Happy Labor Day! I hope you are enjoying the extra long weekend with your family.

We are having a wonderful weekend. My parents and Grandma came into town for a visit. Yesterday we went to the Cleveland National Air Show. The only one of us who had ever been to the show before was Tired Dad Dave. Since living in Cleveland, I’ve seen the planes fly over various places around town and have always thought it looked like a fun show to attend. I was excited when I found out we had the chance to go this weekend. It was a great way to celebrate the reason why we have an extra day off this weekend.

Everyone had an amazing time and I highly recommend the show. It was incredible to see the acrobatic acts. Kora loved watching the planes tumble, twist, and turn. Logan liked searching for the planes when they flew out of sight – it was his version of Where’s Waldo. We were also able to go inside and walk around a wide variety of airplanes and helicopters. The kids even got to sit in the cockpit in a big Continental plane, which thrilled Kora to no end. She even told us she was going to be a pilot when she grew up!

Here are just a few photos from the day:

Photos courtesy of Randy Heath.

Thank you to Cleveland.com for providing the tickets to attend the event.

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The other night Tired Dad Dave and I were in the mood to grill quesadillas. We decided it was a great opportunity to try out our new George Foreman Evolve Grill. The grill is an updated version of the old classic, with a few fancy new features including: a variety of removable dishwasher safe plates, an 84 square-inch cooking surface, an adjustable hinge, and more.

My favorite feature of the new Evolve Grill is the interchangeable plates. Our box arrived with a regular grill plate, a cross-hatch plate, a baking pan, and an insert for making sliders. Not only can you use the grill in the same manner as the original version, but you can also bake lasagna and brownies, get those restaurant style cross-hatch grill marks on your meat, or cook up some mini-sliders for the kids.

As if that wasn’t enough variety the George Foreman Healthy Cooking website will soon be offering additional plates for sale as well including:

• a griddle plate
• a waffle plate
• omelet plates
• panini plates
• a cupcake/muffin plate.

We decided to try out our favorite quesadilla recipe:

Grilled Ground Turkey Quesadillas (serves 2)

• 2 (8 inch) flour tortillas
• 2 cups ground turkey with taco seasoning
• 1/4 cup of diced black olives
• 1/4 cup of sliced mushrooms
• 1/4 cup of sliced avocado
• 1 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1/4 cup sour cream

The grill was very easy to use. After a simple pre-heat it was ready to go. We placed the quesadillas on the grill and closed it up.

In about 7 minutes our quesadillas were done and they were delicious. The Evolve Grill gave the tortillas a nice crisp crunch and the inside ingredients were cooked perfectly.

We decided to celebrate using the new grill by serving them on our new dinnerware:

Isn’t it so fancy? I’m love our new Oneida Tranquility Blue dinnerware. The set is very classy with an all white background and the pop of blue color. The plates are a nice light weight and are sturdy enough that I don’t worry that they’ll break easily. The set is microwave and dishwasher safe as well.

I also love the style and depth of the bowls. They are the perfect size for a wonderful summer dessert of juicy watermelon.

We’ve received many compliments on our Oneida Tranquility Blue Dinnerware and every time I use them I feel like it’s a special occasion.

Thank you to the Family Review Network and George Foreman Healthy Cooking for providing the George Foreman Evolve Grill for review. Thank you to Oneida for providing the Tranquility Blue dinnerware for review. No compensation was received.

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If you asked me to guess who in our family loves to go out to eat more, I’d be hard pressed to say. I’ve always enjoyed trying new restaurants, Tired Dad Dave is a fan of visiting old favorites, and Kora & Logan are happy going anywhere if it means they get to leave the house.

Since we don’t get out to eat as often as we’d like (which actually is good for both our waist-lines and budget), when we do have dinner out we all feel like it’s a special event.

Last weekend we had the chance to try Carrabba’s Italian Grill.

I was excited to wear my new Butterfly T-Shirt from Just Jen.

Isn’t it so cute?

I love my shirt from Just Jen. It’s so sparkly and while out to dinner, I received a number of comments about how stylish and eye-catching it is.

Just Jen specializes in custom t-shirts. All of their clothing is embellished with Swarovski crystal rhinestones  in a variety of colors. I was so impressed with the shipping as well. In only a couple of days after placing my order, the shirt arrived at my door.

*Note:  Just Jen notes on their site that the shirts run small and they suggest ordering one size up. I followed these instructions and was pleased with the fit of my Fitted Short Sleeve Butterfly tee. The detail is amazing and it’s such a fun shirt to wear, I was happy to get the chance to wear it to Carrabba’s that night.

We had a wonderful night out at Carrabba’s Italian Grill. Kora & Logan were thrilled with the coloring/activity book they were given. Instead of simply being a placemat they could color on, it was actually a book with 4-5 pages of mazes, word games, and places to color and draw. Tired Dad Dave, Grandma, and I were excited too because it kept the kids happy and made the dining experience much better. To top it off the activities were fun to do with the kids too.

As if the books weren’t enough to keep the Kora & Logan busy, the waitress brought out lumps of uncooked pizza dough for the kids to play with. How fun is that?!

As for dinner, Kora & Logan had spaghetti with butter and meatballs. Tired Dad Dave and Grandma had lasagna.

I ordered the Penne Franco. Everyone enjoyed their meals and after trying a bit of each my selection was voted as the table’s top choice.

I would definitely order the Penne Franco again. It was penne pasta mixed with sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, black olives, and topped with ricotta salata. It was a unique and light dish with a lot of flavor. Not only was it tasty at the restaurant, but it may have been even more delicious re-heated the next day.

After eating salad and bread dipped in olive oil and herbs for an appetizer, we were happy to take some of our meals home with us.

We’ll be adding Carrabba’s to our list of favorite Italian restaurants and Just Jen to our list of places to shop for Christmas gifts. In fact, I can think of a number of family and friends who would enjoy a gift card to Carrabba’s and/or a customized shirt from Just Jen for Christmas. Off to write these ideas down now. (Family & friends I hope you skipped this last paragraph!)

Thank you to Carrabba’s Italian Grill and Just Jen for our wonderful evening out. The meal and the shirt were provided for review. No compensation was received.

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My hair was in dire need of a vacation.

I tormented it for too long with a hair dryer that was on the fritz. Every day for the last couple of months the hair dryer would slowly chug to a start and then it would suddenly blow out air the temperature of the sun. I’m not kidding. It was so hot, I couldn’t stand for it to blow on my hands, neck, or ears for more than 2 seconds.

I also just learned that I’m forcing it to be an unnatural length for its type which is thick, but very fine. While at the gym yesterday, one of the morning talk shows did a hair style segment and a professional stylist said fine hair should never grow past chin length. Apparently, whenever it gets any longer, it’s becomes too weak and the ends start splitting leading to frizz.

This was a real “a-ha!” moment for me.  Whenever I’ve cut my hair short in the past, it is so healthy and shiny. So I get excited and start imagining what it would look like lots longer. I grow it out, hoping it will look like this:

Instead it always ends up looking like this:

(I’m not picking on Jessica Biel here. This was just a perfect picture to show off what my hair always looks like shoulder length or longer unless I spend an hour on it with a curling iron).

I could never figure out what I was doing wrong. Why could other people have long beautiful hair and at that length mine would become frizzy and hard to manage?

Thanks to that morning show segment, it all makes sense now. Armed with this new knowledge, I decided to send my hair on vacation. I got it a brand new cut:

And I’m now using a brand new Conair Infiniti Pro Hair Dryer.

I love the cut and the hair dryer. My hair seems so happy too! With the help of the new hair dryer it is soft and shiny and is easy to style.

And some of my favorite features of the Conair Infiniti Pro include:

• The ceramic technology which safely dries and promotes healthy hair (exactly what I need!)
• The ionic technology reduces frizz and enhances shine – so true!
• The low setting is equivalent to the high setting in my old hair dryer.
• The Hot, Warm, and Cool switches. I use the Warm and it feels almost cool to me – this is a good thing because using air that is too hot on a frequent basis will increase the split ends and frizz.
• The Cool Shot button is easy to use and helps set the style.
• It also comes with two concentrator attachments. They help focus the air from the dryer which keeps my new ‘do looking smooth.
• The removable filter prevents damaging lint, build-up, and extends the motor life. This was a major problem with the breakdown of my last hair dryer. I could see all the lint build-up, but I just couldn’t get to it to clean it out. It will be wonderful to properly clean the Infiniti Pro and help extend its life.

WIN IT!

To celebrate my hair’s vacation, one reader of 2 Wired 2 Tired will win a Conair Infiniti Pro Hair Dryer.

Simply leave a comment below telling me you would like to win. Be sure to leave your email address in the comment if it’s not in your profile.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

Mandatory – You Must Leave a Separate Comment for Each, Your Extra Entry Will Not Be Counted Otherwise (if you already do any of the following simply tell me so - in separate comments)

• For 2 Extra Entries: Follow me through Google Friend Connect.
• For 2 Extra Entries: Follow me on Twitter @2Wired2Tired.
• For 2 Extra Entries: Follow me on Twitter @WClevelandMom.
• For 2 Extra Entries: Add my blog to your blogroll
• For 2 Extra Entries: Add my blog button to your site
• For 2 Extra Entries: Retweet the giveaway by using the Retweet Button at the top of the post.
• For 3 Extra Entries: Leave a comment on any other post & then let me know you did so below.
• For 3 Extra Entries: Subscribe by RSS or Email

Giveaway Rules: Giveaway ends Friday, September 10th at 11:59 pm EST. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only. Winner will be chosen by the WordPress Plugin “And The Winner Is….”. Must have a valid email in blog profile or leave email in comments. I will notify the winner in a post and by email. If winner doesn’t respond in 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. Winner will receive their prize directly from the company.

Thanks to Conair for providing the products for review and giveaway. No compensation was received.

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We said good-bye to our Chevy Malibu today. It was sad faces all around.

We really did enjoy our month with the Malibu. If you are thinking of purchasing one or just have questions about the car in general, please feel free to ask and I’ll do my best to answer based on our experience with it.

Thank you again to Chevy for partnering with me in the Gotta Love Chevy NEO campaign.

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Did you know that September is National Coupon Month?

In honor of National Coupon Month, I’d like to introduce you to MySavings.com, an online community whose goal is to connect consumers and offer a place to share money saving tips and offers.

What makes this site different from the hundreds of other coupon communities out there is the ability to leave comments for each item. This way you know ahead of time the experience others have had with the coupon or free sample through their comments. Not only that, but members can rate each item on a scale of 1-5 stars as well, which will give you a better idea of the quality of each offer.

When visiting MySavings.com be sure to leave yourself some time to get lost in the site. The extensive directory of Free Samples is addictive and is full of great offers. You can scroll through the samples by using the categories listed on the left-hand side which include Automotive, Baby, Kids & Mom, Food & Cooking, Magazines, Office Supplies and more. You can also use the tab at the top to find New Free Samples or to view the MySavings.com Favorites.

The fantastic features of the Free Samples page don’t end there, however. MySavings.com makes signing up for the offers simple and easy. Once you find an offer you’re interested in, click on the offer to find out more details and then click  “Click Here to Check Availability” and the site directs you to the offer site. There’s no getting stuck in a zillion frames, odd windows don’t pop-up, MySavings.com takes you right to the product page and you can request your free sample easily and quickly.

Another exciting area in MySavings.com is the Printable Coupons page. This page is run similar to the Free Samples in that you click to learn more details about an offer and then click another link which takes you to the manufacturer’s page where you print the coupon directly. There are a number of categories to select from for this page as well including: User Favorites, Babies & Kids, Food & Restaurants, Health & Beauty, Household, Miscellaneous, and Pets.

If you enjoy coupons and free samples, I highly recommend visiting MySavings.com for its ease of use, popular forums, and money saving offers. So Happy National Coupon Month to you! Now go visit MySavings.com and have fun while saving money.

This is a sponsored post.

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We were doing so well this year with our garden. I even bragged about it in The Secret to a Beautiful Summer Garden.

I should know better.

Our two zucchini plants were growing beautifully and were producing a large zucchini once a week or so. The leaves though, had gotten so big they were growing out over the other plants. Our cucumbers weren’t turning green because of all the shade and the zucchini leaves were starting to droop into the driveway.

So I cut them back.

Now they look like this:

Sigh. It doesn’t look good for them.

However, our eggplants are doing really well:

Anyone have any suggestions about what we can do to save the zucchinis? Or, since we will soon have ten eggplants at once, any awesome eggplant recipes you could share?

Thanks for your help!

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Whoever built our house felt it unnecessary to put vents in all of the rooms. When we bought the house we didn’t think it was a big deal because our plan was to move before we had children. 7 years later we are still here.

Since some of the rooms don’t have vents they obviously get very hot or very cold. This leads to Kora and Logan sharing a room most months out of the year.

When they were younger it wasn’t a problem because they went to bed at different times and therefore fell asleep quickly. Not true any more.

At 3 and 4, they go to bed at the same time and we can count on them being awake for a good hour to an hour-and-a-half before they go to sleep. They talk, play with stuffed animals, “read” to each other, and just generally do anything they can to fall asleep. Some nights they are up almost as late as me.

We talk calmly to them telling them to be quiet, we try to “Supernanny” them by ignore them and immediately put them back to bed when they climb out, some nights it goes on for so long that we end up yelling. I hate yelling. Especially before they go to sleep at night. We wouldn’t care if they stayed up, but then they are so tired and crabby the next day it’s hard on all of us.

So I’m in search of suggestions. Does anyone have any advice about preschoolers sharing a room? I’m hopeful and all ears!

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Kora & Logan love everything Toy Story, except the actual movies. They’ve seen the first and second movies and while they try their best to like them, Logan always ends up scared and Kora always cries. Our children are incredibly over-sensitive when it comes to Disney movies. I have no idea where they got it from. Ahem…

You would think their reactions to the movies would mean they want nothing to do with Toy Story at all, however it’s just the opposite. Whenever we are shopping they pounce on anything Toy Story related, they enjoy coloring pictures of the characters, and they are always asking for the Toys Story toys to be added to their Christmas list.

We recently had the opportunity to review some of the Toy Story 3 Action Figure Buddy Packs and they were an instant hit. The action figures are 2 inches high and each Buddy Pack pairs a character with a favorite buddy or arch rival. To add to the fun, some of them even have moving parts.

Kora & Logan absolutely adore these toys and they are always imagining the characters in all sorts of situations. These toys have really sparked their creativity and have encouraged the kids to play together. I have to admit, they are hard to resist!

If you have a Toy Story fan out there, we recommend the Toy Story 3 Buddy Packs . The action figures would be so adorable at a Toy Story themed birthday party used as cake toppers. After the candles are blown out, simply wipe the characters off and they are ready to be the life of the party!

*Note: Due to their small size these action figures are not safe for children under 3.

The Toy Story 3 Buddy Packs were provided for review. No compensation was received.

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This giveaway is now closed.

As I’m sure is common with most parents these days, thanks to digital cameras we have tons of photos and videos of the kids. It seems we add more images and movies to our computer every day and as the computer gets overloaded it starts to run slower and slower. Soon we’ve eaten up all of our memory and our desktop has essentially become a digital photo frame. We can’t do much else on it but look at all those pictures and videos which, while it’s fun, is obviously frustrating as well.

To solve our problem we turned to the Hitachi LifeStudio Mobile Plus External Hard Drive.

Some of the features of the Mobile Plus that interested us include:

• A 500 GB capacity along with a detachable 4 GB Micro SD USB Key (see above photo).
• The LifeStudio Software automatically finds and organizes photos, movies, music, and files into a very cool, futuristic 3-D wall where they can be easily viewed all in one location.
• It allows you to post and access photos through Facebook, Flickr, and Picasa all through the same software.
• It offers automatic local and online backup and you can access your files from any computer or smartphone, or share with others using a web link.

We’ve really enjoyed the Mobile Plus. We started storing our photos and videos on it and it has freed up tremendous amounts of space on both our desktop and netbook. We also breathe a bit easier knowing all those photos and videos are backed up. It would be a tragedy to lose those memories from Kora & Logan’s childhood.

We’ve also found the software fun to use and enjoy being able to access everything in one place. The CoolIris feature makes me feel like I’m part of a futuristic movie, it really is fun to scroll past our photos and watch as they float by. I do wish it had some sort of screen saver available though. We always have our Windows photo screen saver on and enjoy  watching photos fade in and out randomly. If they could, in some way, utilize the CoolIris technology to make a screen saver I think we would be completely hooked.

Here’s a video I put together showing the external hard drive, the USB key, and the LifeStudio software. Take a minute to check it out and see the 3-D wall in action:

WIN IT!

One reader of 2 Wired 2 Tired will win a Hitachi LifeStudio Mobile Plus External Hard Drive.

This giveaway is open to everyone.

Simply leave a comment below telling me you would like to win. Be sure to leave your email address in the comment if it’s not in your profile.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

Mandatory – You Must Leave a Separate Comment for Each, Your Extra Entry Will Not Be Counted Otherwise (if you already do any of the following simply tell me so - in separate comments)

• For 2 Extra Entries: Follow me through Google Friend Connect.
• For 2 Extra Entries: Follow me on Twitter @2Wired2Tired.
• For 2 Extra Entries: Follow me on Twitter @WClevelandMom.
• For 2 Extra Entries: Add my blog to your blogroll
• For 2 Extra Entries: Add my blog button to your site
• For 2 Extra Entries: Retweet the giveaway by using the Retweet Button at the top of the post.
• For 3 Extra Entries: Subscribe by RSS or Email

Giveaway Rules: Giveaway ends Thursday, September 2nd at 11:59 pm EST. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only. Winner will be chosen by the WordPress Plugin “And The Winner Is….”. Must have a valid email in blog profile or leave email in comments. I will notify the winner in a post and by email. If winner doesn’t respond in 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. Winner will receive their prize directly from the company.

Thanks to Hitachi LifeStudio for providing the products for review and giveaway. No compensation was received.

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