The Groupon Weekend Getaway - Part 2 - good eats

I meant to share with you yesterday the second part of our Groupon weekend, food!

Oh, we ate and we ate! Trust me... the old pants were tight.

One of the things that Groupon seems to offer (in my area anyway) on a regular basis is different restaurants. Everything you can imagine across the spectrum. Places I've never heard of... and that's the point, for the business to gain access to a new larger customer base, for not a lot of advertising dollars. Win-win

Our first stop was at O'Dowds authentic Irish pub. In North KC. Having actually been in a real irish pub, I looked forward to it.

I knew before I got there what I wanted. I wanted Bangers and Mash (sausage and mashed potatoes) just like the last time I was in an irish pub (when I went to the UK). Gene ordered a Shepherd's pie. He really enjoyed his, and I was a little disappointed. It was good but not *omg I want to quit my job and be irish* good. The decor was pretty good and seemed pretty real. Considering it's in one of the busiest retail developments in KC (zona rosa) and not in say, Ireland, I give them a solid B.

We got $20 worth of food, for $10 (plus a tip)


That evening, we went to Em Chamas which was a spur of the moment purchase for me. I bought this literally minutes before going to bed on Christmas eve (actually Christmas day around 1 a.m.!)

Em Chamas is a brazilian place, and the concept I knew Gene would love. You get a "coin" at the beginning of your meal and when it's on the blue side, it means you're interested in the waiters to stop. What do they have? Spears of all kinds of meats.

Gene is a carnivore. I knew this was a hole in one.

And it was, he really enjoyed it a lot and it was a unique experience. We got to try lots of different things that we'd never seen before, or often. Gene seemed to like it more than me. Probably because lots of things were more rare that I like them - which is well done.. WELL. I don't like to see blood on my plate.

*shivers*

(No idea who those ppl are on the left lol. I just wanted to show some decor)


We ended our meal sharing a apple turnover type desert. Very yummy. The down side was, it was very busy. We were sitting in the middle of a busy room (I hate that.. I want a booth lol), and even with a reservation, we had to wait around 15 minutes (after being told it would be 5).

I'd give it a B- Gene would give it a B+. There is a location in St. Joseph, so we'll probably try there at lunch time and see if we enjoy it more.

We bought $50 of food for $25 - plus tip

Tips on buying food on Groupon.
-Make sure that you check out the menu online first to see if you're getting a good value for your money. I want to know that I CAN eat on just the groupon if I wanted to. Plus, I want to know that they have things I'll like.
-If you want to take friends, make sure you can get multiple gift certificates and can use them all at once.
-Make reservations if you can, it could be very busy!


Over all, we enjoyed the experience. It was a way to try new things with not a lot invested.
For the weekend, we spent around $135 for $300 worth of "stuff" (not including tips).

The Groupon Weekend Getaway - Part 1

Fact #1: I fully admit, that I've turned into a bit of a hotel snob.
Fact #2: I fully admit I have a motel 6 budget.
Fact #3: I am my mothers daughter and hate to pay retail.
Fact #4: I like pretty things
Fact #5: I needed a Christmas gift for the glass man.
Fact #6: I could go on endlessly, but then you'd get bored as usual.

Groupon is a pretty cool place. Well, except for the incredibly stupid descriptions and the moronic cat, other than that it's pretty cool. There are tons of offers there for places and events. Like: restaurants, spas, hair salons, botox (yeah really!), hotels and tons of other stuff. All for 50-80% off retail!

The businesses want to reach more customers so they offer you a screaming deal to get in the door. Pretty cool eh?

So back to the gift part. I bought a Groupon for one night's stay at Hotel Phillips in downtown KC and gave it to Gene as one of his Christmas gifts to be used later. Caveat: he was not allowed to pass this off as my "valentine's gift". He's been warned!

Twice.

I thought it would be fun to share some of the fun things we did on our Groupon weekend (I bought 3 all together), and show you some parts of this historic hotel. In fact, It's on the national register of historic places.

Our room was surprisingly bigger than I expected. I think we might have been upgraded to the executive suite. Nice. If we weren't, then I'm even more impressed.

The front desk staff was very helpful and kind. The woman that checked me in had a thick french accent, and didn't seem annoyed when I had to ask her to repeat herself twice. *oops* (English accent, I can handle pretty well ;)

With our package we also received free parking, which ended up being Valet service. That was so nice! Just call down and the car is there and waiting for you a few minutes later. The valet attendants were really polite people also. Not once did we feel like one staff member was impolite.

Our package also included a bottle of wine which I had just one glass and Gene had most of the rest *lol* I prefer a very sweet desert wine, and he likes his much more dry. It was pretty good, but he liked it better than I did.

We stayed on the 19th floor, which I didn't ask for, but I always want to be as high as I possibly can. Mainly because I love the view! My only complaint was that the windows were kind of dirty so it was hard to get good pics, but really considering the time of year, it's a minor complaint if one at all.

The hotel is an historic art deco period hotel with much of the original decor. Don't expect brand new construction. If you do, then I hear there's a Best Western a few miles a way. Remember that this hotel was built at a time where the average American isn't 325 pounds so the elevators and hallways are a little narrower than what you see in new construction.

Having said that, the decor of the hotel is really stunning, and I'm *not* a big art deco fan. I just wanted to hang out in the lobby and take photos all day. It might be fun to dress up a model or bride in a period dress (I just so happen to have a period gown.. ;) and do some shooting in this lobby.

*must investigate further*

I would say, that my favorite part of the hotel, wasn't even in the hotel... it was the view. We had the best looksee of all downtown. We stayed right next to the Bank of America building and still couldn't see the top of their building it was so tall. It gave the best reflections all times of day and night.

We were very close to Bartle Hall and Sprint Arena. I have dozens of awesome pics of the sculptures on Bartle Hall.

I don't know the name of this building (I'm sure someone reading probably knows), but the lights change that light up the tower all night long. It was straight out our window. And FYI, the pic on the right was handheld at 1/4 second, ISO 320 at 200 mm. Be impressed.

The next morning, we had the last part of our package - it was breakfast for 2 at 12 Baltimore in the hotel. It was very good and there was only one incident where I accidentally shot a sausage patty across the table at Gene while cutting it.

We both recovered beautifully.

Our wait was a little long, and we did get stuck sitting very close to the strangest couple. (she wouldn't speak, and he wouldn't shut up), but really, if we'd gotten around a little earlier (hello, it was sunday!!!) then we wouldn't have had either issue.

The restaurant sounded really pretty good. They had a large pizza with 2 toppings that you can get delivered to your room for $9. That's cheaper than any chain pizza place. I kinda regretted having dinner reservations when I saw that.

This whole package cost us around $90 - with a retail value of $214 (which at retail I thought was a good deal).

Over all, I give this hotel an A. I definitely want to go back again just to explore the hotel a little more and take some more photos... and stay the night!


Tomorrow - I'll share the rest of our Groupon weekend!

Review - Skechers Shape Ups

This is the second installment of a new section I am adding to the blog. Product and service reviews. Soon, this will be switched to a whole different blog, but in the meantime, I thought I would share this review with you here.

Skechers Shape Ups - Purchased at Browns Shoe Fit in Maryville, MO

If you are anything like me, you probably could stand to lose 10 or 75 pounds. LOL. I would settle for 10 at the moment... temporarily. Anyway, couple that with the fact that I had a severe case of planter fascitis two summers ago, and a broken foot this last summer, well, I'm a hot mess in the foot department!

Shopping is taxing on me, even standing for a while, my feet are on fire. I knew I could fix the weight issue "easily" (har), but the leftover pain from previous injuries was going to be a little more difficult.

I decided I needed to go straight to the source.
My feet.

I had heard about the shape ups, and that people really loved them, so I started doing my research and reading how others felt about the shoes, almost all were great reviews.

Their original intention is a fitnes shoe. From the Skechers Shape ups site: "Shape-ups are designed to help you strengthen your muscles, including your back, abdomen and calves. Shape-ups will help you lose weight and improve your circulation, creating a healthier you! It's easy to shape up with Shape-ups. Wear your Shape-ups everywhere and anywhere you walk (or stand), and your body will feel the benefits."

However, that was not my intention, but it would be a great benefit. I was mainly looking for support for my feet, plus cushioning and less jarring on my back.

{a lil' dirty here lol - I'd just been to the chicken coop!}

I saw a sign at Browns Shoe Fit in Maryville, MO that they had their shape ups in, so I popped in. The really nice guys there, showed me the shoes and a few days later I returned to buy a pair. They are not cheap shoes. I paid $107 with the tax, but Browns had them on the low end of the spectrum of pricing. They explained that they had to be priced between $99 and $120 as per Skechers requirements, so I got a deal. I have found that $99 is some of the best prices that you can get, internet included (factoring shipping).

The guys also said that I could use these for a regular walking/exercising shoe if I wanted to.

They were comfortable immediately. They do take a little getting used to as you lean back a little on your heels as you stand up. I wore them to Walmart, and with 20 minutes, my lower back popped.

For the record, my lower back never pops!

I have been having problems with the foot I broke/sprained. I have told everyone that it felt out of place, even my chiro. He said it was tesing ok, and I just couldn't get it back in. After wearing the shoes a lot for a couple weeks, I turned my foot sideways to show my husband, and it popped back into place! (I KNEW IT!) OK, so I can't prove it was the shoes, but what a coincidence!

I did not feel aching in my legs, but other people report that they have, and they do claim that you can lose a little bit of weight. I have not paid attention to see if I have, so I can not confirm that bit.

My honest opinion? I'd rather have these shoes on all the time. Really. I always walk around sock footed at home, and now, I hate having to take them off ever! I can really tell the difference between these and regular shoes, it's like walking on a cloud.

Definitely worth the money, and if I were buying another pair of shoes, I would buy these again. To make things even better, they have tons of styles, even flip flops! Lots of colors in the tennis shoe style.

Lastly, the guys at Browns were really cool. You should stop in and have them scan your feet! You can do that, it's so awesome to see where all the pressure points are in your feet.

I was so glad to see there was no scale attached to that foot scanner!
LOL

Review - Angel Food Ministries

I wanted to tell you about a program, that you may have never heard of. It's called Angel Food Ministries.

Here's an excerpt from their website:
"Angel Food Ministries is a non-profit, non-denominational organization dedicated to providing food relief and financial support to communities throughout the United States. The program began in 1994 with 34 families in Monroe, Georgia (between Atlanta and Athens), and has grown to serve hundreds of thousands of families every month across 44 states. Angel Food Ministries crosses denominational lines and has spread the good news of the gospel of Christ through salvation tracts that are placed in each food order.

Blessings by the box
Angel Food is available in a quantity that can fit into a medium-sized box at $30 per unit. Each month's menu is different than the previous month and consists of both fresh and frozen items with an average retail value of approximately $60. Comparison shopping has been done across the country in various communities using a wide range of retail grocery stores and has resulted in the same food items costing from between $42 and $78.

Generally, one unit of food assists in feeding a family of four for about one week or a single senior citizen for almost a month. The food is all the same high quality one could purchase at a grocery store. There are no second-hand items, no damaged or out-dated goods, no dented cans without labels, no day-old breads and no produce that is almost too ripe.

Also offered are specialty boxes such as steaks, chicken and pork. Many participants in this bonus program appreciate the expanded choices. Additionally, there is no limit to the number of units or bonus foods an individual can receive, and there are no applications to complete or qualifications to which participants must adhere. Angel Food Ministries also participates in the U.S. Food Stamp program, using the Off-Line Food Stamp Voucher system.

It's both a Bargain and a Blessing!"



I'd heard of this many years ago, and had never taken the time to try it out. You don't have to be on assistance, or poor. Anyone can participate. However, if you are having a hard time, this would be a good way to help make ends meet.

About a month ago, I went to the website again for the 20th time, and saw that they now did online ordering. This was a great option (it costs just a little bit more to do it this way to help defray costs), as it would otherwise mean 2 trips to a special location and I just would never remember twice!

I decided to buy the basic signature pack and we picked it up. I wanted to see how long it would last us (a family of three) and for $30, it fed us supper every single night (and a few lunches for Gene) for over a week. Honestly, we could easily spend this out in a mediocre restaurant for one meal!

There was nothing in it that did not taste good (ok, there was a frozen dinner that I should have doctored up a bit with some extra pasta), everything was very fresh tasting, and we even found a couple things we liked enough that we would start buying them in the store ourselves.

If you are having a hard go at life, and need a little extra wiggle room, $30 might feed you (an individual) for an entire month - not including breakfast items. If you are not having a hard go at life, but are on a budget, or would rather just save your money, then this program might be for you too.

To top it all off, they asked if we had any concerns or prayer needs, which caught us off guard, but shouldn't have considering we were doing our pick up in a church. So if you need a little help in that department too, I'm sure they will be happy to oblige, but I'm pretty certain they would do that whether you bought anything or not.