Cure what ails you
Whether it’s a food- or cocktail-induced hangover or the flu, sometimes your body needs a little help recuperating. Draw yourself a bath, relax and detox with Body Systems’ Wasabi Hangover Bath Treatment.
The sushi-inspired soak is filled with good-for-you ingredients including nausea and fever-tamer organic ginger, circulation-increasing organic mustard, heat-you-up wasabi powder and Epsom salts to relieve your aching muscles.
Marinate for 40 minutes, wrap yourself in your giant bath robe and you’ll wake up refreshed in the morning. Wasabi Hangover Bath Treatment is available at www.body-systems.net. A 2-ounce single-use dose is $5 and the 12-ounce size is $27.95 and comes with a bamboo scoop.
Food’s magic number
Although this is the high-fat, everything-is-bad-for-you season, that doesn’t mean you can’t consume delicious meals – and desserts. With all its recipes coming in at 200 calories or less, Hungry Girl 200 under 200 by Lisa Lillien, will cure your cravings without ruining your “diet.”
The ideas come from a woman who is always hungry, and really, who can’t relate to that? Recipe favorites include the h-o-t hot boneless buffalo wings (five wings for 175 calories), butternut hash browns (one cup for 104 calories) and chocolate marshmallow madness cupcakes (one cupcake for 109 calories). Thankfully, beating your cravings doesn’t have to make you feel like a glutton. Hungry Girl 200 under 200 retails for $19.95. For more information, visit www.hungry-girl.com.
Local cravings
You’re a local mommy and you know your way around this city. But are you a local mom with Chicago women-owned hot-spot know-how? Hone in on your shop-local mantra with the help of Chicago’s newest city guide, CRAVE Chicago: The Urban Girl’s Manifesto. Not only does this guide celebrate women entrepreneurs who are gutsy, stylish and just plain fabulous, it helps you become a one-woman shopping guide for every need.
With more than 100 local ladies featured, you’ll never be short of places to go. This isn’t just a guide for city moms; businesses from across the Chicagoland area are featured. With brief descriptions and quick Q&A, you’ll not only know where to go, you’ll have the power of knowing owner inspirations and the most popular products and services. A few favorites include a limo-driven shopping excursion company that will take you to chic retail haunts in any neighborhood, a pet store with on-site tailors and a metalsmith who weaves spider webs into her heirloom-quality jewelry.
CRAVE Chicago retails for $19.95 and is available in the stores it features. For more information, visit www.thecravecompany.com/chicago. CRAVE will also host quarterly events for dedicated shoppers.
Worldly possessions
It’s November and that means your shopping days until your brood’s favorite holiday are numbered. Whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, finding a gift that is socially and ecologically responsible – while maintaining its coolness – just got a little easier. World-Shoppe.com, created by Chicago mom Megy Karydes, offers online consumers a chance to support women in developing countries through fair trade goods. Each product has a brief description about the product’s origin and the women it supports.
The site offers items ranging from jewelry and bags to kitchen accessories and home goods from more than 33 countries, including a recycled stationary company from Chicago, WomanCraft. The handmade, recycled cards are embedded with wildflower seeds, bringing the idea of green giving full circle. For your shopaholic friends, you’ll find a tongue-in-cheek Trashy Tote made entirely of plastic shopping bags from Ghana.
Products on www.World-Shoppe.com range from $10-$75. Finding gifts for all of your friends and family is wonderful, but helping others in the process is priceless.
