sushi with serve

I think I spent this past Saturday doing things everyone needs to take part in at least once per month — getting my nails done, getting sushi, and spending time with my best friend!

On Saturday afternoon, my bestie Kim and I headed out to get manicures and pedicures, something which my hands and feet definitely needed. I ended up choosing a black cherry color (Lincoln Park after Dark?) topped with some sparkles for festivities sake. I ended up loving the final product!

After we went and got our nails done, Kim and I headed over to a local sushi place, Big Tuna. I’ve had carry out from Big Tuna before, but Kimee had never been there before.

Meet Kimee (although I’m sure she’s been pictured before) — my best friend since I was oh, two years old. We met in the nursery at church. We’ve been inseparable ever since. It’s pretty much the best thing ever.

And just to prove to you that I was there…

Where did my left eyebrow go? (The right one for you)

Immediately upon sitting down, our waitress brought us a complimentary bowl of edamame. And then we completely demolished it and needed to order an actual appetizer of it. It was perfectly salted — edamame isn’t quite as good unless it’s salted!

We were both feeling a little fun, so we each ordered a fruity drink! I ordered the Mirodi Colada, which made me feel like I was on a Caribbean vacation. It got sucked down way too quickly.

For our meal, we each got two rolls for ourselves and then shared one roll. I ordered a sweet potato roll and an asparagus roll. Kimee ordered an Alaskan roll and a California roll. To share, we ordered an avocado roll.

I loved how they plated the sushi, and I immediately went to the sweet potato roll. I (daintily) shoved it in my mouth before it could fall off my mishandled chop sticks, chewed, and swallowed before I realized it was tempura sweet potato, which is not so good if you’re a gluten free girl like myself. I didn’t make a big deal out of it and figured if I got sick later on (my stomach didn’t feel so hot this morning and I now have a sore under my tongue - weird?), it was too late to do anything about it! I politely explained the situation to our waitress who discussed it with the chef and was able to make another roll without frying it in the batter. Success!

While we waited for the new sweet potato roll to be made, Kim and I had a little too much fun with our fruit rinds, proving that we will always be twenty five years old at heart.

The rest of the meal went without a hitch, and both of our sushi cravings were completely satisfied.

When it came time to pay, Kimee and I used a new service, Serve, to settle up our bill. As part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program, they gave me a stipend to try out the service and share with you how it worked out.

Serve is an online money organization and payment hub, which is powered by American Express. The way Serve works is you have an online account where you hook it up to a bank account, a debit card, a credit card, etc. You can transfer money into your Serve account instantly from another account, making it easy to settle up with people when you owe them money. Of course that’s just one benefit of Serve. When you sign up, you get a “debit” card of sorts. It can be used anywhere American Express is taken.

Kim also signed up for Serve and received a $10 credit for opening up her account. Before dinner, I easily downloaded the Serve app on my Android so when the bill came, we could transfer the money!

It was so easy to sign into as well. I can imagine if reception is bad, that could be a problem, but we didn’t have any issues there. We transferred money for her portion of the meal, and I pulled out my Serve debit card to pay for the meal.

It really couldn’t be any easier to be honest with you. Even though I was asked to try this service out, my opinion is obviously genuine and I could let you know if it didn’t work out the way I thought it would. Easy as pie!

I went to bed with a full stomach of sushi and a smile on my face for getting to spend so much quality time with a friend!

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a $250 stipend to try Serve from American Express. Sign up for Serve and receive $10 credit towards your first use. Comment below within the next 7 days for your chance to win an extra $100 credit to your account! Official sweepstakes rules and regulations may be found here: http://www.foodbuzz.com/blogs/4622317-win-serve-dollars-giveaway-official-rules

Tagged as: american express, dinner, foodbuzz, foodbuzz featured publisher, nails, serve, sushi