Sunday, December 19, 2010

The Best Gift I Ever Gave


SWAGG is a free mobile app (download here) that lets you shop smarter using your mobile phone. Buy, send or swap SWAGG GIFTS and organize your old school plastic gift cards. For every download of the app between now and Dec. 31, 2010, SWAGG will donate $1 to Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) , up to $125,000.

Clever Girls Collective and SWAGG are sending a pair of movie fans to the Sundance Film Festival! Download the SWAGG app and then visit the Ultimate SWAGG Getaway Sweepstakes site to enter to win a trip for two to the Sundance Film Festival. Entry deadline is January 3, 2011, 11:59pm, PST.


When my new friends at SWAGG - who happen to know I'm an iPhone junkie - told me about their new online shopping app, I was immediately hooked! My favorite part is being able to download store coupons on the spot, and then have them scanned right at the register! Super cool, IMO.

To celebrate the holiday season (and of course drum up some business and interest in the SWAGG app), my new found friends asked a bunch of us bloggers to write about the best gift we ever gave. It took me a hot second to think of something because honestly, my gift giving prowess has had the breaks put on it in the past year or so once I decided to resign from my job and become a stay-at-home mama to Miss Paige. The money isn't quite coming in like it used to : ) I haven't let that dampen my joy of gift giving though - I just had to get a little more creative! But I definitely have to separate my gift giving life into two parts - DI and SI (dual income vs. single income).

So - the best gift I ever gave "SI" was definitely to my favorite niece last Christmas. (I can say favorite because she is my only niece... but any future nieces have big shoes to fill to take Miss Ellie's crown!) My niece is super creative and imaginative. At 4 years old, she has an amazingly creative mind. So for Christmas last year, I knew I wanted to get her something that would allow her to keep dreaming, exploring and playing all year long. My concept started big and needed to be scaled back a bit... initially I wanted to create a "Costume Closet" for her full of everything any little girl could dream of for playing dress up and make believe. I knew my highly organized and "everything has its place" sister wouldn't go for that much craziness, so I scaled my idea back to a "Costume Bag" (you're welcome GiGi!).

I started the day after Halloween, hitting all the big box stores and picking up clearance costumes and accessories - crowns and boas and dresses and shoes. Then I raided my own closet for pre-mama/college wear that I was still holding on to - glittery belts, trendy hats. And finally, I hit up the craft store to get a few more must haves for any legitimate Costume Bag - beads, feathers, pom poms, long flower stems - basically anything fun and glittery. When I finally put the gift together, the large tote bag was spilling over with all things fabulous. When my niece saw it, her eyes lit up with the possibilities of what could be inside. In less than a second, the bag was tipped over and all the dress up goodies were spilled all over the room. We spent that entire weekend running around as fairies with wings, playing cowgirls with our pink bandannas on, and pretending to be princesses with our bejeweled tiaras. It was a blast, and I realized I could create magical moments and perfect gifts without spending a small fortune. It was definitely the best gift I ever gave!



Learn more about the coolest new app that revolutionizes the whole shopping, gifting, and gift card-organizing experience and Download the SWAGG app to your iPhone or Droid. I was selected for this sponsorship by Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity.


More info about Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C)
http://www.standup2cancer.org/


SWAGG has partnered with non-profit Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C). For every download of the app between now and Dec. 31, 2010, SWAGG will donate $1 to SU2C up to $125,000. Awesome, right?! Visit the SU2C site for more info http://www.standup2cancer.org/


More info about the Ultimate SWAGG Getaway Sweepstakes
http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/82357


Clever Girls Collective and SWAGG are sending a lucky pair of movie fans to the Sundance Film Festival! The sweepstakes is offered exclusively through the Clever 1000, and it has a pretty kick butt prize, including:


* 2 night/3 day stay at Yarrow Hotel in Park City Utah (Jan 21 - Jan 23, 2011)
* Ground transportation to and from hotel to airport in Park City, Utah
* Dinner for two at Tao Lounge, including 2 nightclub passes
* All access to The House of SWAGG Gifting Suite
* 2 tickets to a movie premiere on Saturday, January 22nd -- movie tbd
* $4,000 value