giveaway: zinio digital magazines

True confession: I'm a magazine hoarder. I used to keep every issue of every magazine I got in a box in my closet - and I got Entertainment Weekly for several years, so it was a LOT of magazines! When I moved out, I had to throw them all away. It was hard...I remained convinced that someday I would really need to find one of those articles again and what was I supposed to do now that I'd thrown the magazine out???

Of course, I never did go back to an article in all the years I kept those magazines in my closet, because (surprise) it's really hard to find a specific article in a slipper pile of paper (mostly bent too...I wasn't very nice to my magazine stash)! Luckily, we live in a beautiful modern age where all the content you could ever want is at your fingertips!

Zinio is the world's largest newsstand, providing digital issues of pretty much any magazine you can imagine. Seriously - I spent a while flipping through their categories and I saw pretty much every magazine I've heard of plus a ridiculous number than I never had! Everything from Smithsonian to Rolling Stone to Cosmopolitan to Taste of Home to Cigar Aficionado which I'd never heard of but apparently has Jeremy Irons on the cover this month (YUM).

And all these thousands of digital magazines? You can read them on your laptop, your iPad/iPhone, or your Android-powered device! I love the idea of flipping through Dwell on my tablet - we're all addicted to home/lifestyle blogs (or is that just me?) but I'll admit that I do miss real magazines. It always feels like a treat to sit down with one at the salon, and now I can have them with me without any of the guilt of recycling!

But what's really awesome about Zinio is that they're giving 9 readers a FREE subscription to the magazine of their choice! That's right - nine of you will get to choose from the thousands of titles Zinio offers to read on your computer/phone/tablet/wherever!

To enter:

1. Follow this blog (duh!)
2. Comment here and tell me which magazine you'd like to get for free! (This doesn't have to be your final choice, no pressure!)
3. Make sure you leave your e-mail so I can get in contact with you.

The giveaway will be open for a week; I'll accept entries through midnight CST on Saturday (3/30). Winners will be randomly selected.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. WINNERS WILL BE CONTACTED.

Note: In order to receive your subscription, you'll need to provide me with your first and last name to pass on to Zinio. This will all be conducted privately through e-mail, and I'd never use the information to Facebook stalk you or anything weird like that!

I'm sure all this magazine talk has you raring to go, and winning a single subscription won't be enough to quench your thirst for content. Lucky for you, you magazine fiend, Zinio is running some awesome deals right now - but you have to move quick! Through the end of the month (3/31), get $5 back for every 10 you spend on a new subscription (don't you love when that happens?) and five of their titles are available for just $5. Personally, I'm eyeing up Midwest Living (that's where I live!) and Eating Well. They're also having a 2-for-1 deal on select titles: get a 2 year subscription for the price of one. If I already got Eating Well, maybe I could try Boating - I could get into boats! This deal is good through 4/2.

Basically, now I'm facing having a hard-drive filled up with magazines instead of a box in my closet...but these will be searchable and significantly more portable!

Disclaimer: This giveaway was sponsored by Zinio. I was compensated for this post with a subscription for myself.

giveaway winner

This morning I made the drive down to Kaitlin and my alma mater to meet up with her for our POTTERVENTURE. So I'm posting to you live from Beloit to bring you the winner of my very first giveaway.

The recipient of the Sock Dreams giftcard is...Julie! Congratulations! Please e-mail me (ficklekitsch@gmail.com) to collect your prize!

Thank you to all the entrants; I hope that you go ahead and buy yourselves the socks of your choosing, even if I'm not going to be treating you to them! And welcome to my new followers!

Who's going to see Harry Potter tonight? Feel free to party in the comments if you're so moved--I always love to get new gifs! My plan for tonight is to get dressed up, go to dinner in costume, and then cry buckets and buckets of tears. It's going to be totally awesome!

baby's first giveaway (and socks!)

I mentioned it before on twitter, I believe, but this Tuesday was a very special day: my first bloggiversary! I had planned to post on the actual day, of course, but I've been temping full-time this week and haven't had much time for blogging. But I'll be done with my placement next week and hopefully I'll learn to work and blog concurrently (since both of those are things I will hopefully be doing much more often!)

Other exciting things: my Quidditch socks came! I'm going to the very last midnight premiere of the very last Harry Potter movie and I wouldn't dream of going in plainclothes. Disdainbrook and I will be there with bells on, as well as a pair of radish earrings for her and Quidditch goggles for me! (The two of us also have some Potterlicious posts coming up next week, so watch out for that.) I'm going dressed as a Quidditch player, and will be DIYing most of my costume. However, as we all know, a few accessories can make a look, so I splurged and got myself the aforementioned goggles and socks!


Just a webcam teaser, I'll have a full post up after the premiere next week! and excuse my pasty pasty legs

And speaking of socks...you might have noticed that I've been considering a giveaway for a while. As it happened, several of the milestones I had thought might be good giveaway opportunities (25 followers, 100 posts, 1 year) fell in the same week or two. I really appreciate my readers and followers, and anyone who made me feel like I was doing more than just shooting words into the vast digital void. One of my first posts was about the marvelous Sock Dreams, where I just bought my utterly magical Quidditch socks--and where I'd like to buy you a pair (or two) of socks!

Giveaway
Win a $20 gift card to Sock Dreams, to be spent on whatever glorious socks tickle your fancy!

To enter:
1. Be a follower of Fickle Kitsch
2. Comment on this entry with the pair of socks, tights, or sock accessories your heart most desires!
3. ???
4. Profit!

Comments will be accepted until noon CST on Wednesday, July 13th.
Because Sock Dreams was nice enough to link my giveaway, I'm extending the deadline to midnight CST tonight. There's still a chance to win!

Don't forget that Sock Dreams has free shipping on all US orders (free shipping that is, in my experience, crazy fast!) and is super groovy.

I'll select a winner through random number generation. Please feel free to spread the word/tell your friends...I would of course love for you to follow my twitter or Pinterest, but I'm keeping things simple for my first giveaway so there is just one entry per person. Following me elsewhere might make me love you a little more, but it won't affect your chances here!

This giveaway is 100% funded by me and is not sponsored by Sock Dreams