Letting the cat out of the bag.

photo by Maura Johnson


It's Friday night, May 21st, I'm currently home alone- well, unless you count my abnormally humanized dog, Billi. My parents left for the weekend in celebration of their like millionth-something anniversary so it's "anything goes" around here. I'm forced to play chauffeur, which I hate, so I just dropped baby sister Emma off at my high school alma mater for a play called, "Urinetown," ew. Well, that's all basically irrelevant. I just thought I needed some sort of segue into the following...

KARL & I WON 3RD PLACE IN THE CRATE & BARREL CONTEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Could I be more excited? No. I don't think so. Want to hear more about my dramatic week full of C&B surprises? Keep reading...

We found out that we were 1 of the 50 semi-finalists a while ago- thanks to all of you we were in the top 50 most voted for couples (#22 to be exact :) ) which was all we needed to move on. This got us in this sweet picture.
This heart is full of the pictures of the 50 semi-finalists! I think it's really cool; mine & K's is towards the top in the middle!

Last Tuesday I got home from running wedding errands to find a FedEx envelope here at home addressed to Karl & I from New York City... weird. I open it and scan the cover letter topping a stack of papers... It reads, "Dear Hannah & Karl: Important notice! You entered the Crate and Barrel Ultimate Wedding Contest... (blah blah blah) your entry was selected as a potential winner in our contest. Please read this letter carefully, and follow the directions exactly as stated, as your eligibility depends upon your adherence to its terms." The rest of the letter goes on the give super explicit instructions on the W9 & two affidavits that K & I each need to have filled out and NOTARIZED and overnighted back to NYC. OK, calm. This wouldn't be such a big deal if it weren't for the fact that KARL IS IN IRAQ! What the heck? Where do you find a notary in Iraq??? Obviously I send Karl a super bossy email and tell him that if he messes this up he blows all our chances of winning any sort of prize. AND at this point we don't even know if we have won a prize and if so, what prize we have won. Needless to say, Karl, after a 12 hour shift of manual labor, is able to find a notary and scans/emails his affidavit back to me. OK. First hoop jumped through successfully. FedEx picks up the packet on Wednesday and it's back in NYC just in time.

and there's me with the priceless (or should I say $2,500) envelope before I sent it off!!

So, Thursday I get an email from a Crate & Barrel exec...
"Dear Hannah and Karl,

Now that we’ve received your signed documents, I am pleased to present you with the official prize letter for 3rd Place. Congratulations!

Please be sure to read the letter carefully as there is confidentiality language we need you to adhere to.

The sooner you can sign and fax back – or scan and email back – to the numbers in the letter, the sooner we can announce your prize and the sooner you will receive your prize. If you can do this today, it would be greatly appreciated."

Great...now I get to have Karl rush around again to print/sign/scan/email all while he's in Iraq. ANNNNDDD we both have to keep our mouths shut because this time we are signing saying we won't tell a soul!! BOOOO!! I am THE WORST secret keeper and have had so many people asking about the contest, I hate lying and saying, "I still don't know." Woof. BUT WE WERE SO EXCITED AT THIS POINT! I had such an overwhelming feeling of joy, thankfulness, excitement... boy are we humbled by this recognition and acknowledgement of our story. So grateful for the votes of loved ones and strangers alike- I just can't even verbalize the excitement!!

Now back to today, Friday, I get an email from another contest sponsor in LA (no big deal, K&I are just an east coast & west coast known couple at this point...) who tells me that they will announce the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place winners to the public on MONDAY, which is actually the day you will all read this.

K&I are overjoyed. After the Tuesday envelope arrived, I kept brainstorming with my family all the possible prizes that we may or may not have won. Part of the paperwork involved was K&I signing that we agreed to pay all taxes associated with the $100,00 wedding (aka grand prize) or any prize we may win... My dad & I started brainstorming that a little... I'll just say that after we realized what those taxes would look like on $100,000 winnings, I think 3rd place is PERFECT for Karl and I :)

Thank you, thank you, thank you sweet friends for your votes, for sending the link to vote to your friends and family, for encouraging K & I. Thank you C&B- #3 out of over 9,000 entries- such a fantastic & amazing treat. Thank you sweet Lord for this precious and fun blessing- we are so excited, feel so undeserving, humbled, blessed, and in awe.

Go check out the announcement at Crate & Barrel
Love,
Hannah & Karl

And if you never saw the actual entry, here it is :) click on the pictures to enlarge!