Shannon of Los Angeles! Her caption:

“Three for $5? I can afford to chew up at least half of these!”

Congrats, Shannon! You’ll be receiving an It’s a Dog’s Life Journal, What I Love About You journal, and XOXO Sticky Note!

We have a handful of contests coming up, so be sure to check back on the blog for more chances to win!

How to enter:

1. Read our giveaway’s Official Rules page.
2. In the comment section of this blog post, caption this pic below of Paco. One entry per entrant.
3. The giveaway starts today and will end at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, May 16. We’ll choose three winners using Random.org, and announce the winner on Friday, May 17.

Caption this pic in a blog comment to enter our Caption Paco! Giveaway.

It’s a short but sweet giveaway, so enter now!

This Witstagram comes from @JoeMande.

Last-minute gifts just for her:

1. What I Love About You journal

2. I’m a Parent? Inner-Truth Journal

3. Do Your Chores Pad

4. XOXO Sticky Notes

5. Parents’ Night Out Pad

See more gift ideas dipped in sentiment in our Mother’s Day category.

But don’t sweat the small stuff. We’re lightening your load with our Wedding Survival Kit. Click an item below to print and share with the wed-to-be!

• Instant Toasts for the bride or groom, straight from our Toasted Book.

• Release from Singlehood Certificate.

• Now that You’re Married Card (written in true Knock Knock fashion)

1. Instant Toasts for the bride or groom. No need to think too much about what you’re going to say. Fill in the blanks and voilá! It’ll be a cry fest for all (the good kind)!

Click the image to print an Instant Toast for the Bride.

Click the image to print an Instant Toast for the Bride.

2. Release from Singlehood Certificate. Since your friend is officially settling down, make sure they have it on paper for his or her records.

Click the image to print a Release from Singlehood Certificate.

3. Now that You’re Married Card. Print this out and check off all that apply for your pal. Single ladies and gents who want to get married some day, this checklist will lighten your wedding blues.

Click the image to print a Now that You're Married Card.

And as a last-minute wedding gift idea, throw in a 100 Reasons to Panic about Getting Married Book into the mix. It’ll really soothe their nerves!

The votes are in!

Congratulations to our grand prize winner, Abby!

We say hello to your mother and your pup Olivia, as well!

Abby's mom and Abby's service dog, Olivia.

Allie Scott during treatment. Her mom said no matter what treatment she had, Allie was always such a happy baby.

When I was a junior in high school, I met a woman that had a greater impact on me than I ever could’ve imagined. Her name is Jenny Scott. She visited my French class to share the worst moment of her life: the day she lost her 8-month-old daughter to Leukemia. At the end of her heartbreaking story, Mrs. Scott asked us to come out and walk Light the Night, a charity walk that raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I was in. I volunteered for that Light the Night and walked the Light the Night during my senior year.

Fast-forward about six years. During that time, I had moved to Los Angeles, gone to college, met my boyfriend; life had changed a lot. I wanted to get healthy, so I started looking for ways I could do that on my bike. After some research, Team in Training popped up. Team in Training would train me every Saturday for five-ish months to ride 100 miles in Lake Tahoe. I would also be raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the same foundation I had done Light the Night for in high school. I was definitely interested. The moment you hear about a young life taken by cancer, it never leaves you. Allie’s story (and her mother’s) came back to my mind. I should do this, I thought to myself. I can get healthy and have Allie keep my motivated. A few days later, I signed up.

After the finish line in Tahoe last year.

That was three years ago. Since then, I’ve ridden 2,500 plus miles and raised over $6,500 for blood cancer research. Whenever I climb a long hill or feel like I just can’t ride anymore, I think about Allie and the other amazing people I’ve met affected by blood cancer. They couldn’t stop fighting cancer, so I can’t stop either. I’ve gone from just participating to being a mentor on the team, helping others stay motivated to ride and to raise more money for research. This fall, I’ll be an assistant coach!

Mrs. Scott and Allie have touched my life more than I ever thought possible. They opened a door to an amazing world of people that are determined to treatment, to end suffering, and to make sure that a child never has to get cancer ever again.

This year, I’ll be riding in Lake Tahoe again, in America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride. On June 2, Team in Training chapters nationwide descend on Tahoe and pedal 100 miles for the cure. We’ll ride around the Lake and out to Truckee and back. With rest stops and one lunch stop, the ride will take most of the day, but when you’re surrounded by pine trees and stunning lake views, time slows down.

Speeding down Mulholland Drive in Malibu this year.

My riding group for this year's season after we conquered a climb in Palos Verdes.

Me and a teammate at CicLAvia to the Sea a few weekends ago.

If you support Aimée’s cause like we do, read more about her ride and donate here on her Team in Training page. Deadline to donate is Wednesday, May 15. Remember: any bit helps to find a cure for blood cancer! Thanks, and high-fives all around. 

Just thought you should know . . .

Follow Team in Training on social:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/myteamintraining, http://www.facebook.com/teamintrainingla

Twitter: http://twitter.com/teamintraining, http://twitter.com/TNTLosAngeles, http://twitter.com/llsusa

Instagram: http://instagram.com/tntlosangeles

"100 Reasons to Panic about Getting Married" book soothes wedding jitters. Hopefully.

I will tell you that the bride in the above list who panicked the most before getting married is the one whose marriage ended in divorce (though she’s now happily remarried), and the things she was terrified about immediately beforehand (to the point where she puked before walking down the aisle, already dolled up in her dress—talk about holding someone’s hair!) were, as she only narrated in retrospect, the exact things that brought down the marriage. She knew, but went through with it anyway, for a variety of reasons—one of which was plain old hope. You know, hope that he’ll change, that you’ll change, that things will get better rather than worse—false hope. Of the other brides, most are now past the ten-year mark with their marriages, with at least one kid, and they have helped to disabuse me of my tendency to idealize all things marriage-and-children. Apparently it gets less sexy and romantic over time, especially once the kids enter the scene. If the couple can make it to the empty-nest phase, however, marital happiness often returns (or so I’ve read).

It's a double-edged sword, highlighting a universal fear about marriage—and also a dose of palliative reality.

We recently came out with two little books that I just love: 100 Things to Panic About Getting Married  and 100 Things to Panic About Having a Baby. As we descend into the June wedding season (right now we’re just in the pre-game), why not think about weddings and marriage and my inexplicable affection for the TV show Just Say Yes to the Dress? When Knock Knock had greeting cards (oh, how I do miss them, but what a not-so-profitable pain in the butt they were to create and distribute), we had a series called “Now that you’re . . .” that included “Now that you’re engaged . . .” and “Now that you’re married . . .” etc. We were going through our retired cards a while back and this series prompted the “100 Things to Panic About” concept. Because no one has enough to panic about already, right? I will admit, being the most cynical and dark sensibility in the group, that I thought the 100 reasons to panic was perfectly adequate without the slightest bit of leavening. You know, like matzoh. Fortunately, however, here at Knock Knock we are well balanced in complementary work and emotional habits, and the nice ladies in editorial determined just the right way to make this book and its 100 Reasons to Panic About Having a Baby sibling (and, one conjectures, future titles in the series) both funny and reassuring by undercutting each of the 100 fears with a dose of palliative reality.

Our "Now that you're . . ." engaged greeting card helped prompt our "100 Reasons to Panic" books.

I often say of myself that I am drawn to tipping sacred cows. If you tell me not to mention something, it’s all I want to blurt out. I know that I’m not alone in this, and as a matter of fact, this apple didn’t splat too far from my rotten family tree. My ninety-one-year-old paternal grandmother, a character and pistol if ever there was one, is childlike and compulsive in her need to reveal anything she’s been told to keep secret, in her increased desire to converse about topics that have been declared inappropriate for present company (favorite topic: other people’s weight gain), in her inability to refrain from repeating that which has already gotten her in trouble multiple times. At the very least, for the most part, I try publicly to be polite and considerate of individual people’s feelings. But cultural feelings? Fuck those. You want me to buy into the Judeo-Christian industrial complex? I’ve got a Jesus joke for you. Want to tell me about your belief in homeopathy? I wrote a section in The Complete Manual of Things That Might Kill You called “The World’s Most Expensive Pee” about vitamins and supplements and other stuff that somehow gets a pass from our otherwise solid belief in the scientific method. If you are overly earnest and dedicated to an indefensible idea or deluded fantasy (you know, like most religions), I am genetically inclined to mock you. I’m sorry—it’s really not personal, and if you’re going to believe deeply in something, like a faith, shouldn’t you be secure enough to withstand anybody else’s tirade rather than getting the panties in a bunch because of some political cartoon that didn’t treat your prophet with what you and you alone have deemed to be the proper degree of respect?

The truth is funny, and telling the truth is a stress release valve. We’re all scared. We’re scared of puberty and growing up and college and friendship and love and marriage and parenthood and poverty and injury and aging and death. (And of fat. We’re really scared of fat.) It’s the Western way to avoid that which scares us, which is in part what makes us overly earnest. So rather than taking offense when someone (possibly me—in this very post, no less) tips your Shroud of Turin, maybe think about how lightness of heart, even when applied to something you hold very, very dear, might be a good thing for the world.

Our "Now that you're . . ." married greeting card also inspired our "100 Reasons to Panic" books. See? Worrying never gets old.

One of the treatments for phobias is desensitization, something we outlined in The Complete Manual of Things That Might Kill You. The idea is that if you’re repeatedly exposed to that which terrifies you irrationally and you’re able to see that the outcome is just fine, you’ll be able to let go of your phobia. That, of course, is some of the impetus behind and draw around the 100 Reasons to Panic books. When you think about it, humor also often functions as a form of desensitization, allowing us to put out into the open and then laugh at the things that most disturb us, in the process melting away the fear and shame.

So if you’re planning a June wedding, go right ahead and get married, even though there are at least 100 reasons to panic about it. Do know that you’ll likely be dissatisfied in about ten years, but you can look forward to once again satisfied another ten years down the road, if the studies know what they’re talking about. Spend lots of money on your big party, wear a $2,000-and-up dress, and question what it’s all about. Then, right before you move to your waiting position at the altar or walk down the aisle, read 100 Reasons to Panic About Getting Married. Because, oddly, it’ll make you feel better.

How to vote:

1. Read the entries below. Each entry is assigned a number.

2. In a comment in this post, write the assigned number you want to vote for. You can only vote once.

3. We are accepting votes now through 11:59p on Tuesday, April 30.

The entries:

1. “When I was young, my mom used to say she bought me at a garage sale and told them to the keep the change. She said she gave them $1.00 and it was the best .67 cents she ever spent.

I grew up tagging along with my mom early Saturday morning to garage sales. She taught me how to bargain for a good deal—pretend you have little interest in an item that you are excited about and always look for homes advertising furniture because it is usually indoors and then you can use their bathroom!

My mom taught me to be kind to others and not to stare at those that are different. She taught me not to spit my gum on the sidewalk as well.

I inherited her beauty, inside and out, her nurturing abilities, as well as her tall height and large shoe size. She taught me at an early age that if my feet were any smaller I would tip over, and the other students that teased me believed it! She has shown me through her trials and errors what I want in my life and what I don’t.” —Abby

2. “Cankles. Even at my lowest weight, they were still there. When I was pregnant with my second son, a coworker remarked on two different occasions that my swollen, pregnant ankles looked miserable and I had to remind her, twice, that they are hereditary. Also [my mom used] the phrase, ‘Put a smile on your face,’ when faced with a less than pleasant task. I now tell my two boys, ages six and eight, the same thing on a frequent basis.” —Elisabeth

3. “Definitely being a book worm is something I get from my mom, and her humor (we both speak sarcastic fluently). Another thing I got from her is my ‘huh?’ expression that I use when I am listening to someone and get confused. I also got her thinking face, which involves sticking my tongue out slightly. But the best thing of the little things is always saying, ‘I love you’ when we finish talking on the phone, are going to run an errand, going to bed, etc. I know some families don’t say it that much, but for me, it has always been something we say. You never know what our last words will be, and it’s always nice leaving or ending a conversation, or the day (if I am visiting home) with something good.” —Jasmine

Now that you’ve read all the entries, vote for your favorite one!