Blogging is fun. It not only allows you to connect with amazing new people and things. it allows you to influence others. Before I started blogging I loved to review products. As you heard many times if you read my blog daily, I love freebies. I love to enter contests and giveaways and am pretty fortunate to win every once in awhile. One day while I was online writing a review for one of my favorite products, someone asked me if I was an "Influenster". I had no idea what they were talking about, because I didn't think I influenced anyone and that word up there seemed like it was spelt wrong.

A few minutes later I received an email invite to a website called Influenster. I decided to sign up and see what this "Influenster" was all about. I quickly realized it was everything I was already doing. It was a community where you could write reviews, ask and respond to questions, and earn badges for doing so. Then I noticed they took this a step farther and offered some of their members what they like to call a VoxBox. Now you are probably sitting there thinking, "A what?!"

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A VoxBox is a themed box full of goodies. You get to try out all of the products in the box and then do little missions to earn more badges. All of the products are full size and they usually all have something to do with each other. I was lucky enough to participate in the Optic White VoxBox and the Go VoxBox. The Optic White VoxBox was full of all the Optic White dental products which was a lot of fun. I love to try new hygiene products. The Go VoxBox was all about fitness. I think this was my favorite box yet. I had all kinds of healthy goodies in it to try. You can check out my review on it {{ here }} to see all the goodies they sent me!

I have been an official Influenster since January of 2012. They have changed and evolved so much in the past almost 3 years and I love it. They are always working on making this better for all of us who want to help people and companies better understand products. For all you App fanatics they also now offer an Influenster App. You can download that in the App store that corresponds with your phones operating system. 

If you like to influence people in a positive way and have fun while doing it, this is the place to be. Run on over to the Influenster website and get yourself looking around and JOIN! You won't regret it!

Unless you are living under a rock, you probably noticed a pretty ridiculous photo showing up all over the internet. You know the one of Kim Kardashian breaking the internet? I will not post the photo here because there is no need. You probably have fallen upon it if you frequent the internet at all. It was really hard not to see a photo of it, even if you really didn't want to.

Anyways, the point of this post is to talk about body image especially during the holidays. We as humans are very visual creatures. We thrive on the things we can see and sometimes that does more harm then good. As a society we believe the images of women that are thrown in our faces daily are the normal way to do look. Take for example; most magazine covers or characters we see on tv are super thin and have perfect makeup all the time. Now women believe they need to be super thin with a ton of makeup on to be desirable. 

Don't get me wrong, I am huge into fitness and being healthy, but I also know it is almost impossible for every women's body to be a size 0. Young girls see these images and think they need to look that way to fit in. I am a short person clocking in at only 4'11''. I will always be so called "small" but I am in no way ever going to be a size 0. I have wide hips and thick thighs. It doesn't matter how much I work out, they aren't going to just disappear and become tiny with a thigh gap.

Fast forward to the holidays. There is a lot of food and a time to indulge. You can still indulge without going overboard. You should never be afraid to eat a Thanksgiving meal because you believe it will make you fat. You constantly hear people complaining they gained 10 pounds over the holidays. This is just so hard to do unless you eat a few thousand extra calories everyday during that time period. Ladies you will be fine to indulge a little.

Now back to the photo of Kim Kardashian. She is known for her larger backside, and you know what? That is great. I'm glad she is not ashamed of it. However, I am not all that thrilled that she did it in a way that was super fake. They have photoshopped the crap out of it. It makes me angry that we can't just be ourselves when it comes to showing the world what we got. It sends the wrong impression when we rely on photoshop for ever single picture we take, to make us look "good". How are people supposed to recognize you when you are just being you?

I hope everyone enjoys the holidays. Have a piece of pie. Get a little more stuffing. You can do all of that in good moderation. Be happy and enjoy every minute of it. Love yourself and others will too. Remember looks and beauty change with age. If you spend to much time focusing on it now, you will miss out on life.

Love you all! Have a great Thanksgiving and have some pie! <3

The holidays are quickly approaching and as you scramble to get your shopping done, you see that huge rack of assorted gift cards. You can practically buy a gift card for anything you could think of these days. They are great for that person you have no idea what to get for or that person who has everything. Have a picky teenager on your list? Get them a gift card! How about that best friend who changes her mind often? Gift card! These cards are a lifesaver and the perfect gift when you get stumped.


Now gifts cards are great as gifts for others, but why can't they also be used in other situations? Today I am going to give you other ideas for using gift cards outside of the holiday season.

#1 Saving Money:

•  Eating out: Do you go out to lunch EVERYDAY at work? If you are trying to save some money, cutting back on eating out will save a lot. Buy yourself a gift card to the place you frequent the most in the amount of 1 meal and use it as a treat. You still get to pick the day you go out, but you will cut out 4 days saving you up to an average of $40 that week. 

•  Coffee Fanatics: Do you frequent Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts to much? Buy yourself a gift card in the amount of 2 drinks that you love. This will allow you to still enjoy your favorite treat, but it becomes just that: A treat. It will save you cash in the pocketbook and cut down on the "crack" that coffee tends to become.

#2 Fitness:

• Rewards: We all reward ourselves when we are on a fitness journey. When we hit those milestones its nice to buy ourselves something nice. Come up with an amount that works for you and when you meet that milestone use your gift card. It is a motivator without breaking the bank. 

•  Treats: You are allowed to treat yourself to a not so healthy snack once in awhile. This is where the gift card comes in. Use it similar to the saving money category. Load enough on the card to buy 1 treat. You can do this weekly or monthly. Your choice. Either way it saves you money and calories!

#3 Kids:

• Allowances: Money is fine, but kids sometimes are impulsive and buy things they don't need. Set them up with a gift card for something you know they want. This will help from frivolous spending and allow them to buy that item they really want.

#4 Online Shopping:

• A reloadable visa/mastercard is great for online purchases. You can shop online and ease your mind knowing you aren't handing out your credit card information.

• If you like to sign up for free offers or trials, it's a good idea to use a prepaid card so you don't get charged if you forget to cancel. I often use this option for my freebie addiction and I ALWAYS forget to cancel if I don't want to continue with the service. 

So there you have it. So many options to use a gift card outside of gift giving for others. What would you use them for? Leave me your ideas below!
 

Hi folks. I haven't done much blogging this week that wasn't for a giveaway and such, so today I wanted to tell the world some of those thoughts that have been on my mind this week.

1. The number one thought on my mind this week and for awhile now is, where the heck are all of the NY bloggers?! I don't mean NYC bloggers, I mean upstate and central NY. I am getting pretty jelly seeing all these great blogger meet ups. I would love to be able to network and get together for some wine coffee and have some good conversation. If that's you, PLEASE please send me a message!

2.  Speaking of NY bloggers, how the heck is it even possible that Buffalo just got slammed with almost 80 inches of snow. You didn't read that wrong, 80 FREAKIN INCHES of SNOW. I don't even know how to comprehend that. That's like a season of snow. Not 48 hours worth of snow. I am praying everyone is safe and staying warm. People are trapped in their homes and a dreaded warm up is happening next week AFTER they are forecasted to get another 24 inches of snow today.

3.  The holidays are quickly approaching. Thanksgiving is already a week a way. Better get moving if you haven't finalized your menu and shopping! With the holidays there are a lot of holiday giveaways sprouting up all over. In fact there are TWO on my page alone. I am co-hosting Cashing Through The Snow and a Kate Spade Cozy Giveaway. Get entered!

4.  In case you missed it, I am hosting a Holiday Tea Swap. My thoughts on this is, why are people commenting about how great an idea it is, yet not signing up? I am a fairly new blogger so I am still building my readership, but why are people afraid to enter my little swap?  I am not asking people to spend any amount of money, you can mail them virtually for nothing in an envelope and you get to meet a new friend! Give it a shot and, try some new tea, and meet a new friend! Sign up{ here }

5.  I got a fitness watch FINALLY. I went with the Garmin Vivofit and I LOVE IT. Its purple and I have kept it on all day and night. It tracks my steps, calories, and sleep. Its pretty fantastic. It's not uncomfortable to wear and it really is giving me a good idea of how many steps I am taking everyday. I would highly recommend it if you are in the market for one.

Well there ya have it. My thoughts for the week. Leave me a comment and let me know what you're been thinking this week. Happy Thursday!

I'm linking up today!

Hey guys! Back again to tell you about ANOTHER great giveaway I am participating in this week. Yesterday I posted {{ Cashing All The Way }}, a giveaway where you can win $195 buckaroos! Today you can enter to win some pretty fab Kate Spade goodies!

Also don't forget I am hosting a Holiday Tea Swap! If you love tea and want to try something new, sign up! Sign ups are until November 30th. You will get your swap buddy on December 1st. Lots of fun!

Sign Up For The Holiday Tea Swap!

It's snowing in the midwest. And maybe Texas too! As we brace for the Bomb Cyclone (this year's Polar Vortex), some of my blogging buddies came together to cozy you up with a Kate Spade Cozy Giveaway. It includes the cutest KS earrings that you've seen on all the blogger's wish lists (maybe even your own), some Kate Spade socks with some fab polka dots, and a $10 Starbucks gift card to warm you up as you cuddle up wherever you are. 
Anne | Betsy | Bex Liz | Trish | Linda Faith | Nina | Emelia  
a Rafflecopter giveaway