Treat Yo'self!

If there's one thing I've learned over the last year or so, it's that sometimes you've just gotta treat yo'self!  Treats come in many different forms-- enjoying a favorite meal, taking an obscenely long shower, blowing a paycheck on a new wardrobe, spending 4 uninterrupted hours playing Donkey Kong, snuggling up with a pile of dvds and a handful of Oreos... basically anything that you do for yourself that recharges your batteries and leaves you feeling fabulously content. 

After a rather stressful week (opening a show, having my wallet stolen, signing over the deed to my old house, dealing with conflicts at work, cranking out a huge grant, having to walk home from Geva after sitting in a line of cars in the parking garage for 45 minutes, only to have my car run out of gas while I was driving on 490E- yes, I was literally on my way to the gas station), I decided that today needed to be a "Treat Yo'self" day!

Here's my luxurious "Treat Yo'self" Day in a nutshell:

- The day would have begun much later, had I been allowed to actually sleep-in. Bebe had other ideas, however. I woke up at 8am to the sounds of Bea knocking each of my books, one-by-one off of the bookshelf next to my bed. One-by-one. Meticulously. Until they were all on the floor in a giant pile. Since I wasn't going to fall back asleep any time soon, I whipped out Mockingjay, the final book in The Hunger Games series and snuggled under my covers. There's something amazing about curling up in bed with an engrossing book, no pressure to start your day.

- A haircut and blow-out, courtesy of Stephanie at Shear Ego Salon. Stephanie is awesome, not just because she knows exactly how to make my hair look effortlessly bouncy, shiny and frizz-free, but because she's just friggin' cool. I've never been one to enjoy participating in small-talk with hairdressers, but Stephanie remembers everything about what's going on in my life and actually listens and contributes to the conversation. It's like going in and dishing to a fabulous unbiased friend for 30 minutes and coming out looking (and feeling) like a rockstar. Love her. I also like going in looking like a raggamuffin and having all the snotty stylists ignore me and then emerging from Stephanie's chairs to "ohmygosh"es and "wow- your hair is beautiful, what an amazing color" etc. That's right!

- A luxury pedicure at the tiny Korean nail salon in Brighton. The walls may be painted a sickening shade of peach and the posters are most definitely from the 1980s, but these gals know their stuff. I brought my book with me, as I was getting dangerously close to the climax and NEEDED to know what was going to happen next. I sat in my leather massage armchair while the lady set to work. The luxury pedicure there is amazing-- in addition to all the normal pedicure things, they do a lavender scrub on your feet and legs, then cover your feet with a green minty mud mask and wrap them in hot towels and stick them in baggies. Your feet instantly start tingling (and that doesn't stop for a good 3 hours after the pedicure). While the mask does its work, they massage your legs with lavender-scented lotions and oils. Then they liberate your feet from the baggies and massage them... amazing. It was the loveliest thing ever to just sit there (with perfect hair thanks to Stephanie), reading my book, while my tired legs/feet got the full service. 35 minutes of bliss, I tell you.

- I paid a delivery man to bring me Pizza Hut at my house. <drool>

- Curling up on the couch in an oversized sweater and sweatpants with my little space heater pointed on my toes and the window-blinds open so the glorious afternoon sunshine could stream through. Bebe curled up on my chest and together we finished my book (perhaps she felt bad about killing all my other books this morning), followed by a leisurely trip through the cable channels, until we landed on A League of their Own, one of my favorite movies.

And that's where I am right now, friends. Every now and then we all need to take a day (or even a morning or just an afternoon) to treat ourselves to the special little things that provide us with relief and rejuvenation. <Sigh> Too bad I can't get away with doing this EVERY Saturday!