It's First Friday!

The First Friday of every month downtown Raleigh art galleries, museums, shops and boutiques and restaurants stay open late and offer free or discounted specials.

Last month we walked around downtown visiting new places and running into friends along the way. We visited our friend Kiona at Knockabout. Listened to Music at City Market. Ate free food from The Oxford at The Raleigh City Museum. It was a fun night for the whole family filled with music, free food and adventure. I'm looking forward to getting out tonight. Especially in this gorgeous weather!

If you are looking for something to do tonight in Raleigh that's relatively free check out a few of these hot spots:

City Market
Free concert and gallery walk, 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Dance in the streets...family oriented, fun, food & spirits.
Bring your chairs and enjoy the night!

While you're at City Market stop in Knockabout and check out Lucky Accessories!

Port City Java
Half price latte with purchase of latte of equal or greater value


Crema on Fayetteville
Upgrade to a home-made waffle cone for free

Ornamentea
Free project every First Friday (check website for details)


NC Museum of History Movie: Long John Silver
North Carolina Museum of History hosts a viewing of the 1954 Australian flick, the sly pirate Long John Silver schemes and double-crosses friend and foe alike while saving a young friend from walking the plank. The movie will be on September 4th from 7 – 9pm.  Free popcorn and beverages!

Free Order Friday at Chick-Fil-A

Hey Raleigh Folks,

Tomorrow, August 28th is Free Order Friday at the Capital Crossing Chick-Fil-A.

What is Free Order Friday?
Well, Whatever you purchase on Friday, August 28th, save your special colored receipt and redeem it for the same order FREE on a future visit during 2009!

Receipt redeemable only at the Capital Crossing location. Not valid on catering or delivery orders

There's Nothing to do in This Town!

I remember saying that alot when I was in high school. I'm sure it was partly true but mostly I was just uninformed. Every Saturday I would read the EVENT section of in the newspaper but it was usually a list of book clubs and church carnivals. YAWN. But now thanks to the evolution of the internet my calendar is always full!

I thought I'd share a few of my resources for keeping up with all the hot events going on around town. If you don't live in the Triangle I'm sure there are similar sites in your neck of the woods.

Triangle Mom2Mom - A division of the News and Observer that helps mothers in the Triangle connect, share advice and keep up on exciting events.

Carolina Parent - A monthly magazine published for parents in the Triangle.

City of Raleigh - This one takes a little looking around but alot of City Parks, Museums and Art Associations list their upcoming events on this site.

Visit Raleigh - Just pretend your a tourist and there's tons of stuff to do!

Downtown Raleigh - Where all the hip kids go to find out where to go and what to do.

Independent Weekly - Music, Movies, Cultural Events and MORE!

And thanks to Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites all of my mommy friends keep me up-to-date on everything else.

A few upcoming events I'm really excited about are Book Babies at East Regional Library, Heros, Villains and Special Effects at the Museum of Life and Science, Mordecai Historic Park Baking Contest, and Baby Time at the Cameron Village Library.

What resources do you use to keep up with events in your area?

Discovering a New Park

Yesterday after a doctors appointment Jude and I decided to check out a new park. We were near REX Hospital and I remembered going to a park off Edwards Mill Rd. awhile back. So I drove around a bit and low and behold we found it! Laurel Hills Park
What a cool park. The "All Children’s Playground was carefully designed for the enjoyment of children of all physical capabilities." In addition to the standard swings and slides there are several swinging bridges and lots of towers to climb. Jude had fun toddling around chasing an older boy. We didn't stay too long since it was like 1000 degrees outside. But when the weather cools down a bit we will definitely be going back.

HERE COME THE 123s to Raleigh!

They Might Be Giants is coming to Raleigh!
The Grammy award winning group will play two shows at The North Carolina Museum of Art on September 19. They will play a 4pm show for kids and an 8pm show for adults.

Kids Show | 4 p.m.
$18 ($15) General Admission
$9 Children 3–12
Children 2 and under free

Adults Show | 8 p.m.
$18 ($15) General Admission
$7.50 Children 7–12

Buy Tickets Here

TMBG has been writing music for kids since 2002!

A New Raleigh Experience

This weekend Joe's parents were in town visiting and we decided to try something new. Joe's dad found an ad in the Independent Weekly for a new chocolatier in downtown Raleigh. So before we headed to Southpoint mall in Durham for dinner and shopping we stopped by Escazu. Escazu Chocolates handmakes all of their specialty chocolates in house! Obviously, a boutique chocolate store they make unique blends of chocolate bars. We bought a few samples including, Chocolate with Organic Bananas and Spices, The Beaufort Bar with Sea Salt and Chocolate with Chipotle Chili & Vanilla. My personal favorite was the one with Bananas. The Sea Salt bar as weird... I guess some people like the mixture of salty and sweet but it doesn't work for me. The chili bar was HOT! I had the smallest nibble and it almost knocked me off my feet. I don't think baby Lieb appreciated it either since later that evening he/she had the hiccups.

Now I'm a simple girl that love simple chocolate and personally Dove dark chocolate is my absolute favorite. But if you're into exotic flavors you should check out Escazu!