Over The Top Mommy

ice cream

Farrell’s 5th Annual Charity Ice Cream Eating Challenge!

Farrell’s 5th Annual Splendiferously Superific Summer Spectacular Ice Cream Eating Challenge is almost here…and it’s going to be as ridiculous as ever! Did you know that 100% of the net proceeds from this event benefit CHOC Children’s and Make-A-Wish? How awesome is that? Do you see why I LOVE Farrell’s?
Beginning Friday June 20 through Sunday July 13, Farrell’s will be looking to qualify the fastest ice cream eaters to compete, head-to-head, at their Championship event, which will take place on Sunday July 20 in Downtown Brea. From June 20 through July 13, anyone with an appetite for fun and ice cream can walk into any of the seven California Farrell’s locations during normal business hours and to try and qualify! In order to qualify as one of the fastest, and be placed into one of the categories, guests must eat a “qualifying sundae”. Categories will include Men’sWomen’sKid’sBig and Small (one adult and one child), 4-Person Teams and Professionals. Amateur guests can qualify by eating a 3-scoop ice cream sundae as fast as they can. Professionals may qualify by eating a 6-scoop sundae called the Pig’s Trough. 

Professionals can qualify by eating one of these 6-scoop sundaes called the Pig Trough!
(Photo: courtesy of Farrell’s)

All sundaes include chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream, hot fudge, pineapple and strawberry toppings and are then covered with Farrell’s freshly made whipped cream. The cost for amateurs to attempt to qualify is $20, for all categories, and $40 for professionals. Each entrant will receive a limited edition event t-shirt, a $5 coupon for a future visit to Farrell’s and the qualifying sundae. Remember: 100% of the net proceeds from this event benefit CHOC Children’s and Make-A-Wish! 
Farrell’s will invite the top qualifiers to their Championship event in Brea on July 20! Farrell’s will actually close down Birch Street in Downtown Brea, in front of their Farrell’s location. The Championship event is an all day family festival and will take place from 11am until 5pm. There will be lots of rides (courtesy of Carnival Services), games, prizes, raffles, food, booths, music, and more! 

How fun does last year’s event look, especially when you’ve got Max rockin’ the mic!
(Photo: courtesy of Farrell’s)
This guy looks like he’s still hungry!
(Photo: Courtesy of Farrell’s)
She’s powering through it!
(Photo: courtesy of Farrell’s)

At the Championship event, the Men, Women, Kids, and Big and Small categories all compete to be the first to finish a Farrell’s famous Pig’s Trough that has 6-scoops of ice cream and all the toppings. The 4-person team and each individual professional are going to attempt to finish a Farrell’s Famous Zoo sundae, which is 30 scoops of ice cream with all the toppings. 

If you enter in the Big and Small category, you can use teamwork to win it all!
(Photo: courtesy of Farrell’s!)
Yikes!
(Photo: courtesy of Farrell’s)

Winners from each category will win a trophy and a year of free Farrell’s ice cream. 1st place in the Professional category also wins $300, 2nd place wins $200 and 3rd place walks away with $100. 

One of last year’s winners!
(Photo: Courtesy of Farrell’s!)

Farrell’s also has an option for those that just don’t have the stomach to pound ice cream as fast as they can, but still want to participate in all the qualifying fun. During the qualifying period, June 20 to July 13, guests can get the event shirt, the ice cream “qualifying sundae’ to eat, along with a $5 coupon, all for the same $20, but they just won’t be timed. All YOU need to do is let your Farrell’s server know. Qualifying Farrell’s locations include Brea, Buena Park, Mission Viejo, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside, Sacramento, and Santa Clarita. Complete details and rules can be found at Farrell’s website, FarrellsUSA.com/Challenge.

So who wants to win a year of free ice cream? 
I think Emi and I are going to attempt to qualify for a category!
Don’t worry..I’ll post pictures, when we do attempt it! 

The Time Farrell’s SAVED My Daughter’s Birthday Party AND My Sanity

Here’s the back story: 
In case you didn’t know or hadn’t guessed, I’m the kind of mom who LOVES to throw a house party every year for my daughter’s birthday! I love to plan all of the details, far in advance, utilize Pinterest a ton throughout the entire planning period, seek out unique things to incorporate into the party and find vendors who are amazing but haven’t been very well known (yet). From the invitations to the coordinating printables to the custom cookies and the favors, I love all of it! 
I don’t know what happened this year? I started out with a fun theme in mind for Emily’s 9th birthday, even had a few amazing ideas in my “party notebook”  during the first few months of planning. What happened after that was just a series of hurdles followed by some awful events. The week prior to Emi’s birthday was the MOST challenging for me! Some of the obstacles I attempted to overcome included: a water leak in our ceiling, construction of that area, a majorly unexpected auto repair, a district walk through at my workplace, a heat wave paired with Santa Ana winds, a lady who was coming to do a little spa for the girls backing out, my inability to book someone new to come and do the party and probably the worst thing…..my daughter learning 3 days before her party that the cheer program she’d been in for almost 4 years, with the same coaches, was going to cease to exist as she’d known it! Yep, I had to inform her as I picked her up from school that day and then rush her to try out someplace new with some of her friends, all of which had bloodshot red eyes from crying! I cannot describe how horrible it felt to watch her become uncontrollably emotional and pretty much cry her little eyes out for the two days leading up to her party! 
Needless to say, by Thursday, I knew I had to make a Plan B for WHAT I was going to do to modify this party I was having the next day, with 13 little girls, since I’d had ZERO time to get things ready while dealing with all of the previous. 

Friday, May 2nd

I woke up at 3:45 a.m. and sat straight up in bed, suddenly wide awake. It was the day of Emily’s party. A thought came to mind…Farrell’s! We are HUGE Farrell’s lovers and there’s one very close to our home inside The Shops at Mission Viejo. I went online just to look at the kids menu and saw that there was any area to make a reservation online. I assumed it would only take a reservation for small parties but sure enough, when I entered my date, time and number in our party (13 kids and 3 adults) it took my reservation! I think I let out a big sigh of relief at that point. I think I knew right then, at 4 a.m., that everything was going to be OK.

I remember taking a picture of my laptop screen after I made my online reservation at 4 a.m. because I so overjoyed!

We’ve been to Farrell’s a couple of different times over the past few months, including the amazing grand opening at their newest Buena Park location AND Barbie’s birthday celebration at The Shops at Mission Viejo. I don’t think it’s possible to visit a Farrell’s without having an amazing time! Each of their locations exudes a crazy amount of positive energy and the food and nostalgia are something extra special for me that remind me of my own childhood .
I actually called Farrell’s around 10 a.m. that morning, just to double check with the manager on duty that they’d gotten my online reservation and that it was going to work out for a party our size.  I spoke with “Steven”  and he was so helpful on the phone and he confirmed that he did have my reservation. He asked me a few questions about our party and we decided together that our party would best be seated up front, in the area closest to the ice cream bar. It’s the location where you get the most drum action and that’s a biggie, right? Steven then reviewed the staff scheduled to work that evening and let me know that he’d be having “Michael” as our server, reassuring me that we’d be in good hands. This literally brightened up my day and I hung up smiling.
When I picked up Emily from school that day and told her about the slight change in our party plans, she had a huge smile on her face! She thinks she’s this big Farrell’s VIP because she’s hung with the best of the Farrell’s peeps at some of their different locations! In her world, this party would just be one more event that she could add to her Farrell’s repertoire!
Upon our arrival, it was such a pleasure to meet the manager on duty, Steven. He greeted us at the front desk and made Emily feel special, mentioning that he already knew it was her birthday and giving her a special birthday sticker to wear! He had mustache stickers and menus for all of the girls to color and led us to our table, which was already set up. Steven was so considerate that he even sat the 3 adults at our own table, separate from the table of 13 screaming girls! It was like the reverse of having “a kids table”!

Our server, Michael, came right over to the girls’ table and was ready to get the party started! He was so patient with all of them. I don’t know HOW he had the patience to deal with the craziness of 13 screaming 9 year olds but I can confirm that the guy was like an instant hit with the girls! (obviously)

I can’t even say enough good things about our server, Michael!

I need to point out something else that amazed me about our server…his knowledge of the Farrell’s menu. I’m not talking about their regular menu…I mean the fact that when we informed him about one of the girls who is “gluten-free”, he turned to us and said, “you don’t have to worry, I have A LOT of knowledge about this and I will take care of her!” He then went and grabbed one of their gluten-free menus and helped her with her special order. I think that was the point he definitely won the 2 moms over in our party! (Farrell’s also offers a “nut allergy” and “egg allergy” menu for guests)

Farrell’s has a gluten free menu!
They also have “nut allergy” and “egg allergy” items!

Michael kept the Shirley Temples and strawberry lemonades flowing at the girls’ table! I must’ve apologized to him about 100 times for all of the screaming and craziness coming from their table and he just kept telling me NOT to apologize and let me know that he works with kids like this every day and enjoys it! Ha! And here I was thinking I was the crazy one!

As if the girls weren’t already excited just to be hanging out, 
they let out some extra noise when dinner arrived table side. 
The Kids Mac and Cheese seemed to be a big hit at our table!
I ordered the Grown Up Grilled Cheese!

Dinner was a success and we ready to move onto the best part of all! The girls knew what would come next…a special birthday sundae, a special birthday song and a whole lotta drum….. all in honor of Emily’s 9th birthday! 

The singing hadn’t even started and she was already blushing!
This video can give you a good idea of what it’s like to celebrate your birthday at Farrell’s! (I think Emi was trying to hide) 
And then they all dug into their own kid sundaes! Mmm!
The kids sundaes are a good size and so yummy!

By this point I was so relieved and so pleased at how everything had worked out. It wasn’t just a birthday meal out but a total celebration and all because of everything that Farrell’s has to offer in its dining experience. I just have to say “Thank you, Farrell’s!” not only for saving my daughter’s birthday party this year, but for also saving my sanity! We will be back soon! 

The girls had so much fun at Emily’s birthday celebration at Farrell’s!
For more information about Farrell’s and to check out their regular menu, as well as information about parties, click here.

 

 

Farrell’s is Teaming Up with The American Red Cross to Help!

There is nothing scarier than experiencing an earthquake of a significant magnitude, in addition to several aftershocks, like the residents of Southern California did this past weekend with the 5.1. It really makes you think about important things such as having a plan of action for your family, in case of an huge earthquake or other disaster and just having overall earthquake preparedness at home. It’s not something that any of us like to think about, but we DO need to be ready, in case of the unexpected. 
As if a 5.1 earthquake wasn’t scary enough for many of us to experience last weekend, we then watched news of a deadly 8.2 magnitude quake that hit Chile yesterday, resulting in such great loss and devastation! It’s difficult to watch things like this on the news! It makes you feel helpless, in the sense that you can’t make it better or directly help the people who are affected. 
It makes my heart happy when I see businesses I support and frequent, come forward to make efforts to reach out and help people in need, like the people of Chile. It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Farrell’s, and it makes so proud to spread the news about what Farrell’s is doing to help with this recent tragic situation. Farrell’s has teamed up with the American Red Cross to raise earthquake preparedness awareness in the wake of these recent earthquakes. 
Beginning today, Wednesday April 2 through Sunday April 6, all 7 Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour locations will be offering a limited edition “Quake Shake” for $4.99, with 100% of sales going to the American Red Cross. In addition, you’ll also receive a handout about earthquake preparedness, with instructions on how to be ready for a large magnitude earthquake.
Locally we were all very fortunate not to have suffered any major damage or injuries as a result of last weekend’s Southern California earthquake, but the people of Chile weren’t as fortunate. The Farrell’s family is making this great effort to help the American Red Cross reach people and areas in need. These kinds of situations remind us how important and essential it is to be prepared and we should all do our part to make sure organizations like The Red Cross are funded and ready to assist those in need, when a disaster like this occurs. 
Please support this effort by visiting your local Farrell’s and enjoying a “Quake Shake“, which is a Rocky Road flavored shake, made with rich chocolate ice cream, marshmallow swirl and topped with whipped cream, almonds and a cherry. Remember, 100% of the sales from this $4.99 “Quake Shake” will be donated to the American Red Cross. In addition, monetary donations will also be accepted at each restaurant. 
For more information, visit FarrellUSA.com or for direct donations visit RedCross.org
photo courtesy of Farrell’s

The Day We Partied With Barbie and Ken at Farrell’s

Barbie turned 55 yesterday! She’s looks absolutely amazing for her age, don’t you think?
I grew up loving Barbies. I think Barbie was a favorite of most little girls and still is.
Emi and I had the chance to attend Barbie’s birthday celebration at Farrell’s Restaurant. At each of their participating restaurant locations, there was a special celebration which included appearances by Barbie and Ken, games, prizes and even a special Barbie Birthday Zoo for the kids to share.
We arrived a little bit early to find several little girls anxiously awaiting the start of the party and playing with their own Barbies outside of the Farrell’s door.

When the doors opened and we were welcomed into the party room,
we saw that the room was decorated for Barbie’s birthday.
Emi insisted that we bring her own Barbie table and chairs and she set it up right on the party table. (notice Barbie’s own tiny banana split and homemade birthday card on her table). 
All of the children were so excited when the party host first introduced Ken! Everyone clapped and Ken appeared in the room. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud because he kept the stiff posed arms throughout the celebration. The Ken they chose was so adorable and had so much personality!

Soon after, Ken introduced Barbie and when she came out,
with her stiff arms too. Barbie was as adorable and talented as Ken was.
They were the most amazing performers that this Farrell’s could’ve found for this event and were both beyond animated, beautiful, and never broke character. You could just tell that “Barbie” and “Ken” were genuinely having fun with the kids. I certainly appreciate their version of this Barbie song…

The kids  were so excited to play games with Barbie and Ken. First they played a trivia game, to see how much they knew about Barbie! Emi actually won TWO prizes in the trivia game! I have no idea how she knew Barbie’s full name, but that was one of the questions she answered!
Then they played “Hot Pig” (it’s like Hot Potato) with Barbie while Ken played the drum.
 Did I mention that this Ken is amazing on the Farrell’s drum?
After the games, the kids all got to share the special Barbie Zoo! What a treat!
Emi was in heaven getting to have ice cream at 10:30 a.m. and before lunch!
At the end of the party, the kids got to have their pictures taken with Barbie and Ken!
The most powerful part of the whole event for me, was the statement Farrell’s made, without saying a word! For them to show the children (and adults) in attendance at Barbie’s birthday celebration, that Barbie and Ken are NOT ALWAYS blond-haired and blue-eyed with white skin, was something that I wish more companies would do.  I don’t think there was one child at the party who noticed anything different about this Barbie and Ken, which is what makes me smile most! I thanked the manager, Chad, not only for hosting this fun event, but also for opting to feature a non-traditional Barbie and Ken to the kids! I honestly think there needs to be more of these kinds of occurrences in our society! Thank you Farrell’s! You really wowed me…again! 

Celebrate Barbie’s Birthday at Farrell’s!

Did you know that Barbie is going to turn 55 this year? Yep, her birthday is on March 9th and what would be a better way to celebrate than a trip to Farrell’s? 
Last year Emi and I each chose a Barbie to take with us to our local Farrell’s restaurant on Barbie’s birthday. Emi also insisted we bring a table, 2 chairs and some Barbie-sized food for them. We set up their table for 2, right above our own. I fell completely in love with the special Barbie Sundae that we got! Seriously, the pink whipped cream was SO yummy! I cannot wait to go back again this weekend and participate in all of the festivities they’ll have going on! 

This Sunday, March 9th, you too can bring your Barbie into any one of the Farrell’s locations, to celebrate her 55th birthday with free birthday ice cream, presents, and surprises! 
To celebrate America’s favorite doll’s 55th birthday, Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour Restaurants is going to throw a birthday party for Barbie like only Farrell’s can! Kids and kids at heart will join Barbie and Ken look-alikes this Sunday, March 9, from 10 – 11am at all seven California Farrell’s locations. A special Barbie-inspired, 30-scoop – 7 1/2lb., Farrell’s famous ice cream Zoo will include, among other ingredients, a pink strawberry ice cream, rainbow sherbet, sprinkles, whipped cream, strawberry sauce and cherries with the guest of honor herself sitting atop to be run around the entire restaurant. A special Barbie birthday song has been created and will be sung before the kids get to eat the Zoo for free and birthday presents are given out.
Check out some pictures from last year’s celebration!

For guests that can’t make it to the 10am main birthday event, Farrell’s will be celebrating all day by selling a pink $1.99 birthday-sundae to all guests that bring in their favorite Barbie doll and purchase a kids or adult entrée and drink. The special $1.99 birthday sundae is fashioned from one-scoop of strawberry ice cream, strawberry sauce, pink whipped cream, party sprinkles and a cherry on top.

“Barbie is America’s favorite doll. She’s an original piece of Americana and takes all of us back to the fond memories of our childhood, just like Farrell’s.” says Michael Fleming, CEO, Parlour Enterprises, Inc.  “This was a great opportunity to celebrate an American icon, but even more so, it was just a great excuse to have a lot of fun.”


Celebrations will be happening at all California Farrell’s locations:

 
·      215 S. Brea Blvd., Brea, CA  92821 Brea Downtown
 
·      8650 Beach Blvd., Buena Park, CA 90620

·      779 Shops Blvd. Mission Viejo, CA 9269 in The Shops at Mission Viejo

·      10742 Foothill Blvd., Rancho Cucamonga, CA  91730
 
·      3610 Park Sierra Dr., Riverside, CA  92505
 
·      1625 Watt Ave., Sacramento, CA  95864

·      21516 Golden Triangle Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91350 in the Mountasia Family Fun Center

For complete details, limitations and rules for this event please see FarrellsUSA.com. Barbie is a trademark of Mattel Inc. and is in no way associated with this event.
some photos courtesy of Farrell’s Restaurants 

Fun at the Newest Farrell’s in Buena Park!

We were so excited to attend a pre-opening VIP event last weekend at the new Farrell’s in Buena Park. It actually didn’t feel like we even went to a restaurant, it was more like this giant party with 200 of our newest friends, that just kept on going!
Upon our arrival in the parking lot, the girls immediately spotted the Medevial Times mobile and insisted on posing for a picture with it! (Little did they know, they’d soon meet the actual knights inside the restaurant!)

I love the location of this newest Farrell’s because it’s very close to so many of the family attractions that the city of Buena Park has to offer, including Knott’s Berry Farm and Medevial Times. After checking in with the Farrell’s hostess, we were greeted by Alesha from Medevial Times. She had a promotional table set up and was handing out Medevial Times swag and coupons for the attraction. Alesha really interacted with my girls and even visited our table a few times, once we were seated.

Two of the Medevial Times’ Knights were walking around inside the restaurant, passing out t-shirts and crowns and helping the Farrell’s crew deliver some of the exciting desserts that require a whole lot of singing and hoopla! The girls REALLY wanted to order The Zoo, which is one of those desserts, JUST so they could have it delivered by the knights, but we also knew there was NO WAY that the four of us could finish a dessert that had like 1000 scoops of ice cream!
The energy of the entire staff at Farrell’s was amazing and it was something you could feel right when you walked in the front door! I think this is why it felt like we were at a party. While you’re at your table, you are constantly being invited to participate in songs and clapping and although it does seem like there’s non-stop drum banging occurring throughout your entire visit (because there is), you’re so busy having fun that you don’t seem to mind it nor the fact that your child or children are NOT sitting quietly at your table and that’s OK under these circumstances!

We started off with Farrell’s Ooey Gooey Cheese Sticks as an appetizer. For lunch, I ordered the Fabulous French Dip sandwich and the girls all ordered the sliders off of the children’s menu. There was even an option to upgrade the regular fries to chili cheese fries, so of course they hopped on that opportunity right away! We were careful NOT to eat too much regular food since we were ultimately trying to save room for some of their infamously crazy-good desserts! 

Farrell’s isn’t just a fun family restaurant, it’s a total entertainment package, something that you don’t get at typical restaurant. This was apparent after just a few of the talented and energetic crew spent some time at our table, amusing the girls. First, “Max” stopped by our table, and the girls immediately spotted one of the buttons he was wearing which had a pickle on it. He then explained to me that the button was actually Mr. Bob Farrell’s original motto. 

I think the girls took that as their cue to not only start asking him for pickles every time he passed by our table, but also to nickname him “Mr. Pickles“! Not long after that, we came to learn that “Mr. Pickles” was actually half of an infamous entertainment duo that you can probably meet at just about any Farrell’s community event, and at a future Farrell’s openings. The other half of the duo was nicknamed “Mr. Jake” by the girls. Jake is best known as “The Purveyor of Good Times” in the Farrell’s world. These 2 guys were so good with my girls, brought them stickers, pickles and took boatloads of pics with them. I think the girls instantly became lifelong fans after spending about 5 minutes with this duo! 

The girls were extremely impressed when they got to witness an epic ice cream eating contest between the Medevial Times knights and the team of “Mr. Pickles” and “Mr. Jake“.  Each team took a very different approach to how they were going to beat out the other one. While the knights continued mowing through their trough, the Farrell’s duo actually utilized glasses of water to wash it down, while stirring the ice cream and making it more liquid. I couldn’t actually watch for very long, but the fact that “Mr. Jake” did it all with a camera headband on is even more hilarious! I’m kinda wondering where THAT video footage is? 

When it came time for our own desserts, we decided to share an order of the “Ice Cream Nachos” (yep, they exist) and a “Banana Split” and yep…our desserts were accompanied by drumbeats and a song! Both of these desserts were giant and yummy! I jokingly told the girls, who are all competitive cheerleaders, that if this had been one of their cheer competitions, that they would’ve placed first! (I may have helped them a little bit) 

 Everything about Farrell’s is so nostalgic. Their menus are printed on newsprint and you actually can take them home with you. The drinks are served in (plastic) vintage Coca-Cola glasses and there are little American flags stuck into just about every appetizer, burger and dessert. The decor is mostly black and white, with touches of red here and there and each table has an old-fashioned stained glass lamp hanging above it. The servers wear uniforms adorned with armbands and these adorable straw hats that are available for purchase in their shop.

Each Farrell’s location features a shop where you can buy logo merchandise and choose from a HUGE variety of old-fashioned candies. The shop also has a ton of other fun trinkets available, including Farrell’s mustaches. 

My daughter and her entourage just didn’t want to leave the place! I don’t think we were there any less than 3 hours!  After they spent time getting their posters autographed by their staff favorites, and taking MORE pictures with them, it was finally time to say goodbye! 

Whether you remember Farrell’s from its way-back-when original locations, or you are just learning about it now, it’s something you need to experience just once! Emi hasn’t stopped talking about it since the other day and is just begging to go back again. It was THAT much fun! 
                                                Farrell’s in Buena Park is NOW OPEN! 
                                                                               650 Beach Blvd.
                                                                         Buena Park, CA 90620
                                                                       Phone # (714) 484-9700