Hi Chicago bitches! I’m a NYC bitch that is on the hunt for a niche request. There’s a dance studio here in Brooklyn that has a Disney Channel hits choreo class, and I’m looking for something similar in Chicago. I haven’t found anything in my initial googling. Does anyone know if any Chicago dance studios offer anything like this?
Sharing my experience at After Eden’s banh mi pop-up, weekends only in LES. If “credentials” are relevant to you, I’m a regular Vietnamese-American that lived in Seattle and outside of San Jose for a while. Of course, YMMV with your experience
TLDR - it’s the best banh mi I’ve had in NYC
Full details - I was the first person in line when I arrived a little after 11:15 AM on a Sunday. If you’re dining in, the host seats you right away. If you’re doing takeout, the host puts you in a line. 4 people at a time inside, and the remaining people line up outside. You can place orders for other items on their food and drink menu beforehand, they circle back at noon when the pop-up begins for the banh mi orders. I recommend dining in if you’re able to. It seemed like they prioritized dine-in orders, and After Eden is just a super cute place to hang out. They only sell 60 banh mi per day. My guess is they sold out around 1 PM.
If you’re looking for a good regular banh mi, this is the one. The ingredient proportions were balanced perfectly. My favorite ingredient in it was the pate, whatever they did to it they did it right. The bread had a good crunch to fluff ratio. My only critique is I wish it had jalapeños. While some may balk at a $14 banh mi, this stood out in a city full of mediocre Vietnamese food (sorry!). I’ve paid more for much more mediocre sandwiches before, so I’d happily splurge again for this one. I also recommend the banana-forward jackfruit latte.
I’m impressed with my experience. On top of my meal being fantastic, the staff gave some of the most attentive and efficient service I’ve gotten in NYC. Shoutout to yall! They organized the pop-up well - didn’t feel chaotic at all and you could tell they had a system down. I think I covered the basics, but happy to answer questions about anything I may have missed. Hope everyone has a chance to check it out!
I was not on social media for a few weeks, so I just saw their post on IG that they raised their prices. Did they send out an email about it? I checked everywhere and didn’t see anything.
Edit - I’m in full support of businesses increasing their rates if that means they can compensate their staff more fairly, which seems to be the case! The increase isn’t egregious. At first glance, it looks like a similar rate to Luxuriate Lab, another great pole studio in Queens.
I acknowledge I could have missed it if they notified students in another way. Also haven’t been able to make it to pole classes lately. So I assume students who have gone recently were in the loop. But if social media was the only way it was announced, I do wish people were also emailed or sent a text.
Before anyone jumps in the comments - this endorsement is to convince the moderate Democrats to vote for him, NOT an indication of him swaying on his stance on funding I*rael
EDIT - Please don’t put him on a pedestal. He’s been a principled politician thus far AND he’s still human. He’s gonna make mistakes along the way. He’s gonna make decisions that you don’t agree with at times. But until he does or says something egregious enough, I’m not yanking my support, and I don’t think you all should either. It’s not productive to mull over hypothetical situations. Let’s focus on bringing the party together and getting him into the office.
Someone’s parent messaged me about my open room for their college student kid.
I don’t know if this needs to be clarified, or if anyone reading this would fall under the target market of this message. But parents, please do not respond to housing posts on behalf of your child.
I posted on Facebook looking for a new roommate. Every time I go through this process, I'm shocked at the carelessness. Besides the usual people who send a full message but disregard the post's contents (ex. they're 23 when I said I'm looking for a roommate that's over 30 y/o), I've been getting more short messages lately such as:
I simply don't respond to these messages. Because being on the hunt for a new roommate is so time consuming (and I've been on the situation on both ends!), I appreciate when prospective roommates get to the point.
Edit - to add on about efficiency. I've had some people who already live in NYC ask me for a pre-tour phone call, and I shut it down every time. It is a waste of time when someone could stop by my apartment for 30 minutes to see the apartment in person and get their questions answered there.
TLDR - presale on official Uusi website in early August (date TBA), biggest difference is no borders, numbers, and titles
Full announcement with additional photos and videos at https://www.instagram.com/p/DbRMfJflgUs/
Disclaimer - I’m not affiliated with the event organizers.
Obviously, I know this webinar is not directly related to pole dancing. But I know there are many instructors, studio owners, and entrepreneurs across other industries following this subreddit that may find this information useful. Please spread the word, I wanna see all of us win!
Register HERE
Obligatory disclaimer (more so addressed to the mods than folks reading this) that I am *not* affiliated with the business in any way. Just another BWT that wants to share my honest opinion of an NYC event. Sorry in advance for not including pictures. I didn’t think about it until I was on the train home.
Ceremonia, a Latina-founded hair care company, is hosting a big sale this weekend because they are closing their flagship store in Soho. I went around noon, and to my surprise there was no line. A couple people in the checkout line mentioned they happened to be in the area and the signage piqued their interest, so not sure how advertised this was outside of IG. Store is small, so be ready to squeeze through people. They were experiencing some technical issues with their POS, so prepare for checkout to be slow.
There were several bins of items divided between $5-30, the least expensive being smaller items or items without a box (I presume the boxes were damaged enough to not be included). There’s also undamaged products that are not as heavily discounted that were not in the bins. Tons of accessories such as headbands and diffusers still available as expected. The majority of the heavily discounted items seemed to be conditioners and perfumes. Unfortunately the shampoo scrub (a HG!!)was not in any of the discount bins.
edit - I just remembered there were a lot of scalp oils in the yellow bottle available, forgot the name of the product. and tons of travel size products.
If you spend $50, you get a tote bag, samples, and one spin on their prize wheel. Some of the prizes you could win were water bottles, headbands, beauty products from what I presume are their fellow PR sponsors. I even saw a curling iron in one of the prize boxes. Maybe you’ll be the lucky one that wins it!
This is what I bought:
• 2 jumbo bottles of the Guava Leave-In Conditioner (one of my HGs) - $40 (retail price $50 per bottle)
• 1 bottle of the Guava Rescue UV and Heat Protectant spray - $15 (retail price $27)
• 1 Guava Gloss Drops gift box (includes 1 full-size bottle of Guava Gloss Drops, a pink compact mirror, and pink scrunchie) - $20 (couldn’t find the entire set online, but the retail price of the bottle alone is $34)
I can’t quite tell if it’s gonna sell out before Sunday, but I think it’s worth checking out if you’re in the area!
All the details can be found here. Hope this helps someone!
I posted this on the NYC bitches with taste subreddit. I thought it would be worth posting here too!
“Hi bitches! I feel inspired to post more to break up the usual asking for recs posts by proactively sharing my own experiences. Meant to do this for a while. I stumbled across Perfect Sweets in Auburndale when I had an impromptu Flushing day a while back. Woman-owned business, and she is the sweetest owner ever, truly! Everything is made in-house and looks so freakin cute. Even the decor adorable. I had the carrot cake which was chef’s (baker’s?) kiss. Might be the best carrot cake I’ve had in my life. I still dream about the cream cheese frosting. (Please excuse the little smudge, I accidentally swiped the frosting before I grabbed a picture) They are also available for catering and custom orders. Stop by next time you’re looking for a sweet treat in Flushing!
Contact information:
@perfectsweetsbysoo on IG”
Hi bitches! I feel inspired to post more to break up the usual asking for recs posts by proactively sharing my own experiences. Meant to do this for a while. I stumbled across Perfect Sweets in Auburndale when I had an impromptu Flushing day a while back. Woman-owned business, and she is the sweetest owner ever, truly! Everything is made in-house and looks so freakin cute. Even the decor adorable. I had the carrot cake which was chef’s (baker’s?) kiss. Might be the best carrot cake I’ve had in my life. I still dream about the cream cheese frosting. (Please excuse the little smudge, I accidentally swiped the frosting before I grabbed a picture) They are also available for catering and custom orders. Stop by next time you’re looking for a sweet treat in Flushing!
Contact information:
@perfectsweetsbysoo on IG
hey astoria! i’m a professional graphic designer and it makes me sad to not only see so many ai graphics all around our neighborhood, but also the increasingly common defense of using generative ai because it’s too expensive or difficult to hire an artist. i’d love to make some graphics (flyers, a-frames, signage, postcards, handouts, menus, social posts, you name it!) for your event or business for freeeeee!!
i truly believe that nice art can only improve our community. please let me help fill our social feeds and streets with advertisements that reflect the vibrance of our neighborhood rather than impersonal and unsustainable outsourcing.
i’ve added a few things i’ve made in this post, but you can check out my full portfolio of work at meganrojek.com and reach out to me here or on instagram (@rookierojek and @collage.spot) to chat about what kinds of assets you need! thanks love you 💛
Hi bitches, I can’t make it to the Alex Isley show at Irving Plaza tonight. But my loss is your gain! Please PM me if you want 1 free GA ticket. Doors open at 7, so I’m assuming show starts around 8. All I ask is that you pay it forward with some other random act of kindness. Thanks!!
EDIT - claimed - that was fast!
I shared this post on the NYC pole subreddit but wanted to share it here since I don’t think the issue is exclusive to NYC. However I wasn’t able to cross-post. So copying and pasting what I wrote below.
Hi all. I may ruffle some feathers, but I just wanted to get this off my chest. I noticed an uptick in AI ads from pole instructors and studios. I know I’m just one student and person, but I think it’s important I voice that it is something I take into consideration when considering whether or not to frequent a business. While I understand that small businesses and entrepreneurs are strapped on time and resources, seeing AI still puts a sour taste in my mouth. We live in a city for artists and creative people, a place that sets the bar for giving their best in all arenas. I don’t like seeing business owners cutting corners and stealing ugly work (I’m sorry to be blunt, but the ads aren’t even cute!) smashed together from systems that further impoverish communities, including our own.
I’ve seen organizations in other cities create initiatives that connect designers with businesses to consult on marketing, I’m wondering if there’s anything like that in NYC for pole instructors and studio owners to use? Heck, I miss a good ol’ canva graphic or a stick figure drawing.
EDIT - sharing an example of an initiative that helps small businesses create marketing materials without AI. I don’t know them personally, nor do I know where they’re located, so please reach out to them with any questions. I’ll add more resources as I find it.
more information - https://www.instagram.com/p/DYyJNYPsz6o/
sign up to receive design services - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc33rQ46EVz5NSYMAXp7ad8BCisd4lBJT19Qp3VCftyeOZDAg/viewform?usp=send_form
sign up to be a volunteer designer - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe718o\_c0nh19CzMfnYzd\_p9prg473tMsxSrqor-GaX3pNGAA/viewform?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0BMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAafXg1hR\_0oxKJ90ImhZDiYmeAtKFUY-ZUtQ8FuP4LqrgKkhXKogqtT2LLaI6Q\_aem\_jGxuD1vqe95bhk8LrHaTkA
Hi all. I may ruffle some feathers, but I just wanted to get this off my chest. I noticed an uptick in AI ads from pole instructors and studios. I know I’m just one student and person, but I think it’s important I voice that it is something I take into consideration when considering whether or not to frequent a business. While I understand that small businesses and entrepreneurs are strapped on time and resources, seeing AI still puts a sour taste in my mouth. We live in a city for artists and creative people, a place that sets the bar for giving their best in all arenas. I don’t like seeing business owners cutting corners and stealing ugly work (I’m sorry to be blunt, but the ads aren’t even cute!) smashed together from systems that further impoverish communities, including our own.
I’ve seen organizations in other cities create initiatives that connect designers with businesses to consult on marketing, I’m wondering if there’s anything like that in NYC for pole instructors and studio owners to use? Heck, I miss a good ol’ canva graphic or a stick figure drawing.
EDIT 1 - I shared my post on r/poledancing, and someone suggested bartering. Passing on the suggestion as another potential solution. Since, as I said above, we have so much talent in our community inside and outside of pole!
On the inverse, for all the pole studios and instructors that do not use AI, please know that I (and I’m assuming other students) also see you and thank you for not using AI, truly. I see your efforts and it makes a difference.
EDIT 2 - sharing an example of an initiative that helps small businesses create marketing materials without AI. I don’t know them personally, nor do I know where they’re located, so please reach out to them with any questions. I’ll add more resources as I find it.
more information - https://www.instagram.com/p/DYyJNYPsz6o/
sign up to receive design services - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc33rQ46EVz5NSYMAXp7ad8BCisd4lBJT19Qp3VCftyeOZDAg/viewform?usp=send_form
sign up to be a volunteer designer - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe718o\_c0nh19CzMfnYzd\_p9prg473tMsxSrqor-GaX3pNGAA/viewform?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0BMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAafXg1hR\_0oxKJ90ImhZDiYmeAtKFUY-ZUtQ8FuP4LqrgKkhXKogqtT2LLaI6Q\_aem\_jGxuD1vqe95bhk8LrHaTkA
Full post at https://www.instagram.com/p/DX7bPwxDKWr/