Reviews by Friends of JOEANDJENNBARLOK

vivasuzi says "Another one that you have to see at the IMAX in 3D!" about A Christmas Carol starring Jim CArrey

vivasuzi — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:40:11 GMT

My mom and I have had A Christmas Carol reserved on our calendars since months ago when we heard it would be showing at the IMAX in 3D. As with most IMAX movies, this was totally worth the $11.75 ticket price and the 1 hour wait in line! Buy your tickets early because many showings are selling out at the IMAX by us and it will only get worse as it gets closer to Christmas.

A Christmas Carol takes the classic story that we all know and love, and transforms it into something you've never seen before. Even if you know the story inside and out as I do, this movie will still shock and amaze you because it doesn't happen exactly as you expect. This is the story of Scrooge as you've never seen it before - and it's in 3D!

Jim Carrey stars as Scrooge and also voices the 3 ghosts. As you may expect from Jim, there is some humor thrown in to each of these characters. The audience giggled at many parts throughout. The animation was so well done that some of the characters, including...

...

vivasuzi says "I'm making Fannie May into a new Christmas Tradition" about Fannie May Candies

vivasuzi — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:28:18 GMT

I discovered Fannie May Candies last year after a supplier sent us some Trinidads at work. Trinidads are made of chocolate cream covered in a toasted coconut shell. They are very yummy! So I went online to find Fannie May and ended up buying an assortment that very same year. The gift went over so well that I did the same thing this year!

The Create Your Own Assortment allows you to pick your favorite chocolates to build an assortment of any size ranging from 1 pound to 2.5 pounds. I purchased the 2.5 pounds assortment and picked 10 different 1/4 lb candies to include. This assortment cost $45 before shipping and I think that is pretty reasonable considering how I distribute the candy to 6 or more people.

What I have been doing for the last 2 years is ordering a variety of 10 of my favorite Fannie May candies. The assortment comes in a large tower box that is decorated to look nice under the tree. However I take things a step further! I open the assortment and all...

...

vivasuzi says "Cute but a little silly" about I Me Wed (2007)

vivasuzi — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:48:25 GMT

Isabelle is a successful 30 year old woman who is sick and tired of all her friends and family pressuring her to settle down. She's perfectly happy being single and successful and finally decides she is going to prove it to everyone once and for all. How can she do that? By marrying herself!

I Me Wed follows Isabelle as she plans her wedding - in which she plans to marry herself. It starts as a simple fun thing she wants to do for herself, but then a news story comes out of it. That news story turns into more newspaper stories and then the tv shows get involved. Isabelle meets a man that she actually really likes! Will she still go through with wedding? Will the man be okay with it all? And can she get her friends and family to understand what she is doing?

I Me Wed is cute but silly. Ok, so I get the point Isabelle is trying to prove. She wants to show her friends that she can be perfectly happy even if she never finds a man. Her story starts to inspire other...

...

vivasuzi says "A yummy gift for the winter holidays!" about L.L. Bean - Hot Cocoa

vivasuzi — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:15:16 GMT

I love Hot Chocolate and will drink it non-stop around the winter season to stay warm. So when a coworker got all of us the L.L. Bean Hot Cocoa Mix for Christmas last year, I couldn't wait to try it. Unfortunately the first time I tried it, I used water, and it was disgusting! Most hot chocolate mixes I've owned work with water or milk so I assumed this would be the same. I found out after I made it that it calls for milk specifically, but I was so turned off that I didn't bother trying it.

The hot cocoa mix sat on my shelf until this winter when I decided to finally give it a try with milk. The L.L. Bean Hot Cocoa Mix is delicious with milk! It tastes just as good as hot chocolate that you might get from a coffee shop. Now that I've finally tasted this with milk, I know it will be gone quickly as I drink it every week.

How To Make It: It calls for 8oz of milk but I like more than that so I usually make 12. Just warm up 12 oz of milk, then pour it in a mug and add...

...

Jolie says "buyuggsboot.net is a scam! Ugg Boots from China that are fake." about www.buyuggsboot.net

Jolie — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:22:46 GMT

Background on Buyuggsboot.net

A friend of mine at Viewpoints recently passed along a site called www.buyuggsboot.net. She found it online. www.buyuggsboot.net is a web site that sells all styles of Ugg Boots at discounted prices.

We werent certain if www.buyuggsboot.net were the real or not. But after a thorough review of the site, we thought it was legit. Buyuggsboot.net looks like a reasonable reseller of Ugg Boots. The page is designed well, the pictures look authentic and they make claim to having the real deal. They also consistently site throughout the web site having customer satisfaction commitments.

To add to the thought it was authentic, the pricing seemed good but not amazing. As you probably know a typical pair of Ugg Boots cost about $110. On Buyuggsboot.net the cost was $89.00- approximately a $20 savings. Seemed like a good deal, but they werent so cheap that I thought it could be scam. As an aside, last year Nordstrom had a similiar sale on Ugg boots so the pricing seemed...

...

vivasuzi says "Not bad, but a bit more talking than I expected." about 2012

vivasuzi — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:26:28 GMT

2012 is a story about the end of the world. Apparently the Mayan's predicted the world would end in 2012, and guess what, it looks like they were right! According to this movie at least. The movie actually begins in 2009 as scientists discover some anomalies happening at the Earth's core. This news spreads up to the president of the United States and from there makes it to all the important people of the world. But the regular person, like Jackson Curtis and family, have no idea what is about to happen to them.

The film follows the president, the scientists, and his daughter on one side of the spectrum. These are the people in the know and trying to figure out what to do while keeping things underwraps. Then the film also follows Jackson Curtis, his ex-wife and kids as they try to piece together things they hear and save themselves before it is too late. Who will survive? You'll have to watch and see!

John Cusack plays Jackson Curtis, a writer who wrote a book that...

...

CyndiA says "Pelonis heater is great for spot heating in your home. " about Pelonis H0-0218 Heater

CyndiA — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:48:40 GMT

I am sitting here beside my Pelonis heater cube. I tend to chill when sitting still at the computer but hate to heat up the whole house when I know that I'm warm enough when I'm up moving around. Also, the boys tend to like the house cooler. So the Pelonis heater works out great in my small computer area.

My Granny had the Pelonis heater and used it to heat her small living room where she quilted. It was made the whole room nice and cozy, and she didn't much use the other rooms in her apartment, so that worked out great for her. That's what made me decide to get a little portable heater. I really liked hers.

For the size, the Pelonis puts out an amazing amount of heat. I have a bigger model at work, but it does not put out as much heat. It's enough for under my desk. But that one cycles on and off - meaning I'm cold about half the time. The Pelonis has a good fan and just keeps putting out heat until it's actually turned off. So - no cold periods of time.

On high and with the heater right...

...

CyndiA says "Masterbuilt Indoor Turkey Fryer - Safer and Easier Large Fryer" about Masterbuilt Indoor Turkey Fryer - Butterball

CyndiA — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:32:22 GMT

We wore out our last turkey fryer and went with the Masterbuilt Indoor Turkey Fryer this time. It's built smaller and safer, plus it can be used indoors which is nice on really cold days which is usually when we fry turkey.

Butterball Turkey company teamed up with Mastbuilt (bit name in turkey or outdoor fryers) for this model which is much like the indoor fryers for chicken and French fries.

There's a housing box and then the oil goes in the unit. A large basket and a lifter round out the product.

It takes around a gallon and a half of oil, so that's a lot. It can be strained and used again. But, I season the turkey pretty heavy, so I don't think it looks good enough to try to strain with all the Holen One rub floating in there. Oh well. Straining oil through cheese cloth and finding a place to store it is not my idea of a good time anyway.

Since we did a turkey breast last night, we ran the temp at 325 F. For a large turkey, it would go up to 375 for frying. With these high temps, we...

...

vivasuzi says "It's cute, and definitely keeps me warmer at work!" about Covington Sport Microfleece Jacket

vivasuzi — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:51:39 GMT

I went to Sears looking for a cardigan with the intent to get a large warm cardigan for work. My building is usually freezing, but sometimes it is warm so I don't like to wear a sweater every day. Instead, I wanted a cardigan I could leave at work for times when it gets really cold. After looking at the cardigan's at sears, I was having no luck. Many of them were 3/4 sleeves and others were the holey material that didn't look too warm. Luckily I walked a little further and found the Covington Sport Microfleece Jacket in the Misses section.

The Covington Sport Microfleece Jacket is cute and that is the first thing I noticed. It seemed like something I would wear and I was drawn to it as soon as my husband pointed it out to me. I instantly handed him my coat and purse so I could try one on. I felt warmer the instant I put it on and knew that this is what I needed for those chilly days at work!

The Jacket is very soft and made of 100% polyester. This is so comfortable that I feel...

...

CyndiA says "Easy to cook or grill but plain bratwurst are better." about Hillshire Farm Smoked Bratwurst

CyndiA — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:01:36 GMT

I like Hillshire Farms bratwurst sausages, because they are easy to make and taste good. Most often we grill the brats and have them on big buns with spicy mustard.

The Hillshire Farms Smoked Bratwursts are made with pork and beef, and I think they have an all beef version. That wasn't available at Food Lion when I went.

Off the top, I have to say I'm usually not keen on smoke added flavor, although there are some exceptions. If it's Liquid Smoke, then that is what it tastes like - not smoked - just fake smoke and nothing else similar. That, fortunately, was not the flavoring in the Hillshire Farms Smoked Brats. Still, it was not a real smoke taste or not like off the grill anyway.

We boiled our brats (well - simmered really) in beer with butter and onions like usual, and then put the brats on the grill. So, we got some of the grilled smoke taste too. But, the secondary smoke taste was there.

The smoked Hillshire Farms brats aren't bad. If you don't grill, you might like them for a change...

...

vivasuzi says "Now this is what I call Cheese and Crackers!" about Keebler - TownHouse FlipSides Pretzel Crackers

vivasuzi — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:41:46 GMT

I would never had heard of Townhouse FlipSides Pretzel Crackers if it weren't for an offer I got when I was clipping coupons. The coupon didn't say much except that they were "pretzel crackers" so I was certainly curious!

Now that I've bought them, ate them, and loved them, I know these crackers will be a staple in our house and something I bring anytime I need to make a cheese and cracker plate for a party. With one side tasting like a pretzel, and the other side tasting like a cheese cracker, these things are delicious right out of the box. However, as you can see from my pics I really like to eat crackers with cheese so I added some sliced Kraft to my cracker and it was 10x better! I can't wait to tell my sister about these crackers so she can serve them with her famous Cheese ball! They are just so good and I bet they would go great with a whole variety of dips and spreads.

The best part is, the crackers are strong and can easily be used for dips without worry of them breaking....

...

CyndiA says "Honda Accord - very solid family car with good gas mileage. " about Honda Accord 4-cyl. - 2009

CyndiA — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:02:53 GMT

I got the Honda Accord 4 cyl on the 2009 Cash for Clunkers deal this past summer. That was a short program, so I had to decide fast. With the good reputation on the Honda Accord, I felt it was a safe choice.

To be honest, I much prefer trucks and sports cars. But, I really needed to go with a family car with good sized teen boys and with older relatives who really don't need to try to climb in and out of stadium seating on a 4W drive SUV. Also, I wanted something easier on gas than the Xterra. The Honda Accord fit the bill as far as being sensible and with a nice price with the Clunker rebate.

I went with the black on the Accord with black interior. That is hard to keep clean, but it looks cooler than the other colors (the red being a really awful shade as far as I was concerned). It also does not have the fake wood look inside like with the tan inside option. That reminded me of 1960s station wagons, so I did not like the fake wood trim inside at all. The black has a silver trim which...

...

CyndiA says "Splitting logs or wood is a breeze with Yard Machines." about Yard Machines Log Splitter - 25 ton 6 hp

CyndiA — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:33:09 GMT

I am a part owner of a Yard Machines log splittler. They are expensive, so my Dad, his buddy, and I went together and got the wood splitter.

Anyone who has split logs or wood by hand will know that's a really hard job. I'm not really big enough or strong enough to do many splits. My Dad and his friend were getting on up in years. So, it made sense to get a machine to take care of the larger pieces of wood.

I wasn't so sure about the Yard Machines brand, since I'd had a lawnmower by that brand that really was cheap and junky. It only lasted a couple of years and was a rider. I was not impressed.

Yard Machines did get it right with the log splitter. It's been in my garage at least six years with no repairs needed. The only issue that came up was the tires with Dad and his friend taking it to Virginia (3 plus hrs away) to split wood for my aunt. That was hard on the tires with pulling the wood splitter behind the truck. We just got a pull behind cart which takes the weight and miles off the...

...

CyndiA says "CVS Q-tips are like trying to put your elbow in your ear. " about CVS cotton swabs

CyndiA — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:05:46 GMT

I like our CVS pharmacy, so I thought I'd try their brand on cotton swabs which are bascially Q-tips with no brand name and used to clean ears and for other odd jobs.

I really should have known better. I tried the CVS brand on a toothbrush, and it was so bad that I only used it once and threw it away. So much for any savings there huh?

The CVS cotton swabs look just like any other normal cotton swab ear cleaners. Well duh. Just how much can you pretty those things up.

The problem with CVS cotton swabs is that the center part - the stick - it bends. You use CVS cotton swabs, and it is like trying to stick your elbow in your ear to clean it. Bend. Stretch. Wobble. I about hurt myself just trying to get the darn thing lined up.

To add some insult to that close injury, the cotton is wrapped loose. No thank you. I do not want to chance having a blob of cotton stuck inside my ear and a trip to ER for removal. Get a better cotton wrap machine or glue or whatever it takes to keep the cotton blob...

...

CyndiA says "French's spicy brown mustard - nice taste with a little kick. " about French's brown mustard

CyndiA — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:31:54 GMT

My son just discovered French's spicy brown mustard which made me laugh, since I've always had some on hand. I'll eat the regular hot dog mustard, but I like the little extra zip with the spicy brown. The kid didn't touch it, since it said "spicy." He's not big on hot foods.

I grilled brats, and we were out of yellow mustard. So, the kid decided to try French's spicy brown, and it was love at first bite.

Don't let the name fool you. French's spicy brown is just a nice balanced mustard with a bit of extra flavor but not enough to put anyone off. If it had much kick, the kid would not have eaten it and sure would not be using up all my French's spicy brown mustard now.

Looks like I can cut way back on plain yellow mustard and double up on French's spicy. My son likes it on burgers, sandwiches, and on fried Spam or Treet meat. It's his new favorite condiment.

If you've hesitated to try French's spicy brown due to the spicy name, give it a try. It really is not hot at all. It just packs a bit...

...

CyndiA says "Grill Floss - best barbecue grill cleaning tool I've ever owned." about Grillfloss - Barbecue Cleaning Tool, GFLXL, Stainless Steel

CyndiA — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:06:00 GMT

I looked at GrillFloss a long time before I bought one, and I was blown away by how well it worked. It's one of those products that I should have bought long ago. It makes cleaning a barbecue grill so much easier.

Grill Floss has a hook on the end. The hook can be flipped over for larger sized grates. I generally use the smaller end with charcoal grates, since I cook over charcoal most often. And, those grates tend to be the thinner wire types. But, Grill Floss works well on the larger gas grill grates too.

With the little hook design, this just slides right up and down the grate and into the corners and does a great job in getting the gunk off. It takes hardly any elbow grease at all especially if you use GrillFloss when the grates are still warm.

I was so impressed with Grill Floss that I added it at my Open Sky Yes You Can Grill barbecue store online. I just carry top picks for outdoor cooking, so this is definately a thumbs up and a grill cleaning tool I'd recommend to anyone who grills...

...

CyndiA says "Acer Aspire netbook - great "on the go" computer in a mini size." about Acer Netbook Aspire One

CyndiA — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:54:45 GMT

One of my students showed up with an Acer Aspire, and I was amazed at how small the little netbook is compared to a full sized laptop computer. I'm not tall enough to actualy use a laptop on my lap, but the Acer looked like it might work. And, it did. The Acer Aspire fits right on my lap with room to move my elbows out and type. Yay!

Now, I have an Acer. It's red, but the red color is not fire engine. It's more a burnt red color. They have pink like in the photo as well as blue, black, and white.

Mine is the 10 inch, since they are phasing out the 9 inch. The only difference is screen size. You don't get a smaller netbook with a 9 inch. You just get a little more plastic around the edges.

The main difference with the netbooks is that they have less storage space, but I do an heavy duty computer work on my desktop computer. A netbook is not designed to hold big programs like PageMaker, but it does fine with MS Word and a few other smaller programs loaded on there. You do need a portable...

...

busycharles says "Great fun for the whole family!" about Disney Scene It? The DVD Game

busycharles — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:44:54 GMT

It was alot of fun playing this game with the kids and because the game is not just for the young kids, adults can play and be challenged just as much as the kids are! Some of the movie questions are about movies I've not seen in ages! If you happen to get a questioned that was already asked then you can just click the next button and it gives you a new questions so that your almost guaranteed to not get bored with the game. You get to watch video clips and are asked things like what was in the picture or who played this person, etc... It seems like you could play it forever! There is a board that you can open all the way to play a long game or keep it folded up for a shorter game. Since I have a real young one we often times like to just answer the questions on there and not even bother with the board part.

...

busycharles says "Still bright after several washings!" about JCPenney Bed in a Bag

busycharles — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:30:38 GMT

For my 4yr old daughters birthday I got her a Bed in a bag from JCPenneys. It was a complete bedding set for a very reasonable price. The colors are very bright and after several washings (due to a few night time accidents) the colors are still true!

It came with a comforter that reverses from print to solid, 2 pillow shams (because she has a full size bed), coordinating 200 thread-count sheet set with fitted sheet, flat sheet, and 2 matching pillowcases, and a bedskirt with 14" drop that fits footboard and coordinates with both sides of comforter! It was everything I was looking for and so much more!

It's not super soft but it is comfortable, and seems to be getting better with each wash! It has matching curtains and accent pillows that you can add to make the room complete.

...

busycharles says "Super soft and comfortable!" about Essential Jersey Sheet Sets

busycharles — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:02:36 GMT

I bought this sheet set for my daughter then had to go out and get a set for me too! They are like flannel sheets but a bit thinner. They don't get the pile that flannel sheets get so that's a plus!

If you have a favorite Jersey shirt then you will love the sheets. They are just so soft and comfortable. They are warm enough to compare to flannel sheets in the winter yet light weight enough for you to use them in the summer and feel comfortable too!

Jersey Sheets come in lots of colors so you are almost guaranteed to make a match to your style and they fit the deep pocketed beds!

...