Field Trip Friday - Upcoming Events at OMA

My kids love being on the go as much as I do. If we all had our way, every day would be a field trip! We’ll be home more this year, but every Friday, I’ll be sharing a field trip that we’ve done or have planned, along with how we tied it in to our studies at home.   We're headed out for a fun field trip day ourselves, so I'm being super-lazy and copying this right from an e-mail. Check out all the fun youth and family Halloween events inspired by the art of Edward Gorey coming up this month at the Orlando Museum of Art! Daddy-O: Picasso Pumpkins  October 16 / 1:30-2:30pm Calling all dads! If you have been looking for a fun way to spend some quality time with your kids, this is it! Celebrate autumn with the class designed for kids and their dads, uncles, grandpas and big brothers to come and enjoy decorating a unique pumpkin without messy carving. Park Maitland Art teacher Nick Wozniak will help you make a silly or spooky masterpiece that will make you smile or scream this fall! One pumpkin per person. $ 12 for adults with 1 child, $10 for OMA members; $3 per additonal child. Pre-registration required. Call 407 896 4231 ext. 262. Gorey Goblins and more...An Adventure into the Dark Side with Pen and Ink October 23 / 12-4pm This drawing workshop with Catherine Cross, for adults and youth over 10, will focus on exciting projects for the Halloween season! Skulls, bats, tombstones...all things Gorey will be our inspiration for black and gloomy as we view the original pen and ink drawings of Edward Gorey. In the studio participants will review and practice pen and ink techniques to create art from the dark side for place cards, decorations, greeting cards, "Gorey" art and more. Supplies provided. Cost is $65, $50 for OMA members. Pre-registration is required by October 20. Call 407 896 4231 ext. 262. Not-so-Gorey Stories  October 24 / 1:30-2pm Come and hear storyteller Bill Cordell delight children (and those who need a nightlight) with delightfully spooky stories during this half-hour program. Free with Admission, Brooker Gallery.  Call 407 896 4231 ext. 262. Fun Family Halloween Event at the OMA October 31 / 12-4pm See UCF Visual Art and Theater Department students engage in a visual dialogue with an improv showing of hats and masks inspired by Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies and other imaginative, offbeat Gorey stories. Sweet Tomatoes will be providing complimentary refreshments from 1-3pm. OMA admission is $8 for adults and always free for OMA members. Children under 12 in costume will be admitted for free with a paying adult. From 12-2pm, all ages are invited to design and create a Halloween mask using a variety of materials for $3, $2 for OMA members.

Please call 407 896 4231 X258 for more information on these programs, or visit www.omart.org.

Sneaky Savings

I'm enjoying finding ways to save on doing the thinks we love - like eating out. We are fortunate to have many great vegetarian and veg-friendly restaurants in the area, with our favorites including Ethos Vegan Kitchen, Dandelion Cafe, Infusion Tea, Cafe 118 and B3 (Bikes, Beans & Bordeaux). Of course, I'm on all their e-mail newsletter lists and love receiving updates along with the occasional coupon (Infusion and B3 have the best coupons!)

Other than an occasional trip to Season 52 or Amura, I can't remember the last time we ate at a chain restaurant. I love supporting small, family-owned places, and I've found that these types of restaurants are doing more to keep eating out affordable. At all the veg places listed above, along with our favorite local Italian place - TerraMia (which is definitely not veg but has some good options) - the kids and I can generally eat lunch for $20. I can imagine lunch for three at Panera or Crispers would cost at least as much, and the qualify of food doesn't compare.

Since I don't cook on Sundays, we often find ourselves at Harmoni, a local market, bistro and wine bar that tries to "Go Local" as much as possible. In addition to supporting the local food movement, we love to take advantage of family night, which includes free kids meals.

We've also been using Orlando Sentinel's Dining Deals and Restaurant.com to buy discounted gift certificates. I prefer Restaurant.com because you download and print the certificates yourself (rather than waiting for them to come in the mail). In browsing their website recently, I noticed that they had Cafe 118 gift certificates available.

My husband's new business includes a Rewards Mall where we can buy from tons of popular retailers, including - you guessed it - Restaurant.com and receive rewards points to spend on future purchases. When ordering through his site, I was excited to see that we also got a 20% discount on the certificates. I ended up buying $100 in gift certificates for $32!

If you use Restaurant.com at all, please consider ordering from his site. All you need to do is create a free account, and you'll recieve the 20% off plus rewards points on your next purchase!

Cafe 118 "Cooks" Up Amazing Food

Just blogged about one of our favorite restaurants - Cafe 118 - on the Central Florida Green Guide. Check it out! It's a great restaurant for date night, although I have been there with the kids, for girls' night and even for takeout after dance class.