Spaaaaaaaa.....

Last week I finally remembered to book an appointment for my spa weekend. Back in December when I left BDP, they took a collection and bought a gift certificate to a very fancy spa in a very fancy part of town. And then they gave it to me! So I went to relax and be pampered. I chose for myself a full body massage (their specialty) an anti-aging super hydrating facial (also very good) and a luxury manicure that turned out to be less than spectacular. Lesson learned: nail bars are for manicures, spas are for everything else.

I started in the relaxation area with soft music and herbal tea in my whiter than white robe and slippers. Instead of letting my mind go I was plotting to steal the lap blanket which was possibly the softest thing on earth. Seriously, they could have wrapped me in that, fed me tea and called it a day and I would have been happy. But alas, it was not meant to be. The girl came and took me to the massage room where I spent the next 2.5 hours running thru all the people I know who would benefit from just such a treatment. That and drifting off to places I can't recall but were most assuredly softly colored with birds chirping and filtered sunlight. Number one on my list was my father. Of all people I know, he needs it the most. Of all people I know, he's the one I can't see doing it. Too bad, it was a nice gift to receive and dads don't get enough good gifts.

Oh, and by the way: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

So there I was, drifting in and out of hazy contentedness when BAM! she found the tension areas of my body. And no I'm not going to tell you where they are. Dear god were they tense. Especially after she said 'do you feel that? breathe in for me' and pressed really hard on them. I realize it's for my own good, but it didn't seem nice at the time. The funny thing is, when she mentioned how much stress I was storing my first thought was 'but work is fine. In fact, I love my job for the first time in years'. Yeah... it's not work that's making me crazy. It's the roomie. But she has no place in this story (except for the 3 times she called because she was so excited about it) There I was, drifting off into a haze with the most amazing facial thing. She called it a setting masque and quite honestly it reminded me of that stuff they take dental molds with. Except really cooling and not minty. But my skin loved it. Pity I didn't think to look at it before she threw my face away. I could have made those plaster casts like we did in kindergarten of our hands. Instead of Christmas cards with my photo I could have sent ornaments of my face, cast in snow white plaster, which incidentally is my skin tone, so it would be really life like. Pity that...

After my lackluster manicure she put me back into the relaxation room again, under the blanket from heaven again, and gave a wonderful green tea lightly flavored with strawberry. She then also told me that my skin was completely dehydrated, I needed to drink more water, eat more fish, and come in for (at least) bi-weekly massages. I'm a mess apparently. I didn't know there was going to be a moral to the story... geez. Luckily I said 'I'll think about it' to the facial serum she used on my now glowing face; it's €135 for a small bottle. That's more than the hour long massage.

I said good bye, turned in my gift certificate (sniff!) and headed out the door. It was beautiful out... most of the rain clouds had just cleared off and the late afternoon sun was peeking over the stragglers. The air was cool and moist. I decided the only way to round out the day was to go for a long walk by the sea, which is what I did. The waves were roaring up on the shore, drowning out all but the closest noises. Families with kids strolling along, pointing out birds and theoccasionall seal. I love the seaside. So I stood and watched the water until the sun dwindled out of sight and then I went home. It was lovely...

Thank you BDP.