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Mom. She does so much for everyone else. Isn’t it time she took care of herself for a change?

Fourteen years ago I became a mother in April, and for my first Mother’s Day in May I asked for a membership in an all-women’s gym. I worked full-time. My baby kept me up all night. I was a walking zombie most of the time. I was not sure I would have the time or energy to actually go to a gym. But I needed Me Time. We got a three-month membership to The Spa, Fitness for Women in Upland just to try it out.

What a Godsend the Spa became! When I stepped through the doors I left the hectic world behind. When those doors shut last year due to financial problems, I was devastated, as were hundreds of other ladies who had been going there for years. Some of us started a Facebook Page to connect. We were thrilled when we learned that a former owner was taking back the facility and was going to renew the place and open it up as Shirlee’s Fitness Club for Women.

Workers have been busy for four months improving the place inside and out, and Shirlee’s will be opening soon. The wait has been excruciating for many of us, as we want our exercise oasis back! (You can see pictures of the new Shirlee’s on Shirlee’s FB page.)

My baby girl turned 14 in April, and is now old enough to join the gym herself. When Shirlee’s opens, (hopefully soon), she, too, will be a member. High school brings overwhelming stress for girls her age: grades, extracurricular activities, and social life in the age of FB, for example. I am hoping that Shirlee’s become an oasis for her as well—a place where she can relax, recharge, and be inspired by women of all ages, shapes, and sizes supporting each other.

If you know of a mom who needs some Me Time, let her know about Shirlee’s. Maybe she can ask for a Shirlee’s membership for Mother’s Day.

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How to Save Half Off or More at Restaurants

Want to go out to eat, but think it’s too expensive? Think again. Did you know you can save as much as half off restaurant coupons? I’ll let you in on a little secret: the place to get these great restaurant coupons is restaurant.com. The usual deal they have is $10 for a $20 coupon or $25 for a $50 coupon.  That means you get to go out for half off!   But sometimes they have even better promotional deals.

I was a bit skeptical when I bought my first restaurant.com coupon.  But the promotion was too good to pass up.  The transaction went quickly, I printed out the coupon, and took the family out. The restaurant accepted the coupon no question. So I went back and bought several more coupons! I used them myself and gave them away as gifts.

You can easily find restaurants in your area that have coupons by putting your zip code into the restaurant.com site. All the offers come up with the details. Some coupons do require a minimum purchase and most require that the tip be based on the actual price, not the discounted price. But having been a server in grad school, I think the policy is fair, especially when you get one of the better promotions.

Below is a link for restaurant.com’s latest offers. Enjoy.

Fabulous Free Vintage Apron Pattern

Why is it that women drool over vintage aprons? The thought of actually being a 1950′s housewife toiling away in the kitchen appalls us.  But the fun, frilly aprons are just too cute.

A good friend’s son is getting married and his beautiful bride-to-be is a great cook.  So I whipped up a retro-style apron to give at her bridal shower.  I can just see her making her yummy crepes in this little number.

I love the fact that it is reversible.  I knew it turned out OK when my husband said it looked like it came out of one of those shops all the women love that he refuses to enter. Also when my teenage daughter squealed upon seeing it.

The design is based on a free retro apron pattern I found online.  The directions are pretty clear. Kudos to the designer for sharing.  I did change a couple things.  The original has the bias tape going all the way around the sides.  If you only want it on the top, bottom and pockets like I have, then just put rights sides together on both the apron and flounce, sew seams, right side it out and proceed.  I have two sewing machines, both vintage without an automatic buttonholer.  So I did not want to make button holes.  I switched up the top ties a bit and did not use buttonholes.  When you sew the buttons on, be careful to only go through one layer so you do not see stitching on reverse.  I also added a pocket on reverse side.  I made a square for a different look, and also because those angled pockets were hard to sew!

I have seen other pictures on the web of crafty women who have made really cute aprons using this pattern.

I also bought a retro apron pattern from McCalls, so I may try that next.  Hope Jemma likes it.

A great selection of retro apron patterns are available at Amazon.

Gary, the new owner (who owned the Spa for many years before Monica and George took over), recently gave me a tour of the new fitness club under complete renovation at the Spa site. Here’s an update. Please note that these are my own personal impressions, and I hope I got the details right. Gary should be sharing more announcements with you himself soon.

Right off the bat I will address three main points . . .

1. The remodeled gym under new ownership will have a new name and will offer new and improved features that should please most former Spa members. A few changes might not fit everyone’s needs, but you should consider the new place when making a decision on where to go for a new gym.

2. Gary is going to make a special offer to former Spa members based on how much each individual lost out to former owners of the now-bankrupt Spa. He will be contacting individual members to let each know what her offer is. You will have a limited time (about a month) to decide whether to take advantage of the “charter member” offer. The offer will include basic membership plus free access to classes.

3. The final decision on whether and when to re-open the gym will depend on several factors including permits from the city and making sure he meets all city, county and federal codes; how the weather affects construction; and how former Spa members respond to Gary’s charter membership offer.

OK, now for some observations . . .

All weight machines, treadmills, step machines etc are now in the one big room in three rows. Classes will no longer be held in that room.

Zumba, bokwa and yoga will be held in a separate room. This room is smaller (holds about 20), and members will sign up to reserve a spot in the class. (Bokwa is a dance exercise based on South African dance, sorta of like Zumba.)

Another room will be the Spinning room with about 20 new bikes. You also reserve a spot in the class.

There will be a third area for new pilates machines.

There is now an outdoor area for step classes, tai chi and some similar classes. The idea of having “Step Into Nature” classes outside in a zen garden setting is novel. The boot camp areas outside will be refurbished and used for outdoor training as well. All the trees have been trimmed and the grounds manicured. He plans to wrap lights on the trees. The track will be resurfaced and drainage improved so that when it rains it does not flood.

A big plus is the addition of the spinning bikes and pilates machines and the new bokwa offering. I also like that yoga will not have to be done in a room with treadmills etc. A potential concern is that classes at the Spa were popular, and I hope that they can work out a way to offer enough classes so that you can get a spot in the class you want.

The women’s locker room will be in a new area. It will have three bathrooms, but it will not have showers. The pool area, however, will have three outdoor showers that will be solar heated. For many of us, the outdoor showers will be sufficient because  we just went home to shower after working out unless we went swimming. If you really want to shower at your gym, though, you should take into consideration the lack of showers in the locker room. (I think showers were left out, at least for now, because of requirements that everything meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and restraints on budget and space.) The pool and the jacuzzi will be kept and cleaned.

To make room for some of the new features, the Kids Club was eliminated. To try to mitigate this loss, Gary has talked to some members who do childcare nearby and is arranging a discount rate for fitness club members.

The area that formerly housed On Cloud Nine will feature a luxury nail spa that includes footbaths, and a separate area for waxing and facials among other things. He plans to install a big screen TV. The tanning beds are being moved to a separate area.

The lobby area will be renovated and redecorated. The check-in system will be computerized and people can reserve classes from online at home. The building is getting a new roof, so no more leaks in the rainy season. If all goes as planned, Gary will be interviewing and hiring staff and may hire back many of the employees we grew to appreciate.

Former Spa members have many choices now to find a new home for working out. Some have already signed up at the Upland Y and the Claremont Club and some are looking at other options. I think the new club under new ownership at the site of the old Spa will be something most of us will want to consider, especially if you want an all-womens gym with a supportive atmosphere. The regular rates will more closely match what is being charged by other gyms. No more three years for $300. That model was not sustainable. However, as I said, Gary will be extending a limited-time introductory offer to former Spa members. So if you join as a “charter member” you will get a  better deal. He will be letting us know more details of the offer soon. He has also extended an invitation to former Spa members to let him know in advance what is important to them and what they want in a new club. So if you have suggestions or concerns, I suggest you contact him by email.  If you click on his profile on the Facebook Bummed About the Spa for Women in Upland Closed group, there is a link to email him.

Thank you to Gary for giving me the tour and keeping the lines of communication open. Let me know if you need me to correct any of the info here. I hope this helped to keep former members of the old Spa informed about what is going on. Please continue to work out someplace! I walked the wilderness trail at end of Mills in Claremont today. It was beautiful out.

UPDATE

Jan 3, 2012

Just an update: the showers are back! Yea! And the class room is larger! Also, Shirlees Fitness Club for Women now has its own website shirlees.com. So for the lastest update and for contact info visit that site.

Related posts:
Spa for Women to Re-open in January
Spa for Women Shuts its Doors . . . Now What?

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Honey Badger Video Inspires Tons of Designs on T-Shirts

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Honey Badgers T-shirts are outselling all other designs on some of the print-on-demand stores like Zazzle and Cafepress.  Made me curious what the fuss was all about. The answer: a simple You-Tube video with 25 million hits and counting featuring a short nature film about the creature narrated by an incongruous voice with cello music in the background.

I decided to whip up a couple designs of my own featuring the honey badger. I made a posterized honey badger, cut him out, and put him in front of some text with a yellow-orange-red gradient.  Underneath it reads: “Do I Look Like I Care?” I made two versions, one for light shirts and one for dark.

When I showed my daughter, 13, she immediately wanted one.  So did her friend.  We printed the design out on iron-on transfer paper and made some up right away.  I also put my honey badger design up for sale on Zazzle.

I asked for design advice from my son and was surprised that he voted not to have little bits of the letter dropping down.  He said it looked too much like blood and was a bit gory.  And here I thought the blood and guts reference might appeal to a 11-year-old boy.

Here’s the two versions.  Should I have left in the red crumbs?  They are supposed to be crumbs from the big bite out of the text.  But I am not sure that even comes across.  Hmmmm.  Let me know you opinion in the comments section (you gotta scroll down a bit to see it).

Version 2

I made a back for my daughter’s shirt.

See other gifts available on Zazzle.

I made a volleyball version of my Honey Badger design.

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Spa for Women to Re-Open Under Former Owner

When the Spa for Women unexpectedly shut its doors last month, hundreds of Inland Valley women were left without a gym. As I posted here, many of us grieved the loss of a low-key, all-female gym that felt like home.

Spa owners shut down the place with no warning to employees or members and with no communication afterwards about whether the gym would re-open and if so, if our memberships–many of which were paid years in advance–would be honored. The Spa did not update its website or give any of us the means to communicate with each other. That’s why I started a Facebook Page, Bummed About the Spa for Women in Upland Closing.

I am happy to let you know that the answers to many questions Spa members have can be found in posts in this FB group. The biggest news is that Gary, the owner of the building and equipment, has announced that he will be re-opening a new and improved Spa in January. The FB page also has lots of offers from local gyms for free trial periods. Some of the Spa instructors have let us know where else they teach as well.

Gary says he cannot afford to honor our existing membership cards at face value as his investors need cash flow, but he is offering discounted rates, depending upon how many years you had left on your card and whether you had pre-paid for other services, such as training etc. He seems sincere about trying to offer members the best deal possible, and he seems committed to re-invigorating the Spa. He is also making an effort to reach out to members to let them know what is going on and to solicit their input. His outreach is a welcome relief after weeks of no information at all about what was going on.

The FB group has lots of information about the Spa’s closing and reopening and about your options. It also offers a way for you to communicate with other members. To join, go to the group  Bummed About the Spa for Women in Upland Closing then ask to join. I think any existing member of the group can also add other friends.

I hope this information is helpful.

Related post: Spa for Women in Upland Shuts Doors: Now What?

 

Do you think it is super creepy when you computer seems to know what you’ve been up to? Let’s say your 4th grader is doing a book report on, say, Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa,  He spends a few hours Googling using keywords relating to the mission.  Next time you use the computer to buy something, you see in the checkout recommendations on books relating to the mission!   How did that happen?  Then you notice about a bazillion ads for wrinkle cream popping up. . . . how did the computer know you are a middle-aged woman?

Turns out it’s cookies: digital tracking beacons fed to your browser by websites you visit. These cookies allow a company you never heard of to keep track of you and market to you.

No, you never signed up giving permission to be tracked.  Who would?  But to get it to stop, you have to opt out.

About a month ago, I figured out how to opt out–it is super simple–and magically, the creepy Big-Brother marketing stopped!  What a relief.

Today’s LA Times article “Ad Companies Have Their Hands, or Cookies, in Your Browser,” gives a great overview on how these cookies work and how to get rid of them.  The article recommended checking back periodically to make sure your opt out is up to date

I went back to the opt-out site today, and sure enough, I found a few more ad networks I needed to opt out of.  A few clicks and I turned off all those nasty behavioral tracking cookies again.

Seems silly we have to opt out rather than opt in.  But it is easy to do.  I recommend it.

Bad enough that all the retail stores now have loyalty cards that track everything we buy, and Facebook keeps track of God-only-knows what about us.  We don’t need Big Browser giving away secrets to marketers as well.

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My Quick Deals Offers Discounts on Inland Valley Businesses

Somehow I stumbled onto a new daily deal site that I want to share with friends and neighbors in Claremont and nearby areas. It is called MyQuickDeals and it is like Groupon and the other daily deal sites only better because all the deals are for local businesses!

Like right now, they have a deal for half off at Mt Fuji Garden center. You spend $20 and get $40 worth at Mt. Fuji! Another deal on now is for $99 you can get an IPL Photofacial and Glycolic Peel at a local Medspa–normally that would go for $400. Another deal was $7 for $14 for of yogurt or gelato.

MyQuickDeals is a local business. And they need more local people to sign up. It costs nothing to sign up. You are not bombarded with emails etc. Just one email a day. The offers look good. And the company is giving part of the proceeds to schools and local charities.

Here is some info about them from an email I got from them”

We are family owned and operated, and based in Upland. We started our business two months ago hoping to do three things: (1) provide truly localized deals to our neighbors in the west end of the Inland Empire, (2) provide local businesses with an alternative to Groupon & Living Social, which both charge businesses more, and (3) give back part of our proceeds to help local charities and school programs. For our business to work we need to get more people knowing about and using MyQuickDeals.

I am inviting you to check them out and sign up to support them and other local businesses that offer deals. You will also be helping yourself because it looks like they have some great deals! Let me know what you think and if you take advantage of any of their offers. Pass the word.

Totally Bummed

When the Spa for Women in Upland, CA, shut its doors unexpectedly last week, many of us members were shocked and devastated. Where do we go now? Although the gym on Foothill near Mountain was not the classiest place, it offered the basics at a reasonable price and fellow members and staff felt like family. Many women have been going to the gym for decades.

Talking to fellow members I hear words of grief. “Devastated.” So Upset.” “Don’t know what I am going to do.” So bummed” “Mad.” “Lost” “That place was perfect for me . . . now what am I gonna do?”

The best thing about the Spa was the people. The instructors: all competent, friendly, and caring. The members: all down-to-earth women. You could go to the gym in your sweats without putting your make-up on and it was all good. I was there 13 years.

So now I am looking for a gym with yoga, step, Zumba, weights, and a pool that is close, affordable and has a clientele that makes me comfortable. I need a gym in Claremont or Upland or someplace close . . . too far and I will end up not going.

Looking on Yelp at reviews and it is not encouraging.

Many of us are wondering why the owner did not at the least try to arrange a discount at another gym for us. After all, most of us paid for multiple-year gym memberships, and now it looks like we are just out the money. I had 6 years left on mine.

With no FB page or email list, we are all just left to find a new gym home on our own. If you were a Spa member, please let me know what your plans are. Leave a comment below. I also started a Facebook group Bummed About the Spa for Women in Upland Closing in the hopes of reaching out to others in my situation. Maybe if we trade notes we can help each other find new gyms that work for each of us. Join it by going to Bummed about Spa for Women in Upland Closing Group.

Please pass the word along. Thank you.

If you want to contact me directly: email kim at creativezazz.com

By the way:  there is a great new daily deal site just for the Inland Empire.  Local company that just started up and they need members. Check it out.