Author: jen

Bel Bambini Grand Opening Weekend

If you are a mom and live in Orange County this Grand Opening event this weekend at Bel Bambini Newport Beach is not to be missed!

So Cal families are invited to join them this Saturday and Sunday, March 24th and 25th for two fun-filled days of food, music, kids’ entertainment, overflowing (ROCKIN’) raffle prizes, gifts with purchase and more. The event is free and open to the public.

Click HERE to see the itinerary of activities, including a special story time reading of Monster Removal Guide on Saturday by author Garett Gruber, which I just reviewed. Yay Garett!

At the event, you can save 10% off your baby registry for your friends and family when you make a registry appointment in person this weekend and you can save 10% off the ENTIRE STORE (with the exception of furniture, strollers and car seats.)

But speaking of furniture, car seats and strollers, they have RAFFLES of those items and others on the hour EVERY hour.  Seriously mamas, please CLICK HERE and scroll down to see the list of raffle items. I mean a stroller worth $1,100 and a $400 mini crib to only name two?! Unbelievable. Like I said, this event is a MUST!!

Click here to see it…

My First Horseback Riding Lesson at Ivy Gate Farm [Video]

Last week I checked off one of one of my Life List things. Life List = Bucket List but I prefer it as I think it sounds a little more uplifting, don’t you?!  And one of my Life List things was to take a horseback riding lesson.

(Side note: I had bad experience on a horse one time on the beach in Ensenada when I was about 19 so I hadn’t been back in the saddle since and had always wanted to tackle this fear by taking a lesson the RIGHT WAY!)

And there is no better place in Orange County to do so than Ivy Gate Farm in San Juan Capistrano. Ivy Gate Farm is a hunter / jumper training facility in OC and trains people of all levels from children up to adults, beginner (like me) up to people that go to the top horse shows. I wrote about Ivy Gate HERE if you want more info on the amazing facility.

And it was completely exhilarating. I am also afraid it might be a tad addicting.  My experience is outlined in the short video above. Hope you enjoy!

Click here to see it…

Our Priceline Date Night

Last Christmas my parents gave my husband a “coupon” for a night out on the town and offered to take our girls for a sleepover at their house, which we redeemed this past Saturday night.  As a sort of spontaneous decision, we decided to try www.priceline.com to see if we could get a good deal to stay at a local hotel for the night.

Has anyone done Priceline before? I have to say it was pretty exciting going through the bidding and seeing where we ended up!  My husband did all the bidding – check out his tips below if you ever want to try it!

Click here to read more…

Gavin’s Story

I started Team Tiny Oranges last year because I wanted to do a charity project through my blog.

I knew I wanted it to benefit a charity that helped children, so when I heard about the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation’s (PCRF) annual Cinco de Mayo Run / Walk event which happened shortly after I posted this guest blog from a mommy reader who was a pediatric cancer survivor looking to raise awareness, I knew this was the cause I wanted to support.

I wanted the opportunity today to share the story of a mom I met last year through PCRF, Kim, and her son, Gavin.

When you are not personally affected by pediatric cancer, those words are just that, words. But what I learned through doing our team, is that behind the words, “pediatric cancer” there are countless stories of families facing this horrendous disease. Families that need our help. 

It is my hope that by sharing their story today…

Click here to read more…