The following post is sponsored by FitFluential, LLC on behalf of Verizon Wireless. (And it features a seriously rockin’ giveaway!!!)
Lunch at Stella’s Modern Pantry
Today is flyin’ by!
After I published my morning blog post, I headed out the door for a quick workout before I had to train a client and attend a lunch meeting for the Taste of Ocala. I wish I had time to shower in between, but hopefully the patrons at Stella’s Modern Pantry can forgive me for showing up looking a little worse for wear.
I’ve popped into Stella’s a time or two before, but just to browse around their eclectic kitchenware and gourmet food products. This was my first time dining at the casual restaurant and I was really impressed with the food.
I ordered the salad of the day that came with pine nuts, fresh Parmesan, roasted peppers, marinated onions, olives and sundried tomatoes. It was fantastic!
I also had a cup of mint tea because it was quite chilly inside.
Our meeting lasted a little less than two hours and then I took some time to browse around before driving home. Stella’s always has such fun stuff and I figured I might be able to find something for Christmas for the hard-to-buy-for people in my life.
My friend Jennie and I thought these Rewind candles smelled fantastic.
I love that they are made with recycled wine bottles. Too cool, huh!? (They also come with a hefty price tag.)
I ended up leaving empty handed but I have a few gift ideas in the back of my mind that I may go back for at some point this weekend.
Once I said goodbye to everyone, I headed home to type up this afternoon blog post which includes one heck of an amazing giveaway.
Are you guys ready for this!?
Yes, that is a brand new Samsung Galaxy S4!!!
I am pretty sure this is one of the most valuable – if not the most valuable – giveaways ever offered on PBF. I am so, so, so thrilled to be able to feature this on the blog today!
Verizon Edge
This amazing giveaway is possible thanks to a campaign with FitFluential and Verizon Wireless. I am honored to be able to offer this giveaway – especially right in the middle of the holiday season!
After I applied to be a part of this campaign, I received a bunch of information about Verizon, who has been my service provider ever since I had a cell phone. One of the most recent developments within the company is the new Verizon Edge program.
Verizon Edge allows you to get a new Verizon phone this year, and every year after that with no upgrade fees and no long-term service contract.
Here are the highlights of Verizon Edge:
- First, pick a phone! The full retail price of the phone you select is split into 24 monthly payments, and added to your usual monthly bill.
- Use your phone for six months and, with at least 50 percent of your phone’s price paid off, you are now eligible to upgrade. you’re eligible for upgrades
- Now you can “edge up” and trade in your existing phone for a new one.
One question I asked was whether or not you had to stick to a certain brand and the answer is no! You can choose an Apple iPhone and use it for six months and then “edge up” to the Samsung Galaxy S4 the next time if you want to try something new.
iPhone 5s
Another development within Verizon that I’m sure many of you already know all about is the launch of the Apple iPhone 5s and 5c. I recently upgraded to the 5s and have been incredibly impressed with the quality of the camera.
Of course Sadie is my number one photography subject.
That picture, as well as all of the pictures from my lunch featured in the beginning of this blog post were taken with my iPhone 5s and were not edited in any way.
I love the camera and can absolutely tell a difference in the quality of my photos from the original iPhone 5. The new phone has a slightly larger sensor (1/3 vs 1/3.2 inch) and seems to produce better images in very bright lighting. I’ve also noticed that it seems to snap photos faster which is key for photographing moving subjects like Sadie (or me on a wedding dance floor).
So now let’s move on to the part of this post I am sure you’re all most excited about… The giveaway!!!
Samsung Galaxy S4
One PBF reader will have the chance to win a Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone, equipped with a 13–megapixel, premium point–and–shoot camera and 5–inch full HD display!
There are two ways to enter this giveaway:
1. Comment below telling me why you want to win the Samsung Galaxy S4
2. Tweet some variation of the following: Hoping to win a Samsung Galaxy S4 from @PBFingers and @verizonwireless!!! #vzwff <— Don’t forget to leave a separate comment below, letting me know that you tweeted so I can be sure to count your tweet!
A winner will be randomly selected on Friday.
Twitter Chat Tonight
Verizon and FitFluential will be giving away another Samsung Galaxy S4 tonight! Be sure to check out the Twitter chat this evening at 9 p.m. EST, using the hashtag #VZWFF. Every single hashtagged tweet that goes live during the chat has a chance to win the Samsung Galaxy S4!
P.S. For those of you in the market for a new tablet, Verizon also has a promo on their 4G LTE tablets right now. You can get $100 off any 4G LTE tablet with a two-year activation.
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Awesome giveaway! I have the iphone 4s currently but would love to try out the a different phone, and the Samsung sounds pretty great!
posted it on twitter!
https://twitter.com/travelmiamor/status/413683354127441920
i would love a new phone so my husband could replace his old one.
I tweeted!
that salad looks so fresh and delicious!
I also tweeted about the giveaway!
I just upgraded the iPhone 5s and I love it! I’d give the samsung galaxy to my mom who has been wanting a new phone for sometime now….
I’m still rockin’ my iPhone 4 from the very first day Verizon released it. It’s very slow now, apps take ages to open, and my camera doesn’t work anymore. With a new baby coming Saturday, I NEED a phone with a camera!!
If I won the phone I’d probably give it to my brother because he was saying how he wants to try the Samsung galaxy but still has some time before he can upgrade his phone. I can’t afford the service!
I would LOVE to win this phone. I actually just bought a new phone but fell down the stairs and broke it the first day I had it! Ugh bad luck….
Just tweeted as well!
I would LOVE this phone! I only have a pay as you go phone to text and call much to the dismay of my boyfriend. He is a marine engineer and on a ship for three weeks at a time every three weeks. If I have a smart phone we can text back and forth all of the time instead of me having to wait for a once a night phone call (if even depending on our schedules!) Amazing giveaway!
P.S.- Also very jealous of your NYC SantaCon trip!
I would love to win this phone, because my coworker has it and has bragged about the awesome no-touch interactions you can do with it. It also seems like a great phone and I would *love* to upgrade my current one.
I’ve heard the S4 also has an AWESOME camera, so I’d LOVE to use it to take some killer pics!
My fiancé just lost his phone and we were undecided which kind of phone to replace it with. After reading this I know that he would love this Samsung!
My cell phone plan is ending this month actually and I have been so stressed looking at new phones and new plans–totally overwhelming! I have been a member of the Blackberry camp for years now and the camera quality is SO poor and frustrating that I know the camera will be a very important feature on whichever phone I choose. I will be crossing my fingers for the S4. 🙂
My personal cell phone stopped working a few months ago and I just never bothered to replace it since I have a cell phone for work — however, I really need to use my personal cell for personal calls/ texts, so it would be nice to win a new phone and get it set up to start using again.
My mom desperately needs a new cell phone. This would be the best Christmas surprise ever!
My phone doesn’t take the best pictures. I would love a better way to document my families’ adventures!
OH MY GOODNESS!! This is an awesome giveaway……would LOVE to have this phone. My iphone has let me down lately and would like to try something new!!! What a great opportunity!
Would love to win! I still have an iphone 4 and another 9 months before I’m upgrade eligible!
My hubby would love a new phone. I love the Samsung commercials.
I would love to win and give this to my fiancé for his birthday! It is Dec. 30 and it would be perfect timing – his phone broke but he has been saving up to get a new one because the Samsung ones are SO expensive!
I would love to win this for my husband! It would make a fantastic secret Christmas gift! Thanks for the giveaway and Merry Christmas to you, Ryan & Sadie!
I would love to give this phone to my mom if I would win it! She has an old beat up phone that is on it’s last leg!
I’m still rocking a flip phone and have finallyyyyy decided I can’t avoid switching to a smartphone any longer (lots of travel coming up!) – I’ve been shopping around for which phone to get and the galaxy is my top option!
I would love to win this phone! I’ve heard it takes really great pictures.
I’d love to win this because I still use a not-so-smart flip phone.
I would love to win the phone because my current phone is embarrassing and so old looking, even Zach Morris would have been ashamed to use that thing in public.I may be the only 27 year old I know that does not own a smartphone!
I am currently in death watch mode for my iPhone 4 that I have loved for over 2 1/2 years. The apps load VERY slowly and sometimes close all on their own for no reason, very frustrating considering I use it to track my jogs and as my food diary, as well as for work.
I would love the phone as mine is on the brink of not working now!
I tweeted about the giveaway!!!
I would love to win this phone since my iPhone is 2 years old and I can’t even update it to the new software…..so a new phone is needed!
My brother has a samsung and I’m intrigued!!
I still have a flip phone so I would love to come up to this century!
I need a new phone so badly!
I would love to win this phone for my mom! She still has a old flip-phone….yep…those still exist 🙂 We’ve had a rough year with putting one of our rescue dogs through chemo and radiation….so money is tighter this Christmas!
I would love to win this phone for my fiance for Christmas, as we both still have old-school style flip phones and this would be a great upgrade!
I hope I win the Samsung Galaxy S4 so I can give it to my husband. He desperately needs a new phone, and he’s a big fan of Samsung products!!
I’d like to win the phone as I have the iPhone and am wondering if I’m missing out as I’m not that impressed with it and would like to try a different brand!
I tweeted @PBFingers and @verizonwireless to enter the giveaway!
I would love to win this phone- I have an Iphone 4 that badly needs to be upgraded!
I would love to win this for my boyfriend! He loves the Galaxy phones and is ready for an upgrade!
I would love to win this – I need a new phone pretty badly!
My husband and I got the Droid Razr Maxx last year and after one of the updates his got super slow, and he is constantly forced out of apps on a regular basis. I know he would love the Samsung Galaxy S4!
I really need a new phone! I’m still in the ice age with my old one!!!
I would LOVE to win the Samsung Galaxy S4 because I am in desperate need of updating my phone (still using the iphone 4, which is slowly dying!) but have not had time to with my 1 1/2 year-old daughter keeping me busy… plus I use my phone as my main camera and video camera since I always have it on me so I can capture all of those funny spur of the moment times with my little one, so the 13 megapixels would do great helping me preserve those memories!
Hoping to win so I can upgrade from my HTC Incredible phone which is problematic.
I’m going to upgrade my son’s phone to a smartphone so this would be so awesome for us to win!!
Tweeted
https://twitter.com/88k8y/status/413702956689543168