mani/pedi

I know. I'm behind the times with many things today. One such thing is treating myself to a pedicure and a manicure. Today I got up the nerve and walked into a salon and had the full treatment. What a pleasant experience this was!

The man who greeted me spoke some English. I asked if I could get a pedicure and a manicure and he said, "Yes, pick out your nail color." Wow! They must have had 300 bottles of various colors on the wall. I chose a medium rose color.

I was so excited to have my toe nails clipped and cleaned up. The woman who was doing this for me was so sweet. She spoke little English, but told me she was from Vietnam. She and her husband own the shop and they work 7 days a week! She soaked my feet—all the while the massage rollers inside the chair were going up and down my back. It felt so good! She clipped, trimmed, filed, and buffed my nails, and massaged my feet. Next she applied a very nice cream on my legs and began massaging them. Over and over again she rubbed the nice cream in. I didn't think it could get any better, but she followed this by wrapping hot, moist towels around my feet. [Some of this could be out of order, but it is close.] Eventually she began with the polish—first clear, followed by 5 coats of nail polish—putting each foot under a heat lamp for 60 seconds between each coat. The final coat was a clear gel coat.

Next came my hands. I moved from the massage chair to a desk-type setting. First she soaked my hands in a nice bowl of warm water. It made me think of the old dishwashing detergent TV ad where women soaked their hands in the sudsy solution. Next she pushed back the cuticle and then trimmed the cuticle. She filed and buffed, then soaked my hands once again. Next she led me to to a sink and gave me a nail brush to scrub my hands and nails. After drying my hands on a nice, warm towel, I returned to the desk and she began the polishing – first the clear coat, followed by 5 coats of the rose color (one minute under the heat lamp following each coat), and finally, the coat of the clear gel.

All in all, this was so much fun! I was pampered and felt wonderful. I'll be returning.