Being an oenophile and a recessionista, I am always on the hunt for a rockin’ bottle of wine that is budget friendly and delicious all at the same time, and honestly these two qualities are usually mutually exclusive, until now.

Let me introduce you to Chariot Gypsy 2008, a delicious blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Syrah, Zinfandel and Sangiovese from great vineyards in the Napa Valley, Sonoma, San Joachin, and Monterey counties. Now I know what you must be thinking, a red wine blend from Napa is going to be spendy, right? WRONG!

This is a Trader Joe’s bargain peeps (only FIVE BUCKS!!) and I just discovered it this past weekend while shopping for yummy eatz for the President’s Day Weekend.  All of the employees were raving about this delicious bottle of wine that just arrived (exclusive to TJ’s FYI), is a cult fav among oenophiles, and blows out of TJ’s in the blink of an eye. And after reading the tasting notes, hearing all of the in store hoopla, along with the ridiculously cheap price, I bought myself a case without even tasting it!

 Just listen to these yummy tasting notes from the winemaker:  “The 2008 ‘Gypsy’ displays a dark garnet color with a clear violet edge. It shows mixed fresh berry aromas — raspberry and strawberry, with hints of white pepper and pastry. Very clean and lively with juicy berry fruit, firm acidity and a touch of smooth tannin. Excellent and versatile food wine particularly well suited for pork chops and poultry. We think it is the perfect everyday red wine!”

So what do you think? For this price, can it really be that good? Online wine bloggers and insiders are already saying it is pleasant, has some depth,would benefit from some more age in the bottle and is perfect for everyday drinking. You be the judge, and so will I. In fact, I am planning on cracking open a bottle this weekend and then we can compare tasting notes. But for $5 a bottle, what have you got to lose? Let’s get a lively discussion going by posting your comments here.

FYI–I had a chance to try the Gypsy last night and it was surprisingly yummy! Very berry, a little creamy and a little spicy, but really delicious and much more impressive given the $5 price point. I REALLY like it and think I am headed to TJ’s soon to buy another case

You can find Chariot Gypsy 2008 at your local Trader Joe’s (in states where they are allowed to sell alcohol in markets, of course).

Have you ever visited the Restaurant.com website? It is a great place to buy significantly discounted restaurant gift certificates in your local area that you can print out instantly on your computer. They regularly offer $25 gift certificates for $10 at over 13,o00 restaurants nationwide which is a really good deal (and they are TOTALLY legit BTW).

Well, if that offer sounds enticing, you won’t believe this one, Restaurant.com is having an AMAZING time limited offer right now. They are selling their already discounted gift certificates for 80% off the regular price making their $10 gift certificates ONLY $2–Let me spell that out for you, you get a $25 restaurant gift certificate for $2 and in my book that’s a ROCKIN’ deal!

All that you need to do is click on the picture offer link below, search for restaurants in your area, then enter the discount code INDULGE and hit apply before you purchase, and it will adjust the price to 80% off. I know it sounds too good to be true, but this is the real deal. I bought five certificates today for some of my fav restaurants in my area, spent $10 and got a $125 value—WOW! Make sure to to take advantage of this insane offer immediately because these certificates tend to sell out quickly! This offer is valid until 1/19/10 at 11:59PM PST.

Hope you enjoy this Recessionista Friendly offer and tell your friends too! I also wanted to give a special Shout Out to my wonderful Sister-In-Law Jenn for sharing this fabulous resource–Please show her some love and take a moment to visit her brand spanking new blog where she shares lots of creative ideas for things you can do with your kids.

Here is the link: http://fun4kiddos.blogspot.com/

My lips have truly been seduced by this amazing innovative healing plumping lip gloss called Vampire Kiss by Lip Seduction. This inspired lip product kinda reminds me of a ‘lip gloss meets a lip plumper meets Blistex’ and I am absolutely loving this refreshing lip cocktail! It has a slightly menthol tingly quality and the perfect amount of moisture and hydration, it instantly makes my lips feel plumped and pampered. But what the Recessionista in me is loving the most about this new find, is that you get your gloss product and your lip treatment all in one. I typically carry a lip fix/moisturizing product and a gloss product separately, but this healing gloss saves space and money–and I am totally addicted to it!

Vampire’s Kiss by Lip Seduction was created out of frustration. After investigating many of the lip enhancing products on the market, the creators of this product noticed that most products tend to burn and give bright red full lips for a short amount of time, don’t have enough collagen to boost the lips, were too drying, or only hydrate the lips. They wanted to create a lip product with the most innovative ingredients at a high enough concentration to create visible results without irritation or dryness and this lead to the creation of Vampire Kiss. This product hydrates, stimulates, helps regenerate collagen and offers multiple benefits to today’s modern budget conscious woman.

What makes Vampire’s Kiss so special? It’s the companies proprietary formula that contains a compound of five key lip enhancing ingredients:

1. Hyaluronic Acid Microspheres They have a sponge-like absorbency working to bind hundreds of times their weight in water to visibly fill and boost lip volume. It is also the what is used in professional injections known as Restylane.
2. Tri-Peptide 1 Builds collagen and creates a more permanent fuller, firmer lip.
3. Benzyl Nicotinate Increases blood flow and gives lips a fuller appearance.
4. Retinyl Palmitate (Vitamin A) Keeps lips smooth, improves dryness, assists in cellular renewal, and helps diminish the appearance of fine lip lines.
5. Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E) A natural moisturizer, antioxidant and preservative. Reduces water loss, keeping the lips moist and supple.

I adore this magical combination of ingredients because my lips look plump and pouty, they feel like ‘buttah’ and this product really feels like it is doing something to treat my lips and make them look more youthful. Vampire’s Kiss currently comes in three shades (clear, red and pink) and they have plans to offer a wider assortment of shades in the near future (I had a chance to sample a warm copper/cinnamon type shade, which I absolutely love, and this will be part of the expanded color options in the future).

If you would like to get some sexy in your pucker, you can get your own VK by Lip Seduction HERE. And check back with RR soon for some special offers on this product and for an opportunity to win your own Vampire Kiss by Lip Seduction. What’s your current favorite lip product? Post and share!

Hey all of you beauty mavens and recessionistas, have I got a beauty find for you! I am always scouring the net for the latest and greatest beauty and lifestyle websites and information, and today I stumbled upon a doozy: Freaky Freddies

Freaky Freddies is one of the oldest and fastest growing sources of free samples and free stuff websites on the Internet. The site currently has 72 categories of freebies that you can choose from and it is updated daily. You can visit whenever the mood strikes or you can sign up to have their e-newsletter sent directly to you.

What I loved most about this freebie site is that have an entire section dedicated to FREE Beauty Booty (these words are music to a beauty junkies ears), which I find especially appealing in these more challenged economic times. They have a nice lush assortment of all different types of beauty goodies to choose from. To find out the latest free beauty loot and samples go to Freaky Freddies Free Beauty Products

I’ve already scored a coupon for a free deluxe sample of Aveda Hand Relief and also signed up for a sample of the newest fragrance by Narciso Rodriguez called Essence (which I have been dying to try BTW), and I plan on scoring alot more free beauty treats in the future. Let me know what beauty booty you score and PLEASE post and share other great resources for beauty freebies on the net—We all love gratis these days

Hello Divas, Mavens and Recessionistas!

Have I got a freebie for you. . . It’s the first ever Fekkai Shampoo Swap!

Here’s the deal: On Thursday, September 17, 2009 (that’s tomorrow BTW) from 10:00am-9:00pm visit any participating Saks Fifth Avenue department store, bring in ANY full sized shampoo that you currently use and exchange it for one COMPLIMENTARY (aka FREE) full sized bottle of Fekkai Advanced Shampoo of your choice ($23 value). These are beautifully made, high quality professional shampoos, not your garden variety drugstore kind.

Nice little freebie, don’t ya think? Find your local Saks Fifth Avenue Store Here to see if they are participating in this fab event. Hope you enjoy this little perk brought to you by Romy Raves and here’s to your gorgeous, luxurious hair!

Recently, my amazing life coach asked me a version of the question I have used as my title for this blog, “What are the positive outcomes that you have noticed as a result of our strained economy?” I loved this question because it threw me for a loop–when I think to myself, “Hmmm. . . has anything good or positive happened as a result of our current economy?” This sounds a bit ridiculous at first, but as I begin to think about it further, what I start to realize is that in this challenged time, if we all keep jumping on this bandwagon of ‘times are tough’ and ‘my business is significantly down’ and ‘I have too many bills and not enough income’ and ‘no one is spending money these days’ etc., with all this negative talk we just keep feeding this negative collective unconscious and continue to attract more lack and less abundance. And if you believe in the Laws of Attraction at all, this negative mindset of having constant money strain and stress continues to perpetuate this problem rather than eradicate it. After taking the time to really digest her question, it finally starts to hit me–the only way to shift this current predicament is to shift my thinking.

So after I am able to jump off the negative money train, I am delighted to realize that I definitely have noticed some wonderfully positive shifts as a result of this economic strain. The most significant positive shift that I have noticed is that people have become more honest and genuine about their financial situation by telling it straight, and not acting like they have more than they really do. This diminishing superficiality has led to more connectedness than ever before. To me, this genuine sharing feels more reminiscent of a bygone era, where hanging out with people, talking and sharing meals was more important than anything else and more of the norm. Among my friends, I have begun to notice this trend taking shape, where people are more interested in hanging out, having potluck family dinners in their homes, enjoying good food, wine, and companionship. This is becoming more appealing than mindlessly going out to a spendy, trendy restaurant that often disappoints in both quality and value. Friends seem to be enjoying hanging out more than ever, seem to enjoy opening up their homes, even sharing babysitters–all in an effort to bond and conserve money, and I see this as such a wonderfully positive shift.

I have also noticed that many fast food and family based restaurants are offering more freebies and deals than ever before. For example, in the last month both Baskin Robins and Ben and Jerry’s have given away free ice cream cones and both KFC and El Pollo Loco have given away free chicken, all in and effort to build brand loyalty and let customer’s know that these companies are there for their consumers in these difficult times. These businesses want to ease the stress with these free perks and this gratis only contributes to a positive greater good. And these freebies continue every week, like on Mother’s Day TCBY is giving mom’s free yougurt and on Thursday, May 7 from 4-8pm, the Coffee Bean is giving away free 12oz. Iced Coffees–and the list goes on and on every week. These are positive changes I can get used to, can you?

I would love for you to share any positive shifts that you have noticed as a result of the economy, and please post them on this blog and share any freebies you hear about too! And I promise to continually ‘rave’ about great freebies or deals that I hear about on this blog too.

Romy,
Gratis and Gratitude Goddess
“I move from poverty thinking to prosperity thinking, and my finances reflect this change”
Louise Hay