Book, product review, recipe

Yummy Kawaii Bento – Preparing Adorable Meals for Adorable Kids #Bento

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What if you could entice your children or grandchildren to eat balanced meals every day? Even better, how do you transform the routine of  unoriginal meals into a joy for yourself? Let’s play with your food!! My grandchildren picked out their favorite. This is where Yummy Kawaii Bento – Preparing Adorable Meals for Adorable Kids comes in!!

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Natalie picked the Ice Cream Buddies out of the 80 different bento meals on how to construct shapes and food art.

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Liam went for the Ninjas. With more than 160 step-by-step on how to assemble balanced bento meals, create food art and cook individual  recipes that bridge East and the West, making eating fun for everyone.

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Caleb went for the Soboro Lion (ROAR) . It was a tough choice between Hot “dog” buns, Teddy bear- shaped mini pizzas and Porky Pastas!!!

 

community, Dining, Family

Birthday Celebration #NicksTuscanGrill

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We all agree people today are just so busy. It seems that instead of having plenty of time, we have to make time for the things that are important. Which brings us to celebrating every birthday because each one is a gift. Marlene, the birthday girl chose Nick’s Tuscan Grill.  The place was packed, noisy and smelled delish!!

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That’s a good sign in our books. 🙂 We started out with a glass of wine and we shared a chopped salad. Wish I had taken a photo of the bread, but it did not stand a chance. We gobbled it up.

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My sister Marianne ordered the Eggplant Rollatine with pasta. The Birthday Girl ordered Short Rib Lasagna with Sausage. Portions are generous and we all went home with a doggy bag.

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I ordered the Seafood Lasagna, which was stuffed with shrimp, clams, calamari, mussels and scallops. I could only eat half. So good. Merci went for the Chicken with Butternut Squash keeping in the season. She ate it all up!

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We shared two desserts The Homemade Brownie Sundae and Nick’s Homemade Cannoli. Now make a wish,blow out the candle and hand me a spoon.

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Birthdays are the time to think about all of the wonderful times we’ve all shared together. So thankful for our adventures and all of the things that we’ve done as friends. Looking forward to making many more memories with you. Happy Birthday!

product review

Monday At Jelly Roll Dog Park by Jennifer Schreiber #Jellyrolldogpark

IMG_3454 Monday At Jelly Roll Dog Park  is the story of pure bred dogs who thought that being a purebred gave them clout and prestige and the right to snob their tales at mutts.

Pure breeds like Rex the Rottweiler, Ginger the Golden Retriever, Champ the Jack Russell terrier, and Princess the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, to name a few.

Then one day Muttley, the mutt, walks into Jelly Roll Dog Park and when the  purebreds realize  that  Muttley’s blood line is not so pure, they turn there tails on poor Muttley. Muttley only wanted a friend.   IMG_3456 (1)The story has a happy ending.

The bully dogs DO NOT WIN.

And Muttley learns, with the help of Daisy Mae, the guardian angel of Jelly Roll Dog Park, that he is special.  Muttley discovers his strengths and rises above the bullying and earns respect from the other dogs.

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My granddaughter loved this story and it taught her that you need to face a bully the way Muttley did.

The author of Monday at Jelly Roll Dog  Park  is the first book in a children’s anit-bullying series.  Jennifer Schreiber is the CEO of Just Jenerous Inc.

Her endeavors are centered around inspiring acts of generosity to reinforce her belief that peace on the planet begins with  peace on the playground.

Family, Travel

The Isle Of Capri #Capri #AmalfiCoast

When we went to the Amalfi Coast it was a must that we visit the Island of Capri.IMG_3066 (2)

We hopped on the ferry and ferried across the sea.  The  turquoise blue, fresh and clear sea.  The sea that had not a  blemish.  IMG_2996

I tell you if I could swim, which I can’t,  I would’ve swam the sea across to Capri!

Capri so lived up to it’s name.  Capri is an island (part of  Campania) in the Bay of Naples in southern Italy.

Capri is a Italian girl name. The meaning of the name is `Fanciful`

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Here we sit at Faraglioni: Gardens of Augustus.  IMG_3024

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The Faraglioni are the two large rocks that jut out of the Mediterranean sea.

As we looked down from way on top of the hill I saw what appeared to be some type of road.

I could not help but imagine Roman chariots rolling down these paths to reach the bottom of the mountain.

IMG_3050  We walked the town and saw the shops.  Pretty pricey stores! All designer shops. I did stroll into  a eye glass shop, thinking maybe I would buy designer sunglasses.  Well,  that idea went right out the frame window.  The pair I fell in love with were priced at 1,200 Euros…Holy Moly!  Designer, Chanel.   No wonder they looked so fine…needless to say we marched out of the store and just ended up IMG_3022window shopping from that point on.

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We loved Capri but made one mistake.  We didn’t go to AnaCapri where I was told you take a cable ride up the mountain and there you would be at the highest point of the island.  If only we had known.