An inexpensive manicure/pedicure

I'm frustrated and I'm not sure what to do about it. Yesterday was Sunday and I spent the morning with my adorably quirky friend Betty. When she asked me what I was going to do to celebrate February 4th (one of my favorite days of the year) I suddenly realized I had been too busy to schedule any sort of celebration. For the past four years I have gotten a mani/pedi to celebrate but hadn't even thought about where to go on a Sunday. Then she said something that I should have taken much more seriously, "Well all the good places are closed on Sundays." I can now promise you this is true, at least in the state of North Carolina. My usual spot for a mani/pedi in this area is Bella Trio. It's absolutely lovely. Calming, serene, Grecian in architecture and atmosphere - and closed on Sundays. I promised myself when I started this blog that I would never write badly of any establishment at which I had a bad experience. You can never judge a whole day spa by one bad experience. I can just bring you the best and leave the rest. If my present pedicure didn’t chip so easily I'd be kicking myself for that decision right now. But, frustrating as it is, and trust me it's frustrating, I have decided to listen to my elders lately. They tell me, if you don't have anything nice to say than don't say anything at all. On the other hand, don't I have a responsibility to warn people? Ok enough mental masturbation. Sufficed to say North Carolina has a miraculous ability to put almost any good or service into a mall, and do so tastefully. Art galleries, outdoor stores, gourmet restaurants, and local theaters can all call the mall home in North Carolina and not loose any value or appeal as a result. In fact many of my favorite beauty haunts are in mall-like structures: Mina's, Caju, Bella Trio, Blu Icon. But this place I went to, it felt like the mall in middle school. Like I could have just as easily been watching my best friend Kerry getting her ears pieced at Claire’s boutique in Towson Town Shopping Center all over again. Except I'm 27 and the only time I like to go into Claire's boutique is when my little sister needs Hannah Montana accessories.

Here's what went wrong. First, I spent the entire time breathing through my scarf. The instant I walked in I felt like I was breathing in lung cancer because of an extraordinarily heavy layer of chemicals sitting in the air waiting for fresh lungs to prey upon. I briefly considered walking out, but I had heard good things about this place. I told myself 'it's very inexpensive for a mani/pedi and well, everywhere else is closed'. The products were also packed with pungent chemicals. Even today as I was eating my warm freshly baked blueberry muffin for breakfast I got a nasty whiff of the plastic-like polish. The lotion they rubbed on my legs stung me like sea salt on freshly shaved legs. I almost volunteered to pull my own EO Grapefruit and Mint lotion out of my purse for them to use instead but then I realized I already had my face wrapped up in a scarf and I might start alarming other customers. Aside from another crazed customer who hijacked my polish mid-pedicure, I would have at that point gotten the craziest customer of the day award. Ok so now I’m done complaining. The truth is I'm grateful to be able to get so many day spa visits in and even if this one was disappointing it made me all the more grateful for the good services I get on fairly regular basis. Yes it's true February fourth for me is about what is good in my life. So, what was good about this place? It was inexpensive. It got the job done. My toes look nice even thought my nails are already messed up. My manicurist was incredibly detail oriented and the pedicure chair gave me the best massage I've had in a long time. So maybe it was just a bad day for this place or maybe their ventilation system was broken or perhaps I have inadvertently given myself super-hero like ol’ factory senses by Netting Potting too much. If you do find yourself at the only place open on Sundays for a mani/pedi just BYOLotion. Thanks for listening to me rant and from now on I promise I'll stick to the good stuff.

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Yesterday San Francisco, Tomorrow Winston-Salem.

I can still feel the Bliss of Angel’s massage in San Francisco. But my impending responsibilities loom in the very near future. I returned today from San Francisco. I'll spend one night in my adorable little apartment then pack up and leave for Winston-Salem tomorrow. I am a bridesmaid in my friend Sally’s wedding. Friday is filled with lingerie showers, bridesmaid brunches and of course the rehearsal dinner. Saturday night is the wedding. With hair like mine all of this socializing requires a very sound plan. I must call in the best hair straightener in town. I have come to know her as Kelley, the “new talent” at Mina’s. Because she is “new talent” she is inexpensive. A meticulous, shinny blowout for $30 plus tip. Kelley is friendly, and attacks small frizzy errant hairs as if they are the ferret from the Big Lebowski. She is very very good. And she has to be with hair like mine. As far as I know I am ethnically Caucasian, although this is called into question anytime a hand attempts to run itself through my hair. Jewish, likely. Hispanic very likely. This hair is thick, course, fizzy and unruly. Wavy to curly in back, straight in front and enough volume to easily cover the heads of three dready hippies. I’m not kidding. Usually it’s up in a clip or piled on top of my head in a hair tie. The latter creates neck problems so it usually doesn’t last long. Kelley isn’t intimidated. She leaves my hair looking like LC’s from Laguna Beach every time. Shinny and “pin-straight” as she calls it.

Since I just went to bliss I wouldn’t normally venture to Mina’s so quickly. That is a heavy assault on the pocketbook. But two days of wedding events calls for such measures. Anyhow the proximity of my Bliss and Mina’s experiences allows me to draw some comparisons. Kelley knows me. She knows my dating history over the last 6 months since we have been working together. I know hers. On this particular trip I also run into my dear dear friend Gigi who is getting her hair done. And a mutual friend of ours has also started working there. I notice a minute into my hairwash that it’s Gabriella washing my hair and doing an absolutely fantastic job. Gabriella gave me my first Brazilian. I say to her “Do you also do waxing?” She replies “Yes I have waxed you before” I shutter and recall her demanding, terrifying question from our last visit, “Don’t you want me to do back there? It’s the best part.” I decline and think, ‘See this is what no one tells you. A Brazilian also includes ‘back there’’ Seriously how would you find that out? What exactly would you Google? Gabriella learned to wax and do all things aesthetician starting at age twelve when her female relatives starting using her services. And I start to think, you know Bliss is amazing and I am willing (utterly and completely) to move my entire life across the country just to have regular access to it and all the other bliss that is San Francisco, but sometimes don’t you just want to go where everyone knows your name? Yes me too…

“Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got. Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot. Wouldn't you like to get away? Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came.”

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