Back in 2003, some of my best friends and I gathered together in Ohio’s Hocking Hills for a relaxing, fun few days away from our lives at home. We ate great food, played games, sat in the hot tub for hours and drank wine. It was awesome. What is now known as the GGW, or Girl’s Getaway Weekend, became an annual event. We’ve seen each other through birth, death, infidelity, divorce, sickness, injury (those last two are just because of me) and some knock-down, drag-out board game fights. We have cried, laughed hard, eaten a lot of candy, scared off wild animals, sang karaoke, and stayed up all night long. Basically, it’s a three-night slumber party for adults. These are the people who I can call if I ever need anything. We don’t see each other nearly enough, but we can always count on those few days to reconnect and become a GGW family again.
Through good times and bad, they have been my solid foundation and my second family. Our conversations are unforgettable and thinking of our silly antics always makes me smile.
I mean, I wouldn’t let just anyone see me in my pajamas and a beauty mask. Other than the Internet, of course.
Yeah, we made potholders. Don’t judge our crafts.
Here we are, decked out in our Ohio State garb. The weekend is never complete without us having a couple cocktails during the football game and when the Buckeyes score, we drink. The year they beat Northwestern 54-10 was rough on us. Really rough.
Flowerpot painting. We get CRAZY!
Now, with the Gallo Family Vineyards Crest Creator, families – whether defined by the roof under which they live or the colors they wear on game day – can be commemorated with a family crest featuring the symbols that unite them. This is ours. 
At CrestCreator.com, 17 different family crest templates can be customized with 300 icons and a personal motto, offering a seemingly unending way to make your family official. The designs can be shared digitally via Facebook and Twitter and downloaded for family events. Through a partnership with Zazzle.com, the custom crests can be printed for purchase on a variety of objects, making them an unforgettable personalized gift.
The GGW has taught me that family isn’t just the people who live in your house; it can be people from work, church, the gym, or it can be a group of girls who only get together once a year. Leave a comment on this post and answer the question, “How do you define family?” and get entered for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card!
Rules
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
- Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
- Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
- Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
- For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents (excluding Colorado, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Utah and where otherwise prohibited by law) age 21or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 10/1/2013-10/31/2013
Be sure to visit the Gallo Family Vineyards Brand Page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!
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Comments
Kari
Just the word WINE and I am totally down with a weekend like this.
In fact, my friend Jen and I were just talking about doing something like this!
I would love to win the gift card.
To buy wine.
And ingredients to make crafts.
Those potholders are BOSS.
jodifur
My family is my family, you know the people I’m related to, but I also have this thing I call “fake family” my best friend and her family and her kids. They might as well be family.
Lisa Brown
My definition of family is closeness and support. People you can go to when times get tough and always have someone who will care and listen to you.
jslbrown_03 at yahoo dot com
Sarah
Family, to me, denotes the people on the other end of the phone when everything hits the fan. My blood relatives are hundreds of miles away, but that doesn’t leave me without family here. Family is E who picked up my Rottweiler, washed and folded baby clothes and stuff when my water broke at 34 weeks. Family is J who is always there in a crisis. We pick each other up.
Lisa Brown
tweet – https://twitter.com/LuLu_Brown24/status/385111009465094145
jslbrown_03 at yahoo dot com
Suzy Q
My definition of family has broadened over the years. It certainly doesn’t only include blood relatives. Currently, I am recovering from emergency surgery that was supposed to be simple but became complicated. Who calls me every day to check up on me? My girlfriends. Who offer – sincerely – to do whatever I need done? They do. These people are my family, and they know I would do the same for them.
Suzy Q
https://twitter.com/SuzyQuzey/status/385117592395845632
I tweeted!
Melisa
I’m not entering the contest but wanted to say that your “family” crest is ADORBS.
Tracie
I have my real family – my husband, daughter, mom, and various cousins. I also have my “heart family” made up of special friends who have seen me through the highs and lows of life and stuck by me no matter what. I’m blessed to have them.
Elena
Family are the people who love and support each other
Elena
https://twitter.com/ElenaIstomina/status/385181289751400448
Mami2jcn
To me, family means loyalty. It also means having a feeling of belonging.
Mami2jcn
tweet–https://twitter.com/mami2jcn/status/385206204013617152
tara
Hahah what a cool idea!! Your extended family looks pretty amazing! Crafts? Face masks? Hell yeah!
stephanie
familys mean love and caring and support
stephanie
tweet: https://twitter.com/akronugurl/status/385436758881472512 .
Melissa
Family, to me, implies that you can rely on one another and that support will be given without judgement. My biological family certainly doesn’t give me that, but my close friends do. My group is shrinking as I get older, which was getting me down, but I’m about to start joining and volunteering to hunt up some more potential family members!
D Schmidt
My definition of family is people that love, cherish, care and think of each other. People that feel they belong together and want to proceed through life in each other’s presence.
D Schmidt
Tweeted
https://twitter.com/mummytotwoboys1/status/385480369417379840
Layne Ogden
Family to me is texting two friends late on a Sunday night and asking them to come to my house a couple times a week early in the AM to walk and talk before I completely lose my sh*t and having them show up at 5:15 the next morning.
April G
I define family as those who are closest to me, be they relatives or not! They’re the ones I can lean on, and who can lean on me!
amy b
Family to me is anyone who is there for me when I need them. Family does not mean blood.
Adrienne Gordon
Family are the people you can count on.
Margaret Smith
I define family not only but the people who are related to us by blood, but also I consider some of our friends, that we’ve known for years, to be our family too. So, to me, family is the people you are closest too and you would do anything for them and they would do anything for you.
Margaret Smith
I tweeted: https://twitter.com/peg42/status/385727663689584640
Kim Ripley
My family are the people who are connected to me that love one another.
Emily Morelli
Family are the people you want to be with whenever there is an occasion whether good or bad.
Tamar
Family are the people you love and would do anything for.
Cynthia C
I think family goes beyond the people you are related to and includes all the people who will stand with you through thick and thin.
Cynthia C
Tweet
https://twitter.com/clc408/status/385834043926790145
Kim H
My family includes my family as well as my friends that I am close to!!
ky_grandma40@yahoo.com
Jessica To
To me family is a group of people who love and support each other.
Suzanne K
family to me is the ones that I care about and that care about me
Erika
The ultimate family for me? The one in this house- my daughter, son, and husband. 🙂
chambanachik(at)gmail(dot)com
Stephanie V.
Family are people I trust in addition to people I share blood with
Mare
Leo Buscaglia wrote that family is the people that “when you go there, they have to take you in.”
True that.
beth shepherd
I define family simply by those who I can trust and rely on.
Mary Calabrese
Family is a group of people, either related or not, who are there for each other, no matter what.
Tari Lawson
For me Family is those who are blood relatives as well as those people close to you who would do anything for you and you would do anything for them.
sarah hirsch
for me family is the traditional definition – blood relatives
Susan Smith
My definition of a family are people who are supportive and loving to one and other, through the good times and the bad times.
Susan Smith
https://twitter.com/susan1215/status/386591800225316865
Carolyn G
Family is a group of people (related or not) who love and support each other.
Kyl Neusch
provide support and wellbeing
mickeyfan
Family is a group, whether attached by love or by blood, that are there for each other. Any time, every time.
Barbara M
Family for me is working and playing together.
Thank you.
Barbara M
Tweet https://twitter.com/JalapenoMama/status/386683890460401664
Jessie C.
To me, family means people in my life who accept and love me for who I am.
tcarolinep at gmail dot com
Jessie C.
-https://twitter.com/tcarolinep/status/386720290333417472
One Frugal Girl
Accepting and loving unconditionally.
One Frugal Girl
Tweet: https://twitter.com/OneFrugalGirl/status/387206438365302784
onefrugalgirl AT gmail DOT com
carol
I define family as comfort. They are the people in this world that bring me peace, and with whom I feel safe.
carol
tweeted https://twitter.com/cdziuba/status/387552755843203073
Jen
Family are the people you run to when you need the love, support, and guidance no one else can give you in your ultimate time of need.
rachel
From moving around, I’ve learned that family is who you make it.
janna johnson
To me family is the people in my life who I can count on and who can count on me.
Susan Chester
I define family as the people I love and that love me back.
smchester at gmail dot com
Rachel Travis
Family loves you no matter what and is there for you through the good and bad 🙂
Tina M
People who will be there for you no matter what and love you unconditional.
Tina M
https://twitter.com/HappyTina0115/status/388459899773911040
Melinda
My definition of family is that they are the people who love you and support you unconditionally, whether related by blood or otherwise.
Melinda
tweeted
https://twitter.com/MelindaJoy926/status/388719992117538816
Sean
Family: People you’d do ANYTHING for!
Stephanie Larison
People you would die for, you’re that close with. Related or not.
Denise S
To me family are my relatives by blood or marriage. I don’t loosely call just anybody family.
Erica Best
people who are loving and caring
Erica Best
https://twitter.com/purplelover04/status/389124729161801728
joni
I define family as my blood relatives and in-laws.
joni
https://twitter.com/smilekisses/status/389251218502987776
ML Cottingham
Family is the collection of people in life who you hold dearest in your heart. Some are related by blood… and some the cosmos brings to you along the journey of life.
ML Cottingham
https://twitter.com/mlcottingham/status/389254269875941376
joseph gersch
Family are those who have your back
Tabathia B
People who offer unconditional love
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
Tabathia B
tweet https://twitter.com/ChelleB36/status/389899300378914816
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
Kerry
Family to me is my favorites in my life. The people that will be there no matter what!
Kerry
tweeted: https://twitter.com/KerryBishop/status/390993378499772416
Debbie B
my favorite people in the world!
Debbie B
i posted a tweet:
https://twitter.com/bellows22/status/391056390417965056
Lisa M
Someone who is there for me always.
steph
family means those who are with you no matter what! family is love. scg00387 at yahoo dot com
steph
https://twitter.com/scg00387/status/391765109279686656
Wild Orchid
My definition is the people in your life who you can always count on and be yourself with.
Thanks for the chance to win!
wildorchid985 at gmail dot com
Wild Orchid
tweet–https://twitter.com/WildOrchid985/status/392306111757287424
Shelly Leatham
To me, family would be the people who love you and accept you just the way you are. It’s not what runs through your veins, it is what lives in your heart!
bleatham*at*gmail.com
Shelly Leatham
tweet
bleatham(at)gmail.com
https://twitter.com/sleatham1/status/392341248612126720
Rhea
Family are the people who have a place in my heart!
Amanda
Family are those you surround yourself with who accept you for who you are unconditionally. That acceptance runs deeper than blood.
Amanda
Tweet:https://twitter.com/ACupcakeBlonde/status/392358667363680256
Amy Orvin
My definition of family is love and sharing! Without that they might as well be strangers.
Amy Orvin
tweet – https://twitter.com/amyorvin/status/392628644490670080
Managed Chaos
Family loves you unconditionally.
Kevin E
I define family as anyone close to me that I can trust and cares about me
Kevin E
tweeted
https://twitter.com/kjmaje/status/392975000921059328
chrisgharmon
I think there are different kinds of family. The best kind is the one that has your back regardless of the circumstances.
Kelly Massman
Family is love! And that is all! Thanks for a chance to win!!!! kmassman gmail
Robbie
Family are those ppl who have stood by be during the good, the bad and the ugly…whether we are related by blood or marriage of the best of friends i consider them family.
Amy Tong
Family is the group of people I can feel comfortable around, we laugh, cry and share everything. 🙂
amy [at] utry [dot] it
Amy Tong
tweeted:
https://twitter.com/uTry_it/status/393453354275180544
amy [at] utry [dot] it
LAMusing
Family – that bond that means unconditional love and support for each other, no matter the miles apart or the distance of time.
Norma
Some family we are born into, some family we choose. But true family is a network of people that support each other through good times and bad.
Harmony B
The people in my life who accept & love me for who I am are family to me.
Harmony B
tweet https://twitter.com/hburmeister/status/393650604850941952
maria cantu
Family to me is unconditional love.
Diane baum
Family means people we are related to, learn to love and enjoy spending time with.
Nicole Larsen
Family is loyalty and kindness–people you can rely on no matter what and people that you just can not live your life without!
Nicole Larsen
tweeted https://twitter.com/pittsy82/status/394256724443418624
kakaty
Family are the people I want to celebrate and mourn with…the people I turn to in both the good times and the bad. They are blood and chosen but they all mean the world to me!
Lara Thoms
Family is a group of people who love spending time together!
ky2here
Family includes everyone who loves me and ‘gets me’.
ky2here at msn dot com
ky2here
https://twitter.com/ky2here1/status/395098906301693952
Betty C
Family are the ones who stick by you no matter what. They will tell you when you are wrong but still stand by you when you make mistakes.
Betty C
Tweet – https://twitter.com/willitara/status/395211279914119168
Daniel M
all of us helping each other out and sticking together
Heather B
my definition of family is the people who are there for you and support you in your time of need.
Anna Pry
family are the folks you share your life with, folks you can count on in a pinch
pryfamily5@gmail.com
Whitney
Family is unconditional love
Whitney
https://mobile.twitter.com/electricstar/status/395720609042530304?p=v
Alicia
My family is my son and hubbie.
AmyBond
I define family as being those special people who you think of daily, those you can’t imagine being without, the ones that always make you smile when they aren’t making you crazy, the ones you’d be honored to share a room with in the nut house!
AmyBond
Tweet! https://twitter.com/ladylost2/status/395774717392474113
Andrina G
Family is loving, kind, supportive, and kind to each other,
angie lilly
Those people I love to be around and who love and support me.
angie lilly
I tweeted here: https://twitter.com/MsTofuFairy/status/395839078618247169
tina reynolds
I define family by those I crave time with. My main family is my wonderful hubby and three kids.
tina reynolds
https://twitter.com/eaglesforjack/status/395913028598005760
Lisa Garner
To me family is those who are there for you no matter what and are always will to stand behind you.
lisalmg25 at gmail dot com
Lisa Garner
I Tweeted: https://twitter.com/lisalmg/status/395926470326886400
Amanda Sakovitz
My definition of family is people that you love and can be yourself with.
pokergrl8 at gmail.com
Amanda Sakovitz
https://twitter.com/aes529/status/395942336921743360
susan smoaks
To me family is the people who are there for me when I need them. Also the people that I care for and help when they need it.
Jo Ann F
People who care about each other and you can be yourself with.
jofo120 at yahoo dot com
Shelley Mitchell
Family is the people I love the most. People who are here for me the most and the people I want to talk to all the time, cry with and laugh with!!
Thomas Murphy
My definition of family is people that are there for you no matter what.
Thomas Murphy
https://twitter.com/thomasmurphy40/status/395975262090698752
Ellie W
My family is those that I love and put their happiness before my own. The ones that I would die for.
Ellie W
tweeted
https://twitter.com/eswright18/status/395981667220725761
Holli Joren
Family are the ones that love unconditionally and who I feel close to no matter how far away I am. I also consider my fiance’s family my family because of how they’ve excepted me into their family.
Holli Joren
https://twitter.com/Holli357/status/395997667186057216
Sand
Family is anyone who has a space in your heart.
john hutchens
Family to me are the people who are with you through good times and bad
john hutchens
https://twitter.com/johnhutchens1/status/396055431572774913
Karrie Millheim
Family is those that drop everything when you need and that you drop everything for to help. Family is those that love you unconditionally. Does not have to blood to be family