Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Things have finally slowed down from the crazy Thanksgiving/Black Friday weekend and I had time to draw a winner for my giveaway!

I had 113 valid entries into my NCAA10 Video Game giveaway...and I used Random.org to select my winner!

The winner is....Drum Roll......

mommysap!

The winner has been contacted via email and has 48 hours to respond. If I do not get a response within that time, I will draw a new winner.

Congrats again to her! And thank you to everyone who entered!

Keep following my blog for more upcoming giveaways!

It's Still Christmas....Just Less Costly!

The holidays are a fun and very special time of year. However, most of us only look at it as a BIG expense. I am the type of shopper who cuts all the coupons, goes to 5 stores for the best price, and wakes up at the crack of dawn to get the Early Bird Specials!

Aside from the cost of the gifts, we also have to deal with the cost of wrapping and packaging them. So I sat down and decided to try the "vintage" way of wrapping. All of my grandparents tell me how they used to do all their wrapping with newspaper. So why not try it? Wrapping paper costs money and ends up in the trash about 4.5 seconds after the gift is opened.

I decided I was going to use the Comics to wrap my boyfriends gifts and the Sports Section to wrap my brothers. Overall, I think they came out great! I would actually prefer to use newspaper now instead of wrapping paper! Not only is it something I already get that is FREE to use for wrapping, but it is also a very GREEN way to do the holidays. So now instead of my paper going straight into the recyling bin, it gets used once more...then recycled!

It took no more time to wrap these gifts than normal and this is how they turned out!

All because of a necklace...

The story of my luck yesterday is actually a dual story. You see, about a year and a half ago I stumbled into my hobby. Myself, along with a ton of other people, enter sweepstakes and search for ways to win stuff. My boyfriend had even gotten me a "lucky horseshoe" necklace to represent this- which I used to wear almost every day. I have done realitively well in the past with winning. I have won lots of stuff including 2 large flat screen tvs, a trip to montana, a trip to Vegas, video game consoles, and a check for $1,000. This year has been GREAT for me with wins though. However, lately I have not had as much luck and I couldn't understand why.

Two nights ago I was talking to my boyfriend about how I just don't win as much anymore. He got quite and said, "Well, what happened to that lucky necklace I gave you early on in the year?" So I replied, "I haven't been wearing it much. I switched to wearing this new one." So he decided to do an experiment....I was to put my necklace back on and see if my luck changed.

Within 6 hours of putting my necklace on, my luck had returned! I woke up at 4:00 am to play a Burger King sweepstakes and WON! I had won a XBox360 Console and the Kinect system to go with it! ARV $350!



My luck didn't stop there. I also won a 4 Pack of tickets to a MMA Fight in Baltimore from a local sweepstakes!...and it STILL didn't stop there. I went to the Casino and came out $50 richer. Before tucking into bed, I decided to play just a few more sweepstakes...when I won again! This time it was a Flip Ultra Camcorder!



I had won $750 worth of stuff in one day. Of course, SOME of the credit must go to my boyfriend who put the luck back around my neck! It is days like this that just amaze me! It was such a fun day of winning and I hope that some of the luck sticks around!

NCAA10 for Xbox360 Giveaway

Between myself and my boyfriend playing this game, it has been tested to the fullest. I am a 21 year old woman who enjoys all things girlie. My boyfriend is 29 years old and is about as "guyish" as they get.

I was surprised when I put the game in one night and I enjoyed playing it. It was relatively easy for me to get the hang of. Before I knew it I was picking my favorite players and even giving a shout occasionally when I could score. All in all, the game is a good game in my book. However, I will most likely stick to my favorite, non-sport related video games.

When Steve, my boyfriend, played it was pretty much the same story. He grabbed the controller and knew right away what to do. He commented on how realistic the graphics were and played for a few hours. We did not have Xbox Live connected for this game, but I am sure that would have made it even more fun!






**I am going to be giving away a copy of NCAA10 for the Xbox360 game console. You can win it for yourself, or maybe for someone you know for the holidays. Here are the rules on how to enter:

[For each entry/extra entry leave a separate comment and include your email address so I can contact you]

Mandatory Entry:
Please follow my blog and leave a comment below saying you are doing so.

Note: You must complete the Mandatory Entry for other entries to be considered eligible.

Extra Entries:
Extra Entry 1: Leave a comment telling me who you are planning on winning this game for!

Extra Entry 2: Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment and a link to the tweet [Limit 3 tweets daily]

Extra Entry 3: Share this giveaway on Facebook [This may be done once a day, please leave a link in comment]

Extra Entry 4: Follow @MandaPanda429 on Twitter HERE

Extra Entry 5: Become my Facebook Friend HERE


- - - Giveaway will end on November 24, 2010 - - -

Stay Tuned...

Okay, I started this blog a while back and never quite got into the hang of things. Hopefully the 2nd time is much easier :) I am planning to host a giveaway on my blog within the next week [so keep an eye out!] I am not sure of the product yet, but I am sure it will be something you will enjoy!