A Whole Lot of July

As you may have heard by now, our Manifesta family has gotten a little bigger. Yes, we have invited Jasmine and Ben to join our team as a junior stylist and receptionist, respectively. But who are these strange, new, totally awesome personalities that you'll be seeing in the salon? Well, we hope you'll take the time to get to know them as you stop in for your appointments, but until then, here is a formal introduction:

Jasmine

Jasmine grew up in the Bay Area and is no stranger to Oakland. Her interest in hair started early on and led her to attend the Aveda Institute of San Francisco. She joins us now after saying goodbye to a salon in North Berkley. Jasmine has 6 years experience doing hair, and is an expert at doing cuts and colors. When asked what her favorite part of the job was, she replied that she loves doing fabulous blow-dries!

At Manifesta, Jasmine is available for appointment on Wednesdays and Fridays, 11am-7pm, and Saturdays, 10am-5pm. For a limited time only, you can book Jasmine at our junior stylist price point. We already love working with her, and we hope you'll book an appointment with her soon!

Ben

Meet Ben, a native of Oakland who has joined Manifesta as a receptionist. Ben comes to us as a passionate actor with an animated personality. He also works as a barista at Starbucks, and has a passion for all things coffee and tea - Seriously, ask him anything! Ben will be lighting up the salon with his presence on Wednesdays and Fridays, so please stop in and say "Hello!"

Want to know what else we have been up to this month? Keep reading!

'Festa

July has been a busy month for us. As the salon grows, 'Festa grows with it, and we're hoping that you can help us out with the second part of that. Do you know a Pilates or Yoga instructor that is interested in teaching a class at Manifesta? Oh you do? Awesome! Send them our way by emailing K.C. Lutes at festa.OAK@gmail.com.

We hope that you had a blast hanging with us on July 20th for Ilah's free crafts and cookies event. The cookies of course came from the delicious Woop Woop fine foods. We love hosting these events for you, and we hope to see you at our next FREE Crafts and Cookies event on August 17th. Same time, same place (of course)!

Coming up in September, 'Festa will have a whole slew of classes for you to choose from.

Sunday, September 7th, 1pm: The first Sunday of the month, Ilah will be teaching a Watercolor Technique class. Learn basic watercolor techniques to create beautiful gradations and sharp edges - it's not as hard as you think! At the end of the class, you'll have some basic skills and a beautiful work of art to take with you.

Sunday, September 14th, 1pm: You can also see Ilah the next Sunday for another FREE Crafts and Cookies event, where once again you can bring your own project or start a new one with Ilah's guidance.

Sunday, September 21st, 1pm: Be ready to get WILD with Sock Monsters, a class in which Ilah will be teaching you to turn old (but clean) socks into adorable stuffed creatures with a needle and thread. Create a sleeping toy for a little one you love, or accessorize your living room couch with something unique and DIY! Students should bring 1-2 clean, adult-sized socks for the class. All other materials will be provided. See you there!

This Is OAK!


Now that you know what's coming up, it's time to revisit some fun things that have been happening in the neighborhood. We hope you made it out to the book launch party of This Is Oakland: A Guide to the City's Most Interesting Places. While Manifesta wasn't featured, a bunch of our super stellar neighbors were, including Marion & Rose's Workshop, Umami Mart, The Flora Cultural Society, Crown Nine, and more! Here at the salon, we loved having a bunch of people from the launch party stop in and chat to learn more about what we do. The book is great, especially one chapter about Downtown Oakland that we particularly love and hope you'll get a chance to read.



We also had some new neighbors join us in Old Oakland this month. We were sad to say goodbye to Sobu furniture store, but really stoked to welcome Maple Street Denim, a quality, high-end jeans shop. Join us in welcoming them to the neighborhood this August!

Maple Street Denim's Demolition Process - Courtesy of Marion & Rose's Workshop Facebook

Another shop joined us as well this past month. If you haven't already, you should stop by and check out Massive, a brand new men's clothing store, art gallery, and barber shop - a pretty rad and interesting trifecta of services! Massive is located on Washington Street, just around the corner for us. We're excited to collaborate with them and bring the full spectrum of hair services to the neighborhood.

Hey! If you're going to be walking around Washington Street, you might as well grab a bite to eat at The Cook and Her Farmer. This brand new cafe, oyster, and wine bar prides itself on cultivating a creative environment for cooks and farmers alike. Oh, and did we mention that the food is delicious?

Upcoming in Oakland

Oakland is alive this August with some exciting events for us all to enjoy. This weekend, August 2nd and 3rd, is the annual Art + Soul Oakland festival! If you're looking for something to do with the whole family - this is your chance! Spend the weekend feeding your soul with mouth-watering local food, lively music, art, dance, and crafts & activities for the youngsters.

This year, Art + Soul Oakland will host its first ever Oaktown Throwdown BBQ competition. Get you stretchy pants on because this is the cook off you've been training your stomach for all summer. Professional and backyard smokers alike will come together from all over the region to feed us as they compete for cash prizes and the honorary title of "Grand Champion."

Last, but certainly not least... in fact, it's actually very, very important and exciting - August is Oakland Pride Month! We will have some things in store, and encourage you to make yourself apart of the celebratory community events (including the Parade on Labor Day weekend) as well. You can find updates and announcements on our end by staying in tune with our social media pages, Facebook and Twitter.