Ross Dress for Less Birthday Giveaway!

It's my birthday week, so I thought I would give one fabulous blog reader a present! Because that's the way we do things here at My Loueyville.

Back in July, I was lucky enough to be contacted by the good folks at Ross Dress For Less to attend a blogger event the day before the opening of their first Louisville store, located on the Outer Loop. They treated me and my podcasting partner, Linda, to a nice breakfast and then a tour and a bit of shopping at the Jefferson Mall location.

If you're not familiar with Ross Dress For Less, it's a store a lot like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, or Stein Mart that offers brand name and designer clothes at a discount. They carry clothes for women, men, and kids. They also carry shoes and accessories, housewares, luggage, and bath products, all at a 20%-60% off.

When Linda and I visited, the store was staffed with super helpful and cheerful people. It was really well-organized, and the prices were fantastic. I got two dresses, a shirt, a towel (don't ask) and a pair of pants for around $50, and honestly, I've been wearing the heck out of all of those clothes since I bought them.

I pretty much only shop at discount stores or sales racks. Mama Lou taught me the ways of the bargain huntress at a very young age, and I balk at paying full price for any clothes or shoes. So I'm coming from a place of experience when I say that Ross's prices seemed to be considerably more reasonable than its competitors.

Y'all know me and my inside-the-Watterson ways, so the Outer Loop is a bit of a field trip for me. Even so, the next time I need something snazzy to wear to an interview or a meeting, I'd definitely consider making the trek.

Speaking of interviews and meetings-- see what I did there?-- my biggest birthday wish is to get Chipman Creative really up and running.  I've signed my first ghost blogging contract and started on my first editing project, but I have a long way to go.

So, to celebrate my birthday, I am giving away a $25 gift card to Ross Dress For Less in exchange for YOUR best words of business wisdom.

Here's how it works: Either comment on this post or email me at lou [at] loueyville.com with your sage bit of business advice-- it can be a quote from someone famous, or it can be your own juicy nugget or lesson learned. I will choose a winner at random on September 4th (the day after Labor Day-- appropriate), and Ross Dress For Less will mail you the card directly. Easy peasy.

Advise me, people!

I love giving stuff away. Thanks, Ross! Happy birthday to me!

(Also, if you want to win an even bigger gift card, Ross is having a Back-to-School contest on their Facebook page. You can enter it here: https://www.facebook.com/RossDressforLess/app_167878003348182)

Disclaimer: I think I pretty much covered it in this post. Ross lured me and Linda out past the Watterson with breakfast and gift cards and a really big tote bag, and Ross is providing the prize for this post. But I wouldn't have written this or agreed to offer a gift card to a reader if I didn't like the place. All sentiments in here are totally genuine. 

Earth Fare Giveaway!

I was lucky enough to be invited to tour the new Earth Fare supermarket in the Summit the day before it opened. Maria, my tour guide from the home office in Asheville, NC, was super enthusiastic and was clearly a dedicated customer as well as an employee. As she showed me around from department and department, she told me about all the stuff that she stocks up on when it goes on sale (chicken breasts and almond milk, for example). Everyone I talked to there was helpful and cheerful. Maria said they expect to employ around 80 people at first and then grow those numbers.

I loved the wall of beer where you can "mingle your singles"-- get 10% off when you fill a six-pack with single fancy beers. There's also a pizza kitchen where you can buy pies by the slice or by the whole pie. They have a hot food and sandwich bar, and the chain's first frozen yogurt bar. A charcuterie bar and a huge salad bar. Nothing is labeled local unless it came from less than 100 miles away from the store. Organic fruits and veg are displayed separate from non-organics and are washed and freshened with their own separate water supply. The "wellness" section is huge and has its own curator.

Earth Fare is a store in the vein of Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, but what sets the chain apart is how strict their food rules are. They have a "boot list"-- a list of ingredients that cannot be in food that is featured in the store. Their "Food Philosophy"is displayed prominently in the store. The "rules" include:

• No high-fructose corn syrup
• No artificial fats or trans-fats
• No artificial colors
• No artificial flavors
• No artificial preservatives
• No artificial sweeteners
• No antibiotics or synthetic growth hormones in meat & dairy
• No bleached or bromated flour

Impressive stuff. And dedicated-- if you spot something on the shelf that has an ingredient that Earth Fare has banned, they'll immediately remove all the stock from the shelves and give you $50.

Hey, speaking of $50, Maria was nice enough to give me a $50 gift certificate to give away to one of my readers!  

I've been trying to get a little healthier-- eat better, exercise more. For the first time today, someone noticed that I've dropped somewhere in the neighborhood of 6lbs-- very gratifying. Makes me want to keep going. So, in keeping with Earth Fare's philosophy, here are the contest rules:

• I am looking for SUPER simple and SUPER healthy dinner recipes. Share with me your simplest, healthiest, most reliable dinner recipe.
• You can do this in the comments section-- just be sure you include some way that I can get ahold of you.
• You can send me the recipe via email-- lou [at] loueyville.com
• At the end of the day on Tuesday, August 14, I will allow random.com to choose a comment/email at random to win the gift certificate.
• Only one entry per person. 

Good luck to y'all-- may the odds ever be in your favor!

Disclaimer: Earth Fare provided gift certificates for me and for a reader. That was super nice of them because I would have toured their facility and written about it regardless. 

TICKET GIVEAWAY! An Evening With Yanni

No, no, no, ladies... I'm not giving away an actual EVENING with Yanni. I'm sure that would be a fantastic night; based on the videos on his website, he seems like the smiley-est, most chipper dude in the world.

But I AM giving away two tickets to see Yanni's world tour called "An Evening with Yanni."

I am crazy excited about this. I'm so grateful that Yanni's folks touched base with me.

Here's some info from them:

After an extensive world tour, popular contemporary composer Yanni returns to the United States with a new show An Evening with Yanni, coming to the Louisville Palace on Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 8:00 p.m.

Yanni will return to his roots and perform the instrumental hits from legendary live shows that have amazed millions on every continent. Joined on stage by world-class musicians, Yanni will perform the pieces made famous by his shows at the Acropolis in Greece, India’s Taj Mahal, the Forbidden City in China and the Royal Albert Hall in London. The live show will also feature music from Yanni’s newest album Truth of Touch. Now platinum in the Middle East, the compilation of original studio music is the composer’s first in almost a decade.

Reserved Seat Tickets are On Sale Now: $89.50 / $69.50 / $59.50 / $49.50 / $39.50 www.LouisvillePalace.com

I always associate Yanni with my dabbling in New Age-y stuff in the 90's. But he's also a huge humanitarian and involved with lots of global events like the Olympics and, according to Wikipedia, is the widely considered the biggest fundraiser for PBS. 

What do YOU associate Yanni with? Tell me to be entered in the drawing to win TWO tickets to "An Evening With Yanni." You can email me the answer at lou@loueyville.com with the words "I want to see Yanni" in the subject line or comment below. I will choose one random commenter or emailer on Thursday 4/26.  Good luck!

Ticket Giveaway! Max & Ruby Live!

So, bad news for Spongebob Squarepants lovers, huh? Turns out that exposure to fast-paced, flashy cartoons makes little dudes' short attention span even shorter. But what's interesting about the study is that one of the other test groups had kiddos watching a slower-paced, calmer show from PBS, and those kids did okay on their memory tests.

Max & Ruby is one of those slow, calm cartoons for kids. And guess what, Louisville? The widdle bunnies are coming to town.  Max & Ruby: Bunny Party is a stage show for children.  Here's the story, according to the press release:


It's a surprise party for someone special, and bunny siblings Max and Ruby have a-million-and-one things to do before the big event. Join in the fun as they embark on a musical bus ride to East Bunnyhop General Store, where they deliberate on what to buy for the Super Duper Special Birthday Guest. Max & Ruby never quite want the same thing and their plans always collide – with hilarious results!

The show is on October 9 at 1p & 4p at the Louisville Palace Theatre.  Tickets are $19-$28.50 at www.livenation.com

But, dear readers with wee ones, I could hook you up with four tickets to the 4pm show!  All you have to do is tell me in the comments what your favorite cartoon was as a kid. I'll pick a winner at random on October 1.

My favorite? I'm sure I could come up with a better answer if I thought about it longer, but I really, really dug Muppet Babies.

Louisville Film Fest Giveaway! Party on, Dudes!

I'm super excited to announce that thanks to the fine folks at the Louisville Film Festival, I have two passes to the October event to give away to my faithful readers and Twitter followers.

Here's how to win:

Hop on the Tweetybox and tweet me AND @LouFilmFest the name of a film that was integral to your youth that you're worried the youth of 2011 will not be exposed to.

I'll choose a winner at random on September 28. Only one entry per Tweety person.

As a high school teacher, I know that kids these days are still watching the good ol' John Hughes staples. And no self-respecting parent is letting their children hit puberty without sitting them down and making them watch the Star Wars trilogy (the good one).

But I do worry that Keanu Reeves' entire oeuvre has made parents forget just how terrific he was back in 1989.

So my answer would read: @loueyville, I worry that kids these days aren't getting enough Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventures. @LouFilmFest

Because my students think I've lost it when I pronounce the philosopher's name "So-Crates."

Update: So far we've had nominations of:

• @loueyville, I worry that kids are missing "Meatballs." Shouldn't they learn early that "it just doesn't matter!" if they win? @LouFilmFest -- from @eekshecried
• @loueyville I worry that kids won't know about Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Such a flawless expression of the simple joys of youth @LouFilmFest-- from @lesil
• @loueyville, I worry that kids these days aren't getting enough of "the sound of music." @LouFilmFest-- from @freeyourheart
• @loueyville @LouFilmFest The movie from my youth that I think todays youth will not be exposed to is "This Is Spinal Tap"-- from kycubsfan
• Today's youth need to know about Rain Man (R). @LouFilmFest @Loueyville j.mp/lfilm11-- from @zepfanman
• @loueyville @LouFilmFest No laughing: I'm afraid today's youth won't be properly exposed to Star Wars. The new stuff just isn't the same. :/ -- from @erin_mcmahon
• @loueyville I wonder if anyone under 40 has or will ever see "Out of Africa." Not funny, but neither is life sometimes. :) @LouFilmFest from @MsPaulaBurba
• @loueyville I worry that kids are missing "Major Payne". Tough love, is the best love. No tears, no excuses. @LouFilmFest from @KdeLost
• I'm worried kids today won't know what a Truffle Shuffle is or where "Hey you guyyyyyys" is from #Goonies @loueyville @LouFilmFest from @EvanWinkle
• @loueyville , I worry that kids won't see Blade Runner. So many great things about that movie. @LouFilmFest