Five Caffeinated People!

Thanks to Random.org and my lovely sister’s help, we have some winners! (And exclamation points with hearts. Score.)

Megan, Andrea, Stefanie, Shelly, and Amy L – congrats!

Go-Go-Gadget Energy!

Starbucks Doubleshot® Energy+Coffee sent me a few cans of their elixir and on Wednesday, I was running late and had no time to make coffee, so I innocently grabbed a can of the vanilla flavor.

Little did I know I was opening a can of AMAZING. I literally felt a rush of energy while I drank it. I was seized with the ability to focus and finally tackle my mess of a desk. (After which I incredulously tweeted this.)

Now, let’s get this out of the way right now – this doesn’t taste like your average coffee. No, this has super powers, so it tastes a little less typical Starbucks iced coffee and a little more energy-y. If I’m going to drink an energy drink, you’d better believe I’m picking up one of these over nasty Red Bull (sorry, dude, but you tasted like carbonated lint-covered lollipops. No bueno.)

If you’ve been reading my blog, you know I’m struggling to keep my head above water when it comes to my new job. (Cliff’s Notes: I work a lot and whine about it.) These little babies really help me get going in the morning and squeeze more into my already-full day. Which is a major WIN.

The only shortcoming I can find is that the cans are labeled as two servings. Ha. Funny, right? Silly Starbucks, don’t you know I love caffeine?

Now, for the fun part: Time to giveaway some prizes!

What’s in it for you?

Um, coffee!

Okay, how about this:

Five (5) STANDARD PRIZE PACKS (valued at $30 each): Stealth Switch™, $5 Starbucks^® Card, Starbucks Doubleshot^® Energy+Coffee coupons, Starbucks Doubleshot^® Energy+Coffee-branded white board.

That Stealth Switch? It’s this awesome little doohickey that allows you to switch between windows on your computer so you can deftly avoid being caught browsing the internet/blogging/on Facebook/tweeting/stalking your ex-boyfriend/picking up a new outfit. Awesome, right? For more ways to feign productivity at work, check out www.energypluscoffee.com.

What’s in it for me?

There is a prize for the three bloggers who get the most comments. An awesome prize. And I’m not above begging for your comments. I promise. (Or taking photos like this.)

Okay, how the heck do you enter?

Just leave a comment answering: Why do YOU need more energy? by Monday, Novemeber 9th at 9am EST.

UPDATE! For another entry: Tweet or blog about the contest and leave a comment with the URL.

For yet another entry, load this badge in your sidebar:

Copy and paste this code into your sidebar: <a href=”http://mylittlereviews.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/starbucks/”><img src=”http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2462/4046682759_c107575856_o.jpg” width=”150″ height=”100″ alt=”badge” /></a>

Sorry, non-US-residents, I love you, but you can’t enter.

That’s what she* said:
a. This promotion is solely sponsored by Ashley/Our Little Apartment and has not been endorsed or approved by North American Coffee Partnership. By entering, you agree to look solely to Ashley/Our Little Apartment for any claims in connection therewith, and not the North American Coffee Partnership”

b.NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Subject to Contest guidelines. Open to U.S. residents only. Contest ends November 9th. Void where prohibited.

c. All the opinions expressed here are mine.

* “She” being the lawyer, of course.

Drumroll, Please….

At long, long last…

So I kept meaning to pick winners, but then I got all busy and stuff and blah blah blah. When I stumbled across my free jeans gift cards in my crafting room yesterday, I knew it was time to finally spread the love that is Gap Born to Fit.

(Seriously, you guys. I wear these jeans ALL. the. time. I only peel them off my body when they get dirty. Like, really dirty. It’s hot.)

Winner of a Free Pair of Jeans:

1. Heidi Renee
2. Jen
3. From A to Pink
4. Cindy

I constructed a fancy little Excel sheet then went to Random.org to ask it who should win. And it picked From A to Pink TWICE, but I told it only pair per person. I also want to mention that 3 of those winners (2, 3, and 4) won from their Twitter entry. So, let that be a lesson to all of us: never be too lazy to tweet about a contest. Hehe.

Winner of $50 to Gap:

Talia!

(I’m super excited about this, because Talia is a young mother of three (3!) girls – so I think she deserves some pampering. And I guess Random.org agreed.)

Congrats, winners and thanks to everyone for playing along.

Born to Fit Party + A Giveaway = A Good Day.

When I learned about throwing a Gap Born to Fit party, I was excited.

Yes, because of the jeans. Yes, because I got to share them with my friends. Yes, because FREE! Gap! Yay!

All those a very good things. But mostly because I have really awesome friends (and family who are friends) and I wanted the chance to get us together. We always promise each other, “We’ll get together!” and agree, “We need to see each other more often!” But, as I’m sure many others find, with the busyness of life, those intentions often are forgotten – so I was delighted to have the chance to make good on my promise and share these awesome jeans with them.

I held the gathering at my parents house, since our little place would be a bit crowded with fifteen people. My sisters helped me clean, cook, and set up. They are awesome sisters. Steph (unknowingly) provided the awesome fondue recipe, Katie brought some cookies left over from her wedding….

Which our little guest, my 3-year-old cousin, loved.

It was my aunt’s birthday, so naturally, we made her a cake…

…shaped like a pair jeans.

We set up the jeans table and arranged the awesome (recycled!) tote bags:

Pillowcase around a dirty old bucket – are we creative or what?

With everything ready, we popped open the bubbly, but had a bit of difficulty with the wine:

So my pretty pregnant aunt stepped in to save the day. Teehee.

We spent the rest of the evening chatting, trying on jeans, giving each other feedback, and eating lots of food. I convinced them eating lots of food while trying on jeans was the right thing to do. I mean, you want to have a realistic idea of how they’ll fit you, right? Right. It was basically like we brought the mall to our house – much more comfy, full of delicious food, and lots of girls around to help find the best pair of jeans. It was delightful.

Megan finding her perfect fit. (Hint: It’s probably short. Short girls unite!) (If you look closely, you can see my senior picture 8×10 in the background. Ha.)

Aunt Nat making a wish for awesome jeans. (I totally made her wish come true.)

Chatting in between rounds of squeezing into jeans.

Jenn is crocheting a shawl while rocking the Always Skinny jeans (aka: her date jeans.) I could not stop giggling at how tiny it is. A shawl! The tiniest miniature shawl ever right now.

We all erupted into laughter when he came out with these on. He quieted us with, “Guys! I have to tell you something!” Very seriously: “I think I need a belt.”

I gave him a certificate to get some jeans in his size.

I’m convinced that anything she wears will make her look adorable.

The jeans table started out so neat and organized – it got pretty ransacked by the end….DaYoung and Katie are picking through it to find their size.

“They look SO good!”

Jenn had never own skinny jeans before – and we all agreed she looked amazing in these. She went on a date that night and kept them on. Gap jeans = hot date.

Katie, Jamie, Amy, and April are deciding which styles to try out. Katie’s butt looks so good, she can’t help but grab it, apparently. I don’t blame you, Katie. You’re hot.

The girls loved the jeans. My aunt said, “You can tell Gap we LOVE them. We don’t even have to pretend – these are just awesome.” My friend Jamie was “This is the first pair of skinny jeans I’ve ever had. They never looked good on me before.” (See for yourself.)

With my awesome new Flip video camera, I recorded some answers to Gap’s question, “What were you born to do?” for their YouTube group. Check them out and answer yourself to enter!

Want to try a pair of jeans from Gap for yourself? I have four certificates for jeans to give away – FOUR! That’s four chances to win. Just leave a comment telling me what you were born to do, Tweet (leave URL in a separate comment), or blog (leave URL in a separate comment) about this and you’ll get one entry for each. (I will only count entries that follow these rules, sorry!)

Deadline to enter: Tuesday, September 1st at 9:01 am EST.

Certificate is only valid in stores, not on Gap.com.

I Love These Jeans So Much I’m Throwing a Contest.

CONTEST CLOSED. Thanks!

Channeling Tyra in Gap’s Always Skinny Jeans.

When it comes to jeans, I’m a former cheapskate. In high school and college – I would never spend more than $20 for a pair of jeans. Then I tried on a pair of jeans that were a bit pricier and fate was sealed. They fit. I was cute. I was never buying the cheapest jeans possible again. (And by pricier? You know I mean, like, $40, right? Meh. Maybe I’m still a cheapskate.)

I wear jeans a lot – so having a well fitting, attractive pair is important. And the latest jeans I got from Gap as a part of being a Brand Enthusiast for their Born To Fit campaign?

Wear-them-three-days-in-a-row amazing. They fit me perfectly and are constructed so well. They are comfy – the band is lined with extra fabric for a really luxurious feel.

In celebration and to kick off this little review blog- I’m giving away a $50 gift card to Gap to one lucky person! (This is the first of several giveaways here, so get excited and stayed tuned.)

To enter (one entry for each of the following): 1) Leave a comment with an email address and tell me a staple wardrobe item you think every girl should have. 2) Mention/link to the contest on your blog – leave the link in a comment. 3) Mention the contest on Twitter – leave the link in a comment.

Good luck!

CONTEST CLOSED. Thanks!

Selling My Soul To Gap and Grinning About It.

I feel like a rock star.

No, I’m serious.

Last week, I got an email that I nearly skipped over. I often get emails that mention my blog and some product being a great fit, or how I should use some networking website, or that I can look sexxy for le$$. I’ve grown wary of email. But this one was from a woman at Brand About Town, which I remembered hearing about on some other blogs – girls and their friends got free stuff for being awesome bloggers.

Or something like that.

I instantly freaked out and told my sister, my friend, and Mike about it. I believe my G-chat was something like, “OMG!)(#*@!!!!! GAP CLOTHES!!!!!!!!”

So I did was any self-respecting sell out would and calmly replied, “That would be great!”

Yesterday, I met with Justine, who was adorable and wonderful, by the way. After I stopped aplogizing for Cleveland’s weather (“It’s not usually this crappy! I promise!”), Justine bought me a mocha (Which: I work in the non-profit/community service world – I’m not used to people doing things like that, cue weird feeling of rock star-ness. Yes, I’m easily wooed.) and explained what being a Brand Enthusiast was all about.

Basically, it’s about being awesome and getting awesome stuff.

We were about to leave the coffee shop, when Justine was all, “Right, well why don’t we pop over to the Gap and have a look for a free outfit?” (Imagine this with her cute Australian accent. Continue the wooed-ness.)

“Excuse me? Are you kidding? Seriously? WHAT?”

Seriously.

She walked me around Gap and helped me pick out clothes – she could tell my size just my looking at me, and said several times how “tiny” and “small” I am. I sort of wanted to kiss her on the lips. Plus, she was was like a personal shopper who BOUGHT ME CLOTHES. The Gap girls and Justine kept referring to me as a “blogger;” it was all so surreal. I felt a bit like a deer caught in headlights and like I was dreaming it. Justine was so fabulous though, that an hour after meeting her I felt comfortable enough with her to say things like, “My boobs are too small for this!”

(The day I got the email, by the way, was the day I posted this. Ironic, eh? I must have been a pity-pick.)

Of course, I had to show you what I got, because you know I love photo shoots with myself:

Shorts: freaking adorable, cream and blue stripes, a bit longer than most of my shorts. LOVE.

Can we talk about how adorable this dress is? And how it was actually cheap enough that I would have bought it myself? And how now I have a dress to wear to my cousin’s wedding tomorrow? (I know – the pictures are awfully blurry. Oops. Anyone want to buy me a nice camera?)

Tank top – it’s cute and knit and adorable. But any ideas on how I can wear such a long top without adding 20 lbs to my hips? Try to ignore my face, okay?

Being cheesy in my dress. Seriously, though, HUGE thanks to Gap, Brand About Town, and Justine!

After the best week ever (job! apartment! Gap clothes! street fair!) – I have an equally awesome weekend planned: my favorite band, my cousin’s wedding, and a Father’s Day brunch. I live a semi-charmed kind of life. Baby.