life+running » free

Fitmixer Amino Winner + Austin Photo Dump Recap

chimes — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

HELLO bloglings!

I am BACK. Finally. It seems like it has been so much longer than 5 days. Driving from Iowa to Texas is kind of a long trip, in case you were wondering.

While I was out, I was working on trying to do the Fitmixer Bootcamp (week 1) while on the road. Which proved to be pretty impossible given we had a schedule to adhere to that required us to be somewhere between 8 and 9 AM and not get back until 8 or 9 PM — just in time to get dinner and go to bed to do it all over again. And the other days were spent in the car.

Speaking of Fitmixer, I had a pretty decent response to my Fitmixer amino giveaway from last Monday. I promised that today would be the day that I’d reveal a winner. The winner is MELANIE:

I’ve tweeted her in hopes she will send me her address so that Fitmixer can send her favorite flavor of amino to her.

Sad that you didn’t win? Really want to try these blasted aminos that everybody has been talking about? No worries! I’ve got a link on my sidebar to their shop so you can easily order some.

Thanks to everybody who participated! I will have another giveaway within a week. I’ll give you a hint: It’s a little tart.

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[Thursday "dinner" in Bethany, KS — Sonic mini Butterfinger blast ... not fro yo but better than a burger.]

[Super 8 in Wichita, KS. Don't rent to the locals. It's the law.]

[Friday AM workout — booty burner from Fitmixer Bootcamp]

[Ready to roll on Friday — 9+ hours of driving]

[Readymade protein shakes are awesome options for eating on the road — so much better than Cheetohs]

[MADE it to Austin! Amanda and I in the back of our friends' car — on the way to get sushi. And Fro Yo. Neither of which I managed to photograph — I know. Weird.]

[Black Metal beer from Jester King Craft Brewery in Austin. Not gluten free, but I bought for the bottle and for Mark. Plus, it sounds DELICIOUS.]

[up and ready to go early Saturday AM for Renegade.]

[menagerie of dip bowls made by Amanda ... price-tagged by me.]

[cupcake stands. Portal. Eddie Izzard. GEEK.]

[Actually wore a dress I haven't worn in years — made from an XL t-shirt. cut off the sleeves and added them to the bottom to make it a dress.]

[my boot camp bottle got a LOT of use last weekend!]

[the booth across from us. seriously. I felt like we were in Portland.]

[first purchase! necklace from Alexa at Foamy Wader. It's really PINK.]

[downloaded an iPad app called "paper" and was sketching a bit all weekend.]

[cute guest room at our friends' house — they rent and all the walls are that color!]

[wearing a dress I bought from Madeline Wood ... and sporting new earrings I picked up that AM from Alana Douvros — at wholesale price ... SNAG!]

[Amanda procured a cupcake from another vendor to put on her stands]

[and she then enjoyed some kielbasa sausage as an afternoon snack / late lunch. lol.]

[I worked on some embroidery during the show and in the car. sorry. no swear words this time.]

[HEALTHY BITES brought to me by my Blend, Lindsay Cotter, who I FINALLY got to meet in person. She makes these little amaze-balls of joy.]

[YAY — Lindsay wasn't able to make it to Blend, and I'm really glad we were able to meet in person! Thanks for stopping by, lady!]

[getting ready to pack up!]

[before packing up, I ran around and made some last-minute purchases ... like this card that I am totally giving to a friend for his upcoming wedding.]

[mistaken lyrics coasters from Play with Lasers]

[awesome print ... now framed and hanging in my living room]

[REVENGE PICKLE. Amanda took this photo at Rudy's BBQ ... which is in a gas station. and is the best BBQ EVER.]

[RUDY'S. I may or may not have tracked this meal ... sorry Fitmixer Bootcamp — or really, sorry ass and thighs. Clockwise from top: Potato salad, onions and pickles, cutter's choice brisket, extra moist (read: EXTRA FAT) brisket and a diet root beer.]

[our friends had 2 cats: Neo and Tater Tot. Tater Tot was fixated on a nail hole in the wall in the hall]

[I managed to sneak in the cards workout from Fitmixer Bootcamp the day we started driving back to Iowa. YAY. I want to do this one again!]

[we went to Whole Foods on the way back and I found a LAVENDER-flavored Kombucha. Not my favorite. But I'd never seen it before, so I had to try!]

[bought a second necklace. from Alana Douvros. And the two necklaces layer quite nicely.]

[almost home. ALMOST.]

[playing some PvZ all the way from Bethany, KS to Ames, IA]

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Austin was CRAZY and the trip was LONG. I want to go back again and experience a bunch of other things. I was mostly in the Palmer Event Center at Renegade the whole time I was there, and you know me, I’m an outdoorsy person. I wanted to be outside in the lovely weather!

What did you do last weekend? How do you feel about BBQ at a gas station?? And would you try Lavender Kombucha (or just kombucha if you haven’t tried it)?

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new wheels, traditions & a peanut buttery chocolatey GIVEAWAY

chimes — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Starting Tuesday I’m going to be a bike commuter. It’s only 2.5 miles to work, and it will actually be faster because I won’t have to wait to left turn into the traffic flow at 7:45 AM … it’s quite hectic. There’s a middle school right next to our place, so it’s darn near impossible to get out with busses, kiddos being dropped off and frantic parents driving away. I’ll have one major road to cross on my bike ride to work, but otherwise it’s smooth sailing.

My old bike is more than half my age, though it’s been revamped and tuned up several times. It just wasn’t going to cut it for the ride to work with all the junk I take with me.

Bye bye old bike. We’ve had some good times. A LOT of good times considering we’ve hung together since 7th grade. I’m selling it on Criagslist if anybody’s interested.

I got a new set of wheels that’s more appropriate to what I want to do. And look at this ultra-plush seat!

She’s a beaut. And pink. Not one of my requirements in a bike, but it happened to come in this color. I can’t wait to ride!

In other news, it’s FRIDAY! And I have a vacation day. It’s not as exciting as it sounds … got a bunch of appointments crammed into the AM and cleaning this afternoon.

BUT, as I’ve probably mentioned before, Mark and I do pizza Friday — make our own pizzas, each with our own favorite toppings — and it’s becoming my new favorite tradition. There’s another thing that’s quickly becoming a tradition that I might let y’all in on at the bottom of this post.

Mark makes the best crusts, but I can’t eat his crusts anymore. So I have been using UDI’s gluten-free crusts. Not quite the same, but definitely taste like a good pizza crust.

My current favorite toppings? Goat cheese + fresh tomatoes + broccoli + garlic. YUM.

However, I saw this antipasto pizza from Taste and Tell the other day, and I might have to swap out my usual and try the olives and red peppers, but keep the goat cheese of course.

[ source ]

I’m making cookies this weekend for this month’s Cookie of the Month Club installment for my dad and grandpa. And, as you probably have guessed, I’m using the recipe that’s quickly becoming another new tradition in our house: chimesmonster cookies.

Oh, and here’s where you come in.

I have to make enough cookies for my dad and grandpa, but don’t want to send ALL of what the recipe makes to the two of them. That recipe makes 5-6 dozen. I also know how fast these disappear when left in my hands.

JUST LOOK AT ALL THESE [ there are 2 full trays in the oven at this point, and one more on the counter behind me ].

Giveaway time.

Want to win a dozen chimesmonster cookies? They’re awesome. So I know you do.

Use the lovely rafflecopter widget … which I’ve seen everywhere and have been dying to try … to enter this contest. All you need to do is tell me what you’d mix in to your ultimate monster cookies. Keep in mind that you can swap any nut butter for the peanut butter, and you can mix in up to 2 cups of whatever combo you choose. Possibilities are endless!

Make sure you include a contact method with your entry. The contest ends on Sunday, March 18. I’ll notify the winner within 24 hours of the contest ending.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Giveaway Day!

chimes — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

It’s SewMamaSew’s giveaway day today.

Check out all the super sweet giveaways (in addition to mine) on her blog today.

So what am I giving away? I’m giving away one of my little zippy pouches. My Classy Lady Lacey zippy pouch to be exact.

How do you win? I’ll make it simple this time because I’m sure I’ll get many more comments than usual.

How do you win? Just because I like reading interesting material, you’re going to have to answer a question instead of just commenting below. Also include your e-mail address so I can follow up with you when you win (FYI you don’t have to type it in the comment section … just in the part where it says “e-mail” in the form).

The question? Who/what is your favorite fictional character and why? Your answer can be a character from from literature, movies, TV, music, comics, etc.

My answer to that question? I guess I’ll go with the obvious and say Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Why? Because she is badass and I love the fact that she’s witty and always goes for the bad boys.

Good luck! I’ll be picking a winner on Friday the 16th — just in time to get the zip bag in the mail in case you want to give it as a gift. I’ll post the winner on the 18th and will ship ASAP so you have before Christmas.

PS I’ll ship internationally!

Want to enter more giveaways? Check out the full list of giveaway day giveaways

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Be thankful for a giveaway …

chimes — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:30:00 +0000

Hello bloggity bloglings! It’s been a while since I’ve done any sort of giveaway.

You may remember my Monday Madness Giveaway back in May. or my Scavenger Hunt Giveaway back in 2010, or when I gave away some Pinterest invites when it was brand spankin’ new, or maybe when I did giveaways regularly (here, here, here, here and here).

Anyway, I have a giveaway! I got these awesome posters from French Paper a while back at the Field Paper Show. They’re the French Paper 14oth Anniversary posters. For those of you who don’t geek paper, French Paper has aweeeeeesome paper. It’s the best. They have tons of fun colors and finishes. Also, they have Charles S. Anderson Design do all of their promos. And for those of you who don’t geek design, it’s my lifelong dream to work for CSA.

Would you like to see the goods? I have three posters to give away to you lovely people. Also, you can buy these posters online if you’re not a winner. These feature metallic ink and are on butcher paper.

Interested?

How do you win?

There are a few ways to get an entry: First, leave me a comment on this blog post telling me what you’re thankful for this year. Yes. Thanksgiving IS this week.

[if you are reading via an rss service or on facebook, click here to go to the blog post. comments on facebook will not be entered to win]

Want another entry? Add yourself to my networked blogs or google friends widgets on my sidebar. If you add both you don’t get two entries, you just get double the chimes. Again, you have to go to my actual blog post to do this. Make sure to comment to tell me you did this.

Third entry? Okay fine. Tweet this: “I want to be Frenched by @chimes! #frenchme @FrenchPaperCo #chimesblogpostergiveaway”.

You have until 5 AM Cyber Monday (next Monday, the 28th) to enter. I’ll choose a winner that morning. Since I’m crazy organized, all entries are going in a spreadsheet in the order they are entered, so any of these entry mechanisms will work.

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Monday Madness Giveaway

chimes — Mon, 23 May 2011 11:00:00 +0000

It’s been a VERY long time since I’ve done a giveaway. (In case you’re curious, I did one at the beginning of June of 2009, another in the middle of June 2009, one at the beginning of July 2009, one in the middle of July 2009, one in July 2010, one in August of 2010 and one in September 2010).

//EDIT// I posted this giveaway and realized that today is also Giveaway Day on Sew Mama Sew. I’m featured on the handcrafted items page.

Last time I did one, I had a trivia question. But I’m going to make this one really easy.

First — the prize?

A teeny tiny wallet of your choice — one of these two:

What do you have to do to win, you ask? Simple. Just comment on this post with which one of these you prefer if you win. Make sure your e-mail address is correct when you fill out the comment box or I will have no way of contacting you if you win. Want another entry? Tweet or facebook about the contest, and leave a comment on this post with a link to the tweet or post. Want yet ANOTHER entry? Follow me on Networked Blogs (check out the sidebar over here on the right).

Contest ends on Memorial Day (Monday, May 30). I will randomly choose a winner by using random.org’s generator. Good luck!

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giveaway #2!

chimes — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:08:54 +0000

That’s right! I’m doing another giveaway. I was planning to do one each month, but I realize now that it’s only been 11 days since my last giveaway…. oh well! I’m excited and want to do another one!

Up for grabs this time is a one of these lovely little zipper bags.

HOW TO ENTER

Just comment on this post with:

Your name/internet moniker
your e-mail/preferred method of contact
your website/blog

BONUS Entry!
If you blog or tweet about me and/or this giveaway, comment on this post with the link to the blog post/tweet for a 2nd entry.

I’ll use random.org’s number generator to pick a winner! Winner will be chosen on June 30th, so any comment until then that has all of pieces of info will be considered.

I’m excited to give one of these away! Have fun!

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