I came back from getting my hair cut at Peles Salon off Creedmoor across from Outback Steakhouse. And in my office, my husband just came by and razzed me about writing with cheddar cheese in my teeth left over from my lunch I just woofed down. What can I say? Us bloggers are too bu-ssssy to notice every moment of the day what we look like.

So where was I? Oh yeah, Pe-les Salon. I was referred to Peles from the Aveda store. They are a Raleigh Aveda salon. I was told to go see Kaitlin. And that’s who I saw. She’s young, from Buffalo New York, got long dark straight hair, and is super tan…in the winter. Year round from her Northern Italian roots, she mentioned. She’s very bubbly and easy to talk with. We seem to hit it off as this was my first time there. It’s important to be able to easily converse with your hair stylist, so that #1, she doesn’t chop off all your hair. And #2, it makes for a better 30 minutes away from work.

Where do the women go for lunch? It’s a secret hideaway off Six Forks and Strickland. But it’s far, far away from where men go ‘cause in order to get back to the small restaurant you have to go through a retail novelty shop that’s filled every square inch with gifts, candles, notecards, platters, stuffed animals, baby gifts, silver, food gifts, partyware, …you know, the kinda place that women get lost in.

Have you heard of Oliver Twist tapas and lounge bar? Interesting name.  Like the Charles Dickens book about a poor boy and his escapades. It’s just off Creedmoor Road by Strickland Road, hidden next to Ace Hardware. It’s one of those places you’d learn about through word of mouth.

Oh, You Lucky Dog! Need dog boarding? Raleigh’s You Lucky Dog is the place! We’ve taken our dog Apollo there now at least a dozen times. He loves the gang. It’s like a party for him or at least a cool doggie retreat. He has his best pals. He seems to be in love most with Maggie (his doggie girlfriend?) and Maxe prounounced Max-ay. He’s a bichon freis-say. Hey, that rhymes. Anyway from what we’ve been told, he gets along with them all. You Lucky Dog usually separates the dogs into two packs. Not by size but by aggressiveness. Apollo gets put in the least aggressive group. When we adopted him as a young dog, he wasn’t in the least bit socialized. So we tried taking him to the dog park. See him taking it all in…I.E. shying away from confrontation.

For women who love silver jewelry but not the silver tarnish, I’ve got the store for you!  Men…take note.

Have you heard the brand name, Brighton?  Their signature logo is the heart.  In case you don’t know, Brighton makes and sells jewelry, handbags, shoes, wallets, and other accessories.  Their style is very scroll-y, and decorative with hearts and flowers.

There’s a Raleigh store you can go to shop for life balancing products.  Especially if you’re into yoga, you might be interested in experiencing Chakra aromas at the Raleigh Aveda store.

Raleigh Aveda Store for Balance

Do you know what chakras are?  If you look it up, the definition is ‘centers of energy that relates to each of our body’s systems and organs’.

Ayeda, by the way, is the name short for Ayurveda which means ‘science of life’.   They’re a very green-conscious store…using recycled container packaging, and taking preserving our earth very seriously.  You might’ve heard of them through your hair salon that might sell Aveda hair products.

LaVitaDolce is the new future trend as a casual eatery bar serving coffee, and gelato too! LaVitaDolce with no spaces, is the actual name.

…The malls are pretty dead mid week in January, especially during this slow economy.  But, there’s an eatery that seems to have a steady flow of customers.  It’s LaVitaDolce.  Not the type of common name you run across at the mall.  This eatery isn’t located at the food court where I might get lost among the sea of fast food kiosks.  Nope, LaVitaDolce has a corner of its own. And it’s unique enough for it.

Who else wants to get their house cleaned, green?

Green cleaning is good for health reasons, and it helps the environment. Thinking about it takes me back…in April 1990 I was down on the National Mall. Me, and tens of thousands of others were witnessing the birth of Earth Day where the green movement officially started. Tom Cruise spoke about the cause. And 10,000 Maniacs performed… that’s the name of the rock group…not the description of us people there. And white recycle bins were laid out everywhere. But that was almost two decades ago.

Wanna know where to get a great massage without paying an arm and a leg?

You may already have heard of Massage Envy ‘cause they do a lot of advertising across various Raleigh media. It’s a franchise that has made it to and across Raleigh with a couple locations.

I’ve been a Massage Envy regular customer now for at least a year. I added a photo here of the storefront logo…that might jog your memory on an ad you might’ve seen.

I enjoy my days that start out with a cup of tea in front of the computer. I went to go check on my tail wagging mutt dog, and he’s happily staring at the warm fire in the fireplace. I get a kick out of that glimpse and thinking that a fireplace can make a great dog sitter on a cold day. If you’ve got an attention craving dog like I do, you might wanna give turning on the fireplace a try.

So, I have to confess about last night.  I didn’t really want to go out to dinner.  I could’ve just stayed in, cooked up Ramen noodles and watched a movie.  But, in the spirit of ‘date night’ and celebrating my husband just making it home from a business trip in minus degree Minnesota weather, I thought it would be good for us to get out.

I made some reservations at Raleigh’s Shaba Shabu…I love saying those two words over and over again.  It just sounds so suave. And go figure it actually means something too.  Shaba means hibiscus in Thai.  Shabu means swish in Japanese.  So the name is a great way to marry the two cuisines that the restaurant serves…Thai and Japanese.