Today is the 9th Anniversary of Smart Bitches! We were founded 31 January 2005, and what a long, funky nine years it's been!
Thank you for being here to talk about romance and all the other things we love and enjoy and don our ragepants about. I'm so glad you're here.
To celebrate, I usually do a silly giveaway that's tied to the traditional or modern gifts for that year's anniversary. Last year, the traditional gift included linen and lace, so I gave away fichus. (Bitches love fichus).
This year? OH, THE TRICKERYNESS. Because sometimes, the traditional and modern anniversary gifts are completely difficult, like this year: pottery and china! Or willow!
Or LEATHER GOODS.
I have some leather goods for you right here:
No, I'm not giving away a leather-clad Fabio. I wouldn't know where to find him.
I could go with , or some shoes. A leather trench coast would be interesting, but if you had to hunt vampires or werewolves, it might endanger your life with all that creaking and noisy swooshing that leather makes, so that wouldn't work.
Or, I could get everyone some pot, but that's only legal in two states.
Hmmm.
But soft! What gift idea from yonder browser window breaks? There are a bunch of different and very cute bags named “Willow.”
AW YEAH.
For our 9th anniversary, I'm giving away bags. Willow bags – bags named “willow” – each perfect for carrying one's books and reading essentials. And each one comes with a $50 gift card to the bookstore of your choice.
Meet your Willows!
This is the Kipling Willow, a canvas bag, the right size for the essentials. It has a zipper closure, and is 7″ (17.8cm) high by 13″ (33cm) wide. It also has a set of double top handles with 7″ drop, plus an adjustable detachable long strap with 26″ drop.
Another Willow! This is the Sherpani Willow bag:
It's a little funky, a little different, but still a good size for a book and your essentials — and reviewers online say the front pocket is perfect for a Kindle. It's 10″ by 10″ (25cm x 25cm), with an adjusaible crossbody strap.
But wait! There's one more Willow! This one satisfies the leather AND the willow gifts:
This is the McKlein Leather Briefcase. It's 16.5″ x 11.5″ (41.9cm x 29.2cm), with a compartment for a small latop up to 15.4” in screen size.
Want to try to win a willow and a $50 bookstore gift card? Easy! Just leave a comment as to what book you'd put in your bag, either in paper or digital format. I'll select three winners at random. One comment enters you to win one of the three bags and gift cards.
Entries will close on Tuesday 4 February 2014 at noon eastern. I'll announce the winners shortly afterward. Standard disclaimers apply. Void where prohibited. Open to international residents where permitted by applicable law. Must be over 18 and ready to read and rock a righteous bag to enter. By submitting an entry to the contest as set forth herein, each entrant does acknowledge and agree that, in the event such entrant is victorious, such entrant will perform a ceremony reasonably appropriate to such circumstance, including, without limitation, the Miposian Dance of Joy or, in the alternative, Gangnam Style.
Thank you for making 9 years of Smart Bitches so much fun. Happy anniversary!
You are so awesome, and say the nicest things. Thank you. 🙂 I’m so glad you’re here!
Congrats and Happy Anniversary!
I always carry my Kobo reader with me, plus I will have room for a paperback (whatever I am currently into- cozy mysteries seem to be this month’s soup du jour)
Plus, if it is big enough, it would fit my iPad too… hmmmm. I am liking this giveaway!
Tuck Everlasting
CONGRATS on making it to 9 years which is forever in internet blog world. I am a long time lurker and I would love that leather willow nag. It’s the perfect size for my Kindle, my Chromebook and Kim Harrison’s The Undead Pool, which isn’t out yet but would hold a place of honor in my bag as it is the only series I buy both in hardback and in e-book. Thanks again for an awesome site, and here is to 90 more years!!
I use the kindle, nook, and aldiko apps on my phone, so I would put my phone in my bag and have hundreds of books available at all times.
Happy 9th Anniversary SBTB! Thank you for the wonderful website. You changed my reading habits forever and for that I’ll be eternally grateful.
As to what book I’d put in the bag. Well I’m finishing up Tessa Dare’s Romancing the Duke, which is hilarious, so that will be my pick.
Happy Anniversary!
I’d bring along Connie Willis’ Blackout. It’s been on my TBR shelf for too long and for whatever reason it’s been drawing my eye more than everything else on there. Which is saying something.
Hm. I read fast, so it would probably depend on exactly *when*, but I’d probably start with Sarah Vowell’s The Wordy Shipmates, which has stayed in the unfinished pile because it’s on paper and not due back at the library.
Naked in Death
Slave to Sensation
Happy huge 9th anniversary and congratulations Sarah.
I’d put in a copy of The Princess Bride (because I can read that book over and over again).
I’d also put in a notebook and pen for me, for catching crazy ideas when they’re flying around.
Plus, I’d put in a ferret, because fluffy pooches are so 2012.
Congrats the sites great success! I am rereading Diana Gabaldon’s “Outlander”
to be ready for the TV adaption. So that’s what I would be stowing in one of these
great bags.
Happy Anniversary!!
I would use a Willow bag to carry around by Kindle which has become super swollen lately thanks to SBTB. I just got The Summer of You by Kate Noble and I am quite excited about it 😀
Happy Anniversary!! I would stuff that willow bag with some Karen Marie Moning. I’ve been rereading her Highlander stuff lately and whoo boy! Good stuff!
Congratulations upon the occasion of SB’s 9th anniversary! Love the site and recommend it to any romance reader who crosses my path—that’s quite a few as I work at a public library. Wishing SB 9×9 more years of sharp wit and insightful commentary served with generous lashings of humor.
One book I do slip in to my bag often is Shards of Honor by Mary McMaster Bujold. It is the back story/genesis of the Miles Vorkosigan saga and, though it is a rollicking space opera full of interplanetary conflict and politics, it is the opposites-attract love story between Miles’ parents that keeps the pages turning for the umpteenth time. That and a brief scene towards the end of the book about the aftermath of battle, the sacrifices of war, and a mother’s love that’s guaranteed to make me teary and sniffly.
Happy 9th Anniversary!
I would have to go with my kindle loaded with books and probably a print copy of my current read Four Friends by Robyn Carr.
Happy birthday! If I were to rock a ‘willow’ bag, I’d carry my iPad for submissions, my kindle for fun, and the new Victoria Dahl in paperback, which is waiting patiently for those unexpected moments when you find yourself whisked away on a romantic and/or suspenseful airplane trip and can’t use electronic devices for a good 30 minutes. (Yes, I read on unexpected romantic and/or suspenseful airplane trips. Don’t you?)
Congratulations on making it to the 9th!
I would put my kindle in the bag preloaded with the entire Lisa Kleypas’ Wallflower series.