Winning!

I have been looking for a lightweight umbrella stroller that I am able to carry up and down subway stairs.  I found a perfectly serviceable one on my local parent listserv for twenty dollars. After alot of elbow grease it looked, well, sort of dingy.  It had been extremely well-loved by it's prior, now five year old, occupant.  But for twenty bucks I wasn't complaining.

Flash forward to last Wednesday.  I received an email from Diapers.com.  Now usually I skip these emails or delete them.  Who really cares that baby wipes are on sale this week? But for some reason I read it.  It said: Be one of the first 100 people to respond to this email and win a brand new Quinny Yezz stroller.  I looked - it was a chic, lightweight, and most importantly, new umbrella stroller.

I responded to the email.  I was so sure this was either a scam or that 50,000 people had already emailed that I didn't even put anything in the body of the email.  I just responded.

Imagine my surprise five minutes later when I received an email applauding me for being quick on my feet and telling me I had won a new stroller!  The one caveat - I had to buy a ticket to the New York Baby Show and pick it up there on Sunday.  I immediately grumbled - here was the catch.  The ticket was going to cost 100.00 or something.  But no - I went to check and tickets were only ten dollars.

I bought a ticket for Sunday, fingers still crossed that this wasn't some sort of scam to get people to buy tickets to the New York Baby Show.

So on Sunday during my lunch break I went over - and there they were - it was true.  I chose purple because it was CLEARLY the best color. It weighs ten pounds and has handles made for tall people, and best of all, Clara loves it.  I actually enjoyed walking around the show talking to vendors and finding out about new products.  I will probably attend it again next year.

I used to win raffles all the time when I was a kid.  School raffles, Girl Scout Penny Socials - I was guaranteed at least two wins per event.  But I guess raffle opportunities diminish with age (or at least until Clara starts school), so it's good to know I'm still lucky.