Hurray! Time to head to Vancouver for the inaugural Seawheeze half marathon.
I LOVE to travel to destination races with my girlfriends. We have done Napa to Sonoma (twice!), Oregon Wine Country, New York City half, Carlsbad, Austin and more. I have been to Vancouver a few times (including one of my early marathons in 1996) but there are many sites like Granville Market and Grouse Mountain that I have yet to see. Luckily the race is early on Saturday, so there will be plenty of time for site seeing and delicious food! Another cool thing is the sponsor – Lululemon! They have so many fun things planned for Saturday and I am sure the race clothes will be awesome (and they are giving out native flip flops to make up for the shorty-short shorts!) I am so excited. 21 kilometers later and the fun begins! Well, hopefully tomorrow night will be fun, too! Stay tuned for a full report!
Oooh and the husband reminded me to mention a great find he made for traveling internationally. When we put a deposit in for our big anniversary trip this year to S. Africa (!!!), he googled all of our credit cards and found that most have a 2 – 3% foreign transaction fee. He learned that if we upgraded our Chase Marriott card, it has no foreign transaction fees at the Platinum level (it has a $95 fee but was free the first year so we can evaluate the savings and benefits next year.) We saved quite a bit on our vacation deposit and I will save 3% on all of my Lululemon purchases! (And Wendy will be all set with her Discover card, too! So I can’t make fun of it on this trip!)
So I saw a new website this week and it spurred the me to ask a question that has been on my mind for a while- what things would you prefer to pay a premium for versus getting the best deal? (Some of the health deals – like Lasik or Liposuction on Lifebooker have had me wondering…) A new site has popped up in Chicago called Carextend. They offer deals on dental, vision, beauty, chiropractic, back pain, acupuncture, weight loss and foot pain. Their pitch:
Have you ever really thought about how much you spend out-of-pocket on your health? Even with good health insurance, many of your common healthcare costs aren’t covered.
Whether treating a cold, dealing with your aches and pains, or trying to make yourself look and feel better, you may be spending hundreds, if not thousands of dollars and not even realize it. That’s why we created CareXtend, a unique, healthcare-focused, online marketplace with great offers on healthcare-related products and services.
Right now in my area they have everything from a medical pedicure (hmmm – FSA account?) to hair restoration to hearing aid testing and cleaning. Interesting. One the one hand, it makes total sense and is up my alley to look for deals, but on the other, I am a bit dubious about health care on sale. A manicure or facial is one thing but for any procedure (hello eyesight!) and also (strangely?) for anything hair related, I want the best (and assume the best are booked….) So what do you think?? I would love to hear comments on this.
Links/Things I like…
– Just what Chicago needs: Sprinkles in the Gold Coast launched its cupcake ATM this week; the 24-hour machine holds 500 cupcakes at a time and is restocked with fresh flavors day and night. (50 E. Walton St.) (Yes, I know they already have this in New York – of course!)
– Daily Candy has 2012 Olympic Conversation Starters – 15 Tidbits That Will Blow Your Mind. I especially like “South Korean archer Im Dong-Hyun is legally blind, but he doesn’t wear glasses or contacts during competitions. He attributes his success to muscle memory.”
– Speaking of the Olympics… and thinking of my race this weekend, I liked WebMD’s Go for the Gold Fitness Tips for the Everyday Olympian: 5 Tips for Building Mental Stamina. All good, but I particularly liked the visualization techniques they suggest.
– Need a review of your diet? Lauren from Nutrition Energy had a great review of a triathlete’s diet and recommendations for improvement – we could all use that!
– From G Adventures on Facebook:
And some Friday Deals!
– Hey Chicago friends, if you liked my post on Meez Meals, check out the Active.com Schwaggle deal for Meez Meals. It is $43 for one week of meals for two people includes delivery of six servings— three meals, each serving two people or even better $53 for one week of meals for four people includes delivery of twelve servings—three meals, each serving four people. I did the 3 meals for 2 and found the food to be fresh and delicious and enough to eat for 3 – 4 servings each meal. Try it!
– Speaking of Chicago food deals… Bloomspot has 50% off on classes at Flip Crepes in Westtown – Karen and Rachel went today – will have to get their review!
– I really dig the site Modcloth for fun, inexpensive, trendy clothes. Think H & M meets Etsy. If you sign up for their emails and make a $50 or more purchase with this link, you will get $10 off.
– Hey Moms – Daily Candy Deals has 50% off at the website Ecomom and google offers has $20 for 6 Doodle Rolls (Activity sets) a $41 value – looks fun!
– Sign up for travelzoo deals and get a free Shutterfly photobook worth $30! (Sapna and I got our codes!)
Want to do a Good Deed by Supporting a Good Cause?
– I was so excited this week when I learned that I won MagMileRunner’s fundraiser raffle – first prize! Thank you random number generator! I donated $25 to her American Cancer Society fundraising for the Chicago Marathon (her first) and won a full running outfit from Aspaeris, Brooks, Injini, Bani Bands and Spybelt! Woot woot – a real WIN-WIN! You can still support Maggie here.
There is still time to support George Gallego in his NY Ironman fundraiser for Wheels of Progress!The race is this weekend! Check out my post here to learn more or go directly to his First Giving page.
Wow – that’s an awful lot for today! Hope you all have a great weekend and I can’t wait to report back from Vancouver!