A Freebie fit for a Diva

Hey all you Glamour Girls, want to look like a million bucks on your birthday? False eyelashes are one of my favorite beauty secrets! So I thought I would pass along this great freebie to you.

How about a FREE pair of eyelashes and lash application at MAC on your birthday?? Sounds good to me, how about you? All you have to do is visit the Hollywood and Highland center in Hollywood, California on your exact birthday (ID required), go to the Hollywood Visitor Information Center on level 1 and get your free elephant card, then take your Elephant VIP card to the MAC store, tell them its your Birthday and kindly ask those well trained MAC make-up artists for your fun and flirty lashes--and they will usually do complimentary eye make-up too, if you ask nicely :-)

This complimentary set of lashes and lash application is a $12 value--nice perk, right? Aren't you glad you are a follower of Romy Raves and found out about this awesome freebie?

Enjoy and Happy Birthday Girlfriend!

FREE Business Cards--Such a Deal!

I recently came across another great freebie that I wanted to pass on to Romy's Raves readers: 250 FREE Business Cards from Vista Print! I was recently at a networking mixer and got a couple of really snazzy looking business cards, and to my pleasant surprise when I looked on the back of the cards I learned that they were from Vista Print, a great online printing service where you can design your own cards (from over forty options) and the best part is that you get 250 cards for FREE! This sounded too good to be true, so I went to the site to check it out for myself and low and behold they are in fact offering 250 cards for FREE (you only have to pay for shipping starting at around five bucks), not a bad deal :-)

Surprisingly, Vista Print has a lot of fun, modern designs and I really enjoyed the site interface experience. Basically this is how it goes down: first, you pick your design, then type in your text (you have to use the pre-selected layout and font) and you instantly see the layout and look of text as you type it on the card (I LOVED this feature because you immediately get to see exactly how your card will look); and then you complete and approve your text and layout, choose your preferred shipping option (slow boat is the cheapest) and process your order. This great freebie is ideal during these challenging economic times, especially when so many people are looking for work or trying to re-invent themselves. Creating my Vista Print cards was super fun, fast and easy with a price that's hard to beat-- and the best part is that I created a card I absolutely LOVE! Check out my new business cards below and then have some fun creating your own masterpiece, who knows maybe this will be the start of something exciting and new--Glad I could help!

Have you noticed anything positive about this down economy?

Recently, my amazing life coach asked me a version of the question I have used as my title for this blog, "What are the positive outcomes that you have noticed as a result of our strained economy?" I loved this question because it threw me for a loop--when I think to myself, "Hmmm. . . has anything good or positive happened as a result of our current economy?" This sounds a bit ridiculous at first, but as I begin to think about it further, what I start to realize is that in this challenged time, if we all keep jumping on this bandwagon of 'times are tough' and 'my business is significantly down' and 'I have too many bills and not enough income' and 'no one is spending money these days' etc., with all this negative talk we just keep feeding this negative collective unconscious and continue to attract more lack and less abundance. And if you believe in the Laws of Attraction at all, this negative mindset of having constant money strain and stress continues to perpetuate this problem rather than eradicate it. After taking the time to really digest her question, it finally starts to hit me--the only way to shift this current predicament is to shift my thinking.

So after I am able to jump off the negative money train, I am delighted to realize that I definitely have noticed some wonderfully positive shifts as a result of this economic strain. The most significant positive shift that I have noticed is that people have become more honest and genuine about their financial situation by telling it straight, and not acting like they have more than they really do. This diminishing superficiality has led to more connectedness than ever before. To me, this genuine sharing feels more reminiscent of a bygone era, where hanging out with people, talking and sharing meals was more important than anything else and more of the norm. Among my friends, I have begun to notice this trend taking shape, where people are more interested in hanging out, having potluck family dinners in their homes, enjoying good food, wine, and companionship. This is becoming more appealing than mindlessly going out to a spendy, trendy restaurant that often disappoints in both quality and value. Friends seem to be enjoying hanging out more than ever, seem to enjoy opening up their homes, even sharing babysitters--all in an effort to bond and conserve money, and I see this as such a wonderfully positive shift.

I have also noticed that many fast food and family based restaurants are offering more freebies and deals than ever before. For example, in the last month both Baskin Robins and Ben and Jerry's have given away free ice cream cones and both KFC and El Pollo Loco have given away free chicken, all in and effort to build brand loyalty and let customer's know that these companies are there for their consumers in these difficult times. These businesses want to ease the stress with these free perks and this gratis only contributes to a positive greater good. And these freebies continue every week, like on Mother's Day TCBY is giving mom's free yougurt and on Thursday, May 7 from 4-8pm, the Coffee Bean is giving away free 12oz. Iced Coffees--and the list goes on and on every week. These are positive changes I can get used to, can you?

I would love for you to share any positive shifts that you have noticed as a result of the economy, and please post them on this blog and share any freebies you hear about too! And I promise to continually 'rave' about great freebies or deals that I hear about on this blog too.

Romy,
Gratis and Gratitude Goddess
"I move from poverty thinking to prosperity thinking, and my finances reflect this change"
Louise Hay