Monkey Monkey Music: What are the Odds? (Review & Giveaway)

Contest Closed
Whether we’re walking around the neighborhood, riding in the car, or just chilling out at home, there is often music involved.  In the summertime we find ourselves spending a lot of time in the backyard and I play music from my children’s playlist on my iPod for Emma.  I’m so glad that she really enjoys music and I like to encourage her love for this art.  I’m happy to add Meredith LeVande’s fun music to our playlist.

Ms. LeVande writes the very music that she sings.  She’s based in New York City, but this gal is more than street smart.  She holds undergraduate degrees in Women’s Studies and English, she also has a master’s degree in music and a law degree!  That’s one driven lady, if you ask me.  I think this is what makes her music so well-rounded.  Her brand is Monkey Monkey Music, which is aimed at “putting the child back into children’s music.”

In 2005, Monkey Monkey Music’s first album was a smash hit.  It was a Parenting magazine “Pick,” and was featured on Sirius Satellite Radio.  Since that time Meredith LeVande has been performing at more intimate gatherings, and she’s built an excellent relationship among young families in the tri-state area.

The new Monkey Monkey Music CD is called What Are the Odds?  It will be officially released on August 31st. It is a nice balance between baby music and songs for older kids so it fits the entire family quite well.   It’s fun and upbeat, and Emma is working on her dance routine tirelessly. 

GIVEAWAY!
Win the Monkey Monkey Music CD!

Here are the links needed for some of the EXTRA ENTRIES (You may want to complete before filling out form).
-Like Girl Gone Mom on Facebook
-Follow Girl Gone Mom twitter
-If you follow me on twitter, you’ll receive one extra entry per day for tweeting this:
#Win the new cd by Monkey Monkey Music and Meredith LeVande – http://bit.ly/cWeFMC Appropriate for kids of all ages! @girlgonemom #Summeressentials

No compensation was received for this post. I received a copy of the CD in order to form my opinion. Contest closes at Midnight EST on August 10th. The winner will be selected using Random.org. See giveaway rules before entering. GOOD LUCK!

Photo Credit - Gaetano Salvadore

New restaurant items at California Pizza Kitchen (Review)

We are pizza fanatics in this house, so I was beyond excited when we received some ‘pizza dough’ in the mail to spend on some of the new menu items available at California Pizza Kitchen.  In case you don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, ‘pizza dough’ is CPK’s version of the gift card.  It’s like monopoly money, except this is actually worth more than make-believe real estate.

There were so many options on the menu – including over 30 pizzas.  Wow!  There are also salads, pasta, sandwiches, tacos and seafood items.  But this was our first time at CPK, and we were there for the pizza.

But first, we ordered the macaroni and cheese for the little one.

We had to sample it to make sure it was edible (wink, wink).   

I’m pretty sure Emma liked it too. Ya think??

The new menu items looked beyond fabulous, so that’s what we decided on.  First up, the Four Seasons.  Sorry for the missing slice – hubby was ravenous and couldn’t wait another second. It’s made with imported Italian tomatoes, oven-roasted artichoke hearts, salami, fresh mushrooms, mild onions, Mozzarella and fresh Mozzarella cheeses. Topped with fresh herbs and Parmesan cheese.  This was delicious.  I think the salami really made it.  My husband wasn’t as big a fan, but he still went back for more.

We added chicken to the Roasted Artichoke and Spinach pizza.  This was Yum with a capitol ‘Y’.  It’s our favorite of the two pizzas with oven-roasted artichoke hearts, sautéed spinach and garlic, Fontina, Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses with spinach artichoke sauce.  If you were to mate pizza with spinach and artichoke dip, this is it’s baby.  Oh so good!

These are both thin crust menu items.  We love thin crust, and the fact that you can upgrade any pizza on the menu to a thin crust type.  We are in love with this place, and even though it is about 40 minutes away from our house, we’ll be back again very soon. 

I’d recommend California Pizza Kitchen as a great family-friendly restaurant for pizza lovers.  Fantastic!  You can keep up with California Pizza Kitchen on facebook and twitter.

No compensation was received for this post, but I did receive ‘pizza dough’ from California Pizza Kitchen in order to facilitate my review of their new menu items.  All of the opinions above are 100% my own.