Rituals Sakura Collection: a delicious Japanese-inspired bath ritual!

Sakura "Try Me" Box products

I was happily selected to try a Rituals Sakura (Japanese Cherry Blossom) "Try Me" TryaBox, and I must say that I am really delighted with it! First of all, it smells divine- even the box smelled divine! (For just that reason it's a great gift- it's so much fun to open something that smells so good even before you know what it is!) And the three products are REALLY great, and while luxurious, not expensive, and I will be buying them- and some of the other products in the Collection, too! Included in the "Try Me" box are the Sakura Sugar Scrub, Foaming Shower Gel, and Body Cream, and with them I created a lovely, relaxing, and sensual little bath "ritual" for myself, that brings back wonderful memories of our Honeymoon in Japan and seeing the Cherry Blossoms! I love the Sakura Sugar Scrub, which is a great but gentle exfoliator (I much prefer sugar scrubs to salt scrubs, as sugar scrubs don't burn...), and smells delicious, and the Sakura Body Cream, which is moisturizing and creamy, and has the same delightful scent, but best surprise was the unique Sakura Foaming Shower Gel, as it's really creamy and luscious on the skin, and truly moisturizing, which many shower gels aren't! Rituals has many different collections (check them all out here: https://www.rituals.com/en-us/about-rituals.html), but I wanted to try the Sakura Ritual specifically because I have Very happy memories of seeing the Cherry Blossoms in Kyoto with Dan during our Honeymoon, and recapturing a bit of that magical experience seemed like a lovely thing to be able to do... 

The Cherry Blossoms in Kyoto...

The Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan is world famous, and rightfully so: That springtime awakening of nature in Japan is a glorious but fleeting thing, precious because it is over all too soon, & it symbolizes that beauty is momentary, and that life must be enjoyed... When Dan and I were in Kyoto (for 2 days!) during our Honeymoon in the early spring, we knew that we were too early for the blossoms, and wouldn't get to see them... and so, when we woke up in Kyoto that morning and he called me to the window of our hotel room to see the trees that had just burst into flower, my heart skipped a beat!  Ritual's Sakura Collection is inspired by that tradition, and includes nourishing Organic Rice Milk as well as cherry blossom, and it's truly delightful- and would make a Great gift! Here is the link to the complete Sakura Collection- not only bath products, but other lovely things, including Hair & Body Mist, Shampoo and Conditioner, Shower Oil., Fragrance Sicks, and Candles- and I want them all! :-) And luscious as they are, they are NOT expensive, so I just may be able to get them all, too!  https://www.rituals.com/en-us/collection-story-sakura.html 

Dan and I and the Cherry Blossoms in Kyoto!

The Cherry Blossoms in Kyoto, Japan

  

The Cherry Blossoms in Kyoto, Japan

Rituals Cosmetics  #ritualsusa #shareyourslowdown #tryazon Tryazon

My Annual Contest & Sweepstakes Thank You!

My six faithful readers know that I am a Terrible Sweeper/Contest Enterer, and that as a year ends I like to thank the wonderful companies and organizations who have made my wins possible! My sweeping hobby started 15 years ago when I entered Oil of Olay's "My Most Romantic Summer" Contest and won it- and a fabulous, luxe trip for Dan and I to the Golden Door Spa in Arizona! And I immediately thought: "I can do this!" LOL I began entering sweeps and contests with a passion bordering on OCD, mostly in the wee hours, night after night, when many of my friends were playing Farmville or Candy Crush. And they laughed at me... until I started winning more trips with plane tickets! To date I've won us 6 trips, including ones to Israel, Vietnam and Chile, as well as to San Diego, hot-air ballooning and wine-tasting in Virginia, and that first one to Arizona! I've also won a number of business contests for the Elkhorn Inn, including this year's SCORE Business Championship Award, as well as other truly splendid things, such as $1000 handbags, $500 shoes, fine jewelry, and a Big Green Egg smoker for Chef Dan- things that, honestly, we never would have been able to enjoy, otherwise!
One of the coolest things about "sweeping" is that in the process of entering to win things, you learn about products you didn't know about, and if you're lucky, you get to try them for free! And if not, you often go and buy them, anyway! (The down-side is you learn about new products you really want- things you didn't even know existed 5 minutes before. LOL)  
And so on to this year's Thank Yous:

The Absolute BIGGEST win of all this year was the Elkhorn Inn & Theatre winning the SCORE Business Championship for West Virginia! I only learned of the contest about a week before it ended, and right before our February vacation! I wrote up the story of our Inn and why I believed it to be a unique business, and submitted it, knowing that our entry had to get 100 votes to even be considered... and while Dan drove us to Florida, I Facebooked and Tweeted on my mobile incessantly, urging people to please vote for us, in the hope that I'd get that 100 votes! Amazingly, in one week we had over 10,600 votes- and we won! The Elkhorn Inn was awarded a $1000 gift certificate for Sam's Club, and we used it to get Chef Dan a brand new refrigerator, and I received an all-expense-paid trip to Houston, Texas to attend the SCORE Business Champion Awards Ceremony and Training, as well! The day the winners were announced, WVVA News television turned up at the Elkhorn Inn, and the amazing outpouring of wonderful media coverage for the Inn, and for our 15 years of promoting McDowell County, West Virginia tourism, has been nothing short of fabulous! We were covered by WVVA News television five times, for everything from planting our Sunflower Meadow, to having Mark Twain at the Inn this fall; we were featured on Hoppy Kercheva's Talkline Radio (thanks, in great measure, to Homer Hickam), there were articles on the Elhorn Inn on the Trains Magazine Blog and ATV Illustrated, features on the West Virginia Tourism website, and the Inn was featured as  one of the Top Ten Most Romantic Getaways for Seniors, and one of the Top Eight Fly Fishing Getaways, too! I even got myself a "Business Champion" Pink Satin Sash to celebrate! :-)

Elisse receiving the Business Champion Award

Elisse & Chef Dan at Sam's Club, Bluefield, VA

The Business Champion Award Winners in Texas

Chef Dan taking delivery of our new fridge!

Elisse in her "Business Champion" sash!

Last year I wrote about my mother having successfully beaten breast cancer more than 20 years ago for the "Tough Enough To Wear Pink" campaign for breast cancer awareness, and this year I was gifted with a gorgeous pair of "Tough Enough To Wear Pink" Cowboy Boots by Twisted X Boots. I wore them in Texas on a FEMA disaster response deployment, and, amazingly, a lot of big, tough Texas men complimented me on my "great boots"- and they ALL knew they were for Breast Cancer Awareness!

Wearing my Twisted X Boots in Texas on a FEMA deployment

I won a delicious Bokksu Box of Japanese treats and teas, including the fabulous Green Tea Kit Kats I'd been Dyyyying to try! Bokksu is unlike any other Japanese snack box! They are totally in love with Japanese snacks, and they craft truly authentic Japanese gourmet experiences for  Members around the world. Their collections are sourced directly from artisanal producers in Japan, and you won't find their delicious snacks and teas anywhere else! If you love all things Japanese like I do, you will LOVE Bokksu!

This year I won a number of fine beauty products and cosmetics, and perhaps there's a message in there somewhere... LOL

Kerasilk from Elle

Orogold

Revlon Matte Lipsticks also from Elle

Vichy Winter Skin Care

Beessential Body Care

One of the loveliest things I won this year was a Body Care Gift Tin from Beessential  and having now discovered them, these are Definitely products I'll be buying again, both for myself and gifts! Beessential makes natural skin care products by hand from start to finish, from their own bee hives! They uses fresh, pure honey, beeswax and Propolis from their family farm in Ohio, and blend them with other natural ingredients, such as Coconut, Olive & Virgin Hemp Oils. They make everything themselves, and all their natural body washes, body creams and hair care products are free of harsh chemicals like sulfates, parabens and PEG.

Vera Bradley Backpack

Thanks to being a "Crowdtapper", I often get to try new products, many of which I've grown to love. This year my favorite was Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Honeysuckle Essential Oil Body Wash, which smells and feels DIVINE! Mrs. Meyers makes bath and household products with essential oils from flowers and herbs that not only smell fabulous, they really work! They have a gazillion garden-fresh scents, too, include Lavender, Lemon Verbena, Basil, Geranium and many, many others!

Mrs. Meyer's Honeysuckle Essential Oil Body Wash

I was sent a stylish Vera Bradley backpack from Vogue, for being an "Influencer" :-)















Most recently I won a really fabulous $250 gift certificate for custom-made pillows from The Pillow Collection   thanks to Havenly, and I am truly excited about this, as I have wanted outdoor pillows for the Inn's front porch for a long time! This was a Great Hanukkah present, and picking out pillows will be my Spring Decorator Fun!

  

PUR "Love Your Selfie2" Makeup Palette

I won a Fabulous "Love Your Selfie 2" makeup palette from Pur Cosmetics! 

 

Flight 001

This was a GREAT win for a gal who travels a lot- both for business, such as FEMA disaster response operations, and for pleasure with Dan when I can! Flight 001  is, literally, a one-stop shop for the traveler, with luggage, bags, adapters, in-flight comforts, bottles, containers, Spacepaks, Go Clean, Seatpaks, and other cool travel things! I won Spacepacks, among other things, and they are so great!

Yeti Tumbler

I also won a YETI tumbler- and let me tell you, this is No Ordinary Tumbler! This is a $30 Tumbler with a captial T and a BACKSTORY! This Tumbler is a LIFESTYLE! This Tumbler is an Aspirational Tumbler! It's the Entry Level Product on your way up to the $1299 Yeti Tundra Cooler! While I was deployed to Texas, I had the chance to visit the "home" of Yeti, their Official Flagship store in Austin, where I got 2 hats as an award for having eaten my sticky-fingered way thru Texas, getting stamps in my "BBQ Passport" along the way!

Me, doing the Yeti Beer Thing in Austin!

Arrow Rivet Gun

And finally, I managed to win something for Dan- and at Christmas time, too: an Arrow Rivet Gun! And it even came with rivets! This is probably THE ONLY TOOL that DIY Dan didn't have, and he was thrilled!

A Sweeps & Contests THANK YOU- and sweeping tips!

This post is a GREAT BIG THANK YOU!
As my five faithful readers know, I am a terrible sweeper and contest-enterer. The first time I entered a contest- Oil of Olay's "Most Romantic Summer" contest back in 2002- I actually won it- a totally fabulous trip with hubs to The Golden Door Spa at The Boulders in Arizona that included plane tickets and spa treatments- and that fueled what has become my late-night hobby- and one that sure beats Candy Crush or Farmville for lucrative time-killing! LOL Yes, sweeping has it's downside- I get 1900+ emails a day I have to actually go through (because you are ONLY notified of a win via email...), but in the process of sweeping, I also learn a lot about new products, and there are lots of things I now want that I never even knew Existed until I saw them in a sweeps! LOL And yes, my friends made fun of me... until I started winning trips with plane tickets! So far I've won 6 trips with plane tickets, which Dan and I have enjoyed the heck out of:  thanks to sweeps and contests, we've had amazing trips back to Israel and Vietnam, Chile, Arizona, California, and Virginia!
And so, as 2016 draws to a close, I want to thank the great people and companies who made my fabulous "wins" possible, and, in many cases, treated me (and my husband) to things we Never would have been able to enjoy otherwise! PLEASE shop with these great companies- they all make terrific things that you'll love, and that will make Great gifts for the people you love!

Happy Dan and his fabulous Big Green Egg!

My first BIG Thank You goes to Tabasco, as, thanks to them, I won my chef husband THE Ultimate Grill-Smoker- a fabulous, medium-size Big Green Egg! And it came with a Nest, Eggmates, BBQ tools, starters and even organic charcoal, so (after reading the directions and watching videos and putting it together), he could get right into smoking us some fabulous, Memphis-Style Dry Rub Brisket! This was THE best "Big 7-0" birthday present for Chef Dan ever!

Chef Dan making a Dry Rub Brisket in his Big Green Egg!

Amazingly, I also won $160 in fabulous steaks and seafood from Certified Steaks and Seafood! I got us an amazing assortment of Prime and Wagyu filet mignons, Bermuda & Canadian lobster tails, crab claws, and andouille sausage for Chef Dan to make- and he's making some of them right now for our New Years Eve supper! 

My next BIG thank you goes to Vitruvi Essential Oils and Aromatherapy, as I won a glorious gift certificate for their excellent, natural essential oils, which I LOVE! I keep a diffuser on my desk in my office, and enjoy blending the oils to create a really pleasing and healthy environment around me while I work! My aromatherapy oils are like a "chemistry set" for Big Girls! :-)

My diffuser and some of my Virtuvi essential oils...

Some of my Vitruvi essential oils and sprays...

I won a Delicious November Bokksu box of Japanese snacks and teas, which was so much fun and yummy! (I blogged about it here: Bokksu - Enjoy Yummy Japan at Home every month!)  The November box was themed "Japanese Folklore" and included an artisan assortment of Japanese snacks and teas and a guide to explain everything! This is THE best gift for anyone who loves Japan- as we do! Our Bokksu box not only brought back wonderful memories of our honeymoon, 4 glorious days of which were spent in Japan, but gave us the chance to try new things and learn more about Japan, too!

My November Bokksu Box

I won a gorgeous ceramic artists palette from Stephen Quiller from The Artists Magazine, which I badly needed for my watercolors...

I won a Selfie Stick from Galbani- Italy's Favorite Cheese! 



I won PreHeels, a great anti-blister foot spray to stop my fave high-heels from irritating my tender toosties...

And from Vogue, I won a Gorgeous Vera Bradley backpack!













 I won a lovely selection of great travel beauty products from www.savvytravelers.com/

And a truly fun and stylish Evan Williams Kentucky Bourbon "travel set" for my photo of my AbFab Kentucky Derby Evan Williams Mint Julep Jello Shots!

And two cool, fun vacuum wine stoppers from VINOPlease Wine Accessories and Tools:

I also won two glasses from Coors... (Obviously Not the Grand Prize LOL)

From Latina I won a set of Ouidad curly hair care products which are great for my curly hair!

I won a great assortment of natural beauty products from ThredUp, including lovely Earth Mama Angel Baby organic body lotion and other delightful products! 










And from SheSpeaks I won a Neutrogena Cleansing Set!

And then there was the Banana costume I won from Del Monte... No, this prize did NOT come with a trip to their Dole Plantation in Hawaii, but I entered it anyway... because I am, yes, bananas. LOL

And last, but not least, I FINALLY won Dan a car... There's just one little problem... :-)







Elisse's Tips for Successful Sweeping and Contest Entering:
1. Read the rules! If you are going to "waste time" on this, read the rules so you don't disqualify yourself!
2. Have an email just for sweeps and contests if possible, and check it EVERY DAY! This is a must. You will ONLY be notified of a win via email, and you will sometimes only have 24 hours to respond or you will lose the prize!
3. You WILL get 1000s of emails every day. You WILL be on every mailing list in the known universe.  Enjoy it. Think of it as "Market Research". LOL If that concept makes you crazy, sweeping is NOT for you!
4. Enter 100 a night. No kidding. This isn't luck, as many friends insist- it's entering 100 a night on average,  month after month after month... If you think of this as your "nighttime job" it will be less painful. LOL
5. Legitimate sweeps and contests will NEVER charge you ANYTHING to claim a prize you have won. You may have to send or fax in a signed affidavit, and you may get a tax form at the end of the year if the prize is larger than $500. But if anyone demands money from you to claim a prize you won they are breaking the law.
6. You WILL have to submit your name, address, phone, birthday, email, etc. in order to enter anything. If that is a problem for you, sweeping is NOT for you!
7. Sweeps are random drawings (like Lotto); Contests are based on skill. If you can write well, take good photographs, create art, make unique Pinterest boards, etc., contests can be very good- I have won a number of contests, including the trips to Chile, Arizona, and Virginia! Note: sometimes sweeps are designed to look like contests; again, read the rules to see if it's a random drawing or a skill-based contest.
8. The smaller the company (or blog or Facebook page) the better your odds. Blogs have great odds, because usually only a few hundred or a few thousand people enter, as opposed to the millions who enter the HGTV sweeps to win a million dollar home or the Ford sweeps to win a $40K truck.
9. Some are "enter only once" and some are "enter every day"; again: read the rules.
10. There are email lists of legitimate sweeps and contests you can sign up for which will deliver 100s of them to your inbox every day... 
11. Only enter for things you really want to win. I learned that the hard way! But remember: you may not win the Grand Prize $10K Trip to Vegas, you may win 1st Prize, which is a giant box of condoms- because the contest was sponsored by a condom company- and yes, that happened to me! You may also win a key chain, a toy car, or 2 beer glasses. Hey- it still beats Candy Crush. LOL
12. If and when you win a prize, be NICE to the great folks who sponsor these sweeps and contests! Don't forget that they do it to get business- so send them YOUR business and that of your friends and coworkers! Buy from them, blog about them, Facebook about them, Tweet about them, Pinterest pin them, and G+ them!
Good luck, and happy sweeping!