Aveda Me This, Aveda Me That!

I must say, I'm a sucker for a good natural beauty product. With all the studies showing how parabens that are found in most beauty products can lead to breast cancer, I am of the opinion that the less of these products I use the better. When I discovered Aveda a few years ago I liked the company and tried some of their hair products, but wasn't that impressed. However, I'm changing my tone. While I'm still not super impressed with the hair care line, I do love the facial care line and the body care line. Let me tell you about some of my Aveda fav's.

First, there is the Aveda Body Polish . This is an exfoliating scrub that slightly foams. It is made out of walnut shells, kelp, aloe, and lavender, so it definitely brightens your skin, but leaves it smelling nice and clean. An 8.5 oz. tube costs $23, but lasts a long time. I only use this scrub about once a week, but it could be used more frequently. It leaves my skin very soft and takes off any dead skin that is there. This is a MUST for summer, since we have to exfoliate more skin in the summer months!

Second, my new find at Aveda is the Eye Shadow Transformer. This little bottle of liquid works as a primer or a transformer meaning you can use it before you put on your eye shadow to ensure your color stays all day (and it really works to keep the color, much better than the MAC primer!) or you can use the liquid to mix with a darker eye shadow creating a paste you can use as eyeliner. This primer is made from organic palm and larch tree extracts meaning what you put on your eyes will be natural! And, the application brush works very well. It is $25, so a little pricey, but if you wear eye shadow daily, it is worth it.

Third, I love my Aveda Salon! I go to Orpheum Salon in Pasadena, CA. This place has great service with a laid back atmosphere, which is fabulous. My last hair color consisted of bright red highlights and I love them, but we all know how quickly red fades. So, my stylist (Allison) made me a personalized Aveda shampoo. She used the Aveda Brilliant Shampoo, but added in the reds she had colored my hair with so I can replenish the color a little bit each time I shampoo (which is only every 2-3 days!). No one should wash their hair every day! Along with my personalized shampoo, Allison recommended I use the Blue Malva Aveda Conditioner to keep some of the purple tones in my highlights. So, this is the combo I currently use, and I'm loving it!

Fourth, I love the essential oil line offered by Aveda. Currently I have the Lavender Fleurs Oil and the Sandalwood Oil. Both are pure pressed oils that smell amazing! The oil can be applied to the skin directly, put in a bath, or mixed into your lotion. These are called Singular Notes on the Aveda Essential Oils line.

They also have mixes that you can check out as well. But, more importantly, at any Aveda store you can have them personalize your Aveda Body Lotion with these oils, or mix them into the Aveda Pure-Fume spray. Right now, I have the Pure-Fume personalized with Wind Tones that incorporates some Clove Oil and Rose Absolute Oil. Very light and fresh for summer!

Finally, I just became an Aveda Pure Privilege member. The membership was $10, but you accrue points each time you purchase Aveda products. These points rack up quickly because they constantly send you opportunities to get double or triple points with minimal purchases. After only being a member for a couple of months I already have enough points to redeem for a $50 spa treatment at any Aveda salon! But, even better, the membership puts you on the Aveda mailing list for SOOOO many free samples! I think this is what I love the most about it. Even if you only redeemed the samples, the $10 membership will pay itself off in no time! So, I say Aveda me this, Aveda me that! I will try it all!

Oh My Lush!

This is fresh on my mind, because I am almost out of it and need to stop by and get some more on my way home.

What do I speak of? Why, Lush cosmetics. If you've never heard of Lush before, you should definitely try it. It's fresh handmade soap and natural cosmetics. You can find it as a stand alone store in the mall, or if you're in Chicago, there one attached to Macy's in the Water Tower Place. Or, you can order online. http://www.lush.com/

Once again, my F5 is the one who introduced me to their products. Sometimes I wonder, what do I bring to our friendship? Ah well, I'll just consider myself lucky :o) Nothing wrong with riding on the coattails of my better half!

On another lucky note, I literally can walk by the Lush store 2 times a day, if I really wanted to. However, this means walking on Michigan Avenue with thousands and thousands of tourists. Sometimes, it's worth it - other times, not so much. So anyways, on a good day, walking by it makes my heart aflutter. You see, their window display is always full of color, with stacks and stacks of their soap. I'll take a picture of it on my way home. (here it is:)
















I have many favorites here, but today, let me tell you about the goodies I will be bringing home with me today on my way home from work.

Fresh Farmacy - $9.75/3.5 ounce block
"If your skin is troubled, sensitive and reacts to nearly everything you put on it, lather up with this nightly. It's pink because it's packed with calamine, the stuff your mom put on your mosquito bites to calm down your skin and stop it from itching. We also add chamomile and rose to soothe, and a bit of tea tree oil to help cleanse for blemish-free skin. It's soft, creamy and delightfully effective so give it a try, rub the pink frothy foam all over" - Lush website.

*click on Fresh Farmacy to be connected directly to their online store.


This is one of the rare items in the store that you'll have to ask one of the salespeople to help you. They'll take one of those hefty bricks, take it to their cutting table, ask you how much you want, and cut it with a knife! Then, they'll wrap it in their paper and put the sticker with the price tag on it. They sell it by weight, so don't freak out when it says something like $25 a pound. You will only be charged for the amount that was cut.

I also recommend getting one of their tins to keep it soft and fresh.

You don't want it to get too dried out. On the occasion that I have done that, I just add some water and close the lid, and add more water until I get a pasty consistency. Otherwise, I like it in the bar form.


The other product that I just had a hankering for, is their bar soap called Porridge.

Porridge - $6.95/3.5 ounce block

"When you're in a rush on those early mornings you may consider eating breakfast in the shower. At we LUSH prefer feeding our skin in the shower and saving the real food for afterward. We put real oats and fresh organic orange juice in this deliciously nutritious soap, making it a cleansing and exfoliating multi-tasker. Oats soften and slough away dead skin while orange juice and sweet orange oil gently cleanse the skin." - Lush website

Yet, another product you'll need assistance to get. Ok, so if you read the description above, you'll notice real oats and fresh organic orange juice. Using it in the morning is like - breakfast for your skin! It smells a-m-a-z-i-n-g! I have had to refrain from taking a big bite out of it, I will admit.

So there you have it, my two LUSH purchases at the end of today's work day.

As you can/will see, there are TONS and TONS of products, and between my F5 and I, we have barely made a dent! So if you are Lush fan yourselves, pul-lease, share with us what YOU like. Nowadays, this is the only way I'll try new products from people I trust. Saves the guessing game and/or returning things over and over again. I just hate it when I end up keeping something I hate because I forgot to return it.







Anyways, I leave you with this photo of their display, even though it's from a store in another country :o) You get the point.

What's YOUR favorite LUSH product?!

Potbelly's * Wow Bao * Portillo's

My top 3 "fast food" places to eat in Downtown Chicago, and in no particular order:

* Potbelly's
We were so stubborn, and by stubborn, we mean downright silly stubborn. The first time we ever walked into Potbelly's, it was to just get a drink. But it was during a busy time of the day, so the line was forever long. Little did we know, there was good reason why it was so packed. But because we got so frustrated, we walked right out. Fast forward about a year later, B was at the airport when he decided to give it a try. The text that I got was "Potbelly's is SOOO good!" We had missed out on this gem for so long, it's hard to forgive ourselves. Oh well, all the more reason to make up for that now! What makes it so good? The bread is nice and chewy, it's made to your order and then they toast your creation. Their giardiniera peppers are simply amazing. For whatever reason, Potbelly's is the last place I think of, but after the first bite, I have to wonder why - it is just THAT good. My fave - the Wreck on regular with Provolone. You can also order it via skinny (less bread and less meat) . Oh, and if you can, you gotta have their oatmeal chocolate chip cookies! And lastly, their milkshakes....Oh, how I heart you, PB! To drive the point home, we had cousins visiting from California and took them eating all over town. What do they STILL talk about? Potbelly's! My brother, Josh (@ 13) put it best when he called them: "the best sandwiches....IN THE WORLD!!"


$4.50 for regular size, $5.50 for the BIG @ 30% bigger
(image borrowed from panlasangpinoy.com, until I can get a picture of my own!)

* WoW Bao (This one's for you, V!)
My fondest memories of my grandma is helping her make "Banh Bao", Vietnamese ball-shaped dumpling, filled with pork, an egg, chinese sausage and then steamed. They are so light fluffy on the outside, and a little on the sweetened side. I always wished there was more fluffy dough, and less filling. So imagine my GLEE (yes, I threw in an ode to the show) when I saw Wow Bao and their miniature steamed buns! The proportions are perfect and I am pretty full after eating 3 of them. I say that I'm full, but my taste buds still crave for more. My fave: Teriyaki Chicken. It's just the right amount of sweet and savory. Honestly, I haven't had one that I didn't like. I just know which one I like the most, and tend to stick with it. I have yet to try their dessert baos - coconut custard and chocolate. And their ginger ale is homemade with fresh ginger. It definitely takes like fresh ginger, so be prepared. They don't just have baos, they also have rice bowls, salads and potstickers. But when the marketing campaign is "Hot Asian Buns", why waste your time with any of their other stuff?


$1.49 each

* Portillo's
This place is insanely busy at any given lunch time. There are two lines when you walk in, one for the hot dog/hamburger/fries side (Portillo's) and the pasta/salad/ribs side (Barnelli's). While I do have a soft spot for hot dogs, I rarely go to the Portillo's side (I prefer charred dogs, I think they may steam them here). Barnelli's all the way. Every single time, it's a debate between the chopped salad (best ever!) or the Rigatoni Ala Vodka. The salad is so refreshing and I adore the little pasta tubes and the real bacon bits. The house dressing is a.m.a.z.i.n.g. I always ask for extra. It has an itty bitty wave of heat that gets me every time. Man, it's really, really good. The rigatoni has the perfect sauce. It also has some unexpected heat. There is no meat in it, which I think is a shame. So basically, when I go, I always ask if anyone wants to split the salad. No one ever regrets it when they do! Is it sad that I'm such a creature of habit, that I don't eat anything else but those two? I digress..the other thing I MUST eat there - is the fantastic CHOCOLATE. I don't know what they put in it, but it just melts in my mouth every time. They sell by the slice or the whole cake. I dream of buying the whole cake. My latest adventure? The Chocolate Cake Shake. What's that? Exactly what it says! Chocolate cake is blended into the shake that every sip has a chunk of cake. More frosting, please! I prefer the cake all by itself though, the whole cake.


$2.35 a slice/$17.49 whole freakin' cake!

I am sure I'm forgetting some other places, but since these 3 popped up first, I will consider them my faves! Chicago folks, what are your fave "fast food" priced joints, but better than "fast food" quality?

My Oh My, Maya!

Some of you may have seen the recent article about Maya Arulpragasam, AKA M.I.A., in the New York Times Magazine.

This article attempted to trace the rise to stardom that M.I.A. has seen through her hit release song titled "Paper Planes." This article certainly fell short of my expectations. The author of this article, Lynn Hirschberg, after downplaying the role that Maya has had in the media about the civil war happening in her home country of Sri Lanka, says,

"What Maya wants is nearly impossible to achieve: she wants to balance outrageous political statements with a luxe lifestyle; to be supersuccessful yet remain controversial; for style to merge with substance."

Is it really that impossible for style to merge with substance? No one said this about male artists like NAS, Public Enemy, or even John Lennon! Why should it seem impossible that this woman, yes beautiful and well-dressed, can not merge her public appearance with "substance?" I disagree. In fact, I think Maya's flair and artistic genius lies in the fact she is ABLE to do both. This is why the article is able to point to the fact that she wants a stylist who can turn a document about censorship into a fashionable jumpsuit by merging the paper into fabric. She also wears the militant headgear in the photo above to signal she has a political message, and her lyrics clearly tell us about those messages. So, any claim that this artist cannot connect style and substance are hollow! Maya, hats off to you!

Paper Bound!

So, while I definitely consider myself fashionably conscious, I must reveal (yes, here in my first blog) my inner nerd! Okay, here it goes: I Love Grid Paper! I know, I know, only mathematicians and engineers are said to utilize the brilliance of grid paper, but I must say it actually makes me feel like I have more creative freedom than blank paper! So, I wanted to introduce you all to two great quality paper sources that also carry my favorite grid notebooks. First, there is Little Otsu in San Francisco (pic at the left).

This place carries the cutest and most artistic paper goods I have found. They not only carry the basics like notebooks and journals, but they also carry very unique name tags, cards/postcards, calendars, bookmarks, and stationary. They are an independent store certainly worth supporting and they even have their own letterpress! They also carry my number one favorite grid notebooks that are printed in Oakland, CA on 100% recycled papers with soy based inks. The thickness of the paper and the size of the notebook is perfect: 4.25" x 5.25" (which is the best since it fits in most of my Mariilang Design Bags!).

My second favorite grid notebook is made by Rhodia.

You've probably seen these notebooks since they now have a cult following! They are the bright orange notebooks with black font that are made in France. This paper company was founded in Lyon, France in 1934 by two brothers, and these notebooks have stayed true to quality! While I'm a little annoyed that they are now sold everywhere (even at American Apparel and some Target locations), I am pleased that I can get my Rhodia fix when the urge arises! And, Rhodia offers four different rulings (blank, lined, grid or the NEW dot grid) for their notebooks in case all of you are not in touch with your inner nerd like I am! I have yet to try the new dot grid, but will let you all know as soon as I do. For now, I definitely prefer the standard grid, which comes in a variety of sizes. And, to top off these fabulous paper goods, I recommend the usage of the Sharpie Pen (my favorite pen at this time!).

Do the Hanky Panky!

My F5 (favorite, fantastic, fabulous friend forever - the f's change on a daily basis, but always consistently in multiples of 5's) spoiled me one year for Christmas (probably our first Christmas together, and then AGAIN another year) with THEE most comfortable pair of lace thongs - Hanky PankyI know, I know...how can thongs be comfortable? First of all, they are beyond soft and second of all, they "move" in just the right amount, these are the real deal. While they are a bit pricier, they have lasted a 2-3 times longer than the knock-offs that I bought at Marshalls. Those seemed to disintegrate after every wash, plus, the lace was rough and would either stretch too much or not stretch at all.

You can find these at any Nordstrom's or even at Akira here in Chicago. I love them and my f5 for getting me hooked. Once you go HP, you never go back! Thanks F5!






Signature Lace Low Rise Thong $18

"Fits lower on the hips, World's Most Comfortable Thong® has a flattering V waistband, no visible panty line (VPL)" - Hanky Panky

My Two-Week Workout Challenge - Wish me luck!

I am a lazy ass. I will never deny that. In fact, when my partner, B, does his "partner duties" and tries to motivate me to go to the gym with him, I seriously make a pouty face and/or stomp around and/or let out a deep, exasperated sigh, falling back into the couch (that of course, I'm sitting on) as if I am fainting in slow motion. Yes, that is me, the drama queen of the household.

So, after our Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives roadtrip from Chicago->Detroit->Buffalo NY->Boston->Connecticut->Philadelphia->Pittsburgh->Indiana->home to Chicago (that can be another post, but brace yourselves, there will be lots of food pics), my husband and I gained a combined amount of 10 pounds. However, the next weekend, we went to one of our favorite couple's wedding in Quincy, IL (holla @ ReRe and KG!), it was another long weekend of great grub, lots of booze and lots of driving.

We had our weigh in before we left for our roadtrip. But after the Quincy weekend, I had another weigh in - and let me tell you, I thought the scale was broken! So basically, I have some extra poundage that needs to go "siyanara" because the summer is finally here in Chicago! (As I write this, it's gloomy, but at least it's warm @ 78 degrees. Rain is coming though).

It's been over 2 weeks since the wedding, and I just have not been motivated to do anything about this EP (extra poundage). But, last night, B finally got me to go down to the gym with him. And guess what? I was on the elliptical machine for an hour! It didn't even feel that long because, in all honestly, I was so excited and busy jotting down ideas for our HF blog, on my iPhone.

Hooray, I did an hour and felt great! B needed more time in the gym, so I went upstairs and decided to pull out my SHAKE WEIGHT! Yes, your eyes do not deceive you - I got one! I saw the commercials and seriously thought it was a spoof. But when I passed by one while I was at Target, I thought - hey, why not! If it doesn't work, I could always return it (instead of ordering it online/tv and going through the hassle of sending it back).

So, I did the 6 minute workout (foreshadowing: there will be a more extensive review on the Shake Weight, I guarantee it) and was still feeling great! Time to work on 'em abs! I have a really funky neck, so it's hard for me to do crunches. But if I lay on my back and tuck my feet under the couch and use that to counter my weight, the pressure is not so bad on my back and neck. I ended my workout with 100 crunches!

I was stoked. So when B came back upstairs, I declared my "two week workout challenge". That's serious business when those are declared. So there you have it. I have survived day one. I'll be back in 2 weeks to letcha know how I did and also to give you my thoughts on the Shake Weight. It's not pretty, but it has potential....

I leave you with a picture of my burger at Kuma's Corner, here in Chicago. THIS, is the goodness that I'm still trying to work off. But yet, salivate with me...


This is one of the specials - Insect Warefare burger with Pablo crusted goat cheese, bacon, roasted corn and green chili, salsa and a paprika creme fraiche. I guess I should be thankful I didn't gain more LBs from our trip! It was fantastic!