Alameda County Fair

As some of my friends know, as a teen I was not allowed to go to the County fair where I lived as my mother did not feel it was a good place for young ladies to hang out! I guess it had a reputation for rough behavior and that was enough for my Mom to "just say no!" Our local fair, on the other hand, is neat, clean and I've never felt unsafe. My family looks forward to going to the Fair together every year. We like to try out the rides, look at the exhibits, check out the animals and, of course, eat all the "bad" fair food! This year we attended the fair this past Friday with my husband's brother and his family, bringing our group total to 12. We all had dinner together at Bubba's BBQ. Bubba's is one of our family favorites and we go there every year. The food is always good and the service is quick and friendly. (I won't even talk about the prices as everything at the fair is expensive!) We then broke in to groups and went to ride rides. Everyone had a good time. Because so many of the kids are now able to ride all the levels of rides we spent most of the evening doing this. We stopped and got ice cream at the end of the evening and then called it a night.

My family will return to the fair this weekend again and I look forward to checking out the exhibit halls, the animals (especially all the newborns!) and my favorite (I'm sorry to admit) fair food, the corn dog! If you haven't had a chance to check out the Alameda County Fair, or think it "isn't your thing", try it and you might be surprised. Five years ago my mother (believe or not) came to the Fair to see the pumpkin bread that I'd entered (and got a blue ribbon for!) and she couldn't believe how nice the Fair was, so if Cathy thinks it's OK, you should check it out! Hope to see you there!

Mountain Mike's Pizza

If you and your family are looking for somewhere low-key and reasonably priced this weekend then check out Mountain Mike's Pizza, 5424 Sunol Blvd. in Pleasanton. My family has been going to this pizza parlor since we moved here 14 years ago and have always enjoyed it. When my children were younger and needed a place where they could wiggle a little and make a little noise if needed I never worried about taking them to Mountain Mike's. Even now that they are long past those stages we still enjoy going to Mountain Mike's. It is usually fairly busy during the lunch hour and especially on Friday and Saturday nights but the staff and owners are always pleasant. The owner, Paul, always has a kind word and a smile for everyone that comes in and is always very generous in giving good prices to schools and other organizations for fundraisers and parties. I really like their fresh salad bar and their pizza and am happy to admit that this is my favorite pizza parlor in Pleasanton! In the past year they have remodeled the inside of the restaurant and installed a couple of flat screen TV's and updated the furniture giving it a fresh, friendly look. Check them out soon and let me know what you think!

My Wine Researcher

So, I normally review all things local but today I'm going to take time out to review a new Iphone application that just came out and is designed by a former Livermore resident! It is called "My Wine Researcher". It is a great application not only for the wine lover but also the wine challenged! Using this app you can (as stated in their Youtube video):

• conduct and archive reviews
• research wines based on personal preferences, including food pairing suggestions
• obtain "wine.com cellar notes"
• share recommendations with friends and family
  
• purchase wines from wine.com

You can select wines from hundreds of vineyards and if the vineyard you want is not listed it is as easy as "1,2,3" to add them. For those of us that are wine challenged this is a great application. The next time we are out to dinner and are not sure what type of wine goes with dinner my husband can whip out his Itouch (app for this coming very soon!) and go to My Wine Researcher to find out what we should get. It takes about 30 seconds to get to this information and will not hold my dinner up at all.

For those of you wine lovers, this gives you even more information on wines and let's you share your opinions with others. Your review is saved on My Wine Researcher for others to read and learn from and you can also e-mail it out to friends and family.

So, add this to your Iphone now by visiting My Wine Researcher and/or to view more detailed information visit their Youtube video.

Yolatea, Pleasanton, CA

Last Friday night we had a celebratory birthday dinner with my younger daughter and my niece. As we had so many children with us we opted for pizza and then decided, since it was poring rain, we'd go to the closest place for dessert, Yolatea, 600 Main Street, Suite 4. Yolatea is located in the old Kolln Hardware building and though the address says Main Street you enter the store from Division Street.

We got to Yolatea about 7:30 pm and it was busy. The allure of Yolatea is that you serve yourself. There are two sizes of containers (both plenty big!) and you go up and self-serve the yogurt. You then help yourself to a large selection of toppings, including yummy candy offerings and healthy fruit (or take none at all) and then you pay based on the weight of your filled container. My older daughter had already been with some friends and loved it, turns out my sister-in-law had also been a couple of times too and had enjoyed it. Yolatea serves frozen yogurt, gelato and pearl tea. We all (15 or so of us) ordered yogurt so I can only comment on that. Everyone got different flavors and toppings and I did not hear a negative comment from anyone (aside from the "my eye was bigger than my tummy"). I would definitely visit Yolatea again and highly recommend it for all ages!

The 3/50 Project - Supporting our Local Independent Businesses

I want to thank one of my readers, John from Golden Apple Learning Store, for telling me about the 3/50 Project. I'd written a blog about supporting our local stores and John sent me the link to the 3/50 Project as it fits in directly to what I was writing about. Here is what the 3/50 Project states on their website:

"3 - What three independently owned businesses would you missed if they disappeared? Stop in. Say Hello. Pick up something that brings a smile. Your purchases are what keeps those businesses around.

50 - If just half the employed U.S. population spent $50 EACH MONTH in independently owned businesses, their purchases would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue. Imagine the positive impact if 3/4 of the employed population did that. (Employment statistics courtesy U.S. Department of Labor/Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2/6/2009.)

68 - For every $100 spent in independently owned stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures. If you spend that in a national chain, only $43 stays here. Spend it online and nothing comes home.

1 - The number of people it takes to start the trend...you."

Let's help our local businesses out, especially those that are independently owned and operated. We all have a favorite local restaurant, hair/nail salon, book store, and other retailers. If you can, take some time and visit them this weekend. If you can afford it, spend some money. We can all turn this economy around a little bit at a time but we have to start at home. As I'm fond of saying "Think globally, shop locally!"