Sipping Tea at Peaceful Parlour

Before Thanksgiving the Network of Entrepreneurial Women gathered in Geneva for a lovely afternoon of chatting, tea-sipping and getting to know each other.

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Members from the neighborhood as well as Winfield, the O’Hare area, Elgin, St. Charles, Barrington, Hyde Park, Evanston and Downers Grove introduced their respective businesses.

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We sampled the delicious teas and chais at Peaceful Parlour, which was in full swing preparing for Small Business Saturday.

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The eco-chic boutique has stocked up on all kinds of environmentally friendly and locally sourced holiday gifts.

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So when you are strolling down third street in Geneva, step on down into this cozy store and warm yourself with a cup of tea.

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The store holds whimsy and calm for the spirit.

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I enjoyed taking home a delicious special blend with Dandelion leaves, which I complemented with some goodies from The Sugar Path.

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Due to the holidays we won’t be meeting in person in 2014, but we have plenty of locations in mind to gather every 2nd Wednesday and every 4th Thursday of the month next year.

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Photos copyright NetworkHoncho and Maike’s Marvels.

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NEW – The Network of Entrepreneurial Women is a group of Chicagoland business women who are upgrading business networking with fun and creative events that inspire attendees to work together, refer each other and most of all cheer each other on as the membership succeeds. Events rotate around various suburbs on a semimonthly basis, usually the 2nd Wednesday and 4th Thursday of the month. RSVP for our upcoming events at Meetup, or like us on Facebook and check up on the calendar there.

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Learning and growing with NEW

NEW’s Crain’s Small Business Day was a blast, and full of nuggets of wisdom by our fabulous guest speakers. During our meet and greet ladies mingled and were introduced to NetworkHoncho.com with their pop-up of a new small business networking tool that is currently in beta launch.

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Members and visitors also perused my wares at my pop-up table.

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Then we gathered around for formal introductions and a business card exchange, with a variety of very interesting businesses represented.

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After learning more about each other we split into three groups for roundtable discussions.

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Peggy Goddeau discussed retirement planning, highlighting how inflation and taxation do not increase at the same rate, and we thus have to base our retirement planning on projected true buying power. She recommends a balance between cash flow and debt management based on three categories of assets: protection, savings and growth. As a financial advisor with The Heartland Group, Peggy offers consulting services for anyone at any age to ensure their retirement is on the right track.

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Dr. Crystal Foreseman Landers offered wellness tips which included an 80/20 rule for eating whole foods (80% of the time), and allowing for 20% of not-so-nutritious meal or snack decisions. This would allow for 2 ‘cheat’ meals a week, creating less pressure than a vigorous diet. She also recommended having lean protein with each meal to counteract food cravings, and paying attention to what we are eating instead of multitasking while we chew. She also recomended drinking 1/2 of your body weight in ounces to stay properly hydrated.  Dr. Crystal offers additional naturopathic health tips at Living Tree Natural Health, Inc.

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Author and speaker Niquenya D. Fulbright discussed the 4 P’s of profit, which are not price, product place or promotion, but passion, purpose, partners and productivity. She recommends that to achieve a goal, we need to make a list of weekly steps to get there. This makes long-range planning far more effective, because we know we can do one thing a week in a specific category, and then feel more accomplished about doing another thing the next week. She also stated that sunk cost should never be considered when making a decision (and who isn’t guilty of hanging on to something just because we spent so much time and money on it already?). As President and CEO of Building Bridges Consulting, Niquenya transforms dreamers into successful entrepreneurs by giving them the tools to turn their passion into a viable business.

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After all this insightful learning it was time for a pint and we gathered around to dine on our host Shannon’s Irish Pub’s delicious food.

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NEW will gather tomorrow in Geneva for our November Meet & Munch. We will revisit the lovely Peaceful Parlour for some tea time and to gather ideas for eco-friendly holiday shopping.

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Peaceful Parlour is an eco-friendly shopper’s paradise located in Geneva, IL. The boutique offers products that are locally made, USA made, natural or organic, hand crafted and made from renewable or sustainable materials. Their focus is to find products with environmental and community benefits, supporting local artists, small businesses, fair trade and women co-op groups around the world.

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Due to Thanksgiving, this will also be our only event for November. No Wine, Women and Wellness on 11/27, since we’re all likely to be gathered around dinner tables.

Photos copyright NetworkHoncho.

NEW – The Network of Entrepreneurial Women is a group of Chicagoland business women who are upgrading business networking with fun and creative events that inspire attendees to work together, refer each other and most of all cheer each other on as the membership succeeds. Events rotate around various suburbs on a semimonthly basis, usually the 2nd Wednesday and 4th Thursday of the month. RSVP for our upcoming events at Meetup, or like us on Facebook and check up on the calendar there.

Warming up with Tea in Geneva

“We each have gifts and we should explore them.”
~ Flying for Hope

Last week a few fired up ladies braved the cold to warm up to tea, entrepreneurial inspiration, and some ecochic shopping at NEW’s Tea Women and Wellness event.

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Our energetic attendees included holistic wellness experts, charity founders, storefront managers and technological innovators.

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Shari Ralish introduced us to three of her favorite blends: Smokey Chai, Peaceful Synergy and Romance. We also had snacks to complement the teas.

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As we gathered in the circle, we learned how each woman reinvented herself from a wide variety of backgrounds, and were inspired by the vast amount of ideas and occupations in the room.

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“It was very inspiring
to hear of all of the new business adventures taking off.
I was also very impressed with all of the women
who braved the cold and showed up ready to talk business and network.
Very professional.”

~ Peaceful Parlour

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Of course we couldn’t resist shopping Shari’s fabulous eco-friendly, locally bought and fair trade products, which includes children’s toys that don’t require batteries, earth friendly home goods and decor, and energy clearing items.

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With National Hot Tea Month in full swing, the tea accessories were abundant as well, including the hand-blended teas to fill them with.

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Shari also offers energy healing workshops, such as Feng Shui for Romance on February 9, followed by a Downton Abbey inspired Jewelry Show that day, Animal Communication on March 22, Crystal Singing Bowls on April 22 and regular psychic medium readings.

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It was a wonderful evening filled with numerous dates for future connections, and we look forward to our next Meet & Munch on February 12.

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Hats were not required for this tea party, but the ones in Peaceful Parlour are quite adorable.

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“Memorable experiences are
when you go to places that are different from the rest.”

~ Geneva Smiles

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Photos by Maike’s Marvels and NetworkHoncho.com

Celebrate National Tea Month with NEW

Due to the Polar Vortex I missed NEW’s first meeting of the year at Blue Violet Body Works, so I am mighty excited to attend Thursday’s Tea, Women and Wellness Party in Geneva. The fun begins Thursday, January 23 at 6 p.m. and we can sip tea, mingle and sample organic goodies until 8 p.m. at 212 S. Third Street, Geneva, Illinois 60134.

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January is national hot tea month and Peaceful Parlour owner Shari Ralish is eager to showcase her personally created blends that promote wellness and soothe the soul. I’m a fan of her Fairytale blend as well as Peaceful Synergy, which both are tasty in summer and in winter. Peaceful Parlour also carries organic honey, a perfect sweetener to the black breakfast teas I am a fan of.

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If Peaceful Parlour sounds familiar to you, it is because my ornaments have spent the holidays there, and I’ve mentioned this lovely store before. Geneva is one of my favorite day trip destinations, and I enjoy visiting Shari’s store in particular because of its earth-connectedness and cozy atmosphere.

“The less processed the tea leaves, the greater the amount of antioxidants per cup. Therefore white tea contains the most antioxidants, followed by green tea, then lastly black tea.”
~ Peaceful Parlour’s Facebook page

This article provides a lovely overview of the health benefits and differences between green, white, black and Oolong tea.

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Peaceful Parlour’s focus is to find products with environmental and community benefits, supporting local artists, small businesses, fair trade and women co-op groups around the world. These products include household items such as recycled-glass water bottles, cork bowls; gardening accessories; personal adornments such as scarves, hats, jewelry and purses; and home decorative items including lamps, paintings and chimes. With its focus on positive energy flow, Peaceful Parlour also offers incense, purifying sprays and other meditative tools.

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The woman-owned store also hosts a variety of pop-up events, including a psychic medium, meet the artisan, outdoor music in the summer and tie-ins to Geneva’s special holiday festivities. Like their Facebook page for a peek at current inventory.

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One bonus of Peaceful Parlour’s location is that it is just a few blocks north of the UP-W METRA train station in the historical shopping district of downtown Geneva. I find train rides soothing, particularly in this kind of weather. One evening train conveniently leaves at 8:37, and lingerers can get home with the 10:37 train. Ample street parking is also available near the store on Third Street. Downtown Geneva is full of charming stores and service businesses, so make an afternoon of it and browse this lovely area.