So it’s late, late Sunday night and I am so very exhausted. Of course, I blame it entirely on another busy weekend heading into another hectic week– grocery shopping, laundry, errands, dinner, cleaning, backpacks and nap bedding packed and ready for school in the morning… and NOT on the fact that I am still up long after my bedtime.

I’ve done a lot today, but I still wish I had ONE. MORE. DAY. to catch up… or at least, catch my breath!

Well, it so happens that we DO get an extra day once every four years on Leap Day and it’s coming up this week. A full twenty-four hours to do… what?

Nap? Reorganize your kitchen drawers? Redesign your blog? Pull the kids out of school and head to the boardwalk? 

The possibilities are endless but perhaps, Leap Day is a chance to try something new! A new yoga classes? A new recipe? Skydiving? 

In honor of Leap Day, Quaker Oats invites you to share the “delightful discovery” you hope to experience with your extra day! And they would like to offer you an extra $75 to help make this possible. (Details below.)

In return, Quaker has a delightful discovery to share with you– the launch of a new flavor of Quaker Oatmeal Squares, Honey Nut Crunch. Along with the other well-known flavors, including Brown Sugar, Cinnamon and Golden Maple, Quaker Oatmeal Squares will add the necessary sweetness to your morning with the same healthy benefits that fuel your day (and your adventures). 

Now, on to the giveaway…

One lucky winner with receive the full product line of Quaker Oatmeal Squares and a $75 Visa gift card to put towards trying something new this Leap Year! Woot!

TO ENTER, you will have to…

Leave a comment about what YOU plan to delightfully discover this coming Leap Day. Cozy up with a good book? Take a hike to a beautiful location? Pin more photos of arm chairs and Easter Brunch ideas? Whatever you plan to do, share and be sure to leave your Twitter handle or email in your entry, so I can contact you.

DEADLINE:

Drawing held at 11:59 pm PST on Friday, March 2, 2012. Please see fine print below for more rules.

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:

For extra entries you must complete the above comment and do any or all of the following:

Tweet this daily and leave the link in the comments:

@graceduffy is giving away a $75 Visa gift card + great products from @Quaker. Enter to win: http://bit.ly/wKenpE

Visit the Quaker Oatmeal Squares Facebook page. Once there you can sign up to receive a free sample of the new flavor, Honey Nut Quaker Oatmeal Square,  to try for yourselves.

Subscribe to Formerly Gracie via RSS Feed.

Follow @graceduffy and @quaker on Twitter.

Share  your squares! Send Quaker Oats’ offer for a FREE sample box of Quaker Oatmeal Squares Brown Sugar to up to ten of your friends via their Facebook page.

——————–

Disclaimer: This post and giveaway was sponsored by Quaker Oats. I was compensated for this post, however the thoughts and opinions expressed above are my own and do not reflect those of  Facebook, Quaker or its parent company, PEPSICO. I was asked to discuss my Delightful Discoveries for Leap Day and offer a giveaway to promote their new Honey Nut Quaker Oatmeal Square. 

Fine print: One winner will be randomly selected by Random.org on Friday, March 2nd at 11:59 pm PST and contacted via email or Twitter.  Winner must provide name and US mailing address for direct shipment of products within 24 hours of being contacted or an alternate winner will be selected.  If winner comment does not meet the aforementioned criteria by containing the necessary contact information, another winner will be selected. Prizes will be shipped directly from Quaker and/or Edelman Digital. 

Grace Duffy and Facebook are not responsible for items lost or delayed in shipping.

{image credit: Flickr, Mykl Roventine; Quaker}

Geeks can be  exceptionally challenging to shop for… For the most over-zealous, there probably isn’t an item that they haven’t already discovered (or bought for themselves.)  Add to that, the  pressure of having to be extra thoughtful on Valentine’s Day and you have got quite the quandary!

What to get? What to get?

Just in the nick of time, I have taken the liberty of rounding up some geek-worthy gift ideas that really say, “I get you!”

Warm Me Up

The Keydex Warmer Mouse (Sears, $18.74) keeps your hands roasty, toasty while you work on the computer on an  early winter morning or late into the night.

The Warmer Mouse works with PCs and comes in grey and orange too.

Winter is still in full force. Perhaps not where I live in the Bay Area, but in other places… I think.

These Agloves Touchscreen Gloves  ($17.99) will allow your love to send you all of these oh-so-gushy texts throughout the day

Oh, you tees…

Just because you may not wear your heart on your sleeve doesn’t mean you can’t wear it on your… shirt. These are some my favorites.

We both know geeks are sexy, right? This flirty tees lets the rest of the world know it!

This “Talk Nerdy To Me” shirt from Spread Shirt ($26.90) and “I [heart] my Geek” tee from Think Geek ($19.99) say it all.

Do speak the language of love? Do you know someone who is obsessed with zombies and is forbidden from talking about them… ever?  

Then you will swoon over these clever little shirts from Snorg Tees.

Now through midnight on Valentine’s Day, Snorg Tees  is offering discounts for couples and singletons, alike. 

Get 20% for two or more shirts using the code: TEESFORTWO or 15% off a single shirt order with coupon code: PARTYTIME. (Ends February 14, 2012, midnight.)

Caring is Sharing

This adorable heart-shaped headphone splitter ($14.99 at Modcloth) lets you snuggle close and share your music, videos, and games with your extra special someone.

Yes, you can get an ordinary spliters, but these are shaped like a heaaaaart for Vaaaaaalentine’s Day… and they come in “Cherry Red” and “Bashful Pink” for loooooove.

 All You Need is Love… Notes

Surprise your techie with something completely unexpected– Paper and Pen. Paperblanks offers a line of beautiful  journals that provide the perfect place to write memories or sweet handwritten notes for the one you love this Valentine’s day.

For the Little Geeks

iloveRobots’ Penbino, the Interactive Cuddly Pink Penguin and Skylee, the Lovable Purple Dragon, both found at Amazon.com, sing, dance, and interact with people. They respond to sounds and touch. When they are sad, all they need is a gentle pat on the head to be cheered up!  When they “see” one another they will start chatting together, and even do a cute little dance.

You can find the whole line of Penbino, Skylee, and all of their little friends at I Love Robots.

The LEGO Valentine’s Day Box, found in LEGO stores everywhere and online for $13.99, is the quickest way to your little Lego-manic’s heart.

This red brick box is perfect for storing jewelry or any little treasure and comes with two little keepsake “hearts”.

I’m the last person who would be caught making “homemade Valentine’s cards”… Yet here I am.

When I asked my two-year-old daughter’s teacher if there were any rules around the class Valentines, she presented to me a dizzying list of do nots.  No nuts. No fighting characters (ie Star Wars). No choking hazards. No hard candies. Nothing gummy. Nothing pointy…  Two-year-olds don’t get to have any fun, do they?

After a few days of poking around Pinterest for inspiration, I came up with this sweet and simple Valentine for my toddler’s class using Goldfish crackers and craft stuff I had around the house.

Needed: Mini bags of goldfish crackers, red card stock, markers, and some sparkly heart stickers.

Disclaimer: Some child labor was used to attach the stickers. She was paid handsomely in hugs, kisses, and praise. 

Do you hear that? No… Listen.

It’s the sound of coffee brewing in my otherwise empty house. I just dropped off the husband and the kids at their various places of employ/school. My first meeting isn’t until 10am. My phone is on silent. My email is being ignored. It’s just me and my cup of coffee.

It’s this tiny moment in the morning- the proverbial calm before the storm- that gets me thought my entire day. What a luxury it is to have it!

What are the essential luxuries you need to get  through your day? After all, a life well lived is marked by moments of simple pleasures.

Is it looking forward to a night out with friends? A great book? A lovely new handbag for the Spring?  No matter how big or small your essential luxuries may be, share them with Acura in a short video (less then two minutes) and be entered to win an all-expenses paid weekend getaway for two in Scottsdale, Arizona and a MacBookPro* 

Stay at a luxury hotel and test drive the 2013 Acura RDX before it becomes available to the public. You’ll also receive a personal introduction to the vehicle from the people who designed it with luxury in mind. For more details and to submit your video, head to the RDX Challenge tab on the Acura Facebook Page.

To enter to win this fabulous weekend getaway, please “like” the Acura Facebook page and find the tab for the RDX Challenge on the left-hand side of the screen. The instructions and how to submit your video are all there.

But wait! That’s not the only opportunity to win a bit a luxury and learn more about the 2013 Acura RDX….

Join Splash Creative Media on Wednesday, February 1st from 9-10 pm ET (6-7 pm PT) for a fun Twitter party, where we’ll discuss the contest, the 2013 Acura RDX, and of course, life’s essential luxuries.

It’s easy to join the party. Simply follow the hashtag #RDXContest.

Hosts:
@JustPrecious, @CentsibleLife, @TechSavvyMama, @GraceDuffy

Please also follow:
@Splash_Creative and @Acura_Insider

Prizes: 

We’ll also be giving away prizes that will help you experience luxury in your everyday life!

• $25 Barnes & Noble gift card
• $25 Starbucks gift card
• $50 SpaFinder gift card
• $50 Restaurant.com gift card
• Grand Prize: Nook Simple Touch (valued at $99)

How to Enter:

RSVP below for a chance to win!

Enter your name and Twitter handle. To be eligible to win you must RSVP and participate in the party using #RDXContest. All winners will be chosen by random drawing and must have a mailing address within the United States. Official rules can be found on the Splash Creative Media site.

Disclaimers: *MacBook Pro is a trademark of Apple Inc. Apple is not a participant in or sponsor of this promotion. Acura of Honda Motor Corp. is a client of Splash Creative Media, which is a property of Just Centsible.

I met Project Runway’s Anya Ayoung-Chee at the Clever Girls Collectives’ Ladies who Tech Happy Hour at the super swank Wynn/Encore hotel in Las Vegas. We both were in town for CES 2012 and taking a much needed break from the frenetic show floor.

I am normally terrible when it comes to recognizing celebrities, but I knew Anya immediately. It was as if I spent an hour with her in my living room every week for fourteen weeks in a row. Oh wait… I did.

I adored her on the ninth season of Project Runway, cheered along as she won the competition, and was thrilled at the chance of meeting her in person. She is as lovely and gracious seated across a table as she appeared to be on the show. We had a terrific conversation, and as a testament to what a tech-savvy and dedicated blogger I am, it did not occur to me to RECORD any of it until halfway in.

That night, I ran back to my hotel room (on the less then swanky side of the Strip) to record every bit of wisdom, inspiration, and insight gained from my fifteen minutes of rubbing elbows with fame. So, how did this graphic artist turned beauty queen turned reality show sensation win it all at Project Runway within just FOUR MONTHS of learning to sew?

Focus on What Matters. Forget the Rest.

What I found most inspiring about Anya was actually her inability to sew, and I told her so.

You could turn any garment that Laura, Josh, or Victor made inside out and wear it. The craftsmanship was so flawless. My clothes were probably a mess up close, but you couldn’t tell on the runway.

As Michael Kors repeats season after season of the show, “It’s Project Runway, not Project Seamstress”. Anya latched on to that idea quickly and knew exactly where  to spend her energy. She focused on her talents and did not let the other stuff (the things that didn’t matter anyway) bog her down.

She could have beaten herself up over her supposed lack of sewing abilities. She could have obsessed over all the reasons why she “shouldn’t” and “can’t” and “what if”, all the while talking herself out of even trying. Instead, she decided to win.

Everyone is filling a role that they think they ought to be.

The funny thing about TV is that we use it to watch “reality” when we know perfectly well that it is anything but… Scenes are edited. Words are taken out of context. Other things are added. Yet, we still want to believe that it’s all truth and goodness.

I’ve only been on one side of it, so I asked Anya what it was really like to be on Project Runaway. The REAL Project Runway.

The cattiness and drama on the show was… surprise… edited into the show. According to Anya the entire group was very supportive of one another and had a strong sense of camaraderie.  Remarks seen on TV were taken out of context or completely forgotten.

This made it awkward to watch the show together, but we all understood that what you saw on TV wasn’t real.

When I asked what it was like to be judged on the runway week after week, she admitted that it truly was nerve-wracking.

“Michael Kors was so funny,” she added. She knew not to take his remarks personally, but use it as advice. “Heidi, Tim, Michael, Nina. They all wanted us to succeed and they were only trying to help. They just seemed harsher when on TV because that was the role they were supposed to play”.

I’m very guilty to taking any sort criticism to heart.  My first reaction is to lash out, defend myself, or just freak out. In reality, there can be a lot of good to be gained from criticism– an opportunity to do better, suggestions for improvements, holes in your plan. However you want to take it, it’s just as important to consider the source. Perhaps, they too are simply “playing a role” that they think they need to fill.

Get to work.

When Tim Gunn visited Anya at home, she had completed very little. At the time, there was civil unrest in her home country, a lot going on in her personal life, and the added pressure of competing on the show. “The stress was just so overwhelming!” she said, and it showed in her work. She flitted from one idea to another, accomplishing nearly nothing. How many of us can relate to this? 

The best advice from Tim was to just muscle through.

Treat my workroom as an intensive incubator. Start draping muslin. Get to work.

I asked how she was able to find her focus during the show. While the show was broadcast once a week, the challenges came one right after the other with very little time to rest and regroup in between. “It was grueling,” says Anya, but she credits her success to remaining focused and being cut off from the rest of the world. All together. All in it together. There were no distractions or outside delays.

It’s no surprise that the most productive time is alone time, free of interruptions and distraction. And, the best way to get alone time is to demand it.  Set aside specific hours in which you turn off your phone, block social media, and don’t hold any meetings. Shut the door, sit down, and focus nonstop.

In other words, GET TO WORK.