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SeamlessWeb Discount & Firefly Lane Book Review

SeamlessWeb Update
Last week I reviewed my favorite food ordering site, SeamlessWeb. This site makes the process of ordering food, well, seamless! SeamlessWeb - How it works

They deliver to the following cities:

  • New York City
  • NY Metro Area (Rye Brook, NY & Purchase, NY & Greenwich, CT & Stamford, CT)
  • Jersey City
  • Boston
  • Philadelphia
  • Washington DC (DC & Northern VA)
  • Houston
  • Chicago
  • San Francisco (Downtown – Embarcadero area & Menlo Park & Palo Alto)
  • Los Angeles (Downtown & Century City)
  • London

Live in one of these cities? Never tried SeamlessWeb? The generous people at SeamlessWeb are offering my readers a discount! You can get 20% off your first order! Go to the site, place your order and be sure to enter this discount code at checkout: m42fjsdof91b. This offer expires on June 26, 2009!

Firefly Lane Book Review
When I was nearing the end of Firefly Lane yesterday, I started to cry. On the subway. Later in the evening, I was walking on the treadmill. I was reading the last 30 pages or so. Again, I started crying. On the treadmill. With the boy and his trainer working out right near me.

I didn’t want them to notice and stop their session to see if I was okay! Luckily, they didn’t see my tears. I finished the book and as I tried to fall asleep I couldn’t stop thinking about it. That is my clearest indicator on whether a book is a favorite — if it sticks with me. If it leaves me thinking about the characters, the scenes well after I finish. If it makes me think about the path the book took, the paths it didn’t take. If it makes me go back and reread scenes throughout to read them in a new light now that I know the ending. This book did all of those things.

Firefly LaneI devoured Firefly Lane. I picked it up as soon as I finished I Know This Much Is True and read every moment I possibly could. Of course, things  got in the way, such as eating and going outside. But I did the best I could. I even opted for longer, local subway rides that would allow me more time to read.

Firefly Lane follows the stories of two women, Kate and Tully, through their friendship that spans over 30 years. They became friends at a time in their lives where they both desperately needed one. Their personalities are drastically different but they go through everything together — the good, the bad, the everything. As the decades change, the clothes , hairstyles and music change as well. The descriptions of the clothing and hairstyles throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s were funny. Especially the 80s.  Music plays a big part as well. The friends have their songs together, and you can even view their playlist of songs mentioned in the book here. You can even download it on iTunes… which I’m kinda considering doing! Each section of the book is marked by both the decade and a song.

There is an overarching theme of jealousy, and I actually felt the jealousy at the pit of my own stomach during certain scenes. There is a lot more I want to say, but I don’t want to give anything away. I also have some serious venting to do about one of the main characters! Parts of this book made me very angry – just as I felt jealousy, I also felt heated at one of the character’s actions. Kristin Hannah has the ability to make you feel the characters’ emotions as if you were there. I particularly identified with one of the two main characters — as it is clear throughout the book that the author identified with her as well.

If you have read Firefly Lane and want to discuss it with me, please leave a comment or contact me!

I usually scour Amazon reviews both before and while reading a book, but this time I didn’t. I didn’t want anything given away! I knew going into this book that it would be a tearjerker, since my mom read it before me. I didn’t want to know a thing more. I am so glad I didn’t. Now that I looked at the reviews, I know I made the right choice. If you decide to order this book on Amazon, try not to scroll down to the reviews. Read it for yourself, take from it what you need. I am so happy that is what I did.

The end of the book kept me enthralled while walking 56 minutes on the treadmill. I didn’t feel bored once. And now I find myself on the author’s website and blog reading as much information as I can about the book! I need all the background information I can get, that is how into this I am. In case you didn’t gauge it yourself, I recommend Firefly Lane. :-) 

Currently reading: Revolutionary Road. I didn’t see the movie although I am sure I will want to once I finish the book. I always do!

Physical Therapy
If my knee gets better, I want to try a spin class here. The bikes MOVE from side to side! This helps you work harder because you have to engage your core and work your arms. Have you ever heard of such a thing?! Now I know where my instructor got the idea for the turns we did in class a few months ago — she works there! Exercise Band

As for my knee, PT is going well. Since I stopped spinning and running, my knee hasn’t been hurting nearly as much. I am trying to get my glutes stronger which will help my alignment and take the pressure off my knees. The PT actually gave me an exercise band (pictured here) to tie around my thighs to do the exact same butt exercises I did at the Nalini Method — the ones I loved with the round band around our thighs!

On Thursday I am bringing my spin shoes in to PT so she can get a sense of how my legs are aligned on the bike. Based on what she has seen, she is fairly certain my legs bent inwards when I am on the bike, which caused a lot of my knee pain. Next Tuesday, I am bringing in my running shoes so she can see my alignment when I  run — which I know for a fact is kooky since the boy has told me so!

PT also would like me, sometime over the next few weeks, to take a spin class so we can see if I still feel pain and get a sense of my progress. I am very happy with this physical therapist. I don’t dread going there like I did at my other places and I actually feel like she knows what she is talking about and knows what I need to do to get better.

My shoulder is another story… I have a  feeling that once my knee PT is complete, I will have to begin with my shoulder again. We will see…

Want to win a 3 day Blueprint Cleanse from FitnessNYC? I do.

Review: SeamlessWeb.com

When the boy and I started dating, we were on the phone and he mentioned that he had to go. His Chinese food had arrived. A few days later, I went over to his apartment so we could order dinner. He pulled out a takeout menu — his only takeout menu. It was from the same Chinese restaurant, where he had been getting almost the same dish over and over.

“What about Seamless Web?” I asked him. He had no idea what I was talking about.

I had him open his computer to a website I was quite familiar with – SeamlessWeb.com. “This site lets you order from any restaurant nearby. You don’t have to talk to anyone! You just select what you want and they bring it here!” I boasted.

The boy was resistant. He didn’t like the idea. He was used to calling in his order to the one place he knew and getting the same meal night after night. He was wary of this whole “internet” thing I spoke of.

“Okay… but how do I know the place we choose will even deliver here?” he asked.

“That’s the beauty!” I replied. “Seamless Web ONLY shows you the restaurants that deliver to your area!”

“How can I be sure the order will be right?” he wanted to know. “How can you ever be?” I shot back.

He still was not convinced. The internet is for news. That is its purpose and that is the only purpose it has. But I pushed it. Promised him he would love it. It’s easy. You don’t have to actually talk to a single person. I’d been ordering from Seamless Web practically since its inception. I remember when it was new and I received a card on the street from someone promoting it. I thought the idea was fantastic and I was hooked!

So I brought up a restaurant we wanted to order from and I showed him how to make his selections. He was not pleased with the fact that he had to enter his credit card number, but both myself and the Seamless Web privacy agreement assured him his numbers would be safe there. You have the option of saving your number on the site, which I love because it makes the ordering process even quicker.

We placed our order. Our food arrived.

The boy could not believe it. “We just check off what we want and then they show up to the door!” he exclaimed. He couldn’t believe how easy it was. And how much variety.

It took a few more times of ordering for the boy to become a full Seamless Web convert. Now he brags to anyone who will listen about how great this site is. He also claims that he discovered it and told ME about it. Uhhh…

Seamless Web

Here’s how it works: you select the restaurant and place your order, and a fax gets sent to the restaurant with your info. If the restaurant has a question they have your phone number on the fax and will call you. Otherwise, they show up with your food — already paid for! And now Seamless Web is offering a pick up option in NYC. Exciting!

The site also allows you to rate and review your order, review your past orders and even save some as a favorite to make for quick and easy future ordering! Aside from the login page, the website itself is user friendly and easy to navigate. I’ve never been a fan of the homepage as the log in link for returning customers is tiny and you are often enticed to try to log in from the Corporate Accounts section just because the user name and password fields are prominent on that side. They really should do something equally as prominent for us returning customers!

SeamlessWeb was pretty cutting edge when they started a few years ago. Just as their idea was cutting edge, so was their business model. In addition to being on Facebook, Twitter, etc long before other companies were doing this, they also have a fantastic food blog! Check out their blog here: http://blog.seamlessweb.com/. The pictures look amazing and there are some great reviews and restaurant options! Their marketing strategy of giving the restaurants Seamless Web branded plastic bags was brilliant as well. Walk down the street in NYC and I guarantee you will see at least one of these bags.

Seamless Web started out just in New York City, but now they serve 14 cities — including London.  I recommend clicking through the site and if they are in your city, try them out.

As for the boy, he is a true convert. He often muses that he doesn’t know how he ever ate dinner without it. What did he do before he knew about SeamlessWeb? Luckily, the boy met me. Now he will never pick up a phone and speak to a live human being again!

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