Topic Talk—Chatting for Charity!

I am choked up writing this. I just jumped off of Twitter after nearly 6 hours of tall tweeting, trying to keep current with the short, but speedy conversations. In the flurry of excitement, I observed more than 100 women and a few men, stepping past mere socialization into the realm of service. 100+ people—most of whom have never met IRL, who were gathered for a greater cause than conversation...

...who were gathered to find a cure. A cure to help families facing hunger this holiday season. A cure to provide as many families as possible with a Thanksgiving dinner. And, in these few hours, with little preparation beforehand and less marketing, #GNO Guys and Gals raised more than $1200 for Feeding America. And, that is just from tonight. Who knows how much more we can raise by Friday, November 21 when the charity ends!

So from us...

Your #GNO Gal Pal, @CarissaRogers (with her daughters)


























And your #GNO Gal Pal, @jyl_mommygossip (thankful for her two boys!)

...thanks to everyone who participated and who may still participate—who gave with their hearts and their hands, who encouraged, who participated, who made GNO GIVES a success!

Here's your chance to get to know just a few tweeple from the wonderful group that is #GNO! Check out their blogs to learn more about them!

• Deanna at The Gratitude Circle.
• Renee at Cutie Booty Cakes.
• Mommy Wizdom.

The Gratitude Circle writes about Taylor Fitch, Miss Teen America, and how she gives gratitude for helping children with special needs. Deanna, in a personal note to #gno, writes:

The holiday season for me really starts in November (which did you know is actually National “I Am So Thankful Month?) We love thanksgiving. My husband and I love to prepare the meal together and spend the day with my family eating traditional food and watching football (our favorite family activity)! We always use the Thanksgiving weekend as the kick off to decorate for the holidays, too. We enjoy doing this early so that we can thoroughly enjoy our decorations all through the month of December.

I will be hosting Christmas Eve and a small Christmas Day at my house this year. My Christmas Eve will be really special this year. My grandmother passed away this year at the tender age of 90. Christmas Eve was always her holiday—a traditional polish Christmas Eve. In tribute to her, I am hosting dinner this year in her memory with my aunt, uncle, cousins and my family. It will be very meaningful to all of us.

The holiday time can be so stressful…it has become quite commercial and a bit demanding of our time. It’s important to reflect and think ahead of time how to spend your time and with whom. What will make it special for you? How do you want to feel (or not want to feel)? What can you do to go out of your way for someone in need to help them to have a grateful and fulfilling holiday?

Cutie Booty Cakes shares this sweet picture of her mom, snuggling with her grandson. In this post and the one below it entitled, "Gratitude," she shares her grateful spirit with us.






















Mommy Wizdom talks about the temptation to indulge and reminds us of the people all around us who may be less fortunate and ways in which to help them:

There are people in the world who are starving! And I don't mean the children in Ethiopia that our parents taunted us with... I mean children in our own neighborhoods (yes, yours too!) who can't afford to buy lunch at school on a daily basis. Whose parents work 3-4 jobs just to make ends meet.

My friend's daughter goes to school with a girl who cannot afford to buy lunch. My friend packs two lunches for her daughter to take to school. This may very well be the only meal this girl gets all day.

Hunger is very real. Please, don't discount its existence.

If you don't believe that it can be happening in your neck of the woods, click here, type in your zip code into the food bank locator on the bottom right. There you will see hunger statistic for your area. I guarantee you'll be surprised. I was surprised about mine!

Thanks to today's featured GNO Gals for extending the topic of service, giving, and gratitude beyond GNO and into our week.

Wanna be featured? Please comment here or e-mail us at mommygossipgno AT gmail DOT com and provide your BLOG URL, linking to the post you'd like to contribute.

RSVP for Tuesday's GNO GIVES BACK

Join us on a virtual food drive in partnership with Feeding America to help provide Thanksgiving dinners to families facing hunger this holiday season.

Chitchat with us about charity, giving, and service at 6 p.m. Pacific Tuesday, November 18 at Twitter.



Participate in our LIVE AUCTION (see items in post below).



DONATE to Feeding America through GNO's PayPal (see sidebar).



PROMOTE this fundraiser by tweeting about it and placing a button on your blog (see center sidebar for button and code).



Win one of our many DOOR PRIZES (scroll down to see post)!



Be featured on TOPIC TALK by submitting a giving or gratitude post to mommygossipgno AT gmail DOT com.



RSVP on Mr. LINKY with your Twitter ID and URL.

To participate in the auctions or to win a door prize, visit the donating sites and place your bid or enter to win. See auction items below. You do not have to participate in the auction to join in on the virtual fun!


After RSVPing, check out our awesome Auction Items and our Door Prizes!

Amazing Auction Items for GNO Gives Back

What could be more fun than celebrating the holidays GNO style? Helping others have the opportunity to celebrate the holidays as well!



Here are auction items we know you'll enjoy. Click on the various sites to see auction rules and items.


Connie over at Mickey Fanatic has offered up Two Disney items!

First: Tink hat starting value at $19.99! It can be used for grown up 'So Not a Princesses' and young as well!
Her second item is a pair of little boy toddler Buzz Lightyear pajamas starting at $9.99.
Connie also blogs at BrainFoggles and you can follow her on Twitter @conniefoggles.

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Our second awesome auction is being hosted by:

Melanie over at StraightToYourHart who has created a fabulous necklace!



She describes it as Toddler proof! She says even a two year old grabbing at it will not break it!
The starting bid is $25, she promised there is a surprise included, but she was all secretive about what that was!

You can follow Melanie on Twitter @Sabrie. She's a big help to all the Twitter newbies!

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I'm excited to present the amazing Julie of LeeLouBlogs!
She is auctioning off a Holiday premade Blogger layout. Here's the one I would choose:

You will be able to choose from all of the Christmas templates, starting bid is $15, Great Price!

(While you are there...tell Julie we'd love to have her along for our Twitter GNO--talk her into figuring out twitter while you're there!)

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You will love the artwork created by Gretchen. See her work over at her etsy shop Chichiboule. I am in love with her style! She joins us from France... is that cool or what?

She is offering you a choice between three prints! Here's my favorite!

Bidding starts at $20 and I think that's an amazing deal for her art!

Gretchen also blogs at BoulieBlog and can be found on twitter @chichiboulie

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How would you like professional editing help with your blog posts?
Gina LaGuardia of Gina LaGuardia Editorial Services, Inc. is offering 3 hours of editing time and teaching to the winning blogger! See her blog Confessions of a Content Pimp for more details, I am so going to be jealous of the winning bidder here.

CB Teen Magazine
Gina LaGuardia served as Editor-in-Chief of CB Teen, a national publication dedicated to teens' academic advancement, from 1996-2006. Many of her current associates are former CB Teen editors, writers, and designers.

The starting bid for 3 hours of writing and content coaching will be $50.
Gina LaGuardia can be found on Twitter @GinaLaGuardia.

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Kristie over at 4SpicyGrapes has offered up two of her very tasty and very natural Herb Blends.
She says they work really well for dips and for recipes!

The starting bid is $6 for two 1 oz jars.
Kristie's other items can be found on her WildTree site. And her ridiculously scrumptious recipes can be found at KristiesWildTreeCooking. She can be found on Twitter @3_diva_girls.

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Annette of Musings has crocheted a scarf! Honest she made it herself!










You are bidding on a chenille scarf made from Lion Brand Chenille.
The winning bidder will have their choice of color, this is just a sample.
Opening bid $15....so soft and yummy!

You can find Annette on Twitter @daNanner.

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(Please SCROLL DOWN TO SEE the Door Prizes...comment to win the tea towels!)

Listed at Scribbit!

Topic Talk—Thanksgiving Comfort Food!

Today's GNO Gals bring us more delightfully delicious dishes with a touch of comfort—as in comfort food. Welcome:

• Alice at Plain Cook.
• Beth at Coming Up for Air.
  
• Chef at I'll Make a Foodie Out of You.
• Kelli at Gohn Crazy.
• Nicole at Pinch My Salt.
  

Creamy Mashed Potatoes picture courtesy of Nicole at Pinch My Salt.

Alice inspires us to go crazy with cranberries this season with her many recipes featured on plaincook.com. Here are a few:

Cranberry Jello
Cranberry Pineapple Jello
Cranberry Jello Salad With Port Wine
Fresh Cranberry and Cream Salad
Cranberry Pecan Salad With Feta Cheese

Coming Up for Air reminds us what Thanksgiving is about and that it is bigger than our corner of the world. She inspires us to think globally:

... we have taken a break from our normal history routine to learn about Thanksgiving across the centuries, across the world, across religion and across tradition. Thanksgiving is not just something we Americans celebrate because of the pilgrims. Thanksgiving has been celebrated for centuries by many different countries and cultures as a way to express thankfulness for the harvest, for protection and for the blessings of nature. So far, we've learned about the Chinese celebration Chung Ch'ui - which starts with the celebration of the moon's birthday on the 15th of August. We've learned how the Greeks and Romans celebrated the harvest and the stories of their gods and goddesses. And we've learned about the Jewish holiday Succot and what a beautiful expression of thanks this festival is. Tomorrow we learn how ancient Egyptians celebrated harvest.

I'll Make a Foodie Out of You shares family holiday tips from her pastry-chef perspective. My favorite? Her delicious recipe for marinated asparagus wrapped in phyllo dough. I am drooling just thinking about the yumminess! I may not be able to wait until the holidays to try out this tantalizing treat.

She also provides some basic, but expert advice like the following:

Sugar Cookies boring you? Then make a huge batch and seperate them into smaller ones. Add different extracts, or maybe even some citrus peel and your completely changed it into something edgy. I like to take my sugar cookie dough left overs and add lemon zest with a little orange blossom water. Think high end tea party, they are ungodly delicious.

Gohn Crazy shares her first Thanksgiving meal with us. Can you almost taste Thanksgiving after seeing this pic? Mmmmmmm!













Pinch My Salt shows off comfort food at its best with the creamy mashed potatoes featured above and this amazing batch of sweet potato rolls. Once again, we appreciate Nicole for being our guest tweet this week. It has been a treat to visit her blog every day for yummy recipes and beautiful pictures. Check out her holiday series throughout this season for wonderful holiday recipes.


Thanks to today's featured GNO Gals—and everyone that participated this week in Topic Talk—for their mouth-watering pictures and yummy recipes. Next week's theme is giving and charity in celebration of our live auction to help provide Thanksgiving meals to families facing hunger this holiday season.

Wanna be featured? Please comment here or e-mail us at mommygossipgno AT gmail DOT com and provide your BLOG URL, linking to the post you'd like featured.