Some days open up like a special surprise package on Christmas morning. Yesterday, my husband and I decided to use the gift certificate for the Spa at the Athletic Club we had just joined. We're not strangers to spas-we honeymooned on Maui at the Grand Wailea Resort & Spa and indulged in a fabulous couples massage package. That's one of the pluses of getting married after 40-you may have a more luxurious honeymoon than you would have at a younger age.
We've since indulged in other couples massages for anniversaries, so this time we thought we'd try a couples pedicure-the first pedicure for my husband. Let me tell you he's hooked. Am I a lucky woman or what?
What made it especially wonderful-besides the champagne we were sipping while having our feet massaged with warm stones, and a combination of margarita salts, cocoa butter, and paraffin wax applications-was the over 40 female therapist assigned to my husband. She took care of both of us and her life experienced showed-compared to the 20-something I had-who did a wonderful job but didn't quite have the finesse and thoughtfulness of the older woman.
And once she used the word "fabulous" twice and made over my red "Vodka & Caviar" polish from the Russian collection, I knew it was time to announce my book, Real Women Wear Red. She was delighted and I wouldn't be surprised if she went to my web site and purchased a copy-because this fabulous 40-something woman is my target audience.
After our treatments, she led us into the quiet room with comfortable sofas, cordoned off by a heavy curtain and we were given another glass of champagne where we relaxed to soothing music-a true treat in the middle of a Monday morning in an otherwise noisy world.
It was all so unexpected but totally delightful. Another woman popped in after her massage and we chatted for awhile. She said she was the mother of three with one in college and every three weeks she had to come in to get a neck massage to relieve the tension of her busy life.
This day turned out to be a triple celebration-my husband and I presented with an opportunity to celebrate our intimacy, pampering our bodies in a special way enhancing our well-being, and celebrating the building success of my novel as I learn to put myself out there more and more in promoting it and myself and letting the world know who I am and what special thing it is that I do. All priceless.
Find ways to celebrate your special life and pamper yourself. It shouldn't be optional.
Kathy Holmes writes women's fiction with attitude, a believer in second chances and every little girl's need to know her daddy. She has published her first novel, "Real Women Wear Red," set on a Caribbean cruise and a free companion Ebook, "Cyn's Fabulous Guide to Cruising." She has also published a nonfiction book, "Myths of the Fatherless," about her journey to find and meet her father. To find out more, see her web site and blog at http://www.kathyholmes.net
