Olivia "Stepford Housewife" V.'s Profile

I dont care what diet you are on. You can cheat with Bovella's. Go ahead, I wont tell anyone.

On a rainy evening, after having a nice dinner with my husband, my pregnant tummy screamed "let me eat cake!". We had passed this quaint little bakery many times before and never really thought much about her. (I took it upon myself to deem Bovella's a she). But that dreary night, she shone bright and attracted us.

At first we werent sure if Bovella's was open, and did the awkward pacing across the street, waiting for a sign of life. Yes they were open, and this was quite clear when a huge flock of people filled the bakery. We followed suit.

After trying to fight the crowd to place our order, we finally sat down with some coffees and some little scrumptious yummies. One bite of the RED VELVET SQUARE and my heart melted. Then a bite of the TIRAMISU SQUARE, and I was in love. They were so moist and delicious, the words elude me. They have amazing little desserts that are about 2-4 bites each, making them the perfect size to grab a few and sample what this place has to offer. Another of of my favorites is the Irish Cream Cup, which is irish cream mousse in a chocolate teacup

Fast forward to months later, months of talking to everyone about this little gem, and I am in surprise labor with my son. Ask any of the nurses on call that day and night, and they will tell you that 14 hours of labor with nothing to eat, and all i begged for was Bovella's.  I actually  didnt eat until 1pm the next day, and still the first thing I ate was Bovellas.

but seriously, dont take my word for it, (as Lamar Gooding put it).

(drafted 7/9/11, forgot to actually hit send until 11/9/11)

We came here to pick up yarn for my small business, only to be berated and yelled at by a woman to go away bc my husband took a picture for Yelp. She did not kindly ask but used a rude accusatory tone.

The place wasn't even open anyway. It was hard to find, because its in what looks to be a run down motel.

We will take our business to a different and more inviting and friendly shop instead. Ill be sure to share this with my knitting groups and friends as well.

What a wonderfulshop! We are in the area of westfield and it took me forever to find this hidden gem, but so glad I did. The walls are stacked with so many different types of yarn and colorways... its almost overwhelming! Luckily the staff is really friendly and helpful at helping find you exactly what you need. They even wind the hanks into balls for you.

When I went, I had a question about my work in progress and they were able to talk it out and help me. Super nice!

Another thing I love is the weekly newsletter with updates on sales and classes, info, yarn and book of the week

3 words

Strawberry Cheesequake Blizzard.

/review

Maternity Stay - more like vacation with epidurals.

Going into labor when you least expect it is scary and confusing enough for a first time mother. Going to Overlook makes the whole ordeal seem like a 5 star resort.

I just had my first last week here at the L&D ward at Overlook. Since my water broke unexpectedly 3 weeks early, we were unprepared and frantic. As soon as I walked into the hospital, the concierge at the info desk directed me to the L&D ward, where I was immediately taken to a private room by a nurse to get us settled in and more relaxed before fiddling with registration and paperwork.

I should mention that all the rooms in maternity (L&D and Mother/Baby Wards) are PRIVATE single occupancy. Thank goodness, because going through 14 hours of labor and recovery with some other chick and their family in the next bed is a stress no one wants on top of everything.

Fastforward though all the drama of labor and csections and what not to the next few days of recovery. Honestly, there is no better way to become a new mom and adjusted to having a baby than in your private room with nonstop meals and nurses and various staff to make your stay as comfortable as possible. Anything I needed in the week i spent there with my baby, the staff made sure to fulfill it as promptly as possible.

The staff was so attentive, that at one point I questioned whether they could hear/see us in the room. Baby would fuss and someone would be at the door immediately to assist. Lactation consultants, nurses, techs, doctors, you name it. If you had a question, someone was always there to give advice or a helping hand.

Did you know there is Lo-Jack for newborns? Yes. They not only have matching ID bands for parents and babies that they check religiously, but they also attach a transponder to the baby's umbilical cord clip that locks down the whole ward if someone tries to take the baby out of the double doors. Have a worry that someone will steal your baby or that your baby will be switched at birth? NOT happening at Overlook, I'll tell you that. They also encourage parents to question everyone who comes into your room and explain how to tell if someone's ID badge is fake or not. But we weren't that paranoid to give everyone the 3rd degree.

During your stay, aside from your usual 3 daily hefty meals, you get a "Celebration Dinner" - a 4 course candle lit dinner for the parents of the baby, complete with Perrier and champagne (by champagne I mean sparkling cider). For ours, we had ossobucco for an entree, which my husband was fairly impressed with, given that it was a hospital.

Did i mention the masseuse and professional photographer? Yes, they both come with your stay in the Maternity ward.

I'll definitely tell you that going home from the hospital was bittersweet. Yay clean bill of health for us to get on with our lives. Boo, we dont have people waiting on us hand and foot 24/7.

I have been to several Buy Buy Baby's in the past decade, from the ones on Long Island to Manhattan to Jersey. I can honestly say that this location is by far the most helpful and did the best in educating us on our important purchases.

Today, I went in to purchase the crib that I had on my gift registry. Peggy was able to check that it was in stock and draw up the purchase within minutes, when in my experience in other locations, things take forever because of less proficient employees not knowing what to do. Within minutes, the paperwork was drawn up and the crib was up front waiting for us as well to take home. Excellent.

She also asked us about mattresses, which I had no clue about because it was something that i was at a loss with in terms of understanding the differences between a good and a bad one. She was very honest with us about pricing - that the more expensive ones are not necessarily the best. She broke down the components of what goes into a crib mattress, what to look for, what to avoid and why each component was there. What I loved even more than her expertise was the fact that she was NOT pushy about it, and didnt give us the usual annoyed sigh or brush off when we said we needed to think about our mattress choices. There is nothing I hate more than overbearing pushy sales people, but she was not. She was informative and knowledgeable.

Next, we went by the car seat section and even though i had decided resolutely on a particular infant seat just because its what i had seen others have it, and it was the most expensive. However, today we decided for the first time to ask for assistance. Sterling, the sales person, came over and like Peggy, knew everything about car seats - safety ratings, features, reputation, versatility. Again, the most expensive was not necessarily the best.

Leaving the store, we felt alot more educated about things, and felt more aware and in control of our baby gear purchases, instead of the usual "uhhh that one. its pretty".

I definitely reccomend this location over others, and definitely ask for those two sales people if you are in the market for cribs, mattresses or carseats.

If you havent been to a Ruby Tuesday's in a while, they've completely redone themselves as a chain. I find that they have the BEST selection of healthy sides, including grilled zucchini, mashed cauliflower and tons of veggie selections. Im also a fan of their endless salad bar, and I generally hate salad bars. If you are gonna go to a chain restaurant and are watching your figure, counting carbs or just plain like veggies, I'd hit up Ruby Tuesdays.

Now this particular RT's in S Plainfield, is pretty good. Each time we have gone, our servers have been very polite, helpful, honest and professional. The food has always come out promptly and yummy. Not much more you can ask for, IMO.

I would recommend bringing a sweater, since it gets a bit chilly in there.

Granted I love my puppy to death. Best impulse buy ever. However we were told he came from a reputable breeder and came from a great  pedigree. One year later, after loving my pup since he was weeks old, I looked into getting another pup from the same breeder. To my dismay, I read how the "breeder" from Missouri, a state known for its puppy mills, was shut down for being in fact a puppy mill. Not only that but the breeder was very active and documented in leading voters AGAINST anti puppy mill legislation. The legislation happened to have PASSED and now this "breeder" was shut down.

Im extremely lucky that I ended up with a pup that is healthy with no genetic problems and only came home from the store with ear mites and kennel cough. Im extremely lucky that my pup is well socially adjusted and not showing signs of damage from where he came from. Like i said LUCKY. Very LUCKY. I also feel he is very lucky to have ended up in a loving home after what he must have been through as well.

However, as much in love with my pup as i am, I would never go back, and I would NOT recommend this store. My roommate also bought a pup from here about the same time as I did mine, and her pup had what we were told was kennel cough. The guy at the store gave us azithromycin, an antibiotic, to take home to clear it up. Weeks and many vet visits later, we come to find out it wasnt kennel cough, but the pup was so sick with WORMS that they were in his LUNGS and the strong antibiotics were UNNECESSARY.

And the dog lisence fee thats added on to your total cost? Yup that took forever for them to file, so my dog was unlisenced for almost 3 months - and that with me having to call several times to follow up on it. When I finally got the lisence in the mail the paperwork was dated and filed in the end of October. I bought my dog in July.

I would stay away from this store. I was so smitten with my purchase until I found out the truth. Do NOT support puppy mills!

Having moved to the area and scoping out the local scene, we stumbled across Tasty Bite. Halal Chinese? What? Oh you bet we are trying that out.

After a long day at the dog park with pups, we stopped in on our way home, since I was just too pooped to cook. And I mean who doesnt get (halal) chinese food on cinco de mayo?

We took a minute to look over the menu, to see what we could order that we couldnt get at just any other run of the mill chinese place. Chicken Lolipops - thats what. After trying something new, we also needed to try a baseline dish for comparison's sake (I mean what else would a Yelp Elite couple to do) - plain lo mein and general tso's chicken.

The chicken lolipops were amazing. So much flavor. Definitely unique. I would definitely reccommend giving them a try. They come in normal and spicy. We got normal, which had a good amount of kick to them, so I can't imagine how spicy will be. I say will be because knowing my hubby, that will be in our forseeable future.

Now the reviews completely bashed the general tso's chicken, so we were expecting bad, but it ended up being NOTHING like the reviews said. The sauce was good and the pieces of chicken were all good cuts of chicken with a good crisp. Im talking good white meat chicken - not questionable pieces that you sometimes get where youre like "why is this chewy? oh great thats just fat". The plain lomein was good too. Now you're probably asking how someplace can screw up plain lo mein... well trust me its possible.

Pricewise, the prices were above what a normal chinese place would do, but the food was awesome and totally worth it.

We came in here knowing it would either be really awesome or really terrible. Luckily, once you look past the Jimmy Buffet theme cheesiness, the food was surprisingly awesome.

The moment I opened the menu "Oh So Gouda Burger" caught my eye. Gouda, fried basil, sauteed onions and a burger on a roll? Oh yes. That is happening. Oh what? would i like a side of sweet potato chips? That is also happening. Root beer float with coconut twist? Now youre just reading my mind! The Gouda Burger was everything my little heart desired. It was heaven in my mouth. Whoever created this combination knows how to play on flavors well. I was a big fan of the sweet potato chips as well. So simple, yet so satisfying. Definitely much better than getting a pile of fries, IMHO.

To start, we split the boneless wings. We werent sure which sauces to get, and the waiter said they could do half in one sauce, half in the other. Jackpot. Awesome for people like hubby and I who suck at making decisions. We got the Jerk and the Dragon Fire. The Jerk, I wasnt much a fan of, but then again I never am a fan of Jerk seasoning. The Dragon fire was exactly what we were looking for. Something new, something you cant get everywhere. It was sweet with a bit of tang and some kick. We were definitely fans. One minor wish would be that they dressed the wings a bit better. Some were drenched in sauce, others half dressed.

I would definitely make a repeat visit to CIP if we are in the area or need some refueling after shopping at Woodbridge mall. They also had outdoor seating which seems like it would be nice during the spring and summer as well.