May 28, 2010

BONUS BLOG!!

Our BIGGEST CONGRATULATIONS TO KHANH TRAN-WINNER OF OUR FIRST ANNUAL "TRIP TO CAPE COD" CONTEST!!!

YIPPEE!

The points have been counted and we are thrilled to announce KHANH TRAN from San Diego California as the WINNER! Of our first annual "Trip To Cape Cod" Contest!!


We had such a blast with this contest! And we are SO grateful to all that participated! Our idea was to encourage our customers to TELL THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY about just how wonderful Giving Tree Jewelry is! Every person that then purchased something and used the special code alloted to the participant, earned that person a point! It was a very, very close finish, but in the end, Khanh's constant, gentle 'reminding' to her friends and people she works with.. put her on top!

Here is a little bit more about our winner.. who we CANNOT WAIT TO HOST ON CAPE COD THIS SUMMER!


Khanh and her girls! *the beautiful girls, not the goats :)




From Rachel
I have never met Khanh and am not sure how she first came to discover Giving Tree.. (I need to ask! :)) but I am so glad she did!


I do remember however, how I started to 'know' her as the beautiful person she is...
Around the holidays, Khanh ordered 5 or 6 pieces.. really, really COOL pieces, things I would order for myself! If I recall correctly, about three were gifts, and two or three were for Khanh herself.
Khanh asked my advice for the pieces she would get for herself.. if I liked them together, how I would wear them, etc.
I LOVE when customers ask questions! I try to always be honest. I suggested switching out one piece for another by the same artist, as I thought it would layer better. Khanh was thrilled, and said she had actually been REALLY close to ordering the piece I suggested, but had made the change at the last moment.
Maybe this synchronicity bonded us.. but the next thing I knew, we were friends on Facebook, and suddenly, I was the recipient of the HUGE, AMAZING gift, of getting to revel in the pictures of Khanh (and Husband Charlie's) three BEAUTIFUL girls..Chloe, Avery, Gabrielle. OH THOSE FACES! I had to email Khanh again and tell her that I knew for sure, that my new 'thing' whenever I was feeling blue.. was going to be to look at the photos on her facebook page. Pure, infectious joy!


I felt something with these girls.. they reminded me, of ME.. when I was young.. just so carefree, so able to express myself.. because I had parents that ..let me. i knew this was true of Khanh and Charlie. I could feel it.




Khanh and I had another wonderful moment of solidifying friendship when we did our promotion for Valentines Day, asking for 'love stories' ..After reading hers, again, I had to write to Khanh to tell her how much her story of love had moved me. *I reposted it at the end..

All this to say I feel like I DO know Khanh, even though I don't know many of the "details" of her day to day life. I'm not sure what Khanh does for a living although I know she is in medicine somehow, because many of the customers she referred to Giving Tree were nurses she worked with. I remember one email I was sharing with her my 'big idea' to be revealed SOON! At that point in time, I was calling it something whose acronym was TKA..
Khanh emailed back and said "no no.. everyone knows that only as "Below the Knee Amputation'

I thought. er.. not EVERYONE :)



And I know Khanh does a LOT of philanthropic work. In fact, she had the brilliant idea to promote Giving Tree with this beautiful basket she made for a fundraising auction. Really, how cool is she? (thank you!)


So it seems I still have some to learn about Khanh..
The thing I know for sure..
Khanh is a wonderful, beautiful, endless source of love and support as a friend, wife and mother-caring, diligent, loving, kind, embracing and encouraging in all regards..
Oh!and lastly, I know Khanh is an AMAZING 'P.R' person for Giving Tree Jewelry! Even though Charlie teases her about "pushing jewelry", we could not be more grateful that Khanh expends some of her beautiful energy helping grow 'The Tree'

So it is with all our JOY FILLED HEARTS we say:
CONGRATULATIONS TO KHANH FOR WINNING OUR CONTEST!
We can't wait for her visit (with guest!) and we will surely take lots and lots of pictures!!

And Thank You EVERYONE who participated in this super fun contest! It filled us with happiness to think of "Giving Tree' goodness being spread around!
There really would be no 'Giving Tree' without all of you! And we hope you can all come visit us on Cape Cod!


With so much love!
Rachel, Judith, Laura, Courtney and all of Giving Tree Jewelry

*Khanh's love story:

"REAL LOVE"
My husband Charlie and I were set up on a blind date. Our first ‘real’ date was on February 12, 1994, when we went to an exhibit gala at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Charlie was nervous about whether it was too early in the relationship to get me a Valentine but did end up getting me a box of heavenly hand-made truffles from an elite German chocolatier in Baltimore. On this date, my husband quickly learned that he needed to learn to cook for his own survival….for when I said that i would make him breakfast, it meant a smoothie from a blender with granola on top! We dated long distance for the next three years – he in San Francisco and I in Baltimore, for work reasons, including our first year of marriage, when we took different planes back to our respective coasts, after a brief honeymoon in Santa Fe……It has been sixteen years and a lot of life since that first date. We’ve had our share of good times and bad times, triumphs and disappointments. We’ve been best friends, and at times we’ve been adversaries. We have grown closer, and we have hurt each other. And at times, i forget where I am, or what I have, but I only need to watch Charlie kick around a pink soccer ball with our three little girls, help them dress their Barbies, watch endless ballet recitals (instead of ESPN), sew a button on one of the girls’ favorite jeans, or plant sunflowers and (giant) pumpkins with them….and I am reminded of this real love……

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