Monday, March 17, 2008

The King of Kong

I just happened to watch The King of Kong: A fistfull of quarters. It was on Netflix instant watch in the top 50 movies. I LOVED IT! I feel like such a gaming nerd but it was a great movie. It is a documentary about the quest for the world championship title in arcade Donkey Kong (yeah I just lost you there right?). If you watch it you will probably end up loving Steve Wiebe and hating Billy Mitchell at least I hope so.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Italian Eatery

Date night! I just celebrated a birthday on March 8th. I received a coupon in the mail for a free dinner entree from Bazil http://www.bazilrestaurant.com/ or Mario's http://www.mariosviaabruzzi.com/. The coupon is good for up to $11.00 at Bazils or $16.00 at Marios. (Which is funny because there were no entrees that I saw on the menu that were under $11.00)

I have been to both these restaurants before and we picked Bazil because Mario's is a bit more spendy. They both have online menu's. I was happy that Bazil's had a section on their menu for special diets (Low Carb/Vegetarian/Weight Watchers with nutritional info/Gluten Free). The dinner entrees come with your choice of soup or salad. They have unlimited salad and breadsticks like the OG. I got broiled haddock which comes with coleslaw and steak fries and I chose the minestrone soup. My date ordered Lasagna off the Weight Watchers menu and chose the salad. They very nicely brought the dressing on the side which has been a hassle before at the previously mentioned OG. Minestrone soup was very delicious stocked full of vegetables and pasta. Vegetarians beware that the minestrone has a meat based broth. I had a lot of questions about meal prep and side dishes and the server was very patient and provided good information. The food came quickly, it was pipping hot, and presentation was nice. My date ate my steak fries and reported that they were very delicious. I enjoyed the haddock it was fresh tasting and perfectly done. Our server was very quick on refills and she promptly brought requested items.

Of course, there is always things that pluck my tail feathers. The restaurant is loud. I think it just has poor acoustics. We heard all about a birthday girl about 5 tables away who was hitting the vino. I was amazed that the staff continued to serve her alcohol despite her very obvious inebriation. She got up announced to the table (well the whole restaurant really) that she was going to use the restroom. When she didn't come back her friends started looking for her. She went and drove herself home, obviously very drunk. I have no tolerance for drunk driving so I was disappointed in her and the staff for continuing to serve her alcohol despite her very obvious inebriation.

Overall I give this 3 and a half enthusiastic quacks.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Mani/Pedi's with momma duck

My mom took me out today for my Easter gift and we both got Manicures and Pedicures. We went to Maiden Nails in Webster, NY. Its address is 950 Ridge Road but its in the K-Mart/BJ's plaza between the two. We had appointments at 12:30 but my pedi didn't start until almost 2:00. The point was to spend time with momma duck but we got off schedule and she was getting her mani when my pedi finally started. My pedi was so rushed that we ended at the same time even though hers started 45 minutes before mine. The tech painted a very obvious fuzzy into my nail that I did't see until I got home. Thats what I get for flying out of there without inspecting the goods. I give this experience only two quacks. The staff is nice and the pedi-spas are really comfy with built-in back massagers. They really seem to cater more to the arcrylic nail crowd so your mileage may vary. As always, feel free to give a shout out to the duck pond!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Intro Post

Hello Ducklings:

This is my blog for reviews. There is nothing off limit for me to review as I have lots of opinions. I live near Rochester, New York so most of my destination reviews will be in this area but as my world expands outward my reviews may too. So far my plan is to go backwards a bit before I go forwards.

3/11/08

I went to Michael's in Henrietta, NY. http://www.michaels.com/art/online/home. Any crafter already knows what this store is. I frequent a lot of the craft superstores because I enjoy fiber, paper, textiles, and mixed media artwork and there is a little something of everything in these stores. There are very few sections in these stores I don't visit (it's mostly the cheesy wedding section I steer clear of). They aren't the best for very specific or more advanced craft/art needs (I'm looking for chipboard birds). But they are good for basic, low cost supplies.

I had no coupons but everything I bought was on clearance. I enjoy stalking the store for hidden clearance dispersed among the aisles and then I hit the aisle dedicated to clearance items. My big purchase was 20 skeins of Bernat Brella yarn in a variety of neutral brown tones. (I plan to make my mother-in-law a shawl for her birthday). The yarns were marked clearance $1.50 but they rang up for a dollar!

What to know before you go:
Don't come here without a coupon. Michael's does not offer online coupons and to my knowledge they don't do private mailings. You can get Michael's coupons in the Sunday paper quite often. Michael's also accepts competitors (Joann's, A.C. Moore) PRINT coupons. They will not take computer or register coupons. Coupons are only good for regular priced items.

Beware of items labeled "clearance" and check the price. The clearance discount may only be a dollar off. Which is fine if the item was originally 2 dollars but if it was $19.99 it would have been better to use a coupon.

What Ducky didn't like:

I recently had surgery and I can't bend over all the way to the floor. Of course I knocked down 2 coloring books in the main aisle. I explained to a nearby associate that I couldn't bend over but I didn't want to leave the coloring books lying there. She said nothing at all to me and without even looking at me picked them up and went back to what she was doing. It all felt a bit hostile.

Feel free to share with me, I love to hear about other great deals that people find in stores. I also enjoy hearing about projects where craft items cross genres.