By Divina

With Super Bowl this weekend, all the football fans along with Eddy and Babyboy are getting excited about who is going to win: Peyton or Drew.

I am excited about the commercials!  Who is with me?

Well now you can be one of the first to preview SKECHERS’ FIRST EVER Super Bowl ad featuring testimonials by real consumers and Super Bowl legend Joe Montana.

If you have not seen the commercials the shoe (retails for $110) promotes weight loss, firm calf and butt muscles and improved strength and posture so it’s very fitting that SKECHERS’ first ad aired during the coveted Super Bowl slot will be for its popular Shape-Ups athletic shoe and endorsed by an NFL Hall of Fame player.  Thousands of consumer testimonials herald its positive overall body effects. So for that very reason, Skechers is choosing to let the shoe and consumer speak for itself in the ad, like Montana who says “I spent 16 years on a football field.  It was an amazing time, but also pushed my body to its limit. Since I started walking in Shape-ups, I have noticed an improvement in my core strength, and the pressure on my back and knees has eased.”
 

Click on video to see the whole commercial.

Sunday will also be the rollout of http://www.myshapeups.com where fans of the shoe across the country can view additional Shape-Up stories and videos and have the opportunity to create and share their own story.

AND NOW, you can be one of Shape-Up stories!

One Lucky Dancinghotdogs.com reader will win a free pair of Skechers Shape-Ups! Just leave a comment on this post saying when you would use your Shape-Ups!

Where would I use them? While taking the dogs for a walk.  While cleaning the house?  All day long? I want to be a strong hot mama for Eddy and Babyboy!

The giveaway will end at 9pm on Day, 2/24.

Other ways to win:

follow DancingHotdogs rss feed

follow @dancinghotdogs on twitter (leave a comment)

follow @rosadancing on twitter (leave a comment)

Retwitter about the giveaway (leave a comment)

Blog about the contest (post link in comment)

Join our fanclub on facebook

PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST IF ReTwitter or are a new or current follower.   .

The more you do the better your chances. Good luck!

Disclaimer: I did not receive any monetary compensation for this post. 

By Rosa

Divina and I are second generation Paraguayans living in CT but our roots never left us.  Our family is very involved in the Paraguayan community and this past weekend I was able to attend a benefit concert for the Paraguayan School in New York. 

Berta Rojas is a Paraguayan musician known for her talent as a classical guitarist worldwide.  She has performed all over the world, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center in New York, John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and many other places.  She is a Professor of Guitar at George Washington University in Washington DC as well as Paraguay’s Ambassador of Tourism.

Held at the Paraguayan school in New York, located in Flushing, one of the boroughs of Queens, NY; the concert was about an hour long with an intermission of 15 minutes.  I enjoyed the concert very much since I always liked music.  I used to play in the symphony band in High School and also play the piano.  The way she played the guitar sounded as if she were playing the harp.  There was no sign of difficulty while she played.  It was very soothing. 

Before each song, she would explain why she chose that song to play.  It was a variety from Brazilian to Chinese aritists, all of which have influenced her music and CDs.

The second half was a tribute to another infamous Paraguayan guitarist, Agustín Barrios .  My favorite songs were ‘Waltz Op 8 No 4′ and ‘Jha Che Valle’ by Agustín Barrios . 

Once the concert was over, The Paraguayan Center of New York offered dinner in the school’s cafeteria.  While people were mingling, Berta Rojas joined them to autograph CDs that were on sale as well as take pictures.  Overall I enjoyed the night very much.

I wouldn’t recommend a concert of classical guitar to everyone.  For those who enjoy soothing classical music, then this was a concert to go to.  If you think it will make you go to sleep then maybe just buy the CD and listen to it while you’re having a nice bubble bath.

For the next concert, Berta Rojas will be performing February 6, 2010 at the Dumbarton Series in Washington DC.

By Divina

Babyboy has extremely sensitive skin and I have tried several different products varying in price range with some very negative results, rashes, hives and one unhappy baby.  So when I have a chance to try out new toddler/kid friendly products I am all for it.   

So when I heard about Suave Kids® Wash Them Grow Sweepstakes (because who does not like to be a winner!) and got an opportunity to try out their new line of body washes, I was definitely excited.

First, the Suave Kids® Wash Them Grow Sweepstakes is a contest with weekly prizes like Family e-Keepsake kits and a grand prize of a family vacation to Orlando, Florida!!!  All you have to do is go to the WashThemGrow.com website and answer some bath trivia to enter.  You can enter daily until February 22.  Go to the website for all prize details and of course to play. 

To be honest, I knew the Suave brand but I never really used it until I got lotion samples at Blogalicious conference.  Now I consider it one of my favorite brands. 

Babyboy and I got a chance to try out all four new body washes (Berry, Strawberry, Free and Gentle and Moisturizing) while having some bath time fun.  The new Suave Kids body washes did not let me down.  They made lots of bubbles and smelled good but most importantly got my Babyboy clean but was gentle enough that there was no skin irritation.  (Babyboy and I are doing our happy dance right now!)

My favorite was the Moisturizing body wash because it left his skin clean and soft despite the cold New England weather.  If Babyboy could talk more he would probably pick the Berry because of the scent and because it has a cool penguin on the front.

Whichever one you use, they are all tear free, hypoallergenic and ophthalmologist tested so you don’t have to worry about your little ones’ skin.  A 12 oz bottle of the body wash retails for $1.92 to $3.99 depending on your favorite store.

To add to the excitement of the new products Suave Kids and MomSelect have partnered together to host a Twitter party! 

Date:  Monday, February 8th, 2010
Time:  8  p.m. - 9 p.m. EST
Location:  #WashThemGrow
Host: @MomTalkRadio (Maria Bailey, Founder of MomSelect)

Click HERE to RSVP

GOOD LUCK and see you at the twitter party!

Disclaimer: I received complimentary bottles of body wash for this review but no other monetary compensation.  My post is my unbiased thoughts and opinions of the product.

By Eddy

The most appropriate term is “Road Warrior”.  That is the breed of Men/Women who spend huge amounts of time of their lives on the road.  In a small way I consider myself a part of this group.  Not a hardcore member (though Divina would enthusiastically disagree with that assessment) as was George Clooney’s character in Up in the Air, but definitely a card carrying member.  Thus I believe this status affords me a bit of an insider view of what the life of such a road warrior life consists of and how it could really de-evolve and derail your relationships with your fellow man. The life of airport lounges, free drinks, eating out, sitting in your hotel room and work isn’t all that it is cracked up to be.  Notice that much of it can be to be done by alone other than work.  That’s a lot of time to think about things…maybe too much time.

Let’s dive in to the movie now.

George stars as Ryan Bingham, who travels all around the US as a restructuring consultant. Basically he is paid to go to your company and layoff thousands of people.  For this job he travels over 300 days of the year.  Obviously, business has been very good due to the current recession.  Ryan’s job keeps him so separated from life, that he has been consumed with the fact that cutting ties with relationships and possessions is the best way to live.  He believes it to the point that he even participates in a circuit of motivational speaking extolling his philosophy.

In the end he has no attachment to anything: his family (estranged), his friends (he has none), his home (when we see the apartment it was so sterile and unused that I thought it was a hotel room at first).  Now also consider that his job is to fire people his emotional disconnection with everything appears to be complete.  The only real passion that he covets is the accumulation of Airline miles.  He never uses them but wants to achieve a total that only a handful of people have flown.

Things begin to change with a chance meeting (and subsequent start of a sexual relationship) with a fellow Road Warrior, Alex (Vera Farmiga), who is basically the female equivalent of Ryan.  Add up on top of this the threatening of his “on the road all the time” due to technology and his estranged sister’s wedding and you have all the ingredients of a self realizing epiphany.  Now I won’t get too deep in the rest of the story, but its is obviously that Ryan begins to learn a bit more of himself and whether his philosophy has any validity at all.

I found the movie to really be well made and while it was more of a Melancholy drama than I expected from Jason Rietman (Director of Thank You For Smoking).  I was able to pull from it more of an appreciation of my own life and situation.  While Ryan never had anywhere to come home to, I at least have Divina and my son to welcome me home after a long trip.  It is those thoughts of returning to something that make all the sadness of leaving more bearable.  To me it is hard to imagine living the sort of lifestyle that Ryan Bingham lives without anything else to hold on to, I would never last. Also, his obsession with airline miles even furthers his separation with others around him, his need to accumulate miles has him constantly moving and climbing his total to some obscene amount that has no real value outside the tiny circle that covets such things.  I personally haven’t asked anyone what there miles total was (in the movie it seems the equivalent to asking how well endowed you were or what your social security number is).

Yet those thoughts aside, I though the presentation of the film was very well done and certainly deserving of the Oscar nominations that it received (best picture, lead actor, supporting actress and best director).  The performances were top rate; I could even see Clooney earning his first best Oscar for this performance; though it will apparently be a close contested competition with Jeff Bridges.  Vera Farmiga does a wonderful job in her role, I found her charming with enough of a masculine undertone to her performance that she was able to give that “one of the guys” attitude needed for the role without losing any of her sex appeal.  She certainly struck a great balance.

All in all, I thought this was a very good movie.  Don’t come in expecting a wonderfully uplifting story, if you want that go watch The Princess and The Frog.  But if you want to see some very good performances and a story and characters that may make you think about yourself and the life you live, then give it a try.

And the winner is……Rory

Thank you all who entered.  For another chance to win RSVP for the Feb. 4th Q-Tipsbaby twitter party.

Q-tips® /MomSelect Twitter Party

Date: Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010
Time: 8  p.m. - 9 p.m. EST
Location: #QtipsBaby
Host:  @MomTalkRadio (Maria Bailey, Founder of MomSelect and Mom of 4)

• Clicking HERE to RSVP
• Tweet out the details of the #Q-tips party between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on the day of the party

By Eddy

Much like Denzel Washington’s newest film out on in theaters I am going to get straight to the point. The film was ok.  Directed by the Hughes brothers of Menace to Society and Fame , their latest effort leaves me a bit bored and ultimately unsatisfied.    It is hard to categorize this movie, is it a religious movie, is it a supernatural or sci-fi thriller?  It’s a bit of both.  While it feeds off two wildly popular genre’s religion and apocalyptic thriller it feels like it is lacking in both areas.  There is an unfinished quality in the story as well as the directing and acting.

The film follows Eli 30 years after some apocalyptic event (of which we learn nothing about as well as its after affects) which leave the entire U.S. and assumedly the world in a Road Warrior/Mad Max type of waste land.  In the middle of it, Eli is traveling by foot across the country with the only bible in existence (they were all burned as the cause of all the destruction).  On his journey west (which was dictated to him by some otherworldly voice in his head) he arrives at a small town ruthlessly owned by a supposed Mayor (an over the top Gary Oldman basically playing his character in The Fifth Element ) and his cronies who rule by fear and violence (similar to Gene Hackman in The Quick and The Dead ).

Looking to use the book for his own means, the Mayor attempts to capture and take the book away from Eli.  During this time Eli meets a companion in Solara (Mila Kunis) who he reluctantly at first takes with him on the rest of his journey.

We meet on Eli’s journey the various denizens of this new world, which consist mainly of your fairly typical Mad Max character (bad teeth, dirty, proto-punk clothing, and a nasty habit of rape, murder and cannibalism).  We also meet a couple of quirky and severely deranged personalities that serve to space out the Mad Max’ers and their unadulterated violence.

My main problem as I said earlier is that the film just feels incomplete.  This may be in part to not knowing exactly what caused the great destruction or exactly what was the effect of the aftermath, apparently one of which was cannibalism.  The Hughes brother constantly hint at other things but fail to give the audience most of the pieces to put everything together and what information we do obtain from the characters are basically thow away lines, while feel as if they were forced in just to throw the audience a bone.  I was left trying to figure out things that really had nothing to do with the central plot of the movie which ultimately made things more confusing that they should have been.

Add in also, the stock characters that filled the scenes as well as the miss use of Mila Kunis in the movie.  Why was she there?  She wasn’t eye candy and she didn’t seem to move the plot nor the lead character either.  It wasn’t as if Mila’s character convinced Eli to either abandon or continue his journey, if you erased her character from the movie I am pretty certain nothing would have changed in the plot.  Actually at the end of the movie I was pretty convinced that she wouldn’t survive in the world that she was living in..

When you boil it down this should have been an action movie, but with all that was going on, the action just seemed to take a back seat to the questions and that is with some of the action being some what impressive especially with a 50 year old Denzel doing most of the work.  As befitting a movie of this caliber the acting was really nothing to talk about.  Most of Denzel’s lines were either grunts or lines of scripture, and while Oldman was at his craziest regrettably it wasn’t anything that we haven’t see before nor does it surpass anything he has done previously.  Though I am hesitant to blame this strictly on Oldman as he has performed admirably lately in his other films such as the Dark Knight .  As before, we can really consider Mila’s character a background prop like a lampshade or a very beautiful phone or cuckoo clock but an actual defined character seem a bit of a stretch.

Actually I am quite surprised that Denzel Washington was even in the film, whether it was a contractual obligation or the opportunity to work with relatively famous African American Directors I would have at least have thought that he would have demanded a higher quality product.  Then again, when your film comes out in January and is competing with Award Winning films such as Legion and the Tooth Fairy it isn’t surprising to think that some executive thought that Denzel’s name recognition would pull in a few butts into the theater.  Considering that the film came in second place to the behemoth that is Avatar to the tune of 60 million dollars as of the date I am writing this, it looks as if the Suits were right.

In the end, I just felt that there was too many holes and there not enough entertaining filler to make the film whole, add in, the fact the story itself needed a bit more detail you can certainly understand why I felt less than satisfied when leaving the theater.

By Divina

A couple of weeks ago, I had an opportunity to pamper myself at an event sponsored by Spa Week Daily and The Village Tea Company .   The event was held at the beautifully and recently renovated Surrey Hotel in New York City.  Lisa , Nichelle and a group of other fabulous bloggers were pampered by the Spa at the Surrey with hand massages as we learned about the benefits to drinking tea and uncovered some truths behind the power of antioxidants. 

Bryce Gruber, one of the founders of The Village Tea Company and fellow working mom gave us a lesson on teas and how to sip the most nutrients out of your tea. 

For instance did you know?

• You should never let your tea bag sit in your cup more than 3 minutes! The longer it sits the more bitter your tea flavor gets.
• Once your tea kettle whistles don’t’ immediately pour into your cup. You are actually burning your tea along with most of the nutrients!

My favorite was the green tea because of its slightly sweet and refreshing taste.  To be honest, I am a hard core coffee drinker and Eddy is more the Tea drinker ( with his own Tea infuser) but what makes Village Tea so special is they only make loose leaf tea.  Which I realized makes a big difference in taste.  

And for those of you eco-friendly Dancinghotdogs readers (like me) with each of loose tea canister purchase (retails at $13.95 online) you get three re-useable, cotton muslin bags so no tea infuser required.   

Unfortunately, Village Tea cannot be found everywhere.  Yeah, I know, I tell you about this great product and you can’t find it but visit Village Tea Company Web Site for more prices and locations. 

The Surrey Hotel and Spa are amazing and really are the best in class in accommodations and pampering.  The presidential suite where the event was held had two bedrooms, kitchen, living room, and two bathrooms to die for.  The Spa has Australian treatments and uses Li’tya products which smelled wonderful and left my hands feeling incredible.  To plan your next pampering experience when you are in New York go to  www.thesurrey.com for all the details. 

Picture of me sipping the tea.

Lisa getting a Australian cleansing treatment

By Rosa

Since Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, the romantic movies are filling the theaters and one of them is Leap Year . 

Anna Brady (Amy Adams) has learned to take control over her life and determined to get what she wants.  Things are going just as Anna had planned; she is successful at her job, has a loving boyfriend, Jeremy (Adam Scott), they are moving in together, and next on the list is for him to propose.  On the night she is ‘supposed’ to get engaged, she gets earrings instead.  After that she is reminded by her father Jack Brady (John Lithgow) of what her grandmother did.  There is supposedly an old romantic tradition that on every February 29^th   women can propose to their guy.  So her Grandma took matters into her own hands and proposed on Leap Year in Dublin, Ireland. 

Coincidently Jeremy has a business trip to Dublin, Ireland on February 29.  So, Anna decides to follow an Irish tradition, jump on a plane and propose to Jeremy on leap year.  Anna starts to face major setbacks once her plane enters Ireland.  The stormy weather doesn’t stop Anna; she continues and finds her own way to get to Dublin.  That is where she finds her companion to Dublin, Declan (Matthew Goode).  The two are complete opposites but grow on each other.  Anna does get what she wanted; engaged but to who?

For me, the movie was very cute and sweet.  I doubt any man will watch this movie unless he is trying to get brownie points with the loved one.  There are serious and comical parts in the movie that balance each other out.  It’s been a while since I watched a romantic movie that didn’t make me cry instead this just made me smile.  Overall I recommend this movie to females all over.  It’s sweet just like Valentine’s candy.

By Divina

As you all know I LOVE Martha and have seen her twice but when I heard she was having a special Blogger’s Show, I jumped at the opportunity.  (Click here to see my past post) 

For the Bloggers show Martha showcased the Whatever Radio girls (one of which is her daughter, Alexis), guest foodie Blogger Chez Pim , Andrew from Martha Moment s and Jeff   Blumenkrantz who is cooking his way through Martha’s Cooking school book.

The show was sadly nothing different than her regular show which has live segments of cooking, crafts and getting organized.  But this time, I did get some camera time. 

My favorite part of the show was being in the audience with some truly terrific bloggers who came from all over the East Coast.  I was even surprised to see some Blogalicious friends from Atlanta, D.C. like Shameeka, Imanamani and Justice Fergie. 

Picture of Lisa , Corrine and me before the start of the show.

Picture of Nikki , Linda and Yakini

Niri all the all in front.  I was so jealous!

The fabulous Ms. Martha

Lisa, guest foodie Blogger Pim and me.

Go to http://www.marthastewart.com/ticket-request to request tickets. 

For a full list of who attended the show click here.

By Divina

Here at Dancinghotdogs.com, we are all about entertainment, technology and product reviews but whenever I hear about great opportunities to help others I have to pass it on to you, my fabulous readers. 

I met the Pine-Sol group (my post) during the Blogalicious conference last year (they started planning for the 2010 conference in Miami! So go to the site!). 

Diane Amos and me at Blogalicious 2009.

They were so passionate about their Powerful Difference campaign and now they have a new contest! 

On January 12, the makers of Pine-Sol cleaners launched the Make a Powerful Difference Contest , which awards online grants to women who are making extraordinary changes in their communities.

One (1) grand prize winner will receive $10,000 to make a powerful difference for their community or cause and an additional nine (9) finalists will receive $1,000 to help support their initiatives.

So can you use $10,000 to improve your community through your favorite charity and cause? 

Enter online at www.PowerfulDifference.com . Your entry must include an essay of 200 words or less on how you are making a powerful difference in your community.   Last day to enter is March 22.   After that date, a panel of judges will then select the 10 Powerful Difference Maker finalists based on originality, creativity and relevance to theme. 

BUT the people (yes, you) will decide the grand prize winner by voting daily for their favorite essay from April 7-21, 2010.

The grand prize winner will be announced by May 5, 2010. 

Visit PowerfulDifference.com for official contest rules on how to enter for the $10,000 prize.  

Good luck! If your essay is selected as the lucky 10 leave me a comment!