Category Archives: Resturants

Smile Brilliant Review and Giveaway

November 10, 2017 By in Reviews Tags: , , 8 Comments

As most people know, I like coffee.  As in I drink it almost every day. As much as I wish coffee didn’t stain your teeth, it does. 

Recently, I had the chance to try Smile Brilliant. Smile Brilliant is an easy to use, smooth, custom fitted whitening system.  

Spoiler: They work well as my parents asked if I stopped drinking coffee and I have received multiple compliments on my teeth.

A bit different review than running shoes, or fitness products, but Smile Brilliant was kind enough to send me a complimentary system and who doesn’t want whiter teeth?

What is Smile Brilliant?

A professional, custom whitening treatment that you can use in your own home.  Prior to Smile Brilliant being on the market, a custom fitted tray system was only available at the dentist office.  At the dentist office, these systems can cost upwards of 500-1000 dollars.

How does Smile Brilliant Work?

To get a custom fit, Smile Brilliant sends you a kit that includes: Base and Catalyst Paste to make your impressions. 

Followed by all of the equipment you need to make it.  It reminds me of going to the orthodontist and getting your lifelong retainer.  After following the directions, it molds to your teeth, and you send it back so they can make your customized mold.

First, you mix the pastes together and then press them into the plastic trays. Like when you got a retainer made (if you did), you place them in your mouth, bite down for 2+ minutes and then remove.

You will make your own impressions, but if LOLZ can do it, believe me, it’s fairly simple.  Smile Brilliant also gives you an extra mix in case you mess up.smile brilliant teeth whitening

Then you just have to mail them back in the prepaid mailer and Smile Brilliant will create your molds and send them back to you.  For me, it took less than 2 weeks for my custom molds and get started.

Realistically it’s all about Results:

First and essential, the custom molds fit my teeth perfectly. I kept them in without noticing, and they didn’t fall out or irritate my mouth. I also didn’t feel as though I was forcing them to stay in or it was a burden to do.  Like anyone, I want whiter teeth, but I don’t want to feel hassled while doing so!  This was never an issue.

I’ve tried a few whitening systems where I felt like I was focused on keeping them in and was aware of the trays in my mouth. Smile Brilliant recommends keeping the trays in for a couple of hours, and I was able to do that with no issues.  Typically, I put them in in the evenings when I was relaxing.

smile brilliant teeth whitening

After using the whitening gel.  They also include a “desensitizing gel” to use for about 15 after your sessions.  The first few sessions, I definitely felt as though I needed it, but afterward, I did not.  While I still used it, I didn’t feel as though my teeth or gums were more sensitive to using the system!

Did I notice a change?  You Bet!  I had several people, including relatives, ask if I had stopped drinking coffee or gotten something done with my teeth.  I’m happy with my results, and it’s a system I will continue to use.  You are able to continue buying more gel when needed!

Posting extremely close up photos of my teeth is not what I dream of, but it does show results.

Smile Brilliant

If you are looking for something easy and simple to enhance your teeth, I would recommend Smile Brilliant.

Smile Brilliant sent the kit to use, but all thoughts and opinions are my own. Plus, the photos are untouched, and results speak for themselves.

Deals and a Giveaway: 

I have a 10% coupon code for you: Fueledbylolz10

You can enter the Giveaway to win your own Smile Brilliant kit here. 
It’s open for 1 week and will end on Friday, November 17th.

Questions for you:
Have you ever used a Teeth Whitening System? 
Are you a coffee or tea drinker?


//www.smilebrilliant.com/widget-article/fueledbylolz

Silver Coin Diner

May 28, 2016 By in Diners, Resturants, Reviews Tags: , , , , , 5 Comments

Last month I celebrated my 100th New Jersey Diner. While I’ve been to several diners out of state and even repeated a few, The Silver Coin Diner was my 100th different diner in the state of New Jersey.   I do plan to have a recap sometime later next week.

Both my parents and in-laws were in town and got to celebrate with me as well.  I didn’t wait for the Silver Coin to be number 100, it just happened that way!  Since it was late after work, we decided to meet at a more local diner, the Silver Coin Diner in Hammonton, NJ. A fun fact about Hammonton is it’s the Blueberry capital of the country.  It’s a beautiful local town.

Getting to the Silver Coin Diner wasn’t challenging.  It’s located right on the main road and easy to get too.

Atmosphere: F

I should preface this with the outside of the Silver Coin Diner is a cute, old shiny metallic building.  It’s a picture perfect stereotypical diner.

Silver Coin Diner

The inside has the typical diner layout of a bar, multiple booths, and tables.  You’re probably wondering, how does it fail?

The tables were on top of each other.  They were so close both the waitress and host asked us multiple times to move the position of how we were sitting so they could get around the table.  It felt like they were trying to put ten tables in a space only three should have been.  What bothered me the most was the emergency exit door was covered by another table.  If there is an emergency, you wouldn’t be able to get out of the door.

Service: C
The waitress was friendly, and she refilled our water, coffee, and food.  She made an ironic comment about “how much I ate” which I didn’t appreciate but other than the comment I don’t have any complaints.

Coffee: A
The Silver Coin Diner uses the local brew Lacas coffee.  I enjoyed my coffee and didn’t have any complaints.  The coffee was my favorite part of the experience.

Silver Coin Diner

Food: C
The menu at the Silver Coin Diner is smaller than most diners.

I ordered a Greek salad with salmon and extra pita bread.  The waitress said the salad came with pita, but I was running the next day and wanted extra.  When the food came out, it came with a small plate of bread.  I assumed I would just receive two plates but didn’t.

The salad itself was mediocre.  The salad itself was small with watery lettuce.  I wasn’t impressed and still hungry afterwords.  I felt like I could have eaten 2-3 more meals.  It was ironic because afterwords the waitress kept saying how impressed she was that I finished the salad.

What saved the salad from failing was the salmon which was cooked well.

Silver Coin Diner

If I come back, I’ll be getting just the salmon or something different all together.

Cost: $$$
For my coffee and salad, the cost was $16 which was expensive for the portion size and quality.

Summary/Would I come back?
The Silver Coin Diner was ok but not my favorite.  I was disappointed after hearing great things about it, and I doubt I’ll be back.

Overall:
Atmosphere: F
Service: C
Coffee: A
Food: C
Cost: $8-15
Overall: C

Questions for you:
What’s the strangest restaurant layout you’ve been too?
Do you like blueberries?

Food

February 1, 2016 By in Resturants Tags: , , , , 24 Comments

One of the most common questions I receive is about what I eat.  I post a diner review every Saturday, but I don’t eat at a restaurant for every meal.  The diner meal only shows one out of 21ish meals I eat weekly.

For the first few years of blogging, I blogged a lot more about food.  Truth be told, everyone has their own opinion on what to eat and what not to eat.  I took several nutrition college courses for my major of public health, but I have no credentials to give food advice.  One direction I could have gone with the public health degree is getting masters in that field, but I learned quickly that I have no interest in giving people food advice.

I’m not a dietician or nutritionist, so I don’t feel comfortable giving out advice to people about nutrition. 

My personal blog only shows a glimpse of my life, and if I wanted just to talk about the cake I eat weekly, you might be under the impression all I eat is cake.  Similarly, if I wanted just to talk about my love for Greek salads, you might think I just eat Greek salads with salmon.  While both items are staples in my diet, I do eat other things. I’m not strict with my diet, and I enjoy life, food and everything as it comes my way.  I’m 5’7 and 130 pounds.  Height and weight are just numbers, so it doesn’t offend me to write them on the internet.  I seem to run well at this weight, so I have no interest in losing or gaining weight.

I feel like I just wrote a novel to share some of the foods I’ve been enjoying.  Sharing food on the internet is a tricky subject because bloggers normally don’t have credentials to give out advice about food.

My recent vacation, however, is the perfect excuse to show you more food and different the varieties of things I enjoy.  Since I was on vacation, I didn’t worry too much about eating that well.  I did have vegetables, but I also enjoyed dessert.  I don’t usually eat at a restaurant for 2-3 meals a day, but it was great to try new things.  For those who are catching up, we went to both San Diego and Los Angeles.

During vacation, I didn’t have any food I didn’t like.  Both my husband and I tried plenty of new things, but there was nothing I thought “wish we had gone somewhere else.”

Here are some of the things I tried: 

Ahi poke

Ahi pokes with avocado and sweet potato chips. The tuna was quite spicy and reminded me of sashimi.

maple bacon

The Bacon might be the gem of the weekend. “Man Candy” maple bacon from Fig Tree Cafe

ahi poke

Ahi tuna with a spicy sauce as well as avocado and cucumber

ghiradelli ice cream

Ice Cream from Ghirardelli Chocolate

salmon salad

One of my favorite salads of the week. The salmon was cooked perfectly, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were caught the same day

Design your own custom cookie sandwich. Mine was red velvet cookie, cake batter ice cream and chocolate chip cookie

Design your custom cookie sandwich. Mine was red velvet cookie, cake batter ice cream and chocolate chip cookie

Classic post race burger and fries

Classic post race burger and fries

Salmon and Cous Cous

Salmon and Cous Cous

Studio Diner Pancakes

Studio Diner Pancakes

As you can see, my eating was all over the place.  I ate salads, but I also enjoyed dessert and different treats.  My opinion of food is truly like running…your overall health does not consist of one meal or one day of food.  Similarly, your overall fitness of running does not consist of one workout or race.  Both are the collection of consistent habits.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to let me know.

Questions for you:
What is your favorite post race meal?
What is your absolute favorite food?
Mine is either salmon, steak or eel

The Wisdom Diner

September 5, 2015 By in Diners, Resturants, Reviews Tags: , , , , , 5 Comments

Last month my brother, Tim and I all decided to go to the Wisdom Diner in Bordentown, NJ.  I have driven by several times but never stopped.  It’s always been on my “diner to do list”.  It’s much closer to my previous house so when we moved it got put on the back burner until we happened to be in the area.

Atmosphere: B 

The outside is clean and modern looking.  It’s a tall, white building on the corner of the road.  The building certainly catches your eye and makes you want to stop.  That is a good thing because there are about 5 other diners within 5 minutes of the Wisdom Diner.

From the Wisdom Diner Website

From the Wisdom Diner Website

The inside is festive and heavily decorated for the closest holiday.  Judging by several photos, it appears the Wisdom diner decorates for every season.  I like that sort of hometown feeling!

Service: C 

The service at the restaurant was one of the most awkward experiences I’ve ever had. I ordered a typical coffee with whipped cream.  The first waiter brought over an entire can of whipped cream.  The second waitress seemed very upset we had the container of whipped cream at our table.

Wisdom Diner Coffee

Wisdom Diner Coffee 1

We were the only ones in the restaurant, but the service was still extremely slow.  You would have thought it was a packed house!  At one point we saw every staff member behind the counter chatting and watching TV.

Food: C 

The Wisdom diner has a lot on their menu but stick with simple foods and menu items. There was honestly nothing too unique or to write to home about. They had breakfast options, lunch and dinner.  There wasn’t anything unusual from the restaurant.

I ordered the large Greek Salad with salmon.  It was clear they gave a piece of frozen salmon.  The middle of salmon was still slightly cold.  The salad wasn’t very large and I finished feeling hungry.  With the exception of the frozen salmon, it wasn’t a bad salad but I do wish it had actually been larger.

Wisdom Diner Salad

It looked and tasted like food I could have made at my house.

Cost: $ 

For my salad, my brothers wrap and Tim’s burger the cost was $35.  It was a relatively cheap diner but the quality of food reflected that.

Overall thoughts/Would I come back? 

The service at the Wisdom Diner wasn’t great and the food was just okay.  There are a few diners right down the road (such as Mastoris, Daphnes or Town & Country) that I would go too before the Wisdom Diner. It’s not a bad stop but there are better choices down the road.

Cliff notes: 
Atmosphere: B
Service: C
Food: C
Price: $7-15
Overall: C

Question for you: What is the strangest experience you’ve had at a restaurant?

Green Eggs Cafe

August 22, 2015 By in Diners, Resturants, Reviews Tags: , , , , 10 Comments

A few weeks ago, I went into Philadelphia to eat at the Green Eggs Cafe. I heard rumors Green Eggs have the best pancakes around.  Of course I had to test it out. Green Eggs Cafe is very well known for their large square stack of red velvet pancakes.

I arrived to the Green Eggs Cafe around 11. It wasn’t crowded and I was seated immediately.

Atmosphere: B
It’s open and modern. There are plenty of seating and open tables. The entry way was a little strange and I felt like I was awkwardly standing in front of tables to wait.  The inside is spacious and I never felt like I was sitting on top of anyone.  The entry is just extremely awkward.

From the Green Eggs Cafe website

From the Green Eggs Cafe website

Coffee: A
The coffee was excellent. The waitress went into a lot of detail to tell me they used home made vegan whipped cream. I thought that was really interesting and unique. I would have never guessed it was vegan but honestly it didn’t matter to me either way.  (I forgot to take a photo of my coffee!)

Food: A
The Green Eggs cafe has plenty of options from breakfast to lunch. They had quite a few different egg selections, French toast and pancakes. They are best known for their French toast and red velvet pancakes. I came specifically for the pancakes so I already knew what I wanted before looking at the menu.
IMG_3894

Red velvet cake is my favorite type of dessert so I was  set in getting the red velvet pancakes. They were deliscious and one of the best stacks of pancakes I have ever had. They were dense and very filling.  The red velvet pancakes had chocolate chips baked in.

Green Eggs Pancakes

 

The actual pancakes were square with the edges a little bit crispy. I liked the crispy edges a lot. It was topped with chantilly cream which it also had in the center. Honestly it was one of the best breakfasts I have ever had.

Green Eggs Cafe Red Velvet Pancakes 1

Cost: $$
For my pancakes and coffee it was $20 dollars. Honestly it was one of the best breakfasts I’ve had and completely worth it.

Overall thoughts/Would I come back?
I would come back everyday if I could. The service and staff was extremely friendly and the food was deliscious. I want to try the cookie dough French toast next.

Cliff notes:
Atmosphere: B
Coffee: A
Food: A
Price: $15-20
Overall: A (top 5 overall)

Questions for you:
Where are the best pancakes you’ve ever had?
Do you like red velvet?

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