Mingle Magazine Giveaway!

Alright everyone, today is the day for the Mingle magazine review and giveaway! Let me start by saying it was a beautiful day today and I was able to sit on my porch with a cup of tea and read the entire magazine from front to back. It may have been because of the rare fall sunshine in Oregon, or how pleasantly quiet my street was today, but the atmosphere for reading through such a beautiful magazine was perfect. Now that evening is approaching I have moved inside, brewed some apple cider tea and am now ready to tell you all about Mingle.

Mingle magazine is dedicated to providing "creative ideas for unique gatherings" and boy is it chock full of ideas and gatherings of all kinds. My first excitement occurred when the second gathering featured was held on my very own Oregon coast. The gathering itself is called Be Present Retreats and there is an abundance of information on what they do and where they are held. What struck me most about the article, other than it happened so close to my home, was a beautiful poem in the middle that was accompanied by pictures of the Oregon coast. I could not find who actually wrote the poem but it pulled at my heart through the words and familiar images. There is more of it but you must pick up the mag to read the poem entirely.

Sometimes life is hard, we said

You are not alone.

...

There is pain and there is beauty mixed together, we said.

You are not alone.

...

What is so amazing about this magazine is how they include a real wide range of gatherings, from childrens' birthday parties to weddings to anniversary parties to friends having Saturday beer night to a group of 60 women on a chartered bus antique tour and so, so many more. In 144 pages I think everyone can find something in this magazine to inspire them, but I am going to share a few that inspired me.

I seemed to be struck most by the retreats featured in the magazine which led me to believe something similar would be great for me right now. Even though I'm sure it won't happen due to time or money the pages of Mingle gave me just a little bit of a taste of the goodwill that a wonderful retreat can provide. The below pictures are from a creative retreat by Beth Nicholls and the photos are by navyblur.co.uk. Her retreats are called Do What You Love if you would like more information. Can't you just feel the warmth in this room? I would probably never leave.

I think what it is that struck me about these inspiring stories of people coming together to share fellowship is that at this point in my life it is my friends that are keeping me strong. Without good friends and heartfelt companionship it is a lonely, lonely world.

In addition to the heartwarming stories of people connecting with others Mingle is also full of beautiful pictures of food and drinks (because really, what get together is fun without them). Honestly I think I love pictures of food and drinks more than I actually like making them. There are so many beautiful ideas and pictures I barely could figure out what to show you but I decided on two that I might possibly make myself. The first is a ginger ale drink with fresh fruit which is one of my favorite things (although I generally like to toss in a little alcohol hee hee).

The second is a sweet treat because there are just too many in this magazine to ignore. I think there is just about every kind of sweet treat throughout the pages of Mingle to satisfy any ones sweet tooth. I chose to show these because they look delicious and are clever. Find more about the creator at The TomKat Studio.

I would highly recommend this magazine if you love beautiful pictures, reading inspiring stories and/or need ideas for your next amazing gathering. If you want to win your very own copy I have an extra to giveaway to a lucky reader.

The giveaway is going to be up for a week and there are several ways that you can enter (and enter more than once for more chances):

1. Leave a comment on this post to be entered. Also if you do any of the below additional entry options please let me know in your comment so I enter you the correct number of times!

2. Join my mailing list to receive an additional entry. Email bebebabiescom@yahoo.com to join. You will only receive one email a month (on the first of the month) with news and other special notices for BeBe Babies.

3. "Like" my brand new Facebook fan page and receive an additional entry.

4. Follow my blog and receive an extra entry.

5. Visit my Etsy shop and let me know your favorite doll listed to receive an additional entry.

6. Blog about my giveaway on your blog and receive an additional entry (make sure to give a link to the blog post).

Good luck to everyone and thanks for visiting!