Tomorrow will be exactly four years that I started "The Long Road to China", and while I thought that the cookbook was going to be my celebratory giveaway, I was wrong!! Just an hour after I posted that my four year "blogiversary" was around the corner, I received an email with an offer that was....well, almost too good to be true!!
You see, this blog thing has not always been smooth sailing, I hit a few bumps in the road, so to speak, and learned some valuable life lessons, but during this four year journey, I have also been extremely blessed to meet so many wonderful and truly genuine people. Some of you I have never met in person, but feel as if I know from our bantering on line, others I have had the pleasure of meeting in person and have become a part of my life, and then there are those that are as close as family.... like
Marla, who got on a plane and left her family for two weeks to travel halfway around the world with me to meet my daughter for the very first time and
Dita, who was there to meet us in the airport the day we arrived back home.
My long winded point to all of this, I am amazed how this blog has weaved people into my life that I never would have met otherwise. I have crossed paths with so many talented and kindhearted women, and today's big surprise is a true testament to that.
When I announced my first photography weekend workshop in Bethlehem a few years back, I received an email from
Karin, who was a Mom just like me, but was also just finding her passion for photography. She had seen a photo of mine that was featured on I Heart Faces and that is how she landed on my blog. She felt an instant connection because she grew up in the area in which I live! She wrote to me often about how excited she was to improve her photography skills and was anxiously awaiting the weekend workshop. Two years later, she has a very successful photography business of her own and I could not be more proud of how far she has come and all that she has accomplished in such a short period of time. Karin is about as sweet as they come and has a heart of gold. She is always checking in here to see what is going on in my life and we will email back and forth about our families and of course, photography. Since the day I met her, she has told me about one of her lifelong friends that owns a chain of Camera stores and not only does he guarantee his prices, he provides excellent customer service. So much so that she travels from Virginia all the way to Pennsylvania to shop or to have her camera cleaned and calibrated. The last time she came up to visit his store, she even popped in to visit me:)
Through
Karin, I have been introduced to
Kurt, who is the owner of Cardinal Camera, a 3rd generation family owned camera store(now stores)celebrating 75 years in business!!!
That says a lot, doesn't it?
Kurt has stores popping up everywhere and recently, opened one at my favorite mall just minutes from our house. IT IS GORGEOUS and I could spend HOURS in there walking around, testing equipment, and picking the brains of his very knowledgeable staff.
He carries everything you could imagine and then some, and in the rare circumstance he doesn't have something you want in one of his stores, he will order it for you in an instant!!
He worked some serious magic for me(more on that later)and if you are looking to add to your camera bag, keep reading....we are getting to the good stuff, the details of the email that came through my inbox last Friday!!
I realize that most of you are not local and don't have the ability to stop by his beautiful locations and that is OKAY, he has a website where you can order online and he will ship to your door!!!
www.cardinalcamera.com
Not only that, if you enter the discount code "HALFSKY" when you check out, he will give 5% of your sale back to
Half the Sky....... Isn't that fantastic? He will be leaving this code in place throughout the 2012 calendar year, so if you are doing any shopping, please remember to punch in the code when you check out or if you happen to be in one of his stores, tell the person who is waiting on you.
But hold on, it gets better.......
Not only is he going to help me, help the Children in China through
Half the Sky, he is going to give one of my lucky readers a
GRAND PRIZE LIKE NO OTHER!!!!!!
Karin, Kurt, and I brainstormed a little bit this week and the first thought was to offer a beautiful new
Sigma 85mm f1.4 lens that would work for both Canon and Nikon users. This is one of my favorites lenses for....
getting in close to capture the details....
or taking tack sharp portraits....
with creamy dreamy bokeh!
But then I started to think about the beloved
100mm Marco f2.8 with IS that I love to get creative with for things such as food...
Flowers.....
and even a portrait once in a while!!!
We quickly realized it was going to be a touch choice, and ultimately we did not want to leave anyone out on this giveaway.
So this is what Kurt decided to do being the SUPER GENEROUS GUY THAT HE IS.
Whether you shoot with Canon, Nikon, Sony, etc..... You could be an avid photographer looking for a new lens or maybe you have always wanted to get into photography and just don't have the funds to get that dslr camera.......NOW IS YOUR CHANCE!!!!
ONE LUCKY READER IS GOING TO RECEIVE A $1000 Gift Card from Cardinal Camera(you read that correctly, $1000)to purchase whatever it is you need or you are lacking in your camera bag from.
Are you completely blown away?
I was in complete shock myself:)
Here is what you need to do to enter....
1. Leave me a comment and just for fun, tell me what you would want to purchase should this $1000 Gift Card happen to land in your hands. Make sure I have a way to contact you should you win, IE: an email address.
2. Go to Cardinal Camera's Facebook Page HERE and "like" them so you will begin to get updates and alerts when he is offering specials or sales. Who doesn't love a great sale?
You can enter through Thursday, April 12th at 11:00pm Eastern Time. The VERY LUCKY winner will be announced next weekend!!
Okay, so leave a comment, go like their page, and don't forget if you need to purchase something camera related anytime this year, go to
Cardinal Camera, use the discount code "HALFSKY" when you check out so we can continue to give back to the children in China.
Best of luck and thanks for continuing to come back each day. You all make my life extra special!!
To Karin and Kurt, I cannot thank you enough for your friendship and your extremely generous offer. I am thrilled and honored to host such a fantastic giveaway....... and I am looking forward to working with you in the months to come and again when we roll out "Fill Their Stockings 2012"...wink wink;)
Have a Happy Easter Everyone!!
UPDATE- For some reason, as soon as I hit 200 comments, blogger will no longer show them. It is counting them and I am getting them through email, but they will not show up here on the blog. Luckily, I have been saving every single comment via email so I can put them in a spreadsheet for the drawing. Continue to leave comments even though they are not showing here..... I AM RECEIVING THEM. Hopefully I can get this issue resolved tomorrow. Thank you~
