KerryAndGabe.com

I still haven’t posted my favorites from 2011 (that post is coming), but I think I have found my favorite thing of 2012. That’s right, a mere 20 days into 2012, I’ve discovered The Coca Cola Freestyle machine. I was coerced to give Moe’s a try. I’ve declared that I hate Moe’s which is quite the unpopular opinion! I think I’m just not a fan of their burritos, but the steak quesadilla was fine. So, perhaps I won’t refuse to go there next time…but what may tip the scales is the Coca Cola Freestyle machine.

I was thrilled to find that they had Caffeine Free Diet Coke, a rarity in restaurants. Little did I know what choices I was about to encounter! It has one dispenser and a big touchscreen.

And that’s just the start! After you pick your base soda, you can have it plain…or add delightful flavors.

My first thoughts were, “um, can I buy one of these for my house??” I chose the Raspberry Caffeine Free Diet Coke. YUM! I hear that all of our Firehouse Subs now have these as well. Awesome!

So, when I win the lottery (that I don’t play), then I think my first call will be to the Coca Cola headquarters to see about installing one of these in my house.

I’m woefully behind on the blog, due to an awesome 5-year anniversary photobook that I made for Gabe for Christmas. I included photos from our wedding day to our 5th anniversary. I think it turned out great, but it took a lot of work (including two vacation days to get it done in time). I didn’t have time to sort through any photos since then between that and then the cruise and then Christmas. Whew!

So, I wasn’t able to give Coquette Brasserie a proper review, considering it has now been two months since our meal. I’ll see what I can remember.

We made reservations at the last minute since our original plans fell through. A friend had recommended it, and French cuisine always sounds like a fancy place worthy of an anniversary dinner. Our criteria for anniversary dinners is that it has to be fairly fancy (somewhere that we wouldn’t want to take the kids is best) and somewhere neither of us have been (preferably, though in later years we may change our minds).

When making the reservations, I just happened to mention that it was our anniversary. I remembered that when we ate at Second Empire, they made us a custom menu, and other places have recognized our anniversary.

We arrived a little early, and they were not very busy and seated us right away. We were a little disappointed as many of the tables are quite close together. It’s not a great place if you want a private meal. We were seated right next some other people who finished up not long after we arrived. We had two small tables on either side of us. The hostess tried to seat other people next to us, but everyone requested a different table, fortunately. I wish we had thought to do that! We were happy that nobody wanted to sit close to us.

I’m glad we mentioned our anniversary, because they brought us complimentary champagne to celebrate soon after we were seated.

I wanted a glass of wine, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted. The waiter brought me 3 different samples (at least a third of a glass each) to try before I ordered a full glass. One of the wines I hated, but I ended up liking the one I ordered, especially with my entree. I wish I had written it down so I could remember what it was! We were impressed with the service and their attention to our special day.

We had a cheese plate, and I think we’ve both decided that while we love cheese, we’re not sure we love ALL cheeses (especially most blue cheese type cheeses). At least one of the cheeses was yummy. I had the Onion Soup Gratinee and Beef Bourguignon. Gabe had a special soup (we can’t remember exactly what it was, but it wasn’t a regular menu item) and one of the fish dishes (probably salmon). I think everything was good, but nothing has compared to our experience at Mo’s Diner. I’m pretty sure we had dessert, too. It was a nice experience, and I would recommend it for a special occasion.

In late October, I took Maddie to see stage productions of Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon performed by the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia. We got general admission tickets at the last minute and joined Maddie’s friend Sophie.

If you have a preschooler and get a chance to see a show by the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia, I highly recommend it! We were familiar with both of the stories, and they kept Maddie’s attention the whole time. She did get restless towards the end (along with the rest of the young audience).

The show was done with puppets with neat black light props. I didn’t get any photos of the Runaway Bunny, but I loved how they did the puppets and the transitions for each of the scenes. Goodnight Moon made good use of the black light props. The play is definitely better than the book! I thought that the giant bunny prop was especially cool (the “quiet old lady whispering ‘hush’”).

The plays were short, perfect for attention spans of the little ones. They had a question and answer session after the plays.

And the plays were followed by cookies and juice, which was probably Maddie’s favorite part.

After Maddie’s juice and cookies, she was a little nuts. I took a bunch of photos of her dancing around on the bricks on NC State’s campus.

I got together with three other girl friends last weekend for a food tour in Downtown Raleigh through Taste Carolina. When I first heard of the tour, I thought it sounded like a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

This photo was taken afterward at my house (we all rode together to the tour).

My first impression of Taste Carolina started out on the wrong foot. The tour guide received a call from our first stop, and the restaurant was not ready for a group of 14. We had a larger group than they had anticipated. Since we already knew of a friend who couldn’t make it at the last minute, I thought that this was poor planning for the tour company. They had another similar tour starting at 2pm, but I still thought it was odd. Perhaps they usually have more no shows? Or maybe most restaurants that they frequent can accommodate 14? Whatever the reason, it was not off to a good start. Fortunately, their bad impressions didn’t last and I ended up enjoying the tour quite a bit. I’d love to do some of their other tours in nearby towns.

Our first stop was Mecca (13 E. Martin Street), the oldest restaurant in Raleigh (and possibly the oldest surviving restaurant in the state). The family owned Mecca has been a Raleigh staple since 1930! It was an interesting little place, and they gave us a respectable sample of a ham slider, chicken wing, and a rinky dink. I wish I had included a fork or a quarter or something in the photo of my plate below. The ham slider was teeny. It was definitely the cutest biscuit I had ever seen. I’d say it was about the size of a silver dollar. I thought the portions were perfect for the tour, and I enjoyed all 3 of the selections well enough. The rinky dink was some type of sausage thing on a small, thin slice of rye bread. The food was good, but it wasn’t terribly exciting. I do like the history of the place, and I think that I might have to give it a try just based on its longevity. If I had to decide whether to go based on the tour selection, it wouldn’t grab me.

Next on the tour was Sitti (137 S. Wilmington Street), a restaurant that I already knew that I liked from last year’s Christmas date with Audrey. I was amused by the sign outside of the restaurant (we saw a good number of protestors at a distance).

I loved Sitti the first time I visited the restaurant, and my tour experience solidified my love for the place. I felt like they went above and beyond with their offerings. They initially brought out fresh (and I mean FRESH, the puff of steam when I tore into one about burned my hand) pitas with dipping oil and some kind of passion fruit tea concoction. Then they just kept bringing out dishes for us to try. We each sampled vegetarian stuffed grape leaves, beef shawarma, hommos (going with their spellings here), makanek, and sfiha flatbread pizza (ground lamb with onions, pine nuts, tomatoes, pomegranate molasses and spices). The only thing I wasn’t crazy about was the makanek (Lebanese sausage sauteed with olive oil and lemon). I thought everything else was fantastic. I couldn’t believe how much food they brought us. And I could have eaten several more pitas, but I wanted to pace myself for the rest of the tour. I thought that Sitti was a fabulous experience (we practically had a full meal’s worth of food), except for maybe the part where Marie informed me that I had some stubborn herbs in my teeth. Nothing like picking your teeth at the table during a gourmet food tour. That’s how sophisticated I am!

Next on our list was Crema on Fayetteville (121 Fayetteville Street). We guessed that this might be some type of pastry place, and we weren’t far off. It turns out to be a coffee/ice cream place (though I see from reviews online that they have regular food, too). Our mission here was ice cream. I was a little overwhelmed at first that we would have to make choices (ice cream flavor and toppings). Our tour guide explained that we pick the ice cream flavor (or frozen yogurt) and toppings and they run it through “the ice cream shredder.” Marie ordered the raspberry truffle right before me, and I thought that sounded like a great idea. I had the same. The raspberry truffle had raspberries, fudge, and chocolate chips. I would definitely grab an ice cream from here if I were downtown already for another reason. I don’t tend to go downtown too often, so I can’t see coming out of my way just for the ice cream. It was definitely tasty. And I thought it was fun to have a mid-tour dessert.

We boarded the R-line and headed to Glenwood where we got off the bus at a very unattractive stop. I’m just glad that we had a tour guide helping us get to each stop on the tour! Our next stop was Draft Carolina Burgers and Beers (510 Glenwood Avenue).

I knew from the name that we were going to have to sample some beer, and I knew that I wasn’t going to like it when they brought it out. The beer was in a tiny glass, as you can see from the photo below of Melissa with the beer. The beer was Mash House Hoppy Hour IPA. I knew I wasn’t likely to enjoy a beer that advertised it’s hoppiness. I’m just not a beer person. I drank my teeny beer, but I wouldn’t order it again. Most of their beers are from NC, 32 out of 40. They also talked of their special sodas, and I asked if Marie could sample one since she wasn’t drinking. They served her the Black Cherry Cola, and it was yummy! I would definitely drink that again!

Draft prides itself in using local ingredients whenever possible. They boast over 90% North Carolina products, and they informed us that the burger meat is freshly ground in house. They served us each about a quarter of their Southern Lovin’ burger (ground beef with fried green tomatoes, goat cheese, bacon, and balsamic) and a few chips. When they brought it to the table, I did not find the idea of eating a burger appetizing in the least. I was already fairly full from earlier in the tour, and I wasn’t sure that I was in the mood for a burger. Plus, I thought that this is one of the last burgers that I might have ordered from the menu.

This was one of the best burgers that I have had in a long time. I was very impressed. YUM! I definitely plan to take Gabe to draft where I’m sure he’ll love both the burgers and the beer. Based on my limited experience, I highly recommend the place. I like their local philosophies, and the flavors were outstanding.

Our next stop was Solas (419 Glenwood Avenue), the fanciest place on our tour. Melissa and Heather had both been to Solas, and they both seemed to feel out of place at the restaurant. It’s super trendy with a rooftop bar, a glass floor dance floor, “cabanas” (super tall booth tables) that you can rent for $500/night, and I’m assuming super expensive, fancy drinks.

They served us a tasting of wine, 2008 J. Lohr Carol’s Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc (yes, I took notes). I liked the wine pretty well, but I’m not really a connoisseur. I mean there are wines that I cannot drink, and this was not one of them, but otherwise I can’t tell a good wine from a bad wine. I’m working on my wine palette. They also served us a small salad with pancetta, sea salt, cracked black pepper, red onion, and buttermilk dressing on mixed greens. The salad was definitely good, but I was waiting to sample the “real” stuff from the restaurant.

After our salad, one of the sous chefs gave us a tour of the restaurant. He showed us the herb garden where they harvest a variety of fresh herbs. He showed us the patio area which I think he mentioned has heaters and can be used year round. We saw the fancy “cabanas” and the glass floor. We were assured that the people dining below cannot look up your skirt, but I don’t think I’d take that chance. Of course, I’m pretty sure that Solas isn’t my scene.

And then the Solas experience was over. I couldn’t believe that the fanciest restaurant on the tour gave us a tiny salad and a wine sample. I would have preferred something more substantial to at least given me an idea of what they serve at the restaurant (salads and alcohol it would seem). They didn’t even present us with a menu! There’s a chance that I would visit any of the other restaurants on the tour, but I had a better chance of visiting Solas before the tour experience. I was very disappointed. I guess they are so hoity toity and high on themselves that they feel we should be honored to just have a tour of the place and a glimpse into their fancy pants establishment. I should say that the guy who talked to us was great and obviously passionate about food and the restaurant. I was just disappointed that they didn’t offer something representative of what I could expect to eat if I were to visit in the future. My impression of Solas from the tour was that it was more of a club than a restaurant. They didn’t convince me to come back another time.

Next on the tour was The Raleigh Wine Shop where we obviously had a wine tasting. I had expected we might taste more than one wine, especially since shortly before our visit they wrapped up an afternoon of free wine tastings. We just had one tasting, though they did offer refills. I didn’t see the bottle close enough, but I think what we had was Gran Sarao Cava Rose. It was a sparkling wine from Spain, and I liked it. They also had an interesting array of sodas, and I sampled some of Marie’s Boylan Creamy Red Birch Beer. I thought for sure that I would hate it since I’m not a big fan of creamy beverages or root beer. I thought it was surprisingly tasty! I am glad that I promised myself to taste everything on the tour as several times I enjoyed things I didn’t think that I would.

Our final stop on the tour was The Cupcake Shoppe (104 Glenwood Avenue). We were all excited about this one. I had been wanting to try one of our many fancy cupcake shops for a while. We could pick any of the cupcakes that we wanted, so I selected the special cupcake of the week, the Pumpkin Maple. Marie had Coco for Coco and Heather had Plain Jane. Melissa also went with the Pumpkin Maple. My cupcake was good, but I think that I have built up these specialty cupcakes too much. I’m not sure that any single cupcake could live up to that hype. It wasn’t a bad cupcake, but it just wasn’t the BEST THING EVER. And I think I had been expecting cupcakes from a cupcake shop to be the BEST THING EVER.

I had a little complaint about the tour here. Originally, we were going to have a private tour, so they arranged to have our tips for the tour guide included. I liked that idea since we didn’t want to remember to bring cash or have that awkward “here’s some money tour guide friend” at the end of the tour. I’m thankful that we had done it this way because we were apparently the only ones who didn’t get their cupcake to go. We were just settling into our seats to eat our cupcakes, and the rest of the group left us to go catch the bus. It wasn’t a huge deal, but it would have been nice if we had known that in advance. We probably would have gotten ours to go, too. Melissa and I each grabbed a cupcake to go for our husbands.

After the cupcake shop, we had to figure out the R-line. We had missed the bus with our tour group as well as the next one, which had just left. The next bus wasn’t going to arrive for another 15 minutes, and we noticed that the route did not take us directly to where we wanted to go. We decided to walk, and it wasn’t too far after all.

We had a great time eating our way through downtown Raleigh. I was surprised at how many other restaurants that existed that I never knew about (the guide pointed out restaurants we did not visit as well). I hope to get to try another one of their tours in the spring!

For my birthday (in mid-September), I requested that Gabe agree to go bowling…for the first time ever! It was one of my goals to get him to do it, and he’s been very resistant to the idea. I had in him a trap, though…he couldn’t turn down birthday bowling!

I thought that I would ease him into the bowling thing by going to a fancy bowling place, Sparians Bowling Boutique and Bistro. We were joined by Melissa, Jason, and my sister (my brother-in-law couldn’t make it at the last minute). The evening started with me side swiping the babysitter’s car. Not good. We arrived at the place around 7pm.

They don’t take reservations for dinner or lanes, so we had to wait a little bit to get seated for dinner and were told they wouldn’t have lanes available for at least two hours. My sister was running a little late from work, so we were fine to wait a little bit.

The menu looked tasty, and the four of us went ahead and ordered since Kristin wasn’t sure how long she would be. There was a bit of confusion as I think they changed waitstaff about 5 minutes after we were seated. The new waiter was clueless. He said something about this being only his third day, and that he didn’t receive much training at this establishment. He obviously didn’t know the menu at all, forgot our orders and came back to ask about it twice, and ended up bringing the wrong food after all. We had to get our own drinks from the bar a couple of times. We asked for several things (extra plates, refills, salad that we didn’t receive, etc) that we never got from him. The service was just awful. We waited forever to track down the waiter and get our check when we were ready to bowl. When the manager asked us how everything was, we told him we were less than happy with our waiter. Apparently, the manager had only been there for a few days as well. We were not impressed by the dinner service, to say the least.

Some of the food was tasty, and other parts were mediocre. I’m glad we had one of those coupon book coupons. I wouldn’t likely eat there again, based on our experience. The best part about the meal was that we happened to be there for a trivia night. They came around with index cards and pens and asked us if we wanted to play trivia, so we said, “of course!” (though we had no idea what it was). We didn’t win, but we weren’t the worst. The slow service was bearable with the entertainment of the trivia game.

They texted us to let us know that the lane was ready before we were finished with dinner, so we had them put us back on the list. We all headed to the lanes after we finished the trivia game and dinner, and it was already much later than we had anticipated. I think it was close to 10pm before we started our first of two games.

None of us had been bowling in quite some time (and Gabe had never been), so it took us a while to get our bearings. We had a shaky start.

We still had a fun night out!

We celebrated all of our birthdays with Melissa and Jason this year. We had some trouble on the lanes as our lane attendant was a little odd. At some point after Melissa had a string of bad frames, he asked Melissa if she would like bumpers for her turn. She had just bowled 8 in that frame, so we were a bit baffled by his timing and rudeness. We couldn’t tell if he was joking or serious. He also observed us at times and made suggestions about what we were doing wrong. I guess he was just trying to be helpful, but it really came off the wrong way. We get it dude. We suck at bowling! It’s ok, though. We’re just here to have fun.

I’m glad that my sister was able to join us after a rough day at work!

Kristin points out her strike on the scoreboard!

At some point, we had a lot of trouble on our lane. The pins kept getting knocked over before we would start bowling, and then they wouldn’t be counted correctly. Sometimes the machine would accidentally drop the pins when clearing in mid-frame. Once it threw the pins down the lane towards us. We had so many issues, and they weren’t very attentive in addressing them. We finally requested a new lane (at this point, the lanes weren’t too crowded). The new lane behaved much better, but all of us were getting tired and had lost our bowling mojo (not that we really had it to begin with).

Gabe even enjoyed himself! He said that he wouldn’t mind going bowling again sometime. See? It wasn’t so bad after all.

Next time, we won’t go to Sparians. The idea is great, but the implementation left something to be desired. It was something different to do, but next time we’ll just go to a regular bowling alley. Sparians has such potential to be a great time. Based on our experience, I can’t really recommend it. We had fun despite the fender bender, bad service, rude attendants, lane mishaps, and mostly terrible scores. The company made up for all of it! Happy birthday to me!

Once again, we attended That Board Gaming Thing, though this year we were not at all on the fence about whether to go. After figuring out that it was feasible last year by staying in the hotel, we made it a priority to attend. I still wish we hadn’t missed a couple of years!

This year, we stayed at the Embassy Suites next door so that we had a true two-room suite. The suites were smaller than any other Embassy Suites that I have stayed in, but it worked well enough. We decided to put the kids in the same room, but we had mixed results. They kept each other up, alternating who was the culprit. After the third night, the kids were a bit cranky. We have two cabins on the cruise, but we may have to separate the kids from each other (rather than from the adults). I don’t think it would be a good idea to have 8 nights of poor sleep!

I was a little disappointed this year with how we utilized some of our precious game time. I think I just need to adjust my expectations as it’s only been a year this time since the last TBGT that we attended. Last year, there were so many new games because we’d been MIA for over 2 years. It’s also tricky to manage getting in lengthier games since we had restrictions like going to get the kids or taking turns with the kids (with some organizer duties thrown in).

Still, I got in a bunch of games. Yay! Here’s the rundown on what I played, in alphabetical order. I’ve rated them from 1-10. You couldn’t pay me to play a game rated 1, and I’d play a 10 almost anytime.

7 Wonders with Leaders Expansion (Kerry only): This wasn’t new to me, though it was only the second time that I had played with the Leaders expansion. I love that it can be played with up to 7 people (though I think I prefer about 4 people), and it’s typically a short game. I didn’t mind playing it, even though it wasn’t new. I give the game a 8.5 in general. (Gabe’s score is an 8.)

The Adventurers (Kerry only): This is a dungeon crawl game where all of the adventurers try to make it out of the dungeon with the most treasures without dying. I had heard that generally the person who makes it out of the dungeon is the one who wins, but all of us made it out in this game. I don’t know if we weren’t taking enough risks or whether we just got lucky rolls. I think perhaps it was a combination. I enjoyed it well enough. I’d play it again, but it wouldn’t be a top choice. I give it a 6.

Attika (Kerry and Gabe): We played this one last year. We didn’t have much time before we needed to go and get the kids, so this was a good choice. It’s not too long. I feel the same way about it as I did last year. I’m on the fence as to whether to add it to my collection. I shouldn’t be surprised that I gave it the same score last year as well: 7. (Gabe’s score is 7.)

Cargo Noir (Gabe only): Gabe says: “Well, we played with the wrong rules for about half the game, so that probably influenced my opinion. Um… It seemed like there was a lot of time waiting for your turn and there really wasn’t much analyzing to do while you’re waiting. I give it a 4.”

Catch Charades (Kerry only): I chanced into one of the late night party games on the first night, despite me thinking that I wasn’t going to stay up late on Thursday. The group was using Catchphrase for a free-for-all charades. Passing was extremely discouraged, and it was difficult to charade words that were intended to be used in a game where you can say pretty much any word you want to describe it. Needless to say, many of the words and phrases were quite challenging! The “timer” feature of Catchphrase was not used (thank goodness). It was rare to go through more than one of the words before the time ran out, and the group I played with were both hilarious and quite good at charades. I had a great time. We ended up closing down the game room around 4am. Not a good pacing for the first day. I give Catch Charades a 7.5 for silly late night party fun. I give the entertainment value of the people playing it more of a 10.

Cornucopia (Kerry and Gabe): This refers to a card game, not the expansion for Dominion (which oddly, I did not play at all). This was easily the worst game that I played the entire time. I am fairly certain that everyone agreed. It seemed like some of the rules weren’t well thought through and even contradicted themselves. It seemed to have potential, but it fell flat. Please don’t make me play it ever again. I give it a 1. (Gabe gives it a 1.)

Shot of Cornucopia:

Die Burgen von Burgund (Gabe only): Gabe says: “It was fun. It was a long game, but it didn’t feel like a long game. I enjoyed playing it. The game mechanics seemed to work well. It had dice, but the game didn’t feel completely random. There were a lot of different possibilities and probably various strategy for winning. I give it a 9.”

Fits (Kerry only): I played this one without Gabe, and I’m pretty sure it’s a game that he would hate. It’s a little like a cross between Tetris and Bingo where everyone is trying to fill their board as completely as they can. Each round has a different “trick” like not covering certain spaces or making sure to cover penalty spaces. I enjoyed it well enough, but I was really bad at it. Of course, it was also on Sunday when my ability to think was shot. I give it a 5.5.

For Sale (Kerry and Gabe): I don’t think that I have played this game in more than a decade. I remember I wanted to find a copy of it back then, but I think it was out of print. I still like it well enough. It’s something I wouldn’t refuse to play, but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way either. I give it a 6. (Gabe gives it a 5.)

Forbidden Island (Kerry only): Several of us only had about an hour to play, so we had to be selective about the game. We ended up playing Forbidden Island twice (back to back) since we lost pretty quickly the first time. It’s a cooperative game, but it was short. We barely won the second time, so obviously it’s doable but challenging. It was a nice filler game. I give it a 7 for filler games.

Shot of Forbidden Island:

Fortune Cookie Charades (Kerry only): One of the gamers had grabbed a big carton of fortune cookies to be used in Fortune Cookie Charades. It was fun for a round, but the fortunes start to get repetitive. The phrases are LONG, so it’s a little tedious, too. It was still amusing enough. I’m especially amused that each one started with a pantomime of opening a fortune cookie followed by the number of words and the guessers saying, “Fortune cookie! … 8 words! First word! Four syllables! Sounds like…” I give it a 6, but I give the entertainment value of the other players more of a 8 or 9.

Galaxy Trucker (Kerry only): This game amuses me but I’m terrible at it. I’m not totally convinced that you can be good at it and consistently win, but my sample size is still too small. I played twice, and both times I was thoroughly exhausted. Still, it amused me. I wouldn’t refuse to play it, but I don’t think I’ll add it to my collection. I give it a 6.5.

Go Away Monster (Maddie and Cullen): The kids played this game with friends Maya, Tristan, and Natasha. This is the first time that we played it, and all the kids did great! Well, Cullen mostly wanted to throw pieces and say, “Go away monster!” (which is part of the game). The other kids were 2 years old, and they all did well. I put this game on Cullen’s wishlist. I give it an 8 for very little kids and as an excellent first game. I’d rate it higher, but I feel like it’s playability may be limited once they get to be too much older.

And the kids were super cute while playing:

Jaipur (Kerry only): I didn’t have a lot of time to play this one, and I didn’t get to finish it. I felt bad because I promised I could finish it later, and then the stars just didn’t align to do so. It’s really hard to “catch somebody later” at the event, especially when my time is in bursts. The game was ok. I’d play it again, but I’m not going to go out of my way. 5.

Jamaica (Kerry only): This is one that I was glad that I got to play as it was new to me and looked interesting. I didn’t like it much, and I don’t think it was just because I lost horribly (which I did). I wouldn’t play it again, if I could help it, but the experience wasn’t miserable. As was true the majority of the weekend, the people I’m playing with tend to make up for sub par games. I give it a 4.

The Jamaica board:

King of Tokyo (Kerry and Gabe): The first time this game was suggested, I agreed because it was new, but I wasn’t sure I was going to like it from the box art. This turned out to be a very fun filler game! I haven’t played enough to decide how much strategy could be involved, but I think that it may offer the opportunity for more strategy than it would seem. I played it 3 times, and I still love it. This was definitely one of the most popular games at the convention, especially considering that only one copy was floating around the ballroom. It was being played constantly. I’m definitely adding it to my collection, and I give it a 9 for filler games. (Gabe gives it an 8 for filler games.)

Fun monsters in King of Tokyo:

Kingsburg (Gabe only): Gabe says: “It’s ok. It’s kinda random with the dice rolling. Um. I give it a 6 or 7 at most. Maybe a 7.”

Le Havre (Kerry and Gabe): This was the first game that we played at the convention, and I want to say it’s my favorite. Unfortunately, our game was quite interrupted between needing to help Paul set up his store and taking a lunch break. The game took about 5 hours, but only 3 of it was probably actual game time. The box claimed that we would take 200 minutes, so it was just about on target. I really liked it better than Agricola (which is the game that it is most compared to). I look forward to playing it again, and I hear that it plays well with 2 players. I probably will add it to my collection, but I worry it won’t get much play at our games nights due to the length. I give this one a 9, but that is only based on a single play. (Gabe gives it an 8.5.)

Photo of Le Havre:

London (Kerry only): This is another one that I had spotted on the shelves and wanted to play at some point. I got my chance to play it on Sunday afternoon. I was so exhausted at this point, I’m not sure that I gave it a fair chance. I liked it well enough. I wouldn’t refuse to play it, but I probably won’t be adding it to my collection. I give it a 6.

Shot of London:

Puzzling (Kerry only): Our puzzlers do a great job with this every year. This year was no exception. Our team even had a chance to win (if only we hadn’t spent much time with the creative finale as Rob ended up picking the first team that arrived to rescue him). I love this event, and I will continue to participate in it each year! I’ll give it a 8.5.

Quarriors (Kerry and Gabe): I saw 4 copies on the prize table of this one, so I asked around to see what it was about. I would say that it was one of the hottest games at this year’s event. You could almost always find people playing it. The standard description of the game was, “it’s like Dominion with dice!” or “it’s like Dominion except sometimes your cards don’t work.” The first time I played it, I was really excited about it. I definitely wanted to add it to my game collection. I played it 3 times total, and by the third time I was unconvinced. It is a neat concept, but I felt like the game always seems to plod around for a few rounds and then all of a sudden one player starts getting points quickly. I’m sure there’s a variation on this that would work better. I don’t think I’ll be acquiring it for my collection. I wouldn’t refuse to play it. My rating for it ends up at a 5. (Gabe gives it a 6.5 based on a single play.)

The Quarriors setup:

Rallyman (Kerry only): I’m not a big fan of racing games, in general, but this one was not too bad (for a racing game). I liked the mechanism with the dice rolling and collecting the time cards. If I were rating it against all other racing games that I’ve played, it would get a higher score. I would not refuse to play it, but it wouldn’t be a top choice. I give it a 5.5.

Free-for-all Songburst (Kerry only): This was more of an experience than an actual game. We used the Songburst cards mostly to have a big group sing-a-long (more like karaoke than kumbaya). We also did some of the trivia while the designated master of ceremonies found good songs for us. It was hilarious entertainment around 2am. I just hope that the rest of the hotel didn’t file any complaints as we were quite loud at times! It’s not really a game, but I’ll give it an 8.5 for the enjoyable experience.

That Game Table Thing (Kerry only): The prize table has been hit or miss over the years for me, and this year it was a big miss. I overestimated how well that my contribution would do. We ended up bundling two games that ended up being older and not so popular. Still, I thought that having two shrink wrapped games would place me in the middle of the picking order (the first person is chosen at random, and which bundle they choose determines who gets to pick next. So, if your bundle is more desirable, then you should get a chance to pick from the table earlier.). I was a little worried that nobody was going to pick my bundle! I almost ended up in the last 4 people, which would have been interesting since we had a final showdown that I wouldn’t have been able to participate in. I think next year, I’ll participate as a spectator. I’ll give it a 5, but that’s a very personal rating based on me being a bit selective about what I want to add to my collection these days.

Thunderstone (Kerry only): This one wasn’t new to me, though I’ve only played it a few times. My biggest complaint about Thunderstone is that it often seems to take much longer than it should. In this particular play, we had a few monsters that none of us could kill for a while in the first few levels of the dungeon. I would still play it, but Dominion is a much better game overall. I give it a 6.5. (Gabe has played it once not at TBGT, and he gives it a 6.)

Time’s Up (Kerry only): I haven’t played Time’s Up in years! It used to get played almost every games night, but we haven’t played it much recently. The first game of it wasn’t that much fun for me at first. I think maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for the game, maybe? I don’t know. It was still entertaining to watch people give clues. I played another round of Time’s Up the next night, and that was a bit more fun. Most of the people were the same, but I guess I was in a better mood. I usually prefer to play in teams of 2, but this time it was teams of 3 which worked pretty well. I might even prefer to play that way in the future. Overall, I give Time’s Up an 8 for party games.

Tobago (Kerry only): I really liked the way this one worked! I would love to play it again and plan on adding it to my collection. I have discovered it’s not easy to find, though. We had some rules incorrect, so it would be good to play again sometime with the correct rules. I give it an 8.

Witch’s Brew (Kerry and Gabe): We played this one with fun people, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the game. I seem to be saying this a lot: I would play it again, but it wouldn’t be my first choice, and I am not going to add it to my collection. It wasn’t torturous, but I feel like it’s the sort of game that I’d never get a handle on. I give it a 4. (Gabe gives it a 4.)

Gabe I went to the movies last Friday while the kids were at school. We wanted to make the most of our movie day, so we planned to see two movies. Despite the reviews, we wanted to see Cars 2 and Green Lantern. We couldn’t find very many movies that we wanted to see, especially since we had recently seen Super 8 and X-Men: First Class. Green Lantern has started to fade from the theaters, so the showing times were limited. In fact, several showings were dropped on Friday including the one that we planned to see. So, we had no choice but to see the Green Lantern in 3D. We weren’t too excited about this considering neither of us are a big fan of the whole 3D craze.

It turns out that 3D has come a long way since we last tried it. The last time we saw a movie in 3D was Superman Returns in IMAX 3D, and they had you put on the glasses only at certain parts which was lame. Before that, I don’t think I’d seen 3D in a theater since the red/blue paper glasses days.

We were actually impressed by the “Real 3D” technology in Green Lantern! Both of us admitted that it was pretty cool despite our original misconceptions. I wouldn’t want to see everything in 3D, but I think we’ll probably see more 3D movies in our future!

I don’t think that the same can be said for the IMAX experience. First of all, the IMAX screen doesn’t seem all that much bigger than the regular screen to me. After we saw Green Lantern, we decided that we wanted to try Cars 2 in IMAX 3D!

We were surprised that it involved a different pair of 3D glasses. Aside from looking different, the glasses are functionally different. We didn’t see a drop off box in Green Lantern, so we still had the glasses from that one. They didn’t work in the IMAX 3D version of Cars 2. The 3D technology used in the regular theater seemed better, and we confirmed that by sneaking into a minute or two of Cars 2 in the regular theater with the other type of 3D. Both weren’t bad, but the “Real 3D” seems to be really good.

Both movies were entertaining, and we surprisingly enjoyed the 3D experience. I think we’ll pass on the overpriced IMAX 3D movies in the future, but we may find our way into regular 3D movies. I’m already thinking we should see Harry Potter in 3D when it comes out in a few weeks! Fortunately, we used our LivingSocial deal from a little bit ago to get the expensive IMAX 3D tickets and only had to pay $4 out of pocket for 2 tickets. It turned out to be an excellent deal for giving IMAX 3D a try!

Earlier this year, I posted the books from our shelves that we own but haven’t yet read that we actually want to read. We’ve made great progress this year towards our goals of reading these books! I thought I’d do a little blurb of our successes (these aren’t the only books that we read this year, just the ones that we owned prior to the start of the year that were begging to be read).

Books Kerry and Gabe both want to read:

• Nurture Shock by Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman (Gabe only) – Gabe read me snippets of this one as he was reading it. It has a lot of interesting stuff, and I look forward to reading it, too.
• The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Kerry only) – I look forward to reading the rest of the series (which I don’t have yet – I’m debating whether to get it on kindle or in paperback to match the other copies). I’m glad I’m reading this and hope that Gabe will read it, too. This is a good one for the kids to read someday, so I am leaning towards finishing the series out in paperback.
• Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan (Kerry only) – I enjoyed this one, too. As I said, I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
• Kushiel’s Justice by Jacqueline Carey (Kerry only) – I’m so glad that I decided to pick back up with this series! I forgot how much I love the characters and the stories. I was going to read the George R. R. Martin series, but somehow I felt this one to be easier to pick back up. I wouldn’t recommend this series for everyone, but I love it.
• Kushiel’s Mercy by Jacqueline Carey (Kerry only) – This is obviously in the same series as the previous one. I was sad to get to the end of this book, and I’m not usually sad at the end of a series. I knew that the next trilogy in the series was centered around different characters.
• Naamah’s Kiss by Jacqueline Carey (Kerry only) – This is a companion series to the Kushiel books. The characters that you grow to love in the first two trilogies are mentioned in this one at times as legends. I like it, too. The style is similar. I can’t say that I like it as much as the first two trilogies yet, but it’s also good.

Books that Kerry wants to read (and Gabe already has read):

• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins – It’s been a while now since I finished this one, so it’s difficult to give a mini review. I think that I enjoyed the first two a little better, maybe?
• Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling – Short, fun read. It’s the sort of a book that is a good palette cleanser between other books.

Books that Gabe wants to read (and Kerry already has read):

• Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling – I really wanted Gabe to finish the Harry Potter books before the final movie. I’m so glad that he did! Despite him grumbling about not wanting to read the series for YEARS, I think he enjoyed it quite a bit!
• The Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling – Gabe zipped through all 3 books in January (well, I guess he started in mid to late December).
• The Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling – Hooray! He was able to read through the last book before seeing the last half of it play out on the big screen.
• Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich – I’ve been wanting Gabe to read this one for a while because I knew he would love it. This is the book that the movie 21 was based upon. This book makes me want to go to a casino. Gabe felt the same way, of course

Books that Kerry wants to read (but Gabe doesn’t want to read):

• Still Alice by Lisa Genova – This was a book club selection. It’s sad, but it is well done. It reminded me a little of Flowers for Algernon (in style). I was impressed to find that the author has a neuroscientist background. Well done.
• House Rules by Jodi Picoult – Gabe picked this one up for me as a Christmas gift as he knows I like reading Jodi Picoult now and then. I feel like it has been too long for me to give much of a review for this one. I enjoyed reading Picoult again, though this isn’t one that is going to stand out in my mind as well as ones like My Sister’s Keeper and Nineteen Minutes.
• Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris – It’s been a long time since I picked up this series! It’s not too hard to jump back into, though I barely remembered the characters or what had happened in previous novels. It’s not necessary to enjoy it. I’ll read another one or two of these in between other weightier books. They are quick reads.
• Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen – I really enjoy this author! I loved this one, and I look forward to reading The Peach Keeper
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen – This was definitely one of my favorite books of the year and of all time. I can highly recommend it! I enjoyed the movie, too.
• Honolulu by Alan Brennert – I remember enjoying his other book, Moloka’i, so I was looking forward to this one. Interesting historical fiction about Korean picture brides in Honolulu in the early 1900s. I loved this one, too.

Books that Gabe wants to read (but Kerry doesn’t want to read):

• The Terror by Dan Simmons – Gabe said this one is “long and mostly boring” (and as I recall, cold). He said it made him curious about the arctic and how people deal with extreme cold, but he’s not really selling it. I think I’ll pass.

I’m sure that someone out there finds these products useful. They wouldn’t exist otherwise, right? I was excited to try the medicine pacis. We actually tried two different brands. We tried Munchkin’s The Medicator and Kidz Med’s Pacifier Medicine Dispenser. Cullen hates taking his daily antibiotic. It’s a giant struggle and takes more than one set of hands to hold his arms and legs, lean him back, dispense the medicine, wipe his chin, insert his (normal) pacifier to encourage him to swallow, and to cover your ears to avoid hearing damage from all the screaming. It’s awful. And we don’t even know how long we’re going to have to administer this stuff.

Cullen loves his pacifier, most of the time. We thought that a pacifier that could deliver medicine would be perfect for him! The products claim that the medicine is delivered to the back of the tongue, bypassing the taste buds making it more likely that the child will swallow. We did not find this to be the case. We tried each pacifier at least twice, and the results were the same. Each time was an abysmal failure. The best that we did was to get down less than half of the teaspoon of medicine with the Munchkin pacifier. The Kidz Med version had the plunger. I thought that might be better, but considering that he just kept spitting out the paci or taking it out with his hands or swatting at us when we tried to put it in his mouth, it was no better than the syringe method.

So…I think the medicine pacis are going to be tossed into the trash. We’re back to the old hold-him-down-and-shove-meds-into-his-mouth-with-the-syringe method. At least he forgives us quickly for the torture. I think I might be in the market for a toddler straight jacket (kidding!).

I wrote this back in December, for the most part, but forgot to post it… Since writing this post, I had yet another positive customer service experience with Shutterfly.

I have been a Shutterfly user for many years now. I think it’s been more than a decade. I’m a big fan of their products, especially photobooks and cards. In the beginning, I would get prints for myself to scrapbook and for family and friends. Very early in my relationship with Shutterfly, I goofed and didn’t realize that I had to set the proper crop for my photos that weren’t in the same ratio as my prints. I called, upset that parts of my photos were cropped undesirably. This was totally my fault, and yet they credited my account with free prints to compensate. That was a pretty good first impression to make on a new customer.

Since then, I have printed thousands of prints, made more than a dozen books, and hundreds of cards. I’ve tried some of their other products as well. Once, I had a magnet that was not printed straight and they sent me a new one right away.

This Last year, they treated me right once again. I ordered my Christmas cards extremely early this last year. I had the photos ready (from Catherine Keene), and they were having an early sale. I picked out the perfect card and added my perfect photos. A few days later, that orange package appeared on my front step, and I was so excited! I looked at the photos, and I was immediately disappointed. The colors weren’t how I remembered them. Gabe’s hair appeared blue to me. I thought right away, this must be my fault. I vaguely remembered an option that you could pick (hidden in the “edit photo” tab) that turned off the color boosting option. I had forgotten about it and feared that it was all my fault for not turning off that option.

I called customer service, and I wasn’t sure what they would be able to do for me. They offered to reprint one card and send it to me to see if turning off that option would help. When it arrived, it didn’t seem much different. I sent it to Catherine, and she didn’t see much difference either. We both thought that it was a little better, but it still wasn’t quite right.

I called customer service again, and I asked if they would allow for me to redo the card with new images. Catherine was willing to make some color adjustments to the photos, and then I could upload the corrected ones in the hopes that it would be better. This time, customer service credited my account with the number of cards that I had originally ordered. I would have to pay shipping (though I’m positive I could have gotten that comped as well – I felt that this solution was more than fair), but the cards would be free. I had enough cards so that I could order one initially (which I had shipped directly to Catherine. I figured she could put her seal of approval on them. After all, she’s the one who took the images!). Catherine was happy with this version, and I ordered the rest.

As a result, I went from feeling not-so-happy about my perfect cards to feeling like they were perfect again!

Shortly after writing this post, I had another great experience. Due to a misunderstanding on a promotional offer and a shopping cart error, I chatted with one of their online reps. I didn’t realize that the free shipping offer wasn’t for all shipments on the order but just for the most expensive shipping. It was written in the fine print, I just hadn’t read it. She credited my shopping cart with the free shipping for both addresses! I didn’t ask for or expect this, so it was a very nice touch. So, once again, Shutterfly has gone above and beyond to ensure that my experiences are positive. Kudos to them!