Red Sox Jedi Mookie Star Wars Bobblehead Night and Flash giveaway - ends 5/4 at 12am

The Boston Red Sox are celebrating the 40th anniversary of Episode IV: A New Hope this year with a Star Wars Night on May 4th. May the Fourth be with you, Red Sox fans!

You can still get a special ticket at http://www.redsox.com/starwars which will get you a ticket for the game as well as an awesome Jedi Mookie bobblehead which includes his very own lightsaber bat!

All fans in attendance will have the chance to see Star Wars characters walking around Fenway Park as part of the fun

In honor of the Star Wars themed night, I am giving away one Jedi Mookie bobblehead to one of my blog readers! Hurry up, though, this giveaway ends at 12:00 am on 5/4/17.


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NOTE: I'm providing this information and giveaway as I'm a proud member of #RedSoxParents 

New Kid-friendly initiatives from the Red Sox!

Here's a few new kid-friendly initiatives from the Red Sox that I want to let you guys know about...

Virtual Reality: 
There is a new Virtual Reality Home Run Challenge in the Kid’s Concourse where you can test your hitting skills. By putting on the VR goggles, you can step up to the plate at Fenway Park and have batting practice at the park. Don't worry, there is still the Virtual Reality Dugout right next to the Home Run Challenge, which has behind-the-scenes videos of spring training and the players.

Kid Nation:
The Kid Nation program is back and is available now for kids to sign up. In Mid-May, there will be a new Kid Nation booth coming to the Kid’s Concourse that will allow families to sign up for the program via iPads inside the ballpark. With each membership, each child will receive a free ticket code (one per email) with the purchase of an adult ticket (limited quantity available, so be sure to redeem it soon)!

Student 9’s: Student 9’s tickets are offered again this season for both high school and college students. Students can subscribe to get Student 9 game-day alerts, and will be notified with an alert sent to their cellphone on the day of a home game when $9 tickets are available. Students can sign-up online or by texting Students to 23215.

Red Sox Showcase:
The mobile Red Sox Showcase will be touring New England again this summer and will kick-off in Faneuil Hall this coming weekend, Saturday, May 6. The Truck has planned stops so far in the following cities and more to be announced later on this year...
Massachusetts: Boston, Franklin, Hopkinton, Hanover, Danvers, Springfield, Worcester, Wrentham
Rhode Island: Pawtucket
New Hampshire: Laconia

New Food Concessions:
The concession stands have some new, kid and healthy food options at Fenway this season:

• Fresh fruit cups and a customizable salad bar will be offered and feature select product from Fenway Farms.
• Lobster Poutine which just sounds amazing.
• New kids meals give a choice of mini hot dog, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or a grilled cheese and are served in a Wally and Tessie brown lunch bags.
• Pretzel bites with cheesy dipping sauce are available. I found the sauce to be a little on the spicy side, just to be forewarned.
• One thing that was pretty innovative was a bowl that fits on the top of a souvenir soda so you can have a drink and each nachos at the same time! Genius!
• Back again this year was the Cheetos Popcorn which was a fan-favorite from last season.

NOTE: We were invited to Fenway for a game at the beginning of the season to learn about all of the new kid-friendly initiatives from the Red Sox! All opinions are our own.

New things at Fenway for 2017!

I'm excited to be able to tell you all about the new things when you come to Fenway Park to catch a Sox game this year! You will notice new concession offerings, a new Pesky Pole, Virtual Reality Batting Cage, a Right Field Terrace Video Board (where Cumby's sign used to be), a larger dugout and more items!

I had a chance to try the new VR Batting Cage and it's pretty amazing what they have been able to do with this technology.

Virtual Reality Batting Cage

The club will expand the virtual reality station in the Kids Concourse by introducing a VR batting cage experience where fans can feel what it’s like to take swings against Major League players at Fenway Park. The club first introduced VR during the 2016 season with the Virtual Dugout station that shows behind-the-scenes, 360 videos with players. The VR Dugout will return in 2017 with new content. 

Concessions
Aramark, Fenway Park’s concessionaire, will introduce new and locally inspired items to the Fenway Park concession menu in 2017. Regina Pizzeria is now the official pizzeria of the Boston Red Sox and will be serving their renowned pizza at the ballpark, and Strega’s new creation, a baseball-inspired meatball-in-a-bread-cone will be available at pizza stands throughout the concourses.

Yankee Lobster, the popular seafood restaurant in the Seaport neighborhood of Boston, will showcase their signature New England lobster rolls and other new lobster-themed offerings at the Fish Shack on Yawkey Way, and at seasonal locations throughout the ballpark. Fans can also try new signature items on Yawkey Way from Savenor’s Market, Fenway Park’s official butcher and meat supplier. The Cambridge-based company will offer a short-rib grilled cheese sandwich and will also feature turkey and steak tip sandwiches at other Savenor’s locations throughout the ballpark.

Fenway Park’s Big Concourse will feature several new items this season. The area now includes a new build-your-own-salad and fruit bar in the lower level featuring select produce from Fenway Farms, and new kids meals will be served in the Kids Concourse area in Wally and Tessie commemorative brown lunch bags. The kids meals offer a choice of a mini kids hot dog, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or a grilled cheese, and are served with Lay’s chips and a mini Poland Spring water.

Aramark will continue its test kitchen concept by introducing monthly rotating items at a stand in the Big Concourse located across from the Champions Club. Featured items for the month of April include lobster melts with steamed lobster, melted Muenster cheese, and sliced tomatoes; or surf & turf kebabs with skewered shrimp and/or marinated steak tips.

Fans with a sweet tooth will have more dessert options to choose from in 2017. In addition to the popular Hood soft serve ice cream locations throughout the ballpark, the newly added “Cookies n’ Creamery” stands will be located at gates A and C offering ice cream sundaes, creamsicles, ice cream sandwiches, hard ice cream, and freshly baked warm cookies.

The popular Tasty Burger restaurant added a third location at Fenway Park in the Right Field Concourse to complement existing stands at the 3rd Base Deck and at Gate C. And to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Impossible Dream team, Aramark will feature five different souvenir cups throughout the season celebrating memorable moments from that special year for fans to collect throughout 2017.

A refurbished Pesky Pole

The Right Field Foul Pole, “Pesky Pole,” underwent extensive structural repairs this offseason to reinforce areas that were impacted by general wear and tear over the years.   

Right Field Terrace Video Board

A new video board in right field, installed by ANC, has replaced the Cumberland Farms sign that previously occupied that space. The new 16mm Mitsubishi Diamond Vision LED display measures 14’ high by 46’ wide and will provide improved access to game information, replays, and video content, particularly for those seated on the Green Monster and in Bleacher sections where viewing the main video board is challenging.   

NOTE: As a Red Sox Parent, I was invited to a game at the beginning of the season to see all of the new improvements to Fenway Park and learn about the new initiatives for kids and families! All opinions are my own.

Red Sox Grateful Dead Night Figurine Giveaway through 4/9

Hey guys! I'm so excited to be offering this giveaway for the figurine that they are giving out with a special ticket for Red Sox Grateful Dead night on 4/11!

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As I mentioned a few weeks ago, you can enjoy this special themed game which includes a pre-game concert on Yawkey Way by “Playing Dead,” a Grateful Dead tribute band. With your purchase of an event ticket, you will receive a limited edition Red Sox Dancing Bears figurine.

Proceeds from tickets sales will benefit the Rex Foundation, the official charity of the Dead.

A VIP ticket is also available which includes an upgraded ticket into the Coca-Cola Pavilion Reserved section for the game.

More information can be found at redsox.com/GratefulDead.

NOTE: As a Red Sox Parent, I was provided one figurine for myself and one figurine to giveaway. No other compensation was provided and as always, all opinions are my own.

Comcast Xfinity Watchathon is this week!

This post was sponsored by Comcast. All opinions are our own.

Attention all Comcast Xfinity customers! This week is Watchathon Week! This fifth annual tv-watching marathon is running through April 9th and is available on your TV, tablet or mobile device through the Xfinity Stream app. This week gives Xfinity TV customers access to thousands of shows and movies from broadcast, cable, and premium networks. You can also enjoy one-click access to Netflix throughout this week, with unlimited and seamless access to the Netflix catalog of movies and shows.

Network’s participating in this year’s Watchathon Week include: A&E, ABC, AMC, Animal Planet, BBCA, BET, Bravo, Cartoon Network, CBS Broadcast, CMT, CNBC, CNN, Comedy Central, Crackle, The CW, Discovery, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, E!, ESPN, Food Network, FOX, FreeForm, FX, FXX, FYI, GSN, HGTV, HISTORY, ID, IFC, Lifetime, Logo, MLB Network, MTV, National Geographic, NBC, OWN, Oxygen, PBS, Science, Showtime, Spike, Sprout, STARZ, STARZ ENCORE, Syfy, TBS, TLC, TNT, Tru TV, TV Land, USA, VH1, Viceland, We TV and WGNA.

If you're an X1 customer but not currently a Netflix subscriber, you can enjoy unlimited access to the Netflix online catalog throughout Watchathon Week and also have the ability to sign up on April 10.

If you're not an X1 customer, you should upgrade! I've heard that there is no cost difference between Comcast's legacy video offering and X1. If you're interested in upgrading to X1 contact Comcast. We've been on it for a few years and love it!

NOTE: We were provided with compensation for this post. All opinions are our own.

Red Sox #OpeningDay was SO amazing!

Yesterday was Opening Day for the 2017 season and it got started right here at home this year at Fenway Park. I was so excited to be going to the game thanks to Kayem Foods. They held their fourth annual #FindFenwayFranks scavenger hunt around the city last Thursday.

Since I work downtown, I've been trying to win this scavenger hunt for the last few years. So, I took my lunch a little early that day, and started walking around my office neighborhood. Once 11 o'clock struck, I checked Kayem's twitter account where they were released a clue where they were located, and I knew that it was somewhat close to where I was. 

Built as a gift to the city, this marketplace is a destination for many. We'll be hanging with our man Samuel Adams.

I went as quickly as I possibly could, over to Faneuil Hall and the Sam Adams statue where I saw the Kayem Box o' Meat and I said the phrase "FindFenwayFranks" before I ran totally out of breath and sat down at a nearby table. 

They told me that I won and I was SO excited!  They even had a video camera there to catch some of the excitement. I thought it was just for their own promotional purposes. I didn't realize until later on that night when I started to get messages on my phone and through Facebook that I had been on channel 7 news.

Thanks Kayem for hosting these fun contests around the city for the past few years. After coming so close last year, I'm super excited to have won this year!

I love that they have had National Hot Dog day, ticket giveaways and general fun around their home state of Massachusetts.

Fun new TV show for the start of the Red Sox season!

Today, the Boston Red Sox released a cool new TV show on NESN, Wally's Opening Day, for the start of baseball season! We were lucky enough to be invited to the world premiere showing at the Regal Cinemas Fenway 13, steps from Fenway Park.

We arrived to a fanfare atmosphere and were greeted by our friends Paws and Sox, the mascots of the AAA-affiliate Pawtucket Red Sox! We picked up our passes and enjoyed some antics from Big League Brian, the guy who is always on stilts at every game, entertaining fans before each game on Yawkey Way. We proceeded to take a few photos of the kids with cardboard cutouts of the characters from the show which were positioned along the green (not red!) carpet. At the end of the carpet, we saw the Monsters of the hour, Wally and Tessie, who were taking pictures with their adoring fans. We had our picture taken and it was cool to see Wally in a tux.

We chatted with a few other fans, had the chance to meet one of the stars of the movie, comedian Lenny Clarke, who graciously took photos with us. We took photos with the other mascots who were there, Pat Patriot, Blades from the Bruins and even took photos with the World Series Trophies! We were treated to delicious movie-theater popcorn, Coca-cola and water.

After an introduction by Lenny Clarke, the voice of Grandpa in the show and a few opening remarks from Linda Pizzuti Henry, executive producer and wife of owner John Henry, we watched the movie. She said that she hopes it would follow an annual tradition similar to the Peanuts' holiday series. After watching it, we'll be sure to watch it for years to come. We followed the story and laughed along the way. Tessie sat with my daughter for the whole show, which she really enjoyed and it was really special.

Once it was over, we were handed a goody bag and an official movie-theater poster from the show as we left the theater.

You can watch the video on redsox.com here at http://mlb.mlb.com/bos/fan_forum/wallys-opening-day/

Now I can't wait to see the first game of the season tomorrow!

NOTE: We were invited to the movie premiere because we're Red Sox Parents. No other compensation was provided and as always, all opinions are our own.