The Great Dana J

My Favorite Super Bowl Commercials 2012

DanaJ — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:03:53 +0000

Every year I look forward to the Super Bowl! Not necessarily because of the game though, it’s because of the commercials. Last year, I wrote about my favorite commercials and I want to continue that tradition this year! Check out my top 5 selections below.

5. Bud Light – Rescue Dog
I like this commercial and how it’s connected to a cause! Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation and Bud Light wanted to raise a quarter of a million dollars together. Simple and funny commercial with a message. The dog featured, Weego, is actually a real rescue dog. Very cool!

4. Chevy Sonic “Stunt Anthem”
The “We Are Young” song by Fun ft. Janelle Monae featured in this commercial really set it off for me. The aerial car stunts were pretty cool too!

3. Tax Act
The little boy in this commercial is so cute! This has happened to us all at some time and it’s relate-able. Plus it made me look up Tax Act, I’d never heard of them before.

2. M&M
This commercial was so cute. I love how the Red M&M danced to “Sexy and I Know It”. Apparantly LMFAO songs were a hot spot last night. Madonna even “shuffled” in her half time routine with the group to “Party Rockin”.

1. Oikos
Oikos is a Greek yogurt made by Dannon. Their commercial featured Uncle Jesse John Stamos. It was simple and I literally laughed out loud at it. I really like this commercial best of all. I’ve never tried Oikos before, however, this commercial left a memorable impression on me. I might grab some next time I’m shopping for yogurt.

What were your favorite commercials? Vote for them in the YouTube Ad Blitz!

Recap: ING Miami Half Marathon

DanaJ — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:18:28 +0000

This Sunday I completed my second half marathon, ING Miami! I had a great time in Miami and the race was well organized. This was my very first trip to Miami and I already want to go back. I’m thinking about signing up for the half again in 2013. Or maybe I’ll get ambitious and go for the full. Who knows The course was almost entirely flat. Kind of like running on a treadmill for 13.1 miles for anyone who has ever done that. I haven’t. But someone may have out there…That’s what it felt like at some points.

Anyway, Sunday was race day and it seemed like everything that could go wrong actually did. First things first, I woke up and started getting ready and my hair clip that I love and always wear to run in just happened to break.

Next, while on the train ride to the starting line my headphones decided to break.

I needed new headphones anyway…

This just sucked. To top it off, the weather was humid and somewhere in the mid 70s upper 80s. So I was slightly over dressed and I got super hot after mile 3. I normally don’t get hot and sweaty until 5 miles in and I had to stop to go to the bathroom because I drank too much water before the race. All of this sucked. But you know what? I STILL ran the entire 13.1 miles (it was 13.2 according to my Garmin, odd but true). So I’m proud of myself and I learned a few things in the process.

1. Never do anything new on race day – I told myself I wouldn’t do this, but then I did. I wore a new shirt and sports bra that I didn’t train in, plus a new headband and I had a new arm band. Well, I chaffed terribly due to the sports bra and the new arm band. The headband worked out alright and kept sweat out of my face. No more new stuff the day of for me…

2. Fly in 2 days before the race – I flew in 1 day prior to the race. That wasn’t the best idea at all. Next time I’ll try to at least fly in on Friday night so that Saturday can be a rest day.

3. I CAN run an entire half with NO music – I did several practice runs without my iPod but not more than 10 miles. To get through the race I prayed, meditated and took in the sites. We ran past the Miami port, American Airlines Arena where the Miami Heat play, over several bridges and past the Miami Herald so there were lots of things to look at. Plus along the way bands, drumlines and dance teams lined the streets. I also made up motivational quotes along the way. My favorite: Spread your legs and RUN! Now I want a t-shirt with the saying. lol

4. Hydrate! – I do a terrible job at drinking enough water before races. I should have had more water the day before not an hour before the race.

5. Be careful not to overdress – I was over dressed for this race. I wish I had just worn a sports bra. Would have been MUCH cooler. The sun wasn’t even out but that heat was killer!

Me post race with my metal

Me with my running roommates

I’m looking at doing another half marathon or two this year. On my goals list (which I promise to share soon) I wrote down that I want to run 300 miles this year. So, I have to make that happen!

My training experience with Vega Sport

DanaJ — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:45:41 +0000

I just finished up the ING Miami Half Marathon this weekend. Before my training got started, I sampled some of the new Vega Sport products at Whole Foods. After tweeting about it, they reached out to me! I’m always up for trying new products so I was excited that the Vega team sent me a box to train with!

The packaging was pretty cool!

A little background on Vega Sport:

The founder Brandon Brazier is a professional triathlete and best-selling author on plant based nutrition. Vega Sport is 100% plant-based! So it’s great for vegetarians, vegans and gluten free dieters. I would not classify myself as any of those. But, I find that Vega and Vega Sport products do not have side effects that I occasionally experience with whey protein (stomach aches, mild breakouts). I like how each item was labeled Prepare – Sustain – Recover and the appropriate step was highlighted for each individual thing! Here are my favorite Vega Sport items:

Recovery Accelorator – Apple Berry Flavor

This smelled and tasted delicious after my workout. It made me think of strawberry shortcake. Maybe it was the smell? Whatever it was though, I really enjoyed it! The product has plant-based ingredients like ginseng and MacaSure. It also has devil’s claw, which is a herb used for muscle pain. Since I worked out late that day, I needed the energy boost from the Recovery Accelorator to stay up late and work.

The Berry flavored shake is pictured – I missed a photo op of the Chocolate*

Performance Protein – Chocolate Flavor

Let me start off by saying: this was my first time EVER trying a chocolate recovery shake. I’ve always purchased vanilla flavors.

I’m definitely glad that I decided to taste the chocolate one. It was much thicker and had a rich taste to it.

The Endurance Gel – Rasberry

This was one of my very favorites out of everything I tried. I saved the two endurance gels for long Saturday runs. I figured out the best timeto take the gel is 60 minutes into running. For me, that’s about 5-6 miles. I felt a nice boost of energy that really helped push me to continue running. The rasberry flavor was my favorite, but honestly, they both did what they were supposed to!

The Acai Berry bar is pictured

The Protein Bar – Chocolate Coconut

I loved this bar. There was something about the combination of flavors that made this one a hit for me. I want more of them. I really liked the bars because of the coconut. Everything about the taste was just RIGHT. It also kept me full until dinner.

I just noticed that Vega Sport is doing a sweepstakes. Take a look.

I’ll be back later this week with a recap of Miami! Have a great Monday.

*Disclosure: Vega sent me the products to try for free. The opinions are all my own.

My First Race of 2012: ING Miami

DanaJ — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:39:34 +0000

This weekend I am doing my first race of 2012! It’s the ING Miami Half.

(via)

I have 3 races lined up for this year already! Amazingly, I’m doing one race per month so far from January-March. This one is the only half marathon. The other two are fun 5ks with friends. Maybe I should add “do one race per month” to my smart goal list? I’m still working on that and I promise to share when I’m done. The ING Miami is my second half marathon. I did the ING in Georgia in 2010. Since I’m working on setting goals more with everything I do, I have to put out there what I would like to accomplish on Sunday during the race. No, I’m not trying to PR. At all. I believe I finished around 2:23 for my first half. I walked a little (about .5 of a mile around #8) too because there was a hill and I stretched. So my goal for this weekend is simply to run the entire time. Hopefully, I won’t get all competitive and push myself to run extra fast. I’ve been training and the course is pretty flat!

For my race training I used products from Vega Sport. I sampled them one day at Whole Foods in Sandy Springs. I swear the samples always do me in at Whole Foods. That’s how I get into new products. I’ve tried Vega products before but what I really liked about the Vega Sport is the taste! Pretty good. I tweeted about the products and they reached out to me about training with them. I’ll do a full review of my favorites on Monday.

Products from the Vega team

Well, I have a busy day today! Packing, working, writing, errands and a quick run. Do you have any big plans for the weekend?

Pinterest and Social Media Overload

DanaJ — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:29:07 +0000

I avoided joining Pinterest for weeks.

The top reason I was on the run from Pinterest was because all of my friends post about how it sucks up all of their time. I’m already on so many social media sites as it is. But eventually, I gave in and joined. I can understand how Pinterest can take up ALL of your time. Similar to the same way that all social media sites do. All to often it’s easy to get caught up in things that don’t do us any good. For me, this hits close to home because I not only use social media for leisure, but I also use it in my daily profession. So getting consumed by a website happens frequently. I had to put myself on a limit because it was all too much. Joining Pinterest made me consider my personal brand and how I can use it in a way that would benefit that. So for me, the best aspect of Pins and boards incorporates posting inspirational words, quotes and building an online vision board. Just for fun though, I’ve added a pin about movie style. I promise it didn’t suck up all of my time.

What do you use Pinterest for?

Source: emilymcdowell.posterous.com via Dana on Pinterest

I Made Dumb Goals Last Year

DanaJ — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:01:53 +0000

The year 2012 is here and everyone is talking about resolutions and changes to be made. Honestly, I started about 2 months ago reflecting on 2011. It wasn’t the best year of my life but it by far wasn’t the worst. I’d say the year falls somewhere in between the two and I’m okay with that. Overall, I learned many valuable lessons throughout the year. But one thing that I did recognize about last year was how I didn’t set goals. Okay, I did set goals but they were ambiguous, broad, they weren’t in writing (in one place) and they weren’t smart. In fact, they were pretty dumb. Dumb meaning, there wasn’t a plan to get them accomplished.

I entered into 2011 with general broad goals for the year since I really don’t do resolutions. Those things were:

1. Stay in shape

2. Find a new job

3. Move

4. Save $10,000

5. Blog more

Notice how broad those goals are? No details about how, what, where and when. Except #4 which was pretty straightforward despite the “how”. If that was a party invitation, I wouldn’t make it to the main event! I spent 2011 searching for and working towards things when I didn’t even know what I wanted. Trying to accomplish things that weren’t really in alignment with my goals or my life. Doing things in vain and wasting valuable time and money. Trust me, reading that makes me realize why I spent so much time confused. Yes, I accomplished several of those goals successfully and I’m proud of myself. The thing is I could have accomplished them ALL if I had made them more specific. For instance, with goal number 1, what does that mean? I did one 5k in 2011 compared to the plethora of 5ks, 10k and half marathon I completed in 2010. Define in shape? How come I didn’t make it more clear what I wanted to do? Going forward, I want to make goals with a plan. SMART goals.

I posted this photo on Instagram last week from the January Women’s Health Magazine. I also saw it in the January Essence Magazine and my friend Niki posted it on her blog today in an infographic. Obviously, if I keep seeing it everywhere there’s a lesson to be learned about how to effectively create goals.

I’m going to think long and hard about my SMART goals and vow to share them here on my blog. Stay tuned.

Win Top 40 Books for Entrepreneurs from AppSumo

DanaJ — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:00:54 +0000

from Crunchbase

A few weeks back I joined AppSumo. It’s a daily deal site targeted towards “web geeks”. Some of the deals they offer include Facebook ad training, website packages and DSLR training guides for cinematography. The deals are great tools for entrepreneurs, independent contractors and small business owners to learn new things. Crunchbase describes them as the Groupon for Web Apps. That’s funny, because I thought the exact same thing. But anyway, this morning AppSumo emailed me with a great promotion that Iwanted to share. They are giving away the Top 40 books for Entrepreneurs. The list includes many I’ve heard of like The Lean Startup, How to Win Friends and Influence People and the Steve Jobs biography. It also includes lots of others I’ve never heard of but I would love to have and read. A few of the books are even signed by the authors (Seth Godin, Tony Hsieh and Daniel Pink). I’m on a quest to become more business savvy this year and I’m sure even one of these books will be a great resource in getting me there.

If you would like to enter here are the details. Toss one of the books to me after you finish reading it if you win (totally kidding, well not really it’s 40 books!). If I win, I’ll share the books after I read them. If any of you win and you found out from me, let me know, I’ll be happy for you!

A small sampling of the books via AppSumo

Embracing 2011

DanaJ — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 12:39:05 +0000

(via)

I thought about how best to end the year on my blog. I thought about listing the best and worst moments or doing a countdown. But honestly, those ideas just weren’t thrilling me. I know that this year has been a great learning experience and that’s what life is about. Instead of focusing on the small details that made up 2011 I found an affirmation that pretty much sums things up. It’s from The Daily Love. No matter what kind of day I’m having, I find inspiration reading emails from them anytime. I hope this helps you too.

I let 2011 go with joy.

I let 2011 go with gratitude.

I let 2011 go with acceptance.

I receive the learning of 2011 as Grace.

Happy New Year!

The Muppets for Google+ Hangout

DanaJ — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:41:48 +0000

This past year has been a big year for The Muppets. Over the last few months Disney has invested a lot of time and creativity into making them “popular” to a younger audience. I saw The Muppets in theaters last month. It’s actually incredibly funny and the plot pokes fun at how Muppets aren’t cool. In fact, that’s a primary part of the storyline. The Muppets are “out of style”. Using social media from YouTube video parodies of popular films like Twilight, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Hangover 2. The Muppets have a Google+ page and now they are featured in the latest Google+ Hangout commercial:

I’d describe Google+ Hangout as a fun group Skype I’ve done a Google+ Hangout with friends and we all liked it! Have you tried Google Hangout yet?

My Favorite Holiday Social Campaign – Chobani Shepherd’s Gift

DanaJ — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:24:05 +0000

This holiday season I’ve seen tons of emails, tweets and Facebook ads encouraging me to go out and spend. Even a few of the birthday “specials” I receive ask me to “spend” money before I can get anything. Since email marketing is apart of my job, I open a good 50% of the emails I receive just to see what companies are doing. I click on Facebook ads and read sponsored posts. All aspects of the job that I enjoy. While reading through my Facebook, I noticed a campaign that takes a slightly different approach. A Sponsored ad from Chobani called Shepherd’s Gift kept popping up in the bottom right corner. I’ve blogged about Chobani in the past and I’m a big fan of their Greek yogurt (especially the pineapple and peach flavors). The focus of their Shepherd’s Gift campaign is to recognize those in our lives who give freely without expecting anything in return. It isn’t a special coupon or discount incentive to buy -which in my opinion is a welcomed change. After reading about The Shepherd’s Gift I learned that Chobani gives 10% of their profit to various organizations that are working towards making the world a better place.

Do you know of a shepherd who gives selflessly? Take a look at Chobani’s Facebook page and recognize any of your friends and family.