12 Days of Joy - Day 4 | Candles, Etc. Giveaway

Day 4 and we are back in business with another GIVEAWAY! I know this company is not local to Lynchburg, but they ARE a local, small business located in Wilmington, NC. When we were in downtown Wilmington this past Thanksgiving weekend, we stopped in and I fell in LOVE with the products at Candles, Etc.!

They are made with all natural ingredients right there in the store. No dyes are used (guaranteeing that no matter your scent preference - the neutral white color will match your home decor :)) and the scents come from essential oils. They smell so yummy the entire time they are burning! But the best part?! (Even my favorite Yankee Candles can't say this!) Is that they burn CLEAN. No black around the top of the jar (even if I forget to trim the wick), and every teeny tiny bit of the candle wax burns (no waste!). Love, love!

So - I wanted to highlight this business because on top of all the other things I've mentioned, the candles are priced better than my old favorites (Yankee) and this company will ship just about anywhere! For Day 4 of the 12 Days of Joy, we are excited to offer a $20 Gift Certificate to Candles, Etc.

Oh! And it's OKAY if you don't live in Wilmington, NC because they will ship anywhere! :)

To enter this giveaway, you can do any number of things:

1. Sign up for the Sincerely, Liz, Inc. newsletter!
2. Follow me on twitter.
3. Share this contest on twitter and tag @sincerelylizinc in your tweet.
4. Share this giveaway on facebook and tag Sincerely, Liz, Inc in your post.
5. Share this contest on your own blog and leave the link in a comment.

Leave a comment for each entry and I will choose a winner Monday morning!

------------- UPDATE: And the winner is Ashley Eiban! -------------

12 Days of Joy - Day 3 | Cherishing

The events that happened yesterday in Connecticut make this 12 Days of Joy project seem... so... trivial. I am not very elegant with words, so even writing about how heartbroken I am over the whole thing seems near impossible. I just keep thinking about the Christmas presents under the trees of those families who lost their babies... the family of the shooter... those parents who sent their children off to school probably after some silly argument about what to wear that day... having no idea the day that would unfold before them.

All of it - it's all just horrific... tragic doesn't seem like a big enough word.

I'm really, really sad about it all.

I thought about canceling the 12 Days of Joy altogether. It just seems silly to run a campaign after something like that. Work isn't important. Families are important. Cherishing your loved ones are important.

So I'm going to do just that. Today, I'm taking the day off and spending it with Tommy & Sunday. Tomorrow we'll start again on Day 4. But today... today we'll make hot chocolate and curl up together and enjoy the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree. And we will be saying a lot of prayers for those affected by the tragedy.

12 Days of Joy - Day 2 | Tucker Francis Prints

For 12 Days we are offering 24 hour specials AND giveaways from local businesses! 'Tis the season for giving AND receiving...! Today is Day 2 and local artist and designer Tucker Francis has generously offered two of his prints to one lucky reader of Sincerely, Liz!

Be sure to check out Tucker's website and etsy shop to see his other work!

To ENTER this giveaway, all you have to do is Like the Sincerely, Liz, Inc Facebook Page by clicking the "Like" button below. Gain more entries by sharing about this giveaway on Facebook and tagging Sincerely, Liz, Inc in your post!

Giveaway ends tomorrow morning at 7am. Winner will be announced tomorrow!

----------- WINNER IS: Ashley Wickline! -----------

Hellgate 100K++

I have shared bits and pieces of Tommy's running adventures on instagram over the past year, and I've mentioned a few times in Facebook status messages, but I usually stay quiet about it. It's his thing. I've been guilty of taking his limelight before... posting his news to Facebook before he has a chance. So his running journey is something I have left to him to share.

But it's about time I share how stinking PROUD I am of him. He is truly a "beast." When he ran his first half marathon up and down a mountain (Terrapin Half), I just thought... good job! He set a goal and reached it. I had no idea that he did it in a really great time which surprised some of the other runners. So when he decided at the end of that race to run a 50k (34ish miles) one month later... I thought... "well, okay then!"

When he finished his first 50k middle-of-the-pack, my pride for him and understanding of the sport grew a bit. And watching him move to the next race: a full 50 miler just months later, that was unreal. I realized... this guy truly is a beast. He is STRONG to the core: mentally and physically. And I am so, so stinking proud of him.

He has now run 8 ultramarathons, his longest last weekend at 66.6 miles! The will and determination it takes to train for and complete these races is huge. Sometimes I think "I could do that." And then I get this giant dose of reality and realize "I would NOT make it look easy the way he does." He is just incredible...

Here is this past weekend through my eyes. I crewed Tommy during this race (as I do all races) so I had quite a bit of time to sit and wait for him at a few of the aid stations (the experienced crew teams slept during those times!). He was pretty beat up by the time he fnished (well actually, by Aid Station 4... but he plowed through) so that may explain his lack of energy in the photos at the end. :)

12 Days of Joy - Day 1 | 30% off Gift Certificates!

It's here! The 12 Days of Joy has started at Sincerely, Liz!

For the next 12 Days we will be offering 24 hour specials AND giveaways from local businesses! GET EXCITED! Gift giving is my love languge so I'm super pumped to be launching this campaign!

Day one doubles as a GREAT sale and the PERFECT last minute gift for the procrastinating shoppers out there:

For today only, we are offering 30% off all gift certificates.

Buy a gift certificate in ANY value and automatically receive 30% off of the total cost!

Contact Liz to purchase.

Offer expires at midnight tonight.

And come back tomorrow for the first GIVEAWAY!!