Straight Talk - No contracts, no surprise bills and no credit checks!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Straight Talk. All opinions are 100% mine.

In today’s economy, every little bit of savings help. I mean, who doesn’t want to save money, right? For many families, it would mean just cutting back to the bare basics and letting go of some so called ‘luxuries’. Would you consider having a cell phone a luxury? I don’t know about you, but I really do not think so. It’s more of a necessity these days. However, what I really dislike about owning a cell phone is having to deal with the contracts and crazy monthly bills! I am sure you all know what I am talking about.

For those of you who are tired of all those (just like me!), boy, do I have some news for you! Have you heard of Straight Talk? With Straight Talk, there are no contracts, no surprise bills and no credit checks. I love the idea that I feel richer with Straight Talk because it cuts my cell phone bill in half! Contracts? Who cares about contracts? You have to be crazy to be on a contract these days when you can get everything you need without one. Not only that, but Straight Talk also has great nationwide coverage as well as excellent reception and connectivity. Just imagine how much money you could save with Straight Talk. Think of all the things you could go out and buy with that savings!

Straight talk has different types of monthly plans, designed especially to fit you and your needs. If you are a heavy phone user, then you should get the “All You Need Plan”. It provides heavy phone users with 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts and 30 MB of web data. Unlimited Monthly service is only $45, and includes calls, text, picture messaging, and web. Imagine this. Unlimited calls, text, picture messaging and web for a whole year, for only $499.00! That’s right, for the whole year! Also, you are free from activation, reactivation, or termination fees and 411 calls are included at no extra charge. Have lots of friends overseas? With Straight Talk’s International Long Distance Service, you can call a friend anytime! What’s that, you might ask. Well, it is a flexible prepaid calling service that enables you to make international calls from your home, cell or office phone at low rates. For me, I totally love this! I can now spend hours talking to my mom and the rest of the family back home. Even my mom agrees that this is a good deal. After all, mom knows best!

What kind of phones is available with this? Good question. Well, let me assure you this. Straight Talk only uses trusted phone manufacturers like LG, Motorola, Kyocera, Nokia and Samsung. You could get amazing smart phones; touch screen phones, and app capable phones with features like voice navigation, camera, video recorder, music player, instant messaging, and Bluetooth® or you could just go with reconditioned phones with camera, mp3 player, mobile web access, and blue-tooth capability for as low as $10! The choice is entirely yours!

Sounds too good to be true? Well, don’t just take my word for it. Check out videos of testimonials from some real Straight Talk customers here, here, here, here and here! So, what are you waiting for? Head out to get your very own today. It’s everything you need and more!

The MyCAA program at Martinsburg Institute

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Martinsburg Institute. All opinions are 100% mine.

I’m sure many of you have friends who have spouses serving in the military or maybe you are a military wife yourself. I am not a military wife but I do have quite a lot of friends who are. Kevin has a cousin who is in the Army and I have some friends whose husbands are in the Army, Marines as well as Navy. It’s tough being a military wife. Apart from having to deal with your spouse being deployed for long periods of time, you have to run your household, take care of your kids and some even have their own jobs! You hardly have any time left for yourself by the end of the day! I know of many military wives who have talked about going back to school in order to get that certificate that they have been wanting for so long or to get that boost in their career. But really, how can one even find time to do so? They just don’t have the time to drop everything, just to go for classes. Also, what about finances?

If you are a military wife and are looking to go back to school, listen up. I got some news for you! Are you interested in training in Medical Billing and Coding or Electronic Health Records? Maybe Human Resource or Financial Management & Accounting? If so, Martinsburg Institute and their MyCAA program maybe the place for you! MyCAA (Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts) Spouse Tuition Assistance Program provides up to $4,000 of Financial Assistance for military spouses who are pursuing portable career. Everything comes on a laptop. This mean, it allows students to train at home or on the go. That’s right. You can train whenever you want to, when you are on the go! Waiting for your daughter to finish up her dance lessons or have some time in between hockey and football? Just turn on your laptop and start training for your future right on the spot! It's simple, flexible and portable! Training available through Martinsburg Institute is definitely a perfect fit for Military spouses.

Out of all of the programs offered by Martins Institute, I would be most interested in Financial Management and Accounting. What about you? What would you be interested in? For more information about the programs offered and help with getting started, please contact Kristina Berhenke at 760.808.2087. You can also visit http://www.martinsburgmilitaryspouse.org/ for more information.

TracFone - The least expensive way to own and use a cell phone in America!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TracFone. All opinions are 100% mine.

These days, everybody has cell phones. Just talk a walk through your neighborhood and look around. I am very sure you can see a whole bunch of people talking on cell phones, texting, surfing and maybe even playing games on their cell phone. It’s just so convenient to have; it is fast become a necessity in our modern society. As much as we all love cell phones and how it has become a part of our daily lives, there is something we all hate. Cell phone bills! Don’t you hate the unpredictable cell phone bills and the fact that you are always bound by contracts? Most families I know can only afford cell phones for themselves. Now that summer is in full swing, wouldn’t it be awesome if you could get low cost cell phones for all your kids. It would be the perfect way to stay in touch. Maybe you don’t have kids but you are struggling to find a cell phone for yourself that is affordable this summer? Well, I have news for you. TracFone is here to help!

Did you know that TracFone offers the least expensive way to own and use a cell phone in America? That’s right; there are no contracts, credit checks, activation charges or cancellation fees to worry about. In short, no surprises! Not only that, but it also has great nationwide coverage and excellent reception as well connectivity. Sounds awesome but you must be wondering, what type of phones does it come with? Well, the choice is really up to you. They offer all types of brand name phones from leading manufacturers like Motorola, Kyocera, LG, Nokia and Samsung. You could go with simple "Candy Bar" phones with simple calling and texting capabilities for under $10.00 or you could get the Bluetooth®-enabled "Smart" phones. Those phones have so many features like camera/video recorder, web access, app capabilities, mp3 player, and full QWERTY keyboard. All that for only $29.99! See what real TracFone customers have to say about the phone choices that are available. You could also check out some YouTube videos by clicking here and here.

Sounds good right? What about the monthly plans, you might ask. Well, it’s really simple actually. Just pay as you go online or with cards available at thousands of retail stores across the country. You can choose monthly plans with 200 minutes for under $30.00 or and as low as $9.99 for 50 minutes. There is also 1 year service cards that gives you so much more. Receive double minutes for the life of your TracFone, and 800 minutes, for only $119.00! Also, “Double minutes for the life of your phone” is a feature that can be purchased separately for only $19.99, but some phones include it! What’s important is, you will not be getting any surprises in your monthly bill, at the end of each period! Just ask any of these real TracFone customers, they know!

TracFone is the only wireless service that allows you to call internationally, for the same price as any other call! That’s right. You can call over 60 international destinations directly from your TracFone at no extra cost! With the International Neighbors program, you can also provide your family and friends in Mexico or Canada a local phone number in those countries to reach you at your TracFone in the U.S. How cool is that?

It really cannot get any better than this. Just check out what real TracFone customers have to say about the convenience, reliability and coverage of TracFone and hurry up and get one for yourself today!!

Forgotten Taste Famous Pierogies - Wexford, PA

When Kevin and I were back in Pittsburgh two weeks ago, we made our rounds to check out all of the "Pittsburgh" food that we miss so much. Primanti Bros, Eat' N Park, Tokyo Sushi and Buffet (I know, this isn't exactly Pittsburgh food but I love the sushi there!)...you get the idea. Another thing that I really really miss from Western PA is pierogies! Boy, I used to look forward to "Pierogies Night" every Wednesday at the dining hall, back when we were still in college. It was so so so gooooooood! If there is a type of food that you MUST try while you are in Pittsburgh (apart from Primantis, of course!), it has to be pierogies! You can be sure that people from da Burgh take their pierogies seriously. They even have pierogie races during inning breaks at the Pirates games!! Sooooo, naturally we must not leave Pittsburgh before getting our hands on some yummy pierogies.
Pierogies Plus is probably one of the more popular pierogie shops in Pittsburgh, known for their authentic, made from scratch pierogies. Kevin wasn't really in the mood to drive all the way to McKees Rocks just for pierogies so I tried to google for somewhere nearer. I then found Forgotten Taste. They claim to have the best pierogies in all of Southern PA, so we decided to give it a try. They have three outlets around the greater Pittsburgh area and we went to the one in Wexford. Since it was located at the strip mall at the Village at Pine, there were ample free parking right at it's doorstep. Please note that the signboard of their shop doesn't say "Forgotten Taste" but just plain "Pierogies" in bold red. I guess they know what they are famous for!
The store isn't really all that large. You just have to walk up to the counter and order whatever that you want. Then, you can either grab a table (there are not that many though) and wait for them to bring up your food to you or you can just wait (if you are getting it to go). Most of the food are pre cooked, so it doesn't take long at all. What I like about the place is how they have pictures of everything on their menu, hanging up on the wall. This way, you know exactly what you will be getting. Since Kevin's mom was back home and we needed to get lunch for her too, we ordered our food to go.
Both Kevin and his mom each got the Meal #6 ($6.69). One Stuffed Pepper with Tomato Sauce, Haluski and four pieces of Potato & Cheese Pierogies with butter and onions. The Smoked Polish Keilbasa ($3.49) that you see in the picture is actually half of what we ordered from the a la carte menu. As you can see from the menu, most of the food from Pittsburgh has Polish/Czech/Eastern European influence. You might be wondering why. Well, in the later half of the 1800s, large numbers of Polish immigrants settled in Pittsburgh due to the steel industry. I am guessing that it must have started from then. In case you didn't know, Kevin's ancestors (from his dad's side) probably came to America right about then too.
I ordered the Meal #3 ($6.99) which was one Stuffed Cabbage with Tomato Sauce, Haluski and four pieces of Potato & Cheese Pierogies with butter and onions. Also, you can see the other half of the Polish Keilbasa that I was sharing with Kevin in the picture. I must say that I really enjoyed my meal. The stuffed cabbage was really good and so was the Haluski. Oh, for those of you who don't know, Haluski is actually thick soft noodles made from flour, egg and water. It is then boiled, rolled in oil or butter and then served with vegetables or meat. The Haluski that we had was served with cabbage.
Since this was a pierogies place, we HAD to order more pierogies. Four pieces each just wasn't enough! So, we ordered an extra half dozen of Beef and Mushroom Pierogies ($5.90). You could either get it with the traditional butter and onions, with tomato sauce or you could get it deep fried. Also, if you are planning to keep it for another day, you could buy them frozen. Apart from Beef and Mushroom, they also have a whole lot of other different fillings. You can check it out here. I must say that the pierogies from Forgotten Taste is really really good. We must remember to head out there again the next time we are back in Pittsburgh. Oh, and if you are planning to do so, you might want to head out there on Mondays and Wednesdays. They are currently having a promotion where all meals are just $4.99 on Mon and Wed!!

Forgotten Taste Famous Pierogies
11978 Route 19 Village at Pine,
Wexford, PA, 15090
Tel: (724)940 2277
Web: http://forgottentaste.com/

Tell us your dreams and stand a chance to win $10,000!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of UPromise. All opinions are 100% mine.

You know how I have always say that we would always try to give our readers a heads up if we know of some interesting promotions, sweepstakes or contest? Boy, do we have something exciting to share with all of you today. I know most of the readers of this blog are parents, so here’s a little something for you guys that might change the future of your children.

As parents, you always want the best for your children. I am very sure that every parent’s dreams that their children would be able make it to college one day. Over the years, Upromise members have received more than $600 million in college savings through their rewards program. Guess what? Today, it wants to celebrate all of the ways it has helped to fuel those sparks that made children into the people they are today and the adults they will become tomorrow. That’s right. Upromise is celebrating its 10th Anniversary and they are giving away $20,000 to users who share a story that tells how a parent has supported a child's dream!

How can you participate in this sweepstake? It’s really simple actually. I am sure all of you have a dream for the future of your children. Well, Upromise want you to share that dream. Just by doing so, you will receive an opportunity to win one of the (10) $1,000 cash prizes or the grand prize worth $10,000! All you need to do is head over to www.upromisetodream.com to submit your entry. Your entry must be 500 words or less. With that, you will get your chance to win $1,000 in their weekly drawing. Then, vote for your favorite dreams by selecting "Like." The entry with the most votes by September 29th wins a grand prize of $10,000! You can get the full list of Upromises’s dream wall official rules at their website.

So, what is your dream for your children? For me, my dream is that every child should have the opportunity to go to their college of choice, study in a field that they are really interested in and have an equal opportunity to pursue their dreams. Finances (or the lack of it) should not get in the way of a child reaching their dreams. Most importantly, I dream that every child should graduate college debt free. Nothing is worse than starting your life as an adult with a huge loan to carry and worry about. So, what is your dream for your children? Share it on the dream wall as well as with the rest of us here. Who knows, you might even win $10,000!!

All you can eat crayfish @ IKEA on Aug 19th!!

Before I say anything else, I just want to state that this is not a paid post and I am not being compensated in any way by IKEA. I was surfing through IKEA's website the other day and came to know about this promotion. It sounds like an awesome deal, so I figured I'll share it with all of you. In honor of their Swedish roots, IKEA would hold a "kraftskiva" (crayfish party) sometime in August every year. This year, it will be on the 19th of August, in all IKEAs nationwide. For those of you who don't know (myself included!), the "kraftskiva" is one of the most important social events in Sweden. Friends would gather to feast on crayfish while partying the night away. From what I understand, this is a very popular event and tickets run out pretty fast. So, Kevin and I decided to drive out to IKEA to get ourselves 2 tickets before they are all gone.

For only $9.99, you get an adult ticket and that gets you entrance as well as unlimited crayfish (as well as other food items) to the Crayfish Party. Kids only pay $2.49! Check out the menu for the all you can eat buffet below.

Tossed green salad
Cucumber salad
Hard boiled eggs with mayo and shrimp
Shelled on prawns with cocktail sauce
NAJAD salmon with horseradish or mustard sauce

Crispbread, Criprolls, Dinner rolls
Assorted Swedish cheese
Meatballs with Lingonberries
Crayfish
Mashed Potatoes
Boiled Dill New Potatoes

Assorted Swedish desserts and cookies
Coffee, tea and fountain beverages

Not bad for $9.99, right? We have gotten tickets for the Crayfish Party at the IKEA in Port Elizabeth, NJ. If any of you are planning to be there, drop us a line. We'll see you there!! Now, let's get this crayfish party started!! Woot woot!!!

Finding the right dentist just got easier!

I don't know about you, but I have never been a big fan of dentists. Ever since I was a kid, I never liked my annual dental check ups. I don't know why, maybe it was the scary sounds from the equipment/dental tools but yeah, I would always dread going to the dentist. As I grew older, those visits to the dentist's office became less and less frequent. Up until about two years ago, I held my own personal record of not stepping into a dental office for close to 6 years! Everybody says that I am just being silly and really, there is nothing scary about visiting the dentist. No matter what everybody told me, I still didn't want to break down to make an appointment to see a dentist.

One day, about two years ago, I was drinking an ice cold soda and I suddenly felt a very sharp pain on my top left wisdom tooth. From that moment on, the pain increased to a point where it was unbearable. Not only did my tooth hurt but the entire side of my face! At that point, I knew I had to go to see the dentist, whether I liked it or not. Now, here's the tricky part. Both Kevin and I are not from New Jersey and we really didn't know of any dentist from around here. Sure, we could look up the yellow pages and just randomly call one to make an appointment but how would we know if he/she is reputable and good? Since I am really terrified of dentists to begin with, I really wanted to find somebody who knows what he/she is doing. Looking for a good dentist that fits you isn't easy at all. If only we knew about SmileGeneration.com back then.

Smile Generation connects you to reputable dentists who are dedicated to their work. Approved Smile Generation offices are private dental practices with integrated specialties that include orthodontists, endodontists, oral surgeons, general and family dentists. All you need to do is go online and enter in your zip code to find an approved dentist near you. You can even book an appointment online or you could call their 1-800 number to book an appointment over the phone. Not only can you search for dentists on the website but you can also look for special offers and print out coupons for all kinds of dental treatments. So, if you are looking for the perfect dentist that fits your needs, head over to Smile Generation today! Oh, and just in case you are wondering, I have fully gotten over my fear of dentists. You are right, dentists are not so scary after all!

Mandy's Pizza - Pittsburgh, PA

Kev and I were back in Pittsburgh for the whole of last week. In fact, it was a little more than a week. It's been a while since we had the opportunity to be back in Pittsburgh for such an extended period of time (it would usually be just for the weekend or 4 days, at the most), so it was good meeting up with friends and family. We also had the opportunity to head out some of our favorite restaurants in Pittsburgh as well as check out a few new ones. Over the next few posts, I will share with you some of the new places that we checked out during our week in Pittsburgh.
There is a pizza shop just down the road from Kevin's parents house in Westview. We have driven by it countless times and every time we drove by, I would say that we should check it out someday. I know, there are many other things that we can check out while we are in Pittsburgh and really, Pittsburgh is not exactly known for their pizza. After all, we are currently living in a city that is known for their awesome pizza. Why should we want to eat pizza while we were in Pittsburgh? Well, what caught my attention was a huge sign saying that Mandy's has the largest and best pizza in Pittsburgh. In fact, they have won a whole lot of awards as proof of their awesomeness. Now, when somebody claims that they have the best of something, I would really want to go check them out, just to see if they really do measure up. Soooooo, we stopped by one day to carryout a pizza and some wings.
All the pizzas in Mandy's are Gluten-Free/Allergen-Free. From their website and menu, I found out that they came out with a proprietary recipe that is Wheat-Free, Milk-Free, Nut-Free and Corn Free. Now, we don't really care much about all this but I am sure they are a lot of people out there who do. What is most important to us is, the taste! Their menu is rather large and there were quite a lot of traditional as well as signature pizzas to choose from. We finally went with a large Philly Steak Pizza ($16.49). Just look at it! Cheddar sauce, shaved sirloin, fried mushroom, onions, green peppers and premium blend pizza cheese. If that is not fattening enough, they topped all of that off with french fries!! One word - WOW! How does one even come up with that? They must be sitting around one day and decided that pizza in general is not fattening enough, they MUST do something else to bring it over the top. So, hey, why not? Lets top it off with some greasy fries! :P As fattening as it sounds, I must say that, it really tasted AWESOME! The toppings all just came together and the dough was nice and baked to perfection. Really really good!
We also ordered half a dozen of Monster Wings ($7.99). Monster Wings...really? How big are they? Well, Mandy's claim that they serve the largest wings in town. Guess what? They ARE huge! Look at that...none of those tiny dry stuff. The wings from Mandy's are huge and juicy! They are also not 'cut' into drummets and wings, you actually get the WHOLE wing! They come in 10 different flavors and we went with the Honey Mustard. Mmmm mmmmmm goood! Both the pizza and wings hit a home run, in my books. Apart from pizzas and wings, they also serve salads, hoagies, gyros, calzones, Italian dinners as well as desserts. We will definitely stop by again to check out the other items on the menu the next time we are back in Pittsburgh.

Mandy's Pizza - Pittsburgh,PA
512 Perry Hwy
Pittsburgh, PA 15229
Tel: (412)931 1120
Web: http://www.mandyspizza.com/

NMEDA - Makes life with disabilities a lil easier!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of NMEDA. All opinions are 100% mine.

How many of you woke up this morning, jumped out of bed, rushed to the bathroom for a quick shower, got dressed, ran downstairs to the kitchen for some quick breakfast and then hopped into your car to drive to work? Sounds like a familiar routine? Of course it is. I am pretty sure this scene is repeated in many households across America. Many of us don’t even think twice about it. After all, it’s not that hard at all to get ready for work. It’s just routine. Well, it might be really easy for you but for a person with disabilities, this whole exercise can be a very daunting task. Something as simple as this can be really hard for a person with disabilities. Not only is it hard for them, but it’s pretty tough for their caregivers as well. The good news however, is that in today’s modern society; there are many ways to make life a little easier for them. There are a lot of wheelchairs, wheelchair vehicles and other aides to help people with disability regain more freedom and mobility in life. Now the bad news. I am sure many of you are aware that there are just so many out there, how do we know which is good and which one is the right fit for you? You see ads for them everywhere, on TV, in the newspapers and on the Internet. How do you know which is good for you? Sometimes buying something that doesn't fit always does more harm than good.

Thankfully, there is NMEDA. NMEDA, you might ask? What’s that? Well, NMEDA (National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association) is a non-profit trade association that advocates providing safe, reliable vehicles and modifications to enhance accessibility for all people. Not only that, they are also the only association that promotes safe driving and equipment for disabled people. Yes, they are non-profit and their members are required to adhere to the safety standards of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This means that NMEDA do not sell anything. The NMEDA dealers (members) are the ones who sell handicap vans and vehicle modifications for disabled people.

You might be wondering, so, why should I buy from a NMEDA qualified dealer? Well, one of the biggest advantages you get when you buy from a NMEDA qualified dealer is that they conduct on-site evaluations to custom fit vehicles to your specific needs. Let’s take a moment to think about this. Just like everyone else, there are no two people with a disability that is exactly the same, right? So why should their wheelchair vehicles be exactly the same? Exactly! This is why you should be careful of adapted wheelchair vehicles sold over the Internet or through catalogs. Why waste your money on something that might not be right for you? When you buy from a NMEDA dealer, you give a personalized “in-person” evaluation, so you can be sure that you are getting the right driving solution customized to your specific lifestyle and needs. If you need additional training or product refinements, your NMEDA dealer will always be there to help you.

Apart from having just dealers, NMEDA also has Quality Assurance Program (QAP) dealers. The Quality Assurance Program (QAP) is the only nationally recognized accreditation program for the Adaptive Mobility Equipment Industry. It is based on the principle that in order to satisfy customers consistently, companies must have a systematic and documented approach to quality. It’s really simple. What this means is, that in order to be a QAP dealer, your company must not only have high quality and safe equipment but you must also meet the satisfaction of your customers.

After hearing about NMEDA, I went headed over to nmeda.org to read up more about them. On their homepage, you can hit the dealers locator, type in your zip code and see if there is a qualified dealer near you. I did just that and found that there are quite a few in my area. You should try it to. Let me know once you have found your closest qualified dealer! Thank God that none of my family members or myself do not need a wheelchair right now, but it’s always good to know NMEDA is always there to help if we ever need one. After going through all the information, I am now convinced that with the help NMEDA dealers, the elderly or disabled can get back onto the road of independence. Really, life doesn't have to be this tough.

Back to School Clothes Shopping at Bealls!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Bealls. All opinions are 100% mine.

I can’t believe it that it’s that time of the year again. Yup, summer is almost coming to an end. It felt like only yesterday when it started to get warmer and the kids were getting done with their finals and last days of school. Our summer just flew by, with trips to the beach, frequent visits to the ice cream stall, outdoor grilling and a host of other outdoor activities. Boy, I just love the summer! Now, the days are beginning to get shorter and the nights are getting cooler. That’s a sure sign that summer is ending and it’s back to school again for the kids.

Back to school….ahhhh, you know what that means. Yup! Back to school shopping! Shopping for school supplies, books, book bags…now, that’s easy. In fact, all that can be done in a couple of hours, with just one trip to the store. Shopping for school clothes, now that can be a little tricky. Everybody knows how much kids fashion change with each school year. It’s just so hard to keep up. Not only that, buying clothes for school can be expensive. Now, to make matters worse, the kids expect to get new clothes for school. No way will they be caught wearing old clothes (especially for the first week of school!) when all their friends have new clothes for the new school year.

So, what should one do? For me, I think that the best way to go about it is to go to places like Marshalls, TJ MAXX, Burlington Coat Factory and Century 21 to try and get branded, up to date fashionable kids clothes for a fraction of boutique prices. Also, there are always departmental stores like Target, Kohls, JC Penny and Macys. You can usually get awesome discounts when there are sales going on. All you need to do is spend a little more time to shop around a little and most of the time, you will end up with pretty good deals.

For those of you who do not have time to visit countless departmental stores to shop around, there is another place that you can go to. Just check out Bealls! It’s basically a one stop shop for all your back to school clothes shopping needs. They have a huge selection of clothes for both boys and girls, from babies to teenagers! Not only do they have clothes but they also carry all kinds of bags/handbags, shoes, accessories as well as swimwear too! Need uniforms for your children? No problem. You can get them at Bealls too! So, if you are looking for some hassle free shopping for your kids back to school clothes, look no further. Just head over to Bealls for some of the latest fashion in kids clothing, without having to break your bank!

Buffalo Wild Wings - Watchung, NJ

How many of you have watched the movie Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle? Awww come on, admit it. I know you have :P For those of you who haven't (you really must go rent it!), it's basically about two guys who drove a long way, just to get some White Castle, because they were hungry for White Castle and nothing else could hit the spot. They were ready to do just about anything, in order to sink their teeth into those small juicy sliders. Kevin and I had one of those moments not too long ago. No, it wasn't for White Castle :P We were suddenly in the mood for some buffalo wings and we wanted some now! I am not talking about those crappy small wings that we can from around our neighborhood but big juicy wings. Real Buffalo wings!
Now, we are crazy but not THAT crazy. No, we didn't drive 8 hrs to Buffalo just to get them but we settled for something just as good. Wings from Buffalo Wild Wings!! The nearest Buffalo Wild Wings to us was in Watchung, a good half an hour away. With traffic, it took us almost 45-50 mins to get there. When we finally saw the big neon sign of that sports bar...ahhhhhhhhhhhh, we were in heaven! :D The place was packed to the brim when we arrived but luckily, we managed to score a table! At that point, if there was a 2 hr waiting list, I am pretty sure we would have waited too :P
So, what did we order? Like doh! Wings of course!!! Check out all the different sauces and seasonings. 14 sauces and 4 seasonings to choose from! The best thing about this is, IF we chose not to order wings and wanted something else from the menu, we could add or swap any of the seasonings with anything on the menu. How cool is that??
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm look at those yummy wings. We drove 50 mins for this! Buffalo Wild Wing's award winning Buffalo style hand spun wings! Kevin ordered the 12 pcs ($8.99) traditional wings. We had a choice between traditional or breaded boneless. The darker ones on top are Honey BBQ and the brighter ones are Spicy Garlic. As many of you know, I have a super low tolerance for spiciness, so I found the Spicy Garlic to be a tad bit spicy. OK fine, it was more than a tad bit. I found it to be very very spicy. Kevin on the other hand loved it. I prefer the Honey BBQ. In my opinion, it was the best out of the 4 different flavors we ordered that night. Sweet with a hint of smokiness....mmm mmm good!
I too ordered the 12 piece traditional wings. The one on the right is Mild and Parmesan Garlic is on the left. I just love the blend of roasted garlic with Parmesan sauce and Italian herbs. It was so flavorful and good. What can I say about the Mild? It was awesome! It had just a hint of spiciness, exactly how I love my buffalo wings! The wings were also really huge and juicy. In my opinion, that's how Buffalo wings should be. I just hate those places that sell small, dry and shriveled up wings.
Apart from wings, we also shared a portion of Buffalo Chips with Cheese ($5.79). Crispy natural cut potato slices with Queso cheese. We originally wanted to order potato wedges with cheese but our server highly recommended this. So, we figured we will give it a try. I wouldn't say that it was out of this world awesome but I wouldn't say that it was bad either. It was just alright. After all, how can one go wrong with chips and cheese? All in all, it was a great dinner. The wings were just so so so gooood. Was it worth the 50 min drive? You bet it was! Now, the two fatties can die happpy :P

Buffalo Wild Wings
1599 US Highway West 22
Watchung, NJ 07069
Tel: (908) 222 9464
Web: http://www.buffalowildwings.com/

Blue Sky Scrubs - Your One Stop Scrub Shop

I'm not sure why, but there are quite a number of medical offices in our neighborhood. I guess it's because the location. We are really close to some major highways and throughways. Just on our street alone, there are a few huge medical buildings that houses various specialists and GPs, a few dental offices as well as a nursing home. There are also a few huge hospitals just a few minutes away from us. You can imagine the amount of medical personnel that lives in our apartment building. At almost any given time of day, you can see people walking around in scrubs as well as other medical uniforms. I really enjoy looking at all the different patterns, styles and colors of those scrubs. Boy, scrubs are surely fashionable these days. They have come a long way, from those ugly shapeless green and blue ones that medical personnel used to wear. Not only do they look good, but they looked really comfortable too. Fashionable and comfortable enough for non medical personnel to wear, on a daily basis.

Have you ever wondered where you can get modern and fashionable looking scrubs? Well, I do and now, I know just the place to do so. Blue Sky Scrubs! Yup, you can find all kinds of scrubs for women, men and even kids! Not only can you get medical scrubs and uniform there, but they offer a whole range of lab coats, jackets, scrub hats as well as accessories. I totally love the lanyards that they have there. They are so pretty and definitely one of a kind. I have never seen such a huge collection of nice looking lanyards! So, if you are looking for some fashionable and yet comfortable scrubs, just head over to http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Women/Original-Scrubs/ and check out Blue Sky Scrubs today!

Now, relocating can't be all that hard, can it?

I'm sure many of you know that both Kevin and I are not originally from New Jersey. We relocated out here about 4 years ago, when Kevin was offered a new job. Back then, we really didn't know much about New Jersey at all. We didn't have any friends out here and we had no idea what so ever where the good neighborhoods were. So, we just got an apartment near Kevin's workplace and hoped for the best. We later moved from that apartment to our current one, but still, I would say that it wasn't really an educated choice. Many a time, Kevin and I have discussed about moving else where. Another city or county in New Jersey or maybe even across the river to New York. However, finding the right place is never easy.

I was online the other day, browsing through real estate websites, hoping to find somewhere worth moving to when I stumbled upon some Hawaii real estate listings. Hawaii. Yes, I know that's a little bit far from New Jersey but there was something about that site that caught my attention. The site belonged to Jeff Manson, who is a Hawaiian realtor and really, he makes relocating seem so much easier. I would say that he is an expert when it comes to helping a potential buyer in the relocating process. He is basically a one stop shop, where not only does he sell and rent houses but he also helps refer buyers to lenders for mortgage quotes as well as help get moving quotes from various movers. We definitely need to meet more realtors like him in our quest in finding a new apartment. Life would be so much easier. Hmmm, I wonder if Jeff Manson has an office out here in Jersey?

Master BBQ & Grill - Belleville, NJ

It was another lazy Sunday night for us and we couldn't decide on what to have for dinner. We didn't feel like going out, so the only other option was to order in (yesssss, I'm too lazy to cook on weekends :P). After going through our stash of countless take out/delivery menus, I found the menu for Master BBQ & Grill. We actually picked that menu up from our apartment lobby quite some time back and have been meaning to check that place out but we never got around to doing so. It's been a while since we last had Portuguese BBQ (I know, it's hard to believe...considering the fact that we live in the Portuguese /Colombian BBQ mecca of NJ!), so Portuguese BBQ for dinner it is!
From our past experiences of ordering delivery with other Portuguese BBQ places, we were all ready for a long 'conversation' on the phone. Usually, when they find out that we don't speak Spanish, our call would be passed from one person to another. THEN, after finally getting to somebody who speaks English, he would most probably mess up our order or misunderstand we were are trying to say. Same goes for Chinese delivery places. However, none of that happened here. They spoke English and we managed to place our order without any problems. Yay! Another thing that surprised us was how fast the food arrived. I swear, it took them less than half an hour to get the food to our doorstep! Two huge party trays of piping hot food! Don't ask me why there was only ONE bun, we actually didn't even know that we are going to get a free bun :P
Before I say anything else, I must tell you guys that the amount of food that we got for the price we paid was crazy! There was just soooooooo much food! We ordered the Master BBQ Combo ($26) and that came with half a chicken, six huge pork ribs, four pieces of steak and slices Portuguese sausages. Look at the amount of food! It was enough for feed at least 6-8 people! All that for only $26! Not only was it affordable, it tasted awesome too! I dare say that this is the best Portuguese BBQ that I have had, to date! Since we live in Newark, there are a lot of Portuguese BBQ places here and trust me, we have gone through quite a lot of them. The BBQ from Masters definitely stood out. All the meat was marinated to perfection, really really delicious. They were also cooked just right, cos we all know, nothing is more sucky than overcooked or under cooked BBQ!
We also got a huge party tray of yellow rice and fries. We also had the option to swap either the rice or fries for black beans. Look at the amount of rice and fries! It's like enough to feed a small village in Asia! :P The fries wasn't soggy but really, there was nothing much to shout about. The rice on the other hand was simply awesome. There is this smoky taste to it, very very yummy! Overall, we had an awesome dinner! Good service, fast delivery, affordable prices, big portions and most importantly, uber yummy food. What more could a person ask for? We will definitely be ordering more food from Master BBQ & Grill in the very near future!

Master BBQ & Grill - Belleville, NJ
198 Union Ave
Belleville NJ 07109
Tel: (973)759 9200
Web: http://www.masterbbqgrill.com/