Girlfriends love to spa—and when they can spa for charity, they feel even better! We recently had the pleasure of hosting, along with Chicagonista.com, a Girls Night Out for Charity at Juvenesse Spa in Chicago. It was a fantastic evening for girlfriends to network in the tranquil environs of Juvenesse, a hidden gem in the River North neighborhood. All proceeds from the event benefited Peace Journey, a charity started by spa owner Jeannette Kravitz. Girlfriends attending the event enjoyed complimentary champagne, a fabulous spread of hors d’oeuvres, and two mini spa services, ranging among chair massage, eye zone therapy, and makeup application.

In addition to receiving a $25 gift card for a future visit to Juvenesse, spa samples, and discounts from Juvenesse, girlfriends also received a bag full of swag thanks to our fabulous sponsors! In the bag:

The Wildwater Walking Club, a new novel by Claire Cook from Hyperion Books and Voice. This novel, about a woman who has to figure out what she wants out of her life after some bumps in the road, follows three women as they begin to find a new path. Great summer reading! Our guests each received a hardcover edition. For more about the book, click here.

The Art of the Apology by Lauren Bloom. This book by a business ethics expert teaches how to apologize effectively to practically anyone. Since a sincere apology is an essential friendship skill, we were happy to have this book in our swag bag!

Conversation Confetti from Chicago-based always a girls girl.  This package of 20+ cards with talk-about-it questions and scenarios gets your guests mingling! Get a conversation confetti FREE when you purchase a conversation tin from always a girl’s girl using the code “Girlfriend Celebrations”!

PakNaks These decorative accessories transform plain backpacks, bags and other stuff into personalized, ever-changing, colorful works of art. Over 40 adorable peel-and-stick designs are available. We can totally see using these to brighten up a summer tote bag. And there’s no ironing, sewing or pinning! www.paknak.com PakNaks has a special offer for GirlfriendCelebrations readers: Receive 20% OFF your order with the code “PAK20″!

Discount card from Tunix - the site for chic, American-made tunics perfect for beach, resort, or lunch with the girlfriends!

“Piggy” wine charm and recipe book from the National Pork Board 

GirlfriendCelebrations bookmark

M&Ms also supported this great event. Have you tried M&Ms Premiums? We tried the Raspberry Almond flavor and they are quite the delicious little splurge. 
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Girlfriends, you’re invited to a Ladies Night Charity Event on May 13, 2009 at Juvenesse Spa in Chicago. Champagne, nibbles, two mini spa services and more surprises are included in your $15 ticket. Network with new friends, and enjoy with  your gal pals! Plus, all proceeds from this event go to Peace Journey, a 501c3 organization that guides global friendships among children of the world through technology and education. Thanks to Chicagonista.com for organizing this great event—we can’t wait to see you there! Hurry, space is limited. Click on the postcard for registration info.

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Hey, girlfriends! We’re pleased to announce that we are new contributors to Chicagonista, a blog for “movers, shakers and baby-makers…always dishing on Chicago’s hidden treasures for the family.” Check out our first post here.  We’re excited about this new partnership that will enable us to review some of the great girlfriendly places we visit locally. If you have a suggestion for a place to review, be sure to let us know! And as always, stay tuned for more universally fun suggestions on GirlfriendCelebrations.com.

Our girlfriends at Chicagonista are gathering a group of volunteers THIS THURSDAY, March 26 at the Greater Chicago Food Depository to help Quaker Oats launch its Go Project. Chicago blogging girlfriends, volunteers are still needed! Can you come out and help for a few hours? Read on to see what Chicagonista founder M.J. Tam had to say:

“Feeding the needy is no small feat, especially if there are 36 million Americans (including 12.6 million kids) who are hungry. But the new Quaker Go Project is making a huge commitment to feed the hungry children all over the world by hitting communities and asking for volunteers all over to come join the effort.

What can we do here in Chicago? It’s not as hard as you think.

For starters, we here in Chicagonista are helping with the Go Project launch by hosting a blogger volunteer gathering on March 26th from 1-4pm at the Greater Chicago Food Depository. If you would like to help us celebrate by joining in, please fill in our contact form and we will email you more details. Three hours of your day can help feed hundreds.  Please come and join us!”

Other ways everybody can participate: For every UPC code entered on its site, Quaker will donate 10 servings. So as you feed yourself, why not help feed others? Click here to enter your UPC codes.

You can also bring your own hunger relief idea to life. Each month, Quaker will award 20 Go Grants of $500 so people like you can develop community projects to help combat hunger. You can fill out an application here.

We know you like to support a good cause, girlfriends. Thanks for reading!

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