Kona Grill amazes me

My kids love Scooby Doo. They are obsessed. Lucas more than Will, but that doesn’t matter. We have around 15 Scooby Doo movies on our Tivo.

One of the many is called Aloha, Scooby Doo. It’s about a little Hawaiian Island that they think is haunted and it, as expected, turns out to just be one of the natives.

Scooby Movie screen on my tivo. exciting stuff.

There is a little lady, I think she’s a witch doctor, or she thinks she is, I can’t remember, that makes a mean macadamia nut pie. Well, I assumed it was good. It made Shaggy’s mouth water and convinced Scooby to lure the bad guy, so it had to be good.

I like to bake. Really. I do. I had no desire to seek out the recipe for Macadamia Nut Pie. I just didn’t have it in me.

Well, because I’m an all time Konavore, I get Kona Grill emails. You should sign up. They will feed you on your birthday. Seriously.

No I do not get a kick back if you sign up. I just think you should. You get free food.

Anyways, back to the emails. A few weeks back I get an email that talks about a new temporary menu. They call it Bliss.

Seriously. They call it the The Bliss Menu.

Yes, I used the word Bliss in my 9 year anniversary instagram picture and I’m just now realizing how perfectly fitting this is.

Back the the pie.

Macadamia nut pie is on the BLISS MENU!!

I immediately tweet out that I would totally be willing to review the pie (which was aaaaaaaaahmazing) if I could try it for free.

A few emails and tweets here and there and I’m told to email Scott at my local restaurant and he’ll hook me up.

I email Scott, tell him I have reservations for 6 on my anniversary and we’d love to try the pie. Done.

I email him back and ask him if they have champagne, but he doesn’t see it before we arrive. No biggie. If they do, they do; if they don’t, they don’t.

Traffic and parking sucks so we end up running just a little late but as soon as I roll in I am greeted with the Kona smile and directed to a table.

I wish I had gotten a picture of the entire table. It was lovely.

There was already a chair removed just for me, they had a beautiful display of pink roses, 2 champagne glasses, and an awesome card signed by the staff.

While I didn’t capture the entire table, I do have this picture of the flowers.

Pink roses given to us by the staff at Kona Grill in Austin

Our server, Christie, approaches and our lovely evening begins. I won’t bore you with all the details but we are treated to champagne and Scott’s personal favorite sushi roll. It’s not on their menu, but I was instantly blown away. It was probably the 4th or 5th roll I tried and the only one I’ve loved. I can’t wait to have it again.

I was also shocked when Christie asked if I wanted one of my favorites. I usually order their sweet and spicy shrimp AND the tomato bisque soup. When I didn’t order the soup, Christie asked if I would be having that as well. She remembered!! Now that is service!

I know the beginning of this post was all about the pie, but as I continued to write and think I realized it was much more. It was about the power of social media. It was about the connections that can be made between managers and customers. It’s an amazing thing.

Anyways. Pie. We were almost to full to try the pie, but we were not disappointed. It was a very generous serving and we even had some leftover for the kids to try!

They loved it to.

I forgot to take a picture of the pie, but it was definitely deserving of being on the “bliss” menu.

 

This post was 100% my opinion. The only “compensation” I received was a lovely night out at Kona Grill. I did receive flowers, champagne and one sushi roll COMPLETELY free but it was nothing more than kindness of the manager. I wrote this post because I truly love good service and appreciated the effort to give us a lovely anniversary night and good service deserves to be talked about!

 

 

Roial bar austin

In 12 years, I’ve run into my share of accessibility issues. It’s usually because a where I was going was in a historical old house or hadn’t been remodeled in over 25 years. I get it, a ramp could destroy the beauty. If it’s somewhere we MUST be, we can work around it, no biggie. I married a strong, willing man, so he helps me out.

Last night I went to a fairly new bar on 5th street. It was beautiful. They consider theirselves “green”. They have an amazing rooftop deck where all the real action takes place. They have a live band and more than half the space is up there.

I didn’t get to see the rooftop deck. I just heard about it.

Why did I not see it? There was NO elevator.

Yes, my husband could have carried me up, but I was wearing a skirt. I didn’t want to be a Britney and flash all my husbands co-workers.

They forgot that teeny tiny detail when they designed this elaborate club.

I’m pretty sure that’s illegal.

I guess there is a chance it’s not illegal because the first floor was very accessible with a lovely ramp to the bathroom.

The reviews on this place were poor to begin with. It seems they pick and choose who can and can’t come in.

They could had a good thing going, but they failed in so many ways.

I think our local news station even covered how they were cheating their employees out of money.

I don’t see myself ever going back. I don’t see this club sticking around. I agree with other reviewers.

Roial bar is a major fail.

I rarely write accessibility reviews because it’s rarely an issue. The majority of bars and places don’t forget that detail.

iPic

My whirlwind began on Friday. Friday was put on my calendar over a year ago and it was just as fun as I had hoped it would be. I went with 3 friends to iPic (formally Gold Class Cinemas) to see Breaking Dawn: Part 1. I won’t go into details about the movie, that’s not my thing, but I wanted to talk about the theater a little bit. They make little effort to branch out to their disabled customers.

When you first go in, there is one tall desk. That’s it. It’s not a big deal but little did I know it was going to set the tone for the rest of their accommodations. We realized our fantastic EXPENSIVE seats were not accessible and the only accessible seats were the “cheap” ones that were CLOSER to the screen. Who wants to be close to the screen? REally. I pick theaters based on rear entry so I don’t have to keep my neck back. My friends very much did not want closer seats either so it was not just me. We decided someone would carry me up but they still wanted the manager to talk to us. We were told we could go sit in the bar and order food while we waited for him.

We went in the direction they directed us. There were over a dozen higher than bar height tables. Nice. No low tables at all. A random employee said she’d see what see could do. Wait. Wait. 5 minutes pass. Another employee said that there were low tables “over there”. WE head to the OTHER side, no where near the bar and there are low tables. Coffee tables. So I transfer to the couch, which is FINE for me but not everyone in a chair can do that. The table is still really low and I have to hold my food in my lap. Not ideal but it was a GNO so I’m in a good mood.

Oh, the manager. He finally shows up about 5 minutes before the movie starts (30 minutes after we were initially told he’d come) and he trys to convince us we want the “accessible” seats…making no mention of the refund he will owe us. We insist we want good seats and he asks in a snooty way if we’ve ever seen the inside of his theater and that he’s certain the seats will be just fine. He drops it when we say we want to be higher up.

There is no employee in sight when it’s time to carry me up but a random woman insists her husband carry me. No biggie.

No one EVER checks our tickets.

Random guy 2 asks if he can escort me back to my chair after the movie. THat was very funny.

Overall impression? I LOVED the cushy seats and free popcorn and think it will be AWESOME for date night when Charlie can carry me to my seat with NO issue. I think they can do a lot to change my feelings if they provide ONE table that is normal.

I WILL NOT sit in the accessible seat on top of the screen, but at least they have a spot. Unless it’s free. Then I’ll be willing to TRY it.

GNO

Heavenly Peach

See my new header? Isn’t it gorgeous?!

I have to say a HUGE thank you to Heavenly Peach Photography for the amazing photo session.

When I was pregnant with Nathan I was at a blogging event (shocker!) and I won a free session with a photographer I had never heard of. When I got home I looked her up and was amazed at her talent.

Fast forward a few weeks. I lost the “certificate”. So I emailed her. She was so sweet and told me not to worry about it. I told her I would be having a baby soon and wanted to wait until after he was born to do a family session. She said that was fine.

Time flew and baby arrived and then fall came full force. We scheduled the pictures and the day finally came. I was so eager to see the pictures when I finally got them. I could not wait to share. They were better than I could have ever hoped. I need to resize them first, but I plan to show you more from the session very soon!

If you are in the Austin area and need a fun, affordable photographer, give Lea a call!

I know I plan to call her again next year.

 

I voluntarily wrote this review. It was not a requirement. I do, however, truly love how my free pictures turned out. I plan to use her services again!

 

 

Janie Jones Photography

Here is the last set of maternity pictures from the Pinkle Toes Workshop I did at 36 weeks. I’m excited about these because they show me in my chair. The other sets I was in the grass or on a pretty wall. I still can’t pick a favorite though, I loved EVERYONE’S work!!

You’ve already seen the first one, but here it is anyways…(my eyes are closed – I admit it, I’m a blinker!  -  so that’s why I’ve used it as my profile picture, I love it and in a smaller size you can’t tell!)

If you would like to see more of Janie’s work, why not visit her blog!? And if you live in the Kansas City area why not give her a call?!

Ok, this is totally crazy. I thought I posted all the other sets to but I did NOT. ACK! I’ll fix that in the next week or so.

 

 

 

 

I was not asked to write this blog post, I did because I truly love the photos. I did, however, receive them for free, but that does not change my opinion.

Extreme Makeover Home

In the last 3 years I have opened my mail, and TWICE there has been an email from EXTREME MAKEOVER Home edition. Each time my heart skipped a beat.

I would NEVER accept an offer to make over my home. It’s fine as it is (and what’s not requires a few easy, though be it time consuming fixes) and there are countless other people out there that don’t come close to functioning in their home. That being said, it is still super exciting to see an email from them.

The first time was about 3 years ago. I can’t remember the person that contacted me, but she was looking for crib ideas for someone in a chair. I gave her a few ideas. I can’t remember what they ended up doing or if I ever got around to watching the episode. Bad me.

The second time was on Monday. I was asked if I would like to preview an episode that is scheduled to air on October 9th.

I said yes.

Last night, after we got the kids to bed, Charlie and I sat on the couch and really watched “A’s” story. This was one of the most emotional episodes I think I’ve ever watched. I won’t say why. You will have to watch. Just know that this little girl is a hero. She is an example of what more people should aspire to be. She’s a little girl, something really bad happened to her but yet her attitude is golden.

People like her don’t need my blog. She’s already figured out that life goes on, even if it was “the good leg”. She knows that you can be happy if you focus on being happy and not on what happened to you.

I can only wish that more ADULTS that experience something life changing can realize this as quickly as “A” did.

I encourage you to tune into your local ABC channel on Sunday and watch. Your heart will be touched. I promise.

 

The opinions in this post are MINE and mine alone. I was NOT compensated for writing this, other than an early preview provided by Different Drummer.

Maggie McNair review

I was asked by a friend to review a book, Maggie McNair Wears Stinky Underwear, by Sheila Booth-Alberstadt. You can buy it at Amazon.

When I read the title to my husband he wasn’t so sure he wanted me to read it at all, so we read what it was about and decided it would be a GREAT idea.

Our kids to like to take baths. Sometimes.  Other times? No so much.

The book was really quick and easy to read and perfect for beginning readers to read alone or for you to read to your child.  Here is a picture of my son holding it. The colors are very vivid and well done. My son liked the book and ALMOST believed me when I said it was written JUST for him. Almost.

My only complaint? ONE of the illustrations was strange but unless I showed you, which I’m not, it hard to explain why I didn’t like it. (of course if Corrin asks me to go into more details on why I don’t like it I will)

 

Here is William holding the book.

20110701-103251.jpg

Now, Would you like to win a copy? This is actually my very FIRST giveaway, ever. I’m going to make this super easy. Leave me a comment and tell me your favorite childhood book of all times and I will randomly draw a winner next Friday, July 8.

Dr. Pepper 10

We were at the grocery store on Sunday (H-E-B if you are from Texas) and we made our way around to the soft drinks. I’ve had Hansen’s Cherry Vanilla soda on my shopping list for about 4 months but I’ve been to lazy to go to Sprouts just for one thing so it sits on my shopping list. Anyways, I was hoping they had it since the last time we were there, they had a variety of Diet Hansen stuff. They didn’t have my desire but they had some non diet. I didn’t get any, in case you are wondering.

I guess this is probably confusing you since the title of my post is Dr. Pepper 10.  We made our way around the soft drink isle corner and Charlie saw it. He said he’d read about it and wanted to try it. I was game. How could I refuse trying something that is only being sold in 6 cities?

I opened one when we got in the parking lot and my first impression is that it TASTE like Dr. Pepper. That’s a good thing. However, it does have an after taste. The after taste isn’t as bad as the diet version but it was there. I took another sip. When the drink went into my mouth the after taste was gone and the DP taste was back. Then I swallowed again. The after taste was back.

Charlie tried it and said he didn’t think he’d buy it again but wouldn’t make a final decision until trying it cold.

We tried it cold. It was a little better, the after taste wasn’t as powerful. I just really dislike that artificial sweetener taste. I’m not entirely sold, but I do think I would highly recommend it to anyone that wants a better diet Dr. Pepper.  I’d pick this 100 times over any “diet” drink.

I guess that’s partly the problem when someone that doesn’t drink diet soda, EVER, tries to review a diet soda. (for all practical purposes this is a diet soda).

In conclusion, I will drink this again. This will NOT replace Dr. Pepper.  I think this is a really great drink for diet drinkers and should DEFINITELY stay on the market!!!

This review was own done by me because I wanted to. Dr. Pepper doesn’t know me and I paid full price for that 12 pack. IT WAS NOT EVEN ON SALE. I did not get anything out of this review other than a picture that is reflecting far too much light from the window.

Who wants a free wedding?

Are you or is someone you know newly engaged??

Then you or they should check check this out.

My friend is joining forces with some of the most amazing local vendors to make 1 couples wedding dreams come true for FREE (value is currently at $20,000), assuming you are willing to have a 9/10/11 wedding (I think that is way cool and may be even more cool then 11/11/11).

Watch this video and then visit McMurtrie Farms website for more details.

Some of you may remember the “bridal portraits” I did 7 years after my wedding. They were ALL at this gorgeous venue.

Photo taken by Ben Godkin (NOT A PARTICIPATING VENDOR IN THIS CONTEST)

This isn’t EXACTLY a review but I am putting this is Pfugerville Pfavorties since it’s been so long since I’ve posted anything there and it seems to be fitting!! Ooh, and I get absolutely NOTHING out of posting this. I am doing it as a favor for a friend. She didn’t even have to ask.

I should have gone with an iPad.

I’m not completely sure why there was really even a debate.

Oh, yeah. The price. The fear of durability. That’s about it.

As you may recall, I went to Bloggy Boot Camp in October. I wanted a netbook or an iPad before I went to take notes. I barely used it for that, of course. I tend to take written notes. It helps me remember better and I don’t really type all that fast. I can’t be completely perfect, so whatever.

I really wanted to get an iPad but the price tag had me.

It wasn’t a deal breaker but I heard reports of them shattering and it’s a first generation device, blah, blah.

That being said I ended up getting an Asus tablet netbook.

It has sucked. It takes FOREVER to start up. IT takes forever to laod anything. The tablet part is even more brutally slow. It was kind of a waste of money. I think.

Charlie plans to load linux on it for me and I am going to use it in the kitchen for all my recipes/food blogs. (If you have one of your own or a favorite be sure to let me know!!!!!!)

Maybe it wasn’t a total loss. I surely wouldn’t keep an iPad in the kitchen and if I can finally scan and load all my loose recipes onto one nice net device then that will be great.

I’ll try and remember to update you on how this goes in 6 months (or not because I’ll be having a baby in 6 months.) or a year.

In the meantime, I need to convince my husband that I need an iPad even though I have an iphone and a perfectly decent laptop.

This is a semi review on an asus netbook, completely my own idea to review it, not paid or even asked by anyone to do so.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...