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Peonies make me happy. Almost as much as lilacs.
I treated myself today and got a bunch of peonies to keep me company at the office. By 5 pm I was almost drunk on the fragrance of summer.
When I was in grade twelve, I was on the Grad Committee and, along with my friend Jenny, charged with decorating the barn-like room (albeit on a lovely golf course) which housed our grad reception.
Since our budget was modest to say the least, we decided to go wandering around the neighbourhoods of our lovely little town of Okotoks looking for peonies in people’s gardens. Then we’d knock on their doors and ask them if they would kindly donate their peonies to the Class of 1995.
I can’t believe I actually did that. I’d totally forgotten about it until I started writing this.
What’s more, would you believe that I still have a vase at my parent’s house which holds five papery-thin dried out old peonies from that grad ceremony thirteen years ago?
I’m sure that tomorrow all I’ll be able to think about is my grade twelve grad. How funny. And what a long way we’ve come.
I like free stuff. I mean, who doesn’t? The thing is, free stuff isn’t easy to come by – the good free stuff, that is.
I saw an Oprah episode about 10 years ago that stuck in my head, about this woman who entered every single contest she got her hands on. It showed her in her garage completely surrounded by all this stuff she’d won – cars, bikes, food, toys, clothes… you name it.
With this in mind, I sometimes enter the odd contest. My personal rule is that I’ll enter only if it’s something I’d actually be elated to win (and if it’s a reputable source). Granted, I’m starting to get a bit of email clutter as a result of this despite the fact that I always check the little box to opt-out of “future mailings from us or our trusted affiliates that may be of interest to you”. I can only imagine how much junk mail that other lady gets.
But I still haven’t won anything.
Maybe that’s partly why I am so pumped over my newly discovered tactic of getting free stuff – store openings and product launches!
See, I subscribe to a few email newsletters that interest me and a couple weeks ago one of them was advertising a Mavi store opening event here in Vancouver’s Gastown.
Normally I’d never attend something like this but I was enchanted by the magic words: “goodie bags”. Especially as those words followed “one night only discounts” and “chocolate tasting”.
So I convinced a friend to meet up with me for pre-goodie bag martinis followed by the main event. And you know what? It was totally worth it! Not only did I snag a pair of new jeans for 25% off (regular $88), but I got a whack of free stuff: bag, chocolates, Estee Lauder mascara, Lou Lou magazine, Parissa wax strips, spa discount coupons, underwear and, my personal fave, Mariah Carey lipgloss and purse-sized perfume!
Ok, ok, I know what you’re thinking… Mariah Carey lip gloss?? But wait–the lip gloss wand has a light in it which shines on your lips when you’re putting it on!! And even though I’m aware of the irony of that (if you need a light to put on your lip gloss, doesn’t that mean it’s so dark that no one would see it anyway???), I still dig it. And I didn’t pay money for it, which makes it cool even if it’s not cool.
Let’s see if we can go two for two – I’ve conscripted a couple more friends to hit the Bombshell Bargains Event this Friday, May 9th in Yaletown. One of them really needs a pick-me-up (her twin just moved away and I can’t imagine how tough that must be!) and nothing says happy like swag. The website claims: “These highly anticipated sales will feature best-selling products, special discounts, giveaways and lots of fun.” And of course, it includes those sparkly two words which are music to my ears: Free Gift. Ahhhh….!
If want to get in on these scoops, subscribe to I Love Sample Sales (for cool stuff in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, NY, LA), The Style Spy (for hip chicks in Canada) and Vitamin V (for Vancouver vixens; Montreal mavens, check out Vitamin M and Toronto gals- Vitamin T).
Just in case you thought I was kidding about New Kids on the Block reuniting, here they are from their stint on the Today Show today – Joey, Jordan, Donnie, Danny and Jon – in all their post-adolescent, mid-life-crisis glory.
Still no word on whether the New Kids are coming to Vancouver… but I’m holding my breath.
When was the last time you giggled in delight?
Me? It was about 30 seconds ago, as I was watching this:
God, I LOVE this napkin song!!! It makes me deliriously happy. I actually chortled when the security guy walked onto the scene.
As seen on BoingBoing. More info on the Improv Anywhere blog.
What you said