winner will be announced on November 5th.

More Surprises!

Monday I had a package waiting for me from Danielle. It was a birthday present~ Yay! The box was filled with tons of goodies! I love it.

Very Cute Apron~ I LOVE aprons

Disneyland DVD, cute Hello Kitty tissue, "J" keychain, Tyler candle (one of my favorites), and a Texas cookie cutter. Funny thing~ I love cookie cutters but I don't have a Texas cutter! Thank you so much Danielle.

I also received a "Thank You" card from my niece, Daisy. Daisy thanked me for baby sitting her while her parents were in Hawaii. She also sent me a gift card. She's so sweet.

Saturday we celebrated Jana’s wedding. Everything was so nice and she looked fabulous! Our church courtyard makes a great backgroud for photos. I really liked this photo with the iron gate in the background. The flowers were beautiful and I love the shoes she wore. Very cute!

I’ve had a few little surprises since I’ve been home. I love surprises! The Pink Clutch hosted a Wicked Swap. My partner was Sarah from Monogram Chick. My Wicked Swap package was waiting for me when I got home from China. I LOVE everything! Sarah is so creative.

Check out the adorable travel mug. The black and white piece with my name is an extra insert for the mug! Too cute!

Everything was wrapped so cute and fallish!

I recently purchased this tote from Monogram Chick. This photo was taken in China~ I rode on the back of a scooter in rural China with my monogrammed tote! Sarah just posted a glimpse of her holiday line. Soooo cute and the perfect gift. Everything is better monogrammed!

For my birthday Maria gave me the cutest shoe pie server from one of our favorite little boutiques in Houston. She also gave me this girly screw driver. My dad, brother, and grandfather don’t live close to me so I attempt to do all minor house repairs. I have a huge pink tool kit, this will be the perfect addition. If I have to fix something, I might as well do it in style.

I helped Lindsay decorate a couple rooms in her house and she gave me the sweetest “Thank You” gift. She didn’t have to thank me; it was fun. Lindsay gave me a 2 part gift. First she gave me this yummy Chinese Cookbook. The author, Dorothy Huang, lives in Houston and teaches Chinese cooking classes. For part 2 of the gift, we are going to take a cooking class from Dorothy together. Dorothy said a lot of women who have adopted from China take her class. The moms who take the class have said they want to pass along some of their child’s heritage to them through cooking. Isn’t that sweet and so thoughtful of Lindsay?

On Tuesday night Carrie surprised us with a trip to a local spa. It was an amazing experience and it was only $23.80! I love China. The main focus of the spa is relaxing pools. There was a green tea pool, an aromatherapy pool, a milk and roses pool, and many others. After we were soaking in the green tea pool Carrie noticed a sign that listed the benefits of soaking in green tea, one of which was whitening your skin. Since I’m already as white as anyone can possibly be, I was a little worried. Luckily, my skin tone didn’t change and I don’t look like a bottle of white out. The most interesting pool was the fish pool. As you sit in the pool, little fish eat the dead skin off your body. It’s very similar to the fish pedicures offered in Washington D.C. I don’t recommend it if your ticklish. I wasn't allowed to take my camera into the pool area. The first photo is the view from the entrance.

I went to the Foster Home on Wednesday morning and said goodbye to everyone. I met so many great people... the Foster Home staff, the volunteers, and of course the kids. The flight home was long. I arrived home at 12:30 AM. Oh My Lanta, Georgia…. I have the worst jetlag. I’ve been up all night. At 5:00 AM I decided to go the gym for a run. Since I'm not a morning person, I was very proud of myself. I walked to the car and noticed my neighbor is blocking me in. I almost knocked on her door but I decided to be nice. I’ll give her until 7:00. :)

I just uploaded my photos to my computer and I have over 400. Here's a few of my favorites...

Thank you Carrie and Jacob for inviting me to the Foster Home and letting me stay in your home. Y’all are gracious hostesses and your always welcome here.

This is my last post from China. I've been packing all morning and I'm heading to the Foster Home to say goodbye to everyone. Cry, cry. Although, I miss American food, Diet Coke (coca-cola light is not the same), and I've had dreams about my Blackberry, I don't want to leave. My heart hurts. I can't wait for the day I leave China with my daughter. I'm going to write her a letter today and save it for her. I want her to know that many, many years before she was born I wanted her and loved her. There are so many photos and stories; I will post more when I arrive home.

This morning before we headed to the Foster Home we made a couple stops. First we went to the Lunar Market. The Lunar Market is based on the Chinese Lunar Calendar. It was very interesting. They were selling veggies, fruit, and meats but Chinese style. The merchants spread a blanket on the dirt ground and display their merchandise. The meat is usually on sitting on a table, uncovered. If you request super fresh meat, they will slaughter something in front of you. Luckily, we didn't see anything of the sort. We weren't allowed to take photos at the Lunar Market.

Next we took a tour of a factory where they make picture frames, magnets, and figurines. It was really interesting. It's unbelievable how much work goes into everything we buy.





At the Foster Home the kids were having "Pre-school." Today they learned about the different vegetables. Next the staff cut bell peppers in half and the kids used the peppers as stamps for painting. It was a creative idea. You can purchase bell peppers in China for about .10, so the project wasn't as wasteful as it sounds.

After painting the kids practiced using chopsticks. I thought it was adorable! First, they practiced with jelly beans. We ran out of jelly beans pretty fast! They also practiced with dry beans, little wooden letters, and colorful beads. They used baby chopsticks and the real chopsticks.

After lunch we had "English Class." Olivia and I had class in the play kitchen. She really cracks me up. She "made" pizza, ice cream, and soup but she called everything a pickle.

Isn't their play food adorable? Soy Sauce, Rice, and Sushi.

Saturday Lauren (the Foster Home intern) and I went to the Pearl Market in Beijing. We took the subway, the bus, and we walked. Although, I do NOT like public transportation (I'm high maintenance and would like to be dropped off at the door) it was worth it. I still haven't counted how many strands of pearls I purchased but I think it's around 25.



Today we went to church in Beijing. After church we had Tex-Mex food. I live in the Tex-Mex capital of the world so I didn't have high hopes for our lunch. :) It was actually really good. After lunch we went to the Flower Market. The flowers were amazing and really cheap!

On our way home we stopped for a snack at Dairy Queen. Yes, they have DQ in China. I can't wait to go back to the Foster Home tomorrow morning. I really missed the kids this weekend. I'm leaving on Wednesday...Boo! Wow~ the trip has gone by too fast.