blogger swap – Life as Louise

The Galentine’s Blogger Exchange

Published on February 23, 2017February 17, 2017 by Louise32 Comments

Happy Thursday, my friends.

The link-up for this post (with the beautifully talented Mattie & Olya) is scheduled for tomorrow, but by now we’re all aware that I switched my posting-days to only include Tuesday and Thursday. (Jury’s still out on how I’m liking that… )

To begin, I sent a package to Miss Maryrose in New York. (It shipped out a little late, but it should’ve arrive by last Friday. Plenty of time but my apologies, nonetheless!)

In return, last week I was greeted at the door by two packages- one in the shape of a book (😄!!!) and one from Uncommon Goods. Once I ~~ripped~~ gently cut them open I discovered that my gift-er was Ashley from Bits & Pieces of Me.

Ashley sent me Yes Please by Amy Poehler as well as this little note:

I love that this book was on your wish list, because it’s been on mine as well! I hope you enjoy it! -Ashley

She also sent me a beer + food pairing dish towel (from Uncommon Goods) that’s been on my wish list for quite a while. The colors (which are a little skewed from my filtered picture below) look great with our kitchen!

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Thank you so much, Ashley!! And thanks to Mattie & Olya for hosting ❤︎

The Blogger Christmas Cheer Exchange

Published on December 16, 2016December 15, 2016 by Louise24 Comments

Through blogging I’ve “met” some pretty fun people. Two of those ladies are Olya of The Siberian American and Mattie of Northwest Native! When these ladies shared the details of their Blogger Christmas Cheer Exchange on their blogs I was all about participating.

Similar to their Valentine’s Day swap, the exchanging was anonymous and conducted through elfster. A few days after I sent some goodies to Nikki in Texas I received a package in the mail from a nameless Elf! (Turns out it was from Jess of To Sparkle Punch!) I’m so glad I participated because I got exactly what I’d wished for!

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A week or so after the package came (and Mattie revealed to me who my elf was), I got a Christmas note in the mail from Jess! Since she’d sent the goodies via Amazon she wanted to get in contact somehow to wish me a Merry Christmas! So sweet!

Thank you so much for the Christmas gifts, Jess! And thanks for hosting, Olya & Mattie!

5th Annual Great Pumpkin Swap

Published on November 10, 2016November 10, 2016 by Louise25 Comments

I should’ve posted this Wednesday, but I didn’t have it done. I also wasn’t in a good mood, which would’ve been reflected in my writing. Now you get a bonus Thursday post, though. Yaaaay.

I love getting fun stuff in the mail so when Erin mentioned this swap hosted by Becky & Kristin I signed up immediately. The swap was open to folks inside and outside the US and I was luck enough to be pair with one of those adventurous participants! On October 9th I was paired with Elizabeth from Cheers, Elizabeth and I went right to work on collecting some goodies for her!

Elizabeth is originally from Virginia but she currently lives on a US base in Okinawa, Japan with her husband (& dog!). Funny enough, my mom is the daughter of an Air Force Colonel and she lived there years ago! Crazy! Elizabeth is super involved and she sent me so many Japanese snacks and goodies!

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I loved swapping with Elizabeth! I received the most unique items! If you read the little note she included you’ll see that the cute little pumpkin decoration was made by a military child as a fundraising project. I’m super curious about the Japanese coffee flavors and candies- I haven’t tried anything yet!

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I’m so glad I had the opportunity to “meet” a new blogger and participate in this fun seasonal swap! Thank you so much for hosting, Becky & Kristin!!

Fall Swag Swap Link-Up

Published on October 15, 2015October 13, 2015 by Louise8 Comments

I know you’re sitting there thinking to yourself, “Louise, it’s Thursday. What are you doing here?” Well today just so happens to be the Fall Swag Swap link up and I need to gush about the incredible goodies my partner Faith sent me!

This is Faith:

She blogs over at Life with Mrs. G and the Artist. I can’t even begin to list all the similarities between Faith and myself. She also has some pretty spectacular unique qualities, too! I’m most impressed by her ability to bargain-shop! My fall swap box was filled to the brim with so many awesome finds! She paid close attention to my love of scrapbooking as well as my obsession with history and historical fiction. Enough chit-chat, on to the goodies!

Faith knows sign language which has me so impressed and inspired. I don’t think I’ve ever said it on here, but I want to learn the language so badly! She’s also starting down the long, rewarding, magical path of Harry Potter! It’s a little odd how excited I am for her to fight the Death Eaters with Harry and solve problems with Hermione and discover true friendship with Ron. And who can forget Neville’s bravery? Brb, now I need to go re-read the series…

ANYWAY, Faith loves movies and we bonded over historical fiction. She also has a dog!! I love dog people! It was really a great experience getting to know Faith better. I think my husband knows her a little better, too, because with every email he’d hear me say, “Guess what! She likes this and this and this, too! And she does this!”

In her box Faith included two movies (neither of which I’ve seen!), a cute little mug with a sweater (how cool is that?), wasabi tape and paper for scrapbooking and card making (YAY YAY YAY!) and a beautiful journal. I’ve never seen a journal with binding like the one Faith sent along. I’m so excited to start writing! THANK YOU, Faith!

I’m so grateful for this Fall Swag Swap and being matched with Faith!

-Louise