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August 13, 2010
This morning, we had the moment. You know it—the paralyzing moment when you’re starring into the bathroom mirror and realize you look… older. Our face appears to have aged overnight, when in fact it’s been going on for years. Eye “baggage” tells shameful lies of week-long drunken stupors and sleepless nights; wrinkles creep deeper as if mining for gold (that’s only found in our heart!); and the acne we were lucky enough to avoid all though adolescence appears to have taken vengeance on our chin now. What we want to know is, when exactly did we cross the—excuse the pun—fine line… from preventing aging to repairing its ravages? Oh, how the mighty have fallen! And the face isn’t the only skin to worry about. Hands and feet also show just how old we are. But there is hope! Be one of the first readers to answer a few questions and you’ll be entered into a drawing to win one of two fabulous prizes from NONTOXIQUE, an eco-luxury skincare line for hands and feet. To read the questions, go to www.nontoxique.com and click on the Events page. Then forward this issue of Minneapolis Picks to 5 friends and CC picks@minneapolispicks.com, including the correct answers in the body of the email. Bonne chance! |
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Minneapolis Picks: |
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| 1 | Smells Like Teen Spirit Our tween/teen years felt graceless. Not only were we stuck in that awkward phase between childhood and independence—hello, 9 p.m. bedtime and $2 allowance—but so were our clothes: white blouses with ruffled sleeves and pink puffy-painted tops. Sigh. At least Mom thought our digs were cool. But growing girls have unique tastes too, and, like adults, should be offered clothing options that reflect that. Enter Zelaz, a fashion-forward adolescent boutique in Excelsior. Owned by mom, Janet Polach, and her teen daughter, Zelaz carries truly trendy and chic styles that kids will find cool and parents will find appropriate. Forget “little girl” clothing. Zelaz offers everything from distressed jean jackets to flirty summer dresses to funky handmade jewelry and more. Mom can wear certain styles too—one-size-fits-all M.Rena tanks look fab over leggings, and eye-catching accessories ramp up any outfit. More reasons to shop Zelaz: everything in the store is reasonably priced, and jeans are always under $80. One visit to Zelaz (and a look back through our old photo albums) and kids everywhere will realize just how lucky they have it. Zelaz |
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| 2 | Home Improvement We’ve hopped on the “green” bandwagon! Our daily driver leaves a low carbon footprint. We’ve stopped using that aerosol can of hairspray we loved back in high school and graduated to eco-friendly products. And we do our share of weekly recycling, meticulously separating plastic from glass and even folding up our cardboard. But do we really need to alter our funky style in order to save the earth? There must be another way. Fortunately, we happened upon Restore at Home, recently opened in downtown Stillwater, which specializes in eco-friendly items. We were thrilled to death at scoring an indestructible indoor/outdoor rug in vibrant shades made from recycled plastic. And we couldn’t pass on the calligraphy pillows sewn from old burlap. Perhaps an appreciation for “salvage style” was in us all along and we just didn’t know it! If you’ve reached your eco-plateau and are in need of new inspiration (and cute things!), head to Restore at Home. You’ll come out looking “smart” on both fronts. Restore at Home |
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| 3 | Doing the Robot There are some things that are just out-and-out good. Shopping local. Homemade whipped cream. The Princess Bride. A good book on a lazy weekend. Now we add to that the new ROBOT love store in Northeast. We already were fans of the old location, and while the address and space has changed (it’s now housed with Pink Hobo Gallery), the delightfully wicked collection of toys for adults has not. And we don’t mean sexy toys for adults, we mean grumpy looking plush animals. Or pillows that look like pork chops. Or vinyl figurines smoking cigarettes. The kind of “toys” that “adults” collect and care for—conversation pieces to proudly display out of reach of grubby little fingers. They also have a selection of humorous cards and magazines, and odds and ends for the home, including our favorite, the “Hip Hopsicles” —a rubber tray for making popsicles or ice in the shape of dollar signs, boom boxes and turntables. This is the place to find a crazy cool gift for someone who is just out-and-out good. Worst case, you walk out with something cool for you! ROBOT love |
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| The Winner is Announced! | |||
And the winner of our 1st Annual Paws on Grand “Pet Pick” Contest, declared the 2011 6th “Poster Pet” for Paws on Grand, and recipient of a photo shoot from Lucky Mutt Photography, is (drum role please!)… a 9 year-old English Setter from St. Paul, named Bastian! Bastion enjoys playing in the sand on Madeline Island. And the People’s Choice winner, rated the top overall, is J.T., a Shar-Pei/Black Lab mix who just celebrated his ”Bark” Mitzvah! Thanks to all the patrons and pets who participated in the contest and visited our booth at Paws on Grand. You made it an amazing success and we can’t wait to dig our paws into it again next year! |
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| Chick Picks: | |||
| 1 | Jeanuios Once or twice, we’ve had a few too many cocktails and our strut in heels becomes far from graceful. One wrong step off the sidewalk and… wipeout! On top of the embarrassment? A huge hole in our designer jeans. It used to be $200 in the trash, but now we just mail them into Denim Therapy and three weeks later they return magically restored as if the incident never happened. Now if we could only convince witnesses! |
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| 2 | Pretty and Practical If you’ve been reading Minneapolis Picks long enough, you know that our Shopping Jones extends way past our closets. We’re majorly addicted to feathering our nests, as well. And these absolutely charming throw pillows from Anna Joyce are absolutely poking our eyes out! (In a good way.) Handmade from new and vintage cottons, these playful pillows are the perfect pop to make our sofas sing. |
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| 3 | The Scoop on Poop We took our friend’s dog to the park as a favor. Little did we know our four-legged friend would paint the park brown. Armed with one plastic bag, we folded and refolded to pick up his mess—what’s she feeding him? In hindsight (pun intended) we needed the ScooPup Pocket from Tiny Growl. The super cute waterproof pocket makes the undignified task of picking up poo almost dignified. Our friend owes us big time! |
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Hip Happenings: |
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| 1 | Face Forward Founded by Sheila Mossberg (a local!), NONTOXIQUE is the first and only eco-luxury skincare line created by a manicurist—and people are taking notice. Her 8-month-old company landed an invite to New York Fashion Week, and to celebrate, BMW of Minnetonka is hosting a fabulous charity fashion event. CRAVE will offer up apps while DJ Sheik spins tracks. What: Green Carpet Event |
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| 2 | Top Shop As moms, we’re kind of jealous of (and nearly broke from) all the back-to-school shopping kids get to do. But there is a way to treat ourselves without cutting the kids off. This week, Arc’s Value Village Thrift Stores has Buy 3 Get 1 Free Specials on Women’s Tops. And with home accessories available, we just might find a cute lunch bag to boot! What: Women’s Tops Sale: Buy 3 Get 1 Free Specials |
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| 3 | Eye Candy Ever since we saw Avatar, we’re obsessed with the idea of real life meeting make-believe. Our next must-see is Sticky Sweet, a Pop Surrealism exhibit showcasing Minnesota artists Rudy Fig, whose paintings drip with color and escapism, and Jeff Warner, whose work denotes his youth of "excessive sugar and…wonderfully senseless commodities seen on television." Love that! What: Sticky Sweet: Opening Reception |
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