But, I never really tested it until this year.  The other week, I purchased all the school supplies for my two kids (who are both in elementary school).  I also found some clothes on sale and bought a couple of pair of shoes.  Given the volume, the tax savings was worth dealing with some crowds – I was lucky enough to go on Friday as opposed to the weekend.

Anyways, the following week, I went back to those same stores and checked on the items I purchased and most of them were on sale for a price less than 5% of what they were during the tax free weekend.  So, I could have saved more money buy taking the 30+% discounts and paying the tax.

I do not know if this was the case for any one else, but I am definitely going to think twice next year.

If you want something closer to home made and less processed than the franchise places like IHOP, Silver Diner and Cracker Barrel, you have to check this place out.

They have every kind of breakfast food from straight egg dishes to omeletes. . . pancakes, waffles and french toast to all the breakfast meats you may want.  They even have a FAT BUSTERS meal where there are low fat and lower calorie options.

The atmosphere is pure diner down to the small but comfy booths and the lively (and busy) but down to business waitresses who make sure your glass is always filled and your food comes fast. Another really neat thing is that their walls are covered with advertisements from local small businesses in Richmond. I saw sign shops, real estate agents, title companies, car shops, even CPA firms.

Their prices are also very attractive. I ordered the waffles with 2 eggs for less than $6.  Everything was tasty.  My friends ordered the French toast, omelets, and home fries- all very good!  I recommend Boychiks Deli in Innsbrook for breakfast any day of the week.

Life is so busy and one problem we often face is that sometimes our schedule gets so hectic that it is difficult to find time to cook a home-made meal every night for dinner.  And, given the current state of the economy (which is hitting Richmond pretty hard), we, like many other short pump families, are really trying to be more frugal when it comes to groceries and eating out.

I just cannot justify the costs to eat out at a non-fast food restaurant for more than twice week.  And, I cannot bear to eat fast food for dinner.

One recent discovery I had was that you can feed a family of 4 for less than $10 with some pretty good pre-made food at Trader Joe’s in Short Pump.  Recently, we bought a Chinese mandarin orange chicken and a family size side of asparagus.  The asparagus was steamed without any heavy or unhealthy sauce on it. I cooked some white rice at home and voila- a nice dinner with decent food for very little cost and effort!

We have tried a salmon dish, a few pastas and some vegetable meals and really liked them.  I was not too crazy about their fish taco meal and some of their sir fry meals get a little too saucy.  But, overall, there is a good selection of these meals that I am sure any family will find a good combination of foods for a really affordable price.  The quality definitely beats the typical processed frozen dinners from the grocery store and the nutrition is much better.

I am still experimenting with other meals there but so far, we have all liked the food and my husband loves the prices!

At Bertucci’s the kids pizza is larger and it is very good.  Pizza is my son’s favorite food so we have tried everywhere. The meals are very reasonably priced and the food is freshly made. The restaurant is clean and the atmosphere is nice- it is energetic but not so loud and the tables have enough spaces between each other.

They also provide kids not only with the standard crayons and kids book to occupy them but also with a chunk of DOUGH.  The dough kept my kids busy and interested all the way until dinner came- this is always a good plus as it allows my husband and I some conversation time without having to entertain the kids or keep them in order.

Another final plus is that he kids meals come with ice cream so dessert is taken care of!

I have started learning about wines and though they had a good wine list and choices. The Bertucci fish meals are very tasty (I ordered the tilapia and my sister ordered the salmon) and salads are of a good size.  I have had their pasta dishes several times and liked every one of them.

For a franchise, I like this Short Pump restaurant and think it is a nice place for business, couples nights and family dinners.

Perhaps they are still working on their marketing, but I can tell you that without a doubt, when it comes to tasty, fresh and authentic chinese cuisine, this is the best place to get it in Short Pump.  I am a long time patron of Chen’s in the Twin Hickory which also has good chinese food, but Far East Bistro’s food is a lot better.

Also, the restaurant has a very nice atmosphere.  The dining area is ultra clean (a huge plus in my book), the decor is professional and almost trendy (unlike many of the older chinese restaurants that have very tacky decor), and the owners and waitstaff are so friendly and helpful.  Your drink is always full.

This is a locally owned restaurant business that recently launched and so I hope you will give them a try. Their lunch is very affordable and while their dinner menu is slightly pricier than Chens and Yen Ching, the extra few dollars is worth the uniquely fresh dishes and the nicer atmosphere.

You cannot go wrong with their dinner dishes and you should try their fried banana dessert (topped with chocolate)- scrumptious!

I rate this restaurant the best chinese restauarant in Short Pump.  Visit their website to see the food selections:  Far East Bistro

Now there are quire a few Mexican restaurants in Short Pump and we have been to all of them.  They all seem almost exactly the same when it comes to standard Mexican cuisine.  But, in the past year, we did find one restaurant that seems to stand out over the others and that is Guadalajara in Short Pump.

While I think that their chicken tacos are a bit average, some of their other dishes are pretty good.  I especially like their fish tacos and shrimp tacos.  Their food has been unbelievably fresh in 95% of our visits and their service is second to none.  Our drinks are always filled and re-filled and the chips with their two choices of dips are always good! Plus, compared to others in the area, the restaurant feels a little cleaner.

So, if anyone is looking for an alternative to Casa Crande and Mexico, you should definitely try this one out.

This is my big dilemma of the Christmas season.  My kids are getting to the ages where all they want are electronics for Christmas. .  things like video games, ipods, music, movies and computer accessories.  Plus, my husband also enjoys the electronics and multi-media world.

So the natural place to shop for electronics in the Short Pump is either Best Buy or Circuit City. Given Circuit City’s highly publicized problems and their state of bankruptcy, I guess the answer is easy this year.

However, being a Richmonder and given the fact that Circuit City headquarters is just right outside of Short Pump., I do feel a little personally obligated to help them out when buying in today;s environment.

Here is the thing.  Ever since Best Buy came on the scene, I really liked their in-store atmosphere so much better.  While Circuit City is not this way today, they used to be a high pressured sales place where you could not just browse without a team of sales people attacking you.

I also enjoy the fact that Best Buy is a lot brighter inside.  Now, I must admit, Best Buy sales people are the exact opposite.  From my experience, most of them are not trained at all in the products and many are just high school kids looking to make some extra money.  So, I do not ever rely on them for product information.  Instead I use the Internet.  But, we have found it an incredibly easy place to get what we have already decided to buy.

For awhile, when Best Buy first offered their Bet Buy rewards card, it was a no brainer to shop there because they gave back fantastic coupons and cash back. But over time, they reduced their specials and the amount you could accumulate in best buy rewards.  It was a genius marketing play because for a short period, they took away all the Circuit City customers.

I do think it is important to generally patron local businesses.  I feel this way definitely with locally owned restaurant owners and it sort of applies to the big corporations that are local.  They take part as well in keeping the Short Pump community healthy by offering jobs and participating in community events.

But this year, there is just too much uncertainty surrounding Circuity City and so much states that it is just a little too late.  So, I am off to Best Buy to check some things off of my Christmas list.

Have a great weekend!

Well, in the past decade the trend for buying gift cards as christmas presents has been a steep one to the upside.  It has just become more common and accepted to give gift cards and, let’ be honest – what better way to make someone’s day.  They get to choose exactly what they want.

Buying gift cards has never been easier.  You can purchase them easily online and now, there are gift card collection kiosks in a lot of major stores such as drug stores and grocery stores.  I usually buy cards from over 10 different stores at Ukrops of all places!

Well, given our bad ecomony and the meltdown happening with the large retailers in America, buying a gift card is risky this season.  ThIs is because many retailers will be going out of business after the Christmas shopping season.  Now, you will be very surprised to know that even if bankruptcy is in the plans for many of these businesses, they are still selling gift cards.

What you need to know is that once a retailer goes into bankruptcy, your gift cards may be worthless.  While it is technically an obligation owed by the store to the gift card holder, it is an unsecured obligation which means that it is the lower priority in bankruptcy.  In other words- it is likely worthless!

I found this list on the Internet that predicts some of the stores that could have issues with gift cards.  Now, I do not follow the corporate business wolrd close enough to know how accurate this list is, but I thought it was worth including here to help any fellow short pump shoppers as they make their gift buying decisions.

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When it comes to afford-ably feeding young children at restaurants, we face a common dilemma.  Do we spend more for the real food or resort to the kids meals. . . which in most cases consist of friend chicken fingers, a hot dog, and a processed hamburger.  Of course the kids meals come with greasy french fries but I have been seeing some healthier alternatives like a fruit cup lately.

After growing tired of the bland and nutritious void kid meal options, we started ordering a regular meal for the kids to split.  This works sometimes but inevitably one of my kids will want a kids meal because it just sounds better then “baked chicken with carrots.”

But there is one place where we love the kids meals and that is California Pizza Kitchen in the Short Pump Town Center Mall. First, there pizza is very good and they offer real pasta dishes as kids meals.  Even better, my kids love pizza and pasta so we never have any complaints.

We like their regular menu as well.  The salads are big so ordering even a half size is sufficient.  And, they have decent soups and tasty pasta dishes.  While we normally opt for the traditional pizza pie, every now we do get in the mood for a gourmet pizzas at CPK.

Anyways, our vote for the best kids meals in Short Pump Richmond is California Pizza Kitchen.

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Last week the long awaited opening of the Silver Diner happened in Innsbrook.  I heard there were lines out the door.  My family is a huge pancake family (especially chocolate chip pancakes) and so if we did not frequent the Silver Diner on our regular shopping jaunts up to the Tysons Corner area, we would have probably waited in line last week for something new and different in the area.

I find it very interesting that franchised breakfast joints like the Silver Diner, Cracker Barrel and IHOP are so busy here in the Short Pump Richmond area. Breakfast is one of those comfort meals where I would have thought that the smaller, family owned joints would be the preferred breakfast places when one wants to get some eggs, waffles, pancakes and bacon.

But, I am finding that the franchises hold such a formidable position in the West End. I must admit that even though my husband and I prefer non-franchised restaurants that have more personality and better food, it is just so much easier (with kids) to frequent the larger and more convenient establishments.

Our favorite breakfast outing is a homemade breakfast at home.  In the summers, we make a huge breakfast almost every Saturday morning with homemade pancakes, waffles or french toast.  Of course, the meal would not be complete without eggs – either tasty fried eggs or sometimes Western omelets.

As our youngest child has gotten to that age where he behaves a little more in restaurants, we have tried a few brunches in the area but are on the look out for other recommended places for a good homemade brunch is a nice setting.  Patina Grill used to have a great brunch but not sure if they still offer it.