Thursday, August 13, 2009

Birthday Countdown - Giveaway 1

So, this is my least favorite time of year. Not because of school shopping and all the madness that surrounds getting the kids back into the groove. Not because the weather is still ridiculously hot. It's because this month houses my least favorite day of the year...my birthday.

And rest assured, it's not because of the whole aging thing and all that nonsense. I stopped caring about my age many years ago. It's because my birthday has never really felt like a special day to me and it just makes me sad.
(and it is mildly possible that I now overcompensate with my kids birthdays as a result, but that's a whole other blog post)

This year I'm determined to not let my birthday get me down. And because I love the feeling that I get when I give a gift, I'm doing a week of giveaways just for y'all! Each day will be a different item. I'm giving away some of my favorite things. You can enter each giveaway as many times as you want. Yep, that's right. But, you have to leave a meaningful comment. Not just "pick me, pick me!" Compliments will score you brownie points. Telling me about your favorite birthday memory is a good one. What you like to give/get for birthdays are also good. Anything that you want to tell me.

All giveaways are sponsored by yours truly. All of these birthday giveaways will end at midnight on August 19th (my actual birthday) and winners will be emailed and announced here on the 20th. Good luck and make sure you check back daily for the newest giveaway announcement.

Giveaway Day 1

I love LL Bean. They're one of my favorite companies and the fact that they're located in Freeport, Maine is just a bonus. Their Maine Isle Flip Flops are the BEST I've ever found. And so, today's giveaway is a $10 giftcard to LL Bean!

Believe me, if you're a bargain shopper online, you can make that $10 stretch like crazy. Now, go forth and leave your comments!

91 comments:

Shannon said...

Well, you know what my sister has bought me for my birthday! HA!

Which reminds me... I need to talk to you about that! I'll call you tomorrow... or later today, actually...

Jane In The Jungle said...

Ok I'm like you, birthdays were never special at my house so now for the kids and Greg and I, I make it a whole day/weekend blow out. Pick where you want to eat, each meal, have a party, pick your own gifts or choose to be surprised, on and on. And let me tell ya, come March for the BIG 50, it better be a HUGE extravaganza!!!!

casey aubut said...

How nice of you to give gifts on your bday! Happy Birthday!!
cassandra@aubut.net

Karen said...

I am not going to sing Happy Birthday to you as I will hurt your ears but, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

I share mine in June with my deceased Mom, sister, niece, deceased Hubby, and now current boyfriend! It is like Christmas every six months, or was!

I think 30 was one of my favs as I had just divorced my 1st Hubs and my Mom and I went to Las Vegas for our B-Days and I won about $2000

I don't worry about age any more. We are like fine wine, we get better with age!

Happy Birthday!!!

brainella said...

Yeah, I'm counting down to my birthday too. Mostly so I can have GOOD cake. :-) That's the whole point of a birthday. GOOD cake.

Angela said...

Fun! I like this idea. Do I get any extra points for introducing you to the Maine Isle Flippies, LOL!?

Angela said...

PS I think you will LOVE your bday present this year. I am so excited about having found something I KNOW you'll adore. No unhappy birthdays this year!!

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Birthdays have never been a big deal around here either. My friend Michelle is about to turn 40 and she is doing an entire month of parties. I am thinking I need to be all over that one!

Happy Birthday to you!

Unknown said...

Happy bday and thanks for giving US gifts!

Angie's Spot said...

This one is for Maggie from Facebook.

Angie's Spot said...

This one is for Maribeth from Facebook.

Beth said...

What a great way to celebrate!! Giving is just as fun as receiving, huh. Thanks for the chance. L.L. Bean has great fleece's and I'd love to pick out a new one.

Andrea said...

My favorite birthday gift now is hearing my little ones say happy birthday and I love you.
a10small@hotmail.com

*Monica* said...

~*Happy Birthday*~ to you~
Make it a great day
Don't be depressed. Cheer up :0

polarbearmonnie@aol.com

Brandy said...

Oh sweetie! Birthdays are meant to be special. I always love my birthday growing up and even now Stevie tries to make it special for me. (I'm not saying it always works, but he gets points for trying.)

Brandy said...

You already know I'm a crazy bargain shopper so I would be able to make it stretch like taffy! LOL!

Jenni said...

Happy Birthday!! I love LL Bean stuff too. I live in NH.

Telisha said...

Happy Birthday! I'm actually really bad about celebrating. I make sure my kids have a really good time, but my own kind of slips by. We live on a budget, so I think my favorite thing to do is just go out on a date with my husband to a good movie, and a chinese restaurant. I'm not hard to please =0). Hey thanks for the chance.

Marie said...

I never done anything special for my birthday but my favorite birthday memory is my making my sons first birthday. We decorated everything Elmo, invited some close family and friends over. My son had a blast, he played the whole entire party and stood up to 9:30 which is a big deal for him because he is bed till 8. He also had his 1st bday cake. I'm going to try to make every birthday as special as the first.

mccataquet(at)comcast(dot)net

Shooting Stars Mag said...

Oh, count me in. I love celebrating my birthday for the most part. I normally like other people's better b/c I love to try and find something fun and unique to give them. gift cards are great for me, because I'd rather pick out what I want and know that I'll like it, but for others, I love to find a nice book or something they would love.

-Lauren
lauren51990 AT aol DOT com

Shooting Stars Mag said...

A good birthday memory is celebrating it at the park. It was for my 18th, so it was definitely a lot of fun. We just swung on the swings and acted like little kids.

-lauren
lauren51990 at aol dot com

Lisa R said...

LL does have some quality products

DLANNAN said...

I understand how you feel about birthdays. Years ago I loved my birthday. My mom would make me my favorite meal (corn beef and cabbage...yes I am Irish). And if I was away on my bday she would call and sing to me. 6 yrs ago she passed away so now while I still can somewhat enjoy my bday it's a bit sad. The first year after she died I told my now husband how she used to call and sing and how I missed that. Later that night he called me and sang me happy birthday. It was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.

Julie said...

My birthday was the 13th of this month so this would make a better late than never gift for me :)

aunteegem@yahoo.com

Meredith said...

I always think birthdays are a fun time to think about what you want the year ahead of you to focus on.

Anonymous said...

Love LL Bean... great quality.

I just had my birthday too

Shooting Stars Mag said...

I have to say that if I won, I would probably give this to my mom because she's the type to never get anything for herself....so if I give her a gift card, she HAS to use it there and I think she'd enjoy it much more than I would.

-Lauren
lauren51990 at aol dot com

Shooting Stars Mag said...

Once again, happy birthday! i have a couple friends who are celebrating soon. it's always so hard to find gifts but I think i'm going to stick to a book or something for one of them.

lauren
lauren51990 at aol dot com

jillie said...

Birthday is coming up soon...looking forward to family freinds and of course CAKE!!

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday! And you're giving us gifts on your birthday?!

That's very sweet :)

leoandchelle(at)yahoo(dot)com

Michelle said...

Awww, I hope you have a happy birthday, Angie! My husband's family never did much for birthdays either... and now he doesn't GET birthdays. At least you get them for your kids. *sigh*

Rachel said...

Thanks for offering this contest. Hope we win.

Cha Ching Queen
www.chachingqueen.com

Natalie A. said...

Happy Birthday! What a fun idea you are doing?!! Thanks for the chance to win!
coolnatty12@yahoo.com

Smoochiefrog said...

I like to get time alone for my birthday! With 4 tadpoles, that is such a HUGE gift. :)

jengd said...

I LOVE LLBean. We pass near one when we go to visit our parents and tend to stop there. The pants are my husband's favs and they've got some really cute/nice sweaters for my son. Me... I just like everything. :)

Ms. Cindy said...

I love LLBean too! Happy Birthday! You are so sweet to do these giveaways! Thanks!

monkeyami1@yahoo.com

Country Mouse, City Mouse said...

Happy Birthday to you!

Those flip flops are awesome...I bought two pairs this summer, plus one for my daughter. My mom got them, as did my sister too!

I am going to be so bummed when October comes and I should stop wearing them!!

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

Bring. It. On.

Though I am not a flip flop kind of gal (I like quiet shoes and those things in between my toes make me grumpy) they always look so cute on other people. I have a sister and a niece who could use a cute pair...

marelsa said...

LL Bean is great a big part of our vacation is a stop at the store in Maine Happy birthday

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday!!!

I found my bf of 1 year (so far!) 3 days after my birthday. He's the best gift I could ever have prayed for!!

mzpaw@yahoo.com

Mom Union said...

Well, Happy Birthday Girl! Thank you for the contest. I can use all the gift cards I can get right now.
dontaskme22@yahoo.com

Mom Union said...

My best birthday cake wasn't really a cake at all. I was overweight as a child and my mother tried to help by offering fun substitutions. So one year, instead of a cake, my mother made a watermelon "basket." She cut 2 wedges out of the watermelon to form a "basket" then she cut the watermelon to the rind in the area between the wedges to form the basket "handle." She used a melon baller to hallow out the watermelon. Then she filled it with lots of fresh fruit like strawberries, grapes and other melons. Instead of ice cream she served sherbert. It was awesome. It looked so cool that I didn't even miss cake.
dontaskme22@yahoo.com

Mom Union said...

Speaking of birthdays. Birthdays aren't nearly as exciting as they were when I was a child and couldn't wait to get older. (what were we thinking?!?) Did you ever refer to your age in half years. Like "I'm eight and A HALF!" Now I refer to myself as 18 with 20 years of experience. :)
Anyway, Happy birthday to you, Heather
dontaskme22@yahoo.com

cstironkat said...

Thank you for a wonderful gift. If your birthday gets you down, try to remember how special you are. This has helped me.

Sandra K321 said...

Hope you have a great birthday! I love the LL Bean canvas tote bags and I would use your card towards a new one.

Pat said...

Well how nice of you to have a week of giveaways for us because it's your birthday.
pkildow at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

Hope you have a happy birthday. My 46th bday was on 7/25, and my husband got me NOTHING not even a card! I'm going to rehash and revisit this for the coming year every chance I get. He promised to set off fireworks and scatter roses next year. Charlotte
charlottewinters@cox.net

Aleksandra Nearing said...

Happy birthday! I love birthday celebrations and thanks for the cool giveaway!

agordon10 said...

My husband took me to santa monica for my last birthday as a surprise

Unknown said...

when my best friend turned 30, I gave her a gift with a big lollipop attached that said "30 sucks". When I turned 30, 3 years later, my present had the same lollipop. I was debating on eating it when she proudly told me it was 3 years old! She had saved that sucker for me! It was funny, but maybe you had to be there. Have a great birthday!

mverno said...

i can so buy good things for the happy day mverno@roadrunner.com

Dolphin Girl said...

LL Bean has the best stuff and it holds up so well! Thanks!

Charity S said...

Life is so precious..and I'm thankful for every birthday! My grandmother use to say.."You get old, or die young". I would rather get old. Have a Happy Birthday..and many more.

Thanks

charisscharity [at] yahoo [dot] com

Gloria's Bits and Pieces said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Suburban prep said...

I love LL Bean. my father actually says that my husband and I try to squeeze a nickel out of a penny. In this economy you have to.

Hope that you do have a lovely birthday.

Amy delong said...

LL bean has some really nice long sleeved tees for women!

ardelong2(at)gmail(dot)com

Anonymous said...

I love L.L. Bean! It's such a great site to shop for family because they carry items for all members of the family! Happy Birthday, and thanks for being so generous!

Marianna said...

I haven't shopped at LL Bean in years but this reminds me to go back and check them out! Happy birthday!

Anonymous said...

My favorie birthday memory is of my son's first birthday. Our house is small--and it's in Dec.--so we only invited immediate family. After the candles were blown out, we cut the piece and set it down in front of him. At that point, he decided to start hitting the cake with his hands! The harder we laughed at this adorable site, the harder he pounded! Even the icing was in crumbs! This year he's turning 14 and I pull out that memory a lot--especially when the teenage horomones kick in!!
Thank you for the contest!

Kate said...

Happy Birthday!

LL Bean always makes good birthday gifts- my parents shop there all the time!

strycker@slu.edu

Anonymous said...

I love LL Bean!

kliver5150(at)yahoo(dot)com

Anonymous said...

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday to you!

Julie said...

I am a LLBean fan also-love their styles and how long the clothes last :)

aunteegem@yahoo.com

Julie said...

This giveaway was started on my birthday-Aug 13th. What made this birthday special for me was that I was able to go home and visit my family

aunteegem@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Birthdays ARE special! I love LL Bean too! :)

Erica C. said...

LL Bean is great and has such quality items. This would be a great birthday gift :)

iggysaysno said...

This is a great idea you had.... sounds like something that might help me to like my birthday again, too!

Sarah Eliza @ devastateboredom said...

I actually love my birthday, even if there isn't much of a fuss for it... this year I'm planning on taking the day off from work and just doing whatever I feel like. ;P That's the best way to celebrate if you ask me!

I hope you're celebratin' it up today! :)

Tina12312 said...

Again, Happy Birthday to you! I understand what you're saying about birthdays, mine is the day after Christmas and I have never felt that it was a special day ever. I hope you have a great one this year! I love LLBean and I recently ordered a pair of beautiful, comfortable mocassins from them in pink for $15! Great bargains there. Thank you!

buzzd said...

Birthdays are the best! LL Bean has so much great stuff and good sales.

degood said...

Happy birthday. I need to get my youngest son a new bag and I know LLbean has the best one. I also love their shoes.

Linda said...

The best birthday present I have received was my grandson on my birthday!
lgrieser(at)sbcglobal(dot)net

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday! For my birthday this year I got my first birthday card that said "To my Wife" - we're newlyweds and it's awesome to see the words still!

Tarah
tarah716[at]ymail.com

chazvgo said...

I love LL Bean they have the cutest backpacks for kids :)

tiff snedaker said...

LL Bean has some cute stuff. I've always been happy with clothing that I"ve bought there.

snedfam at gmail dot com

Sarah said...

This would be a good birthday gift for my friend, Donna, who likes to take breaks at B&N in Bloomington, IN.

Carma Sez said...

Happy Birthday - and I love LL Bean :-)

rosannepm said...

I'd like to try those Flip Flops you recommend
rosans4@comcast.net

Kelly said...

I grew up with huge birthday celebrations...not a lot of gifts but a lot of love. Since my husband and I moved states closer to his family, we don't celebrate like my family used to...it was hard at first, but I know that I am blessed with both families and shouldn't get discouraged when no one says Happy Birthday...so,
Happy Birthday to you!!!!

Kelly said...

By the way, I love LLBean! Thanks for the chance!

Unknown said...

Birthday's have always been fun in my family! And now that we are older, we make the kids birthdays even better! They always have fun making their own sundae's, swimming and playing games, pony rides (on our horses), etc! They love it and talk about it for years!

I Hope you have a wonderful and memorable birthday, because you definitely deserve it!

Thanks

ksweeper21@gmail.com

CC said...

I love LL BEan. Love it. Even went to Maine just to visit their factory store.

speechforme gamil

CC said...

For my birthday I got some cash which I used towards a fitness pass. The gift that keeps on giving! ;)

speechforme gamil

Deb said...

Happy Birthday!

I could really use the gift card to go toward a pair of their mocs for my son for back to school. That boy grows out of shoes to quickly! Thanks for the great giveaway.

Anonymous said...

Well, in all my 31-years I've never received48 anything for my birthday, this would be the first!
8/19/1978

Ginney said...

...the 48 was a typo, sorry! I'm trying to type with my son 3-year old son reciting the alphabet one inch from my face, I seem to have mis-typed 48 or he did a fast one on me an snuck those hands of terror on my keyboard, gotta love him though lol...

covercover said...

Happy Birthday!

Thanks for the giveaways!

ktanjatk(at)gmail(dot)com

Brian E. said...

Thanks for the giveaway and HAPPY B-Day !!! A wise man (or was it a woman) once said that the secret to a long and happy life is...blogging !!!

senorpiero [at] yahoo [dot] com

Kathy P said...

happy birthday :)

i usually give cash for birthdays then they can use it for what they want :)

Nancy S. said...

Happy Birthday! It is very nice for you to give away presents for your birthday.
ncschools at yahoo dot com

Deb K said...

My favorite Birthday memory was when I turned 30 and my family had a surprise party for me with all my baby pictures hanging up all over the bar! :)

Thanks for the chance to win and I agree not to worry about age as you are only as old as you feel :)

 

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