Applebee's Archives | Stop, Drop & Blog

Life Is Better Shared — with Friends! And Drinks! At Applebee’s! (+Giveaway)

Summer is a hard time for moms who are friends. We’re busy hanging out with our kids and managing their summer schedules. Crazy life.

But like Applebee’s, I believe that Life is Better Shared. And since I haven’t had a Girls’ Night Out in quite some time, last week before we left for vacation I sent a text message to a number of friends, hoping they could get together — on short notice — at Applebee’s.

Applebee’s is a great place to meet friends, but they also value the power of social media. Find them on Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and Tumblr to see how they emphasize Life is Better Shared!

I feared they would already have plans; texting on a Tuesday for a Friday isn’t really a lot of notice for busy moms. The text messages started flying back: “Yes!” “Oh my god, I need a night out!” “See you then!” I’m sure it helped that I said I was paying!

We had a lovely time together. We had some lovely cocktails — I remember the Bahama Mama, the lemonade name and the Strawberry Mojito as the ones I tasted since we passed them around for tastes. I would drink any of those three again… right now. So good!

We also went hog-wild with appetizers. My favorite three were the Spinach Artichoke Dip, the Queso Blanco and — the table’s absolute favorite — Chicken Wonton Tacos. Honestly, the next time I make it to Applebee’s, I think I might order that as a meal. They were so delicious that we had to pass around the last one, taking bites, because we couldn’t agree on whoever got the last one. Amazing.

Oh, and uh, we may have indulged in some Hot Fudge Shooters for dessert. Shooters don’t have alcohol. Just lots and lots of amazing ice cream. And did I say hot fudge?

Food aside, we had such a great time at Applebee’s. We talked — a lot. We caught up on everything that’s gone on in our lives since we saw each other last.

There were fun topics: summer plans, vacation, how old and new relationships are going. There were heavy topics; adoption, divorce, back injuries. We’re not all gloom and doom. We laughed a lot. I love my friends and a chance together with good food and drinks. It was a blast. I loved that it wasn’t too loud in the restaurant so we could hear each other — though our noisy laughter might have made it hard for others to hear each other. Apologies to those around us!

Yay friends! @fouragainsttwo @2princessmama

Two of my good friends!

So now I want to know: When’s the last time you had a girls’ night out?Answer the question via comments to be entered for a chance to win a $150 Applebee’s gift card.

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) 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 age 18 or 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 7/16/12 – 8/3/12.

Be sure to visit the Applebee’s Life Is Better Shared page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

Who Are the Real Heroes In Your Life?

I’ve told you before how I view FireDad as one of my heroes. I’ve written about how he was honored by our city as a hero as well for saving another man’s life. Every time he fights a fire, he becomes a hero to someone else’s family as well. The boys, as well, think that he’s the best hero since Mr. Incredible. (But not since Buzz Lightyear. Buzz wins, hands down.) He may not be on CNN (but he has been on the front page of our newspaper time and time again, though once it wasn’t for being a hero). But he’s our real life, everyday hero.

And Applebee’s wants to know about him and the many men and women like him.

Applebee’s has launched something called their Realburgers for Real Heroes contest. In essence, they want people like you and me to nominate our favorite “real life hero” to win a great prize pack. Here’s what they have to say about the definition of real life hero:

A real hero might be a favorite fireman, parent, coach, volunteer, teacher, or best friend – people who are
making a difference in your life and neighborhood every day. Who are your heroes?

Sure, it’s easy to call FireDad a hero. I mean, he saves lives! But what about a coach or a teacher that has touched the lives of students for years and years? What about a parent who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in how they actively parent their children? What about the best friend who stood by you as your world crumbled? What about that woman who started the organization that changed your life? What about those you come in contact with, every single day, that are actively working to better the world around them? I know that you know someone to nominate. In fact, if you think about it, I bet you know more than one person to nominate.

What’s to win? Other than a big old pat on the back and some recognition for a job well done?

The Grand Prize Winner will receive $5,000 and a year’s worth of free Applebee’s Realburgers. Just for nominating, you’re automatically entered into a weekly sweepstakes drawing for a $50 Applebee’s Gift Card.

Free burgers and money. Sounds good to me!

You can nominate your Real Hero through July 5th. After that, people will be able to vote for their favorite Real Heroes on the Applebee’s website from July 15th to the 23rd. (I know I’ll be checking in to see who others view as their heroes. I love reading stories that warm my heart!)

As we’re hoping to spread word about this contest, we’re hosting a little giveaway here on Stop, Drop and Blog. You can win an Applebee’s prize pack with a few things (an aromatherapy ball, lip balm, cookie butter, pen, photo holder, calculator, stress apple and some other stuff). How to win?

1. Tweet this contest by copy/pasting this into your tweet stream.

Nominate a Real Hero in your life & win an Applebee’s prize pack: http://ow.ly/ebdg Now thru July 5th! #SDBrealheroes

After doing so, come back and comment with the individual URL of the tweet.

2. Blog about the Applebee’s contest and this associated giveaway, linking to both the Applebee’s contest page and this post here. Come back and comment with the link to your live, public post.

3. Send this post here to StumbleUpon, Facebook or any other legitimate social media site. Please comment with each site you have submitted to.

The giveaway is open through the end of the contest (in the continuous hope of reminding people to vote for their Real Heroes) on July 5th, 2009. Comments will be accepted through 11:59pm on that evening. At that point (or, the next morning), we will visit random.org and pull a random winner. The information will be forwarded on to Applebee’s so that the prize pack may be shipped.

Don’t forget to nominate your Real Heroes! Today!

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[Full Disclosure: I received no compensation, monetary or freebies, for posting about this. Our family is simply well aware of how real life heroes need recognition.]