Dining out with friends............

Over the weekend James and I made plans with a few friends to get together and go out to eat.    At first we were all undecided on the location of our gathering.  Our first choice was to go to Parx Casino in Philadelphia.  However, the forecast on Sat. called for several inches of snow.  We all decided we would not chance the weather and not take the 45 min. drive to Parx Casino.  James and I have never been to Parx Casino before and were looking forward to seeing the place. I guess we will have to venture out another time. 

We all decided to go to P.F. Chang's Restaurant.  Here is a little back round about P.F. Chang's.

''At P.F. Chang’s you are surrounded by a unique environment combining influences of Chinese and American cultures. A panoramic, hand-painted mural depicting 12th century China, is visible from the main dining room and commands attention as the restaurant’s centerpiece, while several terra-cotta warriors stand guard.
Our majestic 11 ft. tall horses grace the entrance to many of our restaurants. The horse symbolizes the original Forbidden City in China, which was built for China’s first emperor Qin Shi Huangdi.
These elements showcase the cuisine and create a stylish, comfortable, upbeat dining experience for our guests."

P.F. Chang's has great starter dishes.  Me and James shared Crab Wontons, they were delicious.  Here is a description of the Wontons.
 
"Crispy wontons filled with a creamy mixture of crab meat, bell peppers and green onions, served with a spicy plum sauce."

The wontons had a great crunch to them, the filling was excellent, the best part was the spicy plum sauce.  The sauce gave the Wonton that extra little flavor but did not take away from the creamy mixture.   


My friend Louisa and her husband Stan ordered this:


CRISPY GREEN BEANS
Tempura-battered with our signature spicy dipping sauce 

This was also an excellent choice as a starter. Our other friends could not decide on just one starter so they ordered a few great choices for all of us to share.  One choice was:

  SPRING ROLLS
Crispy spring rolls filled with fresh vegetables and served with a sweet & sour dipping sauce.

There were at least 13 different time of starters to choice from.  Each selection was not an overwhelming amount of food.  It was just right to get a little taste of several different starters the restaurant had to offer.

Moving on to the entrees.  Each entree is served with white rice or brown rice.  The table ordered brown rice and we also tried the Fried Rice with chicken.  Both were great choices.

Here is a picture of the Fried Rice:

I picked a sweet & sour chicken, this was really good with some of the brown rice on top.  My friend Monique also picked a chicken dish which I had a taste of.  She choice a Crispy Honey chicken.  Both chicken dishes have great flavor.  If I had to choice which one I liked the best I would go with the sweet & sour chicken.
They also offer a good selection of seafood as an entree.  James went with:

SICHUAN SHRIMP OR SCALLOPS
Prepared in a red chili pepper garlic sauce

James decided on the Scallops.  He really loved the Scallops they were seasoned and cook really well.  I only had a small little taste because red chili pepper has to much of a hot taste for my liking.  For what I tasted and the look of the Scallops this was also a great choice.

P.F. Chang's also offers Vegetarian & Gluten Free  Plates..  Over all there is something for everyone at P.F. Chang's.  If you like sweet or spicy there are many great choices. 
  
In conclusion, did we save room for dessert??? Of course we did.  What would a great meal be without finishing it off with an awesome desert.  Something chocolate for me as always.............Instead of describing the dessert I will just show you a picture and you can decide whether or not you think it was delicious...............

 

  Just a quick thanks to all my friends & family who are supporting my blog daily.  You guys are Awesome!!!!!

Let's go somewhere tropical!!

There is over a foot of snow outside and it's freezing.  I thought today why not think about a great warm tropical place to visit.  I was thinking about the Atlantis

in the Bahamas.  It has been a really long time since I visited theAtlantis

in Bahamas.  The island has been built up so much within the last 10 years. Here are some great pictures I found:

   

Atlantis Hotel is in Paradise Island, and from just these two pictures I would agree it's a paradise island.  Here are just some of the things you can do:

1- Dolphin Cay offers an intimate and one of a kind Atlantis resort experience. Dolphin Cay is an extraordinary environment showcased on 14-acres with almost 7 million gallons of crystal clear seawater. It is one of the largest and most sophisticated marine habitats and animal rescue-rehabilitation facilities unlike anything in the world. It is a place where swimming with dolphins and interacting with sealions has been redefined creating memories of a lifetime for you and your family. Guests of all ages have the opportunity to experience our playful and charismatic dolphins or sea lions in our shallow water interaction programs. For the more adventurous guest, we have created an experience where you not only see, but feel the speed and agility of the ocean’s most remarkable inhabitant’s first-hand in deeper water during the Dolphin Deep Water Swim. You can also join in the ultimate trainer for a day program for an in-depth, up-close and personal experience to get a first hand look at how Atlantis cares for all of the animals including fish, sharks, sea lions and dolphins!


2-

AQUAVENTURE. NON-STOP WATER. NON-STOP FUN.

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Aquaventure, Atlantis Paradise Island’s water park, is a one-of-a-kind 141-acre waterscape with complimentary admission for over-night guests at Atlantis. This non-stop aquatic thrill ride features over twenty million gallons of water, incredible Atlantean-themed towers, thrilling high-speed water slides, a mile-long river ride with rolling rapids and wave surges, 20 swimming areas, a spectacular kids water-play fort and 11 unique and refreshing swimming pools—connected by a lush, tropical environment that is both immersive and interconnected. For vacationers young and older; the water park offers an extreme level of excitement and delivers an “aqua” adventure unlike any other.


3-

BREATHTAKING COLLECTION OF MARINE EXHIBITS

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Before getting their first look at Paradise Island, vacationers, may not realize the unique opportunity they’ll have to explore a truly extraordinary collection of marine habitats and aquarium exhibits—lagoons, caves, coral formations and breathtaking underwater ruins designed to showcase exotic marine life ranging from dolphins and sea lions to sharks, rays, barracuda, to piranha, eels and even endangered alligator gar. Atlantis Resort host the largest such exhibit in the Caribbean and one of the largest in the world … encompassing 14 lagoons, eight million gallons of salt water and more than 50,000 aquatic animals representing over 250 marine species.


The Atlantis also has tons of night life entertainment including gambling.  I really think this Island has something to do for the whole family.  The kids would enjoy all the fun slides the hotel has to offer as well as swimming in those awesome looking pools.  Only one thing left to say, when are we going???

Video games and more Video games!!!!

My children were so happy when they got their Ipad Mini's for Christmas.  My twins were especially excited when they added all their Itune cards they got as gifts from their family to their Ipad Mini's.  I know the first game my son Michael bought was The Clash Of Clans.  The download was free, however all the accessories for the game is where he used much of his Itune money.  Here is a little clip of the game:

The first game Amanda was so excited to download was Sims. In this game or world I should say you create your own people & family.  Amanda like to play the Sims Freeplay which apparently is different from the game Sims. Once you create your own family and name your family you interact with each member of your family.  A family pet or pets can also be created and named.  Each family you create because you can create more than one family you can interact with.  The game also lets you create a home for your family.  The game also allows you to create a town and climate where your family will live.  The download is free but in order to create certain life points and other accessories you must purchase this with your Itunes money.  I guess offering these games initially is free and to actually use all the tools and accessories involved is where they get you to spend all your money.  Here is a clip about the game Sims:

Both these games use such detailed graphics, it looks so realistic.......  These games are also so very technical.  I sometimes wonder after watching the kids play these games if they are actually learning anything from them.  I remember when they were little and they watched Sesame Street and were engaged in staring at Elmo if this was good for their development. At least with Sesame Street they were listening to fun songs,sounds of letters,and new letter each day.

Getting back to the game, "Sims", are they learning ANYTHING FROM THIS GAME.  If you think about it.  The children have to create a family.  In order to care for this family they have to have the members of the family have a job to earn points. When you earn points by working and only then can you use these points to build a house.  With earning points only then can you can add children to your family and pets.  Also, the babies that are bought with points in order for these babies to get bigger you have to interact with the babies.  The babies have to be fed, changed and taken care of.  In order for you to move around and up in the game all the members of the family you created have to have a purpose.  The children need to go to school to earn points.  The other family members need to choice jobs/careers in order to earn points. The more points you earn the better your house and accessories within your house get.

In conclusion, I am worried a little bit less today when watching my children on their Ipads.  Today I learned that playing the game Sims is actually teaching my children responsibilities.  Earning a living in order to purchase accessories for the family is completely a realistic game of what life is about.

Move time with the kiddes.........Frozen

A bunch of friends of mine and all our children went to go to see the Disney movie Frozen.

Here is a clip from the movie:

I know the children really enjoyed this movie.  It was like a musical animation feature with lots of twists. Olaf was a live snowman who just wanted to experience a summer.  Being a snowman how could he experience what is was like to live in summer weather.  This snowman was Amanda's favorite character in the movie.  In the end, Olaf wish comes true.  The snow princess Elsa gives him his own personal snow cloud over his head so he won't melt in the summer. Elsa is the Queen of ice and her sister Anna is the princess.  This movie takes you on a really cold adventure through a forest.  All the characters meet up with a snow creature, see picture below:

The snow princess and her sister are being tricked into not loving each other so the evil Hans plots and plans to take over their castle. Lots of twists and excitement throughout the move.  The movie also had lots of other fun characters in the forest.
Great movie for all ages even adults.  I really enjoyed this movie especially all the music. 

Cleaning dark hard wood floors....

My dark hard wood floors look like they need to be dusted just about every other day.  I know most of you that know me would say, that's because I am anal about not seeing any dust in my house.  Well, I do agree with that statement.  Cleaning dark wood or any hard wood floors what products do you use? For dusting I swear by my Swiffer. I use my Swiffer for all my dark hard wood floors as well as my kitchen title floors.  For getting a deeper cleaning I would use the Swiffer Wet Jet. I love that once the pad used is dirty you can simply just replace it and keep cleaning.  If you use a mop, you have to continually rinse the mop out.  The fact that you keep dipping the mop into a bucket of dirty water doesn't seem like an effective way of cleaning any type of floor.  A mop would come in handy if there was a big spill of some sort that needed cleaning.

One of my favorite cleaning tools from Swiffer is the Dusters.  Here is a picture:

This is a great little tool that is so easy to use.  Once the dusting brush getting dirty you can shake the dust out a couple of times at first then replace the whole duster with a new brush.  They sell the refills separately.  However, you can always just but a whole new set each time it comes with at least 2 brushes with it. This dust brush is great for picture frames and for getting in between places.  It is a soft material and won't scratch delicate surfaces such as a television.  

Cleaning is not a fun activity for most of us.  Having great effective products to make the process an easier one really makes a difference. 


Great picture of a daisy.......................:)

What age should a child walk home from school alone?

What age should it be okay for a child to walk home alone?  Is there legally an age a child can walk home from school alone?  I am not sure if there is an actual legal age a child can walk home alone.  Here is what I found from familyeducation.com

How do you know if your child is ready to stay home alone or ride his bike to school? By asking him. Ideally, your child should know the following twelve points before he is ever alone in public. Sit down with your child and talk about each one of the twelve points listed below from Gavin de Becker's book, Protecting the Gift.
The Test of Twelve

1. Does your child know how to honor his feelings? If someone makes him uncomfortable, that's an important signal.
2. Are you as the parent strong enough to hear about any experience your child has had, no matter how unpleasant?
3. Does your child know it's okay to rebuff and defy adults?
4. Does your child know it's okay to be assertive?
5. Does your child know how to ask for assistance or help?
6. Does your child know how to choose who to ask? For example, he should look for a woman to help him.
7. Does your child know how to describe his peril?
8. Does your child know it's okay to strike, even to injure, someone if he believes he is in danger, and that you'll support any action he takes as a result of feeling uncomfortable or afraid?
9. Does your child know it's okay to make noise, to scream, to yell, to run?
10. Does your child know that if someone ever tries to force him to go somewhere, what he screams should include, ''This is not my father''? Onlookers seeing a child scream or even struggle are likely to assume the adult is a parent.
11. Does your child know that if someone says, ''Don't yell,'' the thing to do is yell? The corollary is if someone says, ''Don't tell,'' the thing to do is tell.
12. Does your child know to fully resist ever going anywhere out of public view with someone he doesn't know, and particularly to resist going anywhere with someone who tries to persuade him?

That was a list searched on Goggle.  I am uncertain that there are more awareness and skills a child needs to be able to walk home alone. Here is how I feel about children walking home without a parent or guardian.

1-Does the child know their address if they got lost?

2-Does the child know in what direction they are walking in.

3-How to cross the street by looking both ways.

4-Not to get distracted by talking to friends while crossing the street.

5-Go directly home after school  making no stops at any friends house.

6-Having a cell phone while walking in case of an emergency.

7-Knowing what is actually an emergency.

8-How to avoid contact with a stranger.  

 

In my opinion women can also be a person in question not to trust.  The schools normally teach our children if you get lost to look for a mother who is with her children. A mother with her children is differnent then looking for just a women to help if your child is lost.

In all honestly children walking in groups home from school,having a cell phone for an emergency & also being aware of their surroundings is the best way to approach walking home.

The Wolf of Wall Street.......

James and I decided to go see The Wolf of Wall Street with Leonardo Dicaprio.  Based on the true life story of Jordan Belfort.  It starts out with a Jordan, the new kid on the block getting swallowed up by Wall street in his first day as a broker on Black Monday.  He then started selling worthless penny stocks with a 50% broker commission to the normal blue collared worker. Jordan had a salesmanship about him that is ruthless.  His company doubled and tripled in size in less then five years. Jordan would have scripts that could turned the shy kid out of college into a ruthless killer on the phone. His life soon turned into day after day drug enduced, sex crazed adventure.  It was not long before the Security Exchange Commission was knocking down his door along with the FBI Federal Crimes division.

All in all it was a good movie, showing the average person a glimpse into the careless, ruthless acts of a Wall Street tycoon. Was the years of lavish luxury worth the 22 months in jail he served?  He is said to owe the federal government over 100 million dollars, but as the saying goes; You can squeeze lemonade out of a lime. So it sounds as if Jordan is still living a good life and drops off money to the federal government when he can.

Just a warning this is a movie not suited for children or in my opinion a young adult like 18.  There are many parts of the film that included nudity and overuse of drugs.  I think younger minds will get the impression this is a great way to live life.  Most of the movie shows parties and happy humerous times.  But it does not reflect on any hardship which I am sure was endured in reality.  Jordan Belfort went through two divorces and lost most of his possessions.