Financial Update
*Don’t forget to enter the draw for my give-away of 3 FUZE prize packs!
Just Say No
*Don’t forget to enter the draw for my give-away of 3 FUZE prize packs!
Reader Survey
As part of my 2009 goals I said I wanted to work on improving my blog. The easiest way for me to get started is by asking YOU, the readers what you think about the blog and how to improve it.
To that effect, I have created an anonymous survey to get your thoughts and opinions, and to also learn what demographic of people are reading this blog (because I’m curious!)
You guys know I work in advertising, and we do these sorts of surveys all the time to see how happy customers are. I’ve decided to apply this to the blog, too. The information I get from this will help me write more posts that are of interest to you and hopefully that will translate into more (and nicer) give-aways once companies start to take notice (assuming that you even like the idea of give-aways!).
So please, share your thoughts on the blog in the Ginger Won’t Snap Reader Survey.
Thanks!
Goals for 2009
Earlier I made a post musing on whether or not I should set some goals for myself this year. I came to the conclusion that it might be worthwhile to give it a shot this year.
To that effect, here are a few things that I would like to work on for the new year.
- Work on building my blog
This blog is a year old now, and I’ve come a very long way in a short period of time. I’m making (a tiny bit of ) money off of it, getting opportunities to try and promote new products through it (yay free stuff!) and am making new online friends through it. I just started it as a hobby because I was told I should write more.
I think this year I would like to see how much further I can take this exercise, and make the blog better for me and for my readers (I’ll be posting a survey for you readers out there to fill out soon!). I’m going to leave out specifics in this because I want to see how it naturally evolves. If I start making this feel like a job to me then I’ll lose interest, so it’s better to just go with the flow! - Organize & streamline my life
I’m overloaded with “stuff” and seem to accumulate it much too fast. This year I want to start by doing a big purge of the stuff I already have, and I want to continue to keep the unnecessary “stuff” at a minimum. I want to bring this organization movement into my entire life and get things settled and streamlined! - Live healthier
I need to lose weight, but more importantly I just need to start living healthier. I want to incorporate some small changes to help get me on track. So far I’m thinking of cooking at home more often (which will save me money, too!), drinking more water, taking vitamins, getting proper rest and exercising more often. I know if I set out with a big change it will never happen, so my goal is to just ease myself into these things and readjust as I go forward. - Manage my finances even better
I’m not too bad at this, but I’m not great, either. I need to create a plan and stick with it. This past year there were too many “oops!” moments and I want to avoid those this year. I also want to focus a little more on saving, particularly building up my emergency fund in response to our troubling economic times. I want to try and perform better at work to possibly get a raise and also protect myself from job cuts. - Rise above it all
I often get sucked in by petty drama, have high expectations, take things too seriously or don’t break out of my shell often enough. I need to rise above it all and try and work through my issues so people will see the real me, and not be dissuaded by my stony shell. I need more friends and positive relationships in my life. The loneliness is pretty intense.
So, how am I going to make myself accountable for all of this? Well, posting on here is a start. I think every quarter I might post about how things are going, just to stay on track. Most importantly though, I have to remember that these are not goals that I can just shove aside when times get tough. They are vague and fluid and will move with me as the year progresses, and ultimately they need to be followed, no ifs ands or buts.
They are ongoing goals that will never be truly obtained—in this case it’s the journey that matters the most.
*Don’t forget to enter the draw for my give-away of 3 FUZE prize packs!
Birthday Money
So this week is my birthday, but I went home to see my family this weekend so we could do the family birthday thing.
I also got to open some presents and cards that family sent over. Now that I’m older I don’t expect or get very much for my birthdays, but my grandparents still send me a little bit of money which is really great– While I make enough money to pay my bills and live comfortably, I don’t really have enough to buy a lot of fun and frivolous stuff.
This year, my grandparents (combined) and the GST cheque I just received (yay!) netted me just over $200. I decided to take that money plus some Christmas money and use it the way it is intended: to purchase myself something I would enjoy.
Sure, I could have thrown it at my savings account, paid a bill or put it in my RRSP, but I felt that since it was meant to be a gift (and since I’m still able to pay all my bills on my own) that I should get something cool with it.
So I bought a new iPod 
I figured that it would be ok for me to get this since I’ve been planning on getting one for a while, they were on sale, and it would fit the gift intent of my grandparents.
I don’t think it’s a good idea to buy a Vespa scooter this year (which I have been saving for and really really wanted!) with the way the economy is, so I opted for something smaller that does not involve ongoing spending. *sigh* I really wish I could have gotten the Vespa though, but I just can’t risk it.
Hopefully I made the right choice. Now I’ve got an iPod and a pretty fat savings account for something else.
I guess I’ll have to update my sidebars soon, but I don’t know what I should call the old Vespa goal now!
Oh, and if you’re looking to save some money, don’t forget to enter my draw for 3 free cases of FUZE!
Product Review & Give Away: FUZE Beverages
Ever heard of FUZE drink?
“FUZE is a delicious and smart line of all natural tea and juice drink beverages ‘infuzed’ with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants” that has just entered the Canadian market. Available for under $5, FUZE is pitched as a fun, stylish and tasty drink that is a favourite among celebrities (such as Ellen Page, Katie Holmes and Julia Roberts) at the moment and comes in a variety of flavours.
I was recently given the opportunity to test-drive some of their drinks, and I thought it was a great chance to try something new and see what all the hype was about. I’m health-conscious and love me a fruity drink, so it was a good idea, no? I’ve also been making an effort to live a healthier, more balanced lifestyle this year (Is that part of your New Year’s resolution?) and these seemed like they may fit right in.
Here’s what I got:
REFRESH
I tried this one first when I had a hankering for something tropical, and it did not disappoint. REFRESH is a thick and smooth concoction of peach and mango, that apparently contains 100% of your daily values of essential vitamins and calcium. It was a huge bottle so I can easily see how they fit all those vitamins in there! I really wasn’t expecting the thickness of the drink, but I like to think that it was due to real peaches and mangoes (thick fruits) being mushed up for it. Make sure you refrigerate it though—I let it warm up a little bit by accident and the consistency and flavor felt a little weird.
VITALIZE
…was the next one I tried. Again with the thickness. I’m not sure if I’d even label these things as juices! I think they have some additives to provide the additional smoothness and thickness that I experienced. This one was an interesting combination of blackberry and grape. Kind of like Welch’s grape juice, but thicker. This one promises a slew of electrolytes and antioxidants to help you re-VITALIZE after activity. Again, make sure this bad boy is ice cold before you drink it.
GREEN TEA WITH HONEY
I liked this one the best out of the bunch, but whether it was because I am an iced tea fanatic or because it was finally a proper liquid I don’t know. I was surprised to notice a very strong honey flavor. Usually when drinks claim that they were sweetened with honey you can’t tell. With this one you definitely can. I found it the easiest to drink and enjoyed the fact that honey was used rather than some bizarre chemical-sugar ingredient, however the sweetness was a little cloying. This was also the drink that had the least amount of calories, about 180 per 547mL bottle.
Final Thoughts:
They were pretty big bottles, but I guess they have to be to justify the price. I like that vitamins and antioxidants, etc. were included in the drink—it made me feel like I was putting more into my body than just sugar-laden juice. I thought the packaging was pretty cool, too. You could almost make art out of those bottles!
While I probably wouldn’t buy them for myself (I generally prefer plain water) I think they’re a better alternative to sugary pop and would definitely drink them if they were free!
Which brings me to some great news for you, dear readers: I will be randomly drawing 3 lucky winners to receive their very own FUZE prize pack to help you start the new year in a healthy and tasty way!
Each prize pack includes a 12-bottle case of each flavour I reviewed (Refresh, Vitalize & Green Tea) plus a FUZE t-shirt.
Details:
- Send me an email at gingercorsair (at) gmail (dot) com with the subject line “in-FUZE me!” Subject line must be exact since I’m using Gmail filters
- You must be a Canadian resident (Sorry to all my international readers!)
- I will randomly draw 3 winners on Friday, January 23rd and contact them for shipping details
- Environics PR will directly ship out the prize packs
Good luck!
New Year, New Goals?
It seems a lot of people are laying down their various goals for the year in their blogs. I’ve seen everything from personal finance goals to health, beauty, relationship goals and so forth.
It got me thinking: I don’t really do goals. But maybe this is the time to change it?
Things in life are shifting right now for everyone, and it might be a good time to lay out some goals for myself and see if I can work to actually achieve some of them. I usually don’t set them because I know I fail, but this year I think that I can accomplish some goals if I make them reasonable.
One of the great things about blogging is that all your readers can help keep you accountable!
I’ll have to think on this a little more. I have a vague idea of what I would like for myself this year, but I need to boil things down more and come up with definite, concrete goals to strive for.
5th Picture in the 5th Folder Meme
The lovely Mama Bear at I’ve Got A Little Space to Fill has tagged me with a meme!
Bathroom/Kitchen Reno: Part 4
Finally some walls!
The drywall went up and a pocket door went in! I’m excited. A pocket door means that there won’t be a regular swing door taking up space in the rooms.
The worker dude (OMG he’s so cute! I love a handy man! He can’t be more than 30…. I wonder if I should ask him out???) shifted the water taps over to where the fridge used to be for the night, but at least we’ve got water! It’s still as dusty as ever, but it finally looks as if progress is being made.
It was nice to finally have a door for a little bit of privacy. Unfortunately over the next few days (I went home to visit the parents on the weekend) the water was completely shut off, meaning that we had no more taps or water source, and we couldn’t flush the toilet. Delightful!
I already had to shower in the basement once which was not fun on an icey, cold morn, but now we were expected to go down there to use the toilet, too. Not cool. Roomie and I just went #1 in the toilet and flushed with a bucket of water.
After that, it just got increasingly worse. I decided not to go home on the Friday night, and just went straight to my parents’. I came back into the city on Monday for work, but again I just left straightaway for my parents again since the conditions in the apartment were really becoming unlivable. Luckily the Cuba trip was due and I was able to escape for a week while they worked on it.
I don’t have any photos between these ones and when I came back from Cuba, sorry! But there will be more updates to come!
I wonder, how many of you out there have gone through something similar? Have you ever been living in an apartment when the landlord has decided to do this?
Bathroom/Kitchen Reno: Part 3
After much anticipation…
A few days into the major demolition of the space, this is what I had to contend with:
Peeing behind a curtain. Oh yes. My roomie and I had to develop a sophisitcated system to alert each other that we were using the facilities.
Roomie: Ging, you in there?
Ginger: OMG YES!!! Give me a few minutes!!!
I don’t think either of us pooped in there… it was just far too open. I waited til I got to the office. *blush*
The next day or so it got a little better, they put up the bones of the walls and finally removed the bathtub. Luckily we still had running water, but no sink or drain… we had to collect the wastewater from the tap in a rubbermaid bucket and pour it down the toilet.
By this point there’s about a centimeter of dust over everything. I came home while they were still working one day and could hardly breathe it was so dusty. They tried to clean up after themselves, but there’s really only so much they could do.
Little did we know, it would only get worse…
