Shopping Local with Colorado Mills {$500 Giveaway}

This post is sponsored by Colorado Mills. All thoughts, opinions and photos are my own.

I’m not sure if you guys knew this, but I’m from Colorado.

….I kid, I kid. Of course you knew that, and if you didn’t, I suspect the name of this blog kind of gave it away, no?! But in all seriousness, that is a rarity around these parts {a few days ago a reader referenced natives as “special unicorns”!} with the influx of people moving to the Denver area.

I love my state, and I do what I can to support it wherever possible. For me, this largely entails shopping at local businesses whenever possible. My family owns a small business and I know how hard it can be to do battle with the big guys, so I’m always willing to spend a few extra dollars if it supports a Colorado-based company.

And truth be told, I was reticent when Colorado Mills reached out to me for this giveaway. Shopping isn’t really a hot topic around this site, and I was not sure that it would be a great fit. But then I started poking around the category of stores at the mall and spent some time chatting with Brenda, the marketing director. And you know what I learned? There are quite a few local love stories at Colorado Mills!

These aren’t those love stories. These are Will and me acting like we’re 9 years old again

Will and I headed to the mall a few weeks ago to peruse the stores and snap a few photos. In the process, I learned a lot about many of the small businesses. Y’all, I fell in love with a few {and there is one in particular where we had a tough time not buying ALL THE THINGS!}

Take A Borgata for example. This store is filled with clothing and trinkets by Colorado-based designers and artisans. As I walked around the store looking at everything, I found myself exclaiming, “I need this!” or “Can we put this on our living room wall?” There are so many unique Colorado products that I haven’t seen anywhere else, and it gave me a few gift ideas.

I need to buy this for a hundred different people

Or Cleveland Creek Log Furniture. While it may not sound like a local company, I immediately fell in love with this family-owned, Colorado-based business. I briefly spoke with the owner on the phone {when calling to ask permission to snap a few photos} and he reminded me of my parents and our small company. The business is a part of your livelihood; sure. But it’s more a part of your family, and of your soul.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that they carried the most amazing log tables that I’ve ever seen. They had one that was this polished slab table with curled and gnarled branches as legs. Will was DYING.

When did moose become cool? I don’t even care; I love this

Finally, we swung by Kataluma Chai, another Colorado-based business that immediately grabbed my undying affection with approximately 4 million varieties of chai. I have a deep, intense love affair with chai and I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen so many choices available!

But all of this aside, I suspect you want to know how you can win the $500, amiright?!

Here’s the deal: Colorado Mills is giving away one $500 Visa gift card to a lucky person. Of course, they are hoping that you locals spend it at any of their stores, but if you’re not local? It’s accepted wherever Visa is accepted…so pretty much everywhere.

The only required entry below is to follow their account {@ShopColoradoMills} on Instagram. And of course you should, if only because I’m hosting a TAKEOVER this Thursday! So if you want to see some more of the IG madness, hop over on Thursday and see what kind of snaps I’ll be sharing. Deal?

Entries will be accepted via the Rafflecopter below. Giveaway will close at midnight on Sunday, June 26.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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