lifestyle Archives - Page 12 of 16 - Have Sippy Will Travel

Noodles and Company

December 3, 2013 by Samantha 8 Comments

Noodles are one of my favorite foods. Not to mention a good way to easily get carbs to stomach by way of a slurp or a twirl. One of my favorite types of restaurants are those that specialize in the the power of the noodle, be it Udon, a local Mac and Cheese spot, or Italian- any and all can be delicious in their own way.

There is a recently discovered restaurant called Noodles and Company that specializes in most types of noodles, Thai, Japanese, Italian, Chinese, even egg noodles and mac and cheese. All your bases are covered. Your meal starts with picking a noodle dish then picking a meat or meat substitute if you wish, options include grilled chicken, breaded chicken, steak, pork or tofu. If you’ d like spaghetti and tofu, the option is there. Of the noodle dishes we tried, the favorites among the table were the mac and cheese, Indonesian Peanut Saute, and Beef Stroganoff.
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Filed Under: food, lifestyle Tagged With: asian noodles, beef stroganoff, food, inexpensive food, noodle chains, noodles, Noodles and Company

Oliver! at Paper Mill Playhouse

December 2, 2013 by Samantha 2 Comments

Just opened last night at Millburn, NJ’s Paper Mill Playhouse is Oliver! This adorable show is great for the whole family, and both my son and I loved it. Some of our favorites from the evening were Betsy Morgan, who plays Nancy (thief and more). Nancy loves the main villain of the story, but wants more out of life then she has a chance to receive. She takes up for Oliver, and pays for it in the end. Betsy Morgan has an amazing voice, and every single time she took the stage we were excited to hear her. Her voice and performance were moving, and she was a pleasure to watch. My son (age 6) also loved her, and wanted to know when she will “make a CD”. My son also was excited to see all the children on stage, led by Tyler Moran, who is in 6th grade and plays Oliver Twist. The children were lively, talented, and great multi-taskers, singing and dancing as different parts and characters. We had a great time at this performance, and recommend you taking your whole family to the first show that fits into your schedule.
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Filed Under: entertainment, lifestyle, theater Tagged With: famiy theater, live show, NJ theaters, oliver twist, oliver twist play, Oliver! at Paper Mill Playhouse, paper mill playhouse, papermill playhouse, theater

Sesame Place Very Furry Christmas

November 27, 2013 by Samantha 5 Comments

Sesame Place is all decked out for Christmas, and it’s a lot of fun for the kids. Christmas themed Sesame Place transforms the theme park in Pennsylvania from the summer amusement park destination for kids of all ages to a holiday wonderland of Sesame Street proportions.

The Very Furry Christmas starts with an already cool park (but now without water rides), then adds characters all dressed up for their holiday greeting cards, and special holiday themed rides, decorations, and attractions. My son loved the Sesame Place Furry Express Train, which was a cute ride through Christmas trees and cookies and goodies.

There is also a Christmas Light Display Holiday Light Spectacular, Christmas Storytime with Zoe in Mr. Hooper’s Emporium, and Santa’s Furry Workshop at Trader Bert’s. There are also 5 holiday shows to see during your visit if you and your kids like live performances. The real gems of the Furry Christmas are the shows. Each is now holiday themed and the kids will love it. The shows run throughout the day and aren’t to be missed.
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Filed Under: family, kids, lifestyle Tagged With: family travel, PA, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania attractions, Pennsylvania travel, Sesame Place, theme park, travel

Disney On Ice- Fun for Kids

November 23, 2013 by Samantha 2 Comments

Disney on Ice is always a fun time for the kids, and newest show, “Let’s Celebrate” is no exception. This show has your child’s favorites Disney characters (such as Aladdin, Captain Hook, and Belle) celebrating the year’s holidays and festivities. I think most of the little girls in the audience preferred “Valentines Day”, which had most of the princesses participating, and was all about Disney love and pretty things, pink and hearts and flowers. All the little girls were screeching and cheering for their favorites princesses and princes. My son preferred “Halloween”, which had Jack Skellington (who we have never seen before in a Disney show, he was new to us) leading a pack of ghouls, goblins, and Disney’s “best” villains in a fun ice dance. My 6 year old was also very exited to see Cruella deVil, whom we also have not seen before- these are two of his favorites and he actually screamed with delight at both of them. He never reacts like that, so I was both amused and happy to see him so extra enthusiastic.
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Filed Under: disney, kids, lifestyle Tagged With: disney, Disney on Ice, kids shows, live shows

Good Eats – Lockport, NY

November 21, 2013 by Samantha 4 Comments

Lockport, NY has quite a lot to offer a traveler, not the least of which is delicious food. When you are traveling with children, it’s good to know places to stop at that are good, clean, won’t break the bank, and have food everyone will enjoy.

There are 2 “must visit” food stops for anyone with kids- or a mouth- who happens to find themselves in Lockport, NY. If you are hungry-hungry, and you want more then just a little something, make sure you visit Sweet Sixteen Cafe on Main Street. The owner is on the premises much of the time, and actually “gets her hands dirty” so to speak. She is a very funny, gregarious person, and will chat with you while you order (and it might take you some time to choose, the varieties of food and desserts they offer are limitless, and sadly, your stomach is not). The smell will assault you as soon as you walk in- in the best possible way. The aromas of baked goods, soups, and hot beverages was almost too good- if there was such a thing. All I know is I didn’t wait for lunch to order dessert, that came first. The cupcakes were AMAZING and come in lots of flavors and several sizes.
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Filed Under: food, lifestyle, travel Tagged With: family travel, food, NY, travel

5 Fun DIY Baby Shower Decorating Ideas

November 20, 2013 by Samantha 1 Comment

During the time of a woman’s pregnancy, as everyone is waiting on the arrival of her son or daughter, those months leading up to it is filled it excitement as well as anticipation. There is decorating of the nursery to do, pregnancy pictures to take and of course, at least one bridal shower to be had.

If you happen to be someone who is hosting one of those showers, perhaps you’ve been looking for some baby shower decorating ideas that you can do. If so, we have five fun DIY ones below that will not cost a lot of money or take a lot of time. That way, you can get them done in a couple of hours and focus on anything else that the mother-to-be might need:

Create a diaper cake. One of the most classic kinds of baby shower decorations is a diaper cake. If you’ve never seen one before, it’s pretty much exactly like it sounds. You’ll basically need around 100 diapers (cloth or disposable), some rubber bands, diaper pins, colored-tissue, round pieces of cardboard and some colorful ribbon. If you’d like some step-by-step instructions on how to make one, go to Baby Savers and put “DIY diaper cake tutorials” in the search field. They have a variety of cake ideas to choose from.

Give some cupcakes made out of “onesies”. Something else that’s really cute is to make a box of cupcakes. Only rather than using an oven, you can use some onesies instead. These are actually really easy to make with the help of some onesies, baby socks, Scotch tape (and some cupcake boxes, of course). Club Chica Circle is one website that has some clear directions. Just go there and put “cupcake onesies” in the search field.
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Filed Under: lifestyle, Uncategorized Tagged With: Baby Shower

Chevy Impala 2LT

November 12, 2013 by Samantha 2 Comments

On a recent road trip to Niagara Falls. We had the extreme pleasure of taking this long journey with a brand new Chevy Impala 2LT. The car rode like a dream and made the trip a pleasure even while driving in the middle of the night. It also had lots of legroom, even for my 6’4 husband, and plenty of space for travel gear, suitcases, and a 6 year old’s armada of backseat junk. There was a table with cup holders that folded down in the backseat, which in itself made me love this car. How much do you love a car built for a roadtrip?

At a rest stop in NY State

The Impala is an innovation built of high tech materials and detailed sculpted designs on the exterior. While the interior is plush and luxurious, with a huge touch screen with integrated GPS, Chevy MyLink, dual climate control and satellite radio. The touchscreen is huge, but not dominating nor over powering while driving at night. The other smart screen in vehicle is driver specific. This one is meant for the driver’s view and is in place of the speedometer and in dash information. The screen is customizable via on wheel controls, which can control just about everything just shy of your passengers, including audio, climate controls, collision detection and speed control.
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Filed Under: lifestyle Tagged With: chevy, chevy impala, drive a chevy, family cars, family travel, travel

Symphony Space – Theater For Kids

November 11, 2013 by Samantha 2 Comments

Disclosure- I received tickets to this show in order to review it. All opinions are my own and honest.

This past weekend, we headed out to Symphony Space to see the “Treehouse Shakers” preform their latest show, “Hatched”. A puppet show about life on the farm (complete with lots of farm noises and even several chances to “pet” and interact with some of the puppets), this music and dance show was aimed at the younger audience members.

Kids Theater

“Hatched,” written and directed by Mara McEwin, this dance-play offers a generous mix of things that kids love; it’s part farm, part museum and all theatre. Performed via movement, handcrafted puppets, music and minimal human dialogue, the story is set at an American family farm. An adorable, fluffy chick meets a feisty old rooster, a wobbly calf learning to walk, a gaggle of dancing chicks, a lamb, and a noisy nest of baby birds.

Intimately staged to live music performed by Anthony Rizzo, young audience members are encouraged to interact with the newborn animals as they explore their worlds. Through movement and music, the calf learns to walk, the baby birds attempt to fly, and the lamb makes a new friend with the curious hatched chick. Audience members interact and play with the characters on stage; they give the chicks their feed, milk bottles to the lamb, are licked by the cow, and feed worms to the baby birds. Babies in the audience will be enticed by the animal sounds and textures, while toddlers and preschoolers will love watching and imitating their favorite farm animals as they come to life.
Preschoolers will delight in learning about life on the farm, and older kids will be entertained by the delightful storytelling, live music and dance.