Nail Salon Frustration

It is one week before I am to be 40 years old and we are heading to Vegas for the big day.  Vegas trips mean lots of pampering the week prior and it is a necessity for me to feel okay with this new number.  Nails, spray tan (maybe), massage, new clothes are all part of the pre-Vegas planning.  As a treat I combined the nail day with my daughter to have a "Girls Day Out".  She was so excited and was looking forward to it all morning.  Read on to hear how I had to let my O'side girl come out at the salon...

We tried a new salon because I was given a gift certificate from a friend (thank you Fran P.!).  I checked beforehand to ensure they had the cute bear chairs for the little ones, they did so our day was set.  We arrived at the salon and nobody greeted us, this is not terribly abnormal since someone usually just yells "what you want" then says "pick a color" when you walk into most salons. (Please ladies help me understand why this is acceptable customer service.)  I noticed a sign-in sheet on the counter so I signed us in and someone yelled from around the corner "what you want", I giggled to myself and said mani/pedi for both of us.  There was no response so we ventured to the polish wall & picked out our colors, we then sat to wait,  a lady came over and said "no, over here".  We followed to 2 chairs side by side to start our pedicure.  The smile on Katrina's face was so precious that I ignored her rudeness.

We both sat back and turned on our massage chairs and placed our feet in the warm (not scalding - thank heavens, I've had that too many times and just cringed & said nothing) water.  2 beauticians/nail techs, for purpose of this blog I will call them ladies, came over and started drying our feet.  At this point I handed my lady the gift certificate, she got up and walked away saying nothing to me, I placed my feet back in the water.  Another lady came over and said "it cost $27 for her" motioning with her chin towards my daughter.  My first thought was, really $27 for a child, isn't it normally $30 for an adult, but said okay because this was a splurge for us. I said that was fine and asked how much to have shellac/gel for me.  She said $15.  I confirmed $15 on top of the gift certificate (which was $42 for a spa mani/pedi).  She said no, only $5 more.  I said okay, that is good and our journey began.

When my lady sat back down she handed me a wheel of nails and said "pick a color", I showed her my bottle of polish and said I want this one, she grabbed the wheel again and said "no, pick a color".  I again said I want this one, now holding the bottle of red towards her face.  She said "pick on there" and motioned to the wheel.  I was clearly not understanding and she was not giving me any more to go from so I found the color closest to the bottle and pointed at it, she said "what number?".  I looked at the wheel and said "22".  No comment, no okay, nothing, she just continued on my feet.  Being the OCD person I am I seriously thought - wow, they must keep an inventory of the color of polish so they know when to order more - LOL, not the case.  Meanwhile my daughter and her lady were trying to figure out the DVD player sitting on her chair.  The lady didn't know how so Katrina tried her best but it was out of battery, they replaced it and then the disc was bad.  The lady was so confused that I told Katrina to not worry about it that we could just talk, she said "ok, momma", gotta love my girl!  Our toes were getting purty and we were relaxing! 

Once they finished our feet they stood up and started working on our hands.  I HATE when they do my hands while I am still sitting in the pedicure chair.  It is uncomfortable and awkward.  My poor baby looked totally contorted trying to reach her little arms over to her lady.  I have to ask - when you get a manicure shouldn't they place your hands in warm water to soften your cuticles before working on them?  I thought so.  Well, they didn't for Katrina, they cut, filed and painted hers - um $27...I can do the same at home for FREE!  Katrina didn't mind so I let it go.  Once filed and cut my lady grunts something at me that I don't understand, I stare at her and she says it again and points to the back of the salon.  I say "do you want me to wash my hands?", she says "no", um...we are at a stand still.  I stand up hoping this helps and she motions towards the back again.  I ask where she wants me to go and she shakes her head as if saying no and points at my feet.  She takes the toe thing off and puts my shoes on my feet then starts walking away.  I grab my purse, look at Katrina and shrug my shoulders, I guess I was to follow her somewhere?  She lead me to a nail bar so she could properly do my manicure.

As I sit I glance to see if I can still see my daughter and I can, I breathe a sigh of relief.  She starts putting the first coat on my nails and places my hands in the UV light machine.  (Side note - I don't get this done often and have read somewhere that putting your hands in these machines a lot could potentially cause cancer.  Look it up so you know the risks before you back to the salon.) My lady gets up and comes back with a bottle of orange-red and shows it to me, I ask what it is and she says "your color".  I shake my head and say "no, I don't like that".  The original lady who quoted me the prices was working next to us and she looks over and says "u pick 22", I said that I did and she says "that your color".  I say "no, I don't like it".  She seems very upset with me and says "that your color".  I am shaking my head which irritates her more and she meanly says "that what u pick".  I finally say "yes, I picked 22 but that is ugly and I don't want it".  Guess what happens next, the wheel of nails is brought back out and my girl points at it and says "u pick".  Seriously, can we speak in full sentences PLEASE!!!!  We decide on a new color that I am not 100% with and she leaves to find it.  Meanwhile I decide I don't want color, I would rather avoid not liking it so I want a french manicure instead.  I ask the other lady how much more for a french manicure, she says $35.  I ask $35 on top of my gift certificate.  She says "$27, $42 & $35".  I ask again about the gift cert.  She repeats the numbers.  I look at the customer whose nails she is doing to see if she can decipher it and she says the french cost $35.  I am still confused and look back at the lady and she says again "$27, $42 & $35".  I try a different tactic and say "I don't have a calculator, what will my total be?".  She repeats the same numbers.  ARE YOU F-ING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW!  That is what I wanted to yell but didn't.  I looked at my girl who looked just as confused as I was and I told her to do the french.

I glance to see if Katrina is still okay at the front of the salon and I can't see her.  I ask my girl, "can you see my daughter?", the other lady says "you dry your nail", what? my nails are being polished. She meant that Katrina was drying her nails.  This is just crazy!

In the end I had them write down everything.  It was $27 for Katrina's mani/pedi and $62 for mine.  $62 for a spa pedi & shellac french manicure.  They did subtract the gift certificate.  I guess there will be no spray tan for Vegas, this was too expensive!

So I know many will say that english is not their first language and they were trying, I know if I was in Mexico and I was using improper pronouns that they would cut me some slack BUT you are running a business.  Shouldn't customer service be your #1 priority.  I think speaking in complete sentences should fall under that category.  Now I know this happens at all nail salons - as you can see from the attached video -Comedian - Nail Salon.  I would like to got to a salon where the prices are listed and the ladies speak to me and not to each other in a language I don't understand, because you know they are talking about us...

Learn to LOVE yourself

Many of my FB friends have posted a link to a powerful ad for women.  Have you seen it?  It is the Dove Real Beauty Sketches on YouTube.   (The link is listed at the end of this blog.) 

After watching it I started thinking of how hard I am on myself.  My husband is constantly telling me that he wishes I would see myself the way he sees me.  He is always full of compliments and loving remarks.  After he compliments I normally roll my eyes or completely ignore it.  Why?  Because he is my husband, he has to say those things, right?  I have said this to him and his response is that he doesn't HAVE to say it, he says it because he believes it.  Why do we as women do this to ourselves?  Why can't we see all the positive attributes that we bring?  We are our worst critics. 

For some of my friends I know you completely understand where I am coming from, for others I think you are shaking your head at me.  I know, I know, I hear you.  I am so very lucky to have all my jazzer-friends who have given me awesome words of wisdom throughout the years.  I promise to start listening and to stop obsessing on the negative.  I hope you will follow me with my promise and do the same for yourself.  We are all beautiful, inside and out, and need to start seeing what others see.

I love you all and thank you for all your kind words throughout the years.

 Check it out here - Dove Beauty

My sugar addiction is making me smell

I don't normally watch Rachael Ray but this morning I had it on in the background as I did some chores.  There was a woman who was asking the doctor (Dr. Sanjay Gupta) about her body odor.  I can get stinky too so I started listening.

When I taught often I would take 2 (sometimes 3) showers a day so this was never really a problem, at least I never thought it was.  I have been known to forget deodorant from time to time when teaching - yikes! - and I have run the gamut on different types of deodorant because I sweat A LOT.  I even went so far as to get a prescription from my doctor to stop the armpit sweating. 

I think we are a little more sensitive to how we smell and as women our noses can smell EVERYTHING, can't you?  It is a running joke with my family, I smell everything, I don't like lots of smells (cooked bacon in my kitchen, for example). 

Back to the T.V. show...Dr. Gupta said our diet can contribute to how we smell...well yes we knew this already, however did you know that processed foods, sugar - especially artificial sweeteners, are HUGE contributing factors to your odor?  Even eggs can make you smell.  The woman in the audience ate eggs daily, the suggestion was for her to stop and to find something else to trade for the eggs. 

Now I LOVE my sugar and have talked incessantly about cutting back but have still yet to do it, I try for a day and fall off the wagon.  Since I still do not plan to give up the sugar I will have to rely on you, my friends, to tell me if I start to smell. :)

BTW - there are things to do to help with odor - eating leafy greens, increasing your magnesium intake, more vitamin A (carrots), eat beans & tuna.  Also cut down on the acidity in your body.

Here is the link to the clip from Rachael Ray: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/show/segments/view/dr-sanjay-gupta/

My son is hormonal

Aidan has always been a very easy-going boy.  Not much bothers him and he is always happy.  But something has changed, over the last few weeks he has been moody.  Like "girl-moody".  I am used to this from Katrina but not him.  What is going on?  Do you think it is all the computer time?  I swear he goes through withdrawals when he can't get on his computer.

Here is what happened...on Wednesday we had snow, it was beautiful outside.  I woke him up, opened his curtains and had him look at how pretty it was.  He immediately said "Do I have to go to school?"  These words have never been uttered from his little lips, he hates to miss school, he likes to be recognized for perfect attendance (no comment from the peanut gallery - yes, he is my child, poor guy).  I told him I would look to ensure we weren't having a "snow day".  He slowly got ready and waited for me to check the computer.  School was in session, he was extremely disappointed.

That night we got sleet, rain & lots of slush on the ground.  Low & behold school was canceled. (Read my FB post about my bad-mom moment with that).  He was thrilled and immediately got online to chat with his friend who lives 5 minutes away.  The mom and I got the boys together and they actually played outside in the snow, after playing on Minecraft for a while, of course.

This morning (Friday) he waited for me to check the computer for another snow day, no such luck.  He was bummed.  To add insult to injury he has OM (Odyssey of the Mind) after school today for 3 hours. He started crying!  I asked why he was so upset and he said his Friday night is ruined!  (For those that know me, we do not have WILD Friday nights - we do Free Friday & Friday night movies).  I guess I should feel happy since he is disappointed about missing our Friday night party. :) However I think he is upset to not have time on his beloved computer.

What do you think?  Is there something else going on - hormones, something at school, computer withdrawals?

Funny by Katrina

Katrina's reading is getting so much better and she likes to read everything.  Recently she was reading the side of her milk carton.  She read all about female cows and bulls.  Then continued on to read the different flavors of milk - chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, 2%, low fat.  She looked at me and said "that's funny momma", I said "what is funny", she said "there are cows that are low to the ground and fat that make this milk".  I love the things my kiddos say that make me laugh!

Do you weigh more in the summer?

I have often said that I gain weight in the summer.  I always chalked it up to eating more fruit and having more sugar in my system.  I know, I know, I eat unhealthy sugar ALL the time so eating a more natural sugar from fruit should not (& does not) do this.  Then I thought that maybe I wasn't working as hard in the AZ (now OK) summer because it was so hot.  This my husband laughs at because we are working out in air conditioned rooms and still sweating just as much.  So, why oh why do I gain weight in the summer...

As I was reading the January issue of Fitness magazine I found my answer.  It is a little bit of a stretch but I the logic works, hear me out...the question asked in the magazine was "How is it possible that I gained weight overnight?"  The answer was as follows: "Weight can fluctuate from two to six pounds overnight [6 lbs - that is AWFUL!!!], all because of water," says [their on-staff Ph.D.]. "Usually you weigh less in the morning because your stomach isn't full.  But if it's hot or you're within two weeks of starting your period, your body will store extra H2O."

AHA - so because I drink more water in the summer to hydrate from my hard workouts I weigh more.  Not only that but because it is hot where I live I am going to weigh more.  For whatever reason this made me feel so much better.  Now I just need to live in a cold climate all the time to be approx. 6 lbs less. OR I am just going to believe that I am 6 lbs less than what the scale says because it is warm outside.  But if the scale starts moving the other way in the winter I am screwed with my logic.

Healthy eating for little ones

Last night we were finishing our martial arts training (sidenote: Katrina & I are preparing for our next belt - BLUE.  You start at white, then 1st yellow, 2nd yellow, 1st green, 2nd green, then blue.  We are progressing nicely.  I still dislike the fighting but the men in class are really helping motivate me to be a tough girl.)  Back to the story, we were heading to get dinner and Jim asked Katrina if she was feeling okay.  She said she was fine, he said he thought she did a good job in class but she looked a little tired. (Thank goodness she is still young because we all know what it means when someone says "are you feeling okay, you look tired", right?  If not, it means, "wow, you look like crap today!")  Unfortunately I had noticed the same thing over the last few weeks with Katrina.

It started during the winter break, she had lost all the color from her face, she has been very pale lately and is not hungry.  Well, she is always hungry for "a snack" but not for any real food.  I know many of you are saying, this is totally normal, especially for Katrina.  But I keep looking at her next to her friends and she is thin.  I know, I know, her momma and daddy are thin so again this is nothing new, but it has us worried. The good news - she won't pass up a piece of bacon or papitas.

She continually tells us she feels fine and I am hoping I am just being a crazy momma.  I went shopping today for "healthy" snacks, her little system is going to go into shock but we have to cut the junk food, this is all she seems to crave.  Wish us luck, again any advice is welcome.