Girls' Night Out at Rusty's

When was the last time you had a true ‘girls’ night out’ (for those girls/women who are reading)? My girls’ night out usually consist of a quick glass of wine with a good friend after work or maybe a movie, once in a blue moon, so I was really happy when I heard about the Girls’ Night Out at Rusty’s here in Ontario, hosted by Rusty’s and local radio station KSRV 1380. Once a month (and how appropriate is that, ladies?) on the first Wednesday of the month, the gals from KSRV – Sheri, Janine and Shell- head over to Rusty’s and bring in a bunch of vendors (Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Kiddo Candles, just to name a few that I remember). Dawna and the Rusty’s restaurant staff put out a great buffet (for just $8.95) and then it’s an hour of Express Bingo with a whole treasure trove of prizes to be won from the vendors taking part in Girls’ Night. Being a former Catholic, Bingo was part of my upbringing, so I really enjoyed covering my Bingo cards with the little blue buttons. Things have definitely advanced since my childhood days of accompanying my mom to the American Legion Hall while she played Bingo (and then hiding underneath the table when I got bored). There are now Bingo cards that have little windows over the numbers and you just slide the window over to cover your number. What will they think of next?

I went to my first Girls’ Night Out in January and I have to admit, I cleaned house at Bingo. I walked away with probably $150 in merchandise, all for just the $8.95 buffet cost. You get a Bingo card at the door and then if you buy merchandise or book parties with the vendor, you get even more cards. I think I was playing 3 cards that night and they were all winners. The KSRV gals keep the Bingo moving at a fast pace and it gets to be quite comical when there’s more than one person yelling “Bingo” at the same time.

My friend Helen and I went to another Girls’ Night out at the beginning of May and I was pleased to see that the number of attendees had grown since January. I wasn’t quite as lucky at Bingo this time, but all in all, I took home some nice prizes. One of my favorites was a set of bamboo cooking tools from Pampered Chef. I love wooden spoons but I’m now totally in love with bamboo. It doesn’t stain which is nice if you forget and use a spoon to stir spaghetti sauce. They clean up nicely in the dishwasher too.

If you’d like to experience the Girls’ Night Out phenomenon, the next one is coming up on June 2. The theme for June is Beach Night and the fun begins at 6 p.m. with dinner and then Express Bingo at 7pm.