Pole Dancing Adventures & BodyBinds Giveaway!
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! How excited am I that Pole Dancing Adventures has teamed up with BodyBinds for a new giveaway?????????????????????????????
Image from Pole Dancing Adventures by Leen Isabel
Full details are here: http://pole-dancing-adventures.blogspot.com/2013/03/pole-dancing-adventures-bodybinds-harness-costume-giveaway-contest.html
Good luck, everyone! <3
Studio Review – Tiger Lily Vertical Fitness & Dance, Geneva, IL (USA)
Last fall, I had the pleasure of stopping by Tiger Lily Vertical Fitness & Dance while on a trip to the Chicago area, for a friend’s wedding. I had run some searches for pole studios in the area, looking for something that was reasonably close to my mom’s house, both for my own convenience AND in case she wanted to finally sign up for classes. 
From the Tiger Lily website
Co-owned by Head Instructors Caroline and Sarah, Tiger Lily Vertical Fitness & Dance is located in Geneva, Illinois, which is a western suburb of Chicago. It’s a great location for anyone in the western suburbs – my mom lives about 40 minutes north, but it was an easy trip down one of the main thoroughfares that runs north/south in that area (Randall Road, which is also the road that the studio happens to be on). The studio is set in a storefront in a an upper-middle class area of the suburbs, and as soon as I walked in, I was impressed with the beauty of the set up. The lobby is splashed with color in a way that is both inviting and girlish without being overpowering, which I loved. There’s also a small boutique area, allowing students to conveniently purchase any supplies they might need!
Tiger Lily Boutique – photo from their Facebook page
Behind the privacy wall and curtains, you’ll find large studio area, painted in a deep grey with pink accents (same as the lobby). The space is beautiful, with an intimate feel to it. Mirrors line one wall, with a ballet bar for stretching, and you’ll find 9 permanent 50 mm Platinum Stages poles on which to flip and fly! A door at the back of the studio leads to a small dressing area for changing and storing your items, as well as a kitchenette (snacks and water are available for purchase) and bathroom. All in all, it is a great set up!
The studio offers pole classes of varying levels in session courses, as well as package deals available if you find yourself addicted and wanting to come to class more than once a week! I was lucky enough to get special permission ahead of time to sit in on a mixed level class, which allowed me to get an idea of how the teaching works at the studio. Sarah, the instructor, gave a great warm up that combined some strength and stretching exercises with a healthy dose of dance-inspired movement to raise our heart rates – she added in some fun, flirty accents, too! Sarah was careful to teach for everyone’s level, and when she saw I was more advanced than some of the other students, she gave me more advanced conditioning to do – one of the first things she had me do was start to work inverts on my bad side, as she correctly deduced that it was something I never did (and totally need to work on!). The spins and transitions she taught to all of us were pretty and very useful, no matter what your level. Each of the students was kind and welcoming to me, especially for me being an outsider – I was so impressed by their attitudes! Class wrapped up with a free style dance, allowing us to dance as a group and test out some of the things we’d all been working on. Overall, I really enjoyed it, and I felt like I got a great work out!
Tiger Lily Co-Owners and Head Instructors Sarah (L) and Caroline (R), from their website
Tiger Lily also offers various workshops throughout the year, like a striptease class, as well as specialty classes! The specialty classes include stretching and yoga based classes, including Fly Gym classes! I wish I’d had time to take one while I was there – dying to try it! In addition to their class schedule, Tiger Lily also offers party packages for gals looking to throw the perfect bachelorette or birthday party (or more!). They are also hosting and managing The Windy City Pole Dance Competition on April 13th, 2013, at Pheasant Run in St. Charles, IL!
FlyGym at Tiger Lily – photo from their Facebook page – great view of the studio interior!
With affordable pricing and a lovely set up, Tiger Lily Vertical Fitness & Dance makes a great addition to the Chicago pole studio scene!
You can find Tiger Lily Vertical Fitness at 1749 S. Randall Rd. ~Suite G, Geneva, IL 60134 (located next to Mario Tricoci Salon and Day Spa), and online at http://www.tigerlilyverticalfit.com and on Facebook!
Poleitical Clothing *GIVEAWAY*!!!
I am SO excited to announce a new Poleitical Clothing Giveaway with Pole Dancing Adventures!!!
We will be giving away some of our new merchandise: one Keep Calm and Pole Dance Off-The-Shoulder sweatshirt in pink and one pair of our Keep Calm and Pole Dance Perfect Pole Shorts in red! Open to US and International entries! Sizes small through extra large for the sweatshirts, and sizes extra small through extra large for the shorts (all US Standard). Contest ends 2/18/2013! Multiple ways to enter! You could win $60 worth of free merchandise! Full details, including terms and conditions, are over on the PDA blog. Enter today by going here:
Best of luck, and Happy Poling!
Poleitical Clothing *GIVEAWAY*!!!
I am SO excited to announce a new Poleitical Clothing Giveaway with Pole Dancing Adventures!!!
We will be giving away some of our new merchandise: one Keep Calm and Pole Dance Off-The-Shoulder sweatshirt in pink and one pair of our Keep Calm and Pole Dance Perfect Pole Shorts in red! Open to US and International entries! Sizes small through extra large for the sweatshirts, and sizes extra small through extra large for the shorts (all US Standard). Contest ends 2/18/2013! Multiple ways to enter! You could win $60 worth of free merchandise! Full details, including terms and conditions, are over on the PDA blog. Enter today by going here:
http://pole-dancing-adventures.blogspot.com/2013/02/keep-calm-and-pole-dance-poleitical.html
Best of luck, and Happy Poling!
Poleitical Clothing *GIVEAWAY*!!!
I am SO excited to announce a new Poleitical Clothing Giveaway with Pole Dancing Adventures!!!
We will be giving away some of our new merchandise: one Keep Calm and Pole Dance Off-The-Shoulder sweatshirt in pink and one pair of our Keep Calm and Pole Dance Perfect Pole Shorts in red! Open to US and International entries! Sizes small through extra large for the sweatshirts, and sizes extra small through extra large for the shorts (all US Standard). Contest ends 2/18/2013! Multiple ways to enter! You could win $60 worth of free merchandise! Full details, including terms and conditions, are over on the PDA blog. Enter today by going here:
http://pole-dancing-adventures.blogspot.com/2013/02/keep-calm-and-pole-dance-poleitical.html
Best of luck, and Happy Poling!
Vertical Swag Wrist Wraps
If you’ve been reading my blog, you may have noticed that I occasionally talk about my wrist pain from pole dancing. I wanted to take a minute to share one of the things that I believe has helped me lessen the pain! Sometime last year, a pole sister of mine (one of my pole “sponsees” – a gal I got into poling) mentioned that she’d been using wrist wraps while poling to give her wrists added support. I thought it was an interesting idea, but because of my ADD, it pretty much leaked out of my brain five minutes after the conversation. A little while later, I happened to come across a giveaway on Pole Dancing Adventures, offering up the wrist wraps from Vertical Swag. While I was not the winner of the giveaway, I did end up buying a pair of my own. You may have seen me sporting them in various photos:
Titanic from the floor
Learning the Iris
Lyra move (death star??)
Lyra move (death star??) from the side
In all of these photos, I have on my zebra striped Vertical Swag wrist wraps. I do think they’ve helped me stabilize my wrists, especially since I’ve been working to move into more aerial/twisted grip moves. TG is hard on my right wrist, which is my “pull” wrist (the hand that is “up” in all of my TG moves). After taking two weeks off from class because of the holidays and my busy work schedule, all it took was one class filled with twisted grip moves and handspring work for my wrist to be in a ton of pain – and, of course, I had neglected to take the time to put on my wrist wraps before that class, which was not smart – I think it would have helped a lot if I’d put them on! Since then, I’ve been keeping my wrist wrapped a good portion of the time that I am not in class (depends on the day and what I’m up to), and I went back to using my wrist wraps, even in Lyra, which is normally not that bad on my wrist. I think the wraps have helped with the pain!
I do think that some of my wrist pain would be better if I a) was better conditioned in my wrists and forearms b) lost a little bit of weight. Now, don’t think I’m complaining about being fat or something – the simple fact is that less weight on a sensitive wrist would be a good thing. I’m asking my wrists to support 157ish pounds, and while conditioning would CERTAINLY help that, I’m sure my wrists would love me for laying off junk food for a bit.
The wrist wraps, however, are a great, affordable little helper! They add stability, but also keep the joint warm, which is nice. They’re 100% cotton, easily washable, and simple to use. Here’s a great little demo video of how to put them on and secure them:
Vertical Swag offers a number of colors and styles – my zebra print is no longer listed, but there’s a cute teal version! I love that they’re made for pole dancers, BY a pole dancer, so you get to support a fellow poler AND a small business by purchasing them. You can purchase your wraps at http://verticalswag.com/wraps/ – the front page of the site says that there is currently a New Year’s sale going on, so you can save 25% off right now! They also offer other products for polers, like shoe and grip bags. You can check them out online at www.verticalswag.com and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/VerticalSwag
I’ll have some more fun updates again soon! Happy Poling!
SALE at Poleitical Clothing!
Psst…we’re having a little sale over at Poleitical Clothing!!!
In honor of Small Business Saturday (and all of the other crazy post-Thanksgiving shopping in the US), we are offering 10% off anything in our shop if you use the coupon code SHOP10 at checkout! The sale runs from 12am Friday 11/23/12 until 11:59pm Monday 11/26/12 (all Pacific Standard Time). Not valid on previous purchases or with any other discount. One code per person.
Please remember that if you live internationally, we DO ship outside of the US! Here is a breakdown of how that works:
We do ship internationally! Since we have two options for shipping out of the US, we ask that international customers send us a message through Etsy when they are ready to order, so that we can set up a Reserved Listing specifically for them, with the correct shipping. (You’ll need to have a profile/account on Etsy, but it is super simple and FREE to create a shopper profile.)
To ship outside of the US, we have two options: USPS First Class Parcel mail and USPS Priority Flat Rate mail. First Class is cheaper, probably around $10 USD, but there is no tracking available and it takes a little longer. Priority is around $17 USD and is faster, allows for tracking.
If you would like to order, please write us back with your shipping choice, item(s) you would like to order and size(s), and we will get a Reserved Listing set up especially for you. Once it is set, we will send you a link!
So, stop by our Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/Poleiticalclothing and support Small Business this weekend!!
Poleitical Diaries linked in recent KPCC article!
Yay!
KPCC’s Paige Osburn just finished her article on pole dancing after her visit to the Pole Convention, and it has gone live! Please take a moment to check it out on the Southern California Public Radio site:
http://www.scpr.org/programs/offramp/2012/07/18/27479/pole-dancing
Aaaaaaaaaaand Poleitical Diaries is linked in the article, mid-way through the piece! The “pole diary” blogs link will take you to me! Hi to any new readers!
I have spoken at length with Paige about pole dancing and many of the facets related to it, so it’s really wonderful to see the finished product of all of her hard work!
Congratulations, Paige! And THANK YOU! xoxo
I know I owe a post on my experiences at the PoleCon – maybe tonight I will get it done???
Also, if you’d like to find me on Facebook and Twitter, here you go:
http://www.twitter.com/poleitical
http://www.facebook.com/PoleiticalDiaries
I’ll leave you with an old favorite of mine…
tee hee…an oldie, but a goodie!
