Posts Tagged ‘Giveaway’

ok, so 5 days out of the country and on a luxurious cruise with my bro left me entirely out of the loop in terms of BlogherAtHome, and i apologize for that sweet homies.  i know jenn and others have been holding down the fort in my absence… and doing a fanfuckingtastic job, right?  :)

so, time (for me at least) is going by waaaaaaay too quickly.  i have an inbox that has nearly exceeded its limit (i didn’t even know they could do that) and my feedburner is on fucking fire.  that’s what i get for being out of touch for 5 days.

before i left, last week, jenn and i were asked to be a part of the MOST incredible project on the face of the planet… and no, it does not include anything related to michael jackson or asking usher to sing to MJ again while stroking his coffin.  nor does it include al sharpton.  so cheers to that!

so much awesomeness has been going on with BlogherAtHome that i find myself entirely overwhelmed with gratitude for the support we’ve gotten, whether it be in terms of swag, tweets to jenn and i just saying “thanks for doing this,” or meghan and heather contacting us about friendsofmaddie.org

i guess the lesson in all of this is that i need to leave the country more often and indulge in more umbrella drinks, cuz when i do, shit actually gets done.  :)  so a big ol’ WOOT WOOT to jenn and company for kicking some major ass over the last week.

so, i tweeted with jenn yesterday from the miami airport, asking what i need to do to get back into the swing of things with this…  her answer was “post something about how the hell you’re going to BlogherAtHome from a wedding.”

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

well………..  paul and i arrive in birmingham this coming friday night, just in time for my college roommate’s rehearsal dinner.  we will attend that, and at whatever hour of the night we get back to our hotel room, i plan on logging on to skype (ps: my skype name is mybottlesup) and finding out who is where and drinking what.  i think skype will prob be my best method of communicating with you folks when i’m in the hotel.  at the wedding reception saturday, i’ll have my phone with me where i can log in, twitter, send obnoxious twitpics, and possibly flash a bewbie or even two.  :)~

as far as the swag and giveaways go….  my faith and trust is in jenn.  come sunday, i will return home and we can discuss who won what and begin that whole process of getting your shits sent out to y’all.

basically time just will NOT slow down for me.   but that’s ok.  i’m runnin with it… sprinting even!  awesome things are happening, awesome people are gathering, and the overall awesomeness will continue…

what are your plans?  will you truly be joining BlogherAtHome from home?  will you be elsewhere like me?  will you skype?  twitter?  log in to the site?  find a way for us to chat?

I am a tinkerer. I’m always looking for new and wonderful ways to improve my blog.  I’ll add here, remove there, change this, alter that.  So one of my top books on my summer reading list is Deb Rox‘s (she blogs at Deb on the Rocks and celebrates blogger’s birthdays at Hot Blog Stars) new book “5 Ways to {Blank} Your Blog“.  It has been getting RAVE reviews from everyone who’s seen it.

So when I opened my email and saw an email from Deb saying “Hey, I have a copy of my book for you guys to give away to your BlogHer@Home attendees”, I was literally bouncing up and down.

But of course, Deb doesn’t do anything by halves.

Not only is she going to send one lucky winner this fantastic book, but she’s throwing in real, honest to goodness, BlogHer swag.  That’s right people.  All of you peeps who have been writing and asking how you can get your hands on some of the goodness that the conference attendees get… This is how.

Deb’s bringing one of these boxes that can ship all you can cram in it for $13.95, and she’s going to cram it full of swag for one very lucky winner. There will be swag from parties, the expo floor, the registration bag.  And if you’re really lucky you might even get things like a Backpacking Dad’s cocktail napkin and a lock of hair from The Bloggess‘ confidence wig.  It will be like the Sisterhood of the Traveling Blog Swag, delivered to your door.  Oh, and if the winner get us your address right away, Deb will ship the whole thing from Chicago, while she’s there.  That’s how authentic this swag is going to be.

So here’s how to get your hot copy of 5 Ways to {Blank} Your Blog and some REAL BlogHer swag:

• Leave a comment (any comment will do!) = 1 entry
• Visit Deb’s blog, Deb on the Rocks, and tell us what your favorite post is= 1 entry
• If you could change anything on your blog, what would it be?  Tell us about it = 1 entry
• Follow BlogHerAtHome and Deb on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway (leave us a comment with the link to the tweet)= 1 entry

Can’t wait and want Deb’s book now?  You can find it on Amazon.com!

UPDATED:  Congrats to our winner Colleen

One of the coolest things I love about blogging, twittering, and the like, is getting to know some amazing new people.  I really have this huge supportive group of friends around me on the interweb and I appreciate each and every one of them.

People like Ali.  We started chatting a few months back and immediately clicked.  I couldn’t tell you exactly why.  Maybe it was her horror when I told her my favorite Starbucks drink was a Java Chip Frap (after she looked up the calorie and fat content – which I refuse to look at.  I like my dessert in a cup, thank you very much), or her subsequent addiction to them.  Perhaps it was the mutual desire to bang our head repeatedly against a wall after one of *those* days with the kids.  Or maybe it was just because I find her really funny and sweet.

Whatever it was, I’m really glad that I’ve made a new friend like her.  It doesn’t matter that we’ve never met in person (or if we ever meet for that matter).  Sometimes these type of friendships transcend the physical realms and exist happily in the lands of Twitter and Facebook.  That doesn’t make her any less of a friend.  I love being able to catch up with her with a simple email, or tweet, or heading over to her blog, My Life With Them and hearing about the latest exploits of her two boys.

That’s why I think BlogHer@Home is so much fun.  It doesn’t matter that we can’t be there in person.  What matters is that we’ll still all be able to get together, in our way, and get to know each other a little better (so that when we DO make it to BlogHer next year, we’ve already got lasting friends waiting to meet us).

So in honor of BlogHer, friends, and bonding over Starbucks drinks, my good friend Ali has an awesome giveaway for BlogHer@Home.

A $50 Starbucks gift card.

Yeah.  I know.  Life doesn’t get much better than $50 of FREE Starbucks.  *swoon*

Any questions about why I think Ali is the mostest awesomest now??  Yeah, I didn’t think so.

And the fact that she’s skinny, exceedingly rich, and her kids are perfect, doesn’t hurt either.  Oh, who are we kidding… well one out of three ain’t bad, right?  (I’ll let you figure out which one)

So, on to the good stuff… here’s how $50 worth of Starbucks can be yours:

• Leave a comment (any comment will do!) = 1 entry
• Visit Ali’s Blog and tell us what your favorite post is= 1 entry
• Have you made an amazing connection or friendship over Twitter?  Tell us about it = 1 entry
• Follow BlogHerAtHome and Ali on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway (leave us a comment with the link to the tweet)= 1 entry

I’ll be waiting for my Java Chip Frap to arrive by mail from the winner.

UPDATE: Congrats to our winner – TheMaggers

Give it up for our Master Bartender and Mixologist, Sara!

Not only is she creating the best drinks around (seriously, my husband and I are addicted to her cappucino martini.  I’ve had so much esspresso from drinking them I don’t think I’ve slept in 2 weeks), but she also writes a mean blog entry.  You can find her over at ‘Tom the girl‘ telling it like it is.  And we get the bonus of sweet pics of her babay girl!

But, never content to just rest on her laurels, now she’s found the perfect giveaway for her BlogHer@Home peeps!

Check this out.  Pretty, isn’t it.  (yet another giveaway I want, but can’t have.  You guys are sooooo lucky).

And of course, what else would our favorite drink master give away but a beautiful martini pendant necklace.  Loves it!!  What a find!

Here’s how you can get it:

• Leave a comment (any comment will do!) = 1 entry
• Visit Sara’s blog and tell us what your favorite post is= 1 entry
• Tell us what your favorite Sara drink is, or let us know if there’s one you think she should create = 1 entry
• Follow BlogHerAtHome and Sara on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway (leave us a comment with the link to the tweet)= 1 entry

UPDATED: Congrates to Leslie (Lgibson79), winner of the Johnson’s Originals glass pendant!

I will be the first one to admit that I’m not a big jewlery wearer.  I’m the type that goes for quality over quantity.  I don’t even wear a watch.

So when, after years of nagging, I was told to ‘get a medic alert bracelet, or else’ (I have several serious drug allergies), I tried not to gag at the thought of one of those ugly, clunky silver bracelets or necklaces.  (I’m seriously dry heaving at the thought).  I broke down and got the stupid alert tag that announces to the world several creative ways to kill me, but I would often ‘forget’ to wear them.  Kinda defeats the purpose, don’t you think?

I was whining about this burden I had to bear to my IRL friend, Crystal.  She gave me one of those ‘you’re an idiot looks’ (but luckily refrained from slapping me upside the head) and said something to the effect of “Duh… I make jewelery“.   Riiiiight.  She does.  Make beautiful jewlery.  In fact I already owned earings and a bracelet from her (yeah, stuff I actually wear).

Well, Crystal, true to her creative form, designed, not one, but three interchangeable bracelets for my medic alert.  I LOVE THEM.  Seriously.  And I really love the fact I can switch the tag and change up the look.  I’m not stuck with the same boring thing all the time. Cause see… Crystal’s creative AND smart like that.

Crystal and her husband own Johnson Originals.  It’s all hand crafted, unique jewelry.  I love checking in at their store because they’re always adding new pieces they’ve created.

Their newest project (so new, that, as of this posting it’s not even on their site, so you guys are getting and exclusive sneak peak right now) are gorgeous, one-of-a-kind glass tile pendants. *swoon*

The best part of these is they can put any picture, name or whatever you desire in the pendant.  (Looking for a birthday gift for mom?  A Christmas present for Grandma??)

The pendants can be strung on a cord or ball chain, or Johnson Originals will make a custom beaded strand to complement the pendant.

But you lucky, lucky, lucky readers!  One of you is going to take home this beautiful pendant strung on black cording.  (I WANT… what do you mean I can’t enter?  Dammit!!)

Well fine then.  Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment (any comment will do!) = 1 entry
• Visit Johnson Originals and tell us what your favorite piece is = 1 entry
• Tell us what custom piece you would love to have created for you = 1 entry
• Follow BlogHerAtHome and Crystal on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway (leave us a comment with the link to the tweet)= 1 entry

That’s it.

Oh, and here are some of the other pendants Crystal has up for grabs.  If you want one,I suggest you tweet her because they’re going to go fast.

Teething, no matter how old your kid is, is a pain.  For them and for you.  My daughter is two and cutting her second set of molars right now. Yeah, she’s the type that likes to do all four at once.  She’s done that for all her teeth.  They either come out in pairs or fours.  None of this one-at-a time stuff.  Which is a blessing and a curse at the same time.

When she was teething as a baby, we tried every teether out there for her hoping one would stick and she’d gum her way to oblivion.  But no matter what we tried she hated the nubbly plastic feel in her mouth.  We were beside ourselves until one of our friends suggested a teether that was made out of wood.

Wood?  I had never, ever heard of such a thing.  I’m supposed to let my kid chew on wood?  What? Is she a beaver now or something? I was more than a little skeptical.  What if she bit off a piece?? (No, not a neurotic mother at all… why do you ask?)

So off I tromped to a baby boutique store and, voila! There they were. I was shocked when my daughter sat there gnawing away happily on it.  I carefully pried the wood out of her hands and checked for missing pieces.  Not only were there no missing pieces, but the wood was so hard there was not even an indentation from her teeth.  This became the only teether that she wanted or would use.

I had to admit, it was kind of nice not to have to worry about remembering to keep a teether in the fridge, chilled.  And I didn’t have to worry about her biting through the plastic (I know several kids who have managed this)

So imagine my delight, when Amy, from Little Alouette, contacted us and offered us TWO of their amazingly beautiful handmade wooden teething toys to give away to our BlogHer@Home party attendees. SCORE!

I have been seeing rave reviews about Little Alouette’s teethers everywhere these days.  They’ve also been a Featured Seller on Etsy AND were voted ‘Best Baby Shower Gift’ by Etsy shoppers!

Each product is made by hand using locally sourced Ohio timber and they only finish their products with certified organic flax seed oil (which makes their products vegan!  Unlike many other products that use beeswax as a finish).

Here is a gift you can give (or use with your own baby) and know they are non-toxic with no lead or phthalates.  They’re also made large and chunky so little babies can easily grip them and they’re safe!

You can check out all of Little Alouette’s teethers at their shop.

The other wonderful thing about these teethers is they grow with your kids.  Babies use them as a teether, and older kids use them as figures in their imaginative play.  What’s better than a toy that actually lasts?

We will be giving away two Little Aloutte teethers (the type you receive will be a surprise!)  during the BlogHer@Home party.  One on Friday and one on Saturday.

RULES:

1. You must follow both Blogher@Home and Little Alouette on Twitter win
2. This will be a Twitter ONLY giveaway.  To win tell us why you want to win and include the hashtag #littlealouette
3. We’ll do a random draw for one teether on Friday night and another one on Saturday afternoon

UPDATE:  Congrats to Sara (@sara3isenough), winner of the Temptation Designs blog header design!!

I don’t know about you, but the first thing I notice when I check out a new blog is what it looks like.  Does it grab my attention. Does it have a header that screams “Read Me! Love Me!”.

Having a blog that stands out is really so important.  I’ve talked to people who can’t remember the name of a blog but can describe that blog’s header down to the last detail, because it really grabbed them.  And if you have a cool design, people talk about it.  And when people talk about it, more people come to check out your blog.  It’s simple really.  It’s all about branding yourself these days.

Where it gets hard is the actual design of your header.  Lets face it.  Most of us are just not graphic artists.  And unless we want a couple of poorly drawn stick figures up there, we should not be attempting our own header design.

But that’s why there are amazingly talented people, like Sam, who owns Temptation Designs.  Her designs stand out in a sea of blogs.  They make you want to find out more.  And best of all – they’re not some cookie-cutter look.  They’re one of a kind.

Temptation Designs not only creates blog headers, but can do full blog designs.  And don’t forget the twitter profile background to match!  Oh yeah, they do that too.

The best part – the wonderful (and generous!!) Sam, has offered up a custom blog header design to one lucky BlogHer@Home winner!  That’s right, you could get your very own, one of a kind blog header for FREE.

All you have to do is enter our giveaway!  (too easy right!)

• Leave a comment (any comment will do!) = 1 entry
• Visit Temptation Designs, take a look through her portfolio and tell us which design you like best = 1 entry
• Create a post on your blog telling us why YOU deserve the new blog header, and mention this giveaway = 3 entries (leave the link to the blog entry the Mr. Linky below)
• Follow BlogHerAtHome and Sam on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway (leave us a comment with the link to the tweet)= 1 entry

Good Luck!

======================

======================

Our Latest Giveaways:

Norwex Cleaning Products

Last year we had some fabulous people step up and donate some amazing prizes.

If you’d be interested in sponsoring a giveaway, contact @blogherathome, or email us (info AT blogherathome DOT com)!

Here are just some of the fabulous swag we’re going to have coming your way.  Stay tuned for how to win.  And don’t forget to check out and support our sponsors!

• Aidan Donnelley Rowley’s new book ‘Life After Yes‘
• Regresty prize package
• The new Cake Wrecks book
• Shauna Glenn’s book ‘Heaping Spoonful’
• A custom apron from Apron Frenzy
• Eden Organics gift pack
• BlogHer swag pack (the stuff the BlogHer attendees get!) from PrincessJenn
• Ali from My Life With Them will be putting together a NYC swag pack for a lucky reader, while she’s there.
• Custom WordPress or Blogger blog design from Desgins by PrincessJenn
• Hammered silver pendant from Johnson’s Originals
• Passion Parties gift basket worth over $100 that includes: fireworks edible body lotion,  RomantaTherapy Alluring Body lotion,  Pure Instinct Perfume,  Bullet, Nipple Nibblers, AND  Mini Locking Toy Box!
• Custom designed Twitter background from Maria Melee
• A Nova Scotia gift pack that includes real Canadian maple syrup, her famous (and highly coveted) blueberry pancake recipe, and some Nova Scotia swag from Karen (Agentninety9)
• A Norwex gift pack from Jackie (Extrafancy1)
• An Apple surprise from Kim (Kimt205)
• LYIS will be offering on reader a special gift from her ETSY shop
• A gift basket just for kids from Scary Mommy‘s own Bread & Butter Shoppe
• A beautiful custom bag from Sugar Saks
• Two baby gift sets from Kim at  It’s a Beautiful Wreck. One boy set and one girl set of hand made baby blocks with matching bib.
• Kim will also be hosting FIVE give aways sponsored by KY!
• A cupcake gift pack from Kristen at The Weekly Cupcake

And hopefully we’ll have more giveaways coming soon!  Remember, to have your giveaway featured here, just contact @blogherathome, or email us (info AT blogherathome DOT com)!

UPDATED:  Congrats to our to earring winners:  TheMaggers, and Ladybugsgrama, Layla, and ThePsychobabble
More winners to come

It seems to be all to common these days. So many woman decide to start their families with such hope and love and instead get a battle of epic proportions that leaves them devistated and depressed. That bad word, the one that on one thinks will happen to them – infertility.

I was one of those woman who decided to have a baby and figured within a month or two I’d be pregnant. After all, wasn’t that how it worked for all my friends? One month passed, two months, six months, 12 months. I was devastated. It took us a few years to finally get pregnant. And those years were a giant emotional roller coaster. We had finally given up on having our own child and decided to adopt when I found out I was pregnant.

Rachel Inbar has also faced this struggle and emerged a survivor. After years of infertility she is now the mother to six wonderful children. But she didn’t just leave it at that. She now runs a fertility support site for other families facing this same road.

Her Fertility Stories site offers a safe place where people can ask fertility questions, read inspiring stories of success, and get information on different treatments and options available. It’s a supportive and positive take on an emotionally charged topic.

Rachel also has a Fertility Stories Blog, where she talks about her own experiences and shares her latest findings.

But what does all this have to do with earrings?

The lovely Rachel and her Fertility Stories site are offering 10 (yes TEN) lucky winners the opportunity to win not one, not two, but FIVE pairs of pearl earrings! That’s a pair for you, a pair for your mom, a pair for your best-friend, another pair for you (because, really, a girl can never have enough pearls), and another pair to give as a Christmas present. Or keep them all to yourself…

These beautiful earrings are made from freshwater, button pearls. The colours range from the traditional white to shades of pinkish purple. Each winner will receive a random set of 5 pairs of these gorgeous earrings.

But you have to enter to win them!

Here’s how:

• Leave a comment (any comment will do!) = 1 entry
• Visit Fertility Stories and then come back and tell us what your favorite part of the site is = 1 entry
• Create a post on your blog telling us about your infertility story, or the story of the most inspiring person you know, and mention this giveaway = 3 entries (leave the link to the blog entry the Mr. Linky below)
• Follow BlogHerAtHome and Fertility Stories on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway (leave us a comment with the link to the tweet)= 1 entry

Good Luck!

———————————–

———————————–

UPDATE:  Contgrats to our Amazon Gift Card winner redhead.kate

Many, many of you said that one of the big reasons you weren’t going to BlogHer this year was the moola factor.

Money worries = stress, and in this economy… well there are a lot of stressed out people.  Which is all the more reason you need a weekend off to go to BlogHer!

So, we’ve invited Hollie, The Common Cents Mom, to give us some ideas on how to start saving now for BlogHer’10.  She’ll also be giving us some great tips on how to party frugally at home.

And to top it all off, just because she’s so awesome, she’s also giving away a $20 Amazon gift card!  Does Amazon sell liquor?  No… well you could use it to get a new shaker to make up your Cappuccino Martini’s.  Or how about treating yourself to a pedicure set so your feet look awesome in those rockin’ heels you’ll be wearing to party in. Or even a new outfit?

All you have to do is enter the Common Cents Mom Giveaway!

• Leave a comment (any comment will do!) = 1 entry
• Visit The Common Cents Mom and then come back and tell us what your favorite money saving tip is from her blog = 1 entry
• Post about how you plan on saving for BlogHer’1o and mention this giveaway on your blog = 3 entries (leave the link to the blog entry the Mr. Linky below)
• Follow BlogHerAtHome and Hollie on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway (leave us a comment with the link to the tweet)= 1 entry

We’ll draw the winner during the BlogHer@Home party July 24-25 (the winner will be announced on twitter and posted here)

——————–

———————