A Stroke of Luck

Last month, Jennifer at The Old Painted Cottage hosted a giveaway for a signed copy of Fifi O'Neill's Romantic Prairie Style.

Jennifer's home, a.k.a. Cottage8, is among the featured homes in this book about "...simple pleasures, comfort and the long-cherished ideals of natural beauty, simplicity and harmony with the earth..." and "...a style that says 'home' wherever you may be because, more than anything else, it's a mindset: gentle but strong, welcoming and lasting, durable yet sophisticated and, above all, real."

Sneak peeks of the book appeared on several different blogs during the spring and I was smitten by what I saw.

(Amazon)

And I wasn't the only one.

The response to Romantic Prairie Style has been so overwhelming, the first edition is sold out and the second edition is on back order.  Of the 20 reviews currently on Amazon, all are 5-star reviews. And the book made The Wall Street Journal's top 10 best-seller list for home and garden books two weeks running after its release in April.

Naturally, when a few Romantic Prairie Style giveaways were held on blogs I read, I entered, hoping I'd win even though the giveaways had lots and lots of entries. Like the-odds-are-completely-against-you numbers of entries. The giveaway at The Old Painted Cottage was no different, but I entered anyway because I'm an eternal optimist.

Fast forward to a  few weeks later. We're on our way home from our anniversary trip to the mountains--sans laptop--and we stop at Nest's Sunday Vintage Market on our way home.  My friend Heather is a reader of The Old Painted Cottage and when she sees me, she congratulates me on winning Jennifer's giveaway.

Say what?!

You see, I don't ever win anything.

(Except for one time when I won a basket of Merle Norman skin care products from a salon that my sister worked at. She later told me that she rigged the drawing in my favor--probably because I looked like hell from the months and months of sleep deprivation courtesy of my infant son!)

But I completely lucked out this time and legitimately won my very own copy of Romantic Prairie Style!

If I never win anything again, I will be completely happy having won this giveaway.

The book arrived from Fifi on Friday. Oh. My. What a book it is.  I was very nearly hyperventilating as my eyes met page after page of gasp-inducing, beautiful homes and properties.

Now, I don't want to get in trouble with Fifi, photographer Mark Lohman or the publisher, but here are a few peeks of the book:

Amazing, is it not?

Romantic Prairie Style has now supplanted Comfortable Country by Enrica Stabile as my favorite book on country homes and decorating.

If you appreciate the contrast of vintage patinas against soft furnishings, glimpses into farm and country life, and miss Country Home magazine something fierce, you will love this book.  Fifi has created a sublime treasure in Romantic Prairie Style and it's one I will cherish.

Thank you, Jennifer and Fifi, for giving away a copy of this book!  Your generosity is most appreciated!

-Erin