Cookie Contest Winner And A List Of Things That Can Really Piss A Girl Off.

Thanks for all of your responses to my first blog giveaway ever. There were so many pathetic stories it was hard to pick just one shining jewel in the mountain of crap some of you have received as gifts.

Some of you related to my traumatic t-shirt experience, and apparently received equally horrendous gifts from boyfriends and husbands:

ManagerMom received a cheap pair of earrings from Claires, in a Tiffany box. (Did we date the same guy?)

Undercovercookie received a $2 speedway mug.

E's boyfriend gave her a book that he recommended but hadn't even read.

Karen received boxing gloves and an Everlast sweatshirt.


Then there were the wedding gifts from hell:

Ali Martell received 1.75 in Canadian coins from her grandmother.

Anonymous received a hopeful 50th Anniversary plate.

Amy was promised a houseful of furniture from her in-laws, but got two nights at a mediocre hotel instead.


Bad, for any occasion (Hint: Don't buy lamps):

Suzy received a hideous fringed lamp adorned with angels and wrapped in cellophane

Aldeb received a single bottle of drugstore-brand nail polish (from a guy that turned out okay in the end.)

Asianmommy got a box of sugar-free chocolates from someone who didn't want her "to get fat."

MamaBird got a lamp, shaped like a duck.

Penny also received a lamp, only hers was shaped like a moose.

Rachel received a sock filled with Mexican pesos.

Nava received a FedEx watch, originally intended for her brother.


Thanks, Mom:

Jodifur's mother-in-law gave her a single cereal bowl for her wedding shower.

Kirida got an ab-roller from mom for her birthday.

Juju's unfortunate friend received used makeup and body wash from her mother-in-law.

Feener's husband received a windbreaker (from the drugstore!) from his mom.


But the story that takes the cake (and gets the cookies) is Lynette's story about getting a bathroom scale from her then fiancee, with a suggestion that "whatever I weighed the day we got married, he would have the right to divorce me if I got any 'fatter'. "

Really, don't we all just want to kill this guy?

Fortunately, Lynette eventually divorced the loser, and let him keep the scale.

Congratulations Lynette! I order you to eat each and every one of these cookies yourself.

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Cookies By Design: Saving The Planet From Crappy Gifts

(Don't be alarmed, but I'm doing a giveaway. My first ever. Read on for your chance to be part of this historic event.)

As most businesses do, every year around Christmas I send my clients a little gift to say 'Thank You." This always seemed like kind of an odd tradition to me, since in essence what you're saying is, "Thanks for giving me money all year. Now here's a paltry assortment of baked goods."

But they always seem to appreciate it, and so around the first week of December I go online and start ordering gifts. I have to admit I don't get very creative: Year after year it's the same basket of muffins or the same box of chocolates. I imagine my clients receiving their baskets every year and saying about me, "For someone who's supposed to be creative she sure picks crappy gifts."

But then I received this awesome cookie bouquet from Cookies By Design and I knew my gift giving was about to take a turn for the better. Maria Bailey of MomTalkRadio is working with the CEO of Cookies By Design to help get the word out about their product, and asked me to review a cookie bouquet. I gladly accepted, knowing I could possibly save companies everywhere from an onslaught of tubs of stale popcorn and baskets of rotting fruit come December. Plus, I really needed something to dip in my coffee.

My basket arrived on my doorstep, beautifully arranged and wrapped in cellophane. (The whole thing was placed in a sturdy bag to prevent it from falling over.) The first thing you notice after tearing off the wrapper is the incredible aroma of the cookies - they smell freshly baked. And they're huge - each cookie is around 5" - 6" tall and around 1/2" thick. Why, you could even share one if you had that type of insane inclination.

I set the cookies out for my taste testers - my two tween daughters and two of their friends - and we all dug in. The girls chose to eat theirs still mounted on their sticks (which are holding them into the base), sort of like a cookie lollipop, which they thought was the best idea ever. The verdict: They tasted just as good as they looked. They were rich and buttery, and tasted homemade. I knew my clients would appreciate this more than those tins of quarter-sized, rock-hard cookies I sent out last year. It might even inspire them to start returning my calls.

And here's the best part: You can receive your own basket of cookies from Cookies By Design. Leave a comment here by Thursday, July 17th, telling me about the worst gift you've ever received. I'll pick the most pathetic and will have a Cookie Bouquet (this version) shipped off to you, courtesy of Cookies By Design and Maria Bailey.

And may you never send a fruitcake as a gift again.

(You can read about my own pathetic gift experience here.)

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tags: cookies by design | cookie bouquets | client gifts | food gifts

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