Hardwood Artisans~ College Prep Week

Hardwood Artisans has a beautiful corner location right in Shirlington.  They have tons of wooden furniture on display along with other interesting wooden works of art.  My bed frame was purchased at this store a few  years back.  Although you might not need furniture your first year at school, you most likely will in a few years.  Also the show room might help you visualize what you want your dorm room to look like.  The best part is they even do Custom work! The one thing is, this place is very expensive.

Check it Out for yourself!!
http://hardwoodartisans.com/home

Poltics and Prose ~ College Prepartation Week

Politics and Prose is a bookstore and coffeehouse located in Northwest D.C.  While it is in a slightly more inconvenient location then say your neighborhood Barnes and Noble, Politics and Prose offers a unique atmosphere far superior to that of any chain.  When Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade, the founders, set out to create Politics and Prose they said they wanted to "offer superior service and unusual book choices; it [the bookstore] will serve as a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books."

To keep to this vision statement, each month the store features a long list of authors that come and speak about their books, answer questions, and sign copies.  The store also features its very own Opus book printing machine that can print any book right before your eyes.  These features turn a traditional book store into a destination.

Along with books, Politics and Prose also sells notebooks, magnets, posters and other unique merchandise that are perfect to help decorate a dorm room.  Lastly, the coffee shop that is downstairs is a perfect place to curl up and begin to read your new books while enjoyed a hot cup of Joe.

College Preparation Week

June 4th - June 12th will be College Preparation Week.  Visit these local businesses to get everything you need to prepare yourself for the biggest transition of your life!

AH Love Oil & Vinegar~ Special Event Week

AH Love Oil & Vinegar is a small store in the Village at Shirlington.  Its the perfect place to pick up a nice unusual gift, when attending any type of house party.  When you walk in there are tons of tasting things set up, and friendly employees.  They are so in love with their olive oils, and vinegars, that they want to teach you all there is to know!

The options seem endless, because they truly are.  If you tell them what you like to cook, and eat they can help point you in the right direction.  When we visited we picked up a Balsamic Vinegar, that was a gift for my dad.  He uses the bottle of yumminess as much as he can!  Although these specialty products are on the pricier side, they are a great gift and will defiantly be used.  Try stepping out of your comfort zone next time and get a different new gift at AH Love Oil & Vinegar.

To learn more: http://www.ahloveoilandvinegar.com/

PR at Partners ~ Special Events Week

PR at Partners is a hair salon with a couple different locations are the D.C. metropolitan area.  We went to the PR at Partners salon that is located on the first level of Tysons Corner Mall.  PR at Partners has a variety of different stylists all with different specialties.  On the website each stylist has a bio of their experience and the particular hair styles that they are best at.  These can be found at http://www.pratpartners.com/

The front of the PR at Partners is the FreshLook store, which sells a variety of different hair products for all different hair types.  There are consultants in the store that can help you pick the best products for your hair, however, the products are relatively expensive.  The back of the store leads into the salon.

We went to the PR at Partners salon in order to get our hair styled for prom.  The stylist took a little longer than expected to do our hair but it was worth the wait.  He listened to our requests and our hair turned out great.  The salon is modestly priced, not by any means cheap, but it is also not overly expensive.  Both of our hair was $75.00 including tip.

We would recommend PR at Partners not only for prom hairstyles but for haircuts as well.  I got my hair cut here a couple of months ago and the stylists was really good at asking me all kinds of questions about what I wanted.  Before, they have a survey to fill out with questions including how often you wash your hair, what products you put in it, and whether or not you blow dry or straighten your hair.  This surveys ensures your haircut is specialized just for you and you don't have to change your daily routine to fit your new cut.

Hollywood Nails & Spa ~ Special Events Week

For prom, graduation and other special events we've been looking all over for a good quality nail salon.   We visited Hollywood Nails & Spa which is located on Wilson Boulevard in Arlington, Virginia.

Hollywood Nails is a large store which is great for events like prom because we were able to take many of our friends along and all sit next to each other while getting our nails done.  Along with a traditional board in the front of the salon that lists the nail prices there are multiple boards that show the variety of gel and acrylic styles that the salon features.  The salon has a variety of different colors to choose from 

I went with four of my friends to the salon and we were all very pleased with the service.  For a pedicure and a gel manicure it costs about $70.00 including tip.  For a regular manicure and pedicure without tip is is $38.00.  However, while the prices are good at this salon, it is one of the few salons in the area that, unfortunately, does not offer a 10% off student discount.

For additional information about other spa services offered at Hollywood Nails & Spa, such as waxing services, and to view the full price list you can visit the website at http://www.hollywoodnailsspa.com/

Hollywood Nails & Spa now have a second location further along Wilson Boulevard so even without an appointment you are almost guaranteed availability at the salon at whatever times are convenient for you.

Company Flowers ~ Special Events

Company Flowers is located on Lee Highway in Arlington, Virginia.  Company Flowers specializes in a wide variety of floral arrangements that are great for birthdays, anniversaries, and a wide variety of other occasions.  In addition, Company Flowers other merchandise like jewelry and household trinkets.





We used Company Flowers to order our prom boutonniere and found the staff really helpful.  Last year, we used a different, larger company, to order our flowers.  They showed us a couple different colored roses and told us to pick a color.  The result was a fairly basic boutonniere that cost about $7.00.  At Company Flowers, however, an employee asked us about the color of our dresses and helped us custom design a boutonniere to specifically fit our unique color scheme.  The women even picked some flowers to show us how the resulting boutonniere would look.

Company Flowers charged about $13.00 for each boutonniere, however, the one-on-one service we received was definitely worth the extra money.  The employees also knew that Washington-Lee and Yorktown had prom on the same night and therefore the shop would busy throughout the day.  The employees had us pay the day we ordered the flowers, so that come prom day, we could just come in and pick up our flowers in minutes.

Overall, we found the extra cost of the flowers to be well worth the great customer service we received while shopping.  We definitely recommend using Company Flowers for prom and all your other flower needs!

For more information about Company Flowers or to place an order online you can visit the website at http://companyflowers.com/