Best-Case Scenario (GIVEAWAY)

okay, so remember when Apple rolled out iOS 7 and the world's collective panties immediately wadded themselves up and gave everyone a massive stress wedgie? i made fun of all the graphic design snobs who were lamenting the tacky colors or the inconsistent KERNing of the new graphics, and was feeling extremely high-minded when i told people, "i cant believe we have these magical amazing phones that do everything for us and SOME PEOPLE are ungrateful enough to complain about slightly imperfect software. GEEEEEESH"

yeah, i'm pretty much the best person of life.

and then iOS 7 started whacking out my phone (an iPhone 5). oh man, my panties may have been late in joining the wad-squad (that phrase pleases me more than i can say), but they more than made up for lost time. 

what would happen was that my phone would freeze while i was typing. for 20 seconds mid-text, it would just lock up. and then, all of a sudden it would quickly spit out all of the characters i had typed (plus of course the extra ones i had rage-tapped while stuck) and then it would close out the app and all be lost. this sounds like not that big of a deal compared to the 21st century novelty of instant talking across vast distances, and yet it may or may not have brought me to tears of frustration more than once.

yeah, i'm pretty much the worst person of life.

so after weeks of this happening and finding no answers online, i decided to just use my upgrade and get the new iPhone 5s. there had really been nothing about this new phone that made me want to upgrade (since the only differences i would notice were the fingerprint scanner and the better camera) right when it was released, but if it operated iOS 7 better, it was worth it.

NOTE: we are not sultans made of gemstones who can afford to earl-adopt technology like whoa. this brand new phone cost a total of $10 out of pocket after we sold my old one on eBay. this is what we ALWAYS do. we actually usually even walk away with a profit AND our newer model phone because many folks will pay much more than we did (when we use our upgrades and re-up our contract to get the discount) to have a phone that is not under contract with a cell provider. 

so here i was with my shiny, pristine new iPhone 5s. all of a sudden my $10 jcrew flimsy rubber case was looking rather insufficient in the protection department (not to mention gross and faded...white rubber cases will inevitably turn dead-skin cell brown over time).

thankfully, i have a friend who works for Case-Mate. with sort of uncanny timing, she contacted me to let me know they were rolling out a bunch of new designs of their iPhone 5/5s cases to go with the 5s release and, would i like to try out some cases to and do a giveaway?

boy, howdy, would i!!!

i went over to their site and almost immediately fell in love with their design aesthetic (i hadnt gotten a case from them in over a year and they have REALLY stepped it up), and picking more than one favorite was not even a challenge. i also love that Case-Mate always ships for free, and that they have yummy cases for all different brands/models of phone/tablet.

ok so let's roll that beautiful bean footage (starting with some general goodness and variety):

iPhone 5/5S Colorways Case / iPhone 5/5s Zebrawood Case / iPhone 5/5s Shades Case

iPhone 5/5s Glam Ombre Case /  iPhone 5/5s Aqua Electric Swirl Case / iPhone 5/5s Studded Case

iPhone 5/5s Flowers Case / iPhone 5/5s Tortoiseshell Case / iPhone 5/5s Ziggy Zag Case

the first case i chose to try was MINE ALL MINE. as soon as my eyes fell upon this girl i knew she would be my true love:

/ iPhone 5/5s Carved Mahogany Wood Case /

i could literally not love this case any more than i do. it feels so chic and yet rustic and yet preppy all at the same time! and i am just gaga over the textures on the woods and of the pattern in general. i turn my phone over all the time and just stroke this case. 

another feature of this case that i love is that the buttons feel just like you are pushing the actual iPhone button. i hated with my old cheap cases how it was like i had to mash down through the rubber and never got a great "click" from it. these buttons are like butter. i actually had to scale back on how hard i mash them since i had gotten so used to the cruddy ill-fitting ones. 

and here is the front view:

i really like how the front has a silver perimeter that goes perfectly with the minimalist design of the phone and mimics the silver outline of the new home button.

but this girl isnt just a pretty face. she's a linebacker too. naturally, a week after i got the phone, it flew out of my hand in the driveway as i was getting out of the car. in an effort to snatch it out of the air before it hit the ground, i actually ended up just smacking it to the concrete even faster (skillz: i had them). it landed face down and i was sure i had just shattered the glass to splinters.

see the little dings in the corners? that was the only damage that my mega-spike inflicted. the hard bumper around the entire case makes it nearly impossible for the phone to actually land ON the screen if you drop it.

the backplate and the perimeter rim are perfectly interlocking and there is even a happy little message inside the rubberized back insulation that would warm the heart of any hipster:

blammo.

i wanted to get a kid-friendly case too for those times when i go against everything i swore i would never do BEFORE i had kids, and we give them a phone so they will behave/be quiet at a restaurant. i keep this one in my purse and just swap it out when i know the kids will be watching a movie or show on it for a while.

can you guess what this is?

its a little buck-toothed beaver! with a handy wood snack charm in case he gets chompy.

/ iPhone 5/5s Chucky Snap Creature Case / 

and his ample incisors arent just for cute...

the teeth snap up 

and become a built in kickstand! 

this is huge because my little monsters always get in a fight over who is going to hold the phone and inevitably one person cant see and ugh, i'd rather just not. this way, NOBODY touches the expensive device and we all just enjoy the show hands-free and without bloodsport.

if beavers arent your thing (...no comment...) they also have this style of case in elephant, dog and duck!

i also got to pick one for jesse. this was extra fun because he had been carrying his iPhone 5 around completely unprotected for months. i cannot tell you how nervous this makes me since we are a family with a storied history of dropping and breaking phones. he is really living on the edge by forgoing protection (but i kind of pick my battles in that department...ya know?).

once again though i immediately knew which one was for him. it practically screamed his name, you know, just like i do....when i'm asking him to bring me cheese in the bathtub (not a euphemism).

/   iPhone 5/5s Rosewood Case   /

i'm actually smitten with the entire collection of wood cases. the brushed aluminum + pretty grain of the real hardwoods is such a cool and unexpected (to me) thing up against a state of the art cell phone. 

i would have laughed in your face if you had told me a cell phone case could be sexy. but now, i'm converted and i will just make out with jesse's face instead.

oh, like you wouldnt.

or perhaps you are a purist. you are smitten with the clean, modern design of the phone and just want to let it do the shining. the Naked Tough is your jam.

/ iPhone 5/5s Naked Tough Case / 

crystal clear back with a clean white protective rim (also comes in black or clear rim). totally safe and yet nothing left to the imagination. like nude rollerblading in full pads.

the last case that i wanted to give a whirl was one of Case-Mate's custom Design Your Own cases. you just upload any picture your little heart desires and through sorcery it becomes a one of a kind piece of armor. they come in 3 levels of protection (barely there, tough and tough extreme).

i had the hardest time deciding what i wanted on my case. in the end i settled on a favorite graphic from real life and some photos of the fam. 

i just took a cellphone photo of my triangle-patterned clipboard with family photo magnets from our fridge taped onto it using some of my favorite washi tapes.

you could literally do anything. that's the point and the fun and the challenge!

i love how professional and sharp the custom case looks with my photo continuing around the edge.

/ iPhone 5/5s custom tough case /

are your hands itching to get some of this goodness?! well you can...for free!

in celebrating the release of these iPhone 5/5s cases, the gorgeous geniuses at Case-Mate are giving away a $50 store credit which is plenty enough to get any of the cases i've featured (and tons i couldnt fit in!) just follow the directions in the chipper Rafflecopter widget below (give it a minute to load...especially on mobile). 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


P.S. you'll never know how hard i tried to make a title work for this post that, through pun-magic, incorporated The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (because of Case and the new iPhone 5s fingerprint scanning button).