An Annonomous Phone Call Away

A few weeks ago I was driving to work when a light came on in my car. I called the boy freaking not sure really what to do. I tried to describe what the light looked like over the phone, but couldn't quite get the message across. He told me to pull over and look up in the manual what the light meant. After a little research it meant either I had forgotten to put the gas cap on (No), or there was something wrong with the engine.

We made plans that the boy would meet me on my lunch break and we'd drop my car off. But while I was a block away from my office I noticed my car dealership, that I hadn't realized was so close to my office. I dropped my car off and then made my into work.

By around lunchtime they called me to say what was wrong with my car was... nothing. They couldn't figure it out. They turned the light off, and since they couldn't figure out what was wrong it would be free of charge. Just if it came back on I was supposed to head back.

Two weeks go by...I'm driving to work, and the light comes back on. This time I know what it means and where to go. So I head back to the dealership. Luckily the girl working the desk remembered me since I had only just been there. Again they called me around lunchtime, but this time they knew what was wrong, or at least they had an idea. They told me my air filter had to be replaced. (At least I think that's what it was. It was at least some type of filter.)

They gave me an estimate, and I called the boy since I had no idea if the estimate made sense. He called around to a few other places, and confirmed that the price they gave me was ridiculously high. He wanted me to call the dealership back and anonymously get a quote on the cost for the part and the service.

So I called the dealership back anonymously. The parts center easily gave me the cost of the part. (Around 1/3 of the estimate I received.) Then they transferred me to the service desk. I told them that was looking for an estimate of the service for this specific part for this specific model. I'm guessing this wasn't that common of a service, because I'm pretty sure they new it was me. "What did you say your name was?" she asked me. Except I didn't want to tell them my name, because they would probably tell me exact what I had been previously quoted. Finally, she told me she'd have to check with the mechanic and the service would be based on the length of the repair. I could give her my phone number and they could call me back with an estimate. Since I didn't want to identify myself, I told her "Thanks, but no."

Not too surprisingly, about 30 minutes after that call I received a called back from the dealership. "We just wanted to call you back with good news! It turns out the mechanic had overestimated the amount of time it would take to fix your car. And it's going to cost you less!" This new estimate? Over $150 less than the original. I guess my anonymous phone call did the trick.

So at the end of the day I went to pick of my car. And they even gave me a free mint! Or on the other hand, a mint I paid a few hundred dollars for. Hopefully, this fix does it, and I won't be heading back to the dealership after another two weeks!

Anyone else had any interesting dealing with getting your car fixed? Did they at least throw in a mint for free?

~Shoshanah

Get Him to Persia

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
As seeing the previews for this movie, I really didn't want to see it. In the previews it just looks so cheesy, and really just bad. But to my surprise I actually enjoyed the movie.

The movie just wasn't what I expected. Yes, there were several actions scenes, but it was a lot more than that. The movies took me places I wasn't predicting, and introduced a lot of fun characters. Then of course I was a fan of the love story as well.

And the sands of time bit? It's something that has been overdone, but it felt as if there was a fresh twist to it. I thought I had predicted how the movie would end, and yet even so the ending was still a surprise to me. Overall I'd say this was definitely a pleasant surprise for me.

Get Him to the Greek
Every time I've seen previews for this, I can't help but think of my only concert at the Greek Theater. It was back in high school, and a friend and I saw O-Town. Not quite the same as Aldous Snow, but it was still a lot of fun.

But moving on, this was actually another nice surprise and better than I expected. While the movie wasn't amazing, it was full of all out ridiculous scenes where you couldn't help but laugh. And the music? Songs with lyrics like "There's an African child trapped inside of me," sung by Russel Brand. Or probably my favorite "Ring around my posie," and you're not getting that song unless you think of it the dirtiest way possible.

Apart from the ridiculously, the movie is chock full of cameos. I mean Draco Malfoy makes an appearance in the movie. Overall the movies completely over the top, but still pretty enjoyable.

Out of the two movies, my favorite would have to be Prince of Persia. But honestly, I still enjoyed each of the movies far more than I would have imagined.

~Shoshanah

The Mortal Instuments

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
I think it's pretty much going to be impossible to review this book without any spoilers. So if you're the sort that wants to avoid them at all costs this might not be for you. Otherwise...

This book is about Clary Fray a normal teenager living in New York City. At least she thinks she's a normal teenager. But that all changes after a night out in a club where she get wrapped up in the world of Shadowhunters. They're a group demon hunter somewhat humans, similar to how Wizard are humans in the Harry Potter world, but non-Shadowhunter humans are called mundanes instead of muggles.

The book does set up a really interesting fantasy world, and while a few parts of the novel are predictable I still enjoyed it. Although I didn't really Star Wars-esqueness of the ending, but only because I wish things had worked out a little differently. As you would expect from a young adult novel with a Stephanie Meyer quote on the cover, there was a good bit of teenage romance throughout the book which I did enjoy. While I wouldn't necessarily list the book as one of my all time favorites I did really enjoy the book, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

~Shoshanah

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Kashi's Sweet & Sour Chicken
Anyone remember my Frozen Thursdays? Well, I won't say they're back, but they're at least here this week. I've actually had this meal in my freezer forever. Seriously, see how long ago I posted a Frozen Thursday? It's been there at least that long. I remembered trying this several years ago when these meals first came out, but that was before the blog so I had no review. I had a feeling I didn't really enjoy it, but I couldn't quite remember. So I bought this, but was a little reluctant to try it until tonight.

And now that I've tried it, I know where my hesitations come from. Mainly I wasn't a big fan of the sweet and sour sauce. Although now that I think about it, I'm not a huge fan of sweet and sour sauce in general. I guess it just wasn't meant to be for me.

Besides the sauce there were a few other let downs. The green beans, which in general are one of my favorites, I didn't really enjoy. Normally these meals always taste really fresh, but the green beans tasted distinctly frozen. Although that could have been partly due to the fact its been sitting in my freezer for around 6 months.

There was also only one mushroom in the entire dish. Interestingly enough, there's a single mushroom shown on the package.

Really for me, the only high point were the yellow and red peppers. Clearly not enough to make it an very enjoyable meal for me, or to justify buying it again. While I wasn't a fan, I'm sure if you love sweet and sour sauce you'd probably love this meal too.

And for the record, no one asked me to review this meal, or gave me any products for free. I just always liked these meals and thought this would be a fun way for me to keep track of my favorites.

~Shoshanah

Back to the Garden

Last week I posted about the garden I planted. But there is so much more in the backyard that was planted by the previous owners. I can't stop taking pictures of it all. Partly because I can't believe I actually own a back yard, and also because there is so much growing in it. I'm still not sure everything that's a weed, and what's supposed to be there, but hopefully that will come with time. As before, I'm not completely sure the names of everything, so please feel free to make any corrections!
Magnolia Tree

Daffodil

Roses

Ferns
We thought these had died after the winter (you can still see some of the dead parts), but miraculously as its gotten warmed they've come back to life.

This probably won't surprise most of my readers, but my favorite parts of the backyard are the edible bits.
Satsumas

Figs

I can't wait till these start to ripen and I can start snacking from my own backyard!

Anyone else grow fruit in their backyard? Or if you could have a fruit tree, what kind would you want?

~Shoshanah

A Day at Versailles

This week for Classy in Philadelphia's Where in the World Wednesday we're heading to...
Versailles
This again was on my 2005 France trip. The 5 of us (aka the Paris Posse as we dubbed ourselves) headed to Versailles. At the Metro we were able to buy tickets that included the train ride to and from, as well as the actual tour at the palace.

On the train ride there, we sat next to a group of fellow Americans. We didn't talk to them, but did overhear their conversation.
"Any idea why we're going to this place?"
"Well I've heard of the Treaty of Versailles. And that ended World War II, so this must have been built to celebrate the end of the war."

Once we reached the palace we were welcomed by Louis XIV.
He's actually the one who built the palace. And I'm pretty sure he wasn't alive in the 1940s...

We took a tour of the palace.
This is the chapel in the palace. The hall of mirrors was actually being restored while we were there. They had kept half of it open, so you could attempt to get the feel of it. But I wasn't that impressed, and didn't wind up with any pictures. (I have since seen pictures of it since it's been restored and will say that now it looks impressive.)

After the palace tour we had a picnic of food we brought with us overlooking the gardens.
We finished eating and headed out to explore,
and engage in some fountain jumping.
The first picture in this post is my own failed attempt at fountain jumping.

After a day filled with such culture we headed to McDonald's! There wasn't one technically at Versailles. But in order to walk from the train to the palace you walked by one. So we headed over to share some French fries and McFlurries. (No picture of McDonald's. I wasn't blogging back then, and hadn't grasped just how important it was to document everything!)

Be sure to head over to Classy in Philadelphia if you're looking for more Where in the World Wednesday posts. Or if you'd prefer, you can see Where in the world I've been here.

~Shoshanah

Adventures in Baby-Sitting

This past weekend the boy's niece had her first ever sleepover at our new house. We had actually watched her overnight once before when she was only 10 months old, but that was before we bought the house. And it's quite a bit different having a sleepover with a 10 month old versus a 2-and-a-half-year-old. The chair in the library converts to a bed, so we were able to change the room up as shown in the following Before and After pictures.
Like any good sleepover we started the night off with pizza.Between the stuffed animals she brought with her, and the ones I have in the house since I refuse to get rid of my childhood, there was no shortage of things to play with.
And when we got tired of playing with the animals we just took a few spins around the living room.
At the end of the night we made ice cream sundaes and watched A Little Mermaid.
The following morning she helped me make a batch of blueberry pancakes.
I figured I'd end things with one of my favorite perfects from the weekend, us with our matching ponytails.
Even though you can't tell from the pictures, the boy was actually there as well. He just went through an extreme effort to avoid being in any of the pictures, and clearly succeeded. I hope everyone else had a great holiday weekend too!

~Shoshanah