Win a Trip to Wine Country? And New Computers? Um...Yes Please!

So as most of you might remember, I just got back from a hotel scouting business trip in Napa, CA. And I can't stop saying how amazing, peaceful, serene it was! So color me surprised when I found out that HP is currently hosting an amazing contest that gets you not only a technology makeover for your team at work but a trip to Napa for 6 people in your office! In short, amazing. So stop what you are doing rightthisverysecond and try to win this amazing prize.


To enter HP's Reboot With ROI contest, all you have to do is share a story about surprising returns on something you bought. The best user-submitted stories will be featured on HP's website and the grand prize winner will score a 5-day trip to wine country with 6 members from their team and get to do fun things like a hot air balloon ride, hit up the spa, and stay in a luxury suite at the Fairmont Mission Inn & Spa. Oh, and duh, you'll drink & eat some of the most amazing food and wine ever. And then when you get home from your amazing vacation from the office, you'll get new laptops and printers. Working Girl win for sure.

We also totally encourage you to share your ROI stories with us too in the comments section!

Note: As part of a paid promotion, they asked me to let you know about the contest and how you can enter.

Scandalous!

Wow. So all of your stories of what got your office mill going were all, in a nutshell, amazing. And it was really hard for us to pick the winners. Our winners and their stories of office drama are below. Seriously these are must reads!

Congrats to all who won! And if you did win, please send me an email me at workinggirltwo@gmail.com with your complete address so we can have your Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee prize pack sent to you ASAP.

Winner #1 - Katie

"I had just started my first job out of college, getting adjusted to working having a work life balance (still working on that one). But anyway, per company policy, employees are not allowed to start a competing company with co-workers that they meet while working in our office. Ok long story short...someone narked by printing out some files they found on a zip. I walk into work the next morning and there are police dusting for finger prints on the printer. I know it's hard to believe. I still laugh about it today!

Winner #2 - Miss Burb

"This one girl was fired who was on the "Fun Committee" (think birthdays) and she actually TOOK the money she had collected and said she deserved it. Glad I never donated."

Winner #3 - Citizen

"One of my coworkers, who I assume was just bored one day, emptied a bottle of hand sanitizer on his desk and proceeded to light it on fire. This of course scorched his desk, and set off the smoke alarms. Strangely, he is still employed here."

Winner #4 - Born with a big mouth!

"During a buyout of another company, one of my fellow employees called on our of local radio stations to share her concerns and aggravations on the merger. Her choice in verbage, and the fact that she said her boss's names on the air had people waiting at the door to escort her back to her car. Gossip was flying for days along with a copy of her on the radio. Wow - I guess if you are gonna complain on air is NOT the way to do it if you want to keep your job!"

Winner #5 - Bogeygrl

"I work in a very conservative office where if someone wears a skirt above their knee people raise eyebrows. But this story goes a bit beyond that. There is an older guy in our office who is fairly chatty; most people know him. He is about 65 and seems normal. Let's call him "Older Guy". The head boss gets a call one day from a man who is livid. Let's call him "Livid Man".

"Livid Man" says he wants "Older Guy" fired. When the boss asks why, "Livid Man" says that "Older Guy" has been swinging with his life. "Livid Man's" wife has also been posting all of her adventures online. In fact, "Older Guy" and "Older Guy's" wife and "Livid Man's" wife have all been swinging together! If this wasn't enough, "Livid Man" emails a video of the three of them getting it on. Because it turns out that "Livid Man's" wife is really into being watched or whatever. And "Livid Man" says that his wife is now filing for divorce because "Older Guy" is so freaking fabulous in bed.

Needless to say "Older Guy" called in sick for two weeks and I am totally serious."

Some Housekeeping Items

Here is your homework for the weekend. Go here and enter our Starbucks contest! As a reminder there will be five (yes five!) lucky winners of the following prize pack from Starbucks:

• Stealth Switch - the "world's first desktop cloaking device" that uses patent pending technology to instantly and completely hide applications with a press of a foot-switch. The applications are not just minimized, they are made invisible.
• $5 Starbucks® card
• Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee coupons
• Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee branded white board

All you have to do is post a comment (aka answer) to the following question: "Sip on Starbucks Doubleshot® Enegery+Coffee to upgrade your energy levels without raising eyebrows around the office. What's your best real-life story of how some idiot in the office raised eyebrows and stirred up the gossip mill?"

As a reminder, the contest ends at 9AM on Monday, November 9th - so you have all weekend to think of an answer!

For all my Chicago ladies, I have a few events that might be of interest for networking, noshing, and all around awesomeness.

First is the Winter Wonderland CRAVE party on December 9th. In store for those who purchase tickets is an opportunity to pre-order the hottest fashions from local Chicago boutiques, indulge in mini spa treatments, and sampling some great food (and drinks of course!) all under the same roof. I know I will be there - so let me know if you're going so we can meet up!

Where: The Historic Stan Mansion at 2408 N Kedzie in Chicago

When: Wednesday, December 9th, 7-10pm

Purchase tickets here!


Second event is happening next Friday, November 13th (and I'll also be in attendance there as well!). As part of her nationwide tour to promote her book, Girl on Top, career expert and author Nicole Williams will be having a networking/shopping event/party at The Limited in the Woodfield Mall. The evening will entail an amazing gift bag, an exclusive 40% discount on The Limited's new business chic attire, cocktails and free career advice. Totally worth trekking to the Chicago burbs for!

When: November 13th, 2009

Where: The Limited at Woodfield Mall
Schaumburg, IL

Time: 6-9PM

Click here to RSVP!

First Day Back & We Have a Contest

So a break from blogging that was only supposed to last a long weekend turned into a 3 week hiatus. While WG1 has a pretty damn good excuse (not only did she just move into a new apt., she also had a huge event at work to do and crunch time was October), I on the other hand have less of an excuse and more of a case of laziness.

Today, as a welcome back to the blogging world after our almost month long absence, we'd like to announce a contest (in hopes to get you back in our good graces).

Who's giving the goods: In honor of their energy/coffee sent-from-the-gods drink Doubleshot® Energy+Coffee, Starbucks is hosting a contest across the blog-o-sphere to promote their drink that keeps you energized AND has dose of vitamins, protein, and minerals. Which means I basically want this in an IV at my office desk.

What you're playing for: Five (5) lucky bloggers will win the following

• Stealth Switch - the "world's first desktop cloaking device" that uses patent pending technology to instantly and completely hid applications with a press of a foot-switch. The applications are not just minimized, they are made invisible.
• $5 Starbucks® card
• SDEC coupons
• SDEC-branded white board

Not only that - but the blog with the most "valid" comments will win a special prize pack at the end of the contest (which includes a set of noise-canceling headphones which let me tell you, I need desperately!). So not only will you win the prizes above, but you'll also be helping me win sweet peace and silence at work. Can I just say I don't appreciate the fact that my next door cubemate likes to play techno at full blast every Friday in anticipation of the weekend.

Here's the nitty gritty: All you have to do is post a comment (aka answer) to the following question: "Sip on Starbucks Doubleshot® Enegery+Coffee to upgrade your energy levels without raising eyebrows around the office. What's your best real-life story of how some idiot in the office raised eyebrows and stirred up the gossip mill?"

The 5 answers that we think are the best will win the prize packs mentioned above. To get you thinking let me just say that the most idiotic thing I ever saw at work was when a co-worker got canned for watching porn at work - yea, no joke.

The contest ends on November 9th so get commenting Working Girls!

The fine print:
This promotion is solely sponsored by Working Girl and has not been endorsed or approved by North American Coffee Partnership. By entering, you agree to look solely to Working Girl Two for any claims in connection therewith, and not the North American Coffee Partnership. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Subject to Contest guidelines. Open to U.S. residents only. Contest ends November 9th, 2009. Void where prohibited. Starbucks Doubleshot^® Energy+Coffee sent me samples and a prize pack and here's what I think. All the opinions expressed here are mine.

Every Working Girl Needs a Girls Night Out

Every Working Girl knows that after a really stressful day at the office, you need a de-stress plan. One of our favorite ways to wind down is time with good friends and a glass of wine (yes, I admit, stole that one from LeAn Rimes).

And we have a giveaway for our Chicago & New York City readers that just might help you and a girlfriend unwind after a long day!

Shecky's, an online destination to find what is new and undiscovered in beauty, fashion and fun, has put together an event for you and your girlfriends that will make that bad day just melt away. Shecky's Girls Night Out where women can congregate to sample delish cocktails, try new beauty products and shop till you drop.

WG1 and I went to Shecky's Girls Night Out the summer we both interned in NYC (and lived in Chinatown...ick) and we both walked away with tons of goodies. WG1 still uses this adorable black clutch she picked up at the event (obviously, I am jealous I didn't buy it). Not only does the event have tons of shopping from cool indie designers and hot new boutiques across the US, but you also walk away with a goodie bag stuffed with fab products worth $100!

Enough with the chatter, here's the giveaway deets!

We will be giving out 2 tickets for one winner in Chicago and one winner in New York City to go to the Shecky's Girls Night Out event in their respective cities! The winners will be able to choose which day they would like to attend - Chicago's event runs from Sept. 15th - 17th and New York's event runs from Oct. 19th - 23rd.

To enter, you can leave a comment on this post by Thursday, September 10th at noon eastern time. To gain an additional entry, just tweet about our giveaway on Twitter by mentioning either @workinggirlone or @workinggirltwo and our Shecky's Girls Night Out Giveaway! And in your first entry make sure it tell us which city you would need a pass from!

And if you just can't wait to see if you won, tickets (with a goodie bag) are only $15. So click here to purchase your own tickets today.

Get commenting Working Girls!

We Need a Contributor!

Once upon a time, Working Girl had Working Girl Contributors. Girls from Boston, LA, and Dallas (and other cities too!), who all wrote about their own experiences of just being out of college and trying to find the perfect job and dealing with college withdrawal.

And we want to bring this feature back to Working Girl! And to do so we'd like to involve our readers. Because we all know you're the ones we (and the rest of the world) want to hear from - real girls in the working trenches.

So here is our plea - we need contributors!

The Assignment

This past week, WG2 had a wardrobe malfunction when her wrap dress got blown open by the wind and she showed all of Chicago that she wore Spanx to work. We want to know about your worst wardrobe malfunction. So tell us all about it!

The Rules

The entry should only be one-page long in a Word document (double spaced please). We will only accept one entry per person. All submissions should be sent to workinggirlcontributor@gmail.com and need to be in our inbox by 5:00PM on August 24th. That's one whole week to figure out your story and submit it. We will post our favorite submission on Working Girl in September.

Any questions? Shoot us an email at workinggirlone@gmail.com or workinggirltwo@gmail.com. Or you can always tweet or DM us on Twitter as well - @workinggirlone and @workinggirltwo.

We can't wait to read your entries!