World’s Best Toffee? YES!

This lilbirdie pecked open her first box of The World’s Best Toffee a few days ago!  Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, and White Chocolate!

Not being much of a toffee fan, I wasn’t really sure if I was going to like it. Toffee tends to be too sticky for me. But, much to my delight, I found the World’s Best Toffee isn’t sticky at all. In fact, it was the most delicious toffee I have ever had, almost creamy! It came in a very simple brown box with a cream colored bow. It was elegant. The card inside told me that, because there was no artificial coloring or preservatives it was best to enjoy my toffee as soon as possible, witch in birdie talk means, “Eat every last bite until it is gone!” That is exactly what I did too.

I found myself rustling the plastic wrap a few times a day, and a few times, even right before going to bed – BAD BIRDIE. It was so good that I refused to share even the smallest of crumbs with my little peeps!

I was so fixed on my scrumptious handmade treat that I didn’t notice the second little card was in the box until I was down to my last little square. This card was different. It had no direction on how or why I had to eat all my toffee in one shot, it was a card that read “The Keaton Raphael Memorial” “A Beacon of HOPE for Children with Cancer”

It seems, that just because I decided to buy a box of World’s Best Toffee a $5 donation was made to the Memorial Fund. Right there, I decided that “World’s Best Toffee” had made it onto my Valentine’s Day, Mother’s day and Birthday wish lists.  Not only that, but I will be sending some to my friends back east for their Birthdays. It is just plain yummy, it makes a great gift and who wouldn’t want to be a “Beacon of HOPE for Children with Cancer!”

World’s Best Toffee, alilbirdie.com will be chipping about you for a long time!

Place an order for yourself today, or think about a box the next time you need a Hostess gift. When you do order just make sure you tell them “alilbirdie.com” told you about them!

Sometimes you hear about something so wonderful you are compelled to share it with anyone who will lesson. I was chirping with a friend recently and learned about Wigs on Wings. This powerful idea, and the wonder woman, Denise Van Arsdale-West, who’s launched it, can be found right here in our hometown.  She has created a business that provides wigs for cancer patients but it doesn’t just stop there.

Wigs on Wings provides in-home private wig fitting for clients who have lost their hair due to cancer treatments. Allowing the client to try on and purchase wigs in the comfort of their own home. Denise understands the special needs of her clients who are going through challenging times. Wigs on Wings services do not stop at just fitting a wig. Denise has an extensive background in make-up application for television and film. She also offers a makeover that can enhance the look of your new wig.

Denise Van Arsdale-West understands the pain and grief that accompanies great loss. With the loss of her husband and the more recent loss of her sister to cancer, Denise has channeled that energy into her life’s work. She became a life Coach and founded Pick Up the Pieces Life Coaching and now has created Wigs on Wings. Denise is dedicated to helping women whose lives have been adversely impacted. She has lived it and now wants to help other cancer patients with their healing in order to live life with passion and purpose.

What an amazing and compassionate person, and what an amazing business.  Like most birdies I know,  I too am personally connected to someone touched by Cancer. If you know someone who could use this powerful service make sure you “chirp” about Wigs on Wings to them and tell them alilbirdie told you about it!

To Contact Denise  you can E-mail her at denisewest888@yahoo.com  or Call her at 661-714-9404

When you hear the phrase “Bird Watching” what comes to mind? Is it sitting on a bench feeding pigeons, watching the hummingbirds at your feeder or is it more like sitting very still in Central Park waiting to see a gaggle of quail waddle through the hedges?

For me, Bird Watching has a bit of a different meaning. I think it’s more like watching great women at work. Santa Clarita has its fair share of Great Birds. I wanted to share with my readers the stories of just a few of them.

Let’s start with two. I think I’ll call them my Pigeon Sisters. But don’t let the nickname fool you. Just like I adore the fun loving Gwendolyn and Cecily from the famed move The Odd Couple, I adore these two ladies. But, my pigeon sisters are far from ditsy.

Kristy Nuttall and Cathy Wohlberg Craig are definitely two birds to watch. You might know Kristy as the “My Little Pretty” jewelry lady and co owner of RKN Studios and Cathy as one of the previous original owners of Maggie Moos or as part of the Loose Goose Flock for almost five years! Both Ladies have made a name for themselves with all their business ventures. They are savvy and smart treasures. So why am I watching them? Two words “Think Tank”. These two ladies have put their heads together to come up with a fabulous idea.

Kristy and Cathy first started collaborating with Where’s my Damn Answer? (a great blog for women) and also put together a dynamic Networking / Training seminar for woman in business. Their Think Tank groups are small and designed to make connections, build relationships and offer support / growth for everyone who attends. Their experience and knowledge is very valuable. Their philosophy has always been about supporting and sharing their experiences to help others. Making them not only two birds to watch but also two birds to learn from. If you are a business woman, you might want take part in the Think Tank yourself. You will not regret it! They have already held over a dozen sessions with great success. Kristy and Cathy’s motto has and continues to be “there’s always room in the sandbox for someone new, as long as you can play nice!”

There are 100’s of networking group to choose from in Santa Clarita and they all offer something different. But if you are new at networking and not great at public speaking then this This Tank is what you are looking for. Don’t wait to call Cathy and Kristy they are always ready to start a new group. And don’t forget to tell them alilbirdie.com sent you!

I look forward to sharing my Bird Watching Story with my readers. We have a flock of great Birds in Santa Clarita. You never know you just might be next!

To learn more – check out their page about Think Tank!

When I hatched my plan to become alilbirdie of Santa Clarita, I never imagined that within a few short months I would have so many readers.  I am having so much fun giving away prizes, offering special discounts and inviting birdies to secret sales by way of my signature “Chirp Alerts”.  alilbirdie.com is a membership based site, and I love promoting the best businesses in town,  but as far as everyday discounts alilbirdie.com would much rather leave that to the experts!

Which leads me to the question…..

Which Discount Program is the best?

Well, like I’ve said over and over again, If I don’t have something nice to say I will say nothing at all.  There are many great new member and non-member discount sites popping up all over the Santa Clarita internet scene and they all seem to have a lot to offer, but for this lilbirdie there really is only one choice.  As far as this birdie is concerned, 25 Score is the gold standard for a few reasons.

The First Reason (and the most important reason of all) is that 25 Score has always met alilbirdie.com customer service standards even before there was alilbirdie!

The second reason: 25 Score already has over 750 Restaurants, Retail Stores, Businesses, Theaters and Theme Parks that they partner with.  It’s a no brainer.  You know the Store or Restaurant will honor your card as soon as you walk in the door, because the 25 Score Sticker is clearly placed there.  No guessing and no coupons to cut or print out.

The third reason: 25 Score has been in the Santa Clarita Valley since 1989 so it’s easy to see so many Santa Claritians enjoy saving locally!

The fourth reason: They are a huge source of fundraising money for our local schools.  I LOVE this.  I know when my children where little and in school it was the first fundraiser they come home with and I would buy a 25 Score card every year.  I knew I would make use of it. I didn’t dread the 25 Score Card like I dreaded the wrapping paper form, or buying countless tubs of cookie dough that made this once little birdie … well … not so little!

The fifth reason: The program works!  I have a card and I use the card to save money.  In just one day, I have saved as much as $33.00 using the 25 Score Card.

And … to put my money where my beak is, I plan on having a running total of savings using my 25 Score card for one year.

So if you are not a 25 Score Member and want try and beat my total, go online to www.25score.com to get your card and tell them alilbirdie.com sent you.

I love food!  Yes, I admit it and I just don’t care.  I love food!

I’ll try just about anything once, sometimes twice if I’m not sure how my taste buds are feeling about it.  We have a lot of great food here in Santa Clarita.  By the same token, we HAD a lot of great food right here in Santa Clarita.

We had a great Vietnamese Kitchen in the Mall and it vanished.  We also had a great Thai restaurant on Seco and Copper Hill, gone!  Countless little sandwich shops and bitty bakeries gone.  Why?  Where have they gone? What happened to them?  Why didn’t you hear about them when they were here?

Yes, the economy is bad, but I don’t think that factor alone did it.  It’s a compound problem that includes traffic flow, lack of advertising budgets and sometimes just plain bad food or bad service, the list could go on and on.

Sometimes, I think it had to do with reviews or lack of reviews in our locally loved newspapers and magazines.   I’m not sure how or what you have to do to become a “food Critic” or “foodie” in this town.  Do you just show up at an event such as “Taste of the Town” with your press pass and write a nice review about whatever free food is served to you?  In some cases with our local magazines, if you pay for an advertisement you get to write your own review, and that is ok!  It is just another way to advertise.

alilbirdie.com wants to tweak the status quo a bit.  I’m going to make a few promises to my members to insure that my reviews are un-biased reviews:

1. I will eat.  (That’s an easy one, Yay for me!)
2. I will pay for every meal I review! NO FREEBIES!
3. I will never post a bad review.  (As the saying goes, “If you don’t have anything nice to say … ” The alilbirdie.com business model will never include trying to put anyone out of business … just promoting great businesses.)
4. If I don’t like what I have eaten or didn’t like the service I will give it a second try. (Because everyone deserves a second chance.)
5. I will always let the owner of a badly reviewed eatery know what our opinions are by way of a private e-mail or letter, to be helpful.  This will give them the opportunity to better his or her business.
6. I will never advertise for anyone who has not passed alilbirdie.com’s customer service standards, for any reason or any amount of money.

These standards also apply to everything I review.  You might not agree with my opinion -  you might not like everything I like -  but at the very least, I am willing to put good information out there for good businesses that still believe in the same things our birdies believe.  Customers Still Count.  alilbirdie.com will not promote any business that does not give the paying customer the respect they deserve or meet all of the alilbirdie.com customer service standards.

That being said … Where is your favorite Birdie Feeder in Santa Clarita please let me know?  I’ll do my best to fly by and give it a try.