Last Chance to Enter the Super Sized Valentine Follower Love Giveaway!

Time's almost up to get your entries in for the Super Sized Valentine Follower Love Giveaway! Entries are still relatively low, so there's a great chance of you winning one of the three prize packs! I've also got extra prizes for Facebook Likers and Twitter followers, so you have a huge chance of coming away with a prize! Head over to the kickoff post and enter right now! Form comes down at midnight tonight (Pacific time), so the clock is ticking!

A Letter of Appreciation

Dear Things Liz Loves followers,

I want to express my dearest thanks for all your support of the blog up to this point. Your help spreading the word about us has helped this blog grow more quickly than I could have expected. I appreciate your loyal readership and hope that you will continue to support the blog in the future.

There are some personally catastrophic things going on right now, and it is unfortunate that this blog will have to suffer because of that. Unfortunately, the Super Sized Valentine Follower Love Giveaway will be the last Things Liz Loves giveaway for a while. I've recently become a single mother, and I just don't have the money to foot the bill on any contests for a while. I will continue to do my best to do regular posts and reviews, and any publisher sponsored giveaways will happen, but personally sponsored giveaways will be on hold for the time being.

I hope that you all will be understanding and bear with me through this difficult time. I can't tell you how much it would mean to me to still have my blog friends to count on. Thank you for helping make Things Liz Loves what it is.

Liz

Thursday's Picks (20)

Welcome back to Thursday's Picks! I'm going to give you the low-down on what to watch out for in movies, books and DVDs in the next week. I want to know what you guys are looking forward to! Leave me a comment or make your own Thursday's Picks post!

Also, don't forget to enter the Super Sized Valentine Follower Love Giveaway! There's only 4 days left to enter!

This Week on Thursday's Picks: Drive Angry, Love and Other Drugs, and Demonglass

Time Travel Tuesday: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy fans, unite! I know at least half of you bloggy buddies were fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It seems like a kind of prerequisite for book lovers to be into Buffy. Even the old school, camp-fest Kristy Swanson movie brings back fond memories.

First, we'll talk about the movie that started it all. The film was written by the always amazing Joss Whedon and starred Kristy Swanson, Luke Perry, Donald Sutherland, Rutger Hauer and Paul Ruebens (aka Peewee Herman), with a supporting cast that included Hilary Swank, David Arquette and cameos from Ben Affleck and Ricky Lake. I loved this movie when I was a kid. I thought it was so cool that an airhead, self-centered shopaholic cheerleader could grow the eff up and handle herself against an army of the undead. The movie was made back when Luke Perry was super hot, so that was a bonus. I really got a kick out of the scenes with Paul Ruebens. He was hilarious throughout the film, especially at the end. This movie was on heavy rotation when I was a kid, and I still make it a point to watch it anytime I catch it on TV. One of my favorite lines from the film: "Grueller, it's me! Buffy! Remember? At my birthday party? You drank all the blueberry schnapps and luged on my mom?" Below, you'll find the old school trailer, complete with Luke Perry voice over narrative, and the epic Paul Ruebens death scene. It's great stuff.

Paul Ruebens gets staked and dies....

...and comes back to die some more after the credits.


Next up is the TV series, also written by Joss Whedon. I've seen every episode of this series at least twice. The beginnings were humble and packed with era-dating goodness, but the show grew into something that no one could expect. The series was EPIC. They pulled off a musical episode without losing any of their edge. It kicked off the successful careers of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan and David Boreanaz. It had reoccurring appearances from Seth Green, Nathan Fillion and Eliza Dushku. There were epic battles with humongous forces of evil, and Buffy and her friends handled it year after year. They destroyed the portal to Hell, for crap's sake! And don't get me started on the eye candy. I, to this day, nurse a serious crush on James Marsters as Spike. What can I say, I like my men tall, thin and inherently evil. This show is so great that I still hit up some episodes on Netflix. It's a shame that it had to come to an end. There's talk of a new Buffy movie, but I hear Joss Whedon will not be a part of it. I don't know if I can say I'm excited to see a Buffy movie with no Joss. He made the movie and show what it is. Although, if they pull off a series cast reunion for the movie, I might throw caution to the wind and see it anyway.

The best fanmade Buffy season one trailer ever made.

It could be bunnies! From the musical episode, Once More With Feeling.

A montage of Spike getting the crap kicked out of him.

Smoking is a disgusting habit, but that doesn't make this video any less hot.


Get your Buffy fix by picking up the movie and series DVDs from the Things Liz Loves Amazon Store below.

Swagbucks Birthday Celebration = BONUS Swagbucks for YOU!

As you all know, I'm an avid Swagbucker. I visit the site nearly every day to collect Swagbucks and earn prizes. I recently scooped up a $5 Amazon Gift Card, which I'm using to supply prizes to my beloved followers in the Super Sized Valentine Follower Love Giveaway. Swagbucks is already paying you guys! As an easy option for extra entries, I put signing up for a free Swagbucks account on the entry form. Now Swagbucks is sweetening the deal.

Swagbucks (the best place on the web for free stuff) is turning 3, and the celebration they have planned for the 28th is going to be HUGE! It'll feature a bunch of Swag Codes, a new look and feel for the Swagbucks Blog and the launch of two new features, one of which will redefine the way you use their search function. You definitely won't want to miss it, so be sure that you're on the site bright and early the morning of the 28th for your chance to earn big and be a part of the biggest birthday celebration on the web! Swagbucks.com is a site where you can earn 1,000s of free products for doing the things you do every day. Whether it's searching the web, watching videos, playing games, shopping or more, Swagbucks has a way for you to be rewarded with free stuff. No strings. No gimmicks.

So I recommend checking out Swagbucks this week. You can even use the code "3rdBirthday102" to get a free 50 Swagbucks just for signing up! The code is only good for this week, so head over ASAP to get your free Swagbucks. Don't forget to put your Swagbucks username on the form for the Valentine Giveaway to get your extra entries! Just follow this link and put in the code before Saturday. Hope you guys win tons of free stuff!

Review: Fallen by Lauren Kate

Fallen
Written by Lauren Kate
Release Date: December 8, 2009
Published by Random House
NOT a publisher requested review

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary (courtesy of Barnes and Noble):

There's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.
Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He's the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.
Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce—and goes out of his way to make that very clear—she can't let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.
Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, Fallen is a page turning thriller and the ultimate love story.

A decent offering that had sparks of wit and potential for excitement, but otherwise left me unfulfilled. Full review after the jump. WARNING: SPOILERS!

Thursday's Picks (19)

Happy Thursday, Blog Friends! I hope the week has been treating you well! I also hope you've been shamelessly promoting the Super Sized Valentine Follower Love Giveaway, because I REALLY want to add a fourth prize pack to the mix at 200 followers! So now we're back for Thursday's Picks, the weekly feature where I tell you the best upcoming books, movies and DVDs coming out in the next week. This week's are a special treat for me, so get ready for some awesome sauce! You can tell me all about your Thursday Picks as well...I actually love it! Leave me a comment or make your own post!

This Week on Thursday's Picks: I Am Number Four, Get Low and Darkest Mercy