King - nay, QUEEN - of the mountain

I grew up in Chicago, where several skiing/snowboarding areas are just a car trip away and then I moved to sunny Southern California for the weather. And now every winter I have the inclination to brave the freeways and head to the closest ski resort Mt. Baldy. I didn't actually try snowboarding until junior high, when a couple of friends made me go snowboarding with them. For some reason, they didn't think I needed the lessons or any practice on the bunny hill. While we were on the lift ride up, both of them kept going, "It's so easy! Toeside-heelside-toeside-heelside!"

We got off the lift at the top of the hill, at which point they both promptly flew down the mountainside. At this point, I didn't know anyone up there, I didn't understand what a toeside or a heelside was, and most importantly, I didn't know how to start moving once both of my feet were strapped to a board.

As you might imagine, the first few runs didn't go very well. I sort of hopped to the edge of the slope and then went straight down it. Um, and I didn't know how to stop. So when I got to the bottom, I just purposely wiped out. It was a pretty rough day.

But that was a long time ago, and since then, I've had more patient friends who have shown me the way of the board. I moved to sunny Southern California for the weather, but every winter I have the inclination to brave the freeways and head to Mt. Baldy.

Since my first unfortunate experience, I've had more patient friends who have shown me the way of the board. With the majority of them currently being unemployed, it's pretty easy to get together for a weekday snow trip. So regardless of this recession, today's SocialBuy deal for $32 for a one-day weekday lift ticket will get them to stop complaining about budgetary concerns and head for the slopes.

If you've never been snowboarding or skiing before, you should consider this your sign to try it. Just make sure to start out on the bunny hill...

One fish, two fish, red fish, Malibu fish

For a really, really long time, I told people I didn't eat seafood. Keep in mind that I grew up in the Midwest, where eating fish really wasn't a thing. People didn't question me.

But then I moved to California, and had my first fresh sushi. Sushi turned into an occasional bite of a friend's salmon, or getting excited when my roommate bought frozen tilapia from Costco. Now I'm a fish-o-phile.

That's why I'm sort of overly excited about our Reel Inn deal ($15 for a $30 voucher). Though I like seafood a lot more now, my boyfriend is allergic to shellfish, so we don't go to seafood places that often. But this place has a really wide selection of all different kinds of shell-free fish, not to mention a ton of entirely sea-creature-free entree options.

I also like this restaurant deal because it gives me an excuse to go to the beach in Malibu and to try somewhere new to eat. Like most people, I've fallen into a rut of going out to eat at the same three places that are within walking distance of my apartment. I really have no reason to haul my butt (or my friends) to Malibu. But now, I can entice my pals and my palate with this awesome deal. According to Yelp, most of the dishes there are $10-$15, so this SocialBuy voucher will probably buy dinner for two. Mmm.

The tipping point

Great news - the Rosti Tuscan Kitchen deal went live yesterday! That means that if you opt in on that deal, the voucher will arrive in your inbox the next day and you'll be able to use it right away.

Radical Tan (today's SF deal) is doing pretty well too. That's the deal where you can get a week of unlimited tanning for $20.

To get in on this deal with Radical Tan, visit http://www.socialbuy.com/San-Francisco/

SheWearsYourTee.com

Today SocialBuy is featured on SheWearsYourTee.com, an innovative online marketing idea from a couple of Minnesota entrepreneurs and a New York-based model named Tanaya Henry. At the beginning of the year, she set up a calendar. Anyone who wanted their business or product featured on her site "bought" a day. New Year's Day was $1, Jan. 2 was $2, Jan. 3 was $3, etc.

Every day, she does a mini "photo shoot" wearing the t-shirt. Here are our shots!

Tanaya has started to garner attention for her unusual work:

"She’s Wearing a HootSuite Shirt ~ And She’ll Wear Yours Too" - HootSuite

"Model Tanaya Henry Becomes Human Billboard" - Huffington Post

"'She Wears Your Tee:' A Minnesotan Creation" - WCCO

"Pay A Model For Your Shirt On Her Back" - Coco Perez

It's great to see people coming up with innovative ideas for internet marketing. Check it out today for her writeup on SocialBuy!

Bountiful Baskets bakes it to the limit

Sometimes, sales reps bring back food for me. A lot of the time, the places we review want the person who writes about it to try some of their food.

A couple of days ago, a rep came back with a Cookie Pop from Bountiful Baskets. I didn't have particularly high expectations - cookies-on-a-stick are usually thin and dried out. But after wrestling the wrapper open, I bit into one of the softest, freshest, tastiest sugar cookies I've ever had.

Bountiful Baskets has lots of cool stuff other than (delicious, delicious) baked goodies. They do a spa package that has lotions and soaps in it, and a wine-and-cheese basket with... well, you can guess.

I think today's SocialBuy deal is a really good one. $25 gets you a $50 voucher to Bountiful Baskets. They're pushing their pre-made V-Day baskets right now, but you can save it until the next time you need to buy someone a gift (or just make their day).

More live deals - get 'em while they're hot!

All of our deals - Sparkles Forever, Sunset Gondola, LA Premier flowers, and Sprinkles Cupcakes - have gone live. Tonight, the deals change, but for now, you can still opt in on these.

I'm the most excited about Sparkles Forever. I actually got a chance to meet the person who runs it. Her name is Lala, and she's awesome. I really love antique-looking cocktail rings, and since they're so cheap on her site, I can buy three or four with just this voucher.

It's also an exciting deal because it's our first one that is available nation-wide. Since Sparkles Forever is an online store, you don't need to live in LA or SF to use it.

Things are coming along very well at SocialBuy. We moved into a new office a few weeks ago, and we're finally all settled in. Well, we still don't have a coffee machine, but other than that, settled. A bunch of new computers came in (including one for me!) and we've hired new customer service reps to handle user issues.

Since Valentine's Day is this weekend, look for more romance-themed deals this week...

Sprinkles Cupcakes is live!

We have had such an exciting first week! Within one day, the Sprinkles Cupcakes deal went live. That means that if you opt in on that deal right now, you can buy it, print it out, and have a Sprinkles cupcake in your possession by this afternoon.

The rest of the deals are coming close to activating. ZAZA Nail spa just needs eight more people before it goes live.

Now that our site has launched, our office is super-busy. Since we have a website to show off, our sales guys (and gals) have been working round-the-clock to close new deals. Good things are coming!

Launched today!

We launched today! We're offering fantastic deals at Sprinkles Cupcakes, Sunset Tan, YoCup, and ZAZA Nail Spa. Sprinkles and Sunset Tan are our Los Angeles deals, and YoCup and ZAZA are our San Francisco deals. Check out SocialBuy.com today to get on these daily deals before they disappear!