4th of July and BBQ at BJ's @bjsrestaurants #BJsRestaurants #PMedia

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and BJ’s Restaurants  but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #BJsrestaurants http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO

Hope everyone had a good 4th of July weekend. I know we did. So much so that I've pretty much been MIA for the past few days and it's been a glorious unplugged from the internet holiday! My weekend has been filled with food and fireworks just like every other American, I'm sure. Food is such an essential part of a good 4th of July and I was excited to try out the new BBQ menu at BJ's Brewhouse. BJ's Brewhouse asked if I could blog about my experience and I was happy to do so because I mean, FOOOOOOD. Plus, barbecue just goes hand in hand with a 4th of July weekend. It was like a divine barbecue god came down to earth riding a big bottle of Blues Hog Original Barbecue sauce and all the stars aligned and I ate delicious food, the end/. 

Just kidding! But really, I was pretty pleased with Big Poppa's Smoker's BBQ specialty menu at BJ's. My brother in law and I both were ready to order. I ordered the BJ's bbq lunch platter and of course bbq wings with ranch. Good eatin', I swear it. This menu is only at participating BJ's Restaurants (exception of Balboa, Laguna Beach, Belmont Shore, La Jolla, Westwood), so if you really like BBQ, I'd suggest going to checking it out. 

Oh, and I saw this on BJ's Brewhouse's twitter, so I thought I'd share with you all... they had me at "free entree". (I might have claimed this offer.) Also, here's their Facebook, too.

The rest of our holiday was equally as awesome. We shot off fireworks and swam all day. I really love 4th of July and this year was even better than the last. Wyatt loved playing with sparklers and seeing the fireworks go off. Every time there was a firework it resulted in him screaming, "FIREWORKS!"... EVERY. TIME. I think he thought that was what you were supposed to do or something? I dunno. Crazy kid. Wyatt also doesn't understand that it's not 4th of July everyday. Our neighborhood has been shooting off fireworks for days (yay? no.), so he doesn't believe me when I tell him there isn't some amazing fireworks display happening outside our apartment whenever we hear a loud boom. Oh, and I've heard Wyatt accidentally call 4th of July "Captain America's birthday", he's made that connection after me telling him it was our country's birthday. He kills me.

So, how about you? Have a good 4th of July?

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Review

I was given the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 from Staples and I really love it. I've never had a tablet before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I have to admit I was kinda nervous since I'm such a die hard Apple fan. I didn't know if I would like an android device again. I had an android phone about 3 years ago and I hated it... BUT, the Samsung Galaxy has surprised me. 

For starters, it was all super simple to set up and it took no time at all. The Galaxy was pretty much ready to go straight from the box. I checked out the apps in the app store and started downloading my regulars. Unlike a lot of apps for IOS, so many apps for android are free. So with that I was on a downloading frenzy. Wyatt has a slew of games to play with now and has totally figured out how to navigate the entire tablet. 

And for me? I'm using it just like I used to use my iPhone- randomly browsing Pinterest, reading blogs, and checking out Facebook. I'm really excited about a font making app that I found on there and I've been playing with that pretty much non-stop. MUST MAKE MORE APPS.

I'm mostly excited about the kid apps I've found though. I don't want to make this review about kid apps, but I've been able to find some really good educational apps and I've been working on letters with Wyatt. Since we've had the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 he's learned a bunch of new letters and points them out to me whenever he sees them. The tablet is a great way for a modern kid like mine to learn, and it reaches him in a way that I can't seem to. It pretty much makes learning really fun for him, so yep, I like this tablet. 

I'm not sure if I'm a complete android fan- at least not enough to get rid of my beloved iphone, but I do like my Samsung Galaxy Note 8. 

Full disclosure: Staples.com provided me with these products for review. The thoughts and opinions expressed are strictly my own. Feel free to shop their entire line of tablets online.