For Peeps Sake! A BIG Surprise Inside & $150 My Pink & Green Garden Lilly Winner Announced!

Hello Peeps! 

This post is packed with surprises and exciting 

things I can't wait to share with all of you!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Holiday! Easter is one of my favorite holidays as it symbolizes rebirth of life. Here in the Northeast I enjoy watching all the plants and flowers come back to life, seeing the empty branches bud with leaves and bulbs begin to bloom. It has been a long hard winter here. We got snow the day before Easter! We still have a little snow in the yard, hard to believe considering Easter came so late this year!

I spent part of Easter planning a warm weather getaway to Hilton Head Island and counting down the days....24 until HHI! If anyone has tips for the HHI area I would love to hear them!

Our family Easter traditions include a visit to the Easter Bunny, coloring Easter eggs, crafts and marshmallow Peeps! What are some of your Easter traditions?

My Minnie wearing one of her favorite Lilly Pulitzer dresses from The Joggling Board to visit the Easter Bunny! She fell in love with the stuffed Peep in this photo. Information below on how to purchase these Peeps!

My Minnie proudly displaying one of her pink Easter eggs she colored

We hunted through all the local grocery stores for white eggs that are Cage-Free, without growth hormones or antibiotics. I had no idea it would be impossible to find them for coloring Easter eggs because we usually buy brown organic eggs that are cage free without hormones and antibiotics. I can no longer support factory farms and the unethical treatment of animals in addition to being concerned with healthy food choices for our family. So we used the organic brown eggs to color the Easter eggs and they came out better than expected!

Eggs colored with food coloring, hot water and lemon juice.

S'meeps time!

I am going to publicly admit one of my guilty pleasures, Peeps! I know you are probably laughing after I write about healthy eggs! Funnier is the healthy New Morning Organic Graham Crackers next to the Hershey's chocolate bars and Peeps in this photo! At least no animals were harmed or mistreated in the making of Peeps! How unhealthy are Peeps? The first ingredient listed is Sugar followed by corn syrup, not healthy at all! They also have artificial dyes and colorings. The good news, Peeps are Gluten-Free (important to someone like me who has a Gluten sensitivity), Fat- Free (0 g of Saturated or Trans Fats!) and only 32.5 calories per Peep/130 Calories per serving (4 Chicks)! Source Livestrong: http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/nutrition-calories/food/peeps/marshmallow-bunnies/ A Healthier snack choice than Lilly Pulitzer Nabisco Animal Crackers but still not a great food choice. Perfect for a treat once in awhile!

Two Peeps in a pod! Making S'meeps!

S'meeps aka S'mores are so easy to make and they are Peepalicious! We assembled our S'meeps as shown above and then put them in the microwave. The fun part is watching the marshmallow Peeps expand and grow in the microwave! My Minnie loves this part! I tried to capture this in a photo but was not quick enough, they deflate pretty quickly! If you have lots of Peeps leftover in those Easter baskets give S'meeps a try! Or have fun making them grow in the microwave.

Bon Appetit! Note The Lilly Pulitzer Lifeguard Press Limeade Floaters melamie plate is not microwave safe, just used this to serve my Minnie who adores this dinnerware.

Another Easter tradition is chocolate fondue Peeps chicks and bunnies! This Easter we sampled all the varieties of Peeps chicks and bunnies. The sugar-free Peeps were better than expected and the new chocolate dipped & chocolate covered Peeps are delicious! Apparently I am not the only person obsessed with Peeps there are many websites dedicated to these delicious marshmallow treats! There are  contests like the annual Diorama Peeps Contest sponsored by the Washington Post, to see these adorable Peep Shows Click Here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/peeps

Lenox makes the most adorable Peeps Collectible line! To shop the Lenox Peeps Collectibles & Gifts Click HERE 

There is even a Peeps Company Store, Where you can buy the Peeps marshmallow bunnies, peeps, stuffed Peeps (like the one in the photo up above)and more! Click HERE to visit! Okay I am all Peeped Out, and swear off Peeps until next Easter!

Don't put all your eggs in one basket! Easter and Lilly go together so of course we made Lilly easter Eggs! So easy with Lilly napkins, Lilly gift wrap and Mod Podge! Yes, I admit I am a decoupageaholic! Here we used plastic eggs  glued shut then covered with Lilly Pulitzer napkins & gift wrap from Lifeguard Press. The napkin wrapped eggs didn't come out as nice as the gift wrapped eggs. The napkins work better on the white styrofoam eggs I have used in the past. 

Have you joined Shop It To Me? I am often asked, "How did you know about that sale?" or "How do you find such great deals on Lilly Pulitzer?" and the answer is Shop It To Me! ShopItToMe.com is Your FREE personal shopper! Your favorite brands on sale in your size, delivered! Join now to find out when your favorite brands go on sale in your size. After you sign up you select your favorite designers/brands and enter your size(s) and Shop It To me delivers them to your Inbox! No spam, only what you want to see. I can't tell you how much money I have saved with Shop It To Me! It's free using this link! http://shopittome.com/index/facebook/C5RYGVt5hpmkIIsl3OYgbXZQ_eq_eq?fb=20110419014459

Now for a BIG Surprise I am excited to share with all of you! As you all know Re-Lilly has been a huge success and grown to almost 5000 fans. A website for Re-Lilly off of Facebook is in research and development to make buying and selling for FREE even better, i.e. more search options by size, etc. My plan is to expand the Re-Lilly Community with neighborhoods for other brands. It will be some time before this happens. I get messages daily asking if there are other Free pages on Facebook like Re-Lilly for other brands. I also get messages daily asking me to start another page like Re-Lilly on Facebook for other brands, so I decided to set up a page on Facebook until a website is designed! 

The Pink Closet Re-Cycled Fashions is celebrating a GRAND OPENING on Facebook! Click HERE to Join the new Page where you can Buy ~ Sell & Swap your other favorite brands! 

Meet Bella my Chihuahua! She worked in my retail store, Pink, and was loved by all customers! Bella will be the mascot at The Pink Closet. Bella says "Welcome!"

For more information visit The Pink Closet on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The.Pink.Closet.ReCycled.Fashions 

Now for the winner of the $150.00 Generous Giveaway from My Pink & Green Garden http://re-lilly.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-pink-and-green-garden-150-lilly.html?commentPage=1! 

Drum Roll..............................................

There were 244 Entries! Random.org was used to choose the Lucky Winner........................................

LUCKY NUMBER 196.........

CONGRATULATIONS TO PREPPY WIFE PREPPY LIFE! Please contact me with your information! Thank you to Irene at My Pink and Green Garden for sponsoring this generous Giveaway! To anyone who missed the post, Click HERE to learn more about My Pink and Green Garden Lilly Pulitzer Home Decor! I will be making over my Minnie's Bedroom soon and will be adding some beautiful items from My Pink and Green Garden. I promise to share photos when we finish!

Stay tuned for more exciting news and GIVEAWAYS coming soon!

Cheers!

XOX Sue