Wear What When

Trade Agreement

Pro Sports Club wants your abandoned treadmill and your flabby rear end

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Jun 10, 2010 at 02:00PM 0 Comments

Yesteryear’s gut-buster gets you big savings at Pro Sports Club

Call it Cash for Clunkers – that’s what the world’s largest health club has tagged it.

Bring your run-down skateboard, your dust-covered, half-buried stationary bike, your still-in-the-box Six Minute Abs thingie to either Pro Sports Club location (yep, the one on the Eastside is officially the biggest on the planet; the Eastlake version is merely large) and get a truly significant portion of your membership fee chopped.

In Bellevue, you’ll save $1,000 on the $1,250 fee for single enrollment and $1,750 on the $2,250 family membership. In Seattle, knock $350 bucks off the regular $400 charge.

Push, shove, carry, or haul your clunky equipment in and know that wherever possible, the Pro Sports folks will donate the Thigh Master apparatus to an organization that can make use of it.

And between you, me, and those 32lbs of long-winter, frozen-pizza junk in your trunk: The fitness team isn’t picky about defining “equipment.” Show that you’re serious about signing up and that you’ve got something to play along with (an unwanted tennis racket would totally do the trick) and you’re practically ready for bikini season already.

How long do you have to take advantage of this stimulus plan? Almost three months. The promotion ends on August 31.

Oh, and one more word of advice: Once you’ve made good use of your membership – such good use, that is, that your muscles feel like pounded pavement – go see hardcore Shiatsu practitioner Dereck Olsen at the club’s spa. I’m speaking from experience here. Dude lives and breathes shiatsu, and there is no better match for your all-out workouts.

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Tags: Health and Beauty, Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning IV: Shape Up

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on May 21, 2010 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Look better … snarling?

Would-be strongman types and wannabe lady lifters (just looking to get in shape before summer gets here? you should listen in, too): As of Wednesday May 19, David Barton Gym at the Bravern is temporarily waving enrollment fees.

If you join up before May 27, you’ll be doing so at a savings of $400.

Still not sure? Buff bodies in upper management positions are throwing in a free personal training session or workout to those seriously considering the offer.

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Tags: Bravern, Health and Beauty, Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning III: Shelf Life

Locally designed Beauty Alert stickers make easy work of makeup clean-up

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on May 18, 2010 at 07:15AM 0 Comments

Photo: Beauty Alert

Nothing lasts forever, not beauty nor beauty products. Spring Cleaning continues with your makeup drawer or shaving bag. Is it scary in there? All the more reason to get this done.

Seattle esthetician Stacya Silverman and a New York-based partner came up with Beauty Alert stickers in 2008 as a way of making sense of their own piles of face powder, moisturizers, and mascara. As the duo outline on their website and online store, once a product is past its prime, preservatives stop doing their duties and bacteria and other bad guys start going wild.

There are Beauty Alert stickers for different products, because different products have different shelf lives. Just match the sticker with the product, note the date you purchased, and toss it when its time has come. If you’re unsure, reference this article from CBS News about the safety and efficacy dates of lip gloss, concealer, foundation and more.

And if you’re still unsure—like, unsure that you really want to bother—read this bit of about Massachusetts researchers finding that the average woman absorbs five pounds of chemicals via cosmetics each year.

See also: My favorite local and non-toxic mascara, and my favorite local options for three-free nail color – Julep, Butter London, and Mimisan.

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Tags: Locally Designed, Health and Beauty, Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning II: Clean Slate

Locally made and nontoxic cleaning solutions and more at Goods for the Planet.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on May 13, 2010 at 06:00AM 1 Comments

Slideshow: The goods at Goods for the Planet; here, Usta-Bees 80s-sweater-turned-Swiffer cover

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Slideshow: The goods at Goods for the Planet; here, Usta-Bees 80s-sweater-turned-Swiffer cover

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Do they work? Only one way to know, but you don’t have to spend too much time around Goods for the Planet owner/buyer Suzanne O’Shea to get the feeling that she doesn’t really abide by too much uselessness.

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Swiffers, sure, I guess so, but for most jobs, a good old-fashioned broom does the trick. At Goods for the Planet, they’re sustainably built, and attractive.

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Considering what’s in some of the stuff that you use for the heavy duty duties, this thing seems worth a shot.

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Suzanne pointed out that Country Save (you’ve seen it at the grocery store) is a local product, made in Arlington. Really interesting story, actually.

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In addition to a few somewhat esoteric and niche products, Goods offers a great selection of natural, non-harmful all-purpose cleaning supplies — without the toxins, waste, and excess baggage.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a product that makes as much sense as the Swiffer replacements by Usta-Bees. The local woman who created them uses old sweaters to fashion washable, reusable covers for Swiffer-brand mops that save money, resources, and landfill space. You can get them at Goods for the Planet, along with stuff like Soap Nuts and good old-fashioned push brooms built with sustainable materials by at-risk communities.

Spring cleaning has just never felt this good. Usually the sense of tidying one’s life is somewhat clouded by the fact that, well, you could be napping or hiking or playing the piano and instead you’re tidying your life. But there’s something so gratifying about stocking up on non-toxic materials and supporting smart, innovative entrepreneurs. I won’t say it makes cleaning fun, but it makes it less terrible. See the slideshow here for more.

And then there’s this: Goods for the Planet is also a recycling center for hard-to-get-rid-of items like outdated CPUs, junky TVs, empty ink cartridges, and broken printers. Florescent bulbs, too. The shop’s website has more info on all that, but think about it: The more you clear out, the more room you have to bring new stuff in.

Then again that’s how you got in this mess to begin with.

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Tags: Locally Made, Locally Designed, Sustainable Such and Such, Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning I: Pass it On

One man’s junk is another’s man’s survival

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on May 10, 2010 at 09:40AM 0 Comments

Spring is late this year. You’ve noticed. Spring cleaning is late this year, too. We’ve noticed. So begins this series of tips and resources for the season of unjunking, renewing, brightening, and simplifying.

One of the biggest chores this time of the year is closet cleaning. Especially for you shop-a-holics. Closet overhauls should yield two piles: The consignment heap (more on that in a future post) and the thrift store stuff.

In the thrift store pile are your clean, well-loved, but not junky basics. This pile takes the non-designer wardrobe pieces that consignment won’t take, but it’s not holey socks and stained sweatshirts. See also: any clean, working-condition, nice-enough household and decor items that you no long want or need.

Because these days everything matters, and because even your cast-offs are worth something, you’ll want to consider where you take these pieces. Research the charity shops and thrift stores in your area to see which aligns with your principals and values, and which does the most the good.

Or, let us do the research for you. Consider the Lifelong AIDS Alliance Thrift Store.

—The organization’s Mike Kola told me that more than 85 cents of every dollar raised at the shop goes to services (food, counseling, insurance, transportation, housing) or programs such as the Chicken Soup Brigade; so if they sell your American Apparel jeans for $12, about ten of that makes a big difference in someone life.

—The Lifelong AIDS Alliance Thrift Shop also donates your used items to their clients; Kola says that in ’08 about $40,000 worth of kitchen items, clothing, and other household goods went directly from the back of your car to the backs of folks who really needed the stuff — free of charge.

—Each week, Target donates clothing to the shop. If it’s good enough for them, well … Target stores also donate food to the Lifelong AIDS Alliance each week; these food donations and others are often funneled to veterans assistance programs that Lifelong has partnered with. The goal is always that all of gets used.

Your assignment this week: Consider the donation options available in your area, and get at least one closet cleared out by Friday. (If it helps, it’s my assignment, too.)

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Need professional help? Personal stylist/wardrobe experts like Tiffany Wendel can come over and help you decide what you no longer need.

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Tags: Spring Cleaning