Archive for the ‘contests/freebies’ Category

My Own Cabo Wabo Devil

Oct 19, 2009 contests/freebies, food and drink, life

I got a cute little surprise in the mail…my own mini Cabo Diablos from Cabo Wabo tequila.

101309-cabodiabloI had signed up for their email club about a month ago, but wasn’t really expecting anything other than the standard marketing newsletters and the like. So this was a fun little pick-me-up to see it in the mail.

It’s about 2 inches tall, made of hard rubber and is dressed like a Mexican luchadore (wrestler) in a red suit with devil horns and a pointed tail. It also has its right hand raised up in the traditional metal music “horns” pose of the index and pinky fingers forming horns.

Printed on the inside of the box are the following “proper care” instructions:

1] Water your Diablo frequently with Cabo Wabo tequila.
2] Always bring your Diablo along when partying.
3] Do not accidentally leave your Diablo behind in a bar. That’s no way to treat your wingman.

Then in smaller print it says:

You’ve received this because you’ve been a little devil. This Diablo, like our tequila, is a work of fine art and not a toy. Please enjoy your Diablo responsibly.

What a cute little tchotcke! Not to mention a great marketing tool. A+ to Cabo Wabo tequila for this Diablo gift. Now if only it came with an actual sample. LOL

PS: For those unaware, Cabo Wabo tequila is owned by rock musician Sammy Hagar, who has not only had a lengthy solo career, but was lead singer for Van Halen for many years following the departure of David Lee Roth.

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the 7/11 tour

Jul 13, 2009 contests/freebies, life

Saturday, Rhon and I were out running errands and I spotted a 7/11 gas station. “Free slurpee day!!” I remembered, so I had Rhon pull over. We grabbed our free samples and then headed over to Whole Foods to pick up a few staples. En route, we passed another 7/11 across the street from WF, but it was on the wrong side of the road.

Pulling into the Whole Foods lot, I saw we were there in time for the weekly farmer’s market, which IMHO, was rather lackluster.

I mean the vendors there were cool – there was some really pretty medieval-style jewelry and a guy selling fresh honey in several flavors I’d never even heard of (we tried every flavor and ended up buying some Tupelo Honey).

But there were maybe 15 vendors overall. It took us all of ten minutes to walk the whole market area in the parking lot.

Realizing the heat was starting to trigger some of my illness symptoms, we headed inside to the AC-confines of the store. Then I realized it was free sample day, so we took some time to cool off by trying just about every sample. In doing so, I spotted that the WF-brand cheese puffs were 2-4-1, so I splurged because the only thing better than the WF cheese puffs is when 1 bag is free. LOL And I don’t feel so guilty since it’s more natural than Cheetos, not to mention waaaayyyy less sodium (only 150mg per 2 cups of the puffs).

I also sampled some blue potato salad from the hot bar in the fresh prepared section of the store. I’d never eated a blue potato before – tasted less starchy in texture. Wasn’t a fan of the vinegrette they put in the salad, though. Too much lemon.

We left Whole Foods and this time the 7/11 was on the right side of the street, so we stopped in for another sample – and to be fair, we each tried different flavors. Ok, so that’s stretching the rules a bit for the promotion, but nowhere on the signs did it say one per person.

Then as we were driving to another place to do another errand, we passed a third 7/11, and decided to make it kind of a game. If we passed a 7/11, we had to stop and get a sample and review it. But it had to be a different flavor each time.

All in all, we passed seven 7/11’s, but one of them had decided not to participate, so we technically only had six samples. And that one was really rude about it.

Here are my ratings from favorite to least:

  • 1] Fanta Blue Raspberry – had to go with the classic. The blue tongue was just a bonus. ;)
  • 2] Fanta Pina Colada – would be even better with some vanilla rum in it, but the slurpee machines don’t serve it that way for some reason…
  • 3] Blue Mountain Dew – kinda like if MD mated with the Fanta Blue Raspberry, but the citrus of the MD clashed just a little too much with the raspberry.
  • 4] Strawberry-Pineapple-Lime – tart and refreshing, but I was confused because it was blue in one store, but pink in another.
  • 5] Crystal Light Apple Mango – you could definitely tell the two flavors were in there, but it was way too sweet, which you wouldn’t think from a sugar-free flavor. In fact, I couldn’t even finish it because it was so sweet.
  • 6] Fanta Watermelon – icky icky icky. That’s all I’ll say about it. I ended up tossing half of it.

Two more things I should note… first, it was the first time I’d had any caffeine in almost five weeks and we probably should have had something more substantial in our stomachs than the WF samples (all those chemicals do not a happy tummy make LOL). But otherwise, it was actually a fun and low cost way to spend the hot afternoon. :)

What can I say,…sometimes you just have to make your own entertainment.

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win a $100 amazon gift card

Jan 27, 2009 contests/freebies

As a writer, I am also a voracious reader. So when I read that Miss Musing was giving away a $100 gift card to Amazon, of course I had to enter.

There are several ways to get entries in so if you want a shot at it, just head over to her blog for all the details. This giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. Eastern (8:59 p.m. Pacific) on Friday, January 30th, 2009.

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win a $500 sears prize pack from chris pirillo

Dec 17, 2008 contests/freebies

Ok, I’m finding even more of these Sears contests online, but since each one has something a bit different that is being given away, I’m entering each one.

And by posting about it, you get a chance to get your butt over to the sites and try to win one, too.

Win/win, right? :)

Geek blogger chris pirillo is giving away a choice of three toy bundles at his blog. The LEGO and Family Game Night seem fun, but you just know I’d have to pick the Star Wars Smiles pack.

All the details you need to know to enter are over at Pirillo’s blog and you can get up to three entries by following the rules. Good luck if you decide to enter!

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win a $500 sears package from ted murphy

Dec 17, 2008 contests/freebies

I’m a fan of Ted Murphy and his company IZEA. Besides being based here in Orlando, Ted is a cool guy who really gets how social media can be used for business as well as personal use. Well, as part of a sponsored promotion, Sears gave Murphy a $500 gift card to use however he wanted, and another to give to a reader of his blog.

He spent his card on tools he donated to the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity, and now he’s giving away the other card to one reader. You have your choice of three packages he’s pre-picked (Tool Addict, Technerdia or Shapeshifter) or you can pick from the online Sears catalog. I’ve decided to spin the Big Wheel O’Ted for a Nikon Coolpix S710 camera and an Iomega 160GB external hard drive, both of which I could really use for work.

If you want a shot at the $500 Sears prize, head over to Murphy’s blog @ ted.me and you’ll find all the info you need on how to enter. You have until 11:59 p.m. EST on December 23, 2008 to enter.

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win benspark’s big box of awesome!

Dec 12, 2008 contests/freebies

My bud Drew over at BenSpark is giving away a “big box of awesome” to one lucky person.

To win, simply make a guess as to what’s inside the box. There are other ways to gain extra entries, and these are all detailed in the contest post, along with other important rules.

But if it’s a big box, how to know what’s inside?

Bensparks big box of awesome contest clueWell, when Drew wasn’t looking, a bunch of us took a quick peek inside and decided to make the contest even more fun by conducting a mini-scavenger hunt across the web. We’re using our various blogs to each reveal a clue to one of the many hidden items in the box.

I’m pleased to do my part to help by showing you something you’ll find inside that awesome box o’mystery. (HINT: Look to the right >> )  You can find other clues by following BenSpark on Twitter or reading his blog @ BenSparks.com.

You have until Wednesday, December 17th to get your guess in. Good luck!

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