So...I Won Mrs. Meyer's Homemaker Hunt!

Well people, I've been lying to you for almost 3 months! Everyone has been asking if I knew who won the Mrs. Meyer's Homemaker Hunt contest, and for legal reasons I had to tell you no, but the truth is IT WAS ME! I WON!!!

This is a little bit what winning feels like.

If you have no clue what I'm even talking about you should read this and this, but I know A LOT of you want to know the full details so here they are.

Disclaimer: This is a really long post so I give you permission to skip over the parts that don't interest you.

The Backstory

Last Fall, the Mrs. Meyer's company hosted The Hunt for the first ever Mrs. Meyer's Homemaker. The winner would be awarded $75,000, a trip to New York and an opportunity to collaborate with the Mrs. Meyer's brand. I really love homemaking, and who wouldn't love $75k, so of course I entered this contest.

Sidenote: A HUGE thanks to my friend, Courtney. She's the one who told our friend group about this contest, and without her I totally would have missed it. Courtney -- you rock!

The first stage of the contest was to submit a 15 sec instagram video, showcasing a DIY. I created two videos and submitted them into a pool of over 2,000 applicants! On December 10th I got an email saying I had made it to the second round -- I couldn't believe it. 

The second stage of the contest included 15 finalists and a video essay. The objective was to show a DIY, explain what inspires you and what Mrs. Meyer's Home Grown Inspiration means to you. All of this in 90 seconds or less. This video would be judged and then voted on by the general public, and the cumulative score would decide who the one Home Maker would be. Andrew and I worked together to create a video we hoped would knock the judges socks off! A lot of you probably watched my video -- thank you!

The Voting Period

Take my word for it -- being in a contest takes you through ALL the emotions. You start off extremely optimistic. You think about what it would be like if you won, your friends are telling you that you are totally going to win, and you feel pretty darn good about yourself. Then you start to question it. What if my video isn't at all what they wanted? What if my craft stinks? What if I stink? What if I just made a crap video and now everyone in the world can see it? 

Altogether, the voting period lasted 30 days and it was the longest 30 days of my life. During that time, I was eating/sleeping/breathing instagram and FB -- trying to come up with creative ways to engage and grow my audience. Andrew even made a really fun "Vote for Sallie" video.

Then the 30 Days were over. 

Voting ended on February 15th, so keep in mind I've been in this thing for 3 months at this point.
I had been told that the winner would be notified sometime by phone on February 16th.

The Day I Got the Call

The day of the call I was surprisingly calm, but also very nervous. I had resolved to be happy no matter the outcome, but of course I really wanted to win.

I got up and went to work as usual, then around 10AM the phone rang. It was from Chicago and I knew that this was THE call.

I picked up the phone, and who is on the line but MRS. MEYER HERSELF! Thelma A. Meyer, the namesake of the Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day company had called to tell me that I had won! I cried. I don't even remember what I said to her, but I remember dropping to my knees and just crying.

All this work, all these votes, all the lost hours of sleep, and I won!

My co-workers heard the news and we celebrated, and then it was off to tell Andrew. He works in the same building as I do, so I walked to his office, barged in without knocking, looked at him and said "I won." He jumped up and hugged me, and we cried as the office went completely nuts! Our co-workers totally ran around the office 7 times in celebration of the win!

After that, I made calls to my friends and family, but then I had to keep it hush hush. Andrew and I went out to eat that night, but mostly we just sat and stared at each other saying "I can't believe we won."

The Biggest Thank You in the World!

Yes I made the video and made a DIY, but there is no way I can take full credit for winning this contest. Almost everyday since the hunt ended, I've run into someone who's said "I voted for you everyday!" You guys have no idea how appreciative I am. You took something that was important to me, and made it important to you.

To all of you who voted, supported, encouraged, texted, prayed, and did who knows what else for me during this contest....thank you. Seriously, thank you. You have played a major part in this journey, and if I hadn't had all the support I don't think I would have made it. I hope that in the next few weeks I can hug your necks and say thank you in person!

What's Next?

Now I get to collaborate with the Mrs. Meyer's team for a full year! Andrew and I already took a trip to New York (I'll share that story later) to shoot a few videos and print ads. You can see my ad in the June issue of Elle, In Style, Real Simple, and Sweet Paul Magazine!

I have been able to start blogging full time now and I am hoping this opens up doors for me to be able to make a full time career doing what I love.

I really don't know what will happen with this blog. I feel like it could be something big. All I know is, God gave me a gift, a talent, and a desire and he has made so much more of this than I have ever dreamed.

Proverbs 18:16 "A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men."

Happy Homemaking!

Sallie 

Floral Friday

Happy almost Mother's Day! I hope everyone is doing well and has a few plans lined up to celebrate mom.

Hopefully you took advantage of a few Mother's Day DIYs that I showed you earlier this week (look here and here), so you have everything under control and ready to go.

Before you hit your weekend, here's one last thing to share with mom -- floral wallpapers for her phone!

For Your Phone
click here to download Wallpaper 1
click here to download Wallpaper 2
click here to download Wallpaper 3
click here to download Wallpaper 4

This week I used anemones, dusty miller, and eucalyptus. What flowers do you want to see next week? Let me know in the comments below!

xoxo Sallie

DIY Cake Topper + Chocolate Cake

I think we all have recipes and things that our mom's made for us that hold a special place in our hearts. My mom's chocolate cake, takes the cake. It's the best. Seriously, THE BEST.

I ask her to make this cake for me frequently! And because she is a wonderful mama, she does. 

I also bought these new little tart pans so I could make it a triple layer. I stupidly over filled them the first time I made this and nearly set my house on fire because the excess dripped to the bottom of the oven. 

It was a complete baking fail, and I had to go back to the store to get more ingredients. I did however, pull my act together and manage to make a cute triple layer cake that I am very proud of! 

The cake topper is also a really simple (and reusable) way to add some color to the top of your cake! This DIY will take you all of 30 min to complete. 

*Pro tip: Make your cake topper during the baking and cooling time of your cake!

For the cake

Ingredients

• 1 package double fudge cake mix

• 1 package instant chocolate pudding

• 1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 1 cup sour cream

• 1/2 cup warm water

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• 4 large eggs

For the icing

• 1 cup butter at room temperature

• 3 cups confectioners sugar

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 350. Thoroughly grease your baking pans. I sprayed mine with canola oil, 

          then floured the sides. 

2.       Add eggs, cake mix, pudding, sour cream, warm water, and oil to a large bowl.  Use your 

          mixer to mix everything for about 1 minute until it's all incorporated. 

3.       Fold in the chocolate chips. Stir to make sure they are evenly distributed. 

4.       Pour into baking pans. 

5.       Bake for 30 - 45 min. Depending on what pan you use, you might bake longer. My 3 small 

          pans spent about 30 minutes in the oven. A single layer bundt cake would probably take around 

          45 minutes.   

6.       Remove from oven and allow to cool. Cake is done when you can pull a toothpick out 

          cleanly.  

7.       While cake cools, make the icing. Add sugar and butter to a large bowl. 

8.       On a low setting, mix the butter and sugar. You are looking for an icing consistency.

9.       Add vanilla extract. 

10.     Assemble your cake.

For the cake topper

Materials

• Foam paper sheets

• Scissors

• Paint

• Paint Brushes

• Dowels or Skewers

• Hot Glue

Directions

1.      Sketch your design. 

2.      Trace shapes onto foam paper. This tracing will be the backside, so no worries if it's messy.

3.      Cut out your foam shapes. 

4.      Use paint to create outlines on your flowers. 

5.      Cut skewers to size and glue in place. 

What do you think? Does it look like the best chocolate cake ever? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo Sallie

Thai Curried Veggies + Shrimp

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Ingredients

• 1 lb shrimp, peeled
• 1 zucchini, sliced
• 2 cups baby bella mushrooms
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 baby bok choy, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp green curry paste
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 can coconut milk
• salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste
• 4 tbsp olive oil

Takes 15 min, serves 2.

Instructions

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in large skillet over medium heat.
2. Add all veggies to the pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then saute for 6-8 minutes.
3. In a separate skillet, heat 2 tbsp oil over medium heat. Add shrimp and cook until pink. About 2 minutes per side.
4. Add curry paste to the veggies. Cook and stir for one minute.
5. Add fish sauce to the veggies and continue stirring.
6. Add the solid portion of the coconut milk to the pan of veggies. Mix in thoroughly.
7. Add cooked shrimp, serve and enjoy.

A couple of weeks ago I stared making the transition into eating mostly Paleo. It's how I was eating (for the most part) anyway, so it just felt natural to go ahead and commit.

Since cutting out sugar, dairy, grains, soy, and legumes I've been looking for new recipes to try. I stumbled upon a fabulous Thai curry dish on instagram via @thedefineddish a few weeks ago and LOVED it. I loved it so much that I actually made it 3 times over 4 days. 

I started playing around with the recipe and came up with my own version that I love even more. I shared it on Instagram, but just in case you don't follow me there (which would be a total shame) I wanted to post it for you here, too because I'm nice like that ; ) 

Ingredients

• 1 lb shrimp, peeled

• 1 Zucchini, sliced

• 2 cups Baby Bella Mushrooms

• 1 Red Bell Pepper, diced

• 2 Green Onions, chopped

• 1 Baby Bok Choy, chopped

• 2 Garlic Cloves, thinly sliced

• 2 tbsp Green Curry Sauce

• 2 tbsp Fish Sauce

• 1 can Coconut Milk, solid portion only

• Salt, Pepper, + Cayenne to taste

• 4 tbsp Olive Oil

Directions

1.      Heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic, green onion, bok choy, mushrooms, red 

         pepper, and zucchini. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste then saute for 6-8 minutes. 

2.      Cook your shrimp. In a separate skillet, heat the remaining oil and cook shrimp until they are 

         browned on both sides. About 4 - 6 minutes.

3.      Add curry paste and fish sauce. After veggies have thoroughly cooked and are soft, stir in the 

         curry and fish sauce. Stir thoroughly for about 1 minute. 

4.      Add solid portion of coconut milk. Stir everything together until combined.

5.      Add shrimp to the pan. All ingredients should be combined now, and you are ready to eat! 

         Enjoy!