The CSN stores contest didn’t draw as much attention as I thought it would, but I picked a winner today instead of using random.org. I suggested that people leave me an interesting comment to catch my eye, and this comment certainly did. It made me laugh too.

So congratulations Deni. I will give your e-mail address to the CSN stores rep and they will then contact you to give you the gift card!

I must be doing something right, since I was contacted for the third time by CSN stores to do a giveaway on my blog here. Of course I always jump at the chance to work with the lovely company as their customer service reps are pleasant to deal with over e-mails. Last time I ended up looking for a Dutch Oven, but realized I didn’t exactly need one, and opted for a dog bed for Alfie. He and I both love it to this day, and it’s always in our living room for him to rest on.

See? Adorable dog bed, right?

There is however, international shipping charges that aren’t covered in this giveaway only if you live in Canada. Of course I happen to live here in Canada, so that’s a pity. But I mean, if I’m given a $60 gift card, I sure as heck don’t mind paying a few bucks out of my pocket to get a great product from CSN stores, right?

Alright basically all you have to do is enter something to catch my eye in the comments. I  am undecided at the moment whether or not i want to choose the winner myself, or go the random.org route. So leave an interesting comment and comment as often as you wish!

The deets:

• Contest open until noon, Monday August 23, 2010. Comments after contest closing will be deleted. *Obviously.
• Giveaway will only be open to US and Canadian readers.
• Winner will be e-mailed a coupon code for any of the 200 CSN stores valued at $60.00
  

Have fun everyone!

I didn’t do a race re-cap of the race that my Boyf did yesterday. I woke up at 3:30am, drove up north — we got back at about 6:30pm and ate some quiznos and headed to bed at 9pm. Awesome evening.

However that doesn’t stop me from drawing a random.org name for the DownEast basics contest winner!

Congratulations Useridk! Please e-mail me with the product (from the New Arrivals section), size and color along with your name and shipping information to me at spiffykerms at gmail dot com.

Oh yeah, and the QUEEN of England is here today. Snipers on buildings? No biggie. Regular blogging will resume later on today and maybe post some prevera reviews?

Since I’m from “Down East” (Eastern Canada, Newfoundland to be more specific), I was automatically drawn to the online store DownEast Basics for some fashionable yet casual clothes for either work or weekends.

I was excited when they sent me a tee from their new arrivals section of their site. This is called the Fancy Tee online and retails in the store for $16.99. As for the fit of the shirts? I requested a size small and probably could have easily gotten an XS. I usually never opt for an extra small because often times I’m not that size.I ended up getting my regular size, in a small — however when I wore it for a full day it seemed as though I could have easily asked for the XS and have it be totally fine, I guess it’s a big make.

The top is really pretty but when I saw neckline on the Fancy Tee online it looked different that it does in person. Online the fancy tee looks like the seams on the neck are just sewn with some satin peaking through, but in person it’s raw edges and a lot of layers of cotton/satin. It’s kind of neat really. But I thought I would let you guys know!

DownEast Basics is pretty rockin’, I have to say. This top would be super cute running errands and maybe even dressed up with some white pants and accessories and you could easily pull this off in a casual work environment. Like any working female, I like to look good for work or “play”. I usually end up putting together a whole weeks worth of clothes together on Sunday night. I definitely would like to get more clothing from DownEast basics, mainly because the store is stylin’ and fits right within my budget. Not too expensive either.

Since I am quite incompetent with putting together outfits, I liked how DownEast Basics’s store works, online. Everything is paired up with one another, so it’s not just showing a model wearing the tee, or just the skirt. You’ll see her wearing accessories, and even carrying purses. That right there gives me tons of ideas on what to pair items up with.

Here are some of my favorite items from their site:

Daydreamer top $22.99 [ x ]

Rise & Sprout Skirt $29.99 [ x ]

Basically this whole outfit + the Rose Garden Cardigan $36.99 [ x ]

And this halter/tankini swim suit $29.99 [ x ]

There is such a diverse selection on the Down East website that it would appeal to anyone of any age for that matter, as the styles just aren’t simply “one set style”. They’re classic pieces that could be worn for more than just one season. Also? So fabulous that you have a variety of accessories, bags and even SWIM wear!! The perfect one stop shop for me. Plain and simple. The site is so easy to navigate, even if a person (like my Mother) just getting into online shopping would find this site easy to search and find what they’re looking for.

Now tell me something. What is a review without a giveaway for my readers? I know you guys love freebies and having a chance to win something fun from DownEast Basics! However the item you pick out must be from the new arrivals section.

I’m not going to make you jump through hoops. But if you want additional entries for this contest, just read the rules and follow! Your first comment is basically free, see below!

Rules and Regulations:

1. Comment once and tell me if you won, which item would you pick from the New Arrivals section?
2. Comment again if you become a fan of DownEast Basics on Facebook
3. Comment for the 3rd time if you follow DownEast Basics on Twitter
4. Last comment? Tweet or Blog about this giveaway!
5. Contest will be open to residents of the USA and Canada
   
6. Contest will close 12 noon EST, July 5, 2010. Additional entries after that will not be counted, and deleted at a later time.
7. Winner will be drawn from random.org

After this review/giveaway, the winner you choose will not be eligible to win another DownEast giveaway on my blog for at least 90 days.

Once the winner is selected, I will request they send me an e-mail with what they would like (from the New Arrivals section) in the color/size + shipping information. I will contact DownEast Basics and send them the information! :)

Wahoooo giveaways are fun! Good luck all. Remember, if you don’t win there’s always next time. Giveaways on spiffykerms.com are a super fun regular occurrence!

I posted on twitter not too long ago that gmail and google weren’t working for me which is the reason why I haven’t posted the lulu-winners! Duh, I freaking don’t need that in order to post them!

The lululemon giveaway was great and had 58 entries.

1st Prize: $15 gift card, luon headband, Lululemon towel, and lulu hair ties*
2nd prize: $10 gift card, luon headband, and lululemon towel.
3rd prize: luon headband and lulu hair ties*.

First place is…

Kelly, you will get to pick out what color headband, and what color towel you will want me to send you — congrats lady!

Second place winner:

Ashley — once you send me your e-mail with your address, I’ll write back to let you know which headband color and towel is left after Kelly chooses hers!

Micaela gets third place and will receive a lulu headband and hair ties. You’ll get a towel too, I’m not sure why I forgot to mention that in the contest. Whups.

Congrats to all you ladies! Kelly, Ashley and Micaela please e-mail me at spiffykerms at gmail dot com with your mailing address and I’ll get that out in the mail to you all within the next week!

What can I say? I love having giveaways/contests. Since I’ve been writing about my love for Lululemon products, I decided to share the love and have a Lululemon giveaway on my website! I haven’t attempted more than one prize per giveaway, but I think this will be fun and give more people chances to win a little something.

1st Prize: $15 gift card, luon headband, Lululemon towel, and lulu hair ties*
2nd prize: $10 gift card, luon headband, and lululemon towel.
3rd prize: luon headband and lulu hair ties*.

(*note: these won’t work with thick hair. Gift cards are valued in Canadian dollars.)

The first prize winner will be able to pick their colors out from what I bought. Everything is in a different color (headbands and towels that is). Exciting!

I almost don’t want to give this all away. I love just staring at it all.Pretty colors.

Grey, Blue and Pink towels.

This contest is super easy to enter. Just tell me why you would like to win! Or, what have you been coveting from the Lululemon website, but still haven’t splurged on?

You’ll get an additional comment if you tweet it “@spiffykerms is giving away lululemon gear! Visit http://tinyurl.com/love4lulu”, and you can receive another comment below if you blog about it! Ideally, you have three chances to win. If you do all three, please leave three separate comments or they will not be counted!

Enter by Saturday June 19, 11AM EST. Winners will be selected through www.random.org.

Contest is open to residents of Canada and USA.

Good luck!

I went to a movie last night and totally forgot to announce the winner of the swim suit. I know you’re all dying to know who the winner was. I picked the winner through random.org and the winner is:

Congratulations Melanie! Please send me your mailing address along with the swim suit sizing, top  (Lizzie?) and bottom colors you would like, to me at spiffykerms at gmail dot com and I will forward your information to the girls at Lime Ricki!

For those of you that had questions while entering, I have some answers!

• The coupon code for 10% off: spiffy10 is valid til July 31, 2010.
• Shipping to Canada? Here are the deets:
  • Standard: 3-5 days, $5.50 base, $2.00 per item
  • Priority: 2-3 days, $6.50 base, $2.00 per item
  • Express: 1-2 days, $35.00 base, $2.00 per item

Thanks again everyone for entering, it was fun.

There are three bikinis in my “swim suit basket” which is stuffed with underwear and socks since I don’t wear swim suits all that often so they don’t even need their own drawer. I only have one bikini that I wear, because the other two just don’t fit me correctly. Why am I keeping them!?

I bought a brown bikini for €7 in Ireland in 2007 when I went to visit my Brother over Christmas. I had yet to find one that I love just as much. Most times it’s the bottoms that are the problem as they don’t cover a lot of my tush, and even the front gets alarmingly low. It’s a shame because there are so many cute swim suits out there, they just don’t look all that flattering on.

I’ve actually never worn a bikini until I bought my first one in ‘07. I was often self conscious of my body and didn’t really like them. For all those ladies who  don’t wear bikinis and would like to perk up their one piece and tankinis, I found a great site for the modest gals who like to cover up but still look cute and fun. As I mentioned on twitter a while back I was browsing Lime Ricki’s website which have quite modest swim suits for those that don’t want to wear a bikini all the time, like myself. Especially when “the pookies” (please don’t make me explain) get out of hand.

Forwarding on Lime Ricki’s site to a friend of mine, she replied back with her favorite choices of swim suits and told me that Lime Ricki is “Totally vintage kind of modest glam“. She totally got that right when she mentioned that they’re super cute and for ladies that refuse to wear bikinis would really LOVE these. So true!Lime Ricki sent me the Lucy tankini to review and I just love it. I almost want to wear the top out as regular summery top, it’s that pretty. Oh and heyyyyy the bottoms FIT! That’s what happens when three sisters get together and create a bunch of swim suits that you don’t have to tug at. You can just be comfortable.

(The bathroom lighting is a little yellow. But it’s just as vibrant as the photo above, promise!)

I think the product shots of the models wearing these tankini’s are just really well done. I have to say that I definitely feel fabulous even while covered up in this tankini. Notice the bottoms how they’re not insanely low on the body? They come up to a normal yet not-too-high rise. So happy about that.

The ladies at Lime Ricki have decided that they want to give one of my lucky readers a swim suit too! For those that don’t win, you can use a 10% off code so you too, don’t miss out on the goodness.

Gosh, you gals are so lucky. What better way to start the summer, with a brand new swim suit? Here’s how it’ll work.

Comment and tell me what you’d get if you won.

Simple as that! The contest is open to residents of the USA and Canada and I will close it in 3 days: June 11, 2010 9PM EST. Entries there after will be deleted.

The coupon code for 10% off is: spiffy10 Just enter it in the checkout!

Winner of the Misikko hair straightener contest is…

Congratulations Kaylee! Please send me your e-mail address to spiffykerms at gmail dot com, and I will be in contact with you for your address!

As I mentioned yesterday, you guys will have a chance to win this hair straightener too! So here it is. The Misikko giveaway!

If you join the Misikko newsletter, please comment three additional times in the comments below just repeating yourself saying something along the lines of “I joined the Misikko newsletter, here’s comment #1″ and so on.

1. Comment … with anything!
2. Blog or Tweet about this giveaway — you don’t have to be a follower of mine to tweet it.
3. Follow Misikko on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/misikko).
4. Join Misikko Newsletter (that’s 3 extra entries for you!)

Yep. You have SIX whole chances to win. Wow, that’s a lot! :)

The winner must be from the US or Canada since this particular iron is not dual voltage, sorry international readers!

Good luck! Contest will close 12:00 noon EST – Monday May 10, 2010. Winners will be drawn by random.org