Once upon a dreary fall day in OHIO when my kids had off from school for Delaware County Fair Day, we went to Marcy's Clayground in Powell. This will be fun I thought! Expensive, but fun! Apparently I was not the only one seeking out something to do in the rain that day. Only 2 tables open when we got there and another table was being used by the not so friendly employee surfing the net on her laptop. Marcy's offers select pottery pieces to paint in their studio and then you pick up your finished pieces about a week later. The price to create a masterpiece depends on what you pick. All the pottery has different prices, then add the studio fee and tax. I found that Marcy's had a very slim selection of items to paint and it was crammed to move around the studio tables while selecting your items. Extremely tight with me, 2 kids and breakable items! Once we picked out our pottery, I asked the not so friendly employee for some direction on where supplies were, how to pay and when to pick up. The employee was kind enough to offer some pointing in the directions of items and some no eye contact conversation. The kids and I poked around and grabbed a table before they were filled up then we picked out our paint and brushes and looked around to other patrons tables to see what supplies we were missing. We had fun painting and then cleaned up and turned in our pieces at the checkout. A week later our pottery was ready and we ended up being pretty good artists. I would not recommend Marcy's because of the small selection, tight studio area and unfriendly service. SMAC Not Approved!
SMAC'S Fall Event was a blast at the packed wine tasting hosted by meza wine shop in uptown Westervillle! meza featured the the Maysara Vineyards in Willamette Valley, Oregon. The wine tasting set up was very easy and informal. meza charges $10/ per person to taste 5 wines and enjoy light tapas. meza provides small tables and stools around the shop to chit chat while tasting your samples. At the tables patrons will find a list of the wines they are tasting, which I found helpful when the event was over and I wanted to purchase a bottle of wine. The wines offered to taste from Maysara were; "Autees" Pinot Blanc, "Arsheen" Pinot Gris, 3 Pinot Noir, "Jamsheed" Pinot Noir and Estate Pinot Noir. The light tapas were; fruit, cheese and crackers and olives. How did the wines taste? The Pinot Blanc tasted a bit like fruity water and in my opinion paired well with cheese and crackers or even the fruit. The Pinot Gris, was like a typical Pinot Grigio and would be a great table wine at dinner and please most of your guests. The 3 Pinot Noir tasted like dark berries (black,raspberry and cherry) and was not to my liking. I can see this paired with brie and crackers. The Jamsheed Pinot Noir was very smooth and could paired well with steak, chicken or pork dishes. MY FAVORITE wine was the last to be tasted, the Estate Pinot Noir. The Estate Pinot Noir was full bodied and luscious. The Estate wine was bold and definitely needs to be sipped and admired for its unique flavor. A great time was had by all the ladies that stopped by for the tasting and our SMAC Fall Event was a success! meza Wine Shop is SMAC Approved!
Heelys. I have seen kids gliding around on these shoes for awhile. When I asked my 7 year old if she would like a pair, she exclaimed "Yes!" When the box arrived, she wanted to open it up and use it immediatley! My husband then snapped the roller heels into the shoes and she was ready to go! I held her hand as I took her down to the street. She found it difficult to manuever and then we realized that she need to use the Heelys on a smoother surface. So she tried it in the garage and I was worried that she would fall down because she was unstable. She was frustrated but I now realized that I should have read the instructions on how to properly use the Heelys! I went to the website and watched the video demo on how to use the Heelys! (http://www.heelys.com/SitePages/FootwearTricktionary.aspx) I learned that you have to first learn to balance on the Heelys with someone holding your hand. Afterwards, you can start to maneuver them on your own. (See what happens when you don't read the instructions!)
A week later, I was discussing with my friend Kelly about Heelys. She said her daughter has a pair and said the best place for the kids to wear the Heelys is at the Meijer! (a grocery store) She said the smooth linoleum surface makes it easier for the kids to move around the store. Other than a grocery store, I think I need to find a better place for her to start perfecting the use of her Heelys!
Now that I have seen the video, I think she will be a quick learner and learn to love gliding around in her Heelys! Please give me some suggestions on other places around town where I can take her so she can use her Heelys!
SMAC Approved!
http://www.heelys.com/
Full Disclosure: Heelys sent Social Moms a pair for review.
Heelys is throwing a Black Friday special!! Between Nov 25-Nov 28, Buy any pair of Heelys, get the second pair for $25. Or buy a Nano, and get a pair of shoes for $25, and get free ground shipping on all orders!
Prize Area at Dave and Buster's.
My friend Rene called me two weeks ago and said "Since both of our husbands are out of town and the kids are off school, let's go to Dave and Buster's!" She reminded me that we needed to use our Entertainment Book Coupons for D&B as well. One was for "$5 off of a $25 meal" and the other was for "$10 free play credit with $10 purchase."
Since I had never been here before, I was letting Rene lead the way. First, we sat down with the kids and had some dinner. Rene and I both selected meals from "600 calorie and under menu"-the Cabo Style Chicken with steamed veggies/rice "and "Mango citrus shrimp skewers with steamed veggies/rice". Both dishes were very good!
The kids ordered off the kid menu with the standard burgers, chicken fingers, mac n' cheese and fries. To settle them down, Rene ordered nachos with plain cheese sauce. Once again, the kids were more interested in playing than eating but we did get a chance to nibble on some of our kids' mac n' cheese and fries!
Play area at Dave and Busters.
The kids were getting antsy so we had to go and get our play cards. Since it was "1/2 price Wednesday" the games are cheaper than on other days. You have to use a D&B card to play games-the card is loaded with a t of points. The cards are $2.00 a piece but you can reuse them. Rene let me borrow one of her cards since she already had multiple cards. Then, you swipe the card and points are deducted off of your card. At most stations, then you can collect tickets and redeem them at the prize area. This is place reminds me of an upscale Chuck E. Cheese/Magic Mountain except the place is cleaner and the food is FAR superior! (Rene also thinks the prizes are a lot better!)
I would say that this place is for older kids (5 and up)-my 3 year old played some games but I had to lift her up on chairs in order for her to play some games. (She loved it though!)
You know it is a good place when your kids leave and say that they want to come back and have a birthday party....
SMAC Approved!
http://www.daveandbusters.com/
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