S. B. - Day 5

Tuesday was truly a red letter TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT IT kinda day!

At nine a.m., I walked in the doors of Giving Tree Cottage for a redemption of the gift certificate package Jonathan got me for Valentine's Day. He decided that someone else pampering me was his idea of pampering me. I adore my husband for many things, but romance is not one of them (He is no Roger!).

Anyway, I walked in and was escorted to the whirlpool spa, where I soaked myself for about twenty minutes. It was fabulous! The only concern I had was that this spa is in a room with windows, and they face the back of the building next door. At one point, a car pulled up and I watched as a woman got out of the driver's seat and then opened the back door and began to unload about five bags of stuff. Then this guy walks up next to her and looks my way! All the while I'm thinking, "I know how she feels, she has all those bags, and he's just standing there!" Then she goes to the store's back door to unlock the gate and go in, and he's still standing there offering NO HELP!

As I'm sitting there beginning to fume for her, I realize that he's still looking my way and I start to get REALLY nervous that these windows may actually work like windows are supposed to work, and that he may be able to SEE ME!

HOLY CRAP! He's probably thinking, "What kind of person sits in a hot tub at 9:30 inthe morning?!?" So, I tried to duck down in the water as low as I could go. Then I waited for them to go in, counted to ten (to make sure he wasn't coming back out) and then I got out and dried off so as to get away from the window.

From there, I was taken to a room and had a body polish. This was where she rubbed a kind of salt mixture all over me, which felt kinda weird. Then, I showered it all off, and immediately felt soft all over!

Then, I was taken to another room where she gave me a scalp treatment, which is really just a full twenty minutes of someone rubbing my head and playing with my hair. At one point, I had thoughts of a few friends of mine that would REALLY like to trade places with me. TOO BAD! Maybe I'll have to buy them a gift certificate for their birthdays or something!

Once she finished with my head, she started the Hot Stone Massage. Now, if you're an avid getter of massages, then you have something to compare this to and it makes understanding this a little easier. I'd never before had a Hot Stone Massage, and I was really looking forward to it. She laid rocks behind my back, in my hands, between my toes, and use them in her hands during the massage. It was a unique experience.

That being said, if you are trying to decide on whether or not to spend the extra to get the stones added to your routine massage, my vote says save the money, or use it towards a scalp treatment.

The last part of my package was a spa pedicure. This being the Giving Tree and all, I thought there would be SOMETHING special about it, but sadly, I was disappointed in the "extras." Don't get me wrong... the pedicure was great! She didn't cut me or peel off too much dead skin and make me bleed or make my toenails funny angles, none of that! I even got to stick my feet in hot paraffin wax! But, when she rang me up at the end, I think the pedicure alone was almost $50, and it will be the last time I spend that much on someone touching my feet.

All in all, the feeling was amazing, and when I walked out the doors of Giving Tree Cottage at 12:35 p.m., I felt extremely relaxed, and TAKS- worry FREE!

Now that's what I call a vacation!