Sam Martirano's

A couple of weeks ago, Miss Judy, who writes the Hug the Bear blog, posted about her favorite spa in Glenview.   Not to invade her territory, but I would feel remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to mine:

Sam Martirano Salon and Spa has been in Glenview for as long as I can remember.  When you walk in the front door, there is so much activity that it is hard to believe you can find a relaxing massage.  Head to the back, through the glass door.  You’ll find it.

But here’s the truth – I am not a connoisseur of the massage.  I go for the facials.  As I get older, taking care of my skin has become more important.   Marilyn and her colleague, Dorota have helping me for years.

The great thing about Marilyn is that she doesn’t just go through the process – cleansing, exfoliating, masks, etc.   She gives me an education on skin care:

Those break outs on my chin are from stress.  Yes, I do need SPF.  Even when I sit in an office all day.  My freckles may be cute, but they are also called sun damage. 

She tests out all kinds of products herself.  I remember asking her, “Doesn’t your skin ever freak out from trying new products all the time?”

“Yes,” was her answer.

But in my experience, no one at Sam Martirano’s ever pushes product sales.  They give recommendations, and answer questions, but I never feel pressured to buy more.

That makes for a relaxing experience. 

Sam Martirano’s Glenview location is in Plaza del Prado at Willow and Pfingsten.  You can visit them on the web at: http://www.smsalonandspa.com/ .      

Cross Posted to Glenview Patch.

I Love Patch.com

Patch.com is the best thing ever.  The Winnetka-Glencoe Patch just did a profile of Rich Weiner, the Executive Director at a Refuge for Saving the Wildlife, where I have volunteered for so long I don’t even remember.

And here is a link to the article.

Petango

If you count Sigmund the Foster Grey (more on him later), there are four pets in my house:

Dog, cat, two African Greys.  And they need stuff.  Food, treats, meds, toys, various supplies.  I have no one source for all of my needs, so I shop around a lot.

I like to find a good deal and I like to support my causes.  So when I adopted Gibbs and discovered the pet supply store run at Wright-Way Rescue, I bought a lot of stuff.  Muttzie’s commits to having competitive prices (I was told they check against PetsMart and Petco) and the proceeds go to help the dogs and cats.  However, it is sort of a pain to drive over there and the working hours are not at all convenient.

Then this morning, in my e-mail box, was a message from ShelterCare, the health insurance company for the shelter pets.  It pointed me to the website for Petango.  It is a pretty standard site for dog and cat supplies.  They seem to have more of the boutique brands and even organic products.  Ugh, and a Fung Shui drinking fountain.  But also, Kong toy and Nylabone stuff. 

But the beauty is this:  10% of each order goes to an animal shelter of your choice.   They have a drop-down list for each state, but if your rescue of choice isn’t listed there is a fill-in-the-blank.  And – free shipping over $35.  That is better than PetsMart.

Gibbs is now stocked with Kong Stuffin'!

Blanket 38

Yeah, yeah.  Finished another blanket this weekend.  I want to record this stuff, as I am giving them away as soon as possible, and I am too lazy to set up another blog for it.

So, the bear fleece came from Penny's stash, and I used the Loops & Threads Impeccable yarn in Royal, leftover form another project.

Breakfast of Champions

I can't believe this has been sitting on my phone for two weeks and I forgot to tell you about it:

I am not the biggest fan of the Corner Bakery, but this - Almond Berry Swiss Oatmeal - is the best breakfast ever.  Well.  Best cold breakfast ever.  The Chilled Swiss Oatmeal is a staple on the menu, but this version: with strawberries, blueberries and roasted almond slices, is only around in the summer.  Vanilla yogurt, fresh apples and bananas, dried currants and the oats.

If they weren't so stingy about shutting down the breakfast menu at 11am or whatever, I'd eat it for dinner.

Conversation about the Dog

Me:   I'm going to take the dog and get some ice cream.  What do you want?
Her:  No, you're not.
Me:  Yes.  I am.
Her: You're going to leave him in the car?
Me:  No.  I'm going to drive through Dunkin' Donuts (it has a Baskin Robbins).
Her:  How are you going to keep him from eating the ice cream on the way home?
Me:  I'll get.  A bag.
Her:  Well, whose car are you taking?!
Me:   We're done.  (walks out)
Her:   It's just...he'll slip off your seats!   ....Plain vanilla!!

He was fine.  Barked at the lady at the window, but otherwise fine.

And since conversations about the dog require pictures of the dog, I took this a few days ago.  Right before he started barking at me:

Blanket 37

I'd been doing so many Penny Blankets that I forgot how very long it takes to crochet a full one:

The variegated yarn in the center is Red Heart Soft in Plummy.  Yarn colors are starting to sound like nail polish colors these days.  The solid is Red Heart Soft in Lilac.

It was three skeins of variegated, then I did one skein around each side, finishing with two rows of the variegated.

Blanket 36

I had an oversized Raggedy Ann as a kid and loved her so much that when she really fell apart - the stuffing in her foot was being held together by duct tape - my mother found me a new one.  I was 13.

But I had no idea that Raggedy Ann stuff could still be found:

They don't seem to have updated her look, like Strawberry Shortcake.  The foundation row was Lion Brand Pound of Love yarn in White and the two rows of single crochet were Red Heart yarn in Cherry.

Kiva's Awesome Promotion

I am fairly sure I have mentioned Kiva before - the not for profit organization that hooks up people in developing countries with people that are willing to lend them small amounts of money to start or expand their businesses.


Today, Kiva sent me a note about a promotion they are running:


They are offering a free $25 loan to new members.  Here is how it works:


"These free trials will be financed by Kiva, allowing the new lender to make one $25 loan free of charge. These free trial loans are dispersed to borrowers in the same way other loans are dispersed on Kiva. However, since Kiva is funding the free trial loan, any repayment funds from the free trial loan will go back to Kiva, not to the free trial lender. New lenders invited during the promotion dates may choose to use their own funds to make a loan, in which case repayments will go back to the lender."


They must be thinking that once you have gone through the process of reading the profiles, selecting a person to help finance, and watching their progress, you will be hooked and want to join up yourself after the "free" loan is repaid.  I think this is an awesome bet.


If you are interested in giving it a try - and you'd better hurry because it is only open to the first 4,000 takers - this is the link they sent me with more details.

Ghosts of Dogs Past

My entire house looks like this:

This is nothing new.  As I've mentioned, we've had a lot of dogs in my family.  When my friend Austin suggested that Gibbs has been playing with Ghosts of Dogs Past in my house, we started making the comparisons:

1.   Dallas - My late great German Shepard was crazy fast.  She drank her water loudly and messily.  After a nap, she stretched and yawned quite dramatically - sticking out an impossibly long tongue.   She was also far more affectionate than she appeared.  She could have been Gibbs mother:

2.  Earlier this evening, I gave Gibbs a frozen Kong treat.  So I could eat a cup of ice cream.  He finished his treat and jumped up on my bed, wagging his tail and staring.  No dice, dog.  

He barked at me for not sharing.  Bailey the Cocker Spaniel used to do that.   I have not scanned any pictures from 1985, so you are out of luck.  But he looked absolutely nothing like Gibbs.

3.  Right now, he is sacked out in the hallway outside my bedroom.  My bedroom is at the end of the upstairs hallway.  He can see anyone coming or going from any of the other second floor rooms, or anyone going up or down the stairs.  Shadow used to do the same thing.  Let's compare puppy pics.  This is Shadow, late 1997:

And this is Gibbs, the weekend we adopted him:

I seem to recall he tripped over his own feet, trying to runrunrun.   Look at those ears.  He's starting to grow into them.

Knock on something, but the potty training is going better.  He is cultivating a Big Boy Bark.  He has had all but the rabies shot, so I started taking him on walks up and down my street.  Mixed results.  He doesn't like the feeling of morning dew under his little toes.