It feels like ages since I've done a H54F post! I feel like I  have a few things to talk about, so let's get to it..

1. R and I hosted a successful Friendsgiving on Saturday. We had, including ourselves 12 adults, 2 small children, and 2 energetic cats. We were able to squeeze everyone into 3 tables pushed together. It was pure amazingness! (Yeah I know, not really a word.. lol). We made the soup from our wedding (Mushroom Merlot.. to die for by the way), a 11 pound turkey, 2 kinds of stuffing, sweet potatoes, and a sweet potato cheesecake. Friends brought other sides and beverages. All in all an amazing feast!

She was helping and got worn out fast.. I did clean this off before the guests arrived..

2. LulaRoe announced their Elegant Collection this week and the pieces are TO DIE FOR. I can only hope to get my hands on something. If you aren't familiar with LulaRoe, you are probably living under a rock, because it is so hot right now. Not only is it comfy, but it is stylish. I feel like I wear something from their line weekly.

(Source)

3. I am celebrating my 1 year anniversary working for the SPCA. It is such an amazing and rewarding job. I get to be apart of saving innocent animals lives when they had nowhere else to go. The time and effort these amazing people put into these animals is overwhelming. I couldn't imagine a more rewarding career.

4. Being that it is mid-November, I wanted to do a small happy dance that the temperature has been pretty amazing. We have gotten some 60 degree weather and that is pretty great. I hear that may change this weekend, and we might get some of that 4 letter word that no one likes to say, but I will admit, we have been blessed with the weather we have had.

5. I want to remind everyone that I am hosting a tea (and coffee) swap. Sign ups are open until November 28th and all buddies will be announced by November 30th. It is a fun way to meet someone new and you get to sample some new tea or coffee. Sign up for the Tea Swap today!



In case you missed it...

Dear America, Today is Veteran's Day
Weekly Wins: Vol. 4
Wellness Wednesday:  Live in the present

Have a great weekend!


Linking up today with:

It's no secret that I enjoy the freebie things in life. Although I am on a freebie freeze at the moment due to some address changes coming up, and lord knows I don't want to miss out on anything because it was sent to my old address. People often ask me how I do it. What are my "secrets"? Well today I wanted to share with you my top 5 favorite places to scope out freebies to review.

Remember not everything that you get for free is "free". There is often a little work involved when you get some of the better freebies. These things include writing reviews, promoting on social media, hosting parties, and just all around letting people know about this product. If you are cool with that then you are already one step in the right direction. These are not in any particular order. They are all great sites!

One
Crowdtap - Crowdtap is a Social Influence Marketing platform. What that means is brands ask you questions both about their products and your every day lives to gain research for marketing their products. You have 2 actions: Quickhits and Missions/Challenges. The Quickhits are short questions you can click your answer to where the Missions/Challenges are asking you to do something. All free samples and parties come out of these. I have gotten some great products to sample and review through this site. Bonus to this site is getting entered into drawings every month for gift certificates. I paid for Christmas last year on Amazon gift cards alone last year from this site.

Two
Influenster - You all know how much I love Influenster. This is a site where you can go and review, ask, and answer questions about products. You connect all of your social media accounts to give you an influence "reach". The higher your reach the more chances you get at receiving VoxBoxes. These are boxes full of full size products. You have all kinds of badges you can unlock by doing tasks. Again the more involved you are the better chance you have at getting into another campaign. Check out my VoxBox reviews here,  here and here.

Three
BzzAgent - This is such a fun site. It is survey based so you need to keep them up to date to keep your "bzzscore" high. The higher your score the better chances you have of being invited into a campaign. I have gotten lots of food items as well as beauty items from this site. I am currently in a campaign for Cashew Milk and a new Electric Razor. Lots of great stuff to be had here! Stay on top of those surveys and you will be "bzzing" in no time!

Four
House Party -  If you like to host parties and you want to try out new products, this is the site for you. I have been on the site since January of 2013 and just wrapped up my 5th party with them. There is no real science to how you get picked for a party but I feel like if you do everything you are asked to do you have a better chance. When you are chosen to be a host you receive a party pack filled with goodies for you and your guests. Things I have received in these packs to help you plan your party are: decorations, recipes, games, T-shirts, and samples.

Five
Social media - Believe it or not, social media is one of the easiest ways to get free samples. Most of the time when you request a sample this way there is no obligation to do anything once you receive it. I have a separate Facebook page dedicated to just freebies. I have "liked" hundreds of brand pages because this is where the samples come from.  Here they will announce when they are giving away stuff and how you get get it.

So there you have it guys! Get yourself set up with these sites and you will be on your way to freebie heaven! Have a great Friday!

We made it to Friday. It couldn't have come fast enough! Today I want to talk about 5 things from this week that I have been working on. I am so excited about where this blog is headed.

One
I am so exited for my new venture on my blog. If you read my post last Sunday I rambled on about my ideas. I am working on building a relationship with my local community. This is so exciting for me because I live in such a diverse and fun little city. So much to offer and so much inspiration comes out of where I live. Stay tuned for my weekly features on local spots.

Two
Speaking of working with local businesses I decided yesterday to debut my first review post about a local pub and eatery. I think it went well. I was so happy to see the response from the owners on social media as well as the traffic the post created.

Three
Now that I am working on becoming a part of my community I am looking for events to attend, volunteer positions, and classes. I am particularly pysched (does anyone still use this word?) about this because if you recall my February goal was to meet new people, and this is a great way to accomplish that.

Four
Speaking of goals, I wrapped up March goals but never talked about my April goals. My plans changed a little with my move and such so that changed my goals. I have decided to make April all about finding a hobby that makes me happy. What that lead me to was this new page (pun intended lol) on my blog. I have not been this excited for a new project in a long time. I am finally taking the steps I need to make this blog my happy place. I am so excited for it and what you will all think!

Five
Tonight I am volunteering at my first event! It is to support local theater, which I love. It is called the Red Event and I will be helping out with my new friend Nikki. So excited for this because it gets me out on a Friday night and the group I am volunteering with is a young professional group so I can meet some new peeps my age! I look forward to writing all about it next week. I really hope you all have a fantastic weekend ahead! Spring has sprung ya'll!