March 14, 2013

Mirth Watch Thursday: 7 Smiles, 1 Scream & A Giveaway

A week or so ago, there was an article in the Wall Street Journal on the benefits of smiling. According to the article, "Researchers are finding that wearing a smile brings certain benefits, like slowing down the heart and reducing stress." One of the researchers added, "You can influence mental health by what you do with your face, whether you smile more or frown less."

So, bring your face over to Pooch Smooches and engage in some smiling. No, it's not just dorking around and a waste of time. You're reducing your stress levels!

In order to induce today's smiles, I give you: seven smiling dogs, one screaming pepper, and a chance to win fun stuff.

Seven Smilers
An adorable pup from the shelter where I volunteer. (He got adopted!)


Our own lovely Rita!

Rita's beach friend, Kaylee
Rita's beach friend, Casper (yes, that is a lipstick smooch on his cheek.)

Rita's long-distance romancer, Rocket
My friend's pooch, Zeffy. Don't you wanna party with this gal?
Our angel, Abby, happy to be at her fave place in the world

One Screamer
Took this while making dinner recently. Yes, I do crack myself up, even when I am alone in my kitchen.
"Run! She's got a knife!"
And... A GIVEAWAY
Monday, the 18th is my book's birthday. Yes, What the Dog Ate turns one! So I'm having a giveaway to celebrate. Here's what all you can win, in a prize package worth over $50!

  • A signed copy of the book (if you've already read it, I'm happy to dedicate it to a friend and you can give it as a gift)
  • A hand-crafted doggy-themed bookmark (see below)
  • A bag of Fruitables doggy treats, to go with the What the Dog Ate theme, and so you'll have something to share with your best furry pal. (Fruitables have NO wheat, soy, corn or preservatives and are made in the US! Rita loves them!)
  • A $25 gift certificate to Victoria's Secret, in keeping with the first line of What the Dog Ate, which, if you don't know, involves a pair of lavender thong panties. So, you can get your own lavender thong panties - but don't let your dog eat them!

Here's a close up of the bookmark with the cute doggy/"Woof!" charm
You have until midnight PDT, Monday the 18th to enter. I'll use Random.org to chose the winning comment number, and I'll announce the winner on the blog on Tuesday, the 19th. You must live in the US to win. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below!

See? Easy-peasy. Of course, it would be great if you could also like my author page on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter, but you don't gotta! Just leave a comment - even just a smiley face to show that you've smiled and are reducing your stress hormones! (And also be sure to leave a way that I can contact you if I don't already know how - you can spell your email: me AT hotmail (or whatever) DOT com to avoid spammers.)

Good Luck and Happy Smiling!

21 comments:

  1. With a smile like that we are not surprised. Such a funny face it made us smile. Have a terrific Thursday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  2. Ooooh, would love an autographed book! Max sends a HUGE smile...which of course makes Ma smile too! Yep, this world needs all the smilers we can get! Life's too short not to smile!

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  3. opps, got so excited about the autographed book I forgot to say thanks for the great photos!!! Loved Rita in her shades, yes I DO want to party with Zeffy (love that name too...where did she get that name from?), and you know pup#1 is a total hoot-glad he was adopted!!Ok, I have to say that I thought I was the only freak (saying in a loving way)that would crack up seeing that "screamer"! That was great stuff there!!!

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  4. Darn! I really need a lavender thong, but I live in Canada ! :D
    Congrats on your book b-day!

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  5. :) I liked your fb page am now following you on Twitter..My two dogs will love the tweats. I will love the book ad gc.. Thanks for this great giveaway!! grandmatinaof2(at)gmail(dot)com Love the bookmark..

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  6. Ooooh - Happy Birthday to the book, that's something to smile about, as is of course the great giveaway!! Yay :)

    I hope you're having a fun day,

    Your pal Snoopy :)

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  7. Love the smiles- and happy birthday to your book!

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  8. That totally brought a smile to my face. I loved What the Dog Ate and will just have to find another way to get a signed copy. :)

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  9. I loved this book! It was so good :) Happy Birthday! tigger1030@hotmail.com

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  10. Fabulous idea, Jackie! Happy Anniversary!

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  11. The shelter pup is so cute. No wonder he got adopted. His one blue eye is wonderful. Your Rita is a cute pup, too!

    Congratulations on the one year anniversary of your book. I just searched it up on Amazon and it looks like a fun read. Definitely something I'd want to pick up once I'm done school. Too bad I live in Canada. Good luck to all the participants in this contest :)

    We're your newest blog follower!

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  12. Very cool stuff, I would love to win this!!

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  13. I love looking at pictures of smiling dogs. Truthfully I'd never seen a dog smile until my own Sampson did it. Aren't they just wonderful!!

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  14. Happy Birthday! Dogs can reduce our blood pressure - whether in photos or the real-life fur variety. Gotta love that : )-
    DogBreedz (at) yahoo (dot) com

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  15. Love the photos & love when my dogs are happy and smiling. Makes my day!

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  16. Hi, Somehow I wasn't able to open the whole post the other day (sure it was operator error:) Glad I came back for another look. Yes, my girlz smile, it gives me such joy to see them happy.
    What a great bunch of prizes, your book is on my Nook wish list, so what fun would it be to win. Happy 1yr book anniversary!! I'll follow you on FB after Lent is over...gave FB up for 6 weeks. :)
    Thanks for the smiles. :)

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  17. Woof! Woof! Oh my mom read that article. We did host a World SMILE day. In our house is all SMILES all day long. Would LOVE to enter your giveaway. Happy 1st on your book. We are not aware of FB page, we just liked it. Our email is on our blog. Sending you Lots of Golden SMILES :-) Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

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  18. I would love to read your book!

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  19. We're late to the party but curious about what the dog ate.

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