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:

1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
2. 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
3. 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
4. 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!