The Moms Buzz is taking a little break from July 20 -  July 24. During that week period, there will be no publication of posts.

Starting July, 27 until August 31, the blog's Summer schedule will go into effect. During the Summer schedule, The Moms Buzz will not post on a daily basis, but rather a few posts per week.  Regular schedule will resume right after Labor Day Weekend!

Have a wonderful weekend and keep in touch!

- The Moms Buzz 

Plan your menu. “Think about all the other elements of the meal—texture, color, how heavy the food is, even its temperature.” A “fresh, light” meal such as fish should be followed with a hot pie or crumble, while a pasta dish should be followed with a light treat like berries.

Put on your chef’s hat. Some desserts, such as chocolate mousse, require planning but are not difficult to make. If you would rather “wing it,” there are plenty of last-minute options. “Drizzle honey over a slice of ripe pear,” serve with a bit of goat cheese, and—voila!—dessert is served.

Do it up right. Try to do something whimsical,” even if you use your best china when serving dessert. “There’s something gorgeous” about a tray of vintage glasses filled with ice cream. They conjure visions of an old-fashioned soda shop.

- The Moms Buzz

source: theweek.com/Allure

Preparing, serving and eating safe food is very important when on a picnic. We must constantly practice safe food handling to avoid illness, and especially, when the food will remain outside for a long time.  

Follow these 3 basic food safety tips and you will be ready enjoy a safe food picnic:

1.    Keep cold foods cold below 41°F.

• Put cold foods into a well insulated, lidded cooler with ice around it.

• Put cooler in the passenger area rather than in the trunk.

• Keep cooler in the share and avoid opening and shutting the lid too often.

2.    Don't spread the bacteria, which may infect the food and ultimately you.

• Wash your hands before working with food and again after working with food with raw meat or poultry.

• Put the cooked meat onto a clean plate for service.

3.    Cook meat thoroughly to an internal temperature of 160°F snd serve immediately.

• Put leftovers in the refrigerator immediately when you get home if you have not been gone more than 4 hours.

Providing you have practiced all the above safety tips, your food should be safe to keep and eat the next day.

- The Moms Buzz

source: www.fcps.edu/fs/food

Flexibility - Benefits

Flexibility is a joint's ability to move through a full range of motion. Flexibility training (stretching) is not about becoming a world class gymnast--it's about balancing the muscle groups you use or overuse during exercise and other activities, or from bad posture. Read on to learn about the benefits of a good flexibility program.

1. Improved Performance.

2. Reduced Muscle Soreness.

3. Improved Posture.

4. Reduced Risk of Low Back Pain.

5. Increased Blood and Nutrients to Tissues.

6. Improved Muscle Coordination.

7. Enhanced Enjoyment of Physical Activities.

Bottom Line: Do It. As you can see, flexibility training is one of the key components of a balanced fitness program--it should be a part of your exercise routine. Without flexibility training, you are missing an important part of overall health. Flexibility training provides many important benefits that cannot be achieved by any other exercise or activity. - Ellen Yates.

For more detailed information of the benefits of stretching and flexibility, please read Ellen Yate's Blog here.

- The Moms Buzz

Save the date for Nordstrom's famous anniversary sale that start this coming July 17th online and in store.  Special hourse will be held during the sale on July 17, 18 and 19!  Save it and save big!

- The Moms Buzz

The importance of family internet safety education and etiquette is often overlooked by both kids and teenagers today. While most teens are more ahead of the curve than most parents when it comes to the internet, they may not have the knowledge to help keep them safe from online dangers and its potentially negative effects.

The Moms Buzz would love to introduce you to a new initiative by Girl Scouts called LMK (text-speak for “Let Me Know") which provides parents and girls with resources catering to both generations, and whose goal is to bridge the digital gap between parents and teenagers.

On LMK, the girl-targeted website, teens can find interactive quizzes, videos, and expert articles to be informed about online safety in a fun way! Girls can comment on the site content, sharing their thoughts, experiences and perspectives on topics many teens face everyday, like cyberbullying and social networking. New content is posted periodically and will cover twelve different areas related to being a teen online today. Teens can even download an interactive patch they can share on social networking sites like Facebook, just by registering for the site at no cost. Best of all, it’s for all teenagers, not just Girl Scouts!

When parents visit letmeknow.girlscouts.org, they can sign up for the e-newsletter written and developed by a team of “LMK Teen Editors” who are sharing their knowledge about the ways teens use technology and help parents understand it all. Parents will have the chance to learn need-to-know skills to keep them up to speed with what their kids are doing online too. Expert advice is also offered to give guidance on tougher issues.

The Moms Buzz has been at the site, and highly recommends to both parents and their girl teens,  It is a very informative site about the importance of family internet safety.

- The Moms Buzz

Learn the ins and outs of making home-made pizza.  Sur La Table chefs will show you how to make the yummiest pizza in town from scratch using only fresh ingredients. 

Join the fun at your local Sur La Table. The event is this Saturday, July 11 at 11 am, in every store nationwide.

- The Moms Buzz

Water plays a vital "maintenance" role in your body, nourishing cells, eliminating waste and lubricating joints.  It serves as a cooling mechanism, helping to regulate your body temperature and working hard to prevent heat exhaustion.  

Many of our children are in sport camps outdoors during the Summer, and being properly hydrated helps maintain alertness and physical performance, by helping to sustain endurance and strength.

Encourage your children to drink water more than sugared beverages so that they enjoy every ounce of Summer!

- The Moms Buzz

There is a Monster Sales at the ChildrensPlace.com and in-store as well.  Take an additional 30% off of already reduced merchandise!! No coupons needed when buying online or at the store.  Hurry to get the sizes you need!

- The Moms Buzz

Getting rid of acne is a big deal for teenagers.  According to a recent survey, more than half of teens (59%) said that they would be willing to stay off Facebook for a year if they could get rid of their acne forever! What’s more – 13% would actually pick one of their parents as a prom date to be zit-free for the rest of their lives!

This past month of June marked the first-ever National Acne Awareness Month. There are so many myths surrounding acne such as that people with acne don’t wash their faces and/or eat poorly. But the truth is, even the cleanest and healthiest of us can be prone to getting acne! In fact, acne is a medical condition that can be treated, and has little to do with diet or cleanliness habits.

The American Acne and Rosacea Society (AARS), with support from Galderma Laboratories, has developed a special announcement to educate teens on how to take control of their acne; to inform everyone on ways to take action when acne takes a hold of their lives: http://www.westglen.com/online/17612.html. 

Visit a brand new wb site, AcneSociety.org is designed to help your teenager get educated on ways to treat and prevent acne.

 As you know, the best defense is a well-informed offense!

- The Moms Buzz

The Moms Buzz, a shoe lover, thought it would be worth passing the buzz around about a great deal on summer sandals this week: BCBG is having this special summer promotion on its sandals for $58 for a limited time only! If you are looking for some summer sandals with metallic beads, leather straps, sexy, chic and flirty feminine, BCBG is where you want to shop this time. www.bcbg.com

Kids Won’t Listen? Try This!

If you're a parent living with small children, you may often feel like you're invisible to your kids. After spending a day cajoling, reasoning, threatening and even screaming in an attempt to get your kids to behave, you may feel as if they never listen to you, much less respond. But all that talking is precisely the problem. If you feel like you're invisible, you're probably way too audible.

When it comes to discipline, silence often speaks louder than words. Many parents complicate the job of discipline by setting for themselves two goals instead of just one. Their first goal is to get the kids to do what they're supposed to do, which is fine. But when kids don't respond right away, many parents add a second goal: getting the youngsters to accept, agree with, or even like the discipline. So Mom and Dad start reasoning, lecturing and explaining.

One Explanation is fine!

All this extra talking accomplishes only two things—both of them bad. First, it aggravates the kids, and second, it says to the children that they really don't have to behave unless you can give them four or five reasons why they should. One explanation is fine. But the mistake many parents make is trying to reason with their kids as if they were "little adults," and too often adult logic does not impress or motivate young children. Once you say "No" to an obnoxious behavior, you should save your breath. Further pleading will irritate you more and give the child a chance to continue the battle—and the behavior.

- The Moms Buzz
source:  ParentMagic Newsletter May 2009 © 2009

Book prudently. These days, delays and long security lines are the norm. “Avoid loser flights” by checking their on-time performance at Flightstats.com. Make sure you can reserve a seat when you book, and confirm it by printing a boarding pass ASAP.

Anticipate trouble. Find out how likely a delay will become a cancellation by asking how much “duty time” the pilots have left; the more, the better. Keep a list of hotels handy in case a connection is missed. And don’t check any luggage you “can’t do without.”

Don’t pass up perks. Many airport clubs offer day passes, and some airlines sell “extra legroom” and “priority security screening.” At hotels, arrive late at night for a short stay to increase your odds of getting upgraded.

-The Moms Buzz

Source: TheWeek.com/The Wall Street Journal

The Moms Buzz at the OBX!

This is a great deal if you like pricey items at great low prices.  Shopbop.com is offering an extra 25% already reduced all sale merchandise until today at 11:59 pm PDT.  This deal does not come by very often, so take a peek, you may luck out with a niece piece! Simply, use coupon code EXTRA25 at checkout. www.shopbop.com.

- The Moms Buzz

I thought this was a very nice and fair definition of nude makeup by Bobbie Brown, whose makeup collections are so well known for achieving that nude finish we all want to have. Here is how she defines it:

"Nude makeup doesnot mean makeup that is hardly there.  It means makeup that's right for a woman's skintone."  Bobbie Brown.

In other words, you need to find the nude collection of makeup that becomes your skin tone to achieve the effect that we always admire on those makeup models!

- The Moms Buzz

source: Ask Bobbie Brown on Twitter.

Breadstick Snails is the recipe of the week that your children love making them with you and eating them too!  It is fun and so easy to make! This recipe will also stimulate and inspire your creativity at the kitchen!

Ingredients

• 1  tube (11 oz.) refrigerated breadsticks
• 1/4  cup purchased basil pesto
•   Coarsely shredded carrots

Directions

150 million hot dogs were estimated to have been consumed last Fourth of July!
31 towns in the U.S. have the word “Liberty” in their name!
14,000 public fireworks displays take place in the U.S. to celebrate the holiday!
25 copies of the Declaration of Independence are known to exist.

- The Moms Buzz

Celebrity trainer Teddy Bass is the man responsible for keeping Cameron Diaz in shape. He designed this workout to get toned and defined abs. Follow this routine so that you get your abs in shape and maybe have similar abs Cameron Diaz's. ;) 

Try Cardio
"You need to burn fat with cardio (at least 30 minutes, three to five times per week) to see ab definition, says Bass. "Elliptical machines are great, because you have to contract your abs in order to stay upright." Or try Pilates, cycling, or kayaking.

Sculpting Sexy Abs
Targets: Obliques and transverse (deep) abdominal muscles
Lie faceup on floor, with right foot on left knee and hands behind head. Engage abs and lift hips and shoulders off floor while bringing left elbow toward right knee. Lower. Perform 20 reps. Switch legs and repeat; do 3 sets per side.

1. Use fireworks outdoors only.
2. Obey local laws. If fireworks are not legal where you live, do not use them.
3. Always have water handy. (A hose or bucket.
4. Only use fireworks as intended. Don't try to alter them or combine them.
5. Never relight a "dud" firework. Wait 20 minutes and then soak it in a bucket of water.
6. Use common sense. Spectators should keep a safe distance from the shooter and the shooter should wear safety glasses.
7. Alcohol and fireworks do not mix. Have a "designated shooter.
8. Only persons over the age of 12 should be allowed to handle sparklers of any type.
9. Do not ever use homemade fireworks of illegal explosives: They can kill you!
10. Report illegal explosives to the fire or police department in your community.

The National Council on Fireworks Safety invites you to celebrate our nation's heritage on the Fourth of July, but celebrate safely.