Confession Time…I Love Manicures

I have a confession. I love having my nails done.

(Photo credit: madame.furie)

Pedicures I absolutely adore and have a hard time turning down an invitation to join a girlfriend for one.  Manicures are a whole other story.  I love seeing my fingers done up but unfortunately I have oily nails (from what I keep getting told) and the polish doesn’t last past 3 days – if even.  I’m also very hard on my hands & nails, always washing dishes (despite using a dishwasher) and have a bad habit of cleaning without wearing gloves. I know, horrible me.  Considering the price of a manicure and how long it lasts, its not really worth it and definitely not in the budget for constant maintenance.  Could you imagine, a manicure every 3-4 days?! Yikes!!  My bank account hurts at the thought of that *lol*

My mother in law and I were having a conversation about getting nails done then she started raving about the salon she frequents.  We agreed that upon our next visit (the hubster & I) that we’d go for QT girly time and I’d get to check out the salon.   While away on vacation, we did visit the salon. I decided upon a shellac mani.  It was nice to see the differences between salons down in the US vs Canada. Its always the lil things that stand out the most to me – how they treat you while you’re getting your nails done, the technique and order in which they do things, different products etc.  Needless to say,  I drove the person batty by asking 1,001 questions about his techniques & products.  I had a blast!

But now I am stuck in a situation…I need to get the shellac mani removed.  Should I pay the extra $5 for a regular mani after my removal OR should I return home and give myself one? (I have all the supplies)

Do you love manicures too? Do you get them done at the salon or are you frugal and do them yourself at home?

Pedicures & Thai Food

Speaking of taking time to re-charge…I treated myself to a pedicure last week at the beauty school.  Usually they do a great job.   I guess I’ve always lucked out with a great student.   For some reason, I always seem to get the newb. And this one was beyond young (I’m guessing not even 20 yrs old here) and very inexperienced.  Trusting in the school, I let her work on my feet knowing full well that if I had any concerns that I should stop her immediately and ask for the instructor.

Poor girl…she knew what had to be done.   It became clear that she had the textbook smarts but not enough practical time. Hey, thats why she was there, right?  When it came time for the instructor to check her work, she politely stepped in and um…repainted my ALL my toes. You see, the newb – bless her heart – was trying so hard that some toes got only 2 coats (as is the norm) while other toes got 6-7 coats.  Even the instructor had that smile on her face. Poor newb.

This week I got a  ‘do over’.  (Honestly, tell me you’d turn down a free pedicure – NOT)  My girlfriend decided to join me though she wasn’t getting any services performed and after an excellently successful pedicure – FOR FREE – we decided to do lunch.

I decided to intro her to a local thai place (Bua Thai) that I had frequented in previous years while I was working.  Its a quaint little place, great fast & friendly service with very reasonable prices and tasty food.

Appetizer:  spring rolls & tofu soup

Entree: chicken pad thai

(Visit their website: http://www.buathai.ca/)