Northern Virginia Housewives

{GIVEAWAY} WASHINGTON REDSKINS FLAG FOOTBALL SUMMER CAMP FROM OVERTIME ATHLETICS

3/30/2016

Now that Spring Break is over, the end of the school year is right around the corner -- and you know what that means, it's time to start scrambling to find things for your kids to do this summer! Since I work full time -- I have to plan my 7 year old son's schedule in advance to make sure our calendars are lined up. Brennan absolutely did not like the SACC program at his school last summer - so we're checking out other options this year.

My mom was searching online and actually recommended that I sign Brennan up for a Washington Redskins flag football camp at their practice dome in Ashburn -- how cool is that? When I found out the details, I knew I had to connect with the organization, Overtime Athletics, and share with you all!

Overtime Athletics offers a variety of summer camps in several locations across Northern Virginia to keep your kids active, including Brambleton, Annandale, Centreville, Vienna, Herndon, and Fairfax. Their popular Washington Redskins flag football kids camp is offered in Ashburn (at the Redskins practice field!), Alexandria, Burke, Great Falls, Manassas and Reston. To find details and all locations, you can check out their 2016 Summer Camp calendar.

We've partnered with Overtime Athletics to do a GIVEAWAY for 1 FREE WEEK of Washington Redskins Flag Football camp! On top of that, Overtime Athletics is offering $50 OFF ANY camp by using the promo code: NoVa Housewives (case sensitive). This promo code is good for any Washington Redskins Camps and Overtime Athletics Summer Camps.

SPRING CLEANING CARPETS AND UPHOLSTERY WITH ZEROREZ

3/30/2016

Ready to do some spring cleaning? At my house, spring cleaning usually means sorting through the million bottles of hair product in the bathrooms, donating my unworn clothes from the closet, and finally putting away our hats and gloves until next season. This year, I decided that it was time to go a little deeper and hire someone to do the carpets and floors. As a referral from a friend, I reached out to Zerorez and had them come to my house to see what they could do with my basement. I recently replaced the carpets in my stairwells and bedroom, so I thought it'd be pretty cool if the carpet in my basement was the same shade of white as the rest of the house - without a layer of dirt.

Luis from Zerorez showed up in the middle of the afternoon. Before getting started, he set up a demo at my kitchen table to show me the difference between the treated water that his company uses vs. regular tap water and how they attack dirts and oils differently. I was pretty impressed! And since my little guy loves science, Luis offered to set up the experiment again when B got off the bus. B LOVED it -- and I ended up making the two of them fruit smoothies as they bonded over the chemistry of pH levels and dirt.

In addition to the great customer service from the Zerorez rep, he put up a temporary door to keep the heat/AC inside my house and also placed bumpers on the corners/walls so that the machines and cords wouldn't scratch my paint.

The service to my carpets didn't take too long.... Honestly, I really didn't think my carpets were THAT dirty until Luis showed me these little furball-looking things that their machines had captured. All of the build up was GROSS!

While he was in the basement, I went ahead and asked him to clean a white cloth sectional that has seen better days. It's an Ethan Allen and I was always really careful about how I took care of it, but since it now has blue Gatorade stains on it, I thought I'd let Luis give it a shot. Not only did he get the blue sports drink stains out of the couch, but my son also drew with a black pen in several areas which he completely removed.

Luis then moved upstairs to my kitchen table and cleaned the upholstered seats. I don't know if this happens at your home, but we apparently have a shortage of napkins and paper towels in my house. You know, when you ask your kids to wipe the ketchup off their fingers and they can't find a napkin -- and you've told them over and over not to wipe their hands on their pants, so they just use the seat instead? Yeah, I have one of those. The seats look GREAT now -- but I'm not sure how long we can make it last! I think I'll be calling Zerorez again to get them on a schedule just for the upholstery!

SENSORY-FRIENDLY EASTER BUNNY AT FAIR OAKS MALL

3/22/2016

After a long night out at the Smashing Walnuts annual gala on Saturday night, I woke up Sunday morning, bright and early and hosted a sensory-friendly Easter Bunny event at Fair Oaks Mall for children with special needs.

We host this event each year during the Christmas season for a chance for children to see Santa, but this was the first time we've done it for Easter. It was a really great event with so many smiling families! I am looking forward to making it a tradition!

If you want to stay up to date with our calendar of events, you can subscribe to our upcoming events on the Facebook event page: www.facebook.com/novahousewives/events.

SMASHING WALNUTS GALA AT THE RITZ-CARLTON, TYSONS CORNER

3/20/2016

On Saturday night, we attended the Smashing Walnuts Gala at The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner to raise money to help "Crack a Cure" for childhood cancers. Smashing Walnuts is an amazing local non-profit that was founded by a local mom, Ellyn Miller, after her daughter lost her battle to cancer when she was only 10 years old.

A charity gala is always a wonderful night to get dressed up and go all out -- but it's important to remember the reason that we were there and raise awareness for pediatric cancers!

You can get involved and learn more about Smashing Walnuts by visiting: smashingwalnuts.org or connecting with the organization on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smashingwalnuts/

WAPA GALA AT THE HAY ADAMS IN DC

3/19/2016

Each year, the Washington Automotive Press Association hosts an annual gala -- and this year, the location was picture perfect! We took a Reston Limo downtown for a night out at The Hay Adams hotel -- or, the "Top of the Hay". How GORGEOUS! We had perfect weather and beautiful sunshine for picture perfect photo opps of the Washington Monument and the White House just before the sun set over DC.

CAPITOL CITY BREWING COMPANY SPRINGFEST APRIL 30

3/14/2016

Spring out of winter with Capitol City Brewing Co. and many other regional breweries as they tap new springtime brews in Shirlington village! On Saturday, April 30 at The Village at Shirlington, Capitol City Brewing Company will host its third annual Spring Beer Festival. The springtime beer-tasting event will include a line-up of 35 regional breweries. This year’s participating craft brewers include: This year’s participating local breweries include: Capitol City Brewing Company, DC Brau, Pleasure House Brewing, Starr Hill, Flying Dog, Adroit Theory, Hellbender, Fair Winds, Bold Rock, Caboose and Union.

A Variety of Shirlington Village restaurants and local eateries will feature their favorite springtime fare, which include: Busboys & Poets, Café Pizzaiolo, Luna and Blue Sea. Music is provided by the popular local DJ Julius Talvik. Festivities begin at 12:00 p.m. and conclude at 7:00 p.m. (ticket sales begin at 11:30 a.m. and all beer taps close at 6:00 p.m.). Patrons are welcome to RSVP to this event at: www.facebook.com/capcityspringbeerfest.

Admission for beer drinkers is $30 (one general admission pass per person), which includes a wristband, official tasting glass and 10 drink tickets. Additional drink tickets can be purchased for $1 each with a five-ticket minimum. The event is free for non-drinkers and children. Mid-Atlantic Spring Beer Festival 2015 will be held rain or shine with tickets sold at the event.

For more information on Capitol City Brewing Company, please visit www.capcitybrew.com. Find Capitol City Brewing Company on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CapCityBrew and on Twitter: @CapCityBrewers.

ADVANCED SCREENING: SONY PICTURES MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN

3/8/2016

Last night, I hosted an advanced screening of Sony Pictures new Jennifer Garner Movie: Miracles from Heaven. We had an awesome turn out! Can't give away any spoilers, but the movie was really really good. However, I do not recommend wearing eyeliner or mascara to this movie. It will be released in theaters on March 16.

Since I gave away the tickets for free, I asked that everyone bring a donation to support a local non-profit who serves DC area foster children. We collected over 100 items for Comfort Cases!

Thank you to everyone who came out! If you don't want to miss out on events, you can subscribe for our upcoming events on my Facebook event page.

BURGERS WITH BOBBY FLAY

3/8/2016

Bobby's in town! Yesterday afternoon, I popped into Bobby's Burger Palace in Woodbridge to meet him and grab a burger to check out his restaurant at Potomac Mills. I highly recommend the kale salad with a medium burger on top + cactus pear frozen margarita. And, I might have snuck in a few bacon and cheese fries....

I didn't have any great interview questions for him about his cooking skills or influences... but I did have one real life question: "Since the key to a man's heart is through his stomach, what's the one recipe you'd recommend to replace Engagement Chicken if your boyfriend prefers red meat?"

Bobby's answer: "Perfect Porterhouse Steak that I did for Bon Appetit Magazine - it sounds complicated, but it's simple and it's served in the cast iron skillet. It's perfect for a man who loves protein!"

I told Bobby that I'll make his steak and then tweet him when I get a ring!

HOPPITY EASTER WEEKEND AT FAIR OAKS MALL

3/7/2016

Easter is B's FAVORITE holiday. He loves spending the weekend at my parents house and decorating for the Easter Bunny. Over the weekend, we stopped into Fair Oaks Mall to snag a picture with the Easter Bunny.

The Easter Bunny is available March 4 through March 26 in Bunnyville presented by StoneSprings Hospital Center-- a three-dimensional town for kids to explore located on the lower level in Grand Court West.
Hours are as follows:
Monday - Saturday: 10:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Sunday: 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

You can find more infomation and information about Hoppity Easter Weekend: http://www.shopfairoaksmall.com/events

TRAVELING TO MEXICO FOR SPRING BREAK? FAST FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ZIKA VIRUS

3/3/2016

Spring Break is right around the corner and I've been itching to book a trip to somewhere warmer with beautiful beaches and oceanfront rooms -- bonus of an all-inclusive package wouldn't hurt. It doesn't help that I'm addicted to the CostcoTravel website and they have some pretty amazing deals to Mexico. So I'm like YAY! BOOK IT! and my other half says, "If we go to Mexico, make sure you pack DEET... haven't you heard about Zika?"

Oh, you mean that virus that has no cure and is spread through mosquitos? Right, that. After booking this wonderful vacation, I do some Googling and find out that the CDC put a travel alert on trips to Mexico due to Zika and Google just gave engineers a $1million grant to find a cure.

Well, yes, now I have. But I don't really know the facts. Luckily, I have a friend who is an expert when it comes to mosquitoes, so I asked Patty Pierleonardi from PMSI to give me the rundown on what I need to know before I travel to Mexico for Spring Break:

Patty's Fast Facts about Zika Virus:
-No vaccine exists to prevent Zika Virus.
-Prevent the Zika virus by avoiding mosquito bites.
-Mosquitoes that spread Zika bite mostly during the daytime.
-There has been no signs of the virus in animals.
- The Zika virus is primarily transmitted through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. These mosquitoes typically lay eggs in and near standing water.
- Symptom of Zika include: Fever, rash, joint pain or conjunctivitis. They could last for several days.

Tips for traveling: "Please check to see if you are traveling in an area where the Zika virus has been found. If so, wear long sleeved shirts and long pants. Stay in air-conditioned rooms with window and door screens and use EPA registered insect repellants."

We're still going on our trip -- just going to have to prep ourselves to be aware before we get there. I guess I'll have to spend the extra $25 to check a bag full of bug spray this time around!

If you want more information about Zika and travel alerts, check our the CDC to see where the virus has been found: http://www.cdc.gov/zika/geo/. You can also find out more info: www.mypmsi.com.