Lacey Thompson

Last weekend, we attended one of the open houses that the JUMP Center was holding for the public. We have been excited about this project in downtown Boise for many reasons. We are always excited to see new additions to our little city, but this was especially exciting because the JUMP Center is our new neighbor!

We have been keeping up with this new development since it’s early stages and admittedly were a little confused on the concept of the building from what we had read. Well, since attending the open house, we’re now even more confused. Perhaps it is my total lack of right brained-ness (I worked at a private art school for years-I’m used to not understanding my creative counterparts), but even Mat who is creative had a hard time figuring out what our community would do with this building.

Let’s start with the first floor.

Level 1-Kitchen Studio

The kitchen was very pretty and open to the rest of the floor. I’m assuming cooking classes will be held here, which I can get on board with. There was a giant, odd shaped booth near the kitchen. Does this mean it will also act as a restaurant where patrons can order food? If not, the booth makes zero sense. Maybe you could host an event in the main floor and have your caterer utilize the kitchen? I’m not sure what the constrains are on renting out the JUMP Center. Moving onto Level 3 (yep, no Level 2, because that makes sense).

Level 3-The Garden Terrace

I’m wondering if the designers of this building had Idaho’s climate confused with that of Southern California’s. I would guess about 60-70% of the building is uncovered. Realistically, how many months out of the year can we use outdoor seating/space in this area? I think saying four months a year is generous. The entire third level is an outside terrace, which, don’t get me wrong, will have beautiful views of the urban garden and downtown sights once it’s complete, but how often will it actually get used?

Level 4-Multimedia Studio & Inspiration Studio

The fourth floor consisted of two tiny boxed in rooms. The rest of it was, you guessed it, outside and uncovered. Each room was probably 600 square feet. The Multimedia Studio at least had some sound equipment that could be rented out, but the Inspiration Studio was just a room of windows. Again, the views are great, but what will the room be used for by people of our community?

Level 5-Movement Studio, Maker’s Studio & JUMP Room

I enjoyed walking through the Movement Studio (aka a dance studio with huge windows) because I was able to watch a student and a teacher that I had worked with at the previously mentioned arts school. I have always loved watching any type of dancing and I enjoyed getting to watch the open workshop they were putting on for the open house. The dance studio looked gorgeous with all of the windows, and I’m hoping I can talk Mat into taking some classes in the future!

The Maker’s Studio was quite small, but included my favorite volunteer that we ran into that day, so that helped my take on this part of the center. He seemed so enthusiastic about what this room offered, that it was hard to not feel his excitement. The Maker’s Studio included a 3D printer, which still blows my mind how those things work. I was confused on how the public could use the 3D printer however, since I know how expensive and complicated they can be to run. It must be something you have to schedule and pay for, but that is still unclear.

The JUMP Room was essentially a large open room that could be used for a variety of events I assume. The informational sheet they gave us stated that it was “designed with flexibility in mind…a space of endless possibilities; from indoor winter markets to community art installations.” I was expecting the rest of the JUMP Center to consist of more spaces like the JUMP Room.

Level 6-Pioneer Room and Vintage Tractors & Steam Engines

The Pioneer Room was my absolute favorite. Perhaps that is because they had several performers set up in this room for the open house, including another old co-worker performing aerial silks, which was phenomenal. This was another very large open room with gorgeous views. The info sheet stated it is an “ideal space for inspirational speakers, performances, fundraiser, and other special events.”

To be honest, I didn’t spend much time looking at the vintage tractors or steam engines. It’s December in Idaho, so I spent as little time outside as possible. I was also a little bummed that the five story slide isn’t open yet. Yes, I realize I’m not 12, but I’m probably more excited to try out the slide than most 12 year-olds.

To sum up, we are excited for this addition in downtown Boise, but we are still pretty confused how we will use 90% of it. We do know that once the urban garden is complete we will at least walk through it as a short cut to BoDo, but other than that, we will have to wait and see.

Let us know what you think about the Boise JUMP Center!

In all of my 28 years, I have never waxed any part of my body until a couple of weeks ago. Well I guess that’s not entirely true. Once in junior high my mom tried an at home eyebrow waxing kit on me…maybe that’s why I have steered clear ever since.

I’m not sure if it’s my new brunette persona taking over, making me more brave, or if I’m finally just getting tired of shaving and that pushed me over the edge. Whatever the reason, I found myself booking an online appointment at LunchBox – A Waxing Salon.  I chose LunchBox for a couple of reasons. 1. I have heard fantastic things about them (I have a friend of a friend that has been involved since the opening of the first store) and 2. Location. I can walk to their downtown location, and being the anti-driving person that I am, this was the real reason I chose LunchBox.

Well, lucky for me it worked out!

LunchBox’s website makes it super easy to book an appointment-so easy in fact that before I knew it, I had already booked a bikini session (starting small, definitely still terrified of a Brazilian) before even talking to anybody that worked there or knowing who I had made the appointment with! My original plan was to schedule the appointment, then give the salon a call to talk about what to expect, how I should prepare, etc. Well, I got busy and never did call, so I just showed up a few minutes early hoping for the best.

Their reception/lobby area is very chic and clean. Actually, the entire space had a clean feeling, and not the “hospital clean” that evokes memories of sterile smelling tools, but more of minimalist clean. My favorite.

The space consisted of lots of crisp whites, straight lines, muted silvers and a little pop of pink here and there, you know, for femininity I suppose. And my favorite-a big brick wall. If you have been to our condo you can understand why I love this.  I walked in and was immediately greeted by a very friendly lady. When I told her my name, she mentioned that she noticed this was my first time at LunchBox. I’m not sure why, but I always appreciate when a company recognizes when it is a customer’s first time; it makes me feel like the business cares and knows about their clients. Maybe they just do it to make sure they have the correct paperwork, but whatever the reason, it makes me feel appreciated.

I was given a few minutes to sit and complete some paperwork, and then was taken back to the room where the terrifyingly painful event would happen. She asked if I had any questions since it was my first time, I of course had a million. I also let her know I was super nervous as I don’t have a very high tolerance for pain. She was extremely sweet answering my questions and addressing my concerns; I never felt rushed, even though I knew my appointment was only for a total of 15 minutes. She let me know that I could keep my own undergarments on if that would make me feel more comfortable, but to be aware that wax may get on them. If I preferred, I could change into the disposable underwear that they provided (which were held on the counter in an adorable glass container). She also let me know that I could use a “refresher wipe” (sorry if this is too much info) if I wanted, and that she would give me a few minutes of privacy to get ready.

When she came back in and started to get to work is when I was really impressed. She had me lay on my back and guided my legs into the different positions needed to apply the wax. She would check in periodically to make sure the temperature of the wax was still good, but other than that, the rest of the time she held the conversation to keep me preoccupied I think. I was too nervous and anxious to come up with any questions (or even intelligent responses), so thankfully she was really good at carrying on the conversation and working quickly at the same time.

The entire process went so quickly that I couldn’t believe when we were done! I’m not going to lie, getting waxed is not nearly as enjoyable as getting a massage, but LunchBox made it as painless as possible. I’m not entirely sure how they do it (I was too scared to watch the process), but it has something to do with applying pressure and some sort of product right after a strip is ripped off that diminishes the pain. I also assumed the entire thing to be so awkward because, let’s face it, it’s a pretty awkward service and I’m one of the most awkward people I know. But it wasn’t weird or embarrassing at all! I was so happy with the service: my wax specialist was kind, warm, reassuring and her service was efficient, fairly painless (considering the service), and very successful.

When checking out after my appointment was over, she let me know what I should do and should avoid for the next several days in order to get the best results. She also used some medical terminology about my skin’s healing process, which was impressive and totally won me over. She explained products they offer, but didn’t try to push them on me at all, which in turn worked in her favor. She mentioned what they offered and what I might want, but if I already have a product similar, there is no need to spend additional money on it. I also think it’s brilliant that they offer a “travel bag” for their products, which are all airplane security approved and come in the most adorable packaging. Each of their products has their logo, which is a brilliant and simply designed stick figure female with a product-specific pose.

To sum up, I scheduled a second appointment (which conveniently landed two days before we leave to Mexico) and even purchased a body exfoliate. I’m excited for my next appointment at LunchBox!

**See update as of 11/14/15 at the bottom of this post.

I decided to try a new hair salon in downtown Boise, and after a lot of research and asking around, I made an appointment with Graeber Salon. Little did I know at that time how big of a mistake that was.

In my research I found that Boise Weekly had named Graeber best salon for the last several years. Also, I had several people say they got their hair done there or knew people who did and were satisfied.

If you follow us on Instagram or here on the blog, I’m sure it’s very obvious that I’m a natural redhead. Always have been. This means I’m pretty limited with what I can do in terms of hair color. I had been feeling the itch to attempt a little bit richer of a red for fall, which led me to making an appointment at Graeber.

Even with my research and referrals, I was still a bit nervous and hesitant about trying out a new salon. I made sure to prepare in advance by talking to friends in the field about the correct terms to use (i.e. “sombre”, “balayage”, etc.) as well as gathered specific pictures that depicted what I was wanting to achieve.

Basically, I wasted my time with all that prep work. Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ll explain my experience from start to finish.

My appointment was scheduled for 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning. I arrived a few minutes early and was greeted by a young lady at the front desk. There were already several other women standing in the cramped waiting room full of Aveda products. When my stylist came out to meet me, she asked if I would like either water or coffee to drink. This was definitely a nice gesture and exemplifying pretty good customer service, so I started to relax a little.

This was the richer hue of red I was wanting to try. I told the stylist somewhere between this color and what I currently had.

When I sat down in the chair, she asked about what I was wanting for today. When I had called to schedule the appointment, I let the girl on the phone know that I was seeking a balayage with a richer color on top, so I reiterated this info to the stylist. I also pulled out my phone and showed her pictures, explaining that the first one was the balayage I had last year that I loved, but I felt a bit more daring this year and wanted to try something perhaps similar the second photo for the top of the  balayage.

After a few minutes discussing this, she said she would go mix up the color and be back to apply it.

EEK! I was so excited at this point. The next several minutes were spent with the stylist working like a mad scientist slapping color all over my head. She was extremely sloppy about it, but I think that is only because she was feeling rushed. The front desk girl came back to her station 2-3 times to give her updates on her next client. i.e. “Your next client is on her way.” Then ten minutes later, “Your next client just arrived.” I think these updates and the fact that she was a little behind schedule all led to the stylist feeling rushed which in turn made her sloppy.

So sloppy in fact, that she got a giant glob of dark dye on the side of the chair I was sitting on and a giant glob on the cape I was wearing. I believe this is what led to dark dye being splattered all over my favorite jeans. Yes, of COURSE I wore my favorite jeans to my hair appointment-I was prepared to walk out of there feeling fabulous! I wasn’t aware that I needed to wear my paint clothes to go to the best salon in Boise. Not only did she get dye on the chair, the cape and my pants, somehow it also got on my leather purse, which was sitting on a second chair at her station a couple feet away. I saw later there was also dye on her mirror. I pointed out all of the dye she had gotten on my pants and she tried to get the splatters out with hair spray, but that didn’t even make it fade. She even made the comment “It looks like you weren’t even wearing a cape!”

After she had painted my ENTIRE head (I went in for a balayage, remember, which does not require all over color) and my hair was dripping with dye, she let me know that she had another client and I would need to sit in a waiting chair while she attended to her next client. At this point I also noticed that there was dye all over my hand as well. That shit was everywhere. I glanced around to find an open chair while trying not to get dye in anymore places on my outfit. I asked if I needed to move my personal items from the second chair at her station (I had my purse, coat and scarf on the second chair). She said yes I would need to, but didn’t offer to assist me with it, even though I had dye all over my hands and my hair was dripping with dye.

I grabbed my personal items with the hand that didn’t have dye on it and walked to a waiting chair. It was at this point I realized she hadn’t clipped my hair up at all, and my hair is longer than the cape covers in the back. Since my pants and purse were already ruined, I wanted to at least try and save my shirt, so I sat very awkwardly stiff and tilted my head back slightly so as to not have the ends of my hair touch the back of my shirt. I sat like this for OVER AN HOUR as I watched her cut and style (and give a neck massage) the hair of her other client. I don’t have a lot of experience with this, but from asking around and in the few I’ve had, I have never heard of a stylist leaving color on for over an hour. I don’t think she would have left it on that long if she hadn’t had a client scheduled at the same time as my appointment. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all about efficiency, but I’m also about customer service. There are so many ways this could have been handled better (even just helping me with my purse and coat would have helped).

When my stylist was finished with her other client, she took me over to the sink to wash out my color. When I was sitting back in the seat in front of the mirror I started to have a little mini panic attack (I’ve never actually had a panic attack, but I totally freaked out on the inside). The color on my previously strawberry blonde hair was BLACK. Or so it appeared to me. Never in my 28 years have I ever been anything but a redhead. I was in shock, and not in a good way. She asked what I thought about the color and I just started shaking my head “no” and let her know that it was too dark. She assured me that it looked dark just because it was still wet and once she started to dry it, it would lighten up and be red. I didn’t say anything and just crossed my fingers she was right.

I watched in the mirror as she dried my hair and it stayed dark. Super dark. With not a hint of red in it. When about half of my head was dry, she asked again what I thought of the color. I blinked back tears like a little kid and told her it was way too dark and not what I had asked for, as there was no red to be found. Her response was very defensive, stating that she “thought it looked good”. I am not a confrontational person, so I just sat silently for the remainder of my appointment, blinking back tears like I was 6 and someone had just stolen my favorite toy.

By the end of the appointment once she had trimmed my hair and finished my blow out, I think she had come around and felt a little bad. She offered to set up another appointment to try and fix it (umm, no way I’m going back and spending MORE money at that salon). She also tried getting the dye out of my pants with pure rubbing alcohol, but that didn’t work either. She gave me her personal phone number and said if I couldn’t get the dye out at home, she would buy me a new pair of pants. I give her credit for that one, but I’m sure she knew I wouldn’t take her up on that offer. How awkward would that be?! I can see it now….”Hey, remember that girl whose hair, pants and purse you ruined? The one who cried in your stylist chair? Yeah, that’s me and I would like you to buy me some new jeans.” No thank you I would rather not.

I will also give her credit (kind of) for only charging me for the color and not the trim. The only reason I’m giving her partial credit is because it was a nice thought to not charge me for the trim, however she shouldn’t have charged me anyway because my hair is still full of split ends. I think she trimmed maybe 4 hairs total on my head. Oh but don’t worry she dyed ALL of them the wrong color.

I was checking out and paying at the front desk when the overly chirpy front desk man asked how my appointment was. In my head I was screaming “My hair is ruined, my pants are ruined and my purse is ruined. How the hell do you THINK my appointment was!?!?!” But instead I responded with “It was ok.” Then tipped over 20% and sprinted home to cry to my husband.

I originally wanted to write this post as documentation of a weird (hopefully funny in the future) instance in my life, but I turned it into a review of Graeber. I did this because a few days after my appointment I wrote them an email just to let them know about my experience. Want to know what they said back? Nothing. Not a damn word. Not even “Oh sorry about that.” I’m not asking for a refund, although I think it’s definitely deserved, but to not even acknowledge the terrible experience I had? That’s not very good customer service, and from what I experienced, I have no idea how they are the number one salon in Boise.

Needless to say I have an appointment to get my hair fixed, and it is NOT with Graeber.

**As an update, the co-owner of Graeber contacted me on 11/3 and offered a complimentary color fix. They also refunded me in full for my appointment as well as provided a gift card to replace my ruined pants.

This was the balayage I had done last year and loved.

This was taken after I cried on my walk home from the salon. I was mourning the loss of my strawberry blonde hair.

This picture only shows half of one of my pant legs. The dye got all over both thighs.

Today for “Sunday fun day” we wanted to try out several local downtown coffee shops to make our decision as to who has the best coffee in Boise. We decided to review on three criteria: 1.Taste 2.Service 3.Ambiance. Since we usually go to the same places and order the same things, we instead asked the barista at each location to recommend a drink for us. We are by no means experts (although we do have a combined experience of 12 years in the service industry, so that has to count for something, right?) but just wanted to get out and experience what coffee in downtown Boise is all about!

Stop #1-Big City Coffee

What was suggested: Bit O’ Honey ($3.70)

1. Taste: We couldn’t really taste the honey, but we could definitely taste the cinnamon. The amazing homemade whipped cream added a buttery taste as well. This would be the perfect Christmas Eve drink. Best pastry selection ever, but sadly we were only there for coffee today.
2. Service-The young girl at the cash register was very friendly and helpful when we asked for her suggestion.
3. Ambiance-Big City is quite casual, family friendly, and obviously where people go to be social with each other. The furniture is set up so you may even share a table with strangers! There was country music playing and the coffee was brought out in a large, rustic mug, which is fitting with the rest of the rustic decor. Think Lumberjack’s scraps of wood meets an interior designer and you get Big City!

Stop #2-Flying M

What was suggested: Chai latte ($7 for two)

1. Taste-This latte tasted of all things fall; very pumpkin spice-ish, frothy and sweet.
2. Service-The trendy barista was also friendly and helpful.
3. Ambiance-Flying M is more than just a coffee shop, they also have a mini gift shop! As a whole it is very eclectic and seemed to have a more narrow audience (college crowd). Our chai lattes were served in the tiniest of paper cups as techno music played quietly enough for the college kids to study their flash cards. And for one guy to focus on his knitting.

Stop #3-Java

What was suggested: Hazelnut latte ($2.75)

1. Taste-Very hazelnut-y, lots of foam but not as sweet as the chai latte from Flying M.
2. Service-The nonchalant barista was friendly but less enthusiastic. We are still confused why she didn’t suggest their signature mocha, Bowl of Soul. They even have “bowl of soul” in their official website name (www.javabowlofsoul.com).
3. Ambiance-There was a good mix of patrons there for social reasons as well as those being studious. There were even some business casual people, possibly conducting meetings or interviews. We saw several backwards hats and beanies, listened to contemporary/reggae music, while looking at Andy Warhol paintings and pretty chandeliers.

Stop #4-Dawson Taylor

What was suggested: Cinnamon latte ($3.71)

1. Taste-This latte was also frothy (not as frothy as Java), sweet, and tasted like a cinnamon hot chocolate. This would also make a very good holiday drink.
2. Service-The free spirited young barista was very happy and helpful (obviously a trend in Boise), and was the only one who asked what we liked before making a recommendation.
3. Ambiance-The vibe at Dawson Taylor was more serious, seemingly independent studiers; we are guessing everyone was doing homework for their masters or writing novels. Our last stop seemed less social and probably the most mellow of the four. One half of the shop was full of one person-per table students and/or novelists with track lighting for artwork on the wall. We enjoyed the smooth funk music, the gorgeous tile art on the counter and the (literally) front row seats to people watch on 8th street.

Below are today’s winners in each criteria:

Best Taste (from what was recommended to us) – Flying M’s Chai Latte

Best Service – Dawson Taylor (the barista was happy and engaged with our likes/dislikes)

Best Ambiance – Big City Coffee

Do you have a favorite downtown Boise coffee shop? What is your favorite drink to sip on?

For my birthday my team at work took me out to lunch at the most adorable spot in downtown Boise, Bleubird. This hidden gem serves amazing sandwiches, salads and soups…but there is a catch-it’s only open Monday-Friday from 11 am-5pm!

The decor is on point, great ambiance, and most importantly, delicious food! I can’t wait to take Mat there; he is going to LOVE their Italian sandwich.

They serve freshly squeezed drinks (I had the basil lemonade). They even squeeze them at the bar in front of you!

It’s no surprise I ordered the grilled cheese and tomato basil soup-SO good!