My Very First Giveaway: A Few of My Favorites!

In celebration of my One Year Blogiversary, which happened back in June (oops), one lucky reader will receive all of the following. All of these items that I am giving away are some of my favorites that I want to share with you. 

1) 3 GU gels: I cannot live without this stuff on my long runs and during races! These are a few of my favorite flavors!

2) nuun:  This is one of my favorite forms of hydration! Fruit Punch is my favorite flavor and I hope you like it too!

3) Body Glide: After my first marathon I knew that Body Glide was a must and it works wonders for me! No more chafing for me!

4) Nathan Handheld Hydration Bottle: I always carry my own hydration no matter the distance since this summer has been crazy hot! I love this Nathan handheld hydration bottle because there is no top to open. All you have to do is squeeze it!

5) $15 Starbucks Card: I always reward myself with my favorite Starbucks drink after a good run and I want you to do the same! My favorite drink is a Soy Caramel Brule' Latte that only comes out during the holidays.  I can hardly wait!!

 DON'T YOU LOVE THE BONUS STICKER THAT I AM THROWING IN??

To Enter this Giveaway all you have to do is:

+1: Follow my blog Boston Bound Brunette via Google Friend Connect and leave me a comment telling me that you are a follower!

For Bonus Entries you can do these things too:

+1: Blog about this Giveaway and send me the link in a comment.

+1: Follow me on Twitter: Tweet about this Giveaway and then send me the link of your tweet in a comment.

+1: Follow me on Instagram (bostonboundbrunette) then leave me a comment telling me you follow me on Instagram.

The giveaway ends at midnight (local time) on September 17, 2012 and is open to anyone who wants to join! The entries will be numbered based on the order that they are received and the winner will be selected via random.org. The winner will be announced on September 18, 2012 and the winner must respond via email within 3 days of the announcement or an alternate winner will be selected. 

GOOD LUCK!!

My One Year BLOGiversary Celebration!!

It's my One Year BLOGiversary! 

One year ago today, I hit the "Publish" button to announce that my friend Shawna and I were planning on running the Long Beach Marathon.  Even though I knew nothing about blogging, I am so glad that I went for it because I have met so many wonderful people in the last year. I look forward to gaining new readers and meeting new people this year who share the same passion as I do.

So here I am: 148 posts, 564 comments, 8,352 all time page views and 44 followers later still talking to all of you about my hopes and dreams of running the Boston Marathon someday.  My posts have been mostly about my ups and downs with running and other personal things that matter most in my life.  

I enjoy blogging and I do it as often as I can but my favorite part about being a blogger is the wonderful people that I have met along the way.  I also enjoy reading about what all of you are up to, challenges you are up against, goals you have met and all of the wonderful and sometimes not so wonderful things going on in your lives.  I try to keep it honest on my blog because we all know that we do not live in a perfect world, injuries happen and every race is not a PR.  I am human and I don't mind being honest about a race gone wrong or when I fail to meet a big goal that I talked and talked about for months on end.  Hey...Caca happens!! 

Thank you to my few but faithful followers that have heard me out over the past year, gave me some great advice, shared some of your personal struggles and put up with my complaining during my injury.  I know negatively is not what people want to read but sometimes we need to vent and my followers always have a way of turning my negatives into positives by leaving me inspiring comments that change my perspective. Thank you so much for reading, commenting and sharing. My blogging goals for the upcoming year are to gain some new followers and to blog more often.

I have never hosted a giveaway and I thought that my One Year BLOGiversary would be the perfect opportunity! Keeps your eyes open for it!

Three Things Thursday

1. I have been wanting to make one of these ever since Danica over at chicrunner.com shared it on her blog.  I thought it was the cutest/sentimental idea ever!  My husband is super creative and crafty so I actually let him help me out (with 99% of it.) All you need is some maps, a frame, embroidery thread and a needle. He is going to make one for our bedroom and I am giving this one to a co-worker who has an anniversary coming up on July 3rd.

The map with the heart indicates the place that the couple met, the rings indicate where they got married and the house indicates where they live. My husband threw in a little twist on the rings and made one of them a diamond ring. I hope she loves it!

2. Did you notice that I changed my blog header? I was tired of looking at that same picture even though it has a special meaning (my first marathon and current PR.) I also wanted to put some pictures of my family up since I talk about them just as much as I do running.  I am not the most talented person in the world on the computer so I did my best with the tools that I had available to me. What do you think?

3. In other news, my One Year Blogiversary is coming up on June 9th and I am planning on hosting my very first giveaway!  I am not quite sure what I am going to offer but I am thinking of sharing some of my favorite/must have running items with you! Any other ideas?

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