Do You LOVE the Movies?

Do you LOVE going to the movies and watching all the lovely award shows this time of year? I DO! I love going to the theater to watch movies as much as possible. The watching the SAG & Academy Awards I feel like such a movie critic because I've seen most of the films nominated! LOL

When we moved to Tampa I stumbled upon an awesome website www.gofobo.com . We have seen so many movies at pre-screenings in this area. Not only are you invited to a pre-screening of the movie before it comes out nation wide but the tickets are FREE! Yes, you read that right!

We have seen over 10 movies with many more invites that we have been unable to attend for various reasons. Just recently I have been receiving emails for invites to private screenings at least twice a week! If I didn't have a family or a life I'd be stuck at the movies living on a diet of soda and popcorn! If you live in a larger city it's a great site to check out. I'm not sure how often there are screenings in smaller cities but it's a good idea to sign up in case you are planning a trip out of town either for the day or weekend and you could possibly catch a pre-screening of a flick for free!

The only thing I would say about this program is that it's advisable to arrive very early for the screening. I'm not sure exactly how it works but there have been screenings that the line is hanging outside of the theater! Last week when we saw 21 Jump Street and the theater was empty! I always like to arrive about 30-45 mins ahead of the start of the film, in case there is a line. Some times they "over-book" so you may or may not get a seat to watch the movie. A friend of mine went to one pre-screening and left when she saw the line.  I wish I still had the picture! It's hit or miss but I say well worth the chance at a free flick that hasn't even opened nation wide yet!

The use of cell phones or any kind of recording devices in the theater is not permitted and is very enforced. The latest movie was saw there was a gentleman with a magnetic wand checking for electronic devices and during the movie the security scanned the audience with heat sensitive binoculars looking for recording devices in case someone made it into the theater with one. They also mentioned an interesting tid-bit: Movies are being made with a watermark now so pirating will be more difficult. I think it's a good thing so movies can't be boot-legged.

I hope you check out the site and I hope there are screenings in your area! It's not sweepstakes,  but a great freebie available! Check your zip codes for participating theaters! Here's the site again! :www.gofobo.com

St. Patty's Day Giveaway NOW LIVE!

Check out the giveaway on the site! 

Giveaways Coming in March!

Just wanted to let you all in on some exciting news for The Skeptical Sweeper blog. I have joined in on two blog giveaways with other fellow bloggers.  Both will begin in March. This is a way to get more traffic and followers on my site. The links for the contest will be posted as soon as they become live March 1. Keep an eye out and hopefully my readers will win both baskets!! Wouldn't that be awesome!

Also I am going to be collaborating on a Twitter party How-To very soon with another fellow blogger.

Have you started entering sweepstakes? What are your thoughts so far? Skeptical that you'll win? Don't be! It's important to keep an open mind and really follow up on the sweeps everyday. Entering once is ok, but entering multiple times increases your chances! The more chances you have the more likely you'll score a win~!

What are your thoughts on Twitter? Also if you are on Facebook go to Online Sweepstakes and Like them for a huge list of sweepstakes. Just make sure that you are eligible. Some sweepstakes have restrictions certain like ages or from certain states and it can even be broken down into certain counties. So be on the look out for those key words in sweepstakes.

Skeptical Still? Keep reading, Start Entering to Start Winning!!!

Candy The Skeptical Sweeper

Birthday List of Freebies for You

Finally! Here's a list of all the offers I received for my birthday! There are tons more out there. If you have other birthday offers please post them in the comments section! I'll update and re-post so we can all get as much free stuff as possible on our birthdays!

Birthday List


Local Deals in Tampa 
Bella Prana Yoga studio- free class during birthday month
Busch Gardens- Free Dessert (I have a yearly pass)
Yoder's Amish Village- $5.00 off
Square One Burgers- $6 off one burger of choice

Retail Stores
Old Navy- $10 off a $50 purchase www.oldnavy.com
Victoria’s Secret- a free panty www.victoriassecret.com
Sephora- Birthday package of samples www.sephora.com
Toys R Us- Sends your child I belive $3 or $5 off coupon & you can sign up to receive a personalized call from Geoffrey the Giraffe! www.toysrus.com


Restaurants 
Moe's Southwest Grill- Free Entree www.moes.com 
Longhorn Steak House - Free Dessert  www.longhorsesteakhouse.com
Ruby Tuesday- Free Burger of choice www.rubytuesday.com
Perkin's- Free Breakfast plate www.perkinsrestaurant.com
Denny's- Free Grandslam breakfast www.dennys.com
Texas de Brazil- Complimentary meal ($50 value) www.texasdebrazil.com
Arby’s- Free dessert  www.arbys.com
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers- Free Burger meal (endless steak fries!)  www.redrobin.com
First Watch Café- Free Entrée of your choice (breakfast, brunch or lunch) www.firstwatch.com
Cody’s Original Road House- $10 off two entrees www.codysoriginalroadhouse.com
Chili’s- Free Brownie Sundae  www.chilis.com
The Melting Pot- Box of chocolate covered strawberries www.themeltingpot.com
Burger King also offers a free kids meal- so sign up your kids!  www.bk.com
Chick-Fil-A sends you a post card for a free chicken sandwich! www.chick-fil-a.com

Others
Alamo Rental -Free Rental for your birthday *you must sign up for a rewards program. www.alamo.com


Online 
Swag Bucks- 50 swagbucks *Please note that is my referral link. http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/CandyPOli  If you don't want to join under me go to www.swagbucks.com
Delta Vacations- $100 off packages of $599 -$4,999 or $250 off packages of $5,000
Zulily -Free Shipping www.zulily.com

Life Happened This Week

I have to appologize for not posting any posts this week. This was one of the busiest weeks I'v had in a long time. I have been working on the freebie list for birthdays. I will be posting it on Monday. I have also been researching the best way to start a tutorial on particpating in Twitter parties. Have you joined Twitter? If you have leave your Twitter id in a comment so we can all follow each other. So during parties we can bounce off each other. Since being on Twitter I have "met" a lot of great people. Once you start attending parties you'll notice the core group of partiers. I've become one of the usuals, gosh I'm a little embarassed to say it outloud! Only because it would seem I'm always online. I have mywhereI'm available to party hard. But days like I've had this week I missed a lot of parties. I'm ok with that too. I first started after our son was two months old. He slept a lot so I had time. Once you get into the parties you will see what I mean. It's so much fun you hate to miss out, but its better if you pace yourself. Lets all plan to do a party one day soon. I think that would be awesome. I have had the pleasure of participating with one of my readers. I'm hoping for a win for her very soon. Another one of my readers won a blog give away last week! Very exciting! Again I appologize for my absence, I hope to come back strong this week. I hope you all enjoy e long holiday weekend. HAPPY PRESIDENTS DAY!!! Skeptical still? Keep reading, start entering & start WINNING!!!! Candy the Skeptical Sweeper

Do You Shop Online?

I do! Well if you find a good deal it's kind of hard not to right?! Back in December, I joined Ebates! Ebates is a website that you sign up for and go to normal retail sites thru their site and if you make a purchase you will get a certain percentage back! Yes! You get money back!!

I was skeptical ofcourse as I always am, but thought "why not try it out! Not going to loose anything!" I purchased a toaster oven for my parents for Christmas. I went through the Ebates website to see what percentages were being offered by each site to try to get back as possible! I made the purchase from Sears.com and made 6% back! I'm still new to the site but saw that I'd be receiving my rebate via my PayPal account. If you don't have a Paypal account I suggest you get one! You can use it instead of using credit cards online. I have ha my account for over 5 years now. I used it a lot when I would sell stuff on eBay. So back to Ebates.. I got an email yesterday stating that my rebate of $11.50 had been credited to my PayPal account! Super cool right! Getting money for spending money!

I know I said I wasn't going to blog on the weeekends but this was just to sweet not to blog about! I'll have the list of birthday/anniversary freebies up this week and a twitter tutorial as well!

Kolcraft Sesame Street Elmo Tiny Steps 2-in-1 Walker

On Feb 2 I joined in on a great Twitter party in honor of our favorite little red monster Elmo!! Turns out we share a birthday on Feb 3! I joined in on the chat, answering questions and was randomly chosen as a winner!! I had the choice between a walker and a potty. Since Ezra, our 4 month old won't need a potty for a long time I chose the walker! We received it yesterday! Since we were out last night, I put it together this afternoon. Normally I'm not one to follow directions but since my baby will be in the walker I made sure to read accordingly. The set up was less than 10 minutes. Since Ezra can't touch the floor yet I didn't put the wheels on. Those will come when he's ready to get scooting. Thankfully the electronic panel with lights came with batteries installed :) thank you Kolcraft! It was a super easy set up. As soon as we set it up the baby went in for the test. Results: He Loves It!! The music is very cute and has two volume levels and the option to turn off also. A big plus for me! Also we get to hear Elmo laugh! I believe I counted 8 different songs in between Elmo giggles. Overall this is a great product! This mommy and baby give it four thumbs up!

Thanks to Kolcraft! We welcome any and all products to test and review on your site and ours.

Happy Birthday to You! Birthday/Anniversary Freebies!

I'm compiling a list of businesses that offer freebies for your birthday! I should have all of the freebie offers I received up on a list this week.  If your birthday hasn't passed then you are in luck! But note that most ask that you be signed up for the freebie a few months ahead of birthday.  Also if you are married you can enter your anniversary and you'll get a discounted meal or freebie for that occasion as well!  It's also a great idea to add your  kids to the sites as well so they can feel special and get their birthday freebie! Start em' young!

Sorry for a short post today, we are heading for Orlando this afternoon to have dinner with some friends visiting from out of state. My friend's son had a liver transplant at the age of 2. He is now 7 and wished to come to Disney World! He is doing well and totally enjoying his trip courtesy of the Make a Wish Foundation. I'm so happy that they are enjoying their trip and getting to make Brice's wish come true. We are having dinner at the T-Rex Cafe in Downtown Disney, super excited we've never eaten there.  I'll post pics and a review of the things to do at Downtown Disney so if you ever make a trip here to Florida you can go and check it out as well!

Do you Houseparty??

I have been a member of Houseparty.com for two years now. I have been lucky to host parties from the following brands: Oscar Mayer, Bic Soleil, Febreeze, Johnsonville Sausage, Jack Daniels, Freeze & Shake Frozen cocktails, Sneak party of Ninja Warrior, Budweiser and most recently Riceworks chips.

How you ask? Simple! Just join www.houseparty.com You'll fill out a basic information about yourself so that Houseparty can pair you with parties that you will be good to represent. Once you are in the "system" you can check out all the available parties and choose which ones you want to apply for. Once you submit an application Houseparty will then determine who are the lucky people to get freebies form the sponsor. I'll have to upload pics later. You are going to be so surprised at how much stuff I've gotten- to share ofcourse! =) 

The box of goodies is mailed out FedEx to you and you receive a shipment notification to your email just to let you know it's headed your way. How cool is that?! Very! 

Don't think this site is only for homemakers they like to get a man's point of view as well! Men and women should both sign up for Houseparty! Some parties are for the over 21 public so you'll have to have your guests fill out forms stating that they are of age. A great precaution.

Have any questions about Houseparty?? Leave me a comment, please! This isn't exactly sweeping, but you aren't guaranteed a party unless you sign up.. So it kind of is. Gotta put yourself out there to get the cool stuff your way.

Has anyone started their sweeping journey?? Let us know so we can cheer you on! Also please share my site with others! There is plenty for everyone to win! I promise to get to the meat and potatoes of sweeping this week. I've been sidelined from running this week due to a nasty spur on my heel! =( Got a shot so I gota take it easy.

Skeptical Still? Keep reading, start entering & start winning!!!! 

*Caution* They are out to get you!!

A lot of people that I have spoken to about entering sweepstakes or following blogs have mentioned one concern to me.  "If I put my information out there, I'll get lots of spam & the possibility of identity theft!"  Don't get me wrong, those are both legit concerns and I too considered them when I first started entering sweepstakes.  Big Brother has been watching us for a long time now, you are on the net whether you like it or not. Unfortunately when you put out your information you do become more vulnerable to the possibilities of getting phished or getting your identity stolen. My recommendations, check your firewall, do sweeps of spyware and malware often on your pc and change your passwords often.  If you use a wi-fi connection at home make sure it's password enabled, so you aren't providing internet access to your entire neighborhood.  Another good tip is to never do any kind of personal surfing while on public wi-fi access. Others can get to your information via free wi-fi unfortunately. There's that on safety. =)

It's a good idea to set up an alternate email address so you don't bog down your day to day email address with sweepstakes information.

Overall it's all a gamble, that's the way I see it. I am out there.. I'm all over the net and I'm ok with it.  Are you? That might be the determining factor in getting into sweepstakes for you. 

Whoa it's been quite a week!

Sorry for the delay in posts, life has been a little bumpy this week. Nothing serious just lack of sleep and my sweet cranky baby.  I'll have to update my bio so you'll know a bit of my background.

Thanks to my wonderful husband and baby taking naps I have been able to participate in a couple Twitter parties this week. (If you are wondering, I did get some sweet wins!)

Did you "party" or "sweep" any this week? I "ran" into one of my readers a few nights this week on twitter.  I can't wait til her first win! I know it will happen soon! We will def post when she does too!  Once you begin your sweeping journey let me know! Share with us so we can be excited for each other.  My mantra on sweeping is, "Don't be jealous of someone else's win, they have put themselves out there for it and as soon as you do, you too will win!"

I get so excited when I read about other people's wins. 1- Because I feel that it makes a "Win" more attainable to to me as well.  If they won so can I! =) And thank God I have! I share my winnings with all of my family.  I can't wait to send my parents and inlaws on trips!

Have you mentioned to your loved ones that you are going to or have started entering sweepstakes? My parents & sisters think I'm crazy, but are amazed at what I have won so far.  My husband, he gets excited and has plans for the future.. I tell him not to get cocky. LOL  You never know when I'll run out of "luck."  Not sure if it is luck either.. I'm not sure what it is. But whatever it is.. I'm very happy about it. And if I stopped winning, I don't think it would break my heart either.  I'll just chalk it up to what it was, a Great ride! But for now this car doesn't plan on stopping.  Let's begin your sweeping story as mine goes along with it. =)

Let's get some comments going and share my site with friends!  I'll be taking Fri-Sun off this week. Feb 3 is my birthday so I'm going to take the day off. But from now on no new posts will be listed on Sat & Sun.  I've got some reviews that I'll be posting and more information on how you can also become a successful sweeper and winning at Twitter parties in the coming weeks.

The Skeptical Sweeper-
 Candy