Our Travels Archives - Page 21 of 24

Just Between Friends Consignment Sale Main Line, PA

March 4, 2013 by Melissa

Shopping for kids clothes is a HUGE expense. Mine don’t seem to stop growing, not even if I’ve already shopped for that season. While I love shopping new trends and styles I also prefer to save money on basics like jeans, coats and tees. By gently used I’m able to stock up on great deals for coming seasons without putting a dent in our bank account or sacrificing on fun kids fashion.

Coming to the Greater Philadelphia Expo in Oaks, PA on March 14-16 is Just Between Friends, the nation’s leading Children’s and Family Consignment Sales Event Franchise.

Just Between Friends Sales events are a savvy shopper’s dream!
These are not retail stores but rather savings extravaganzas–shopping events that happen usually twice a year per location. At these events, consignors bring their new and gently-used children’s and maternity merchandise to sell. Shoppers can then browse and purchase these items at great savings, usually far below retail prices.

At a typical Just Between Friends event, you can find clothing, toys, baby equipment, strollers, high chairs, cribs, joggers, nursery gear, maternity wear, baby carriers, play yards, play sets, coats, shoes and more in an organized, clean environment.

On March 14th-16th HUNDREDS of shoppers will decend onto over 35,000 square feet of space to spend money while saving money from over 700 consignors looking to make a few bucks for their own families. Admission is cheap but there are opportunities to download free admission passes.

I”ll be headed there for a sneak peek to see why they were voted 2012 Franchise of the Year

Check your schedule and make time to visit Just Between Friends Consignment Sale in Oaks, PA.

St. Patrick’s Day Dine at Sesame Place

February 5, 2013 by Melissa

Even though the winter weather has closed the Sesame Place for the season that doesn’t mean you and your family can’t visit for special occasions.

St. Patricks Day Dine
Saturday, March 16, 2013 (11:30 AM – 1:00 PM)
Erin Go Bragh! Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with Elmo and Friends and they dance a jig to their favorite Sesame Street songs. Come dressed in your most festive, green attire and enjoy a buffet lunch, holiday desserts and Irish-inspired favors for all the wee lads and lassies.

Opening Day
Saturday, April 27th, 2013
Mark your calendar so you don’t miss the new events and an all new Opening Day Celebration. Be one of first 500 guests to visit Mr. Hooper’s Emporium and receive a special gift!

Purchase a 2013 Super Grover Season Pass at 20% off the regular price – Offer ends March 1st!

With a 2013 Super Grover Season Pass, enjoy unlimited admission to Sesame Place (thru 10/27/13), SeaWorld (FL, TX, CA), Busch Gardens (FL, VA), Aquatica (FL, TX), Water Country USA (VA) and Adventure Island (FL) parks during their regular 2013 operating seasons. Not valid for admission during A Very Furry Christmas at Sesame Place.

MORE INFO: http://commerce.4adventure.com/EStore/Scripts/Skins/SPL/TicketsPassports.aspx

A Longwood Gardens Christmas

December 3, 2012 by Melissa

Except for the 3 years we lived in Maryland I’ve lived in the same 60 square mile radius all of my life. In all of those years I’ve never visited Longwood Gardens even when I was only 20 minutes away.

Longwood Gardens is a 1,077 acre estate in Kennett Square, PA that includes gardens, meadows, woodlands, fountains and a 4 – acre conservancy.

I was invited to participate on the Star Blogger Team for Longwood Gardens Christmas this past week. The introduction included a visit and tour of the property. While we didn’t get to view the entire estate we did see enough to be amazed and delighted at the twinkling lights and lush plants in the conservancy.

It was already dark when we arrived to Longwood Gardens but were greeted with hanging lights and snowflakes and light covered trees to guide our way. I want to make sure our next visit has some daytime viewing so we can enjoy the other attractions such as The Garden Railway, the dancing fountains and magnificent decorated trees.

Longwood is going to become a tradition for our family for now on since I’ve been able to experience it first hand.
If you are local to the Philadelphia area I highly suggest taking the time to visit Longwood Gardens. I would highly suggest to visiting during the less busy hours during the weekdays. This will give you and your family more time to enjoy the scenery and foliage and flowers without the hustle and bustle of crowds.

Take my word for it, Longwood Gardens is worth the trip.

What I Learned at the Kenmore Fall 2012 Blogger Summit

November 25, 2012 by Melissa

Some of you may know that back in October I attended the Kenmore Fall 2012 Blogger Summit in Chicago. This is my second year attending the Kenmore event and this time I got to meet a lot of really cool food bloggers. I love visiting Chicago because the atmosphere of the city is just awesome.

This was waiting for me when I arrived at the hotel.

The view from my room.

So like I mentioned the event was back in October so it has been a little over a month and the event was not only fun but informative. I learned a lot of stuff about cooking, food and lighting that I had no idea about. Melinda does most of the cooking in our house due to my work schedule but I do cook a few meals here and there when I have time. I am trying to take more pictures and write down more recipes when I prepare meals so that I can share them with my readers. So far I think we have shared maybe 2-3 recipes.

I also got the chance to learn about Cookmore which is Kenmore’s online cookbook where you are able to build your own recipe collection, view other peoples recipes and share your new and old recipes with others. I shared a recipe on Cookmore that has been in the family for many generations. Now I don’t think the recipe is anything new but it’s one that has been made around Christmas for as long as I can remember which you can see HERE.

Kenmore made this event so much fun as well as interactive so we actually got to get our hands dirty in the kitchen which was good. We weren’t all just sitting around bored listening to and watching other chefs cook we actually got to roll up our sleeve and got a chance to be chefs for a day.

Here are two dishes that my team and I made.

All in all the Kenmore 2012 Blogger Summit was a ton of fun. I like attending this kind of event because not only do I broaden my blogging horizons but I also get to meet some really nice people along the way which is really awesome. I am hoping to get an invite to the next Kenmore event so that I can meet more cool people and learn more awesome stuff from the folks at Kenmore.

If you can please head over to Cookmore because every recipe you add or share earns $1 for Heroes at Home up to $10,000. I can’t think of an easier way to help our troops and their families.

Airfare, hotel and meals were provided for this event but all of the opinions in this post are my own!!

The Parking Spot Recap

October 23, 2012 by Melissa

This past weekend I took an awesome trip to Chicago for the Kenmore 2012 Fall Blogger Summit and I had the opportunity to leave my car at The Parking Spot while I was on my trip.

Typically when I fly I tend to use the same parking lot and have done so for the last few years so I will admit that I was a little skeptical trying somewhere new. Now I know you might say it’s only a parking lot but I like knowing that my car is safe and will be in the same condition that I left it when I return back from my trip. Parking in the same lot for the last few years has given me a certain comfort level because I know how their overall process works but I stepped outside of my comfort zone and gave The Parking Spot a try and I am glad I did.

One day early last week I went to their web site to make a reservation which took only a few minutes because I wanted to make sure that the lot wouldn’t be full the day I arrived. The Parking Spot offers self-parking and valet parking at very reasonable prices and thankfully I decided on valet parking because when I arrived to the lot in Philadelphia on Friday it was pouring rain so needless to say it was nice to have a nice dry garage to pull into and unload all of my luggage. After I unloaded my luggage the attendant took my car and I waited for the shuttle to pick me up and take me to the airport. One of the things that I really liked besides the garage since it was pouring was that they offered free bottles of water as well as free copies of the USA Today (which I read on the way to Chicago). Most of the time it’s the little things that make an experience that much more enjoyable.

I was gone for two days and when I arrived back to Philly the process was super simple. I needed to wait in a certain zone at the airport and the shuttle just showed up. I called and was told a shuttle comes by approximately every seven minutes which means you won’t have to wait very long to be picked up. When I arrived back to the lot I was dropped off inside the valet garage and the attendant got my car for me and I was off. It was really that simple. After I settled up with the person and was about to pull away she handed me a bottle of water and told me to have a nice day. Again it’s the little things and I was so happy because after getting to the airport for a 6am flight and not having time to eat that bottle of water was refreshing and made my experience at The Parking Spot that much more enjoyable.

The Parking Spot, the nation’s largest near-airport parking operator, is now offering travelers up to 25 percent off parking as part of its “More Spots, More Savings” national promotion. With more than 35 locations at 22 U.S. airports, it’s now easier than ever to take advantage of low airfares and plan a getaway.

For this trip I stepped outside of my comfort zone and I am glad I did because The Parking Spot is now my new place to park when traveling from the Philadelphia airport.

Will you be traveling soon? If so today is your lucky day because one Look What Mom Found… and Dad too! reader will have the chance to win a voucher good for one week of free parking (valid for either self-park or valet) at any of the locations at the following U.S. airports : Atlanta Hartsfield, Austin Bergstrom, Buffalo – Niagara, Dallas Fort Worth, Dallas Love Field, Denver International, Houston Hobby, Houston George Bush Intercontinental, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Memphis, Nashville, Newark, New York JFK, Oklahoma City Will Rogers, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix Sky Harbor, Pittsburgh, Port Columbus, and Lambert -St. Louis. All you have to do is tell me where you are planning on going for your next trip.

EXTRA ENTRIES:
To receive these extra opportunities for entries, you must fulfill the first REQUIRED entry above. Please note the changes to the entries and frequency, entries that don’t follow rules may be disregarded/ignored/deleted.

SUBSCRIBE to LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too! via email or RSS feed
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Your entries must follow the rules or they won’t be eligible for prizes. This contest ends 11:59 pm, Wednesday, November 14, 2012. The winners will be emailed and will have 24 hours to claim their prize. This contest is open to Continental US residents only. For complete rules please read our blog contest rules page.

Heading To The Kenmore Fall 2012 Blogger Summit

October 17, 2012 by Melissa

I will be heading to Chicago again on October 19th and 20th to attend the Kenmore Fall 2012 Blogger Summitt. Last year was a ton of fun and I met a lot of great people which you can read HERE and I am looking forward to doing the same again this year.

This year, the focus is on cooking as they launch their digital cookbook with some top chefs on hand. I do like to cook but must admit I don’t do as much as I probably should and I am hoping this trip to Chicago will energize me to cook more. I am also looking forward to learning more about the digital cookbook and seeing what recipes people are adding because we are always looking for new meals in our house.

If you are interested in seeing what everyone will be talking about this Friday and Saturday be sure to follow #cookmore on Twitter and join in on the conversation.

Hope to see you in the windy city this weekend.

Annie’s Slice of Happiness Tour

October 17, 2012 by Melissa

If you read my Facebook status updates you know that EVERY Friday I mention TGIF – Homemade Pizza compliments of Melinda so when I heard about the Annie’s Pizza Slice of Happiness Tour I checked to see if they would be close to Delaware. As luck would have it they will be in Philadelphia on October 27-28.

The Slice of Happiness Tour began in September 29th in Berkeley, CA and will end with their last stop in the San Francisco Bay Area on November 14-16.

Below is a list of all of the stops with a link so that you can get further details.

Sept. 29
Sept. 30
Oct. 5
Oct. 6
Oct. 10
Oct. 12-13
Oct. 16-17
Oct. 20-21, 23
Oct. 24-25
Oct. 27-28
Oct. 31, Nov. 2
Nov. 3-4
Nov. 7-8
Nov. 14-16

Berkeley, CA
Petaluma, CA
Denver, CO
Littleton, CO
Des Moines, IA
Chicago, IL
Cincinnati, OH
New York, NY
New Haven, CT
Philadelphia, PA
Atlanta, GA
Nashville, TN
Minneapolis, MN
San Francisco Bay Area

At each stop, the “Slice of Happiness Tour” will serve up delicious pizza and host a number of fun, family activities including the opportunity to dig into Annie’s Truck Farm – a mobile garden growing organic herbs like the ones found in Annie’s pizza. Visitors can also take interactive family photos with Bernie, Annie’s mascot and Rabbit of Approval, and have a chance to win prizes, pizza coupons or an appearance on Annie’s “Slice of Happiness Tour” website.

The family and I will be checking out the stop in Philadelphia, PA so if you see three kids going nuts over free pizza samples be sure to come over and say hi because those are my kids.

For those of you in or coming to Philly area here are the event details:

Sat 10/27, 6-10pm
The Schuylkill Center’s Halloween Hikes and Hayrides
8480 Hagy’s Mill Rd, Philadelphia, PA 19128

Also be sure to follow on Twitter @anniespizzatour and at Hashtag: #sliceofhappiness.

Pictures of Summer in NYC

September 6, 2012 by Melissa

a couple months back on one of the hottest days of the summer Steph and Kelly and I ventured into New York City for an event. The event sucked but we made the best of it while walking the streets of NYC, through Chelsea Markets and Union Square and doing a little bargain shopping.

Here are some pictures I took while there.

Here is Matthew Silver, The Great Performer. I spotted him half a block away across the street doing his thing in Union Square.

Where did you go this summer?

Choose Cruise for Family Friendly Vacation

September 3, 2012 by Melissa

Lately I’ve been hearing from families if cruises are truly family friendly. One of the biggest worries I hear “Is there going to be stuff for my toddler to do”. I say yes. We brought a toddler on a cruise and she still talks about it, remembers it vividly. My recommendation for a truly family friendly cruise is Carnival Cruise Lines. They are by far one of the most accommodating cruise lines for families out there. The staff goes out of their way to treat everyone like family and you definitely get the biggest bang for your buck when booking versus other cruise lines.

Something for everyone. Kids love mini golf but dad loves comedy while mom enjoys a relaxing massage. Get all of these options and more on board. The newer ships are adding more and more onboard entertainment and activities for every age. Don’t forget about the onboard pools and water parks and arcades.

Camp/Daycare/Youth programs. Send the kids to camp for the day or just a few hours while the adults indulge in some quiet poolside time. Let the teens dance dance dance with new friends at Club O2. Camp Carnival Night Owls(fees apply) is the ship’s newest adventure; giving kids the chance to stay later with organized events when the sun goes down. Camp Carnival is included in the cost of your cruise and runs on every ship in the fleet. Carnival caters to families and has activities and programs designed for kids age 4-months to 17 years old.

Food for every taste. Even the pickiest of eaters are going to find something to eat at one of the many restaurants. 24-hour pizza and room service is also an option for those less than structured meal times. Those with more refined palates can choose sushi, mongolian wok, gourmet Guy Fieri Burgers or signature dining options available everyday.

New sites everyday. How else are you going to be able to hope around to 3-4 different countries in just 1 week’s time. Ports of call are wonderful ways to get a peek at new scenery and experience a different culture even for just a few hours. Beaches, jungles, villages and markets are welcoming sites for tourist activity and shopping and excursions.

Trouble Free. Once you step on the boat there isn’t anything else you need to worry about. Your meals, transportation, entertainment and clean towels are all taken care of. Extras include beverages, casinos and spa treatments but those can be budgeted or left out without affecting your overall experience and satisfaction. Each day you receive an activity sheet for kids and you. The thinking is done for you.

My kids still talk about the cruise we experienced 2 years ago. They look at pictures, remember the beach excursions and talk about the plethora of food. We were able to spend a great deal of quality time together but each person was also able to enjoy their own time and space and adventures without hampering anyone else’s great time.

Shae’s Birthday at #Morey’sPier

August 23, 2012 by Melissa

Shae recently celebrated her 5th birthday. We spent the weekend doing things as a family, enjoying not only each other but soaking in the last days of summer vacation. I’m big on having parties and get togethers for the kids but this year we went a totally different direction.

Wildwood, NJ is home to some of the biggest and best beach fun on the east coast. The boardwalk is HUGE and home to games, rides, food and more. I grew up going to Wildwood and vividly remember rides like the Serpent and Olympic Fun Center for their arcades. This year is the first time we’ve taken the kids to Wildwood. We headed to Morey’s Piers.

Our day started early at the waterpark. Shae made her way down ShotgunFalls and WipeOut with NO FEAR. I on the other hand hate rides including the simpler things like the log flume.

The kids had a blast and we spent about 5 hours there before heading over to the rides. Sabreena is the daredevil and got on the “it”. It took Shaun an hour or so but he joined Sabreena on the scary rides.

The day was fantastic, one of the best times we’ve had as a family. We’re already talking about going back next year.

Longwood Gardens is a 1,077 acre estate in Kennett Square, PA that includes gardens, meadows, woodlands, fountains and a 4 – acre conservancy.

Where did you go this summer?

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