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Life never tasted so sweet

August 24, 2010 by Michele K. | Comments (0)

Recently we were sent a sweet, delectable gift from our dear friends at Jennie and Vera’s Cookies. “Try our cookies,” they said. “Let us know what you think,” they echoed.

Wow. That is all we can say; our mouths are full of delicious treats!Right now, it’s a toss-up between the Chocolate Spice cookie and the Coconut Walnut squares… but we’re feeling pretty good about saying all the cookies are amazing! We are a tough crowd, with two self-described chocoholics and a couple of ‘cookie extraordinares’ among us it takes a pretty sweet treat to impress us. Thank you, Jennie and Vera for your generous gift and enthusiastic talent. These cookies are all winners!

CRAVE Chicago felt so inclined to write this post because we are feeling incredibly inspired by this mother-daughter team. Their energy, brilliant baking capabilities and passion for the business is what makes Jennie and Vera’s a masterpiece… and what will keep them at the top.

A new addition to the CRAVE Chicago team

June 29, 2010 by Michele K. | Comments (1)

We’re so excited to announce an addition to our team at CRAVE Chicago! Please join us in welcoming Melanie Stancampiano who is joining Michele Kravetz to enhance everything we strive to do for you! Let’s learn more about Melanie…

Melanie believes that we truly must be the change we wish to see in the world, and uses that as daily inspiration in her personal and professional life. She began her career in the not-for-profit industry where she worked to bring women together to support each other in their volunteerism. She now brings glamour and sophistication to events around Chicagoland as a Linen Stylist with Oliveaire Artisan Events and Meetings. Melanie brings positive energy and creativity to her work, with a great talent for keeping it all organized. She is passionate about volunteering and giving back, loves to daydream about future travels or spend time curled up with a good book, when not chasing around her toddler daughter that is. Melanie’s favorite city in the world is Chicago and she is always excited to connect with all of the amazing entreprenesses who also call Chicago home.

Spring is bloomin’: we’re toned and ready for fun!

April 10, 2010 by Michele K. | Comments (1)

Everyone had a great time on March 28th as 120 ladies from all around Chicagoland gathered for a day of beauty and wellness for the Bloom and Tone CRAVEparty!

We were joined by Glossed and Found, lululemon athletica, Vitamin Water, S Factor, The Spa on Oak, Starfruit, Votre Vu, MD Skincare, Sandy Sfikas, Smashbox, Reflections, Harmony Mind Body Fitness, Blakely FIT, Infuse Yoga Spa, LifeStyle Physical Therapy & Balance Center and The Dailey Method for six hours of toning muscles, smiling faces and abounding energy!

“This event was planned for the woman that is trying to find the perfect fitness regimen for her body type. With Spring right around the corner, we all want to feel and look amazing; this event was poised to help each woman accomplish these goals,” says Michele Kravetz, CRAVE Chicago Coordinator.

The Bloom and Tone CRAVEparty was a fresh beauty and wellness event hosted by CRAVE Chicago and sponsored by Beauty on Call, Glossed and Found, lululemon athletica and Vitamin Water. This vibrant day of rejuvenation took place on March 28th (1-6PM) at Architectural Artifacts (4325 N. Ravenswood, in Chicago). A CRAVEparty is an exclusive, glam-gal gathering for fun, entertainment, networking, personal pampering, relaxin’ and feelinʼ good.

Photography by DeAwna McGinley-Cherney… thank you!

What’s this Bloom and Tone party all about?

March 22, 2010 by Michele K. | Comments (3)

Sure, you’ve been hearing about the upcoming Bloom and Tone CRAVEparty, but you may be asking yourself “What will this be like? What can I expect?” Turns out, you can expect A LOT! Get ready for the best CRAVEparty to-date, and one that will go in the record books!

Tighten and Tone
Sign-up to try four 30-minute unique and fresh fitness regimens! You get to choose your four favorite fitness classes out of six fun and fabulous options!

Relax and Indulge
Each fitness class will spaced by free-time sessions for you to indulge in mini-spa services, shop in lululemon athletica’s pop-up store, engage with and learn from a nutritionist, pep-up your wardrobe with a style coach, try delicious and healthy snacks, relax in the CRAVE Cooldown Lounge and more to completely refresh and exhilarate yourself this Spring!

Some of the fun, fabulous activities during the Bloom and Tone CRAVEparty include:

• Be Bright Pink: Bright Pink believes in the beauty and strength of women. We exist to enlighten and empower high-risk individuals to take control of their breast and ovarian health by providing education, support and a sense of community for a better, brighter future.
• Beauty on Call: With a fresh approach to retail freelance staffing and on-location beauty and spa services, Beauty on Call has filled a void in the beauty industry.
• Blakely FIT: Join Blakely F.I.T., Outstanding Personal Training Exclusively for Women, for an enlightening discussion on the key to successful and permanent weight loss.
• Harmony Mind Body Fitness: Harmony Mind Body Fitness is Chicago’s premier Pilates studio, located in the heart of Lincoln Park.  Join Harmony Director, Laura Dixon, for a 30-minute Pilates Mat class that will be sure to strengthen your core, lengthen your spine, and rejuvenate your spirit!
• Infuse Yoga Spa: Stretch & strengthen your body, focus your mind, and be refreshed. Flow through this dynamic yoga sequence for a boost of pure energy with Infuse.
• LifeStyle Physical Therapy & Balance Center: Join LifeStyle for an interactive discussion on fitness, health and wellness, including injury prevention tips and stretching techniques.
• lululemon athletica: lululemon athletica makes technical clothing for yoga, dancing, running, and most other sweaty pursuits. We create components for people to live longer, healthier, more fun lives. Join lululemon athletica in their pop-up shop at the event!
• MAC Cosmetics: Complimentary make-up applications by the fabulous, cutting-edge MAC Cosmetics team!
• MD Skincare: Complimentary facial peels by Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare™ (formerly MD Skincare® by Dr. Dennis Gross) that help skin meet its most beautiful potential by combining a blend of the best natural antioxidants, vitamins and botanicals with the most scientifically advanced delivery systems.
• Nail Taxi: Complimentary mini-manicures and hand massages by Nail Taxi; exceptional nail care for clients at their homes, offices, hotels, hospitals, corporate events, etc…wherever the client desires.
• Reflections: Reflections is an affordable wardrobe/clothing consultant company based in Chicago. Our goal is for you to shop in your closet and transform your existing items into today’s style. We offer budget friendly services; wardrobe audits, personal shopping, special occasion shopping and gift buying.
• S Factor: The exhilarating S Factor Workout consists of floor and standing movements combining ballet, yoga, Pilates and sophisticated striptease to lengthen, strengthen and celebrate your feminine curves.
• Sandy Sfikas: As a registered dietitian and nutrition editor, Sandy Sfikas is endlessly inspired by the magic of food. Empowering others to eat better and live healthier is fulfilling, but also challenging. So, staying up-to-date on the latest nutrition research is a priority of hers. Sandy is constantly enlightened by colleagues and clients, and she’s thankful to have a career that I love!
• Starfruit: Starfruit is handing-out coupons and samples of delicious Kefir smoothies like Reloaded, which is stocked with protein and fruit.
• Stila: Complimentary make-up applications by the fabulous, sweet Stila team!
• The Dailey Method: The Dailey Method® is a unique combination of ballet barre work, core conditioning, stretching, and orthopedic exercises. After each muscle group is worked, through high repetition using a small range of motion, it is alternately stretched to lengthen the muscles.
• The Spa on Oak: Complimentary mini-oxygen facials by Oak Street’s newest resident!
• Vitamin Water: Healthy hydration for every occasion! The CRAVE Cooldown Lounge is sponsored by Vitamin Water!

Clearly, you don’t want to miss this! Register for the Bloom and Tone CRAVEparty for only $25 here.

Day-of Tips:

• Arrive prepared! Don’t forget to wear your favorite workout gear. We want you to be comfortable and cool throughout the day.
• Free parking lot in front of venue and the Brown Line Montrose stop is just a block away!
• Don’t forget to snag your lululemon athletica goody bag!

The Dailey Method: Interview with Tami

March 21, 2010 by Michele K. | Comments (2)

The Dailey Method is a unique combination of ballet barre work, core conditioning, stretching, and orthopedic exercises. This challenging one-hour class effectively strengthens, tones and lengthens the entire body.  Light weights are utilized to define the upper body while mat and ballet barre work target the thighs, seat and abdominals.  After each muscle group is worked, through high repetition using a small range of motion, it is alternately stretched to lengthen the muscles. The Dailey Method in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood offers these one-hour classes and a bit more… owner, Tami Conway. Immediately upon meeting Tami, she makes you feel like family. This is absolutely important when you’re signing up for a fitness class! How many of us dread heading to the gym and find excuses not to go? Each and every one of us has done this at some point! Knowing Tami, however, opens up a new feeling toward being fit. Because of the relationship she forms with every client, the experience at The Dailey Method in Bucktown is like taking a trip to a dear friend’s home. We should mention her staff implores the same friendly attitude. Let’s learn more about Tami, and her positively contagious vibe…

How would you describe your business in exactly three adjectives?
effective, addicting, and empowering

People may be surprised to know…
That this workout is for EVERYONE!  It is amazing workout for all different ability levels, sexes, shapes, and sizes, and the best part is everyone sees the results.

How do you spend your free time?
Quality family time with my husband Brett, daughter Quinn, and our dog Baxter. Our family walks are my favorite!

Who is your role model or mentor?
My role model is Jill Dailey McIntosh, the creator of The Dailey Method.  She has taught me everything that is worth knowing in my business.

What is your indulgence?
Wine.  I love having a glass of wine at dinner with my husband, catching up with girl friends at someone’s house, or for no reason at all.

Join the fun with The Dailey Method on Facebook and Twitter

***The Dailey Method is one of the six classes offered at this month’s Bloom and Tone CRAVEparty!

Vosges Haut Chocolat: Interview with Katrina

February 26, 2010 by Michele K. | Comments (2)

That’s haut.

Haut-Chocolat, that is, and by haut we mean delicious! Any life experience is instantly made special with an addition of Vosges Haut-Chocolat. Owner/Chocolatier, Katrina Markoff, personally chooses every spice, flower and chocolate that is flown into our Chicago kitchen. Markoff utilizes the original methods of French confectionery artistry which she learned during her training at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Having graduated with the Grand DiplĂ´me from Le Cordon Bleu and having worked extensively in France, Spain, Italy, Southeast Asia and Australia her collections of haut-chocolats have great, worldly inspirations. Inspired by her global apprenticeships, Vosges truffles have exotic influences of an “East meets West” theme.

The Vosges Haut-Chocolat mission is to create a luxury chocolate experience rooted in a sensory journey of bringing about awareness to indigenous cultures through the exploration of spices, herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, nuts, chocolate and the obscure. What better way to learn about a culture, person or object than through eating. If we can all embrace the idea of trying something new such as the perplexing oddity of curry and chocolate, we just may come one step closer to bringing peace to the world through chocolate.

Let’s learn more about peace-seeker, Katrina…

People may be surprised to know…
I have my pilot’s license.

What or who inspired you to start your business?
The Nagaland people of India.

How do you spend your free time?
When I have free time, I’ll be riding my horses, planting seeds and going everywhere with my sweet puppies! {Katrina also recently welcomed a new baby into her family, and we’re sure the bundle of joy is keeping her busy!}

Where is your favorite place to go with your girlfriends?
I think it’s great to go for a walk on Devon Street in Chicago, drinking young coconut milk on the street and buying Indian jewelry.

We invite you to join Katrina on her gorgeous (and tasty) blog, Peace, Love + Chocolate.

Mulberry & Me: Interview with Jana

February 19, 2010 by Michele K. | Comments (2)

Mulberry & Me is the perfect boutique for ladies looking for a great fashion find and a fab friend. Jana Zacek, owner of Mulberry & Me, has created a fun atmosphere for unbelievable shopping. Savvy shoppers find themselves perusing the gorgeously filled racks with a sprinkle in their eye as they soon discover the items in this boutique are great finds at perfect prices! Jana believes there are two essential categories of product. She says “either it’s a beautiful basic that my customer is going to live in or it’s so fabulous and special that you just have to have it. There is no room for an in between.” Let’s learn more about Jana…

People may be surprised to know…
The name of my boutique stems from my time spent living on Mulberry Street in the NoLita neighborhood of New York City, hence the name, Mulberry & Me!

What is your indulgence?
A glass of red wine, a good read, and unwinding in the bathtub.  Preferably all three at the same time!

Where is your favorite place to go with your girlfriends?
My customers ARE my girlfriends and I love to hang out with them in the shop!

Who is your role model or mentor?
My Mom is just THE ultimate.  She had a coffee shop in our neighborhood when I was growing up.  She taught me about running your business with love.  That is the base of everything.

We love Jana.

Though you can’t change the economy, you can change your career

February 15, 2010 by Michele K. | Comments (0)

Though you can’t change the economy, you can change your career! This is why Girl on Top’s Nicole Williams has partnered with Plan B to bring women of the Chicago area a night of top-level networking not to be missed. Held at the prestigious Hotel Allegro, guests who RSVP will receive a VIP pass to the event which includes:

• Chatting up women in the area you need to have on speed dial
• Free cocktails and desserts
• Complimentary career advice from Nicole Williams

Date February 17, 2010
Location The Hotel Allegro at 171 West Randolph Street in Chicago
Time 6-8pm

To RSVP, send an email to RSVP@nicolewilliams.com with you and your guests’ names.

About Nicole Career expert and best selling author Nicole Williams is re-defining the world of work—making it glamorous, entertaining and relevant to modern women. Nicole founded WORKS by Nicole Williams in 2006 with the vision of building the first media and content company focused on career development specifically for the highly dynamic and powerful market of young professional women. Her website, Nicolewilliams.com, is the go-to destination site for modern working women.

Nicole is the author of two bestselling books; Wildly Sophisticated: A Bold New Attitude for Career Success (2004) and Earn What You’re Worth (2005), published by Penguin Group Inc. Her latest book Girl on Top, for which she partnered with The Limited on a successful nationwide experiential event tour, was published in Fall 2009.

Harmony Mind Body Fitness: Interview with Laura

February 12, 2010 by Michele K. | Comments (0)

Harmony Mind Body Fitness, located in the heart of Lincoln Park, offers private, duet and group sessions in Pilates, GYROTONIC®, and GYROKINESIS®. All of these forms of exercise and bodywork are changing the way that people workout, as they find that intelligent, fun exercise does actually exist. Harmony offers clients, from the novice to the athlete, a chance to find a more meaningful connection between their mind and body as they move. The exercises are based on those of yoga, dance, tai chi, and swimming, and when you mesh those ideas together, they become a wonderfully connected series of movements that reap many benefits. You may feel taller, leaner, stronger, but most remarkably, more alive when you leave a session. Just ponder some of the principles of Pilates: concentration, control, center, fluidity, precision, breath, imagination and intuition. Our goal at Harmony is to give each client a fun, safe, effective workout – changing the body one session at a time. Let’s meet the owner of Harmony, Laura…

What are your most popular products or services?
Private Pilates sessions with our staff of certified instructors. Individual attention is key in understanding the fundamentals of Pilates.

People may be surprised to know…
Anyone can do Pilates!  We know how to modify exercises to make them beneficial for every body.

What or who inspired you to start your business?
I wanted to find a way to balance my creative side with my business-minded side.  Teaching regularly, training instructors, and maintaining a close relationship with clients have allowed me to find a perfect balance.

Follow Harmony Mind Body Fitness on Twitter

Harmony Mind Body Fitness will be one of eight fitness options during the upcoming Bloom and Tone CRAVEparty!

Adele Dallas Orr Pret a Porter Boutique: Interview with Adele

February 5, 2010 by Michele K. | Comments (0)

Adele Dallas Orr designs her unique colorful fashion collection with classy and fabulous in mind.  Her boutique carries classy separates and fabulous fashion jewelry that reflect her love of color, exotic prints and silky textures. Her travels to South Africa, Europe and Asia have influenced the stylish clothes and designs that are fresh, uncomplicated and modern. The versatile pieces are accessorized with her exquisite jewelry that are made of fresh water pearls, and semi-precious stones. Adele’s stylish, timeless clothing and accessories have a European fair for women of all ages and are ideal for women in Chicago. The Adele Dallas Orr boutique invites women to redefine their own style by adding unique pieces that are comfortable and will make a definite statement.  Wearable art bracelets and necklaces, hand painted silk scarves and sequined cocktail purses are among the ready-to-wear glamorous fashions that are made in the USA.

The concept of starting with one piece and building a practical wardrobe is what Adele Dallas Orr is all about. “Sometimes the tiniest thing can make the biggest statement,” says Adele.  A wearable art silk skirt, scarf or jacket are examples of the stylish, but practical items that this European styled boutique offers while allowing women to go from the office to a dinner affair with ease and at an accessible price.  Adele’s collection has been sold in Cape Town, Johannesburg, London and now Chicago.

Adele says, “Just because we’re in a recession doesn’t mean a woman can’t be classy and fabulous! I’ll will make sure of that!” Let’s learn more about Adele…

What are your most popular products or services?
Our most popular products are our reversible silk jackets,our ruffle silk coats, wearable art silk skirts and scarves.  Our statement jewelry made of faceted black onyx and fresh water pearls are among the most popular pieces… I believe because they are classic timeless pieces.

People may be surprised to know…
Adele’s collection been featured at the London Pret a Porter fashion trade show and has been sold around the world in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Spain, London and now Chicago.

What or who inspired you to start your business?
My love of fashion and travel and the will to work for myself inspired me to open my business.  I also perceived a niche in the market to design elegant European styled clothes for women of all ages at an accessible price.

Who is your role model or mentor?
My role model is Coco Chanel who believed that women should be two things… «Classy and Fabulous» I always design with these wise words in mind.

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