I've had my eye on this ghd special edition flat-iron kit for a while. It finally arrived and is completely fabulous. The kit retails for $349, Sephora carries it for $295... we're offering it for $235.

The set comes in two styles: Pure and Dark. Functionally they are the same (see below) so it depends on what look you prefer. I have the white one (Pure).

The set includes:
+ A helpful instructional DVD (so you can learn all of our secrets!);
+ Small-ish format so that it's easier to style your hair;
+ Auto shut off (if left on for more than 30-minutes);
+ Smooth, evenly heated surfaces.

I'm very happy with mine.

Labels: ghd dark, ghd flat iron, ghd pure

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We are so excited that one of very own clients has her photography business specializing in location photography. The cool thing is that the client picks the place or that special moment you would like to capture.

Please make sure to take an extra few minutes at your next appointment to view the photos. You can checkout her work at http://www.kitkirkphotography.com/. (and it's affordable:)
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Update: This give-away is over! We had 126 people enter and two winners (Kristen and Maggie). Thanks for playing!

We all agree that you look great when you wear a Garden 'doo. ; ) Well we'd love for you to wear one of our cute Garden tees too. They come in a variety of colors and are printed locally on high quality American Apparel shirts. We normally sell them for $19 each but we're going to give away two to randomly selected subscribers.

Just click here: Enter to win!

We'll pick the winners at random on Saturday night (yes, that's the kind of stuff we do on weekend nights).

PS - If you'd like to get the scoop on this stuff earlier, sign up for our monthly newsletter. Click here to register (bottom left of page).
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Some of my clients introduced me to running earlier this year... that led to my first organized race which I wrote about before (Koman Race for the Cure). I've kept up the running and really have fallen in love with the sport.

While shopping for some new shorts at Fleet Feet in Raleigh I found out about a fun monthly run: The Nog Run Club. The run is sponsored by Fleet Feet and Tir Na Nog and features a fun-pace 5k followed by drinks at the Irish pub. The next run is Monday, September 7th 6pm. It meets at 218 S Blount St on Moore Square in downtown Raleigh. Let me know if you're interested in going too!

On a related note: Last week I bought the Nike+ iPod gadget. It's awesome (you can get one for $25-$29). It keeps accurate track of my mileage and give my voice updates while I'm running. And when I synch my Nano with iTunes it uploads my activity so that I can track my mileage, pace, etc. You can actually see my profile here:

One of the neat things about it is that it allows me to connect with other friends who use the device.

Do you have one? If there are other runners who would like to create a team let me know... I could use the motivation! : )
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We've created a page for fans of the Garden Salon on Facebook.

When we sent out our last news letter we provided a link to my personal Facebook page. It ended up being second most frequently clicked link. So we've heard your clicks and we've created a Facebook "page" dedicated to the Garden Salon.

Pages are different from profiles in that they have a few more static parts (e.g. business hours, links, etc.). They're also accessible to people who aren't registered Facebook users. We think that this could be a great way for us to stay in touch since so many virtually ALL of you already use Facebook.

You'll notice that there's a link on our home page (pictured below). You can click on that and it will take you to our Facebook page. Once you're there just click "Become a Fan." Once you do that, your friends will know that your a fan of the Garden. We'll try to repay the favor by making the Garden a fun place to visit! : )

Still not sure if you should become a fan? Consider these facts...

• Starbucks has 288,841 fans
• McDonalds has 154,343 fans
• Michael Phelps has 76,944 fans
• Statue of Liberty has 1,223 fans
  
• Supercuts has 26 fans
• The Garden Salon has 13 fans (as of 10:30am August 12)

So join the few, the proud! : )

Click here to see our face book page: Garden Salon fan page.

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We typically send out about 200 invitations per month. Of those who receive the invitation, more than half will complete the survey.

We're very happy with the feedback that we get. The responses are predominantly favorable (66% "I Love It!" + 30% "Very Good!"). According to you, "Friendliness" and "Technical Quality" are our strong suits. You're making us blush! ; )





That said, we are usually alerted to something that we could do better... and we try hard to incorporate those changes into our daily routines. For example, your responses alerted us to the fact that some services "took longer than expected." We've tried to address that by extending the scheduled time when you book and communicating the expected time. More recent surveys show that this is no longer a common occurrence.

We also really like reading your written responses... messages like this make my day:

I am the happiest I have ever been with my cut and color. I have gotten a lot of compliments and appreciate Shea prompting me to be daring and go shorter than I am used to. She is really great and I trust her implicitly.

So thanks again for helping us improve!

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I'm participating in my first 5k this weekend!

Are any of you?

In early April I started training with the Carolina Godiva Track club in their Running Start race-prep program for beginners. I couldn't resist because I had about 10 clients urging me to give it a try (props to Crystal, the ring leader).

Anyway, the training program made it (kind of) easy for me to be successful. The group of runners would meet in RTP on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5:30. On the first week we alternated 1 minute of running with a minute of walking for a total of 30 minutes. Each week we added one more minute of running while keeping the walking intervals to one minute. And before you know it, I was ready to run my first 5k!

It's also worth noting that the Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure supports breast cancer research and education, a issued that has touched some of the Garden community.

And if you're interested, you can still register on-line (through June 12) or at the event.
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