CRAVE CRUSH the urban girl's blog to all that you CRAVE

Sip and Savor with the Girls Tonight!

March 12, 2010 by Suzanne | Comments (0)

CRAVEing some girl time? You don’t have to wait until the weekend to spend a fun night out on the town! Why not plan an easy, midweek pick me up – drinks with the girls! Enjoy the best of Chicago happy hour: small plates (and prices!), cheap drinks, and your fabulous friends! Here are some of our favorite places:

The Bluebird A cool, laid back atmosphere, The Bluebird is a great place to hang with the girls. From the moment you walk in and see the oak tables, softy candle lit bar and exposed brick walls, you will know you have found a hidden gem! Meet the girls here after work for appetizers and wine – it’s sure to be a great evening! Are you a night owl? The kitchen stays open late so their tasty food and delicious wines are available past midnight!

JBar CRAVEing a trendy lounge atmosphere? JBar is a happening hot spot, whether you looking for a fun place to start your night or end it. Anchoring the south end of Rush Street’s nightlife, JBar offers innovative signature cocktails in an intimate environment. Inviting enclaves and video-as-art installations distinguish the stylishly modern ambiance.

Big Star For a low-key night out after a stressful day of work, Big Star is your destination! With plain décor, a small but delicious menu, and good music is a relaxing destination nestled among long-lined bars. Sunday nights are great here and we recommend the fish tacos, guacamole, and dulce de leche milkshakes, if you are in the mood to indulge!

Celebrating Women’s History Month

March 8, 2010 by Melisa | Comments (0)

Did you know that March is Women’s History Month? Women’s History Month can be traced back to 1911 when the first International Women’s Day was celebrated. But it didn’t become a month long celebration until 1987. The popularity of women’s history celebrations continues to spread as more people are becoming aware of the contributions of women and girls. A President’s Commission on the Celebration of Women in History in America recently sponsored hearings in many parts of the country. The Women’s Progress Commission will soon conduct hearings to promote interest in preserving areas that are relevant in American women’s history. Some of the groups promoting this interest are state historical societies, women’s organizations, and groups such as the Girl Scouts of the USA. CRAVE would like to celebrate Women’s History month by selecting five women who have made a positive impact in the last ten years.

Hillary Clinton
During the last decade, she was First Lady, Senator, serious presidential candidate of a major political party, and Secretary of State, First former First Lady to hold major elective office, January 2001 (Senator from New York); first woman candidate for U.S. president to almost win a nomination from a major political party (declared candidacy January 2007, conceded June 2008) and first former First Lady to serve in the cabinet, in her capacity of U.S. Secretary of State, confirmed January 2009. All of this after her presidential husband cheated on her for the whole world to see. Need I say more?

Oprah Winfrey
Oprah was the first black billionaire, as reported by Forbes in April 2004. Although she is not in politics or changing laws, her power and conviction is known the world over. She has used her power again and again to shed light on good causes on everything from women who are sold into slavery to animal cruelty. Her latest endeavor is getting people to stop talking and texting on the phone while driving. She puts massive amounts of money into charitable causes and her show is now approaching an unbelievable 25 year run. In 2009 she announced that the The Oprah Winfrey Show will end in 2011. It’s hard to find a woman who doesn’t know who she is.

Melinda Gates
Melinda Gates is the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the largest transparently operated private foundation in the world. The foundation is “driven by the interests and passions of the Gates family.” The primary aims of the foundation are, globally, to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty, and in America, to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology. The foundation, based in Seattle, Washington, has an endowment of US$35.1 billion as of October 1, 2008. The scale of the foundation and the way it seeks to apply business techniques to giving makes it one of the leaders in the philanthrocapitalism revolution in global philanthropy. In 2007 its founders were ranked as the second most generous philanthropists in America. Bill and Melinda were also named Time magazine’s Persons of the Year in December 2005.

Michelle Obama
Because Michelle is the first African American first lady and the first wife of an African American President, she has an influence and gets attention that prior first ladies may not have received. Michelle represents the loving, working mother who came from difficult circumstances, had the opportunity to attend an Ivy League school, and achieve great things in the causes that she’s taken on as a lawyer, and now, as a first lady. Even her fashion sense is turning heads because she tends to wear little known designers, giving them well-deserved attention, instead of going for the more typical pricier names that everyone would expect. When Michelle decided to grow a vegetable garden outside the White-House, all of a sudden it was all the rage. Right now she is taking on reducing childhood obesity and encouraging children to have a healthy active lifestyle.

Ellen DeGeneres
Though it is easy to argue that Ellen doesn’t have half the achievements under her belt as any of the rest of these women do, her talk show and her name have become so synonymous with positivity and acceptance, it seems that laughter really is the best medicine. Besides being widely adored and accepted as an openly gay woman, Ellen and her talk show have won the daytime Emmy for Best Talk Show and talk show host 4 years in a row and the show averages about 3.0 million viewers per episode, according to daytime television ratings, which makes it one of the highest-viewed daytime shows. The refreshing style of her humor and the unyielding extent of her kindness make her a stand out woman of the last decade.

Information from wikipedia.com.

The Best Movies to Watch with Your Girlfriends

March 1, 2010 by Ashley | Comments (0)

What would we do without our girlfriends? They keep us sane when things get crazy, offer a shoulder to cry on when things get tough, encourage us to buy those shoes we just can’t live without, pig out on junk food with us after a bad breakup, and always, always make us laugh. One of our favorite things to do with our best gal pals is to pile onto the couch with plenty of buttered popcorn and indulge in a chick-flick movie-fest. Check out our picks for the movies to watch with your best girlfriends and start planning your next girl’s night in!

Beaches
Grab your tissues for this one. Its a tear-jerker but its also the story of a friendship that lasts a lifetime – CC and Hilary were totally BFF.

Thelma and Louise
Two best friends on a wild adventure, together until the end, and Brad Pitt? Sign us up!

Steel Magnolias
This one is another sob-story, but we love the story of this group of women who are there for each other through all of life’s ups and downs.

Bridget Jones’ Diary
Because Bridget’s kooky antics make us laugh every time and remind us everyone does silly things from time to time.

Fried Green Tomatoes
A testament to the strength of a woman and what she’ll do for her friends.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Because we all love Audrey Hepburn and we all have a little bit of Miss Holly Golightly in us.

Grease
A true guilty pleasure that we love to sing along to with our girls – a definite pick-me-up.

Sixteen Candles
Because we swoon over Jake Ryan and every girl’s high-school fantasy come true, every time we see it.

Dirty Dancing
Another guilty pleasure and classic that we know by heart and can watch with our girlfriends, time and time again.

Mean Girls
It may not be might not be your typical girl-power, female bonding kind of movie, but we all learn a lesson in the end – to support the women in our lives. Plus, its hilarious.

We could go on and on, but we’ll stop here and let you start planning which flicks to view at your next girl’s night. Hooray for girlfriends!

Vosges Haut Chocolat: Interview with Katrina

February 26, 2010 by Michele | Comments (0)

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 Diplôme 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.

Peek into the CRAVE Closet

February 25, 2010 by Sarah C. | Comments (0)

Our very own Melody Biringer had her closet raided! MyCloset.com, a website dedicated to airing people’s dirty laundry (literally), recently featured the CRAVEcompany founder in its scintillating Celebrity Closets installment. Among the hangers and hampers, a myriad of wardrobe gems were unearthed from all over the world. Woolen leg-warmers from Amsterdam, Ilse Jacobsen rain boots from Seattle, a bold purple dress from Vancouver, BC… how can that much cuteness exist in one closet? Lucky for us, Melody divulged a few of her shopping secrets and we can all check out her fashion favorites for ourselves. Below check out some of her most-cherished boutiques.

Moscow (moscowdesign.nl)
Runstraat 8, 1111 AA, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Horseshoe (horseshoeseattle.com)
5344 Ballard Avenue Northwest Seattle, WA 98107

Lambs Ear (lambsearshoes.com)
3516 Fremont Place No.inesgloves.com Seattle, WA 98103

Ines Gloves (inesgloves.com)
Oudezijds Achterburgwal 132 1012 DV Amsterdam, Netherlands

JC Studio (jcstudio.ca)
46 West 6th Avenue Vancouver, BC V5Y 1K1

sonja | clothes to live in (sonjatacoma.com)
2701 N 21st St, Tacoma, WA 98406

Switch Shoes (switch-shoes.com)
7871 Southwest Capitol Highway, Portland, OR 97219

For a truly in depth look into the world of women-owned boutiques, check out the CRAVEguide for a city near you. These books are brimming with local women you need to know, whether you want to satisfy a craving for your closet, appetite, business, or piece of mind.

Out with the Old, In with the New!

February 24, 2010 by Suzanne | Comments (0)

You just got your CRAVE Chicago Guide and have been hitting up all the extraordinary woman-owned boutiques and enjoying special savings! The only problem? Where to put all of your fabulous finds!

Follow these tips to turn your closet into a sanctuary!

1. Set aside at least an hour, maybe two. And remember, many hands make light work! See if you can get a friend to help you… or at least keep you company!

2. To begin, remove everything! As you do, sort the items, putting similar ones together. Also make “Trash” and “Give Away” piles if you plan on purging. CRAVE tip: If you haven’t worn an item in a year, and don’t plan to in the foreseeable future, get rid of it! It is just taking up precious space.

3. Good news! You are half way there! Now, you just have to put everything back. Organize your clothes by there function: dresses, work skirts, work blouses, evening blouses, work-out clothes… etc. Place purses and accessories on shelves; put shoes on the floor. It is helpful to store shoes in boxes, either their original boxes or plastic ones, especially if you have a lot of shoes! Stacking shoeboxes is a great space saver, and an easy way to help find exactly which pair you want to wear.

If your closet is only as big as a shoebox, you may need to take additional steps to create more space. Consider over-the-door organizers, wall hooks and multi-level rods and remember that the space under your bed can be utilized as long-term storage, particularly for out of season garb. If you’re ambitious, you can create a second shelf in the closet, or convert your narrow shelf into a deeper shelf by utilizing a wider board.

Does your closet need some professional help? Whether you are overhauling your closet or your entire house, Karyn Madorin at Extreme Organizing provides a custom approach to organizing by understanding each client’s personal style and preference. She gives your house a clean and fresh look in a confidential, non-judgmental and supportive manner. Check out her website for coupons and discounts!

Amber Kussen at Amber’s Organizing makes organizing simple. Dont have several hours to rearrange your closet or kitchen or or office or basement? Amber and her team of professional organizers will customize orgnizing solutions to your lifestyle so it is easy to maintain a clean living space!

Don’t let a mess overwhelm you! Follow our quick tips or turn to our experts to make organizing less of a headache!

Home is Wherever You Hang Your Hat

February 23, 2010 by Lynn Edwards | Comments (1)

For those of you who have read my Rachel Ray blog you know I’m culinarily challenged, but love those food shows. I’m equally as inept at home design & décor but I love me some Design on a Dime (although I don’t actual DO either). I love the word “home.” I grew up in a small rambler with seven people, one bathroom and no dishwasher, but it was home. My Dad still lives there and it’s amazing how it feels sleeping in that house. It’s awesome when we all go home with our families, the bathroom line is just a little longer now with 23 people. After college I became a vagabond and lived all over the world, followed by 18 years as an army spouse. The Army has this cute little sign that says “Home is where the Army sends you.”

Needless to say, my “home” has been a stinky room the size of a closet, a grass hut in the middle of a rice paddy, an apartment on the 75th floor, a condo near a strip mall, a large sprawling tudor style, and approximately 5000 hotel rooms. I love all that cool stuff you get for your home when you get married but I made a critical mistake and had a really small wedding. Turns out I received three place settings of my formal china. When we’d have another couple over the fourth person had to eat off a plastic power ranger plate. I’m so home décor challenged I have lived for months with no pictures on the wall, have gone 20+ years without buying window treatments and I don’t have more than two bath towels the same color. When people ask me what “theme” I have decorated my homes I answer with a mid-modern century “pot pourri”.

As a joke one year my friends bought me an entire set of holiday plates. I now have salt & pepper shakers with snowmen on them…so stinking cool! I think chicks that wear hats are fashion forward stars, those with holiday-themed china are domestic goddesses….now I’m one. There are some staples I love that seem to make a house a luxurious home…a million pillows on your bed & lots of thread count sheets, a system to organize your plastic wear & lids, real flowers on your kitchen island, and that’s living. Oh, and whoever invented that electric fire place switch needs a raise…big time! I love huge tubs but have spent little time in them. The time I did spend was usually jockeying around to get comfortable around all those hot wheels in there with me. I did build a water feature on my deck once. I loved it, yeah for Lowe’s. I looked like a landscape architect genius just by putting part A into part B and firing up the hose. It was great to fall asleep to but it made me have to get up and pee all night long.

Oprah says make your home an oasis…take a look around and think about what you can do to make your house a little more “homey”…even if it’s just a $2 apple pie scented candle.

Put a Spring in Your Step with these Hot Colors

February 22, 2010 by Madeline | Comments (0)

When we think of spring we think of pastels and floral prints, but those just seem a little too passé and boring. What will you be wearing this spring to spice up your wardrobe? Here are some of the color trends that you won’t want to miss out on. Pick up a few bright accessories that are both trendy and timeless.

Turquoise – We’re pretty sure this is on EVERYONE’S hot-list, along with other aqua-colored hues. This vibrant color turns every outfit up a notch, making you just exude that cool confident aura that will make you the center of attention. Splurge on a Jamie Joseph brightly colored stone ring. We love this Sea Blue Chalcedony Ring for a beautiful eye-catcher.

Light Pink – More specifically, champagnes and corals are two “light pinks” that won’t have you gagging on pastel and cotton candy. Champagne is the closest you can get to a nice neutral color while adding a little pop! And for coral, try some of Cara Lyndon’s hairpins, we recommend Coral Wheel . Whether your hair color is light or dark, this feminine flair will turn heads.

Yellow – In every shade and size. Add a dash here or there or a big bright bag to have everyone around you smiling. Evoking sunshine and happiness, everyone could stand to integrate this cheerful color into their wardrobe or even their home. Try a bright throw pillow to add to your living room, we like the yellow Gloria pillow from Henry Road. The great thing about throw pillows is, when spring is over, you can just throw them back into the closet until spring comes again!

Mulberry & Me: Interview with Jana

February 19, 2010 by Michele | 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.

Spring (Baby) Showers

February 18, 2010 by Suzanne | Comments (0)

We all know spring brings showers! So if you are attending a baby shower this month, stop by one of these fabulous Chicago boutiques for chic itsy-bitsy apparel and fun goodies for mom!

Bellybum Boutique This charming boutique, a celebration of mama bellies and baby bums, is a haven dedicated to encouraging new moms to feel beautiful, empowered and comfortable with their new mommy selves. Bellybum Boutique is home to a wide selection of baby accessories, great gifts, chic diaper bags, organic soap, jewelry and maternity clothes plus tons of fun mom-and-baby classes and activities! The staff is welcoming and knowledgeable and all of the products in the store are good for you, good for your baby, and good for the Earth!

Beautiful Beginnings In 1995, sisters Jackie Wilkinson and Debbie Feiler realized their true passion…babies! With 11 children between them, their love for babies does not go unnoticed and they love to help busy moms and moms-to-be! So they opened Beautiful Beginnings, which has since become the trusted consultant to mothers who appreciate the shop’s attention to detail. Located in historic Western Springs and Chicago’s Lincoln Park, Beautiful Beginnings offers a beautiful selection of must-have layette, one-of-a-kind Christening and Bris gowns and gifts, personalized piggy banks, educational and fun toys and a wide selection of books. They also carry classic baby and children’s apparel by Lilly Pulitzer, Florence Eisman, Petit Bateau and many more! All gifts are elegantly wrapped in their exclusive gift-wrap, perfectly finished with a bow!

Peek-a-Boutique Founded by Stacy Weitzman, Peek-a-Boutique is a city-inspired chic baby boutique conveniently located in the ‘burbs. At Peek-a-Boutique you will find unique apparel, accessories and gifts for babies, toddlers and expecting moms plus a selection of adorable gifts for big brothers and sisters. Stacy hand-selects each item in her shop and many of her products come from local artists. Looking for a custom gift? To add that extra special touch you can embroider your favorite blanket, burp cloth set, and more! And Stacy believes presentation is everything – she will be sure to have all your items “gift-ready” before you leave! Stacy’s mission is to ensure a unique shopping experience, friendly customer service, upscale products, a loyal customer following, and a smile on your face as you exit the shop.

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