buzzoole code Socially Connected Consulting: September 2010

Create. Engage. Grow Your Business

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Review of the Day: Sabra Hummus

Ok, here's a review that's more of a recommendation. I have tried many different types of hummus. I have found the best one on the market. It's called Sabra. You've probably seen the commercial where the people are supposedly on a Mediterranean vacation, but they are really in their backyard. Because eating Sabra is just like being on a Mediterranean vacation. It's so true. This hummus is creamy, tasty and never too spicy. My favorite flavor is the Roasted Pine Nut, but it comes in other flavors too: Roasted Red Pepper, Classic, Greek Olive and many others. I accidentally picked up the Greek Olive instead of the Pine Nut today, but I don't mind because it's so good. I could eat it right out of the package with a spoon;-) Check out their website and see all the flavors of hummus and other products they have. http://www.sabra.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=sabra&utm_campaign=brand_brand

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

All Body Gym Workout – Challenging

Sent to you by Kelly via Google Reader:

via The Official Website of Gabby Reece by Editor on 9/28/10

By Gabby Reece
Recommended Workload
INT ADVANCED:
Reps: 10-12
Sets: 3-4
these moves are challenging so are not recommended for beginners


1. Dumbbell Clean and Jerk
snap from the hips going forward – be dynamic
2. Dumbbell Open and Close Bicep Curl
two part move – bicep curl front then to the side for 1 rep
3. Cable Shoulder Fly
6-7 across
6-7 front
6-7 behind
4. Dumbbell Squat Jump to Toes
jump and stabilize – don't leave the ground
5. Ab Leg Lift Machine
12-15 Reps – keep upper body core still – use legs
6. Bench Dip and Bridge
squeeze glutes, keep stomach firm
7. Dumbbell Straight Leg Dead Lift
pull up with your legs not your back
8. Dumbbell Chest Fly
keep legs up for extra challenge – two arms at a time or one
9. Cable Low to High
reach forward and pull up and across while shifting your hips
10-12
10. Cable Golf Swing
pull with your legs to get the weight to the other side
11. Leg Extension Machine
extend and squeeze, lower and control the weight

Things you can do from here:

Review of the Day: L'oreal Collagen Micro-Pulse

I have to wake up very early for my job. I've noticed recently that I have developed dark circles under my eyes. I contribute them to aging and also the fact that I have to wake up at 3:00am for work and I never seem to get enough sleep. I decided to try L'oreal's Collagen Micro-Pulse Total Eye Correction System. It's a two step system with an Anti-wrinkle dark circle cream and then a Anti-bag + puffiness micro-pulse massage. They claim that in 4 weeks I should see visible results.

I tried the system for 4 weeks. I used it almost every day. Sometimes I would be too tired or forget. It's very easy to use. You put the collagen cream under the eye. The cream is not greasy. It's light and feels real good when I put it on. The cream did blend in very easily. Then using this Micro-Pulse massager under the eye for about ten seconds. Making sure to to move gently across the under eye area. The pulse didn't hurt, but I do remember that I felt a tingle a few times when I used it. It just vibrates under the eye.

The results: I noticed a slight difference under my eyes. The dark circles were a little lighter. I will continue to use it, but I really think in order to totally get rid of them I may need a new job and get more sleep.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Review of the Day: Starbucks Caramel Apple Cider

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the holidays, the food, the trees, the weather, the clothes. Everything! One of my favorite things to do as soon as Fall arrives is to go to Starbucks and get the Caramel Apple Cider. When I went into Starbucks today I didn't see it on the menu and I started to panic. I had a hard day at work and I was really looking forward to it. The barista said they still had it so I was relieved. I had a tall Caramel Apple Cider no whip. It tasted better than I remembered. Just the right amount of caramel. I guess this is more of a recommendation than a review. If you want something that's delicious and warm on a cool Fall day. Just head to your nearest Starbucks and pick one up. That is all;-)

Monday, September 27, 2010

Review of the Day: Rimmel Burgundy Lustre

Ok, so I don't wear much makeup. I usually just wear lipstick and maybe some shadow. When I was a teenager I couldn't leave the house without eyeliner and lipstick. Now, it's just lipstick. I'm always looking for the perfect shade. Especially since Revlon has stopped making my signature lipstick Chocolate Cherry 350.So, when Real Beauty had an Ultimate Lipstick Challenge to find 5 lipsticks out of 137 that will go with anyone's skin tone.http://www.realbeauty.com/skin-makeup/reviews/lipsticks-glosses/best-brown-lipstick-shade I was hooked. I'm a sucker for browns and burgundy with brownish undertones. They mentioned one lipstick that caught my eye. It was Maybelline Color Sensational Crazy For Coffee. I went to the CVS today to buy it. I took one look at it and realized it was way too light for me. On some of the models that are close to my skin tone it looked great. Maybe it was lighting or some kind of "adjustment." Anyway, I wasn't buying it. So, I didn't want to leave without a lipstick. I went over to Rimmel and the Burgundy Lustre 540 $6.99 at CVS caught my eye. When I got home and put it one I was pleased. It went on smoothly, was very light. The color was very similar to my fave Chocolate Cherry except there was a little more berry. It has a lot of shimmer to it. I did need to reapply about 2 hours later. I think this will be a new everyday lipstick.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Review of the Day: The Woods Have Eyes

I didn't think I could get a page worth of notes from this movie. I was terribly disappointed in the entire movie. The writing was horrible. Here's a sample of some of the lines: "They can smell you from a mile away. They're hillbillies." "I have the eyes of an eagle and the scent of a bear." The acting was just as bad. With a storyline that took 20 plus minus to see some type of action. Which turned out to be the local yocal Clemmie accidentally killing a girl named Billie Jo.

The movie starts out with 3 city boys going up to be with their other family members in the woods. The movie is supposed to be inspired by true events. It starts off slow. I guess letting us get to know the characters. But as usual there is a story about the very woods they plan to go hiking in. There's a killer called Cappy. So,we know who our villain is. The boys get lost in the woods. They do find Cappy's house. Clemmie is in the house trying to wake up a dead Billie Jo. He then grabs one of the boys through a window. Cappy just happens to be Clemmie's dad. He wants to protect his son. So, he, Clemmie and another son go after them. There's a police search for the boys. They search the entire night and most of the second day. It's kind of hard to believe they didn't find them quicker.

I won't tell you the ending, but it's kind of anti-climatic and rather unnecessary. One good thing about the movie was the special effects makeup.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Update: Liberte Yogurt

I've tried the Lemon and it was good. Could have had more lemon at the bottom. The coconut was delicious. It was almost like eating a coconut cream pie. So, my favorite so far is the coconut.

Review of the Day: Ideal artificial sweetener

I'm a Splenda girl. I have been for several years now. I've tried other sweeteners like Equal and Sweet & Low, but either they leave an aftertaste or in some studies they have been said to be harmful. I like Splenda because it's supposed to be from sugar. There was a study from Duke University that stated there are some side effects and that Splenda is not natural. http://www.truthaboutsplenda.com/factvsfiction/index.html So, this is a big concern for me. I've tried Stevia. Don't like the taste. Agave is great and I use it for baking, but in coffee...no. So, I was excited to hear about Ideal.It's made from Xylitol and is said to be a natural sweetener found in fruits and vegetables. It's suitable for diabetics. I tried Ideal and I like it a lot. I don't have to use as many packets of Ideal as I do for Splenda for me to taste the sweetness. I will be trying some baking recipes with Ideal to see how well it does and I will review those recipes then. I believe I will be switching to Ideal.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Review of the day: Must See TV

Spoliers!


I love to watch TV. I won't admit that to my husband, but yes I do. So, I was really looking forward to the return of the NBC Thursday night lineup. First of all Parks and Recreation wasn't there to make room for Outsourced. The latter I will talk about later. Parks & Rec is a show I really enjoyed the whole entire cast worked well together. My DH says it will now be a mid-season replacement. Obviously for Outsourced. Todd comes back from management training only to find that his entire call center staff has been outsourced to India. He must move to India or lose his job. Basically I didn't really like this show. It seemed to be trying too hard to be funny. Todd had many lame jokes that made it uncomfortable to watch and not really like his character. Of course he finds out he has a team of "losers" so he schools them on the American way of life. Which happens to have a bunch of crude Christmas items they have to sell. The more interesting character is the co-manager Rajiv (sp). He will take over if Todd is successful and then returns to the States or he will also take over if he fails. So, maybe his sabotaging Todd will be interesting, but as for the rest of the show I can live without it. Bring back Parks & Rec.

Just a little about the other shows. Community returned with the gang taking anthropology instead of spanish. Senor Chang is now a student. They all had a argument (which usually happens) after Britta finds out Jeff kissed Annie after sleeping with her and by the end of the episode Jeff realizes he was wrong and everything goes back to normal. Betty White appeared in the episode as the anthropology teacher. As per usual she was great, but after attacking Jeff with a weapon she made of several other weapons she was suspended. She had a rap at the end of the episode with Troy and Abed. http://veracitystew.com/2010/09/24/betty-whites-community-rap-video/


30 Rock was back and the writing was just as great as ever. A ton of quotable lines like "How was your summer?" "My gynecologist committed suicide!" Kenneth is gone to be replaced by Brian. Kenneth made several appearances in the episode because Tracy kept seeing him everywhere. Matt Damon returned to try to have a "grown up relationship" with Liz. She fought it, but eventually gave in. Jenna was promoted to a producer and turned out to be very good. A little too good.


The Office started out with everyone lip syncing a song. I can't believe this will be Steve Carell's last season. Michael hired his nephew Luke who turned out to be useless. His frustration finally grows and reaches his boiling point. Michael spanks Luke in front of everyone and will now have to attend counseling through HR (Toby) Pam ruined a joke that Jim was playing on Dwight. She tries to "Pam" him with an elevator prank and ends up stuck in the elevator with him. Not long, but Dwight still wants to establish a pee corner.


I have say I enjoyed all of the shows except for Outsourced which I'm willing to give another try.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Review of the Day: Rec

If you watch Rec you will immediately realize that it's very similar to Quarantine (2008).  Actually Quarantine was a remake of Rec.  It's almost a scene by scene remake, but there are some differences I noticed right away. Both movies start out the same with a reporter and her cameraman at a firehouse following fireman around late at night.  They walk around the firehouse and have a little banter. Then the fireman get a call and the reporter and her cameraman follow them to a call that is located at an apartment building. After that Rec is very similar to Quarantine, but the noticeable difference is the police officer in the building with the rest of the people seems to be in more contact with the police and other officials outside.  In Quarantine the police officer seemed to be as clueless to what's going on as the other people in the building.  Also, the police or whomever is over the loudspeaker speaking to the people on the inside are a lot more polite.  They ask for the cooperation of the quarantined people and thank them several times.  In Rec the reporter interviews many of the people who were quarantined.  It was like they wanted us to get to know the apartment inhabitants better.  Also, in Rec you never see the cameraman's face.  At least I don't remember it.  In Quarantine we saw him several times.   Another big difference between the films is that in Rec there is quite a long time when nothing happens.  In Quarantine there's something happening every couple of minutes at least.  Because I'm a big horror fan I liked Quarantine better because of the constant action, but I would have to say that the original Rec was very good.  I enjoyed it and was on the edge of my seat the entire film.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Smile.ly—Be Heard. Be Happy.

Smile.ly—Be Heard. Be Happy.

Review of the Day:Mr. Clean Magic Eraser with Febreze Fresh Scent Bath Scrubber

I don't like to clean, but when I do I try to use the best products to make it less painful and quick.  I have been using the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers for several years now.  Lately, I've noticed that they don't last and fall apart rather easily.  So, I decided to try the new Magic Eraser w/Febreze.  It's supposed to be stronger and larger.  Well, I cleaned the kids bathtub with one this morning.  I have to say I was very pleased.  It didn't fall apart and got rid of all of the soap scum.  It's also 30% bigger which is nice and it has a wonderful scent that lasts for hours. I recommend the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser with Febreze Fresh Scent Bath Scrubber.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Personal Training with Jackie: Power Circuit Training

I did this workout last week and I have to say it is an amazing workout. The only complaint I have is that she didn't tell you how much weight she was using or suggest how many pounds you should use.  It's broken down into several circuits.
  • 15-Minute Total Body Circuit
  • 40-Minute Total Body Circuit
  • 15-Minute Abs Only Circuit
  • 15-Minute Upper Body Circuit
  • 15-Minute Lower Body Circuit
I did all of the circuits and I like that she is straight to the point and quick about her workouts.  She doesn't mess around.  The workout didn't drag.  Although the workout was tough it went by very quickly.  In the circuit there's a series of exercises.  After you do the exercises once you then do them again, but faster.  That's called a Power Burn.  I was sore for several days after this workout.  I rented it from Blockbuster.  I plan on buying it soon.

Liberte Yogurt

Just a quick post on this yogurt I found in the Jewel.  I don't usually eat Greek yogurt.  Actually I'm trying to do a vegan diet to lose weight, but I had to find this yogurt for my job.  They want us every week to find new items, take the pictures of them and then upload the pics to them.  But I digress. I decided to try the yogurt because it was only a dollar and I've heard that Greek yogurt is very good.  First of all it's much thicker than regular yogurt.  I got the Date and Fig flavor.  I don't know if it's something I would try again.  Maybe it's because it's date and fig.  They also had coconut, lemon and a few other flavors.  If it's still on sale I might try another flavor, but for now...I will pass.

One Missed Call 3

One Missed Call is a series of Japanese movies that has one American remake.  In this final movie a young schoolgirl named Asuka plots revenge against the classmates that teased and tormented her.  It's up to another fellow classmate Emily to help save them.  The action takes place on a school trip to Korea.  While her classmates are in Korea Asuka is killing them off one by one via the internet.  Whenever they heard the "Ringtone of Death" panic would set in and the kids also start turning on each other when they find out they can forward the calls and escape death.

I have to say that I have enjoyed all of these movies and was sad to see that this was the last one.  The ending did make it seem like it was definitely the final one. It was suspenseful with just the right amount of gore.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

The foam retracts above the legible symphony.

The foam retracts above the legible symphony.I know this is strange, but I have to post this sentence in order to prove this is my blog.  Work with me;-)

Date Night

This was a movie that my DH rented that stars Tina Fey and Steve Carell 2 of my favorite actors. It starts off with us getting to meet the family and seeing what their daily life is all about.  The couple are very similar to my DH and I.  They love each other, but have busy careers and a busy home life and don't have much time for each other.  I could really relate to that.   So, every week they have a date night.  After they find out that close friends are going to separate Phil decides he wants to take his wife Claire into the city for a date night that's something different.  They try to get reservations in this place called Claw, but can't so when they arrive at the restaurant they take another couple's reservation.  Of course these people have stolen something from this unsavory character played by Ray Liotta.  There are a lot of car chases, a meeting with a shirtless Marc Wahlberg and lots of shooting by the two guys chasing them. I have to say that I did enjoy the movie.  I could definitely relate to the Foster's married life. I think Tina Fey and Steve Carell had great chemistry.  I would love to see them again in another movie.  There were some parts I thought were a little crazy and unrealistic, but it was good fun.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Hi!

I will be your reviewer for products, services, concerts and movies.  I'm your typical mom, but I do love to try new things and tell others about them.  Looking forward to telling you guys about the new things I discover.  Currently I just got a hold of a new sugar substitute.  I will review it for you in the next couple of weeks.  I love horror movies and I'm hoping to see them when they are released.  I will review those as well.