>I got a 1st place prize in a Textpattern theme design contest and won my first ever prize, and quite a big one for a Ukrainian student — an iPod (the original one, 60GB).

That sounds a lot like:

https://www.textplates.com

Am I close?

Edit: it was you!–

https://www.textplates.com/2007/08/01/the-results

>Loved it for its simplicity, easy customization and a friendly community.

It's still simple-ish, lots of previously external plugins have been merged into the core, and the community is friendly, helpful and mostly harmless.