Brit's got the Golden Ticket, and so could you! (Photo Courtesy of thehollywoodgossip.com)
I don’t even care how big of a nerd my sheer and utter excitement for the following news makes me… because the minute my friend (holllllerrr, Linds!) told me about this new contest, I was instantaneously stoked! And we’re not talking semi / half-way-there stoked. We’re talking full on, LA luvin’, surfboard floppin’, missing member of Laguna Beach stoked! (Haha, who remembers how many times that ‘cast’ said it?? Classic.)
Anyhoot… according to reports from USA Today, the Nestle-owned Wonka candy brand is bringing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to life and resurrecting real life ‘Golden Tickets!!!!’… Pause for effect… Can you even believs it!?!? Talk about the world’s biggest OMG evs! We all have the chance to frolic about with our grandpas singing, “We’ve got the golden ticket! (Ho!) We’ve got the golden tiiiiiiicket!”
Now, before you start to ask what any of my girlish excitement and Wonka bars have to do with adult weddings and dieting brides, I should probably inform you all of the prizes. Ten grand prize, Golden Ticket winners will really feel blessed when they (+3 of their nearest and dearest) receive a trip around the world, including $12,500 spending money!!! I mean, seriously, make the +3 a +1 and talk about the honeymoon of a lifetime… not to mention the story of a lifetime…
“Where did you go on your honeymoon?”
“Oh you know.” (shrugs soldiers) “Anywhere this bad boy… (whips out golden ticket from back pocket) could take me!”
(Flabbergasted)
“Which basically means a trip around the world… boo yeah!”
Yep, sounds like perfection. So, who cares if you have to gain a couple pounds in chocolate to gain the honeymoon of a lifetime?? In the end – as long as you win, that is – it would TOTALLY be worth it! Heck, even if you don’t win, you’re still eating chocolate; so, technically, it’s a win/win all around!
Other things may change us, but we start and end with family. ~ Anthony Brandt
It’s no secret that I love my family… inexplicably loyal, loving and all kinds of uncanny, my family is the number one reason I am who I am. And while I know the love I have for them is nothing new in theory, I also know our makeup is unlike any other. Like all families, ours is unique, and as the saying for one of my fave fast food spot’s (Arby’s!) goes, “different is good.”
So, I consider it to be one of America’s finest qualities that different… is exactly what we got! This is especially the case when it comes to families! There is just about every type of family you can imagine… your family, my family, his family, her family, big family, small family (whoo! I feel like Dr. Seuss!)… you get the point. There’s no such thing as “the norm” when it comes to defining a family.
A few summers back, the Mister and I attended a wedding for a second-time’s-a-charm couple in Illinois, and while some couples choose to downscale their second wedding, Samantha and Todd did it up to the nines! Love love loved their day, but I especially love love loved the way they made their marriage about their entire family and not just themselves. They wanted to make sure their children – both from previous marriages – understood the importance of their role and the true significance of being a single family unit… not just a couple with step kids.
During the ceremony, they actually used our 4pc. Sand Ceremony Unity Set, and it worked out beautifully! While traditionally speaking, the unity candle is directed by a couple lighting a central pillar using tapers pre-lit by their mothers, the unity sand ceremony let’s others join in the fun! Hooty hoot!
They were able to let their children pour in their favorite colored sand into their engraved, center vase. By pouring all the grains in together, it became the ultimate symbol of “what God has combined, let nothing divide”… cause Lord knows nobody would want to separate all those grains!
Congrats and love to all families – regardless of their flavors! Because at the end of the day, we all have potential to be the perfect blend :)
Molly Malaney + Jason Mesnick during "The Bachelor" (Photo Courtesy of tvfanatic.com)
Perhaps the play-on-words title doesn’t quite work, but nonetheless, it’s staying…
Whether you like them or not, Jason Mesnick (33) and Molly Malaney (25) are officially hitched, reported People.com. Saying their “I do’s” in a well ta-do ceremony fit for celeb reality’s finest, the world’s most controversial couple to come out of the The Bachelor celebrated their nuptials in front of family and friends during a ‘private’ ceremony this past February 27, 2010.
Sure to be a love that will stand the test of time (rolls eyes accordingly), Jason and Molly weren’t always the perfect couple. In fact, they weren’t a couple at all… ahhh, yes, the referenced controversy ensues. For those of you not familiar with The Bachelor, let me give you the nickel tour of what was one of television’s most epic love triangles. In this rendition, the part of “Boy” will be played by Jason, and the part of “Second Runner Up Girl” will be Molly.
Boy meets 25 Girls. 25 Girls compete for Boy’s love. Boy eliminates 24 Girls in hope to find his one, true love. Boys finds One True Love. Boy proposes to OTL (One True Love). Boy takes OTL to reunion show. Tells OTL she’s really not, and transfers said title to Second Runner Up Girl. SRUG accepts. Months later Boy proposes – again. This time to Revised OTL in New Zealand. They get married and live happily ever after… at least for now.
It’s your classic bait ‘n’ switch / whoops-sa-daisy scenario - surely devised by TV executives and acted out by “real” people. I mean, truly, this is a marketing dream come true for most, especially now that it has ended with wedding bells chiming loudly… for all to hear… on their station (ABC)… Monday, March 8 (8:00-10:00 p.m., ET).
While I can’t help but be bit a bit skeptical, the hope-full romantic in me – alas! – takes over, and I’m still secretly rooting for them… yep, I just can’t help myself. Plus, it would be for shame to have Molly’s $45,000 Monique Lhuillier gown and American Idol’s Jason Castro’s rendition of “Over the Rainbow” go to waste… not to mention the time released, white doves, fresh orchids, Neil Lane jewelry and Casablanca lillies!! Psssshhhh, and my papa thought I was an expensive bride – hehe!
So, cheers… to many, MANY years of happiness and love!
