I Love DQ: a Sweet Gift Card Giveaway!

As you may know, I work for Dairy Queen Canada in the Marketing department and I. LOVE. MY. JOB.  I happened upon it almost four years ago and although I had no marketing or QSR (quick-service restaurant) experience, my wonderful boss was willing to take a chance on me and hired me.  It's been great ever since!

This is the first job in my adult life that I truly love and enjoy going to every day.  Sure, I've worked places before where I liked the environment, the people, the company, but I never loved the actual work.  Until now!  My job runs the gamut from administrative responsibilities (calendar management, travel arrangements, etc.) to communications (weekly e-news to our franchisees and managing our corporate Facebook page).  I also plan meetings (next stop: Disney World in September - I kid you not!) and assist with public relations and events (I was part of the team that broke the Guinness World Record for World's Largest Ice Cream Cake in 2011!!).  Pretty sweet job if you ask me - pun intended.

Before I even started working for DQ, I loved it.  It conjures up nostalgic feelings and brings me to a really happy place.  Growing up in a small town in Ontario, DQ was one of the only options for burgers, fries and ice cream.  It was such a special treat to go to DQ for a meal followed by a dipped cone, a sundae or a Mr. Misty slushy (now called Arctic Rush).  I remember when Blizzards debuted and there were only a few flavours (Smarties, Reese's Pieces, OREO) and how delicious and innovative they were.  As a teen and young adult one of my best friends and I would hit DQ for Peanut Buster Parfaits while we gossiped or lamented about our latest heartbreak.  Today, I love to indulge in a Blizzard treat when I'm happy, sad, or just anytime, really!  While I was on maternity leave I treated myself to the Blizzard of the Month without missing a single one.  There were some fabulous new flavours over the course of the year!  

The giveaway is now closed and a winner has been selected.  Thank you to everyone who participated! 

 
DQ has been so good to me and they'd like to be good to you - my readers - too!  You can enter to win a $25 Dairy Queen gift card* by following the simple instructions below.

Each option below is worth 1 entry into the draw.  Winners will be selected using random.org.  Draw will take place on September 12th and the winner will be notified by email and announced on Twitter by me, @pennesthoughts.  All options below are not required, however, they will increase your chances of winning by giving you multiple entries! 

1) Leave a comment on this post letting me know what your favourite DQ treat or food item is (don't forget to leave your email address so that I can contact you if you win).

2) Follow me on Twitter: @pennesthoughts and leave a comment on this post with your Twitter name.

3) Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment on this post with a link to your tweet. See instructions below on how to find your tweet link. Suggested tweet copy: Sweet @DQCanada gift card giveaway by @pennesthoughts! Enter here: http://goo.gl/bZwvI

4) Follow @DQCanada on Twitter (leave a comment on this post that you have done so along with your Twitter name). 

Good luck! 

To find your tweet link, go to your Twitter profile page, hover over the time in the right hand corner of your tweet, click on it, then copy and paste the URL from the page where that tweet resides. See image below.

*The gift card is valid at Canadian Dairy Queen and Orange Julius stores only.

Baby Photography

I would normally take the camera away from Oliver pretty fast when he gets his wet/sticky/grimy 1-year-old hands on it, but today I was impressed that he figured out how to turn it on and then took multiple photographs.  Of course, the photos aren't of anything in particular, but way to go O!  :)  

Here are some of his photos:

I have no idea what this is, we were watching the Food Network!

Yes, we have cream coloured furniture.  Purchased before baby, obviously...

cute little foot

Nice fern

another foot shot

So artistic...

looking over his shoulder

Avocado Berry Smoothie

I absolutely love avocados for many reasons, not the least of which is how nutritious they are. I have a board dedicated to my avocado love on Pinterest and have recently found myself pinning all kinds of avocado smoothies, so I decided to try one for breakfast this morning!

I didn't follow a recipe, per se, but I did have ingredients in mind based on recipes I had seen. This is basically what I included:

1/4 cup (approx) plain Greek yogurt

Half a ripe avocado, sliced

A handful of blueberries

5 strawberries, sliced

1/2 cup (approx) milk 

1 teaspoon (approx) vanilla extract

I threw everything into the Baby Bullet (love this little blender!) and mixed it up.  The verdict:  very thick, but very tasty!  I would add a few ice cubes and maybe a bit more milk next time.  I ended up eating it with a spoon out of a glass.  It was super filling and Baby O kept coming back for more too.  

I will definitely try this again and experiment with the ingredients. I bet a little honey and some raspberries would make yummy additions!

Have you ever made an avocado smoothie?  How did it turn out?  I'd love to hear about it!

If a Writer Writes then am I a Writer?

I've always had aspirations of being a writer and I dream of seeing my name on the cover of a book or my byline in a magazine.  Throughout my school career - from primary to post-secondary - I loved to write and was pretty good at it (or so teachers and others told me).  I wrote a lot of short stories in my younger days and even had one of my plays turned into a live production at the school Christmas pageant.  In high school I could write an essay like it was nobody's business, no matter what the topic, and have always been an avid reader. 

So why, you may ask, didn't I choose to study English at university and hone my craft? Your guess is as good as mine.  Who knows at 17 or 18 years YOUNG what they're really good at and what they'd like to spend their life doing?  Not me.  I think there are those rare exceptions who knew from a young age that they wanted to be a teacher/doctor/plumber, but I surely didn't.  I wish that a teacher or guidance counsellor had pointed me in a direction towards something I was good at, but I probably wouldn't have listened anyway. 

Although I don't have any related post-secondary credentials, I am very fortunate to have a job that I love in the marketing department at Dairy Queen Canada.  My job is challenging, busy, ever-changing and fun.  We don't have a 'slow time'; we're always working on the next project and planning a year ahead.  My responsibilities include communications, assisting with public relations, planning meetings and events, and the best part - working closely with Children's Miracle Network - a partnership that Dairy Queen has had for over 28 years.

So what does my job have to do with writing? Being in my late 30's (ouch) I know myself better and what I like to do and what I'm good at.  My current job has helped me to understand that.  I've decided to use any "spare time" (ha-ha) that I have to practice and build a portfolio of writing.  To that end, I contacted a few great, reputable Mom Bloggers and asked if I could guest post for them.  I am so excited to say that my first guest post was published yesterday on Multi-Testing Mommy!  I've been offered guest spots on two other blogs and can't wait to get started.  Ideas are swirling around in my head and I'm trying to find my groove and my niche where writing is concerned.  

If you're looking for a guest-poster for your blog, please contact me!  I like to write about food and cooking (I am a hardcore meal planner who tries at least 2-3 new recipes per week), life with a teen and a baby (yes, I have 2 sons born 15 years apart), health and beauty products (I LOVE makeup and lip gloss and will try ANY anti-aging products), books (I'll read just about anything) and baby/toddler products.

For now, I'm off to get those ideas that are swirling around in my head onto paper... well, electronic paper that is! 

 

Gastropost - Food Missions for Food Lovers

As I mentioned in my July update, about a month ago I came across Gastropost, a special weekend feature in the National Post.  I was intrigued when I read the tagline, "food missions for food lovers" and decided to become a member. 

I signed up, set up a Tumblr account and anxiously awaited my first mission (delivered by e-mail on Thursdays).  Missions are simple to complete.  You just need to eat, buy, bake or cook the subject food mission, take a photo and write a short blurb about it.  Easy peasy.  It was so exciting to see my byline in the National Post for the first time on July 21st. 

The posts are abbreviated for the newspaper and include your mission photo and your very own Gastrosketch (a drawing based on a head shot you send in). You also get your own page on Gastropost's site with your bio and all of your completed missions.  How cool is that?  

I'm excited to say that I've now been in the National Post four times!  The missions are fun and inspire me to get creative in the kitchen.  This week's mission is food on a stick and I can't wait to get started on it! 

If you love food, like to take photos of it and write about it, then you can join too. New members are always welcome!  Join today at: http://gastropost.nationalpost.com/