week 4: Sushi anyone?

Tried the New Hibachi Grill here in Raleigh,

We had one already, but this one was new so lets try it! We all know how that is right? Ha ha ha nah, lol it looks great as you can see ";0}... The food looked good too, yet a lil diff from the other place. Had me wondering if it was the same owners.

I think not, the Sushi looked amazing but no "Wasabi Sauce" Ugh that was enough to have me in a funk LMBO.

I hated the atmosphere in this place it read like, eat your lunch and flee. It was very warm and the waitress said so but the AC wasn't working.

So we ate fast and I won't be returning just tells you that "LOOKS" are very deceiving.

Tonya~

 

week 4: I took a step back in time!

Dana Littlejohn back to share how I took a step back in time with my visit to Medieval Times. It is a dinner (or lunch) and show that takes you back into the days of the kings, knights of the realm and chivalry. They have castle in many cities. And when I say castles, I mean castle.

                                           

Since I live in Indianapolis, the closest castle to me was in Schaumberg, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. The place was beautiful. Lots of tapestries on the walls, suits of armor in every corner and the workers were dressed in time period clothing. They encouraged us to call them serfs and wenches.

We were escorted into the arena where the show would take place. John, our serf, brought our dish wear. When he returned with our drinks I mentioned we didn't have forks. He simply smiled and said to my husband,

“I see that your maiden is new to this realm. She is unaware that we do not use such things here.” Then he turned to me and said, “Today we are serving a tradition meal for the kingdom, dragon blood soup with flat bread, roasted baby dragon, dragon fingers and potatoes.”

Soon as he left I was like, huh? So my husband laughed then translated. “We have to eat with our fingers, honey.”

Oh. Then I stared at the dishes wondering how that would happen. LOL

                                             

Luckily it wasn’t as bad as I thought. John returned with the meal It looked and tasted surprisingly like tomato bisque soup, ½ a roasted chicken and barbeque ribs. LOL All very good, by the way.  

 

John also told us that we were sitting in the Blue Knight's section. So he was our hero and we would be cheering for him.

The show started as we ate with the Black Knight coming into town basically telling the King he was going to run over everyone, marry the Princess and rule the kingdom out from under him. The king wasn’t having it so he gathered his knights and told them one of them was going to have to handle the Black Knight.

So the tournament was on. Our Blue Knight fought well.  

                                                             
It was so cool. Anyway, the Black and White Knight went on to kick everyone’s butt and the King sent him to defeat the evil Black Knight. Which he did and all was well in the kingdom once more.

It was a 3 hour event show and meal. It was great! When we exited the arena the picture wench (snicker) asked if we wanted to dress up and take a photo to remember the day. We looked at each other and smiled. YES!

                                                             

What did I think of my experience?
I must admit, of all the new things I have tried so far this was the best. We are only at week 4 and I have so many fun things planned, but a day at Medieval Times is going to be hard to top.

I will definitely do this again. We are already making plans to bring our son when he comes home for the summer. The show will have changed by then but even if it doesn’t we will do it again!


Dana
http://www.danalittlejohn.net/

week 4: teaching an old dog new tricks!

My best friend and I took a training course or how to fetch and do other great tricks! Not Marc, my other friend, Rico.
I had always wanted me and Rico to visit the local dog park, throw the ball around and all that fun dog suff. I figured he was old enough to hang out with other dogs and run free. Got a brand new ball and everything for us to play with. It didn't quite go as well as I expected.

I guess I expected Rico to just know how to fetch...I mean he is a dog. Cats just know how to use the litter box. You don't really have to teach them, just show them where it is. I thought it was the same way with dogs and fetching.

Yeah, I was wrong about that. He had no problem catching the ball...

 That was the fun part for him. It was bringing it back to me that he didn't down with. So we took a training class at the Pet Co in my neighborhood. The instructor not only a dog whisperer, but he apparently spoke cat and horse fluently, too! There were certificates all over his walls from all kinds of shows and proving he could do everything from raise, breed, show and give first aid to anything but human-kind! He was a modern day Dr. Dolittle!

After the 2 day indoor class and 2 days with the instructor implementing what we learned. I was amazed at how Rico picked up on the tricks Cedric gave me.

Anyway, a little about Rico.

                                                

We hit it off the moment I saw him. He had the cutest little face.

Now at the ripe old age of 2, he is truly a great dog and a good friend.

According to Cedric, his human students were the problem not the canines. Our canines can’t speak verbally so we have to learn to understand their body language and the cues they give us so we’re both happy with the results. Rico and I went home to practice the skills I learned in school.

Today when Rico and I go to the park, he catches and brings the stuff back to me, too!

                                                      
Hmm, it would seem that you CAN teach an dog new tricks! J

Carson

www.guyslikeromancetoo.blogspot.com

week 4: Do you know your manners?

HI everyone!

Dana Littlejohn back with you to ask if you know your manners? I found out that if I took an a communication class I could add a whole .15 to my pay at work. Since there is soooo much I can do with .15 I decided what the hey! I might learn something I didn't know. LOL

The 3hr class I found promised to teach poise, communication skills, consideration and table manners. I figured it had the communication skills in there so I was good! The rest was just a gimme. LOL

Anyway, The woman giving the class went on about the history of etiquette and how it wasn't just for upper-class families or preparing for a debutant ball. It was intended to prepare young folk how to treat others with with respect, value integrity and teach the expectations of society. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that stuff your Mama and Daddy are supposed to teach you? It would seem rich folk paid someone else to do that!

Since there were a few guys in the class, we were separated for the next two sections so they could be specific to male and female. My next section was poise. 

We learned how to carry ourselves with poise. We also learned the benefits of good posture, how to sit and stand correctly and walk with grace. Next we tackled table manners. At this time she went kind of fast because we would go into more detail when we practiced at the dining table. ( I was like, huh? but okay, whatever)

We met back up with the men to go over communication skills. They went over tips to feel more confident when meeting new people, during job interviews and public speaking as well as how to introduce yourself, shake hands properly, the importance of eye contact and how to respond to invitations. They even went over phone etiquette since everyone has a cell phone and whoever is calling will get you directly.

Now, I don't know about you,but Mom and Dad didn't sit me down for this one. LOL There was some stuff in there that I simply didn't know.

The next section was showing consideration, the art of putting others first. You should have seen the stunned looks on the men's faces when they were learning to pull chairs out and open doors for the ladies. They even looked a little stunned when the instructor reminded them it was courteous to let others pass when going through a door in a public place and someone was coming at the same time. O-O

Again, it might just be me, these are things that should have been taught at the table or just idle chit-chatting around the house. But, okay, whatever. 

Once all the sit down and learn something stuff as done, we went into the dining etiquette. First she asked us to set the table like we know how. I was like, okay I can do that. So this is my table.

Not bad right? Okay so then she taught us what a proper table should look like and why. And this is what my table looked like when I did it again.

Better huh? All that stuff was there the first time, I just didn't know to use them. LOL

At the end of the three hours I felt enriched. I will accept the little .15 they give me, but I think what I learned will be worth so much more down the road. )

Dana 

www.danalittlejohn.net