Santa’s Wonderland Launches Cool New Site

I know it’s not the Christmas season yet, but I wanted to write abouta new website just launched by a local attraction that’s been here for over 12 years. It’s pretty much a landmark…especially if you drive by at night during the season.

Santa’sWonderland is that place on HWY 6 on the way to Navasota with all the lights and the Old West looking town. You’re sure to have seen it if you drive by during the Christmas Season. It’s a beautiful site. It’s the most lights I’ve ever seen in one place. They actually made “walls” of lights. Pretty cool. Well, if you haven’t been, you should check it out this year. It’s not open yet, but they will be selling advance tickets pretty soon. They are opening on November 20th.

They asked me to help them work on their website…both the Santa’s Wonderland and the Santa’s Town website. The artwork was created by a Santa’s Wonderland family memeber. It’s really a beautiful site. There’s snow falling, flickering lanterns, photos and all the information you need to learn about Santa’s Wonderland.

They’re scheduling live music, they have a mechanical bull, a petting zoo, and of course, hayrides and vehicle tours through the lights.

They told me they added a bunch more lights this year, and have added some LED lights and worked out some of the parking issues as well.

They have shops, a cafe and so much for the whole family. They even play various Christmas Movies at Santa’s Town. Check out the Santa’s Wonderland website for more information.

We’re still updating some of the pages on the site, so check back for more information. I’ll be writing another post once they schedule the live music events for the season, so stay tuned.

Oh, and Merry Christmas!

Lippman Music – Guitars, Amps and More…

I just finished working on the Lippman Music Website, and it looks great.

Lippman Music has been here for a long time, and they are just a block from the A&M Campus. They’ve got everything from Fender, Takamine and Alvarez guitars, to full drum sets, guitar strings, bass guitars, effects pedals and just about everything you need for your guitar or band or whatever.

I take my acoustic Seagull in there to get  their $25 “setup” which takes care of the action, intonation and they’ll even restring it.

I took my Red Star Rlectric Hondo Revival in there to get some electronics fixed, and I’m pretty certain they had a chuckle about the 80s metal type guitar I brought in, they were helpful, had great advice and didn’t treat me like I had no idea what I was doing (even though I really don’t know what I’m doing)

You know how it is, you walk into a music store, and unless your arms are sleeved with tattoos and your hair is halfway down your back, you don’t get too much respect. Even if you are wanting to buy an $8000 Martin Guitar or a full Marshal stack.

Maybe if you were famous of something.

The funny thing is, there are so many Worship Leader guitar players who need service at music stores, who don’t look like rock stars, many music stores will lose their business if they keep treating musicians like they do.

Well, at Lippman Music, I haven’t gotten that treatment. They are attentive to their customers, and always helpful. Matt (a history major) knows quite a bit about guitars and can advise you on what you might like. Brian (the owner) is a great guy. He knows what to keep in stock, and makes sure what’s in stock is really good quality. He knows his stuff.

They teach lessons, have drumsticks, wood instrument reeds, do amp repair, sell picks, Elixer guitar strings, shakers, rent sound systems…check out the Lippman Music website. Or better still, go in and check out what they’ve got.

jorge

What to do on Your Anniversary

OK, so today is our 14th anniversary. We’ve got a few errands to run, and we’re down to 2 kids this week (the two older ones are with their grandmother).

We’ve decided not to have a babysitter and take the kids with us in whatever adventure happens tonight.

1. OK, first things first…I took out the trash. I also cut the fat off the chicken we were going to freeze. My wife’s love language is Acts of Service, so I think the day started well. Oh, and I gave her a card that said all the right stuff.

2. We need to go to the library because we have some overdue videos. (those are $1 each day they are overdue by the way).

3. Next thing we want to do is go to Hobby Lobby. We have this wooden elephant that kinda got handed down to my wife, but the tusks are gone. We looked up what the gift for the 14th anniversary is and the traditional gift is ivory. Well, last I heard, buying ivory is illegal, so we’re gonna go and see if we can find something that resembles 2-3 inch long elephant tusks. Maybe they’ll have a cool mirror on sale at like 80% of or something. (the modern 14th anniversary gift is Gold Jewelery and my wife doesn’t like gold. She likes nickel free!

4. Starbuck’s Vanilla Latte. It’s right across the parking lot.

5. I’m thinking about Fish Taco’s at La Bodega. They have really yummy quesadillas and rice and beans for the kids and we can use one of our coupons.

5. Cafe Capri for their chocolate toffee mousse with kahlua. I think we are going to need a whole piece each…well, we’ll each share a few bites with each of our kids. I just took another look at their menu and I might be considering the Cajun Tortelini. Yum.

6. We will probably go to Post Oak Mall to Victoria’s Secret (me and the kids will be at the little soft play park in the food court). Leigh received a coupon in the mail for free Panties…yay!

7. We’ll hang out a little while at the soft play park in the mall. We like watching our kids play. Plus we’ll get to talk a little.

8. If we feel like we need to talk a little more, maybe we’ll go to Wolf Pan Creek walk around a bit…holding hands of course.

9. Maybe rent a Redbox movie. Unless we get our NetFlix rental arrives today…John & Kate plus Eight is coming next.

But first, I have to work making websites and graphics and logos and flash games and stuff.

jorge

$6000 Worth of Savings in a Bryan and College Station Coupon Book

I was called the other day, about 3 weeks ago, and they were offering one of those coupon books. I asked them to give me a week to think about it and I went to their website.

I wanted to find out what the restaurants and services were being offered. Turns out, it’s a great variety, not just a bunch of Jack-In-The-Box and Chik-Fil-A coupons.

Basically it’s a bunch of buy-one-get-one-free coupons for restaurants around town, as well as some pretty good coupons for services and entertainment stuff around town. And it was only $40.00. That’s pretty good.

There are 370 offers from 200 businesses, including 180 “2 for 1″ offers from 90 restaurants, “2 for 1″ entertainment & golf, free & 50% off merchandise & services, and all 370 offers are valid through July 31, 2009.

Here are some of the restaurants:

Bennigan’s Grill & Tavern
Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar
Cafe Eccell
Caffe Capri Italian Restaurant
Carino’s Italian Grill
Carter’s Burger
Cenare Italian Restaurant
Chef Cao’s Restaurant
Chicken Oil Co.
Cowboy Cafe
Dixie Chicken Saloon
Doc Green’s Salads & Grill
Edge Cafe, The
Filling Station Restaurant
Fitzwilly’s Bar & Grille
Fredrickos
Garpez Authentic Mexican Food
Gatti Town
Haiku Sushi Habachi Grill
Hampton’s Cafe
Harvey Washbangers
J-Cody’s Steaks & BBQ
Johnny Carino’s
Junek’s Barbeque Grill
Ken Martin’s Safari Grille
Kettle-American’s Kitchen
Kyoto Japanese Sushi Restaurant
La Bodega Baja Taco Bar
La Riviera Restaurant & Bakery
Lakeside Ice House & Grill
Las Lomas Mexican Grill
Laurie P’s BBQ
Los Molcajetes Mexican Food
Los Nortenos Cafe
Margarita Rocks
Margie’s Bar & Grill
Martin’s Place BBQ
Pyro Mongolian Fusion Grill
Seafood House
Shannon’s Cafe
Square One Restaurant
Tampico Taqueria
Taquerias Arandas
Texas Road House
Veritas Wine & Bistro
Vintage House Restaurant (At Messina Hof Winery)
Wrangler Steak House

See their website for the full listing. It’s a pretty good list.

So, I suggest you call them up and get one. It not only benefits you, but it also benefits the Bryan High School Viking Band Booster Club and the A&M Consolidated “Young Farmers” FFA Booster Club.

Their phone number is 979-774-3890.

We just received ours in the mail this week…woohoo!

Help in the Kitchen

We have a prayer meeting at our house on Monday nights where around 5 families get together, each bringing some dish or side or dessert. We eat, then hang out, then pray and sing songs. It’s a perfect way to start the week. We all look forward to getting together.

Well, this last week, we were blessed to have our desert supplied by Delicious Moments, and Husband and Wife team who caters small parties in the College Station and Bryan area.

They brought us a whole bunch of really yummy mini cheesecakes. They were so good. Everyone commented on them and wanted to know where they came from. I was happy to tell them that Zack and Lauren from Delicious Moments brought them over.

Being the first time we used a catering service, I was not sure what to expect, but let me assure you, Delicious Moments has set the bar pretty high, at least in our eyes.

They emailed me in the morning asking me what time would be good for them to drop off the food, then in the afternoon (way before people started to arrive), I got a call from them telling me they were on their way.

They brought the cheesecakes in cute little pink boxes, and they looked just perfect. They brought us original and peanut butter cheesecakes. Wow, they were good. In fact, there were way more than we needed, and were looking forward to having some the next day, but at the end of the night, while my wife and I were cleaning up after everyone left, we looked in the boxes and they were all gone. Bummer. They were obviously very good, maybe even the best in town!

We were all very impressed with these guys, and will definitely be the first company we call.

They also offer a personal chef service and in home cooking classes.

They even offer to go to the grocery store for you. Here a quote from the Delicious Moments website:

How many people hate grocery shopping? Either it takes too long, you have little kids who seem to always throw a tantrum once you get to the store or who just want to load the cart up on candy and cookies, you’re too busy to find time to grocery shop, you hate waiting in long lines, crowded aisles, finding a close parking spot, etc. Well, if you just want someone to do your grocery shopping for you, call us up and let us know! We would be happy to be of assistance! Just send us your list and we’ll do the grocery shopping for you! Simple as that.

Call these guys soon, even if your event is later this year. Visit their website for more catering, personal chef and cooking class information.

jorge