I got up early and went to the gym today and it felt FANTASTIC. Makes me more than a little annoyed with myself for coming up with so many excuses/just lying on the couch for the past week. I actually wished I had even more time at the gym this morning, but alas, I had to go get ready for work.

And the winner of the peppermint bark giveaway is...

#5 -- Kate! I will be sending you an email to get the address to which you'd like me to send the peppermint bark.

**Winner chosen using Random.org. I make Adam do the random number generation for me, because even though I know it's random, I feel weird being the actual person putting the numbers in because I know who is what number. He pays no attention to my blog, so I know it's totally and completely impartial. Why yes, I have a serious complex about fairness... suppose that's why I'm in the legal profession. (No, seriously.)

The past few years, I've given homemade peppermint bark to some relatives, who (each year) ask my mom where I bought it from! Peppermint bark is SO easy to make and WAY cheaper than buying it at Crate and Barrel ($15.95) or William-Sonoma ($26.50) or any of those places.

Because I don't think anyone should have to pay those crazy prices for something that is so easy and inexpensive to make, my peppermint bark recipe is after the jump.

But wait! Because I love Christmas, miss being an elf (that's another story), and am making a bunch of peppermint bark this weekend anyway, I am going to give away a tin of peppermint bark to a lucky commenter! (Um, as long as you live somewhere that I can send USPS priority mail.) Just leave me a comment telling me your favorite holiday treat by Thursday, December 17. I will randomly choose and contact the winner (by the email you leave with your comment) for a shipping address. I will send the bark out by Monday, so with priority shipping it should arrive at your destination by Wednesday or Thursday. Anyone can enter, but please only enter once!

And the winner** of the $25 gift card from Snapgifts.com is...

#1 -- Jodifur! I will be sending your Snapgifts.com gift code to the email you provided. Please contact me if you don't receive my email.

Thanks to everyone for playing along!

**Winner chosen using Random.org... although as Adam pointed out, with six entries I could have just rolled a die.

Some of you might remember last month when I mentioned that Cagey from Rancid Raves was doing a giveaway on her blog to spread the word about her husband's new business, Snapgifts.com. I've spent quite some time browsing through all of their available gift cards. It's awesome to be able to buy gift cards from all different businesses, even local favorites, all at one place. I exchange Christmas gifts with lots of family members each year and inevitably I buy one or two gift cards. (I've found they are especially great for grandparents who dine out frequently, or cousins you don't see often.) In addition to national chains, they even offer gift cards for local businesses in 25 different cities, so you can purchase a gift card to a local place for your friend out in California from all the way across the country in New York! I was super excited to see some of my favorites on there, like Caribou Coffee, Chipotle, and Five Guys. (I didn't even know Five Guys offered gift certificates!) Plus, Snapgifts is offering free shipping for the month of December with the "freeshipping" coupon code.

Okay, now for the fun part! Snapgifts has given me a $25 Snapgifts card to give away to one of you! Just think, it's one less gift you need to purchase this season! (Or you can treat yourself... shopping is hard work after all.) You can get up to three entries into the random drawing as follows:

1. Click on over to Snapgifts to check out all their offerings, then leave a comment on this post letting me know which company's gift card you would choose if you won.

2. Mention/link this giveaway on your blog and leave a link to your blog post in a separate comment on this post.

3. Mention this giveaway on Twitter and leave a link to your tweet in a separate comment on this post.

Only one entry of each type is allowed per person... duplicates will be deleted.

The deadline to enter is Friday, December 11, 2009 at midnight EST. I will randomly choose a winner next weekend, so the winner will have time to get their $25 gift card before Christmas.

Good luck and happy browsing!