Out and About Jax - California Pizza Kitchen

Hey everyone, I hope your Summer is going smoothly.  I want to post today about CPK or what is otherwise known as California Pizza Kitchen, which I first experienced in Boca Raton about 12-13 years ago.  You know we have one now right here in Jville?  Yes, Towne Center, off course.  I love Towne Center, except for the parking.  I visited this lovely eating establishment Friday afternoon, which is something I highly recommend.  We got there about 4:30, and were able to find a parking spot rather quickly, and were seated right away, no waiting!  Friday is a good day because they are going to put their best foot forward on the busiest days, right?  And were they busy!  As soon as we were seated a line began to form and it never went away, it only got longer.  Let me tell you, an early dinner may sound lame to some of you out there, but so does, waiting 45 minutes to be seated.  That brings me to seating.  The place is small compared to the one in BR.  I swear it only had a capacity for about 200.  I am not a good judge of that kind of thing, but think I am pretty close.  If I rember correctly the one in S Florida was huge and the capacity was much more.  All the more reason to go early!  We had a pretty good waitress, but we waited about ten minutes for our wine and they brought my soup and my wine before anyone elses (my husbands).  After the wines came everything else came in a pretty timely manner.  I was accompanied by my husband and our two kids who are 3 and 6.  The kids menus are awesome!  They are like mini activity book with actual pages that you can turn, not just a one page placemat type of deal.  It kept our 6 year old happy for the entire meal, just about.  My son on the, other hand, slept through the entire experience.  The kids got cheese pizzas.  They will only eat cheese, and they were about the size of a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut, if you can recall the last time you ate one of those.  The menu for adults is pretty hefty but reasonable, nothing like Cheesecake Factory!  It took us a little while to peruse, but we did enjoy and took advantage of the tappas menu which we are not that familiar with.  It is actually little appetizers that are about half price that allows you and your husband or whoever you are with to have different appetizers and not have to share, Imagine that!  When we finally ordered I ended up getting this thing, which is also something I have never seen before, two soups in one bowl.  Have you ever heard of such a thing?  It is actually ingenius, because you can sample two kinds instead of having to make a decision.  That is my kind of thing!  So I had cream of asparagus and split pea, and the two soups just coexisted in the bowl and their edges touched but they never mixed, until the very end when there was just a little left in the bowl and I just used bread to sop it up.  Yumm!  I also orded, from the tappas menu an arugala and asparagus ( I love asparagus)  salad.  I ate it up in about 2 minutes, it was to die for.  It had this tangy sort of creamy italian dressing drizzled over spinach and arugala, with sundried tomatoes and toasted almond and shaved parmesan over all of that.  It came in a long rectangular plate and I just went from one end to the other like a corn on the cobb and scarffed that little nugget of goodness like there was no tomorrow! (deep breath)  My main course was take a guess, not pizza, but mahi fish tacos!  Yes I love fish tacos too and I don't care what kind of restaurant we are at, if they have fish tacos i am gettin me some.  And yes, they were good and messy.  My husband ordered  "the works" pizza and when it came, which was actually pretty timely, the only thing that I really didn't think I would have liked about it was the big old green bell pepper slices all over the it.  Other than that it was about the size of a typical small pizza and it looked pretty good.  I can't really say too much about it because I didn't taste it.  My husband did say it was very good and he is a pizza conasuer.  We did not order dessert because we usually choose between wine, a drink, or dessert.  My overall impression was excellent time and food, although, I knew it was going to be good because I have been there, so thank you California Pizza Kitchen for coming to Jacksonville, FL.  I am sure we wil be adding you to our favs if we haven't already (me).

Out and About Jax - Peppers of Yulee

We were at peppers last night and enjoyed ourselves as much as you can with two unruly kids climbing all around you.  We like peppers because they have really good mexican food and the atmosphere is somewhere in between casual and elegant.   We liked the margheritas not too stong and not too weak, and the fish tacos were great!  although by the third one I was so full I had to force myself to finish it.  The wait staff is always very attentive,  I especially like it when they bring ketchup for the kids' fries in a little silver condiment dish.  The kids really feel special.

The Birthday Blog - Abby's 6th Birthday

Abby had her 6th birthday this week. It turned out great. She got her ears pierced, face painted and had her first slumber party. She did really well. Cried a little getting the piercing, but overall pretty good. She is such a sweet little girl. she is learning responsability but she still has the little girl in her. She in no way resembles the Junie B Jones character. I bilieve she is much more maturefor a sixth grader. She will go into first grade next year and the journey that is school will begin, although she has already been in school for three years. I worry that she is not motivated to learn. Maybe that will come with age. It is my responsability to help her with that. I get really impatient with her as I do with everything. I hope she had a nice time and created some lasting memories.

Just From Experience -Ten Tips for Younger Skin

I know everyone has heard all of this before, but it may be that it was in snipets here and soundbites there.  Well here it all is in one place, 10 things you can do right now that are free and can help you to keep your skin looking young and fresh, longer. 
1. Stay out of the sun.  I try not to go in the sun as much as possible and if I have to refer to 2 and 3
2. Wear sun screen on your face, neck, chest, arms and hands.
3. Wear a sun hat when out in the sun for longer periods of time. Say you have to be at the beach with the kids or a festival or the zoo, just make sure you have a wide brimed hat for double protection.  It may be a pain but you will thank the hat one day.  It is also imprtant to wear a hat to keep you from squinting in the sun and that brings me to our next tip.
4. Wear sun glasses as much as possible.  Constantly squinting at the sun can eventually cause your skin to wrinkle up!
5. DON'T SMOKE! nuf sed
6. Keep your shower at a lower temperature than scalding.  I know, we all love that steaming water falling down our necks and backs, just don't let it run over your face and chest.  The hot water is also proven not necessary when washing hands.  It is actually the friction and the soap that get the germs off, all the hot water does is dry out your skin and cause it to age sooner.
7. Wear lotion.  Put it on after every washing.  A night cream is also not a bad idea.
8. Get plenty of sleep.  At night all of your skin seems to be renewed.  That old addage, "I need my beauty sleep" is so true.
9. Exercise!  This may not seem to have anything to do with skin, but sweat is actually a natural moisturizer and any amount of exercise can help keep everything lifted and working properly.  Also, a little side benefit to exercise is that you feel better so you are not frowning as much or stressed out so your face will benefit. 
10. My last tip is the hardest for me to do and that is to eat right.  I suggest plenty of good stuff and not so much bad stuff.

OK, there it is.  I hope everyone who reads this will benefit from this compilation of a lifetime of reading beauty magazines and watching tv.  Hehehe.

Just From Experience - The Blogging Phenomenom

I am really amazed at the beautiful writing that I have been able to read since blogging was invented.  We would have never been privy to all of the ups and downs of the world unles we were the personal friends of these people without this simple communication tool.  I am sure that the world is better off today, and that we are inching toward a more loving society as witnessed  through all this window into our lives.  Surely some of the stuff we see is stomach turning and unimaginable, but if you put it all into perspective, on the whole, it's not too bad.  I hope that we all, including me, learn to master this creative outlet and show the world that there is hope in the human race.

Real Estate - Wading Through the Real Estate Waters

I can't believe I have made it to this point.  For the last 2 or so years I have been trying to get my real estate license.  I finally got it and I am now with a broker and trying to get started selling and helping buyers buy.  I still have a little ways to go.  I have paid my fees and joined all of the organizations that are required for doing business, now I have to educate myself through the online Coldwell Banker website.  I have to start making people aware of what I am doing, decide what my schedule is going to be (so I can arrange daycare)  and attend all of the meetings and training sessions.  I can't wait to do my first demonstration or my first presentation.  I can't wait to get my first listing or to sign a buyer.  It is really exciting, but a really slow pace getting to the point that I want to be.

Real Estate - My First Broker Interview

I had a meeting with a potential new broker today and it went well except for the fact that I am going to have to pay about 1000.00 up front and put my boy in daycare and update my wardrobe.  I just don't know how I am going to come up with all of that money when there is no clearcut income. I will have to have a discussion with my husband tonight, but he is probably going to tell me to forget about it.  I have already sold everything in my house that is worth anything and quit babysitting.  So there is no money coming in on my side.  I feel sick.  I just don't know what to do.  It seems like everytime I get a wonderful feeling, like when I passed the state board after failing twice or like today after talking with a broker, that money issues always come along and cut my legs out from under me.  It is really hard to stay positive and upbeat when there are always downers like lack of money waiting to bring you down.  I guess I could have prevented all of this by trying to save a little money back while I was working, but I truly did not realize that I was going to be forced to be a member of the MLS and the NEFAR and that that was going to cost me 855.00!  So now I am in the position of either having to throw away everything that I have already invested and quiting or putting my family into financial turmoil.  What would you choose?

Birthday Blog - My 43rd Birthday!

I turned 43 on the 15th and my 25th class reunion was on that day! I feel kind of old.  I got my real estate license though and I'm really proud of myself.  I am excited about getting out there and learning the business.  I don't really have too much to say about myself, but the world is pretty screwed up right about now.  I think people think that twittering is going to change it.  Maybe we should stop typing and get up and do something like vote!  I would like to try to influence people to live a christian or positive life by living one myself.  I have a long way to go for that but I am going to try hard to accomplish it.

Just A Note - First Day of School

We are new to the public school scene. Abby is now in Kindergarten. We are placing her in a public school this year so that next year we can homeschool her through the Duval County Virtual Academy.  I have wanted to homeschool my children since before they were born, but didn't want the hassle and expense of planning a whole cirriculum on my own.  I am not too upset that she has to go to public school because I think it will be a good experience for her.  Her teachers' names are Mrs. Tyler and Mrs. Jamison. They are coteachers and seem very nice. I think Abby will do well.  Of course there are 30 students and a supply list a whole page long! I have to keep reminding myself that it is only for one year.  I think we can get through it. 
It has been a typical first day of school, long lines to pick up,  paperwork, and homework.  It is all so new to her, she doesn't want to leave my side, the halls are noisy and there are so many people!  I walk her to her door and hang out with her until she can go inside her room.  I give her a hug and say goodbye, David wants to stay.  I tell the teacher that I can help out if needed and I leave the room.  She will be fine. 

parenting

Are my kids spoiled? They cry when they don't get their way. They throw things down on the floor. They kick and hit. They scream. They say "no" to everything. They are 5 and 2. I think I need Nanny 911. My husband says that when my 5 year old goes to school she will get better. I say she will get worse, but I am not sure if homeschooling will work because she doesn't listen. Oh yeah, they don't listen. Well, she is already registered at Sheffield so I guess we will see how she does in kindergarten. Then we will go from there.

I don't remember it being so hard to raise my 24 year old. It seemed like a breeze. And I was single! Now I have a husband and all the money I need to raise a child and it seems to be going in the opposite direction. Maybe it was easier because there was was noone to argue with me about what to do, I don't know.

I never dreamed that parenting would be so difficult. I don't see it getting any easier either. It seems to me that the older they get the bigger their problems will be. At least they have each other.