The Retail Therapy Guide This Week - 3/27/2020

Happy Saturday! Apologies on the late send... My (Katie) son's eighth birthday was yesterday (Friday), and we had an early evening drive-in birthday sing for him. Hope that was OK! Most were in their cars or across the street in their own Sphere Locks (that's what I call household social distancing). Internally, Marilyn and myself wondered what would become of the event-based weekend newsletter? We decided to dedicate the Friday newsletter to "Retail Therapy," because gosh darnit, the beat still goes on! We still need good books, new shirts, new shoes, new bikes, and delivery. ALL RESTAURANT + SHOP COVID-19 STATUS ALERTS REGULARLY UPDATED Marilyn, who is A Little Beacon Blog's Managing Editor, scours the socials to find out which restaurants are still doing carry-out, curbside delivery, etc. She updates the Restaurant and Shopping Guides for every single storefront on Main Street, East Main, and West Main. If your storefront is not in these guides and your business has a storefront here, let us know. If you see a "@inkcoffeeyoga NL" in the comments of your business's social media account, it means we've been by and are going to update a Guide or feature something here in the newsletter!   NEW: Also for Main Street businesses, we have added Fitness businesses into the Business Directory to include which Beacon fitness studios are doing things online. We are doing this basic listing for free. Any other type of business who wants inclusion and promotion in the Business Directory can learn about it here. We are doing this free of charge for storefronts, as a way to support our storefronts. SUPPORT OPTION: If you do want to support ALBB, and want to include your scheduled class times and other fun details, as well as guarantee your upcoming online Zoom class schedules are included on ALBB's website and in this newsletter, you could start an advertising campaign. Starts at $100/month. Regardless, basic listings with links to the schedules are free at this time on the website. Special note: Studios from Fishkill, Cold Spring, etc. are welcome and encouraged to be listed in the Business Directory, but we can only extend the free listing to Beacon businesses at this time. We are buried in our workload, but want to help!                                        EAT CHURCH (Closed For Now) This week, Eat Church shared a super easy recipe for making bread at home. Here's what owner Mark says: "This is the most stripped-down bread recipe I've got as it makes a great standard white loaf but requires so few ingredients and so little effort. Great one to make with kids as most folks have the ingredients in the pantry." Get the recipe here > Eat Church is a Sponsor, thank you! BARB'S BUTCHERY (Closed For Now) Barb's Butchery announced their temporary closure this week. The orders came in fast and furious. There were many tears in the Instagram. But businesses have to sift through a lot right now, figuring out financing and other everyday big hurdles that any business hits. We are all anticipating Barb's return so that we can fill our bellies once we all bounce back on the other side of the wave. Barb's Butchery is a Sponsor, thank you! THE BEACON HOTEL & RESTAURANT Also announced this week, the Beacon Hotel & Restaurant is also temporarily closing. From their Instagram: "Although this was a very hard call to make, we have made the decision that it is best to close our doors including take-out and delivery to protect the health of our employees and community. We appreciate every single one of you who has been here to support us during this hard time. We will all get through this, and look forward to having you as our guests when we re-open." Other restaurants continue to be open. Do check our Restaurant Guide and order takeout/delivery! MIZ HATTIE'S - CURBSIDE DELIVERY (inside Hudson Valley Food Hall) This is your answer to comfort food cravings. Mac and cheese and fried chicken. A Little Beacon Blog has written about Miz Hattie's before, and now will be ordering curbside delivery for Saturday night. Eight-piece Southern Fried Chicken? Yes, please. Order from Miz Hattie any day of the week. Maybe even lunch! WALTON SISTERS BAKING SHOW The Instagrammer @pk_foodie_eaaaatss has been a reader of A Little Beacon Blog for a bit, and her feed is delicious. Now she's added a couple of pint-size foodies in Poughkeepsie. Check out their latest episode, it's Jell-O time! And now, the sisters seem to be Instagramming their food deliveries! Check out Friday's order... BEACON FARMERS MARKET OPENS Beacon's Farmers Market opens for online pre-ordering. Order deadline is Friday afternoon, pickup Sunday. Normally, pre-ordering ends on Fridays for Sunday pickup, but you could maybe still try! Details Here >                                   LUXE OPTIQUE Appointments can be scheduled for dates after Wednesday, April 15. Luxe Optique will accommodate sooner if possible. Contact lens orders continue through their online shop. Contact lens pricing and shipping has been adjusted to provide affordable options to their patients during this time. We miss their faces and voices too, and may ask for a video-check in. If we can do that, we Will post to the blog. Visit their website for details > Luxe Optique is a Sponsor, thank you! LAMBS HILL BRIDAL BOUTIQUE Weddings are still happening in the time of Social Distancing. Just look at this couple in Vogue. Look at this gorgeous Justin Alexander dress on Hanna Withnoh. That detail, though! 😍 Browse Dresses > Lambs Hill is a Sponsor, thank you! The CHOCOLATE STUDIO  The Chocolate Studio is encouraging you to send E-gift cards or Snail Mail gift cards to friends and family. Well, guess what? They are now available on their website! 💝 Wholesale pricing for vegan and gluten-free baked goods 🌱 on the website too! Get more ~ Save more ~ Stay home BINNACLE BOOKS Binnacle Books is delivering stock from the store directly to local customers, or special ordering new books from their distributors, which are shipped directly to your mailbox, whether you’re local or not. Order anything through https://www.binnaclebooks.com/order-books, and reach out via their Instagram DM with any questions! Get Details > Binnacle Books is a Sponsor, thank you! PTACEK Home In this time of Work From Home Life, you need an office nook, quickly! Having an inspiring space makes all the difference when you work from home. Definitely worth the investment. Shown here is one of PTACEK's most popular designs: the Pierced Plank Shelf. Delivery is available. They can build to your own dimensions, so get the tape measure out. Get Details > PTACEK Home is a Sponsor, thank you! LLTO (LIVE LIGHT TRAVEL OFTEN) OK, be honest... How many days this week did you get fully dressed? Do you have your Zoom outfits picked out yet? If you're doing a lot of jammy time, you may as well order a few of these, and hunker down in comfort and style. Buy Online! > LLTO is a Sponsor, thank you! BLACKBIRD ATTIC  Blackbird Attic is making moves to bring her consignment shop more online. Keep shopping her Insta POP UP SHOP. DM her to purchase. Free curbside pickup and delivery to nearby customers, $5 shipping available, more for oversize items. Information > LA MERE CLOTHING & GOODS If you already love the shopping experience at La Mere, don't fret, you're going to keep receiving it at La Mere. The owner, April, continues bringing it to her Instagram to show you what's in the store, what you can order, and how fast she is at shipping or arranging curbside pickup with you. Not on Instagram? No problem. Shop her website any time. BEACON FARMERS MARKET & COMMON GROUND FARM FUNDRAISER We love seeing how Main Street businesses are coming together. For $100 you will get a Reservoir tote (pictured) along with items from Beacon Farmers Market, Utensil, Big Mouth Coffee Roasters, Reservoir, and Solstad House too! PLUS a donation to Common Ground Farm for $10, supporting their efforts to help bring fresh produce to those in need in our community! Information > Wondering if accepting packages is safe? Trevor Noah of "The Daily Show" wondered the same thing, and asked Dr. Fauci on "The Daily Show", which is now airing from Trevor's home. (Also, he's now calling it "The Daily Social Distancing Show.") SMALL BIZ PEP TALK If you're running a business, and are unsure if you should be promoting your goods or services during this time of uncertainty and mourning of human loss, you can. Running a business is part of human survival, and we all get that. If you need a pep talk to hear why, head over to Tin Shingle's Instagram, where Katie gives a pep talk on this topic (skip to the end). People have been craving schedule in their lives. Fitness centers have been providing that. Here are a few: PAVONINE YOGA Pavonine Yoga is offering virtual yoga classes (through Zoom) which you can sign up for through the MINDBODY app. See their schedule online (Beacon or Highland location) and reserve a spot. Drop-ins are $10.  ZONED FITNESS Have you gotten yourself moving at home yet, or are you still sitting on the couch? Use this downtime to start focusing on your health and fitness. Get your family and friends to start up with you, at a distance of course. Let ZONED guide you on this journey. To learn more, visit our home training website: https://www.zonedfit.com/ BUSINESS DIRECTORY FEATURES ANTALEK & MOORE Antalek & Moore has been hard at work (remotely) researching opportunities for small businesses and sharing them on their Facebook page - such as a recent SBA Webinar on YouTube about Economic Injury Disaster Loan Basics. Be sure to follow them also on Instagram! ALBB is recruiting co-owner Susan Pagones to report on highlights that business owners can focus on in the changing legislation or financial relief packages. We need to cut to the chase, and Susan is helping us do that. Antalek & Moore is a Sponsor, thank you! TIN SHINGLE Every Wednesday at 1pm, Katie hosts a live webinar for small businesses. Usually it focuses on how to pitch your business to the media for publicity (still relevant... SO many articles are being produced right now!). It alternates between free and open to all, and private for members only. This week's was private, and included Hudson Valley EATS and Fluid Running (jogging in place in a pool... sells a flotation kit and an app with running routines). Both businesses are navigating how to get the word out. Fluid Running is experiencing healthy sales from states down south as people shift running routines and run in their pool. Fluid Running wants to get the word out in a sensitive way, being mindful of people who don't have pools. Learn More > A 15% Membership Discount is available to current advertisers of A Little Beacon Blog. Email for details. We got a suggestion in from a reader, who wanted to know how to send A Little Beacon Blog financial support to help us continue to produce. Even just $5. First of all: THANK YOU to that reader for wanting to do this! If you are feeling like you want to contribute anything to ALBB as a reader, then visit the new link in the ABOUT tab, called: “I Want To Support ALBB!” Different amounts are available, starting at $5. Click here or on the graphic above to learn more about how you can help! Support Here > People Who Have Given Reading your comments about what ALBB means to your life has been humbling and keeps us going. Thank you. See Who Supported >

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Mixing A Face Mask At SallyeAnder - And Finding New Safe(r) Skin Routines

We went to SallyeAnder Thursday night to discover their new face mask line, and make our own as an activity. The face mask, just like everything else SallyeAnder creates, is made of all good or plant-based ingredients - we could have eaten the version we made, which included banana and olive oil!

Though you would not want to eat the face mask in the box that you would purchase - you would just be normal and apply it to your face two to three times per week to pull out the toxins and dirt, and leave your face feeling fresh. This combo was put together for this show ‘n’ tell event only, to illustrate how natural the ingredients are, and how simple the mask is at its core.

The one we mixed (and by “we,” I mean my daughter, who was in charge of our batch) had smushed banana, but we could have gone with straight-up avocado, or pumpkin.

While in the shop, I checked off my to-do list of converting to a super-natural, minimal-chemical life for deodorant (with cancer scares around me, I’m looking at things I can easily change). SallyeAnder has a Deodorant Stone, where its salt minerals kill bacteria that cause the odor. I also am trying their face balm, Krudd Balm, to replace my morning Oil of Olay moisturizer - I need to trust the ingredients!

SallyeAnder was started by Sallie’s dad, who was a pastry chef. Her brother had eczema, and to soothe his skin, Sallie’s dad devoted himself to making soap, and the brand was born. While Sallie was in law school, the family business began to struggle. “The business was like another sibling to us. We couldn’t just let it go.” So Sallie exited out of law school in order to run the family business. “Back when my dad started in the ‘80s, people were putting anything on. Natural ingredients were a hard sell. Today is much different. People want to know what they are putting on their skin.”

Sallie has been heading up the business ever since. Three children of her own later, she says that she is so glad that Beacon is their home for the business. Having a nationwide soap brand with their flagship store right here on the east end of Beacon - who also manufactures on the west end of town - is pretty handy. And by handy I mean AWESOME.