How Long Should a Professional Manicure Last?

I got my nails done last week and the polish is already wearing off at the tips of the nails.

I don't do too much that is strenuous: Mostly the equivalent of office work. I don't even do dishes. My home manicures last longer.

Maybe I am overreacting. I just checked and I was given the classic manicure which is not the full service manicure. But I still think it should not look this bad after one week. When I figure out how to get a good picture of them, I will show you.

Shoulders Must Not Be in This Season

I really need a coat. (As in I got rid of all my not me, boring, broken, winter coats last spring, and now it is November, and I'm freezing my bippy.)

No problem, I thought. I'll just go out and buy a coat. One of those nifty navy pea coat inspired things. That should be nice. It is casual for my less dressy moments (that would be almost all of my moments) and it could be dressed up for my more formal moments (that are few and far between but occasional). I can't afford different coats for different occasions.

Imagine my surprise when I put on the coat that is sized for my body, and I almost couldn't lift my arms. When I sized up to fit my shoulders the sleeves dangled past my finger tips. I might as well start wearing my Honey's coats. He's 6'4. I'm 5'4. When I wear his clothes I look like a four year old in her Daddy's jacket.

I'm just not wild about paying somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 or more (on sale) for a jacket that doesn't fit. Also, has anybody noticed that these expensive wool coats are made from fabric just slightly thicker than fleece. What's that all about?

Maybe I will go to the boys or young men's department to see what I can find. I think these kind of coats are popular over there too. If I can get it in the boys department, it might even be cheaper.

Mario T's vs. Coldwater Creek vs. ???

I'm having a contest.

Any Day Spa that would like to be reviewed and entered in my contest can contact me online and schedule to make me beautiful.

So far this year, I have been to Mario Tricoci's and Coldwater Creek's spas.

I loved Coldwater Creek's amenities. I was blown away by the spa waiting room and the soft voluminous robes they give out to their customers. They washed my feet for free before my service! (It seems freaky, but if I were rich and could afford to be eccentric, I would do that fro all my guests when they arrive at my house. There is something to be said for that biblical custom.) They have a staff member in charge of the waiting room. That person gives out ward neck pillows, water, snacks, customers are never left waiting or wanting and their presence is not imposing either.

I only had a hot river stone treatment on that visit, but I felt like a queen.

The treatment itself didn't go so well. I got the feeling that the therapist was not very familiar or comfortable with the treatment. It was not as satisfying or relaxing as I thought it should have been, but I have been lusting after one of those Coldwater Creek robes for a very long time.

I loved my massage and facial at Tricoci's.

I found the amenities to be lacking. There was one maybe two tiny tables in the spa waiting room not big enough to set anything on. not even a glass of water or the little cups of banana chips or sesame thingies that were set out for snacks. There was no one in charge of guests in the waiting room, just one mousy young lady who collected water glasses left behind by patrons. I was sent to a small changing room and given a locker which contained a wrap and a robe, both of which were sorely in need of fabric softener. (For the price, you can splurge a bit.) Patrons who only came for one service were not given a chance to change into the wrap and robe. They just went to their service and must have been expected to strip and hop on the table.


Feel free to prove me wrong. Or if you think your private spa totally blows away the big name spas, let me see. I'd be glad to write about you.

A Day of Bliss, well sort of . . .

So . . . I went to Mario Tricoci's for my Spa day.

The last time I went there was about 5 years ago, and I went to a spa in a different town than the one I went to yesterday.

The first thing I have to say is that the massage and facial I got there were awesome.

My massage therapist was a small, young, Russian woman. She couldn't have weighed more than 95 pounds. I thought, yeah, you're going to give me a deep tissue massage. I could wrestle you to the ground so fast. But she did a really great job. I was not kidding when I said that I could not tip my head before I went in. She loosened my neck and got rid of the band of pain that wrapped itself around my left shoulder blade. Her advice, after working diligently on my back for 50 minutes, was to make appointments every two weeks until we get rid of the knots. She's right, but there is this little thing called money that stands between me and that sort of pain free existence.

I was also given a facial, just a basic one, but the woman who gave it to me was really good. She was very gentle.

I don't tend to enjoy facials too much. It flashes me back to my ill spent, ugly duckling, pre-adolescent days.

Now that I've met a few of them, I believe my mother should have been an aesthetician because she could not stand my eleven year old clogging pores. I would be sitting somewhere, reading a book, or writing in my diary and she would look at me and say, "Hey, Sweetie. Why don't you come over here and sit by mommy?" Obedient daughter that I was, I would do what she asked and the next thing I knew she would have me in a head lock and be squeezing my blackheads and clogged pores as I flailed and screamed. Therefore, when placed in the chair for my facial, I most often instantly become eleven at the moment that the aesthetician turns on the steam, gets out the magnifying lense, and slowly works the yuck out of my pores. (You would think that, since I am always looking for avenues back to my youth, this would thrill me. . . But . . . no.)

Yet this particular woman made me feel good and cleansed, not like a struggling animal caught in my mother's grip. I have no idea what she put on my face, but I came out of the facial with all the features I don't like about my skin not bothering me so much. I told my Honey that all the places that I am sagging and bagging didn't sag or bag anymore. He expressed astonishment that anyplace sagged or bagged. I said that was good. I was supposed to see them first and worry long before they ever came to his attention. He looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe I am. (I should never have mentioned that I sag or bag at all.)

I also had my nails done. This procedure is usually left for last for many reasons. But the women who do this have to remember that they are the last memory we "spa package" ladies have of our experience.

This particular one came for me. Took me out to the nail area. Didn't even look at me. Gestured to the colors and said, "Pick one." I did.

She began working on my nails and spent all her time looking past my right shoulder toward the reservations counter, not saying a word to me. I was almost to the point of saying, "Is there something wrong with you? What is over there?" when she stands up and says "You need to go to the sink. Its at the end of the make-up counter over there."

I asked her to lead me and she says, "No. It is right over there." Then she made me wash my own hands. ("Poor Baby!") Hands me a nail brush and says, "Scrub your nails top and bottom. Be sure to get all the product off because it doesn't always wash off that easily. I'll meet you back at my station." (I am by no means a prima donna, but if my Honey and I wanted me to scrub my own nails, I could have saved him a butt load of money and done it at home.)

When I come to sit down again, she won't look me in the eye and starts talking to the nail tech seated behind me. When that girl wandered off, she starts talking to me about how stressed out she is because her family is moving, and she thinks she has a fever and her sinuses are running. To which I (ever the sympathetic woman) reply, "Oh. I thought there was something wrong with you."

I know. I suck. I go to these places and expect to be treated by everybody as if they are conscious that the cost of these packages is dear. Okay! So I want to be treated like some celebrity . . . Gwen Stephani . . . or somebody. I know the folks that slave over my nails (and believe me, my toes need work) do this all day, every day without a break (even when they are sick as dogs) and get no thanks. (They just get blogged about by some snarky, anonymous blogger, with some sort of diva complex.)

And I don't want my Honey to get the idea that I did not appreciate his gift. I just wanted him to get his money's worth. That's all. But overall, I really enjoyed my time.

I go back in two weeks to complete my package and get my make-up redone. Won't that be fun?

For My BFF. She Knows Why.

And for anybody who feels a little tired and crazy after shopping today.

Black Friday

I haven't checked the latest news about Black Friday sales, and I will admit that I stayed away from the malls.

I went out to lunch with my BFF, making only a quick stop at Marshalls and Toys R Us, but I didn't find it too crazy. (I think that is a good thing for me but a bad thing for retailers.) I steered clear of Kohl's. It looked crazy over there. Thought about stopping off at Penney's but decided against it.

I hope that I just missed the big crowds.

Happy Holidays!

Tomorrow . . . .

Tomorrow I have an appointment at Mario Tricoci's for a Spa Essentials Package.

I have been waiting almost a year for this. So I am too excited! I will let you know if I come out of there as beautiful on the outside as I am one the inside.

All I can say is it has been one fine Thanksgiving Break so far.

I love the spa and have been putting this trip off all year just waiting for the perfect moment to go. Now that my back is tied into a huge knot, and I can't tip my head to my right shoulder, I think I am ready.

Things like this Spa package are why I am so thankful for my Honey.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful ...

• That I look very good for my age. (I hate to sound conceited, but I decided that I will be happy to be a great looking forty something instead of lament the fact that I no longer look like a twenty something.)
• For Tiffany at Wild Iris Salon
  
• For my Honey who loves me just the way I am (no matter which personality I am expressing at that moment).
  
• For my Children. They are my reason.
  
• For teenagers that like to write creatively. They turn water into wine.
  
• For Brenda Kinsel. She gives me hope.
  
• For the Pyramid Corporation. They give me style (when I can afford it).
  
• For the Office of Letters And Light, a group that makes my Novemebers so much more interesting and exciting. Someday I will finish a novel that I start. This year so far I have doubled my word count.
  
• For the Chicago Writers Association, a group that has taken me under their wing and into their fold. They are there for me when I need a touchstone.
• For the gang at Artist's Way Play (a yahoo group) they have given me so much emotional and creative support this past year. They are my light house to weather my storms of confidence
• For the folks I know at NASA. You are pushing the boundaries and you inspire me because I see you living your dreams.
• For The Pretty Girls because you make me feel welcome.
• For mineral make-up
• For the Abs Diet. There is a lot less of me because of this.
• For my dance teacher, Austria. She Monday something to look forward to.
• For my contact lenses.
  
• For so much more than I have time to mention.
  

I couldn't have said it better . . .

The Box

In the past two weeks, I have had the pleasure to meet a couple of women who I have made an instant connection with. This is unusual for me, so I feel pretty good about it.

Both these ladies just felt right from the moment I met them. They are very independent women, intellectual, and they definitely come from a place well outside "the box." It has been a long time since I felt like I made a new friend. Maybe I still have hope of becoming secure about who I am and attracting people who appreciate the same things yet.


It was suggested to me the other day that the limitations I complain about and the box that I fight so hard not to be stuffed into are self-imposed. I do believe that is so. In the sense that I must willingly enter the box and must agree to stay imprisoned there. However, I do not believe that I constructed the box. I believe that it was there long before me.

I will say that I do not believe the box is as strong as it once was. It is no longer made of solid wood or antiqued pine. It is constructed of material closer to thick cardboard now and requires less effort for a woman to push out of, although, for me at least, it requires solid effort to stay out of.

Anyway, here's hoping that my instincts are right. I can always use more intellectual challenge in my life.

I'm Back

I miss this blog. From some of the feedback I have received lately, I am beginning to believe that it is not as bad as it seemed.

I had disappeared for a while because I was under the belief that I had to go totally anonymous and disassociate myself from this blog which once bore my real name. I can't. There is just something about this blog that the new one lacks. Therefore I am truly back to talk about truth and beauty and finding myself and aging gracefully by refusing to age at all.

I can always rant my truly controversial rants on the other blog and no one will know my name.

Yeah.

NaNoWriMo 2007

I honestly thought I was done with this blog. I thought I would take the safe road and do underground and anonymous with my F-rated thoughts and ramblings. But . . . I think it would be safe to discuss my experiences with NaNoWriMo 2007 here.

I'm loving it. I had almost equaled my personal word output for last year although I am nowhere close to where I should be if I am going to hit my word goal of 50,000. However the novel is just writing itself and that makes me happy. It is based on a dream I can barely remember that I has over the summer. Wow. this makes me happy. I'm just trying to figure out how to take a laptop with me to Millikin this weekend.