Editor Reviews

Summer is the perfect season for a road trip! My family and I took a beautiful drive to Austin last weekend and enjoyed our stay at the Four Diamond award-winning Lakeway Resort & Spa, a newly renovated lodging resort and the only waterfront resort on Lake Travis. (Don’t you love Lake Travis?) Our goal was to simply get out of town for a couple of days and have some fun family time. Mission accomplished!

Do you have a budding star at your house?  Someone just waiting to become that famous singer, dancer, rock star?  I have two.  They sing and dance and rap and air guitar on the porch, in the shower, at Chuys.  Everywhere.  All the time. 

So, I was super excited to find this fun little App for the iPhone, iPad and iPod called Video Star.     All you (or your kids) need to do is pick a song from your playlist, find a friend to record for you and go to town.  It really is that easy.  The fun part is that there are all kinds of effects you can add to the video while youre singing and dancing to make it really feel like youre on MTV.  You can modify the effects after the video is shot if you want to change the heart background to the purple one and also take snapshots of scenes in the video to share.  

This App has entertained my kids for hours.  They have a blast doing it with their friends and even more fun watching their masterpieces when they are done.  The videos are easily share to You Tube or on Instagram if you want to get your little stars out there into the big, wide world to be discovered by Usher or something!

Did I mention its free?  Have fun:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id438596432?mt=8.

It's a day I won't forget.  The day the whole family stood at Sam's watching a demonstration on how to make tortilla soup in a souped-up blender when my husband proclaimed, "I would cook dinner with that!"  I dont know about you, but having my husband offer to cook anything that doesn't require taking it out of a box and putting it on the oven rack or flipping it with tongs on the grill is close to a miracle, so my ears perked up on this one!

This miracle-producing product was the Vitamix, which is, in simple terms, a mega-blender.  What makes the Vitamix different from a normal blender or other brands on the market, is its powerful motor and stainless steel blades.  This beauty can make smoothies, ice cream, hot soup (I said HOT SOUP-it actually heats the soup while its blending!), hummus, salad dressing, peanut butter, pasta sauce - you name it.  You'll find it used in restaurants and on the Food Network all the time.  I have personally seen it used around town at Hubbell and Hudson, Dairy Queen, Starbucks and Jamba Juice. 

I must admit, it's not cheap.  But let me tell you, my husband is an avid researcher.  He read every review, watched every You Tube video and called Vitamix a million times.  What he discovered is that Vitamix will sell certified, reconditioned models for a cheaper price (about $150 less) than a brand-new model that still comes with a warranty, cookbook and looks brand new.  Another nice option offered by Vitamix their payment plan options.  We chose to pay in two installments which was a nice way to keep the cost feel more reasonable.  

So, a few weeks later, my husband's third child arrived at the door.  I must say, this mega-blender has changed our lives and I'm happy to report that he has kept his word and does cook with it often and makes awesome, healthy smoothies for us daily. 

I would recommend this product to anyone who is interested in eating healthy, has food allergies, is trying to get away from processed foods or just wants to simplify the meal-making process.  There are tons of recipes and ideas for using the Vitamix and it's such a great way to get your family their fruits and veggies. 

To learn more about Vitamix, visit their website at www.vitamix.com or search your cable guide, theres always a great demo on the HSN!  Youll be sold!  

To borrow a line from someone with a very interesting way of words (my friend’s five-year-old daughter, Tangie), Sarah McLachlan’s newly released CD “Laws of Illusion” is “top of the sundae.” Usually when Tangie says “top of the sundae” it doesn’t make much sense. In this case, however, it’s very much on point. Let me explain… the top of a sundae is the rich chocolate syrup, the whipped cream, the juicy cherry… it’s the most satisfying part, the part that makes the dessert interesting (as if the ice cream alone isn’t good enough), the stuff of which we can never seem to get enough.

But enough about dessert… Sarah McLachlan is back, and her heartfelt songs are as delicious and flavorful as they were seven years ago.

I go to Rao's regularly. There are many great things about it, the gelato is amazing, the pastries, cookies, cakes, pies, and kolaches are fabulous and fresh made from scratch daily...the lunch specials are light and filling so you never go away hungry but you're not over stuffed either. But, the best part for me is on Sunday morning, when my daughter is at her dad's and his girlfriend's house, I walk my dog to the park behind Rao's. Then, when I'm done, I go to Rao's for a snack and iced tea. They ALWAYS prepare a 'to go' cup of ice and water for me to take to my dog. Ruby (my Aussie) sits outside on the patio next to Jake and Elroy and we enjoy either a kolache, or an egg-white and ham sandwich, or just our drinks as the other people come through. The bathroom is ALWAYS clean too!

All of Rao's is really great and I would recommend them to everyone! Their service is good too and the owner is nearly always there!

-Nora

---

My daughter (now 2 years old) and I recently had lunch at Rao's (the one on Cypresswood). We had the chicken salad sandwich combo with fruit and also treated ourselves to a cupcake and petit four for dessert. I had  previously read online that they can host parties at their cafe, so I thought we'd check it out to see if it would work for her 2nd Birthday  cupcake party. The service was great and the food was great. I really enjoyed the petit four.  Everything seemed fresh.  They had a nice selection of food and pastries. The cafe was a nice size as well. Although, we chose not to have her birthday party there, I would definitely have lunch there again

 

- Andrea

 

Don’t expect to be wooed. Or blown away.  Or even moved, for that matter.  Okay, here’s the truth. Every song on Harrick Connick Jr.’s new CD, Your Songs, is enjoyable, especially to the 40 and over crowd. But that’s about as far as it goes. And we enjoy it because they’re classic songs that we’ve grown to love. Connick remakes Just the Way You Are, Mona Lisa, Can’t Help Falling in Love With you, among others (a total of 14). Does he make them better? Not hardly.  And face it… even when our two-year-old is singing our favorite song in her off-key tune, we’re willing to jam to it because hey, it’s our song. But tolerable they are, with low, easy-listening melodies that seem to all fade into the background.