Yesterday was one of the best days in recent history!!! You see, back in November of 2007, November 19th, to be exact, Phantom of the Opera tickets went on sale at the Community Center Box office.. I was there, in line at 730am with my girls all bundled up in their jogging stroller. We came stocked with snacks, drinks, diapers, wipes, blankets, books and stuffed animals… I explained to them what we were doing, and why… and begged them to be super good for me… You know what??? They were angels! They seriously did not give me any trouble while waiting in line for an hour and a half… As soon as they opened the door, we were inside the ticket office. I was 3rd in line… and Thank GOODNESS!!! I bought 2 tickets, Orchestra level, Row Q, seats 20 & 21… We were almost in the center… I ran out of there just super giddy with excitement.. I wanted to shout it out!! LOL… But I contained myself. Instead I called Daddy and told him how lucky we were!!!

Fast forward to May 2008… Time is flying! We start talking about where we want to go to dinner, and where we’ll end up parking. Details, details! I thought of a great idea… I started calling around to different limousine companies in Sacramento. I called several of them, just shocked at the prices of renting a limo for the night. Well, I was bound and determined to find a limo for the night… I wanted to surprise Daddy with this so badly.. I ended up calling Shooting Star Limousine and spoke to Tracy Mendonsa…. the owner! He was very nice, and seemed to really want to help me out. I told him I was looking for a deal. We were going out to dinner and a show, and it was our 10th Anniversary. He told me of his hourly rate, and when I told him I didn’t think I could afford that, he explained that rather than have the limo waiting for us everywhere, we could be dropped off, and then picked back up each place, that way we were only paying for the time we were actually using it. Wow, what a savings! He also told me that he had an Anniversary package, that included an open bar inside the limo, and the red carpet treatment. I had to chuckle… I wasn’t sure about the red carpet… but hey.. We only get to do this once right? LOL. We got to talking about how expensive things were, and he told me he knew all too well… We discovered that we were both parents of twin girls.. and one of his girls has the same name as one of my girls!!! Too crazy!!! See.. it as meant that I called him… I told him I’d definitely call him back and book everything once we got our tax refund.. LOL.. Sure enough 2 weeks later, I called and set everything up! Things were looking great…

May came and went, and June was rushing by. Before I knew it, it was June 13th. I called Tracy back to confirm our limousine for the next evening, and asked him if he wouldn’t mind arriving just a little bit earlier so we could show the girls the limo, and possibly take a quick ride, even just around the block. I thought they’d really get a kick out of being in such a cool car! He told me it would be no problem… and we were confirmed! I couldn’t believe we were already going!

The morning of June 14th was a super busy morning… We had to go to Kohls, so I could find something to wear for that night, Ikea, Walmart, R/C Country Hobbies, and stop at a friend’s house for his daughter’s birthday.. Oh, and get home clean up a little bit and get things ready for my parents to come over, get the girls lunch, and put them down for a nap. Then I could start getting ready… It was a crazy day!

My parents arrived around 5pm, and I ran upstairs to grab all the clothes I bought to try on.. and Yes.. I tried them on in the store.. but Daddy was in the car with the girls… so he didn’t get to see anything… Anyway.. Everyone ended up picking a red dress that I loved. WOOHOO! All I had left was to do my hair and makeup… not too bad! I hurried up and finished getting ready, and went in to wake up the girls. Monkey See was already awake, but very quiet… I think she was being like me, and debating whether she really wanted to be awake or not. LOL. She saw me peek my head in the door, and got up. I let her pick out what they were going to wear for their first limo ride… She picked their favorite sun dresses. Too cute! 

A couple of moments later, Monkey Do was awake, and asking where we were going… She sees us all dressed up and just knows something is going on… I told her that Meemaw and Peepaw were here and we had a surprise for them! They were going to get to ride in a super big car, bigger than our van! They were really excited about that idea! 

I peeked outside when we got downstairs and saw that the limo was already here! Oh man! What time was it? It was only 540pm! Oh, and we were running behind! Daddy was ironing his shirt, I still had to fix the girls’ hair. Ok, we can do this! Peepaw went outside to let the driver know we were almost ready… He was really cool about it… As soon as Daddy was all done, we took the girls outside and they were just in awe of the huge car that was sitting out front.. Our driver introduced himself.. and it was Tracy! Well shucks! I didn’t expect the owner of the company to be driving us!!! Too cool! He was a really nice guy, and very professional. He was so sweet too… He let us take the girls for a ride around the block.. They looked at absolutely everything in the car and asked what it was. Daddy held the girls in the seat, one on each side of him. It was so cute. Once we saw we were back on our street and only two houses down, we let the girls stand up on our knees and put their heads out the sunroof so Peepaw could take pictured of them. They thought that was totally fun. They waved like little movie stars.. LOL… I loved it… We got back to the house, and Tracy opened the door for them to go back to Meemaw and Peepaw… They were so excited and talked about the car, and the “aquarium” that was in there… They saw “Nemo and Dory!” HAHA! 

It was now time to get to dinner! I had made reservations for Il Fornaio, since we had loved that place the last time we went there. The food was divine and the service was amazing… This time, the food was still good, but the service was definitely not as great. We let our waitress know that we had to be paid up by 745pm because were on our way to the Phantom of the Opera… She nodded, and put in our order. We got our salad right away, but it took a while to get our second course. After that, it took even longer to bring out our entree. Unfortunately we didn’t even make it to dessert. We received our chicken at 745, and ate it as fast as we could. We paid, and ran out of the restaurant to our waiting limo… 

Tracy was amazing. I know traffic was pretty slow, but he got us to the theatre as fast as he could. He dropped us off out front and we ran in. I tell ya, if I had to drive, I’d have been driving like a nut… LOL

They scanned our tickets at the door.. Yes, scanned.. no more tearing ticket stubs.. ah the old days… and we went towards the door where our seats were. The usher just inside the door showed us which row were were in, and I just looked up at the stage in awe… DAMN! I got some AWESOME seats!!! WOOHOO!

We had missed the Prologue, and they had already started Scene 1, but we were ok… it was only about 15 minutes into it… Besides… I have the movie if I ever want to see it. The show was amazing. The performers were perfect, the costumes were extravagant, the set and stage effects were beyond anything that I’ve ever seen. They truly did a great job on the show. I think the fact that we went on closing night helped out too. They all had lots of practice…  

Intermission came too soon… Daddy and I ran out to the restrooms, and checked out the souvenir table. Of course I bought a shirt, and a program for me. I also got my sister a keychain, per her request… I remembered her and I going to see Miss Saigon, and Les Misérables… It was a lot of fun… Anywho… We got everything just as they called everyone back to our seats… This time we weren’t late! *teehee*

Act 2 started and ended way too quickly. I was just loving the show… When it was time for the curtain call, and everyone came out to take bow, you could just see the excitement on their faces. The show was done and it was time to par-tay! When the actor that played the Phantom came out, everyone stood up… It was definitely a well deserved ovation! Daddy even admitted he liked it! It was so cool! I’m so glad he enjoyed the show… 

Once we got out of the theatre, we saw Tracy waiting for us… I wasn’t quite ready to go home.. I didn’t want the evening to end so soon! We got into the limo, and as he got up on the freeway, things slowed down a bit. Traffic was pretty bad from the I-5 construction. We sat back and relaxed, and just talked. Something we don’t really get a chance to do since we’re always so busy. We popped open a bottle of champagne and just talked about everything we could think of. It was a great time to reconnect.. It was really nice to be able to kinda really get to know each other again.. as short as the time was… but after 10 years of marriage, of working, and 3 years of children, you do kind of lose yourselves. Something we’ve learned is that we really need to take time for us, and you know… it really helps us be better parents… 

When we got home, Tracy talked to us for a little bit, we paid him for the evening, and thanked him so much for taking awesome care of us… We went inside and my parents were up watching TV… They, of course, wanted to hear all about the evening.. I think we all ended up talking until nearly midnight, when we all finally went to bed… We crashed… 

I just wanted to add my extreme THANK YOU to Tracy and Shooting Star Limousine for really making our night absolutely awesome. Tracy was very professional, always early, and totally sweet… I am so glad I called him, and will definitely call him again if we ever need a limousine again.. I can’t say THANK YOU enough! If anyone needs a limousine for any special event, I highly recommend calling Shooting Star Limousine!!!! 

THE UPDATED POST CAN BE FOUND HERE: Mommy Brain Reports

Of course, being a Mommy of twins, I LOVE when I can get some good deals on taking them out to eat! I saw Save with Dave the other day, and Dave gave us 3 places for our list… I thought that was awesome, and decided to do a little more research and expand the list!

Here’s a list of places in the Sacramento and Surrounding areas that offer free meals for kids!!! Researching this made me super hungry.. I think I may try talking Daddy into a few trips out to restaurants in the next few weeks.. After all, I do have to try these places… Right?!?!

I did call around and verify these deals, but, as always, I recommend calling them before you go, just in case…

At Chick-fil-a, Thursday is free kid’s dinner night from 5pm to 9pm. The kids also get free Arts & Crafts to keep them busy and a free Ice Cream!!! Who doesn’t like a free Ice Cream!?!?! You must purchase an Adult Combo in order to receive this deal!  On Fridays, however, they offer any kid’s menu breakfast free, with NO additional purchase necessary!

At Denny’s locations kids age 10 and under eat free every Tuesday night, and in some locations, they eat free on Saturday nights too! From 4pm to 10pm! You can get up to two kid’s entrees from the kid’s menu free per every one regularly priced adult entree purchase. 

At El Torito Mexican Restaurant in Sacramento  kids eat free on their Birthday! To join their Birthday Club, you can fill out a form on the kid’s menu on any of your visits, and you will receive a certificate, and Birthday Club pack in the mail you can bring with you on your birthday to get your free meal!

At all Fresh Choice locations, kids age 2 & under eat free with the purchase of any adult meal. They also have a great discount rate for children ages 3-5… $1.99 with the purchase of an adult meal.  Can’t beat that! Fresh, healthy, and affordable!

Goodfella’s Express Italian located in the awesome city of Folsom, Ca has a great program as well! Kids Eat Free on Tuesdays  from 5-8pm. Anything off the kid’s meal (regularly $2.99) is free… Although it is not required, they do encourage the purchase of an Adult Meal… Hey.. the whole family can enjoy some great food. With a menu like theirs, who wouldn’t want to try it out!?! I think I see another day trip to the outlets and dinner coming on!

I checked out Hacienda del Rio’s website and sure enough, right there at the top of their website they advertise that kids eat free every Tuesday Night from 4:30-8:30pm. They are also located in Folsom! Here is a link to their menu as well. 

At all IHOP locations in Sacramento, and surrounding, I’ve found that kids, 12 and under, eat free every Tuesday from 4pm to 2am! You can choose anything from their kid’s menu, and purchase of an adult entree is required!  

At Il Fornaio in down town Sacramento, if you take your kids in on a Sunday evening, you can exchange the kids’ doodling on the back of their menu for their famous Il Fornaio Cookies!!! Your aspiring artist will love the treat for their art work, and you’ll love that they’re keeping busy while you peruse their awesome menu!

At Strings Italian Cafe locations in the area, kids eat free on Sunday and Monday!  One kid per adult entree purchased, at anytime during their open hours! Daddy and I have been here several times, since we have one super close to our house. The food is always DEEE-LISH, and the service is always aw

At Texas West Bar-B-Que  on Mondays and Tuesdays kids eat free all day! For every adult entree purchased, you may choose one entree from the kid’s menu for your kid age 10 and under.

At  Riverside Clubhouse, on Mondays and Tuesdays kids eat free w/purchase of adult entree!

I hope you are able to find some great places to try out on this list! I’ve been to quite a few of them, and loved them! If you find any other locations in the Sacramento, and surrounding areas that need to be on this list, please tell me so that I may share the wisdom with others! After all, who wouldn’t like to save a little bit of change here and there! Bon Appetite!

I know I know.. Mother’s Day is tomorrow.. but, I voluntarily took today to be my Mother’s Day since we needed to split the day between MeeMaw, and Grandma T… 

The day started off normal enough. We all got up… the girls woke up first, then Daddy, then me. HEE HEE… Daddy got up and took care of the girls so I could get showered and ready to go out for the day. They were so funny. He walked in there, and I hear them (over the monitor) say, “Where’s Mommy? Is she still asleep? I wanna give her a kiss.” I just melted… I quickly jump back in bed and pretend I’m sleeping so they can “wake me up” with a kiss on the cheek… They think it’s so awesome when they wake me up… Daddy changes them, and lets them run into the room and jump up on the bed… Sure enough, Monkey See is right next to my face, leans down and kisses me on the cheek… I open my eyes, and they just let out this squeal of laughter. It was so cute! Daddy convinced them to go downstairs with him so I could get ready… I think there was mention of mixing pancakes, and bacon… It works every time. 

I got up, got ready to go, and came downstairs. They didn’t even notice me.. They were too busy whisking the pancake batter. Daddy made a big, yummy breakfast for all of us… and then we grabbed our things and headed out the door. I wanted to go back to a place called I Made It. It’s a super fun place in Elk Grove right off of Highway 99 where you can paint all kinds of ceramic crafts, or make mosaic things! They have all the supplies you need, you just show up and pay a nominal studio fee, and item prices. It’s totally cool.  I’ll share more about it later! Monkey See and Monkey Do each painted a mug and a little tag-a-long to put in the bottom of the mug. I made a really cool salad bowl, and a heart plate with the girls’ hand prints on it. Daddy made an awesome serving dish for his “Atomic Buffalo Terds”. I seriously can not wait to pick everything up in a week or so. 

After all of our fun, we had to eat! We stopped over at BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse. We’ve driven by the one by our house so many times, and just never stopped in. WOW! We were super impressed! The girls each got a cheese pizza kids meal, and Daddy and I got Pasta. His was the Chardonnay Shrimp Pasta, and mine was the  Grilled Chicken Pasta. The food was soooo good! Everyone ate and even had enough to bring home for dinner later! The service was pretty good, considering the place was quite busy. 

Monkey See kept saying she was sleepy, so we came home, and everyone (except Daddy) took a nap. Daddy volunteered to do some cleaning around the house, and prepare everything for movie night. Yes… The end to a perfect day… We ate our leftovers for dinner, and yum! Even reheated, everything was good. I took the girls upstairs for a quick bath, and got them changed into their Princess jammies. We all came back downstairs and set up the aero bed, popped some popcorn in our hot air popper, and got our pillows ready. We rented Alvin and the Chipmunks, and let me tell you.. It was such a cute movie! The girls LOVED it. They got up and danced to all of the music. I don’t know how they did it, but they stayed awake for the entire movie. I guess when it’s good, it’s good… LOL

They finally went to bed around 11pm… and we have to get up early to go to church tomorrow morning. That’s going to be interesting… We’re taking Meemaw and Peepaw out to breakfast tomorrow.. I know the girls are going to have fun, and probably forget all about being sleepy… 

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you Moms out there… You are all very amazing and special. I hope you all have an absolutely wonderful Mother’s Day… although.. taking one day to celebrate something we do every day just doesn’t seem fair.. LOL.. Cheers! 

Last night was our 3rd date night since the girls were born and let me tell you.. it was amazing! We were given some money as an anniversary present last year to go to Il Fornaio, and we just never made the time to go out. Finally, we decided to just go. I made reservations online, and that was it. Meemaw & Peepaw came over to watch the girls for us, and they even brought pizza for them… well, among other treats. We knew the girls were just going to have a blast, so we didn’t worry about anything. We got all dressed up for dinner, and off we went.

The reservation was for 530pm. We got there a little early, but they seated us right away. We were actually very lucky and were seated in the Piazza. The sun was still up, so we got to see the sunset through dinner. We were greeted by our server, Christopher, and given some freshly baked bread… and I mean fresh! It was still steaming! He asked if we knew what we wanted to drink. I wasn’t sure since I knew I wanted wine, but had no clue what I wanted for dinner.. and you know the wine you pick really depends on what you eat for dinner. So, we picked an appetizer and thought about the meal a little bit longer. When he came back, he answered our questions, and ended up basically picking our meals, and then my wine for us. I’m always so indecisive when it comes to a menu with so many good choices.

For an appetizer we got Rustichella ~Housemade flat bread topped with goat cheese, mozzarella, tomatoes, red onion, kalamata olives, basil, oregano; baked in the wood-fired oven, and it was so good. I did get wine early on, a Chardonnay that was so good. Not too long after, our entrees came, and they just looked and smelled delicious. When I first tasted my chicken, I was in heaven. I ordered the Pollo Toscano ~Rotisserie chicken seasoned with rosemary; served with saute´ed vegetables and mashed potatoes. It was so good, I can not even begin to describe it. Daddy got the Tagliata Chianina ~ Beef tenderloin grilled rare and sliced, balsamic vinegar and green peppercorn sauce; served with organic saute´ed spinach, roasted Yukon Gold potatoes and uccelletta cannellini beans. I tried his meal too and it was outstanding. The staff there didn’t hover over us, but rather came to check on us a few times, and they were always the right times. They made sure everything was good, and asked us if we needed anything. They offered more bread, tea, wine, etc. We were just in awe at how well they took care of us. When we were finished with our meal, Christopher offered dessert. We were curious as to what they had, so we accepted. He brought out this table with 8 different desserts on it. We ended up getting a plate that had a mix of the Crespelle con Vaniglia ~Crepes filled with apples and grappa infused pastry cream; vanilla gelato and caramel sauce, Tiramisu ~Lady fingers, rum, zabaione, Galbani mascarpone cheese, espresso, cocoa powder and the Rosina al Cioccolato ~ Chocolate mousse, fresh raspberries and sponge cake soaked with Triple Sec; served with orange crème anglaise. We thought we had ordered it just for the taste, but we ended up eating the whole plate.. We received our check after our dessert plate was cleared, and we were pleasantly surprised! We had thought we were going to go over our gift, but we actually didn’t. The service and the food was beyond exceptional, and the price was very reasonable. We left our payment and tip and left the restaurant. On the way out, Daddy stopped one of the Dining Room Managers and told him how much we enjoyed our experience, and he promised he’d pass the word on to Christopher.

As we walked out to the front, we noticed how busy the restaurant was. There were so many people waiting to be seated, the dining room was full, and noisy now. It was so different from when we arrived. The reason I note this is because we never noticed. We didn’t hear anything where we were seated. The outstanding service and attention to detail was not hindered. We really felt like we were the only people there. It was the best dinner we’ve had in a very long time. We will most definitely return to the Il Fornaio in Sacramento for another date night. We hope to be able to bring more of our family there as well!

After Dinner, we decided to walk around Old Sacramento for a little bit. We walked in and out of a few stores, had a good time talking and just enjoying the atmosphere. We stopped in at Sacramento Sweets to pick up some Caramel Corn, English Toffee, and Chocolate Dipped Red Vines for my parents as a small token of our thanks for gifting us the opportunity to go out, just the two of us.

This morning, we had to take Daddy’s truck in for some repairs. We were told they were only going to take an hour or two, so we decided to stay in the area rather than drive all the way home. Well, we drove out to Sunrise Blvd to a restaurant called Brookfield’s. We had been there once before, but it had been 2  years since we were there. Monkey See and Monkey Do were all excited about going to eat breakfast at a restaurant. Unfortunately, the experience wasn’t as good as we had hoped it would be.

We got there and were seated very quickly. It took a while for our server to come  to us, and when she did, she only took drink orders. She didn’t even give us a chance  to order our food. We had ordered mochas for us and milk for the girls. She came back and dropped off our drinks and left again. Ok, so it’s been nearly 20 minutes and we still have yet to order our food. Oh, and the mochas.. they seemed like they were instant. They were very watery and the bottom of the mug had a bunch of chocolate powder that still needed to be mixed in. Anyway.. She finally came back and took our food order, and when the food finally came out, it wasn’t hot. I had ordered the Western Skillet, and my cheese was all rubbery already. I guess I should’ve just ordered the Pancakes.. All in all, we spent almost two hours there. It was a bit of a disappointment, and we probably won’t go back there anytime soon, unless there are no other options. They do advertise that they are a WiFi Hotspot, and that would have been one good thing going for them today, except it was down the entire time we were there…

The UPDATED Post is now kept here: Mommy Brain Reports

Everyone loves Free stuff!!!

I did some research (because I was curious) and found a bunch of places that boast free or discounted items just for being born!!!

I highly recommend calling these places prior to going just to verify that they are still offering these deals… They are usually up to the individual location’s management.. so.. CALL FIRST! Some also require that you register in their Birthday Club prior to going to the restaurant. If anyone tries one of these locations and they no longer offer anything, please leave me a comment and let me know! Also.. if anyone finds something that is not listed, let me know also!!!

*Note not all of these places are here in the Sacramento Area…

and.. without further ado…

USA – Applebees Restaurant
Free Dessert and song – all ages
http://www.applebees.com/

USA – Arby’s
Birthday Discount
http://www.arbys.com

USA – Austin Grill
http://www.austingrill.com/austingri…ill_main/join/

USA – BD’s Mongolian BBQ
Buy 1, Get 1 Free Stir Fry – Register Online
http://www.fishbowl.com/clt/bdscrp/lp/wb/join.asp

USA – Bakers Square
Free Pie
http://www.bakerssquare.com

USA – Baskin Robbins Birthday Club
Join the Baskin-Robbins Birthday Club on our website and get a coupon for a FREE 2.5 oz ice cream scoop and a coupon for $3.00 off of an ice cream cake for your birthday! – All Ages, Coupon Expires 05 days after Birthday – Hit “Store Locator” At top of page for one near you.
http://www.baskinrobbins.com/BDayClub/?lastMid=222536

USA – Benihana Japanese Restaurant
Free dinner WITH 3 other paying guests, song, and group photo in a Benihana frame of your party. 
http://www.benihana.com

USA – Bennigan’s Restaurant
Buy 1 Entree, Get 1 Entree FREE and Brownie Ice Cream Dessert Free – Register Online
http://www.bennigans.com/

USA – Burger King
Free Kid’s Meal to all Kid’s Club members
http://www.burgerking.com

USA – California Pizza Kitchen
Free kids meal during the month of their birthday (register first)
http://www.cpk.com

USA – Carrow’s Seafood Restraunt
Free Cake – Register Online
http://www.carrows.com/eClub/go.php?pid=su

USA – Chevy’s Mexican Restaurant
Free Gift – 35 locations
http://www.chevys.com

USA – Chili’s
Free Dessert and Happy Birthday Song – participating locations
http://www.chilis.com

USA – Cold Stone Creamery Birthday Club
Free hand-made small/medium bowl of Ice Cream – Several Locations – All Ages – Join online
http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/birthday/

USA – Dairy Queen
Free Ice Cream Cone coupon by Email – Ages 16 and Under “Click Join DQ Crew” to register
http://thedqcentral.com/

USA – Damon’s Steakhouse
Buy 1, Get 1 Free Entree, Birthday song and More! – Register Online
http://www.damons.com/eclub.cfm

USA – Famous Daves BBQ
Free Gift (maybe a piece of birthday cake, an appetizer, some ribs. Special offers and more – Join P.I.G. (pretty important guest) Club. participating restaurants – Click Join Pig Club at bottom of page.
http://www.famousdaves.com/pigclub.cfm

USA – Friendly’s Restaurant Birthday Club
Free ice cream cone on their birthday! (Age 13+) – Must join at website, Located in: CT, DE, FL, MA, MD, MASS, NH, NJ,NY, NC, OH, PE, RH, SC, VT, VI.
http://www.friendlys.com/bday_club/?lastMid=222534

USA – Fuddruckers Restraunt
Free Sundae – Show ID
http://www.fuddruckers.com/

USA – Ghirardelli Chocolate
Birthday gift and special offers by email – Been around since 1852
http://www.fishbowl.com/clt/ghrdl/lp/join/join.htm

USA – Hollywood Video Birthday Club

Come in for a FREE Hollywood Film Library® rental on your birthday! If we don’t already know, just tell us when you check out that you’re celebrating a birthday. Free birthday rentals extend to everyone else on your membership account, too. Next time you’re in, just ask a Guest Service Representative if all members’ birth dates are in our computer. – Driver’s License/State ID Required.
http://www.hollywoodvideo.com/specials/?lastMid=222538

USA – International House Of Pancakes (IHOP)
Free Sundae – Show ID
http://www.ihop.com/indexnatl.html

USA – Joe’s Crab Shack
Free Gift on your Birthday – Register Online
http://www.fishbowl.com/clt/jcs/lp/join/join.asp

USA – Macaroni Grill
Free Dessert and Song – Show ID
http://www.macaronigrill.com

USA – Outback Steakhouse
Free Blooming Onion – W/Photo ID
http://www.outback.com

USA – Qdoba Mexican Restaurant
Buy 1, Get 1 Free entrée right before your birthday. Must sign up for our email club. – Several Locations
http://www.qdoba.com/Email.aspx

USA – Quiznos Subs
Birthday Gift – Register Online
http://www.quiznos.com/offers/index.aspx

USA – Red Robin
Free Hamburger and Fries on your Birthday – Register online – Adults and Childern
http://apps.fishbowl.com/a/redrobin/join/join.asp

USA – Texas Roadhouse

Join Texas Roadie VIP and Receive a coupon for a Free Dessert on your Birthday – Show ID
http://www.texasroadhouse.com/TRHintro_flash.html

USA – Tony Roma’s Restaurant Birthday Club
FREE dinner. Join at least 2 weeks before your birthdate.
http://www.fishbowl.com/clt/tnyrms/lp/join/join.asp

Friday night, we were craving an old favorite… Chinese food from the Dragon Palace in South Natomas.

We usually order dinner from there once every month or so… Whenever we feel like spoiling ourselves. The first time we ordered from there, we were hooked! They delivered to us, and the food arrived hot and super yummy! We had hoped it wasn’t a fluke, and ordered again from them… Everything was perfect. We’ve tried other Chinese food places in the area before, and none of them compare to the flavor and quality of Dragon Palace.

What’s even better is when we call them, and they know what our order is by our address. We’ve been ordering from them for nearly 3 years now. We actually used to live about 7 minutes closer to the restaurant, and were worried when we moved, that we would be out of their delivery area. We aren’t… Thank goodness! The good part is that even now, the food is still piping hot when it arrives here. The girls know exactly what it is when it’s delivered. They see the delivery man hand the food to daddy and yell “YAAAY!! CHINEEEESE FOOD!!!”

Prices are great. We usually pay between $40-$50 depending on what sides we order, but it’s well worth it. They don’t use the little cardboard Chinese style boxes, they use large containers, so there’s a ton of food to go around. We usually get 3 meals out of it for the 4 of us… so that’s nearly 12 servings depending on how hungry we are, and how large our portions are LOL.

They do also have an eat in restaurant. We’ve not yet had the opportunity to dine in, but can’t wait until we do. I definitely recommend Dragon Palace to anyone who loves authentic Chinese food!

On Saturday, 6 October, we just didn’t feel like cooking. We knew there was a new Panda Express just down the road on Del Paso Rd. and we were feeling like Chinese Food, so why not! We had to check it out.

We got there, and the parking spots were so small! I have a Honda Odyssey, so it’s not that large of a car to park. We were squished. I am actually saddened by the lack of space in this area. Things have just grown so much there isn’t much room for anything anymore.

Once we finally squeezed into a parking space, we walked over to the restaurant. We got in line, and thought about what we wanted. The selection was great. There was a lot to choose from.. even for the kids. They piled the food on our plates, and we moved on in the line to pay for everything. One of the entrées I ordered wasn’t ready yet, so they set aside a plate for me. They promised it’d be ready in about 9 minutes or so.

Once we paid for everything, we found a table that would comfortably seat the 4 of us. We had to pick a certain table or else the late afternoon sun would be right in our eyes. They didn’t have any window shades up to cut the light. We started eating and everything was ok until we started in on the Broccoli Beef. It was still COLD! I was so disappointed. That’s one of my favorite parts of Chinese food! I thought about taking it back up, but the line was so long, and they already had a couple of people waiting at the register for food that wasn’t done yet. I figured by the time, I got that resolved, the rest of my food would be cold.. so i set it aside. They did come out with my “missing” entrée (Sweet & Sour Pork) in about 10 minutes, and that was piping hot. The girls barely touched their chicken, or chow mein, which is VERY odd for them. They ended up asking for different food when we got home.

All in all, it was a little disappointing. We have decided that from now on.. we’ll stick with our favorite: The Dragon Palace Restaurant in South Natomas…

So we were out driving one evening, and we were trying to figure out what we were going to do for dinner. We had remembered a new place in Natomas behind Best Buy. We decided to check it out. It was Logan’s Road House. The girls were immediately impressed. This place is fun. They can make a mess, and not get in trouble for it. Oh and when you walk on the floor, you hear crunching noises…

The gimmick is that on every table, there is a bucket of peanuts, and when you eat these peanuts, you toss the shells on the floor. The girls thought this was totally cool. They asked for us to shell peanuts just so they could toss them on the floor. LOL.

Our server came and took our orders, and returned promptly with our drinks, and appetizers. She was very friendly. The girls actually got a kick out of her. Usually they’re very shy.. but the girls were being little hams that night. It was great! She came back and checked on us a few times during our meal.. We were very pleased with our service.. and the girls LOVED their dinner..

Anyway.. long story short, the food is yummy! The service is awesome! We will definitely return there!

We were out shopping yesterday and lunch time crept up on us. The girls had just had their first hair cuts, and we figured we’d celebrate.. so off to Strings Italian Cafe we went. We had heard some good things about it, so we figured we’d check it out. We went to the Strings at 4730 Natomas Blvd. It was a pretty good place!

It was very quiet for a lunch time. There were only a couple of other people there. Our server was friendly, and came back quickly with our drink order. Our food arrived soon after that, and it was delicious! I had the Chicken Fettuccine Milano with artichoke hearts, mushrooms, green onions, and sun dried tomatoes sauteed with garlic served in creamy Marsala wine sauce topped with gorgonzola cheese. It was deeee-lish! We got the girls spaghetti, which they devoured.

All in all, it was a pretty good place to take the girls to eat. They had a great meal, and a lot of fun. It’s definitely somewhere we’ll take the girls again next time we’re in the area!