Monday, March 03, 2014

And Zee Winners are. . .!

Oh, before I name the winners, here's dear Janelle, an honest-to-goodness Olympic volunteer who's been here in Rostov over the weekend. Notice the official apparel!  All too soon, Janelle will be catching the train back to Sochi to help with the Paralympics. Besides volunteering at the games, Janelle volunteered to help me draw the winners of this contest. But you, dear friends, made that ever so easy ~ we had four prizes and four eligible contestants. Easy, peasy!
Janelle worked the bobsled run in Sochi and coordinated the press conference with the Canadian Hockey team.
Click here to follow Janelle's blog, I dream of Sochi. Here's a video interview with Janelle from CTV news, broadcast across Canada.

Thanks to Janelle for suggestions on my blog and on this contest. And here are zee vinners: Angela, Karen, Sonya and Michelle! I'll be getting in touch with each of you. And thanks so much to each of you for entering! May all your Olympic dreams come true!

You Can Win an Olympic Souvenir: 4 Gifts. . . and Going Fast!

Dear friends, here's your chance to be part of Olympic history! You can win one of four limited-edition official souvenirs from the Sochi 2014 Olympic games. Just scroll down to the bottom and leave a comment!

But here's the kicker: Gotta act now. Contest closes in less than twelve hours: Sunday midnight, Pacific Time ~ which is Monday noon, Moscow Time.

Here are the prizes. Oh and are they glorious. . . well, to someone they certainly will be!


Ski Boots Pack. This is nice: there's a zipper there on the back. Totally legal to use for tennies. Or lunch or books. Or Barbies or Legos, if you must. (Click photos to enlarge.)
Round Birch Box with the official mascots of the Sochi Olympics. Didn't you just love them skating at the Closing Ceremony?!
Official Olympic Bandages: Now these will sooth the pain!

Lapel Pin. And you know where to put this.
So there are your prizes. . . and here's the backstory.

In recent days, I stopped by SportMaster here in Rostov-on-Don, to pick up a few little trinkets. Here's what I saw. And here's what tempted me to buy and buy and keep on buying. 

SportMaster Window "Official merchandise, Sochi 2014. Best gifts" Figure skates for 1299 rubles,at 33 rubles to the dollar, that's  about.... 40$. Guess they're vinyl.
Here's the department of things Olympic. The manager, or some nice fellow parading around as such, gave me permission to photograph, and of course I bought enough Olympic loot to make it worth his while. So, up there on the wall, *Department of Licensed Merchandise, Sochi 2014.*
*Buy Olympic Merchandise* I am, I am! Decisions, decisions: What to buy? What will ship?
Official Leopards: Available for a good home. A blue-belted leopard is no ordinary leopard.
Down-the-Hill Stuff. Or perhaps giant frisbees there, far right. How about one of these inner tube-y things? Tempting, tempting, haha.
Hockey team shirt: These might be discounted now, or not: Guessing we're busy grooming hockey players for the next winter games. Go Russia!
Serious about Seat Pads. There are those among us who need more layers posterior. And then. . . there's the rest of us. ;)
Official Mascots inside of their "House of Mascots." Here they are but without their cute little ice skates.
Olympic hopeful 2026? This young lady's got stars in her eyes. All under Grandma's guidance, of course.
Olympic stickers: Two sets given away to classroom teachers. You'll forgive me, I trust. These things go fast, gotta tell ya. 
Silly me, in the heat of the moment, got this hockey puck ~ it was so very cheap, really ~ Got home and weighed it: 250 grams, or so. And at the post office they're so very picky about every little gram. So onto Plan B: The puck's in good hands now. Given to a local physical education teacher, knowing he will help inspire the next generation of hockey players.
Store window: here's the website where you can find more merchandise. Because of course you want to order your own hockey puck. Or official ice skates or. . . snow board!
Comments Please: 
a) Dear friends, please share something YOU ENJOYED about the Sochi Olympics!
b) WHICH prize do you want? (Which one will keep you awake tonight?)

Here's the fine print: 
1) Contest closes SOON! Comment right away! Drawing here in Rostov-on-Don Monday afternoon local time. That means: If you're in North America, enter Sunday night before you go to bed!
2) Prizes limited to folks residing in North America. (See, the prizes I've already mailed to Dallas! Umm, yes. Seemed like a good idea at the time....!)
3) Enter once.
4) Watch this space for announcement of zee Vinners on Monday! We're hurrying and later I'll tell you WHY!