One of our new favorite local places to visit is Anaheim GardenWalk. Have you been there before? 
This outdoor dining, entertainment and shopping destination is situated in the heart of the Anaheim Resort District just steps from the Disneyland® Resort and Anaheim Convention Center, GardenWalk offers guests a variety of these popular restaurants:
- The Cheesecake Factory
- California Pizza Kitchen
- P.F. Chang’s
- Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
- McCormick & Schmick’s
- Grasslands Meat Market
- Fire + Ice Grill + Bar
- Roy’s Restaurant
- Johnny Rockets
- McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon
- McMormick & Schmick’s Grill
GardenWalk also offers a vibrant nightlife, an escape room, a magic store and cabaret, trendy shops and an upscale bowling lounge. Some of the newest tenants to join the property include House of Blues Anaheim, Mission Escape Games, Artists Republic Gallery, and Go VR Gaming.
We were invited to spend a fun evening out at GardenWalk to experience “Rock the Walk”. a summer concert series. Rock the Walk, is a live music experience showcasing local artists and takes place on Thursdays from 5:30-7:30 p.m.through August 24. 
During Rock the Walk, guests can also enjoy free tastings from participating restaurants in the center, get free Henna, and enter giveaways. We listened to live music from Hoity Toity, an up and coming band that’s local.
There’s also a DJ on hand during Rock the Walk. It’s a great way to spend time outdoors, with family and friends, on Southern California summer nights. There’s a great ambiance at GardenWalk with many great art pieces, galleries, and murals to check out too, including great backdrops for photos.
We were also treated to a very special dinner that night at Fire + Ice Bar + Grill, which has got to be the coolest interactive grill I’ve ever experienced. The eatery welcomes diners of all ages and preferences, offering an incredible selection of fresh veggies, meats, pastas, seasonings and sauces. Their pro-grillers entertain the crowds as they sizzle up your culinary creation on an open grill. Here’s a fun video to give you an idea of what it’s like at Fire + Ice Bar + Grill:
It’s cool to be able to choose what you want to have for dinner, whether it be a noodle dish with an Asian flare or an Italian pasta or even a pizza cooked right there on the grill. You get to put together your creation and then watch the grillers prepare right in front of you!
Fire + Ice is such a fun place to go, especially at night when it gets on the busier side because the grill gets full and it’s super cool to watch the grillers juggle all of it while still having fun with guests. The food was delicious and the staff went above and beyond. We had a great experience at Fire + Ice.
Rock the Walk will take place on Thursdays through August 24. Here is a schedule of featured artists for Rock the Walk in August:
- Thursday,, August 3 – Katelyn Marie
- Thursday, August 10 – Tony Gomez
- Thursday, August 17 – Morgan Mallory
- Thursday, August 24 – HVNTED, presented by Music Forward
Anaheim GardenWalk is located at:
400 West Disney Way
Anaheim, CA 92802
For more information about Anaheim GardenWalk, please call 714.635.7410 or visit their site here.
Over the years, we’ve really come to love LEGOLAND more and more! There are just so many fun things to see and do there and even with a pre-tween daughter, I still get asked by her, to go to LEGOLAND. 
Here are just 7 of the reasons we love LEGOLAND California Resort:
Miniland USA is amazing! 
LEGO Character Meet and Greets are cool!
Granny’s Apple Fries Are a MUST! (among other LEGOLAND snacks) 
LEGO Friends Heartlake City is adorable!
Brick or Treat Nights are fun! 
LEGOLAND Waterpark! 
There are all types of slides inside the waterpark, some more “thrilling” than otheres, just depending on how “brave” you are. 
Inside of the LEGOLAND waterpark there are also play and splash areas, a Lazy River, and plenty of seating, including Cabanas that you can rent ffor the day. (for a fee.) Also, a new area called “Surfers Cove” was recently added to the waterpark. *Please note: You need to purchase a Park Hopper ticket to gain access to the LEGOLAND Waterpark area, as it’s inside of LEGOLAND.
Are you ready for some exciting news? I have teamed up with a group of other bloggers to host an amazing giveaway! One winner will win 4 LEGOLAND California Resort Park Hopper tickets! It’s simple to enter, just leave a comment on this post AND go below and enter through the Rafflecopter. Good luck and thanks for reading!
To join in and support this great cause, just stop by any Orange County Chick-fil-A location on the four Wednesdays leading up to the CHOC Walk and purchase a Chocolate Chunk Cookie, a six pack or a catering tray of 12 or 24 and 100% of the proceeds will go directly to CHOC Children’s Hospital. 
Hosted by Irvine City Officials and FivePoint, the development manager of Great Park Neighborhoods, the event will offer a first-hand look at the 53-acre first phase of the Sports Park, a world-class youth sports facility that complements the award-winning schools, vibrant economy and well-planned neighborhoods that help Irvine rank consistently as one of the best places to live. Built on the site of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, the Sports Park is ultimately planned to be nearly twice the size of Disneyland.
Attendees at the grand opening celebration will be treated to a day long festival of family-friendly games, including sneak peeks at the world-class amenities, demonstrations and sports clinics with well-known athletes, including Landon Donovan, Amy Rodriguez and Brad Friedel; and savory eating at 14 food and dessert trucks. The grand-opening celebration will culminate in a free concert featuring Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi of the Blues Brothers.
Did you know that Burke Williams has its own, exclusive skincare line called H2V? This signature skin care line proves lasting beauty is a marriage of art and science. H2V products combine natural herbs and botanicals with tested scientific ingredients. Burke Williams’ team of experienced scientists, estheticians, and industry professionals have created an effective, results-oriented line of products designed to repair and enhance your skin. Constantly evolving to incorporate the most advanced technology, H2V is a custom-formulated professional skin care line that is designed to enhance your natural beauty.
One of the line’s best selling products is Buff, which is a refining exfoliant with microdermabrasion crystals and cornmeal, that provides even and complete exfoliation. Bentonite clay assists with detoxifying to maintain fresh looking and healthy skin. Buff is great for teens, men and women. It’s a fantastic product that could be an ideal (and affordable) gift for yourself or special someone in your life. 
To enter my giveaway, just go to my Instagram. look for the photo above, showing a girl receiving a relaxing facial, and leave a comment telling me what your favorite spa service at Burke Williams is. I will accept comments as entries on the Instagram post until 11:59 p.m. on 8/27/17, when I will close the giveaway. I will then draw a winner using Random Number Generator. Winner will be contacted via DM on Instagram. Good luck everyone! Thanks for reading!
As I mentioned, the Holiday Inn brand has partnered up with Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, for this program. We were invited to attend a special character breakfast with the popular Scholastic book characters Clifford the Big Red Dog® and Geronimo Stilton. 
Young guests at the hotel were able to meet and take pictures with the characters. They also received a take-home frame to displaying their character photo and took part in fun craft activities during the breakfast. 
Attendees were also gifted a Scholastic book, which will also remain available for young guests at check-in, at participating locations, through the end of August.
Another great component of the program is the lending library. Select Holiday Inn hotels will offer a Scholastic lending library, through the end of August, where kids can borrow a book to read during their stay. Parents who are away from home on business can also borrow a book to read their kids a virtual bedtime story. Participating hotels will lend traveling parents a stand for their smartphone or tablet so they can read hands-free to their little ones at home. For a list of participating Holiday Inn hotels, please visit 
On August 21st, the Holiday Inn Nashville-Vanderbilt hotel and Scholastic will host a Total Solar Eclipse Viewing Party. Hotel guests will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch the first total solar eclipse in America in nearly 100 years. The hotel is along the eclipse totality line, providing families with the optimal view of this rare celestial occurrence. Kids and parents alike will learn about space with the “Magic School Bus Presents: Our Solar System” book while cherishing this unforgettable moment together. Guests will also receive a special pair of eclipse-viewing glasses and have the opportunity to meet two Scholastic characters. The solar eclipse viewing party is complimentary for hotel guests. For bookings, please go 
As a mom, and an elementary teacher, I really appreciate the efforts of the Holiday Inn brand in encouraging reading, even when on vacation. It’s one of the most important things we need to instill in our children, beginning at a young age! 
Join in on the conversation by using and following along with the hashtag #SmilesAhead.
This year, I’m all about saving as much as I can on my back-to-school expenses so I”ll be hitting up 
There are so many things to buy for the upcoming school year. Whether your children wear a school uniform or regular clothes to school, outfitting them can cost a pretty penny, especially as most of them have sprouted over the summer and can longer wear much from last school year. Then there are school shoes to buy, new backpacks & lunchboxes, and a ton of school supplies. This year I also need to purchase a laptop for my daughter. It seems like the list goes on and on. Here’s just an example of some of the stores I’ll be back-to-school shopping at with Groupon:
Groupon offers savings at tons of the stores and sites I shop at. You can check out their site and search for the best deals, even from your mobile device. Why wouldn’t you want to save money on things you’re already purchasing?
The 25,000-square-foot unit nearly triples the size of the hospital’s previous Level 4 NICU, which included an open layout that grouped patients in pod-style beds.
The new unit, located on the fourth floor of CHOC’s Bill Holmes Tower, creates a homey atmosphere with sleeping quarters and storage space outfitted in warm colors and wooden accents to help parents feel more comfortable while their infants receive highly specialized care for extended periods of time.
In addition to private rooms, the new space includes other features that will enhance patient care. Should an infant need a sudden surgical procedure, three rooms within the unit can quickly be converted into space for surgeries. The unit will also include a life-saving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) unit. Rooms that adjoin can be used to accommodate triplets.
Safety features include same-handed rooms, wherein equipment is positioned in the same location among all rooms to reduce human error; room-adjacent nursing alcoves; and an in-unit nutrition lab for the preparation of breast milk and formula.
CHOC’s new unit also features a family dining space, a room dedicated for siblings, a lactation room and other amenities to ensure the comfort of the entire family.
For several decades, CHOC has served infants requiring the highest level of care. With the unit’s opening, CHOC’s neonatal services now include 72 beds at CHOC Orange and the CHOC Children’s NICU at St. Joseph Hospital, and 22 beds at CHOC Children’s at Mission Hospital. In addition, a team of premier CHOC neonatologists care for babies at hospitals throughout Southern California.
A suite of specialized services comprises the CHOC NICU: the Surgical NICU, which provides dedicated care to babies needing or recovering from surgery; the Small Baby Unit, where infants with extremely low birth weights receive coordinated care; the Neurocritical NICU, where babies with neurological problems are cohorted; and the Cardiac NICU, which provides comprehensive care for neonates with congenital heart defects.
Please visit 
Somehow, I guess I completely overlooked their breakfast menu. Breakfast burritos are like my love language! The breakfast menu includes these 7 different breakfast burritos, all made with farm fresh cracked eggs:
Other breakfast entrees on the menu are these 3 plates:
I was invited to a special morning at the Miguel’s Jr.at their Costa Mesa location, to sample the items on the breakfast menu and I highly recommend the breakfast burrito they refer to as “The House Favorite”, aka The Green Pig. Everything on the breakfast menu was delicious though, in my opinion, even the freshly brewed coffee!
Miguel’s Jr serves offers their breakfast menu daily until 11 a.m. and Saturdays and Sundays until 1 p.m. for those late risers. It’s delicious and something you’ll want to get in to our nearest location and try it ASAP!