win $2,000 toward your dream vacation

I've written plenty on this blog about my job and the crazy business my boyfriend created - the one where he gets paid to wear t-shirts for companies and create web content for them. However, I don't think I've ever directly mentioned one of our sponsors in a post, or devoted an entire post to one at that. Until now.

For the most part I try to keep this little corner of the internet mine and mine alone, only mentioning work when necessary to express my latest internal struggle or life epiphany to you all. However, today I'm making an exception because 1) I think this sponsor is one that many of you will be interested in and 2) this sponsor is giving away $2,000 toward someone's dream vacation and I can't enter so the next best thing is having one of you win. Yeah, you heard me... $2,000. It's kind of ridiculous. Always wanted to go to Hawaii? Now you can. Need a little help with the European backpacking trip you've been saving for since the 7th grade? It can be yours.

Seriously guys, I think we can all agree that travel is one thing most everyone wishes they could do more of. The only thing holding most of us back is that pesky little thing called money. This $2,000 could be yours free and clear and entering the contest is actually really fun if you're in to visual bookmarking sites (like Pinterest.)

So who is this awesome sponsor? It's a new website called LoveIt.com, and this is their Squirrelwind Getaway Travel Contest. (Clever right? Their mascot is this cute little guy below.) As I mentioned, they are a visual bookmarking site similar to Pinterest, but with a few added features that you might find appealing. For one, they offer private collections. (Pinterest doesn't allow you to have private boards which annoys me 1) because I can't plan friends' birthdays using it and 2) because I'm forced to publicize just how often I pin wedding-related items and that is embarrassing, particularly when it's Friday night and it's painfully obvious that I'm watching Say Yes To The Dress and planning my future nuptials. Is it too much to want to keep that pathetic display to myself?)

Not only does LoveIt let you have private collections, but it also lets you drag and drop images between collections and easily organize your collections. I also love the fact that when you sign up, you tell the site what kind of content you'd be interested in and you can start following accounts immediately that fit your style. Right off the bat it recommended I start following some of my favorites like Design Milk, Design Sponge, Style Me Pretty, Oh So Beautiful Paper and The Fox Is Black. In comparison to Pinterest, I feel that over time my feed on LoveIt is a little more consistent with the types of things that I like and my overall aesthetic. Don't get me wrong, I still love all the randomness of Pinterest and it's fun to dive through all those images to see what I like, but I've now added LoveIt to my wheelhouse and it's a wonderful new place to get inspiration.

So now that I've pumped you up, I guess you're wondering... How do I win the two grand?!!

Well... it's pretty fun actually! Here are the quick steps:

1. Sign up for LoveIt.com (if you haven't already!)

2. Create a public collection in the theme of a dream destination of yours. For instance, I created an example collection and the whole thing was around the theme of Santorini, Greece. (I mean, come on, have you seen that crystal blue water?) This is key though, name it whatever you want but make sure you include the hash tag #LoveItVacay in the title of your collection.


3. Categorize your collection under "Travel & Destinations." Aka don't file it under "Gardening," ya weirdos.

4. "Love" at least 12 images that relate to your destination. The is the crazy fun part that I totally got into. These images can be whatever you want, not just photos of your locale. For instance, for my Santorini vacay I loved images like cute outfits for exploring the city, a super cute passport cover I found on Etsy, a delicious looking pancake breakfast I planned to devour in bed, and even a cocktail named "The Santorini." It's completely up to your creativity! You'll also want to write captions for your images. The winner is being determined by overall creativity through visual storytelling and creative captions, as well as number of reloves, likes and comments. (This means invite your friends to come like, relove and comment on your collection too!)

5. Follow @LoveIt on Twitter and tweet the link to your collection @ them with the hash tag #LoveItVacay OR Like LoveIt on Facebook and post the link to your collection on their Timeline.

** You can create a different collection every day to enter, but hurry because the entry period ends on July 31st! **

A small price to pay for winning $2,000 I think! Plus, like I said, creating a collection of your dream vacation is pretty fun... especially knowing that this contest could help get you there!

So there you have it. Today I'm making an exception on my whole separation of church and state... er, work and blog... because I want one of you to win! If you end up making a collection, feel free to drop a link in the comments so I can check it out and follow you on LoveIt. And don't forget, you can check out my collection here to use as an example.

Happy Loving, my friends, and good luck!