Sneak out of your holiday BBQ prep to hit up this sale: For four hours, from 8 a.m. until noon, all spring and summer apparel and accessories will be seriously reduced at Media’s Per Lei Boutique. Why we promise it’s worth the trip: Rebecca Taylor, Trina Turk, Chaiken and Theory are reduced by 60 percent.

When spa divas everywhere started buzzing about the $180 Geisha Bird Poop Facial (see a super-cheeze video about it here) at the Shizuka Spas in NYC (yes, it’s really a facial treatment made from Nightingale droppings), I got to thinking: What unique dishes are Philadelphia spas serving up? While my local research didn’t turn up anything involving feces, I did stumble upon some fabulous fringe finds. — Kristin Granero

At Toppers Spa the Raindrop Therapy Massage (which Toppers refers to as “chiropractic in a bottle”), stems from a Lakota Indian technique. A masseuse strategically aligns essential oils along the spine, then performs a long spinal massage, striking a balance between physical healing and a sensory experience ($112, 50 minutes).

The Body Klinic on Walnut Street offers ancient Chinese Cupping Therapy, where glass cups are suctioned to the body to activate the lymphatic system in hopes of relieving common colds and flu and muscular aches, and even to reduce cellulite ($125, 60 minutes).

Heaven Spa in Jenkintown offers Ear Candling, where a cylinder is placed in the ear and lit on the opposite side. This creates a vacuum and old earwax and toxins flow out ($50, 30 minutes).

JuJu Spa’s Thai Yoga Massage may not sound luxe, but it’s totally soothing: Clients are fully dressed, lay on a mat on the floor and no lotions or oils are used. Instead, the masseuse uses appropriate and customized yoga postures and massage for healing, stretching and relaxation. ($85, 60 minutes and $115, 90 minutes)

And you thought he was running the country: Members of the Cramer Hill Little League’s Red Sox will meet President Bush today during a road trip to the White House for a grueling one inning of T-ball on the South Lawn. The team of five- and six-year-olds from Camden was selected to play a Puerto Rican team in Bush’s annual ball game earlier this month. [CBS 3]

The lowdown on City Council’s newest members: Six months after coming to City Hall, new City Council members Maria Quinones Sanchez, Bill Green and Curtis Jones Jr. are either aggravating or boring senior Council members. Green, the most outspoken and the most criticized, has taken on high-profile issues and proposed unpopular legislation, such as prohibiting Council members from entering the lump-sum Deferred Retirement Option Plan pension program. Meanwhile, Jones is shaping up to be a “class clown” and Sanchez something of a lame duck. [Daily News]

It would be better for everyone if you simply didn’t drive this weekend: In anticipation of the holiday weekend, Pennsylvania state police are reminding Philly and shore drivers who do have the cash to fill their tanks to abide by the “Steer Clear” law, which mandates that drivers move left into the passing lane if approaching a police unit or other emergency responder parked in the shoulder. And police warn drivers to keep especially alert this weekend: Last Fourth of July, 15 people were killed in 1,100 crashes across the state. [KYW]

With more than a dozen Grammys on his shelf, the world’s only legendary cellist, Yo-Yo Ma (known to his friends in China as Mǎ Yǒuyǒu) takes the stage at the Mann Center tonight, kicking off the too-short, picnic-perfect season of the Philadelphia Orchestra Under the Stars with selections from Stravinsky, Copland, Musorgsky, and Saint-Saëns. Great seats are still available, including up-close $94 orchestra spots, but personally I’d suggest going for the $10 lawn seats and bringing along a serviceable bottle of vino and a basket of delectables from Di Bruno Bros. Oh, and someone you love.

Dear Stephen Starr,

You can’t imagine my glee when I read that you bought the dilapidated Broad Street Diner. I’m sure you know how one of your glitzy, destination-worthy restaurants has the power to transform a piece of the city. You may still be deciding on a concept for the space, so I thought I’d take this moment to make a simple request: upscale, pan-Southern BBQ.

Picture it: slow roasted whole Berkshire pigs and braised briskets from local cows. Ribs, served with all the major sauces: North Carolina’s sour vinegar-based version, South Carolina’s yellow mustard-y version, Memphis’s balanced tomato-tinged version, and Texas’s sweet and sticky sauce. Sandwiches, on good house-baked rolls (not that cotton-candy-type bread they use in the South). Sides: creamy coleslaw, smoky baked beans, potato salad. And, of course, chic Southern-inspired cocktails. The mint julep is mandatory. How about Jack Daniel’s-spiked lemonade? Or sweet tea with a kick?

People will line up down Broad Street for some quality Q in a stylish setting, I promise. The newly opened Wildwood Barbeque is generating buzz in New York, where the barbecue market is already well served. Just picture what you could do here …

Sincerely,
Joy Manning

TASTE DAILY: A wish for better BBQ

GOOD LIFE DAILY: Four new ways to relax

HOME: A stunning peek inside the selling off of a celebrity estate

Advertisements for those formerly ourselves: A.J. Daulerio, who entertainingly fouled this space from its founding through this past March, has been named editor of the Gawker sports blog Deadspin. The Inky’s Dan Rubin gets points for finding this pic, which we hadn’t seen before. He also gets demerits for finding this pic, which we now wish we hadn’t seen. [Blinq]

No unexpected vacation for state records clerks: Gov. Ed Rendell announced a budget deal early this morning that’s $500 million less than he was trying to spend but beats the annual deadline and avoids a furlough of state workers. Here’s money we’re happy he’s allocated: $350 million to fix the state’s 400 most dangerous bridges. [KYW]

Templetown lives!: The resident student population at Temple University has doubled in the past five years, to almost 10,000, changing the institution’s image as a commuter school. But unlike the ’80s, when plans to expand Temple’s footprint were vigorously opposed as higher-ed imperialism, the school’s growth is being seen as a catalyst for neighborhood redevelopment. [Metro]

Yes, next weekend is a three-dayer, but there’s no reason you shouldn’t get out and make the most of this weekend. Here are seven ways to do it …

Hit A.C. … Sip a beachy cocktail by the pool at the Borgata’s brand new and ultraluxe Water Club. Be mesmerized at the new Kalin & Ginger magic show at Trump Marina (read my interview with illusionist Mark Kalin here). See the least attractive Beatle at the Taj. There’s also the cover-band festival Fake Fest at the Marina and the excessively altered Joan Rivers at Harrah’s.

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Want to see the three charming-est houses along the South Jersey coast? Philly Mag’s intrepid web designers have just debuted Home’s three big summertime features on beach houses that span Cape May to LBI (with a whole lot of Avalon in between). We think you’ll agree that these vacation-y dwellings feel just right: Coastal yet not kitschy, traditional with an edge, cottage-y but chic. Classic. Like the Jersey Shore is supposed to be.

Most of all, the spaces are sublimely casual, the sorts of places that inspire bare feet and lunches in your bikini, where you’ll gladly sip dark ‘n’ stormies on the porch or take a nap by the pool, where your friends and fam will drop by for impromptu cookouts, and ocean hair is de rigueur.

1. Light House
2. Classic Cape
3. Sea Life

Beer billboards get the scrub: Philly’s known for its Mural Arts program, but several “murals” in Fishtown depicting Colt 45 malt liquor have ruffled the city. Philadelphia is warning that these paintings are more advertisement than art, and that the offending business owners must paint over the boozy billboards. Think of the children! [NBC 10]

Split decision for “terrorist” teacher: Former Warminster teacher Susan Romanyszyn was found guilty yesterday on 11 charges of making terroristic threats at Longstreth Elementary School last October. Jurors found her innocent on seven additional counts. Threatening notes (which were linked to Romanyszyn by fingerprint analysis) and a fake bottle-bomb were some of the issues that were mulled over. Romanyszyn is currently out on bail, but could face up to 73 years in prison. [NBC 10]

Nutter to revitalize Penn’s Landing: A new ten-step action plan to overhaul Philadelphia’s waterfront was unveiled last night, calling for the conversion of a seven-mile stretch along the Delaware to create more green space in the city. As expected, the mayor also signaled his intention to reorganize the secretive Penn’s Landing Corporation, which currently oversees development on the waterfront. [KYW]