Chili’s Grill & Bar – Review of a Night Out

It is not very often, as parents, that my husband and I get to go out and enjoy ourselves, child free. I know it’s important to schedule a night a week or a month that is a “date night” with each other. We just never seem to follow through with that. One thing I have learned is if we add another couple into the mix we are less likely to make excuses and back down. 

Chili’s offered us dinner at our local Chili’s Bar and Grille (Shrewsbury, MA) and who were we to say no? We invited Momma Jen and her husband to come with us. It was decided to go in the mid-afternoon so we could enjoy either a movie or some Wii playing afterwards. When we pulled in to our parking spot I immediately laughed at the sign for the spot next to us.

Chili’s is one of the restaurant that even though it is a “Chain” it makes sure to make the little details count. For example: The door handles at Chili’s are little peppers!

The server arrived quickly to take our orders and laughed with us over silly jokes. She was quirky and unforgettable which I surely liked.  We began the meal with appetizers, because who can go to Chili’s and not order their Texas Cheese FriesStarter? So far Chili’s has my favorite french fries, the seasoning is spicy, they are crunchy, and it’s the perfect combination of flavor.

When dinner arrived in decent time we were very much pleased. Our of us four the favorite dish was the Bacon Burger that my husband ordered. He oohed and ahhed over it while eating and ate every last bite even after he was full. I had the Fish Sandwich, which was okay. Nothing wow worthy, I wish I had ordered their Create Your Own Combo meal. I would have chosen the Spicy Garlic & Lime Grilled Shrimp and the Chili’s Classic Sirloin.

Our favorite part of the whole meal is dessert. One thing I will suggest, at Chili’s.. save room for dessert! We ordered the Molten Chocolate Cake, which is:

Warm chocolate cake with chocolate fudge filling. Topped with vanilla ice cream under a crunchy chocolate shell.

And the Sweet Shots, which are small sampler desserts:

Finish off the festivities with a sweet little ending! Pick your favorite or choose any three to create your own sampler. •Key Lime Pie•Red Velvet Cake•Warm Cinnamon Roll•Warm Double Chocolate Fudge Brownie

We chose the Warm Cinnamon Roll, Warm Double Chocolate Fudge Brownie and the Red Velvet Cake. Out of the three the Double Chocolate Fudge Brownie was by far our favorite. I wanted to lick the shot glass so every drop of the chocolate sauce would be mine. Of course we were in a restaurant so it was not exactly good table manners. So I did refrain.

 

For four people we ordered:

1 Appetizer – 4 Drinks – 4 Entrees – 2 Desserts

The total was just about $60.  That’s about $15/per person! Not too bad for a night out

We would recommend Chili’s for your next night out when you are child free! But save room for appetizers and desserts they truly are the best part.

Book Review: The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

Grade: B

Sometimes, not very often but sometimes, I can finish reading a book and still be unsure whether I liked it at all. I’d imagine the fact that I finished it at all means I liked it at least a little, since there are other books which I can simply walk away from and say, “No thank you.” Maybe the truth is simply that I did not love it. I certainly did not love The Reader by Bernhard Schlink but I am glad to have read it, I did find myself anxious to read ‘what happens next’ even if I never really fell in love with any of the characters or their story.

The Reader tells a few stories. It tells the story of a grown woman who has an affair with a fifteen year old boy, and the consequences of that affair for the boy as he grows up in his love life and beyond. It tells the story of a generation of young Germans trying to understand the Nazi past that most of their parents had had involvement in – how do you deal with knowing what your loved ones have done or lived through? How do you deal with what fellow humans like yourself are capable of? But this story also tells, and this was the most enjoyable part of the story for me, is the story of a woman who cannot read or write, and her shame in this and her inability to admit it to anyone, has a long laundry list of consequences. It effects every area of her life, always for the worst, and even when admitting to her illiteracy could potentially save her, the shame of being found out is just too great – the things she suffers for her secret are astounding. Never mind the small details of a life without written word, all the simple things which become difficult that nobody could understand or expect without knowing.

The first half of this story, the story of Hanna and Michael’s affair, I could not relate to, did not enjoy and mostly just suffered through. If I had not known what was coming next, I can assure you I would have walked away from this story very early on. But between the Nazi Germany connection and the story of Hanna’s illiteracy, I kept reading, knowing that those stories could be wonderful. And while I’m still not sure if they were wonderful, they were definitely worth reading. I tend to read much lighter stories, rarely venturing back into the world of ‘serious literature’ so in part, this may be simply a complaint with having forced myself to read a ‘grown up book.’ It was also translated from German, and it’s possible that in the original language, if I could read German, that it might have been a better story – translations never show the exact beauty of the written word as it’s originally intended – you are often just left with the basic bones of the story, which while interesting, I doubt it is the same at all. And of course the last possibility, is that I simply did not love it.

I would still encourage anyone interested in The Reader to try it. It was not a difficult read, despite those draw backs previously mentioned. I read it no more or less quickly than another book of it’s size and even for those who might feel squeamish about the first part of the story, Hanna and Michael’s story, I can say it could have been worse. Anyone who has had a physical relationship should be able to handle reading this, I’d think. But to those readers who are younger and have not experienced this, I’d advise they wait on reading this one as it is fairly detailed (without being down right smutty). Basically, I say this book is worth a shot and certainly capable of being an enjoyable read. I wouldn’t be surprised if many, many people love it in a way that I simply did not.

About the Momma:

Jen @ mommablogsalot.com

Jen is a Stay at Home Mom and Loving Wife. She spends her time online reading RSS feeds and posting in her blog. If you haven’t heard from her in awhile, she’s likely lost in a good book, sleeping or watching Grey’s Anatomy.

Snapily: Do More With Your Photos

I love creating photo gifts with my digital pictures but the idea has become so common, now everyone is doing it. Want a fresh new twist on this brilliant idea? Snapily.com uses a technology they call LivingPrints that lets you create holographic images using your digital pictures to create greeting cards, invitations, business cards, scrapbook pages and notebooks. Flip the card or notebook and watch the image change. Check out this video to see how it works:

I ordered a greeting card and notebook for my son’s birthday and loved the unique and personal touch that these products offer. You can design a card or notebook from scratch or use their custom layouts, change the fonts, and write your own personalized message. The greeting cards start at $3.99 for a single card but if you buy in bulk you can get them for as little as $2.99 each. A bit pricey, but you’d spend as much on greeting cards at Halmark and wouldn’t get this unique touch. They shipped promptly and in perfect condition and my son and I both loved it!

So when you want to go the extra mile for a birthday or event, or you want a business card that will really jump out at people – I’d definitely look into Snapily.

About the Momma:

Jen @ mommablogsalot.com

Jen is a Stay at Home Mom and Loving Wife. She spends her time online reading RSS feeds and posting in her blog. If you haven’t heard from her in awhile, she’s likely lost in a good book, sleeping or watching Grey’s Anatomy.

Happy Easter Everyone

I hope everyone has a Happy and Hoppy day! We will be celebrating with egg battles, Easter egg hunts, and eating lots of candy.

How to have an “Egg Battle”

This is a family tradition in our household and is always cause for yelling, cheers and good times. There really is no structure to the game but you can make up the rules as you go. Here is how it happens in our house:

Round 1

1. Everyone picks an egg from your supply. This can be any one you feel will “win” with
2. Then match up with someone else in your family to battle
3. Grip the egg around the widest part and match up your eggs top (or bottom) to your nemesis’ top (or bottom)
4. Hit the eggs together at any force you deem nessecary to win
5. Whomevers egg breaks is the sent packing (and loses this round)
6. If you win move to Round 2

Round 2

1. Winner uses current egg (No Replacements!)
2. Repeat steps 2-5 with other winners

More Rounds may be nessecary. Last Egg standing is the winner!

Note: Be wary of those bringing their own eggs. We have had an experience with family members bringing wooden painted eggs. Of course this person was disqualified after winning all rounds and dropping the egg without it breaking. That was when we noticed it was WOOD!

 What are your easter traditions?

Do you have any plans today?

DLL Rainwear – Mommy and Me Boots

I hate to be the bearer of bad news (or obvious news) but it is that time of year! The rain is falling, the roads are muddy, and it’s just plain wet outside. It’s April, folks. and as the old saying goes:

“April showers bring May flowers”

Up here in Massachusetts it is raining on an almost daily basis. A cold and yucky rain. I have been going to the stores every weekend trying to find a pair of rain boots for me and my two year old Gabrielle. Unfortunately, I could not find a pair I liked.  DLL Rainwear helped solve that problem for me. They provided me and Gabs with a pair of Mommy and Me“Raining cats and Dogs” boots. These adorable boots have cat’s and dogs raining down on them. Gabrielle loved pointing out and counting the animals on them. With an easy pull up handles, which is a feature on many of their boots, she can pull them on and off very quickly and easily. The boots for me had the fun little kid design, but they also had a buckle at the top and I know they will look great with not only jeans but capri’s as well.

For only $35.95 (discounted from the original price of 84.90) these matching boots are stylish, adorable, and let not only your kids puddle jump but let you join in too! Add in a matching waterproof coat and umbrella and you get a whole outfit that everyone will love and compliment.

Fuel Belt – Endurance Sports Products

I will be the first to admit that I’m not much of a sports fanatic. There are a few things, though, that I really enjoy doing. One of the main “sporting” things I love doing is biking with my family. When the weather gets warmer and the roads dryer we have a tendency to spend every weekend on our bikes even if it’s just going up and down the street. It brings the whole family up and outside.

Fuel Belt makes products for the most avid endurance sport participants. Their products are great for those who love to run and bike.  They make water bottles, accessories, backpacks, music carriers, dog collars, and more! Fuel Belt helps make being outside doing what you love easier, more enjoyable, and of course stylish.

Did I mentioned that Fuel Belt’s adorable race wear even comes in Pink? That’s the most important thing to me as all of my current accessories are in pink. Be sure to check out their waist packs and see the adorable pink ones they have.

My favorite other product they carry (besides the cool shaped water bottles) are their dog collars and accessories. My black lab will be so stylish in Fuel Belt’s animal active wear.  They even have portable water dishes for animals. This would be great for not only long bike rides, or running with your dog, but also for long road trips.

Check out Fuel Belt for your next sporting accessory purchase!

Weekend Diversions: A Comical Edition

So, Friday is here and I have to confess that I found nothing new to divert your attentions with – nothing. To be fair, I’ve kind of had an off week – I didn’t devote very much time to just blog surfing – I haven’t been a good commenting buddy. It’s kind of no wonder – so the diversion pool is a bit light this week and tide us over until next week, which I’m hoping will be more diversional, I’ve decided to round up my top 3 comic strips – a perfect anecdote to weekend boredom. I loved reading the comics in the paper on Sunday mornings when we lived with Dan’s parents and had the newspaper delivered every day (we’re too poor for such luxuries) and there are a couple comics I read religiously here online. So I’ll show you mine and then you have to show me yours, kay?

I’m going to warn you – these are not the comic strips you might expect a girly little mom like me to adore – but I do promise they are good stuff:

Sluggy Freelance – If your “type” leans towards the tall, dark and geeky – or if you are that tall, dark and geeky guy – then Sluggy Freelance is for you – this comic tells the story of two typically nerdy guys and the girls who love to hate them (but mostly just love them) – oh and their talking pet ferret and slightly evil talking pet rabbit – with some sci-fi action stories and some fun current event parodies thrown in. Sometimes this turns into guy humor, or you’ll have a few weeks of “action movie” type plot – but Pete, the mastermind behind Sluggy is a comic genius and this is probably my favorite comic strip. He posts (almost) daily with the occasional filler strips, but if you are new to Sluggy, I recommend starting at the beginning – because you might be lost if you try hopping in mid-strip. The best part about following my advice? This comic started in 1997 so if you do go back through the archives, you will have lots of divertive goodness, likely for weeks to come. It’s been my experience that you can catch up on all things sluggy in about two weeks. Here’s an example of one of my favorite Sluggy moments:

XKCD – Did I mention I’m a geek lover? I’m a bit of a nerd myself and this comic might show my true nerd colors for sure. I’ll freely admit this might be over your head, you might not get it – sometimes I don’t get it either but man some of these strips are just genius, especially his romantic stuff, makes me all teary eyed – and usually I can find the comics funny even if I don’t get the smart people stuff – also XKCD started my love affair with hover captions – which means when you are reading these gems, you’ll want to hover over for added humor on each strip. Here’s an example of a good strip I think anyone can love:

Baby Blues – I’m guessing you’ve heard of this one. I wish I could subscribe to this in my blog reader and get the new stuff, but copyright, blah blah blah… I love them anyway, but I’ll admit I don’t follow it religiously because of all that corporate hoopla. You can read the two weeks old and older comics here. I’m guessing you guys already know about the genius that is Baby Blues, but I couldn’t leave them out of my top 3 because, well, they are in my top 3.

What are your top 3 favorite comic strips?

About the Momma:

Jen @ mommablogsalot.com

Jen is a Stay at Home Mom and Loving Wife. She spends her time online reading RSS feeds and posting in her blog. If you haven’t heard from her in awhile, she’s likely lost in a good book, sleeping or watching Grey’s Anatomy.

Giveaway: Zero Water : Measure and Taste the Difference

Now you can get the taste and quality of purified bottled water right out of a pitcher – Zero Water is the only filtered water that meets the FDA definition for purified bottled water. And you can test it yourself too with a handy Z-Tester Electronic Water Duality Tester, or a TDS (total dissolved solids) meter, that lets you see just how clean your water really is. You’ll find that on a range of 0-9990 that tap water typically reads between 75 and 300, conventional filtered water ranges between 030 and 500, bottled water ranges from 000-350. Zero Water should read as close to 000 as possible. In fact, they say that if you get a read out of 006 or higher in your Zero Water pitcher, it’s time to change the filter.

We tested all the water in our house and found that the tap water and our Brita filter had very close readouts (340 for tap and 290 for the Brita water). And of course our Zero Water measured 000. Now what exactly is in the Brita and tap water I couldn’t tell you. What I can tell you is that the only thing in our Zero Water, according to this tester, is water.

So how does it taste? I’m going to be honest with you – I don’t love it – it’s so pure, that for me, it was almost unsettling – but my son requests it over our other water and my husband is joining his side, too. Initially he also preferred the Brita, but after drinking a couple of glasses of Zero Water, he found he could drink either without complaint. I’d compare it to training yourself to eat healthier – it doesn’t always taste better initially to go from say white bread to wheat, but when the evidence is there that it’s better for you, sometimes you try – and usually you find yourself accustomed to the taste after awhile. I know I’ll be the last one to be won over, because I just barely like water at all – whereas my husband and son both love it – so it’s just not as far of a leap for them. And in the meantime, I know I’m giving them the purest quality water I can.

One thing I love about the Zero Water pitcher is the pitcher itself. First off, it’s incredibly cool looking. It’s also much narrower than our standard Brita pitcher, despite holding equal amounts of water – this means it would fit more comfortably into your refrigerator or take up less counter space, depending on where you keep it. It also has a bush button dispenser on the bottom of the pitcher so you can dispense the water from the pitcher while it’s standing – so handy! At $29.99 for a two pack, the cost of replacement filters for the Zero Water is almost double the cost of a Brita filter (which retail for $7.99 each), but for those who consider this 000 water an importance, it’s still not astronomically expensive. The pitcher itself is $39.99 as compared to $20.99 for the standard Brita pitcher. You can buy Zero Water products at Target, Walmart, Walgreens and Home Depot or buy directly from their website.

Even better – we’re giving away a Zero Water pitcher to one lucky winner! Here’s how you can enter to win:

1. Answer the following question: What kind of water are you drinking in your house? Tap, bottled, filtered – and if bottled or filtered – what brand? This is mandatory, if not done all other entries are null and void.
2. For an extra entry, you can follow us on Twitter. Post a comment here with your Twitter username.
3. For a third entry you can tweet about this giveaway or post about it on your blog and leave a comment here with either the URL of your post or your twitter profile. “How clean is your water? Win a Zero Water pitcher @ http://www.mommasreview.com”
4. For a fourth subscribe to our RSS feed, leaving a link here to tell us you’ve done so. We’ll be posting more giveaways on Momma’s Review soon so subscribing will be a great way for you to stay informed about all the great things you can win in the days and weeks to come.
5. Lastly, visit Speedy @ Eighty MPH Mom and enter into her $15.00 Starbucks Gift Card Giveaway. Come back and comment that you entered for an extra entry here.

This giveaway is open to US and international readers!

The contest will close at 12:00 p.m. EST on Friday April 24th.

Movie Review: Bedtime Stories

I have mixed feelings about this new movie starring Adam Sandler. While Bedtime Stories is certainly a family friendly movie (rated PG) it was not exactly what I thought it would be. Yes, it’s a movie about bedtime stories coming true – but not in the fantastical sense that the previews might lead you to believe – for the most part, there seem to be perfectly rational explanations for a lot of things – nothing just pops out of thin air in a magical way – it’s more like the stories become premonitions for Sandler’s character’s real life.

Sandler plays Skeeter  Bronson, whose father built and ran into the ground the hotel he now works in – as a janitor. It had always been his father’s dream for his family to inherit the hotel, but when he proved to be a not so great business man, he ended up selling the hotel to a man who promised to give his son a job running the hotel someday. And then of course, he didn’t quite keep his promise. But with the help of Skeeter’s adorable niece and nephew, a bug eyed guinea pig, and some imaginative bedtime stories, things start to change – and in true family movie fashion, he manages to turn his life around.

I think the only thing that bothered me about this movie is that, despite being funny, Skeeter’s character isn’t terribly likable. He is pretty rude and, well, crude. Don’t worry about inappropriate material – that’s not really an issue – it was just a little disappointing this his character was never really admirable. I guess you could say he was an underdog, but I couldn’t help but feel like he often deserved his underdog status. And even by the end of the movie when he “turns his life around” and learns the lessons that make him a better person – it isn’t really as rewarding as it could have been – he just sort of pulls things together and comes out okay – he gets the girl, but you can’t help feeling sorry for her for that.

I don’t know – I think I’m being overly critical – Sandler certainly has his style of humor and he excels at it – and the movie was good – I laughed all the way through it – it was really just the mom in me who said, “But wait – ” at the end. Your kids will probably love the silly antics – and you grown ups should enjoy it, too. Netflix deems it appropriate for kids ages 7+ and I think I’d agree with that.

I give Bedtime Stories 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Kiss My Face – Giveaway

Kiss My Face is a company that has created a line of products for body care, cleansing, skin care, oral care, hair care and more. They find it important to focus on ingredients that come straight from nature. They make sure that all of their products have:

-no artificial colors
-no animal testing
-no animal ingredients
-no unnecessary chemicals

The Kiss My Face Potent and Pure facial care system is specially designed to be of high quality and to have ingredients that work and do the job!  The ingredients are also all natural so you can be sure that no funky chemicals are going onto your skin.  They used smart scientists and research to find these combinations of botanical, vitamins, extracts and minerals that make your skin glow.

I am not one of those people that are good about keeping up a skin care regimen. You can tell by my horrible skin. I began using the Kiss My Face products upon arrival and instantly could feel and see a difference. I started by following their recommended procedure of use:

1. Cleanse
2. Tone
3. Nourish
4. Moisturize
5. Eyes
6. Extra Treatment

The smell of these products is outstanding, fruity and fun. My husband said I kind of smelled like “Fruit Loops.” It was a weird explanation as I did not smell it that way. But he loves that brand of cereal which is why he compared it that way first. The packaging is eco-friendly and is simple yet adorable.  My favorite product in their line is the Balancing Antioxidant Toner. I have never used a Toner before, I never understood the point of it. Until I used it. My skin tone evened out. No more weird red spots or discoloring. The Balancing Toner is now part of my daily regimen and will continue to be with the other Potent and Pure products.

You could win some products from Kiss My Face’s Potent and Pure’s product lines. Here’s how you can enter to win:

1. Visit Kiss My Face and tell us what product from the line you’d most like to have for your skin care. This is mandatory, if not done all other entries are null and void.
2. For an extra entry, you can follow uson Twitter. Post a comment here with your Twitter username.
3. For a third entry you can tweet about this giveaway or post about it on your blog and leave a comment here with either the URL of your post or your twitter profile. “Do you want great skin? Win Potent and Pure skin products from Kiss My Face @ http://www.mommasreview.com”
4. For a fourth subscribe to our RSS feed, leaving a link here to tell us you’ve done so. We’ll be posting more giveaways on Momma’s Review soon so subscribing will be a great way for you to stay informed about all the great things you can win in the days and weeks to come.
5. For a final entry visit Speedy @ Eighty MPH Mom and enter her Magellan GPS giveaway. Make sure to come back and leave a comment saying you have entered.

This giveaway is open to US readers only (sorry to our international readers)!

The contest will close at 12:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday April 22th.