1. @RUaDSarah

2. @saucygurl915

And now, the blog comment winner…

3. D’Rae 

If you are one of these three, please email me at laurenfromtexas (at) gmail (dot) com and I will help you claim your prize.

Thanks to everyone who participated. I really wish I could give all of you a free pair of glasses; the comments and tweets were so great! Stay tuned for more giveaways in the future…I have some exciting things in the works.

xoxo

I was recently contacted by another online glasses + contacts company and asked to do a review. I began to inquire about their customer service policies to see if they matched up with my beloved experience with Coastal.com, and they didn’t. So I thought, I don’t want to blog about another company! I want to blog about Coastal.com! I contacted Julia at Coastal and asked if we could work together. I am impressed with the way Coastal is using social media — they even have an Instagram account! — and wanted to brag about them. Because if there’s one thing I love, it’s a great deal. Combine that with excellent service and great social media  utilization and you will have my heart for all eternity.

I chose a pair of Tory Burch glasses to review, and I love them. They are stunningly gorgeous. I kind of just want to keep them to look at them…but I guess to really look at them, I need to wear them…so yeah. But here’s the thing. Julia (and everyone I’ve spoken to at Coastal.com) has been amazing to work with. The customer service is unbelievable. It’s so easy to order and they have about a bazillion (rough estimate) frames to choose from. And if you know me at all, you know I don’t rave about things unless I really love them. This company is the real deal.

So do you want to win a free pair of glasses or WHAT? Of course you do! Coastal.com and I are giving away THREE free pairs, no stipulations (so you can literally choose any pair on the website, designer frames and all). Here’s how to enter:

1. Leave a comment below with your thoughts and feelings about glasses. Feel free to wax eloquent. I love glasses and I love thoughts and feelings, so really, the sky is the limit.
2. Tweet a link to this post and a description of the frame you’d like to win. Be sure to add both myself @laurenfromtexas AND  @TweetCoastal to the end of the tweet so we will see it. Tweet once per day from now until the end of the contest for more chances to win.

Contest will end Saturday, May 5th, midnight CST. Two winners will be chosen at random via Twitter; one will be chosen at random via blog comments.

Good luck, my fellow four-eyed friends!

Disclaimer (and possible TMI): Obviously, Coastal.com sent me the glasses in exchange for this review. I was not monetarily compensated to write this post. All views and opinions expressed on this blog are my own. When I’m passionate about something, I rave about it. It’s as simple as that.

Comment number 48 belongs to Brittany!

Brittany, I’ll put you in touch with the Unique Closet so you can claim your prize. Congratulations!

Thanks to everyone who played along!

Two weeks in a row that I’ve needed to tell you some things! Look at me go!

1. As of yesterday, MY HUSBAND IS DONE WITH FINALS! No more late nights studying, no more writing papers. I get my husband back! Until the spring semester starts, that is. Oh well, I’ll take it! My last day of work in 2010 is December 22nd, which means there will be a blissful week-and-a-half-ish that we’ll both be off. I’m so looking forward to that time.

2. Michael & I had the “Will we/won’t we” conversation the other day regarding telling our kids about Santa. I grew up knowing right away that Santa wasn’t real, but a fun “game” I could play if I wanted. Michael thought Santa was real until he was about 6 or so. (Side note: I had a friend who was 12 who still believed in Santa! How does that happen?!) We haven’t reached any conclusions, but I think we still have awhile to worry about that one. However, Kayleigh sent me an email yesterday that had a link to the Wikipedia page about Krampus. DO Y’ALL KNOW ABOUT KRAMPUS? Look, while I might not tell my kids about Santa, it seems in my best interest to tell them about Krampus. “If you don’t do your homework, Krampus is going to come up in here with some rusty chains!” I mean, seriously. Wouldn’t you be well-behaved too?!

3. I love discovering good music in random places, and musicians who aren’t as well-known, because who doesn’t love saying “I LIKED THEM BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS!”? Well, the other day I found Hannah on 20SB. I am now obsessed with her covers of the following songs:

Hotel Song (Regina Spektor)
Tik Tok (Ke$ha) – this will be the only time you see me admit to liking a Ke$ha song
I Will Follow You into the Dark (Death Cab for Cutie)
The Luckiest (Ben Folds) – this one blew me away (!)
Let Go (Frou Frou)

You’re welcome.

4. Speaking of music, I realized the other night that I might be the only one at the university gym rocking out to Pat Benatar & ‘N Sync while busting my butt on the elliptical. And I’m okay with that. As long as I keep myself in check & don’t start belting out “Love is a Battlefield,” I think I’ll be alright. It’s sort of a strange thing to be back in a college gym after I’ve been graduated for 3 years. Everyone assumes I’m in college (thank goodness), so sometimes I get asked “What’s your major?” Listen, kid, I major in LIFE, okay? You’ll know what I’m talking about soon enough. The other day I said something about “my husband” and one of the girls in my spin class was all “YOU’RE MARRIED? HOW OLD ARE YOU?” Um, 24? “Wow. You look so young.” I guess that means 24 isn’t young anymore, y’all. Bad news bears.

5. Have you entered my awesome giveaway with the Unique Closet? Enter to win a free top of your choice (no, it doesn’t have to be one of three in the pictures I posted; I just liked those 3). Giveaway closes Sunday at noon (CST), so get on it girlfriends!

Happy Friday! What are your plans for the weekend?

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Husband and wife duo, Alvin and Mallary Brown, launched The Unique Closet earlier this year, because they believe in fashionable, unique, & affordable clothing for the everyday woman. They wanted to bring the feeling of boutique clothing to an online store, extending beyond a local offline community. “A great frustration in shopping is not being able to find trendy clothing, having to settle for non budget-friendly clothing ensembles, and having to buy mainstream clothing not matching my personality and lifestyle,” says Mallary. (For more about the couple & their vision, click here.)

What I appreciate about the Unique Closet is the attention to detail on many of the pieces. There are so many items that would be perfect for a special occasion. And not only is there a beautiful selection to choose from, they also offer some gorgeous plus size options, which isn’t always the case for boutique-type stores. The clothes are a mix of vintage-inspired, classic, & a little bit funky.

Y’all, I’m really excited about this giveaway. One lucky winner will receive the top of her choice (depending on availability). Are you interested? Here’s how to enter (there are 4 ways!):

You MUST leave a separate comment for each entry.

Entry 1. Leave a comment below letting me know which top you would choose.
Entry 2. Create a free account with The Unique Closet (click here) & leave a comment. BONUS: Signing up for a free account means receiving 100 Closet Points automatically! (about Closet Points)
Entry 3. Follow @theuniquecloset, tweet this giveaway, & leave a comment with a link to your tweet.
Entry 4. Blog about this giveaway & leave a comment with a link to your post.

That’s it! Contest will close Sunday, December 19th, at 12pm CST. Good luck!

First up, the winner of the planner…

Comment #22! If you don’t want to count through my comments (because they’re not numbered, so apparently I haven’t evolved that much), I just counted. Three times. The winner, unless I’m a horrible counter, is Kate from Suburban Sweetheart!

So many exclamation points! Can you tell giveaways excite me? Okay, next up, the winner of the notebook…

Comment #38? Sarah from Simply Sarah!

Congratulations to our winners & thanks everyone for playing. Winners, I will be in touch with you via email so you can claim your prizes.

Rosey Cheeks is a brand-new Etsy store from a really amazing girl named Lindsay. You might know Lindsay from Chelsea’s blog; she’s her sister (& Jansen’s aunt!). She did some fantastic art for Jansen’s nursery (click on the link to check it out). Wouldn’t you love some custom art for your baby? Or a baby you know? Or a baby you don’t know? Okay, that’s just creepy. Don’t buy custom art for babies you don’t know.

Or, if the artwork isn’t your thing, Lindsay also offers some adorable handmade planners & journals. And because today is a day full of love, we’re giving away one of each here at LfT!

Adorable, right? Look at that detail! This would make a great Christmas gift.

Handmade journals make me a little light-headed. I’m sort of a journal hoarder, but I don’t think I have anything as lovely as this one. Look at that binding! Be still my heart.

Everything from Rosey Cheeks is handmade with great attention to detail. Lindsay can customize anything in her shop to fit your heart’s desire.

Here’s how to enter:

Each person can enter up to three times. You MUST leave a separate comment for each entry, otherwise it won’t count. There will be two winners: one for the planner, one for the journal.

Entry #1: Leave a comment & tell me your favorite thing in Lindsay’s shop, or how you would choose to customize one of her journals or planners just for you (or a friend, if you’re generous like that).
Entry #2: Tweet about this giveaway, including a link back to my blog, & leave a comment with the link to your tweet.
Entry #3: Blog about this giveaway, including a link back to my blog, & leave a comment with the link to your blog.

That’s it! Good luck to everyone. Don’t you just LOVE giveaways?

{This giveaway will close this Friday, October 15th, at midnight.}

Exciting things are happening over here, & I’m happy to share a few of them with you. Last week (aside from the blogiversary/giveaway goodness) was pretty stressful & I had a bit of a meltdown on Saturday, but I’m better now & have much higher hopes for the week/month ahead. Don’t cross me, May. Anyway, here are the high points (in bullet point form, of course):

• We have a contract on our house! As of April 28th, which means it took exactly one month from listing it on March 28th to get the contract. We didn’t expect this to be so quick! We’re set to close on May 28th (honestly, is 28 my new lucky number?), fingers crossed & lots of prayers that everything goes through.
• I got my KitchenAid mixer! I went over to Stephanie’s house yesterday & picked it up, and WOW is it beautiful. Love at first sight, I tell you. Here I am happily clutching my new toy. Isn’t Stephanie the prettiest? Hot mama! Thanks for the mixer Stephanie, I’ll be bringing some baked goods over to your house in the near future.

I’m already planning my next kitchen scheme around this lipstick red color.

• New blog design coming soon! Kapachino‘s brother David has been working to build the perfect little home for LFT. Shouldn’t be too much longer; stay tuned!
• We have some winners! I was happy to announce Katherine (not to be confused with my sister) as the winner for my first giveaway, and here are the other two winners:

For the Thirteenwinks print:

# 50 = rachelheather!

For the Hugs & Kisses Designs custom silhouette:

# 30 = Andee Nero!

Congratulations! I’ll be emailing y’all shortly to set you up with your loot.

Big thanks to everyone who entered & sent blogiversary wishes/comments/tweets. If you didn’t see me singing happy birthday to my blog whilst lighting a Cookie Monster cupcake on fire, you can watch it here.

Also, thanks again to the amazing crafty ladies who sponsored the giveaways:

Taryn @ Cinnaberry

Carla @ Thirteenwinks (Note: She just added new prints to her shop. SWOON!)

Rebecca @ Hugs & Kisses Designs

I never really jumped on the whole “squee” bandwagon. Something about it is faintly reminiscent of the Woo Girls from How I Met Your Mother, and that just doesn’t sit well with me at all. However, if I were a Squee Girl, this would totally push my Squee Button:

Go ahead. Try. TRY TO TELL ME YOU DIDN’T SQUEE.

When Rebecca from Hugs & Kisses Designs contacted me about sponsoring a giveaway by donating a custom silhouette, I was thinking Cute, but I don’t have any kids! Would it be creepy to do one of my husband? And just as I was trying to picture where to hang an outline of my husband’s face, she said “I can do children, adults, and possibly pets.” OH REBECCA. You just said the MAGIC WORDS. So I sent her pictures of Pancho & Leia, and she managed to create these adorable pieces of artwork that I can’t wait to hang in our new place!

Perhaps if you’re not the crazy dog lady into dogs as much as I am, you’ll enjoy some of her other silhouettes:

How cute is Lexie?!

Or how about polka dot Lexie? Precious!

And for you crazy feline people… how sweet is Xedo? I want to snuggle him.

Rebecca has offered one lucky winner a custom silhouette of their choice. If you win, you send her a picture of your kid, your cat, or your great-aunt Matilda, & she turns it into art. ART, Y’ALL. Here are the rules, so play nice:

Leave ONE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY. An entry can only count if you leave a separate comment for it!

-Leave a comment telling me who you would choose to be the subject of your custom Hugs & Kisses Designs silhouette. For funsies, tell me which colors you’d choose. I love those color combos!

-Tweet this giveaway (and leave a link to your tweet in the comment). Here’s the URL to link back to: http://wp.me/pvDxV-Ml

-Blog this giveaway (and leave a link to your post in the comment). Here’s the URL to link back to: http://wp.me/pvDxV-Ml

This contest starts today & ends Sunday night at midnight, so enter to win now!

Also: Tonight at midnight the entries for my second giveaway of the week will close. Be sure to enter!

]]> http://laurenfromtexas.com/2010/04/30/prepare-to-aww/feed/ 50 http://laurenfromtexas.com/2010/04/29/blogiversary-cookie-monster/ http://laurenfromtexas.com/2010/04/29/blogiversary-cookie-monster/#comments Fri, 30 Apr 2010 04:32:52 +0000 admin http://laurenfromtexas.com/?p=2994 Here’s a vlog I made tonight for your viewing pleasure. Try not to judge me too much; it’s been a long week. PS: Remind me to COMB MY HAIR next time I place a video ON THE INTERNET FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE.

In other news, my first giveaway of the week has ended. I plugged the number of comments into the True Random Number Generator (I had to eliminate any comments received after midnight Wednesday, sorry y’all)… and the winner is…

#10 = Katherine (but not my sister)!

Katherine, I’ll be emailing you shortly to get you in touch with Taryn so you can claim your prize. Congratulations! And for the rest of you: thanks so much for playing, stay tuned for more goodies.