Family Tradition: Friday Pizza & Movie Night

This post brought to you by FRESCHETTA®. All opinions are 100% mine.

Read to the bottom for a cool product give-away I am running.

We have a tradition in the Larrison household where every Friday night we all gather in front of the family room television and enjoy a pizza for dinner and watch a movie on our amazing Samsung HD entertainment system.   I strongly recommend this as a family activity because it is a low stress way for us to spend some time together, enjoy some good food,  and the kids don’t have the pressure of having to talk for a couple of hours.   Of course we have conversations during the movies and seem to enjoy each other’s company, but we all know the main reason for the tradition is to make sure we are seeing each other and spending downtime together.  The rest of the week is where we run around like crazy and high-five from one sporting or school event to the other. 

These days the kids are at an age where we don’t have to just watch cartoons or Pixar movies any longer.   Though it is not always easy to pick out a movie we all will like, we have come up with ways to make sure everyone gets a voice in the selection process (with Jennifer having the final veto).   Of course it is mostly family or kids movies, but it is a fun time for everyone and something we all look forward to.  We watched Water World the other night, and I was able to tell the kids about how they filmed the movie and how expensive it was.   Of course, because of my work and starting a company, I do end up having to only attend parts of the family movie night, but I am there just also trying to get a business up and running.   I find it very relaxing also, even with a ton of work to do.  

Now, when we moved from Chicago to DC the one thing we had to give up was good pizza.   We knew this was the case and accepted it when we decided to move.   I have traveled across the United States and tried pizza (and wings) in almost every major city over the past 10 years and there is no true pizza like a Chicago deep dish pie, or even the thin crust at a place like La Rosa in Skokie.    Because we are not able to order Chicago pizza for our family movie night, we end up either cooking a frozen pizza or ordering from the local pizzeria, or if we are really lazy we will order from Pizza Hut (yuck). 

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be able to try a new frozen pizza that is just coming out from the good folks at Freschetta.   We had never tried the Freschetta brand pizza’s before, partially because we were caught in old habits and partially because I am always worried about trying something new with the kids.   Anyway, this new pizza that is called FRESCHETTA® Simply…Inspired™ is really great, and has officially made it into our family tradition.   Though I am not ready to change the name to the Larrison Family Pizza and Movie Night, sponsored by Freschetta… I am considering it :).   

The good thing about the FRESCHETTA Simply Inspired Pizza is it tastes great!   The name is perfect, the first thing I noticed was how fresh the pizza takes.  Everything from the sauce to the toppings and cheese are fresh and taste like they are fresh from one of the better Italian restaurants in Northern Virginia.   Once in a while we would splurge and order pizza from the Homemade Pizza Co. and of course we loved those nights, there were never any leftovers.    Now we can get that same fresh taste without the huge credit card receipt.   I feel it tasted similar to a gourmet pizza from the local Homemade Pizza Company or one of the better Italian pizza restaurants in Alexandria.

The FRESCHETTA® Simply Inspired pizza is not only fresh and bursting with flavor, but I love the taste of the sauce and the entire family loves the thin and crispy crust.   I tried to figure out how they kept the pizza so fresh, even though it was frozen.  I think it must have to do with the packaging they use, it is in a really thin and vacuum sealed package, which is called the FRESH-TASTE SEAL™ on the package.  The smaller packaging makes it easy to store in the freezer and also less cardboard and plastic to go into the trash when you are done.

They have eight different flavor combos, including: Classic Bruschetta, Southern BBQ, Farmers Market Veggies, Harvest Supreme, Rustic Peperoni, Hawaiian, and they offer limited editions such as: Tuscan Farmhouse and Chicken Bianco.  I have not tried them all, but they look delicious.  If the Farmers Market Veggie and the Rustic Peperoni are any indication of the others, I am going to be eating a lot of pizza this year.

I strongly suggest you try out a Family Pizza & Movie night of your own.   If you can’t do it every week, or can’t do it on Friday night, try another night and maybe try it with a TV show instead.   The pizza is critical to bring everyone together, so make sure to include whatever pizza you like.   You should try out the FRESCHETTA Simply Inspired pizza as I think you will love it.  

Give Away Details: For my blog readers and twitter followers I am giving away a coupon for a free FRESCHETTA Simply Inspired pizza and a really cool bamboo cutting board.   All you have to do is follow me on twitter and follow @FreschettaSI on Twitter.  I will pick from my 6K+ followers (and blog readers) a random person to win this free pizza and cutting board (estimated value $120).  I will send you a DM when I select the winner at the end of next week.  I will announce the winner and the prize on this blog and my twitter feed (@jlarrison). 

Let me know if you have any traditions you and your family enjoy. 

Younger Brother Caught Stealing Donuts...

I was cleaning up my younger sons (Stryde/4yo) bedroom and came across an empty box of Hostess Powdered Donettes (which are his favorite breakfast and afternoon snack), that we had bought the day before.    We had bought the donuts for his older brother (Dryver/6yo) to take to school for his class to share.

At first I thought the box was old and there was no way he could have possibly eaten an entire box of donuts by himself.   Then I saw a trail of powdered sugar that went from his bedroom all the way down to the kitchen.

I followed the trail, seeing hand-prints of powdered sugar all over the house, including a stop in the bathroom and even a stop in the broom closet (I am not sure why he was in there).

Well, I finally found the end of the sugar trail and found Stryde 'red-handed', so to speak, and confronted the suspect with the evidence.   Having been taught well from many legendary criminals of our times, he had a good defense.

Check out the video for yourself...

Coming Home...

I travel a lot for my job, and enjoy meeting with people in NY, Atlanta, LA, and San Francisco. Given what I do for a living the travel comes with the territory, and with all the pains of having to wake up at 3am to catch an early flight to LA or grab an early train to NY, there are plenty of good times.

The best times are coming home after being on the road for awhile. I have lately been coming home late at night and not been able to see Jennifer and the kids until they wake up the next morning, but when I do get a chance to get home early enough to surprise them it is a blast.

Dryver always runs up and gives me hugs, while Stryde sorta just looks and tells me something he is working on or whatever is top of mind. I realize I do miss some of the fun things during the week, but try and make sure to catch-up with everyone and get as much time together as possible when I am home. I also have realized that when we spend time on the weekends or vacations, though I have work to do, it is a good time to spend with the family.

It is great having kids, and one fo the best parts is coming home to see them and hearing about everything they did during the day...

Advertising Tricks of the Trade…

I always love when a fast food or restaurant chain commercial comes on TV. It is really such a true disconnect from reality in most cases, but it is great to see how well these marketers are able to position their products and services. I think that they are the best of the bunch in creating a value and emotion out of some French fries.

I remember growing up when my dad was running an ad agency in Chicago. He had clients like McDonalds, Jack in the Box, and Mr. Pibb. It was fun to see the creative work they put together to market to consumers and position themselves. I am sure some of my dad’s ideas are still in the commercials we see today, for good or bad.

My dad’s agency even designed the McDonalds flag, which of course seems pretty simple now, but it probably took many meetings with the client and focus groups with picky consumers.

Anyway, I remember when my dad was working with one of the fast food companies, It was either Browns Chicken or Jack in the Box, and the CEO insisted that all the food in the commercials and print ads were real. They would have to run down to the local franchise and buy the food and then bring it back and try and make it look good.

As I am sure you are aware, this undertaking was a challenge, and after thousands of dollars wasted in production costs, they finally came up with something that worked for the market, while not compromising the integrity of the CEO. I think what they ended up doing was just showing a box of the food, rather than the actual cooked food.

I found this posting that someone had put together that shows the marketing version of fast food and then the actual version. You can see what my dad was up against in these photos. It is hard to be a marketer, but even harder to be a consumer.

Now or Never

Okay, I have not been around for awhile, I have been pretty busy. That being said, I need to get back to my life and focus on being involved in more than just online advertising and marketing. Though I enjoy it, I am going to also focus on other areas of the internet, since I think I am starting to sleep, dream and eat online ads.

That being said, I have a family, I still have interest in local politics, movies, photography, football, food, traveling, etc... So I am going to try and incorporate into ColdKiwi blog the stories and experience I have in the next phase of my life, which I will start as of NOW.

As always, I hope this is a place where Dryver & Stryde, and their children and grandchildren can go and read about what I was doing all those days I was on the road or at work late nights.

I am sure this blog will be pretty mundane at times, though I will try and make it as interesting as possible, but you can't blame me if it is boring, that's life.

You Say Potatoe and I say Potato

If you are looking for something fun to do with your kids this summer, why not teach them about the joys of a garden? It is a great way to involve the kids while also getting some work done. You can have them plant some flowers with you or even show them how to mow the lawn, if they are old enough.

My two sons (6 and 4) love to work in the yard and help out. They actually enjoy helping with the mulch and planting flowers or plants. We make it fun by picking up interesting flowers or plants that we can have them enjoy throughout the spring and summer.

They also love to help with blowing leaves in the fall and jumping in the piles of leaves, which I never realized was so dirty until I became a grown adult.

One thing that we did this summer was show our kids how to grow vegetables in our garden. We live in a pretty shady area of the city so it is hard to grow anything substantial, though we are trying asparagus this year. But we came across an old bag of potatoes in the pantry a few weeks ago and showed the kids that the potatoes were already growing, though they were scared to death the first time they saw these things with the green arms coming out of them.

So we showed the kids, as they participated, how you can put a potato (cut in half) under the dirt of the garden and actually grow food. This was about 3-4 weeks ago, and we had not had much time to check on the plants since, as they were really out of the way. Well, this weekend we were working in the yard and realized that the potato plants that we had planted were huge! Jennifer had initially thought they were weeds and pulled a few out, to only be surprised that they were actually potatoes.

We showed the kids what had happened and that we now had two (baby) potatoes that we had grown all on our own. We brought them in and washed them and then baked these two miniature spuds. They tasted delicious. Yes, they were so small that there was not even room for sour cream, but we did get a little butter and salt, and they were great.

This is a great way to engage your kids with nature, while also teaching them about how food can be grown and that it is better than what you get in the store

Why am I Thinking...

Of my 1st grade son all of a sudden?

Define: Dad

I love this video, to me it is the true definition of a loving father. You all know what the guy was thinking when he caught the foul ball and everyone around the park was cheering and his adrenalin was pumping. For a fleeting second, as the crowd patted him on the back and he had 30,000 eyes on him, he was in the moment.

I am sure as he caught the ball he was thinking what every dad thinks about. He was thinking how fun and exciting this is to be a part of an amazing sporting event with his daughter; he was thinking about how this ball could be placed up on his daughters shelf in her bedroom; he was thinking how they might be able to get a player to autograph the ball after the game. This dad was thinking about how the ball signified the great times he spent with his daughter, and though as a father there is never enough, this would be something to look back on and point to as he watched and experience his daughter growing up. No matter how unimportant that foul ball was to the inning, or the game, or even to the season, it would mean a lot to this father and his daughter.

Then the best thing happens, she does what every kid does, she does the unexpected.



The greatest part of this whole video is his instant reaction to her. The immediate shift from a dad that was thinking about the short time he would have with his daughter growing up trying to hold on to anything possible, to a dad that was in the moment with his daughter and realized how much that instant and experience meant to him and his daughter. I really think this video, though short, displays what fatherhood is really about. It is about those small insignificant moments when you get to experience your children and realize the unconditional love that is the true definition of fatherhood.

The Game...

Dryver had a football game on Tuesday night, the games are usually on Saturday mornings. It was fun to go out to the field after work and see them play. They did very well, as they won by 6 touchdowns I think.

I was able to take this photo as the sun was setting and the kids were getting ready for the second half! I really enjoy Dryver's football games!

The Hurricane Bowl 2008...

Dryver and his football team had a scrimmage a few weeks ago on a Saturday morning. It just happened to be the same morning that Hurricane Hannah was hitting the DC area. The storm was scheduled to hit our area from 9am through 4pm with 100MPH winds and rain/hail.

We showed up at the practice field around 7:30am, per the direction of Coach Noah. It was drizzling a little and you would never know within a few hours there would be trees blown from side to side.

By the time we got to the scrimmage field, we were in an official tropical storm. The kids seems to enjoy playing in this storm, though it was really high winds and the rain was so bad that the coaches couldn't talk to the players as it was too loud.

Here is a photo of Coach Noah in the storm, he doesn't look too happy as I am sure he is soaked, and there were over 7 turnovers in the first 3 quarters.

The game was fun to watch, and there were plenty of crazy parents there standing in the rain with their rain coats. Everyone was soaked to the core though, and it was getting even worse.

The best was in the 4th quarter when a puddle of water actually started to form across the entire field, as it was artifical turf. It was almost like the kids were playing football in a big pond.

I saw the commissioner of the football league and asked him if there was any chance the game would be cancelled. He looked at me with a straight face and said 'this is football, we don't cancel because of some bad weather.' I guess there is no level of what bad weather really means, i.e. I would think there would be a bad weather level, i.e. if there is a tropical storm, no games.

Anyway, it was fun and the kids had a good time. I will never forget this game and I hope Dryver always remembers playing in this game. He really loves football and I am really really proud of him!

Redskins Fan Day...

The kids and I headed to Redskins Park to watch the team practice for Fan Day. It was 100 degrees and there were thousands of fans. It took us over 3 hours to get to the park and by the time we got there (it took about an hour to travel about 2-3 miles), the team decided to head in and cool off.

I didn't blame them as it was very hot, though we were told the game started around 2:30 and we got to the gate around 2:50. The dummies that were running the gate decided not to let a bunch of fans in. It was crazy that these fans had traveled all the way to see the team, buy food and drinks, buy merchandise, and even support the team as a whole, and these idiots running the front gate wouldn't let them in.

We got in, but just at the last few minutes and because we were smart enough to go around back and get out of the crowd befoe they shut off access. I felt bad for all these fans that had taken a whole day to come out and because some stupid idiot decided to not take this into account probably impacted hundreds of fans perceptions of The Redskin organization. Because these young guys at the front gate wouldn't let these fans at least come in and look at the field or see the trophies or take pictures, the negative impact is going to be felt for years.

The Redskins probably can afford to piss off loyal fans as they have plenty of them, but if you continue to run an organization with this mentality it will come back someday, and I am very confident that this day is coming, just not sure when.

Star Wars: The Close Wars Movie Posters...

As a Star Wars fan, I am always checking online for anything new and exciting. I found out recently there was a new movie coming out this summer. I also came across two cool movie posters for the upcoming movie Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which is coming out in August of 2008. Below are two of the movie posters for the theatrical release this summer.

From the trailer: 'On the front lines of an intergalactic struggle between good and evil, fans young and old will join such favorite characters as Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padmé Amidala, along with brand-new heroes like Anakin's padawan learner, Ahsoka. Sinister villains – led by Palpatine, Count Dooku and General Grievous – are poised to rule the galaxy. Stakes are high, and the fate of the "Star Wars" universe rests in the hands of the daring Jedi Knights. Their exploits lead to the action-packed battles and astonishing new revelations that fill "Star Wars: The Clone Wars."'

Produced by Lucasfilm Animation, "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" takes audiences on incredible new "Star Wars" adventures, combining the legendary storytelling of Lucasfilm with an eye-popping, signature animation style.

Check out the StarWars.com website for updates on the film and a countdown to the release. We are about a month away from the official release in the theater. (8.15.2008)

Looking forward to the release!

Alexandria Aces Schedule 2008

If you have not gone down to Four Mile Run Park yet, you gotta get down there before the end of July. There is something new going on this summer; it is called The Alexandria Aces. The Alexandria Aces are a part of the collegiate summer wooden bat baseball series. They are the eighth and newest franchise of the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League.

Going to the game is a ton of fun without the hundreds of dollars in expense, and even with great parking. I have been a couple of times to games with Jennifer and the kids and even Stryde had a great time, mostly running around and getting his face painted (he screamed at the top of his lungs when he saw his face painted like Iron Man). One night I took Dryver and one of his friends and they were selected to run in the dizzy bat in the 8th inning.

The games are great as the teams are really talented and you can see how they really take this seriously as it is one step in a long path to becoming a pro. There are even groupies that hang out to meet the players and probably hope to go out to drinks after the game. They have fun activities for all the family members, including a gift shop for mom, face painting for the kids, great races and run between inning entertainment, and even homemade bbq.

If you find yourself, and your kids, with nothing to do but watch TV or a movie, get out to Four Mile Run and watch The Aces. I guarantee you will have a blast! Plus the tickets are only $5 for adults and $3 for kids.

Here is the schedule for the rest of the season...

Sunday, July 13 - Maryland Redbirds - @ Alexandria Aces - 5:00 pm
Sunday, July 13 - Maryland Redbirds - @ Alexandria Aces - 7:30 pm
Monday, July 14 - Alexandria Aces - @ Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts - 7:00 pm
Thursday, July 17 - Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts - @ Alexandria Aces - 7:00 pm
Friday, July 18 - College Park Bombers - @ Alexandria Aces - 7:00 pm
Saturday, July 19 - Alexandria Aces - @ Rockville Express - 1:00 pm
Saturday, July 19 - Alexandria Aces - @ Rockville Express - 3:30 pm
Sunday, July 20 - Youse's Orioles - @ Alexandria Aces - 7:00 pm
Monday, July 21 - Alexandria Aces - @ Bethesda Big Train - 7:30 pm
Tuesday, July 22 - CRSBL All-Star Game - Povich Field, Bethesda - 7:30 pm
Wednesday, July 23 - Rockville Express - @ Alexandria Aces - 7:00 pm
Thursday, July 24 - Bethesda Big Train - @ Alexandria Aces - 7:00 pm
Friday, July 25 - College Park Bombers - @ Alexandria Aces - 7:00 pm
Saturday, July 26 - Alexandria Aces - @ Bethesda Big Train - 7:30 pm
Sunday, July 27 - Herndon Braves - @ Alexandria Aces - 7:00 pm
* CRSCBL Playoffs Begin After Regular Season Ends *

National Harbor Trip...

We visited the building site for the soon to be launched National Harbor. Dryver and his Cub Scout team were lucky enough today to get a behind the scenes view of the construction and this amazing city that is being built on the Potomac River. It was cold with the wind off the river, but it was really cool.

The Harbor is launching this Christmas and will probably be a huge tourist point, at least in the summer. It was fun for Dryver to see this place before it actually goes 'Live' and he loved wearing the hardhat.

Here are the kids all piled up on 'The Giant' which is a famous statue of some sort, and this is just his head. It is pretty cool!

Stryde's Valentines Day Present for Mommy

Alexandria GW Day Parade

Dryver Graduation to Green Belt...

Dryver graduated from Yellow Belt in Tai Kuon Do to Green Belt this weekend. I was very proud of him as he showed how much he has learned and has become very confident in front of the crowd of people that come to watch these graduations.

I think the effects of being involved in Tai Kuon Do are much different than I thought. They have made Dryver really excited to learn and be physical. He really seems to enjoy doing the classes and is really proud that he has progressed so far. He also has shown some confidence that I would never have thought I would have seen from him if you asked me a year ago.

I am really happy that he loves this sport, and I am happy that he does it without being told to do it. He really does love learning and he loves his instructors as they teach him a lot and treat him with respect.

Dryver's morals are built based on respect. I think this is why he likes Tai Kuon Do so much and why he feels safe in this envrionment. I really hope this confidence can carry over into the real world. He has so much to give the world, and I don't want him to lose the confidence and energy to give it.

I am a very proud dad!

Boys Night...

I remember when I was younger that Boys Night had a whole other meaning than it does today. I actually think I like Boys Night these days even better than when I was younger. And I know I like the mornings after 100x better!

One of My Favorite Photos Ever!

The boys and I were playing around one rain filled Saturday. The house addition was almost done and we were having a great time running around the new home. It was fun and we were laughing and having a great time.

The kids were really being best friends and I felt like I was one of their best friends at the time. We played every game possible and even more. They had a blast, and I had an even bigger blast.

It is a day I will never forget. I took this picture when we were playing, and every time I look at the photo, it takes me back to that day. This is what having kids is all about!

Remembering Glen Ellyn

The first house we owned was in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. It was a great house and a great town. We lived there for less than a year, but it was such a great time to be walking distance from a small downtown and we had a blast. I remember taking the train to work downtown Chicago every morning and coming home on the train every night.

I do miss those days sometimes, but I love where we live now, and don't think we would have been able to fit more than just me and Jennifer in that house.