Philly Chit Chat

LUSH brought their LUSH Spa concept to North America by
opening two spas in New York City and Philadelphia. Last week they held a
grand opening party, and gave tours of the new space.

With each massage, customers can pick one behavioral trait to reflect how they want to feel and then
each treatment is tailored to that trait.

 The Good Hour Treatment. A deep tissue massage in a nautical themed room
with music to make you feel like you are on the high seas.

Validation Facial $140 for 60 minutes

30 minutes for a Tailormade massage $120

The other night I stopped by the Cesacaphe Employee Holiday Party. Yes, holiday party. When you’re in the executing the most fabulous holiday parties for others, you’re employee has the holiday party in the slow month of January. (Yesterday I tried to go to R2L for lunch, and they were closed for their holiday party, it’s a trend.)

 The party was held at a warehouse in Northern Liberties; the theme:



Speakeasy, which has been on everybody’s lips these days with the success of Franklin Mtg & Company, Hopsing Laundry and The Great Gatsby movie.

So many celebs in town this past week. Check out who went where below:

Dave Matthews and family were staying at the Four Seasons and popped over to Logan Square Cafe, where he gladly posed with big fan Jarrod Williams. Update,: The Matthews family was in town to attend a friend s wedding a friend just told me. 

Check out with restauranteur VH1 Philly Mob wife is having an affair with...HERE

 

On January 8, the entire Flyers Team celebrated their victory at McGillin’s. They drank, ate,
sang karaoke and watched replays on the big screens. They even posed for
photos with guests, including this Flyer Jay Rosehill with Susan Oudshoorn and Gaby
Gock-Rubery, McGillin’s manager.

• Tuesday January 14, 2014 – Date Night, two-for-one skate
• Wednesday January 15, 2014 – Film on the Big Screen, Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview
• Friday January 17, 2014– Party on Ice with Hip Philly and DJ Caution starting 6:30pm-9:00pm
• Saturday January 18, 2014 – Food Trucks (Sum Pig and Sweet Box Cupcakes) 11am-7pm, Hip Philly Guest DJ 6:30pm-9:00pm
• Sunday January 19, 2014 – Family Day, kids 10 and under skate for free.
• Everyday Uber Special– enjoy $20 towards your first ride when you sign up with
  promotional code UBERSKATE.  
  

The Piazza is an 80,000 square foot, multi-purpose
outdoor plaza with retail at ground level and luxury apartments above.
The community is centrally located in the heart of Northern Liberties,
approximately eight blocks North of Independence
Hall. The Piazza is within walking distance to restaurants, shops, a
grocery store and public transportation.  The 20,000 square foot
courtyard is a destination for the community to interact and for
one-of-a-kind events to take place.  Well known events at
The Piazza include the 104.5 Concert Series, Lululemon Yoga Series,
Living Social Beer Festival and Wanderlust Philadelphia.  Visit on the
web at
www.skateatthepiazza.com, and
www.liveatthepiazza.com.

In December, I referenced a story that appear on Page Six, about VH1’s Mob Wives breakout star Alicia DiMichele having an affair with a local Philly restaurateur, who
was unnamed in the article. Since that time a tipster told me the name. I wrote Alicia
to ask her about it and to meet with her to discuss how the impact of
the show on her life is going, and just about life in general. She wrote me to tell me she’d be at her store on Saturday and we arranged a time in her busy schedule. (Tomorrow check out my Philly Mag column to see what else she did on her busy Saturday.) We chatted a bit at her
East Passyunk Avenue store, Addiction,  in
South Philly, and strolled around the neighborhood. It turns out that
the story is not as salacious as Page Six would like you to believe, the
man in question is Robert Lascala, LaScala Restaurant, a family friend for the past 10 years. The Lascala kids are friends with the Garofalo children. Alycia tells me “How do you cheat on someone you’re not even with anymore. Alicia and
Edward Garofalo, Jr. have been separated for awhile now.

 During the show
you can see Alicia is not wearing her wedding ring from the very
beginning, as well as when I photographed the opening of her store,
Addiction back in June (Here) She also no longer uses the Garofalo last name. The breakup of the marriage is basically revealed in episode 2 Caught On Tape

where Alicia discuss listening to the FBI taps and
finding out that her husband was seeing his ex-girlfriend. The story
line continues into episode 3 “You Smell Delicious”, and will no doubt
become an interesting topic through out the show as a few of the other
Mob Wives knew about the dalliance.  As for Alicia, she is moving on
with her life. She has her kids to think of, she has businesses to run.
She has Addiction in Cherry Hill, NJ, South Philly and you can imagine her online store
is keeping her busy as well.

And I know why, during our stroll on East
Passyunk, we stopped every half a block by people who recognized her,
they wanted photos, autographs, or just to tell her she was their
inspiration as a strong women, and a mother, someone who was betrayed
and survived. In December Alicia’s former husband  Edward (Tall Guy) Garofalo, Jr.
was sent to jail at his Brooklyn Federal Court for 7 years, on the day
after Alicia made her debut on the VH1 reality show.

She is also waiting
for sentencing for embezzling union funds from a trucking company she
and her husband once owned. Last Monday she had a hearing for the
sentencing, but it was postponed. “The judge postponed my sentencing
because my restitution issue is not yet resolved,” Alicia shared.
“Therefore, she cannot sentence me until that part is settled. They
think maybe some time in March I’ll be sentenced, but they are not
sure.”

Philadelphia born and raised comedian, Kevin Hart, and rap and movie star Ice Cube were making the rounds yesterday, after walking the red carpet for the screening of their new movie “Ride Along” . Kevin took Ice on a tour of his Philadelphia, watching a Sixers practice, then went on a shopping spree at Mitchell & Ness, then cheese steaks at Jim’s on South Street.

Last month in preparation for the New Year, New You resolutions, About Face Skin Care joined with Noelle Zane owner of Pure Barre to host a party at the Pure Barre studios for women interested in taking care of their bodies, face and soul.

They have an easy, painless way to reduce fat! The TruSculpt
system, a breakthrough radio frequency technology for non-invasive body
contouring and sculpting, is now available at About Face Skin Care!

 Other popular treatments at About Face Skin Care
include:

Amazing new light based technology works to erase many of the
unwanted signs of sun damage. This revolutionary new technology allows
light to pass through superficial pigment containing cells, destroying
unwanted pigmentation. The end result of this laser skin treatment
is a noticeable decrease of unwanted signs of aging; freckles, sun
spots, age spots, and brown spots disappear from your face in front of
your eyes.

Permanent Laser Hair Removal is a non-invasive light-based technology
which permanently destroys undesirable hair follicles on your body for men and women.

Utilizing a vacuum with carefully controlled light therapy, the Isolaz
is able to painlessly clean, disinfect, and heal all current acne lesions, while simultaneously helping prevent future break-outs.

(Advertorial Post)

 In celebration of the third season of the hit series GIRLS, HBO hosted a “Girls Night Out” screening event at the Prince Music Theater (1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia) on the same evening as the New York City premiere, which took place Monday, Jan. 6 at Jazz at Lincoln Center.