Oh look, it's me in a field again. (5 Days of Giveaways, Day 5: Free ShoeMint shoes!)

Shirt: Stitch Fix, Boots: c/o ShoeMint, Bag: c/o Ruche

Howdy friends! How are you liking all the fabulous giveaways the past few days? Some pretty good ones, eh? I have been working like an abused pack mule this week, trying to stay caught up on photo editing/biz running and content for this blog simultaneously, and I'm proud to say that I am KILLING IT. It is absolutely amazing what one can accomplish when one has zero time with which to procrastinate. I work better under the gun, and that's just the way it is. Speaking of procrastinating, did anyone see this hilarious article? I relate, I really do. Or, at least I USED to. Muhahaha. 

*side note: if you wrote me an email in the last 30 days, you will receive a reply. Eventually. I've put my SOML inbox on hold until I get all my clients' photos out to them. Thank you for understanding!

Today's the last day of "5 Days of Giveaways", and we're giving away WINNER'S CHOICE of ONE FREE PAIR OF SHOEMINT SHOES! If you haven't heard of ShoeMint, it's a free, members-only website and the brainchild of Rachel Bilson and stylist Nicole Chavez (all shoes manufactured by Steve Madden, so you know they're good!). The styles are super high quality yet affordable, and new items are added monthly based on newest trends. You answer some fun questions (multiple choice! ha!) to receive your own personalized style recs, and woila! Awesome shoes appear before you. I had the opportunity to pick a pair for this post, and I went with the sweet boots in the photos. I'm still seriously questioning my own judgement for not going for these though. Hrmph.

See below for giveaway details!

because we don't get to see enough badonk-a-donk here in Blogland. And yes, I occasionally wear leggings as pants.

Shirt: Stitch Fix, Boots: c/o ShoeMint, Bag: c/o Ruche

If you'd like to enter for your chance to win one free pair of ShoeMint shoes, the entry requirements are simple. Please visit ShoeMint, sign up for a membership (super easy and free), and come back here and comment on this post with the pair of shoes you'd like to win. If you decide to purchase a pair, you'll receive 20% off through the above link! (for first time purchases/members.)

Giveaway open to U.S. and Canada residents only. GOOD LUCK! :)

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5 Days of Giveaways, Day 4: 25 free holiday cards from Minted.com!

It's no secret that Minted.com has THE best holiday card designs, so when I was presented with the opportunity to offer one sweet reader some free Minted cards, I was all over it. Just for fun, I played around with some designs to show you all a couple options, but there are literally a bajillion choices to fit every taste. Did you know Minted has awesome party decor and cute ornament cards, too?! Sweet. I had no idea they had such a variety of adorable stuff until recently. 

Enter below for your chance to win, and good luck! 

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5 Days of Giveaways, Day 3: $40 to Acute Designs

Maybe you remember Gina from the super yummy sweet potato donut recipe she was gracious enough to post for me while I was in Mexico, but did you know she has a beautiful little Etsy shop, too? Today Gina is giving away a $40 Acute Designs shop credit to one lucky SOML reader. Enter below, and good luck! :)

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5 Days of Giveaways, Day 2: $50 worth of Brickyard Buffalo loot

Today's giveaway comes courtesy of an awesome new website called Brickyard Buffalo, an online pop-up market that showcases individual companies and their freshest items. I am always so impressed with BB's fun offerings, which are constantly rotated so customers will consistently find awesome deals to suit their tastes (and discover great new products and companies in the process!).

The winner of this giveaway will receive $50 worth of Brickyard Buffalo loot in a surprise package...  and who doesn't love surprise presents arriving in their mailbox?!  ;) Enter below for your chance to win!

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5 Days of Giveaways, Day 1: $100 to Lulu & Georgia!

You guyssss, I know giveaways sometimes feel like a dime a dozen here in Blog World, but I'm still really excited about the lineup of giveaways I have for you in the next week! Today I'm kicking it off with $100 to Lulu & Georgia, and on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of next week there will be four more fantastic giveaways designed to introduce you to some great brands in time for holiday shopping. I'll have regular content here as well so it won't be just giveaways, but be sure and check back each day next week to see what else you might win!

Lulu & Georgia is a fantastic online store full of beautiful decor for your home and a gift store now, too, so I am 100% positive you will find some amazing stuff to spend your $100 on if you win. Would it be suspicious if I rigged this so I win? Yes, I suppose it would be. ;)

Enter in the Rafflecopter below, and good luck!!

**PS - please enjoy 10% off your Lulu & Georgia order TODAY ONLY (Nov 14) with the code SOML10**

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A thank you + a sweet Minnetonka giveaway

Checkered shirt and pants: J. Crew, Blue shirt: Banana Republic, Shoes: c/o Minnetonka Moccasins

You guys! Can I just say a humongous thank you for your response to yesterday's post? 

It's funny, because it took me like an hour and half to crank out those three little paragraphs... that's how uninspired and verbally constipated I've been feeling lately, when it comes to blogging. And I had a very "meh" attitude about what the response would be. I thought there would be a few nice comments and maybe a lot of radio silence from all those who would be thinking to themselves, "yeah, time to retire the blog now, Jenni, you kind of do suck." I really didn't count on such thoughtful and insightful comments from so many of you, and they really lifted my spirits and reminded me exactly why I fell in love with blogging in the first place. So thank you. That really, really means a lot to me. I can't promise this blog won't be marginally sucky in November, since my ass is literally glued to my chair editing photos and generally running a business all week, but I do feel a lot more motivated going forward, to bring this blog back to something that I'm really proud of. 

Switching gears here, one thing I can say I AM proud of is that the advertisers I have on board this month are really top notch and I am so happy to be working with them. Today concludes my three styled Minnetonka moccasins, and with that conclusion comes a giveaway of one of the three said pairs, to one happy reader! Scroll down for your chance to win. :) Happy Tuesday, and again, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Checkered shirt and pants: J. Crew, Blue shirt: Banana Republic, Shoes: c/o Minnetonka Moccasins

Win one of these three pairs of mocs! Enter in the Rafflecopter below. And check out the SOML Q&A feature on the Minnetonka blog here! :)

one | two | three

*OPEN TO U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY*

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Giveaway: $60 to Easy Streets

I'm taking a little break from recapping Mexico today to bring you an awesome giveaway from Easy Streets, an Etsy shop with the cutest scarves on the block. Today's giveaway winner will receive a $60 shop credit, and since most scarves cost $25 to $35 dollars, you can definitely buy yourself two with your winnings! Enter for your chance to win in the Rafflecopter form below, and good luck...

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Marolsha giveaway

Today's giveaway comes courtesy of Marolsha, my favorite little shop on the web. Maddy, Marolsha's owner, makes such adorable pieces in so much variety... a little something for everyone! :) The giveaway winner will take home a $30 shop credit to buy whatever they'd like. Good luck!

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New shop obsession: Salt City Emporium (+ a giveaway!)

{ Leggings c/o Salt City Emporium, Shirt and sandals: Old Navy, Necklace c/o Noonday Collection }

Two recipe posts in a row and then two outfit posts in a row? What is this blog coming to?

Anyway, have you heard of Salt City Emporium? The leggings in these photos might just be my favorite thing I've ever been gifted by a Story of My Life sponsor. I've seen cute-patterned leggings around the web, usually for little kids, and when I was offered the opportunity to try the adult version, I was all over it. I didn't expect these to be so ridiculously comfortable, though. I mean, obviously leggings are comfortable by nature, but these are soft like silk (made of Polyester and Spandex) and just feel like wearing air. How's that for an endorsement? Check out their kids stuff here and their women's stuff here!

One SOML reader will win a pair of Salt City Emporium leggings of their very own, so be sure and enter in the Rafflecopter form below.  GOOD LUCK!

(and YES, these photos were taken inside our new house! It's such an interesting blank slate for photos right now... kind of fun!)

{ Leggings c/o Salt City Emporium, Shirt and sandals: Old Navy, Necklace c/o Noonday Collection }

and a few other pairs from the website... (scroll down for giveaway!)

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Thoughts on personal style (+a Penn Avenue Eyewear giveaway!)

Jeans and shirt: Banana Republic, Shoes: c/o Minnetonka, Glasses: c/o Penn Avenue Eyewear

I have been thinking a lot about personal style lately. It's something that's pretty important to me and also something I've always "struggled" with, for lack of a less dramatic word. The thing is, I love a lot of different kinds of styles, and I can be fairly easily influenced by other stylish people I admire or, let's face it, FREE CLOTHES. When you're a blogger and also tight for cash, and people start offering you free clothes, you figure you can't be too picky, right?

The thing that's been bothering me lately, though, is that when I open my closet each day to find something to wear, so little of it really resonates with me. My closet has turned into this weird thing full of free clothes that aren't really even ME. Aren't what I feel most comfortable in, aren't what actually reflects my tastes, when you get down to it. A couple days ago I tried to put together an outfit for a blog post, and it felt so weird and contrived and, as a result, it looked terrible on me. Then the next day, I thoughtlessly threw on this outfit in the photos above and below, just to run an errand, and I felt so comfortable and great in it and, even though it isn't really Blogger Perfect whatsoever, I felt like I was being true to myself, and that is a good way to feel.

So maybe this wonderfully boring outfit today is just sort of my way of starting over, starting with a simple, clean palette, and making a pact (with myself and with you) that I'm not going to compromise my own tastes anymore. (Though maybe I never really was - maybe I had to learn for sure what isn't me before I could know what really is?) 

Jeans and shirt: Banana Republic, Shoes: c/o Minnetonka, Glasses: c/o Penn Avenue Eyewear

The fine folks at Penn Avenue Eyewear are sponsoring SOML for the next few months and would love to give away one complete pair of prescription glasses or non-prescription sunglasses to a reader... sweet, huh? The ones I'm wearing above are the Morgan frames in tortoise, and I absolutely love them. Enter for your chance to win a pair in the Rafflecopter below, and good luck! :)

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$50 Hazel & Olive giveaway (+ a Photography Concentrate discout code!)

Howdy folks, and happy Tuesday. Today's giveaway comes courtesy of one of my favorite online shops, Hazel & Olive! I've worn it proudly here and here, if you recall. ;) Today a $50 gift certificate to the store is up for grabs, which will buy you just about anything you'd like. (most items are a steal at under $40!)

Also, the Photography Concentrate tutorial prize pack winner has been chosen and emailed, but the kind couple behind this awesome site is offering up SOML readers an exclusive 30% discount on all tutorials through September 21st (this Saturday!) with the code SOML30, for those of you who may have been sad about not winning. ;)  Just keep in mind that the field to enter the discount code is on the second checkout screen, and if you are paying by Paypal, you will first be transferred there to log in and then transferred back to the PC site where you can enter the discount code. Thanks, Rob & Lauren, for being so generous!

Now enter for your chance to win free loot from Hazel & Olive below, and have a fantastic day. :)

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Bumble & Buzz giveaway: $100 blog design credit

Your space on the web need a spiffing? We're hookin' you up today! ;) Melyssa from the Nectar Collective and Bumble & Buzz is a fabulous blogger and graphic designer who is seriously going places in the design world - her work is simple, sweet, and professional, so if you're in the market for a new blog design, throw your name in the hat for today's giveaway. The winner will receive a $100 design credit to Bumble & Buzz, and blog designs typically run from around $150-$200. That makes this a 50% to 75% off discount! Sweet.

Enter in the Rafflecopter form below. GOOD LUCK!

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Giveaway: $270 worth of Photography Concentrate tutorials!

You guys. YOU GUYS. I am so excited for today's giveaway! If you're interested in learning photography, whether you'd like to do it professionally or just to improve your every day photos, pay attention to this one! Many of you know I am a big, big fan of the folks over at Photography Concentrate and their fabulous tutorials. I rave about them every chance I get, because they are just that good! Extremely Essential Camera Skills transformed my work and jumpstarted my photography business, and Super Photo Editing Skills taught me Lightroom. There are so many helpful things I learned from those two tutorials, both major and minor, that I NEVER would have figured out myself, and for that I am so grateful. Rob and Lauren, the masterminds behind Photography Concentrate, are a married couple and photographers themselves, and they created these tutorials as a simple, clean, affordable, and aesthetically pleasing way to teach others photography. You could spend hundreds or thousands of dollars (and lots of time) to take college courses or other photography classes... orrrrr you could just get these tutorials and learn it all in one or two sittings. NO BRAINER.

Anyway, the really good news is that one of you will win an entire set of Photography Concentrate tutorials - that's a $270 value, or compared to what you COULD spend elsewhere, it's worth thousands and many hours of your life. Here's what the winner will receive:

1. Extremely Essential Camera Skills ($49.95) | 2. Super Photo Editing Skills ($79.95) | 3. Backup or Die ($19.95) | 4. Awesome Album Design Skills ($79.95) | 5. Simple Wedding Photography ($39.95)

For your chance to win this awesome prize pack, enter in the Rafflecopter below. GOOD LUCK! 

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My Unblemish Story (and a Rodan + Fields full regimen giveaway!)

Happy Tuesday everyone! Today I'm reviewing Unblemish by Rodan + Fields, the same folks who made Proactive. If you have problem skin, you'll want to listen up to this!

It can be easy to fall prey to the assumption that everyone on the Internet is perfect. Perfect home, perfect family, perfect wardrobe, perfect skin, perfect life. But it's important to remember that PHOTOSHOP. And professional photography, and great light, and that you are seeing a filtered version of reality, not the real reality. I try to keep it real on this blog, and that's why I'm writing about my skin today. It's not the best. It's never been the best, but about two years ago it decided to FREAK OUT on me, and ever since then I've been waging this war against adult acne that can be very  frustrating and embarrassing at times. Bonnie, a Rodan + Fields consultant, contacted me to sponsor several months back, and that's when I first became aware of the Unblemish line. After his first stint advertising with me, I bartered some ad space for the Unblemish regimen, on the promise that I would review it IF I had a good experience. And you guys, I did! I really did. 

I debated even posting this before and after picture because I look like death warmed over in the first photo especially (just got out of a hot shower, so my skin was still angry and I had no makeup on except for the eyeliner I did a terrible job of washing off). But I think it's important to see what a difference 6 weeks of Unblemish made for my face, specifically my forehead, which I have the most trouble with. If it takes the shittiest imaginable photo of me to do so, so be it.

I know, I know. Nevvverrr looked better! But this gets the point across, right? That ish WORKS! It worked for me anyway. I feel I should also mention I spent a little time in the sun between the before and after, which I'm sure helped clear me up a little, too. But I haven't been in the sun for about a month now at this point, and my skin is still clearer than it has been in two years.  I am so grateful for Unblemish, and plan to continue using it as long as it continues working for me.

Now excuse me while I go hide my face in shame for posting those god-awful pictures of myself on the Internet. I did it because I love you, people. I did it because I love you.

* * * * *

If you're interested in winning your own full Rodan + Fields regimen (a $160 value!), then consider entering the giveaway below. There are several different lines to fit all different skin types! Go here if you want to bite the bullet and purchase a regimen today.

GOOD LUCK!

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$30 shop credit to Marolsha

Today's giveaway comes courtesy of one of my all time favorite Etsy shops, Marolsha. Such an incredible variety of super cute jewelry in this shop, and today you can enter to win a $30 shop credit. GOOD LUCK, and have a great day! :)

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Win custom notecards from the Sister Studio

This fine Tuesday the sweet ladies over at the Sister Studio are offering up 25 notecards and envelopes to one SOML reader - you'll have your choice between these cards (either thank you or personalized), these cards, or these cards. Whichever you prefer!

The ladies also offer a slew of different party supplies, from banners to invitations to cupcake toppers, so if you're in the market, check 'em out. And enter for your chance to win the custom cards in the Rafflecopter below! Good luck! :)

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$50 Tailor and Stylist giveaway

Pssst... have you heard of Tailor and Stylist yet? If not, you miiiight be living under a rather large rock.

This online shop is taking the world by storm with its high-style but low cost fashions procured by a husband-wife/tailor-stylist team with legit credentials and classic taste. Today they are giving away a $50 shop credit to one lucky SOML reader, so check out their summer lookbook below and enter in the Rafflecopter for your chance to win. GOOD LUCK! :)

(and PS - I've styled several pieces for T&S in the past - here and here are a couple of the posts!)

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$100 to Outfit Additions

Happy Tuesday, you guys! Today's giveaway is a generous $100 to Outfit Additions, an online jewelry and accessory shop with styles for every single taste, really! And great prices, to boot, which means the winner of today's giveaway will be taking home a pretty nice little pile of new jewels. :) Enter in the rafflecopter below, and good luck!

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Marolsha giveaway

Today's giveaway is from Marolsha - a shop very near and dear to my heart. Maddy (the designer behind Marolsha), has been a Story of My Life supporter almost as long as this blog has been around, and I have loved watching her shop grow and grow. Marolsha pieces are beautiful and affordable, and whoever wins today's contest can buy themselves 30 dollars worth of their favorites. Good luck!

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Off the shoulder

First day back after the brutal month of May, and I thought I'd ease in with an outfit post and giveaway for you poor things that had to read my ramblings for a month straight. Today's giveaway is for a $30 shop credit to Classic & Bubbly, an up and coming online store with beautiful, colorful pieces like the dress I'm wearing today.  I've always been so enamored with off-the-shoulder dresses and shirts... I really wanted an off-the-shoulder wedding dress, but never did find one I liked (in my price range, that is). Ah well, I'll have to make up for it with gorgeous dresses like this one. Enter the giveaway below and scroll down for a discount code to the shop!

 

Dress c/o Classic & Bubbly, discount code STORY30 for 30% your store purchase through Monday, 6/10

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