Wednesday Wink 001 and Winner!

Wednesday Wink 001

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Going on a vacation? Roadtrip in your future? Last week our family took a ten hour journey to Destin, FL for a much needed vacation. Now, for some of you ten hours doesn't seem that long, but when traveling with an 18 month old and others with an additional three hours travel... I can promise ten hours is about our max! To prepare each traveler for the drive and to kick off the vacation with a proper Bon Voyage!... I assembled travel packs! (Any excuse to gather prizes, do I have to remind you that stockings are my favorite?)

I had been collecting each passenger's favorites for weeks. The monograms, believe it or not, were done in under 5 hours by taking them to Lids, a popular place for hats. They do monogramming on hats, so why not bags? Okay, so I cannot take credit for this little tidbit... my father-in-law actually let me in on this secret. Thanks Bruce! Each colorful, drawstring backpack from oriental trading cost $2.08 ($25 per dozen) and could later be used for sunscreen, water, and beach reading material!

Everyone has memories of family travel traditions, and I added a few extra surprises! So just what did I fill the travel packs with?

My Brother: Most early travels included some sort of fight over whether or not beef jerky was allowed in the car so that was a must. Also included were several of his expensive car magazines, two of which he actually was mentioned in (not the ones seen here) and a Dylan's Candy Bar bag filled with rock candy, red licorice, gummy frogs like my mom used to get, and two large jaw breakers! When we were little he would buy the largest one he could find to last the entire trip! And his pack would not be complete without laffy taffy to keep us all entertained with his lame jokes from all the wrappers!
My Gran: She is just about the ONLY person I know that picks out the black jelly beans to eat instead of throw away! A pair of magazines with life and design in mind and the most comfortable pair of flipflops I know of!

My Mom: Decorating magazines, cover-up shorts by Chic Boutique, a beautiful hand-crafted copper necklace by , a bag full off cherry, apple, margarita and buttered popcorn jelly bellies and a turquoise Columbia shirt.
My Dad: A zone bar to keep the men pumped for driving, his favorite chocolate treats, trailmix, the second book in the series by Vince Flynn that I recommend, a sports Illustrated all about the Mavericks (second only to his Spurs) and a colorful orange Columbia shirt that had his name on it. It looked so perfect on him!

Me: a new pair of Toms, all the girly magazines on the rack and of course a few gummy sour treats from Dylan's Candy Bar
My Son: A talking Elmo phone that you can program to your child's name, Goldfish, yogurt covered raisins, a pair of comfy travel shorts, and jumbo crayons. We also found head rest DVD players with 9" screens and individual remotes at Target on sale. They were a lifesavor and tons of fun with Woody, Nemo, Mickey, and Lightning McQueen! Liam's favorite book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle so we added Polar Bear, Polar Bear What do you hear? and we were roaring like lions, dancing like peacocks and hissing like snakes the entire ride through LA.
My Husband: A beautiful blue Columbia shirt, Brooks Brother's swim trunks, a football magazine, movie favorite candies, and a brand new hat! His secret to movies as a teenager was junior mints - chocolate and make your breath fresh for the goodnight kiss! I love you!

I am pretty sure everyone enjoyed their packs. It was a great way to start the perfect vacation... post to come later! What travel traditions do you have? I would love to hear!
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And now, the moment you have all been waiting for... the winner of the fabulous Capturing Couture camera strap is...  Marianne! Congrats! I know you are going to love it!

A big thank you to all who became fans and commented! You have NO IDEA what it means to hear from you! Stay tuned for next week's wink... there might just be another giveaway brewing!