The Winner of the Fit-in 15 Giveaway Is Announced!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Hello-oh? Anybody out there?
I was away up north in a forest to witness the marriage of two dear friends of mine, and then I had a two-day technological snafu that nearly short-circuited my delicate brain matter, so it has taken me a while to announce the winner of my Fit-in 15 giveaway.
Just to refresh your memory about Fit-in 15:
Fit-in 15 has been developed by Canada’s Doctors of Chiropractic, experts in muscle and joint function, and champions of healthy living. They recognize that it can be hard to find time in a busy day to focus on physical activity. That’s why they created Fit-in 15, an easy and manageable way to start the habit. Once Fit-in 15 becomes a regular part of your day, you may find yourself fitting in more.
I have been using the website to encourage myself to continue to move my body every day, because I have gotten into the terrible habit of never moving ever, especially over the last year, and it has me worrying about my heart, lungs, bones, and my ability to live into an old age I can actually enjoy.
Since signing up for the motivational e-mails and keeping up with my progress calendar, I have been able to start forming a new habit for motion. I like moving. I really do now. Where I once thought that lazy was my natural state, I've now realized that that was just a physical depression brought on by lack of motion. Not being able to sit still for hours on end is still a bit of a novelty, but I think I can handle it. It's kind of a relief to discover energy I didn't know I had.
Would you like to know who random.org chose to win the iPod Shuffle and the $20 iTunes gift card? Drumroll, please...
Daysgoby! Drop by her website and offer your congratulations.
I urge the rest of you to head on over to Fit-in 15 and get into the daily habit of staying active. It does't take much — go for a photo walk, play on the equipment at the park, use soup cans as weights — and the extra energy that you'll find showing up in your life will be more than enough reward. I swear.
Labels: giveaways, health, sponsored
Fit-in 15 Check-in
Sunday, June 21, 2009
How are you doing with the Fit-in 15? Surprisingly, I am doing really well. In fact, I'm doing better than well. I've actually been at least doubling that fifteen minutes over the last four days, which is something I didn't really expect from my normally very sedentary self. It seems that once I started moving around on a regular basis, even if it has only been for a handful of days, I wanted to keep moving around. It feels good.
I have only this one body, so I figure that I should probably use it before it hits its expiry date.
Because I have been combining the Fit-in 15 with the early stages of my Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred
, I was planning on taking a picture of my gut every third day to document my progress, but it turns out that my body has decided to swell up with a lovely case of hormonally induced bloating, so not only would the photo not show my progress, but it would also make it look like I have been supplementing the Shred with mini-donuts and milkshakes. I assure you, though, that progress is being made. The ache in my thighs can attest to that fact.I've been getting my Fit-in 15 reminder e-mails and diligently filling in my calendar to keep myself honest, and I have to say that Fit-in 15 is helping me to stay on track with my new push to become healthier and more active on a daily basis.
I've closed comments on this entry in order to encourage you to comment on my original Fit-in 15 post, because if you are a Canadian, you could win an iPod Shuffle and a $20 iTunes gift card just by leaving a comment. No kidding. So head on over and comment already!
Labels: giveaways, health, sponsored, websites
Fit-in 15 for Active Living, an iPod Shuffle, and a $20 iTunes Gift Card
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
A few weeks ago, I wrote an e-mail to a friend in which I joked that I hadn't actively worked out for a sustained period of more than five minutes since 1986. Something about that joke sounded less hyperbolic and more true, so I thought back over the last 21 years and realized that, unless you count the belly dancing class I took a couple of years ago that I skipped out on half the time, I haven't seriously exercised except for walks to the grocery store since 1988. That's 21 years, people.Yeah. I'll let that sink in for a second.
I kind of freaked out about how I was probably rushing myself into an early grave and ordered Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred
while directing the Palinode to bring home some light hand weights after work. Just when I was wondering how I was going to keep myself on track with this whole exercise-to-stave-off-death thing, because my track record is terrible, I was contacted asked if I would like to participate in the Canadian Chiropractic Association's one-week active living challenge, the Fit-in 15.What is Fit-in 15?
Fit-in 15 has been developed by Canada’s Doctors of Chiropractic, experts in muscle and joint function, and champions of healthy living. They recognize that it can be hard to find time in a busy day to focus on physical activity. That’s why they created Fit-in 15, an easy and manageable way to start the habit. Once Fit-in 15 becomes a regular part of your day, you may find yourself fitting in more.
This came at just the right time. I figure that if I layer the Fit-in 15's motivational e-mails and progress calendar onto my Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred, I might just be able to turn this physical activity thing into a daily habit.
You can't really tell how very, very much I need this in the photo below, because, you know, the HOTNESS, but my body sort of feels like a soft loaf of Wonderbread. Normally, I would keep this sort of thing to myself, but I am willing to go to great lengths to keep myself on track, and if that means showing you my pasty, white, kind of blurry midsection, then that's what I'll do. Fit-in 15 is more about encouraging people to start small and simply begin forming the habit of being active every day and less about dramatic transformation, but I wanted to show you what has motivated me to take part in this challenge. For your health and safety, I am keeping the present state of my butt to myself.
And guess what? I have a motivational carrot to dangle in front of you, and we all love motivational carrots. I have an iPod shuffle with a $20 iTunes gift card to give away. Here's how to qualify:
Physical activity! Health! An iPod Shuffle! Leave a comment!
UPDATE: The giveaway closing date is midnight CST on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009.
Labels: giveaways, health, sponsored, websites
Get a $30 Discount on Sheepskin Boots by Whooga
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Michael from Whooga contacted me yesterday to ask if I might know some people who are interested in a $30 discount on his line of sheepskin boots. Michael, I thought, I just might.Boots? For our feet? But, of course! I have a bit of a thing for footwear if the the shoe rack by my front door indicates anything, and I also really like to give things away, and a discount on boots is kind of like a cross between footwear and free, so I'm in like sin.
Whooga makes a superior line of sheepskin boots in colours ranging from white to black with browns, purples, and whatnot in between. They even do the boot in a line of metalics. Whooga believes that "...sheepskin boots should be the ultimate indulgence for your feet...", which is why they make them with a premium grade of smooth Merino sheepskin. The lower grades of sheepskin usually used to make traditional Australian ugg boots are comparatively cheap to the Merino sheepskin that Whooga uses, but Whooga's use of the higher quality Merino sheepskin means that their boots have a softer and lusher feeling against your skin (not scratchy), have thicker foot beds with greater spring, are warmer in winter and cooler in summer, and have improved durability for longer lasting comfort.
And now for the part where YOU get the discount.
If you would like $30 off a pair of these boots — I kind of like the Tan Weaves with their Star-Warsy desert aesthetic — simply enter this discount code: SCHMUTZIE.
This discount code may be used once per customer and will be good for the next four months. If you are worried about shipping costs, don't. Whooga ships its boots for the low flat rate of $15 USD.
I should also mention that they are running a Whooga ugg boots giveaway, so if you want a chance to win a pair, follow the link and take part.
What pair do you have your eye on?
UPrinting Gallery Wrapped Canvas Print Winner Announced!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
We have a winner!In order to pick a winner, I numbered each of the comments and blog posts in order of entry date, and then I used random.org to randomly generate the winner's number, but you really don't care about that, because you just want to know if YOU won.
The gallery wrapped canvas print goes to NOT UNDECIDED! If you are Not Undecided, you will be contacted shortly by UPrinting so that you can claim your prize.
If you didn't win but are still interested in creating prints of your favourite photos for yourself or as gifts for other people, UPrinting offers a variety of printing services, including poster printing. I am horrible at figuring out what to give people on special occasions, but now that I think about it, I could totally whip up a poster in Photoshop to make it look like my brother is jumping off a cliff with bags full of kittens. I know that sounds weird, but he would completely appreciate the humour in that one. I wonder if it would go with he and his wife's decor?
UPrinting Giveway: You Could Win a Free Gallery Wrapped Canvas Print!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
I am seriously very excited to tell you about this 16X20 GALLERY WRAPPED CANVAS PRINT that I am giving away. Gallery wrapped canvas prints are so beautiful as is that they can pretty much be hung on your wall without worrying about extra framing, and I actually prefer them to frames prints, which is why I am excited to tell you the next thing which is very, very awesome.On behalf of UPrinting.com, who do everything from business cards to poster printing, I am giving away a 16X20 GALLERY WRAPPED CANVAS PRINT. Oh, right. I already told you that. Well, what I haven't told you is that this giveaway is in honour of Father's Day, which makes this giveaway extra awesome, because I don't know about you, but I find my father particularly difficult to buy for. I feel like I am far too old to rely on the old golf balls/tie/socks routine, but I'd feel kind of weird giving him a hammer *, and this gallery wrapped canvas print idea is perfect for him. There is this one photograph that his late brother took of me when I was three years old, and I'm thinking that that one is perfect for a canvas print to give him for Father's Day. It has just the right amount of sentimentality and family history tied to it.
Right, so on to the giveaway! Here's how to enter for TWO chances to win:
1) Are you a Canadian or United States resident? Yes? Then move on to number two.
2) In the comments, describe the photo you would use for your gallery wrapped canvas print if you won.
3) If you would like to have two chances to win, post an entry about this giveaway on your own weblog with a link back to this entry.
You have until the evening of May 31, 2009 to enter. I will assign each of the entries a number and use random.org to pick a winner, after which I will post an entry announcing the lucky entrant.
So, what would you like to see on your gallery wrapped canvas print?
Good luck everyone!
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* I'm not exactly sure why I defaulted to a hammer as being the alternative gift to the usual golf balls/tie/socks. I guess that I just don't know a whole lot about tools or other things that my dad might be interested in, and my dad's a man's man kind of guy, so I picked the most basic tool I could think of that I know he'd find useful, although, to be honest, I've never seen him hammer anything that I can remember.
UPrinting Giveaway Winners!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
As promised, we have TWO lucky winners of 500 free business cards each from UPrinting!As I've mentioned before, UPrinting is a company with over 25 years of experience in business card printing, and they asked me if I would like to offer up 1000 free business cards to my readers, to which I of course said yes. I love giving away presents, and apparently you all like to receive them, because twenty-some of you entered to win, and I used random.org to randomly pick the two bloggers fated to enjoy them.
The first winner is Mamalang, who, as a future fellow Etsy seller, wants to use them to promote her goods. It seems we both have the same idea. The second winner is Temerity Jane, whose new freelance writing career wouldn't suffer from some good promo materials, either. It's such a joy to give these business cards away to winners who will both be using them to further new endeavours.
You two lucky ducks can expect an e-mail shortly from UPrinting so that you can claim your prizes. Enjoy!
If you have a product, movie, or anything else that you would like to have reviewed on this website, please contact me at schmutzie at gmail dot com.
Reviews will promptly be posted here, and links to individual reviews will be mentioned on both my main website at 