Heaven at the mall

Bob's home. When he got home last night I informed him he'd have Cooper duty all day today (yes, informed him - didn't ask). However, somehow I ended up having to orchestrate all that needed to be done this morning from the time we all got up til about noon. By noon I realized I needed to just leave the house and let him fend for himself or I'd never get any "me time". So I grabbed Bob's dry cleaning and headed out.

Once the dry cleaning was dropped off I headed to the mall - I know that doesn't sound like the ideal place to go when one is desperate for "me time" but I had a plan. First stop, nail salon - spa pedicure and eyebrow waxing. I turned on the massage chair and instructed my guy (yup, a guy worked on my feet LOL) to tack on the extra foot massage and callus treatment to the pedicure. OMG it felt so good to FINALLY get a real pedicure (instead of the quick fixes I did for my own feet every so often - needless to say, my feet were a total mess). As I sat there I realized this was my first professional pedicure since January (since bed rest started in February)! It felt so good and my feet look and feel so much better. Next up, eyebrows. Not much to report here except after a few quick "ouch"es, my eyebrows once again appeared as two instead of one haha!!

I walked out of the nail salon and headed straight for the massage station. Yes, our mall has a massage station where you can get a seated chair massage, or a table massage. My plan was to get a chair massage for just 10 minutes but when they put the price list in front of me, the 30 minute table massage just screamed out "take me!" so that's what I got. =) With no reservation whatsoever, I hopped on the table in the middle of the mall. Fully clothed, of course. It didn't even matter to me that I was not in a spa setting or that there was no aromatherapy or soft music. Instead, I heard the typical sounds of the mall - kids screaming, adults yelling to each other from across the way, people shuffling past with their shopping bags. There was a time not long ago that I remember thinking to myself "oh hell no" as I walked past the massage station in the mall. After all, I am a self-confessed spa snob. Thanks to my friend, Mark, who used to work at Burke Williams, I became hooked on the spa - and not just any spa either, I got hooked on the best there is and whenever I try out a new spa I am usually disappointed because they don't live up to the high expectations I have for them - I'm always comparing each place to Burke Williams' Santa Monica location. I've been to 3 other locations of their chain and none of them are as good as Santa Monica. As a new mom, I just don't have the time, nor the money, to keep indulging in such luxuries - except perhaps on rare occasions.

So, the massage station at the mall is my new favorite indulgence. Even though it lacks certain things (aromatherapy, quiet surroundings with soft music, privacy, etc.), it does offer quick, inexpensive and much needed relief. And, it was just that. It was wonderful.

I stopped in at Macy's, Gymboree and the Pumpkin Patch to check out the sales on baby stuff and got a great deal on a couple of fall and winter hats for Cooper since he's already outgrown all the cute newborn caps that we have for him.

My last stop at the mall was at "The Picture People" to observe photo shoots going on with babies and see if I wanted to book a session. I watched the photographers skillfully capture the attention and smiles of a couple different little babies and then I saw the images on the screen and they were really great - so we're going in with Cooper on Thursday! :)

I was planning to go to the market next for groceries but called home first and found Bob stressed because he got a call from work indicating that the captain he flew with this past week failed to submit a required report and now Bob has to file a report to help explain why the report wasn't submitted. He couldn't concentrate on the report while watching Cooper. So.....I'm back home while Bob finishes his report and then I'll head back out and do some grocery shopping.

Never thought I'd fantasize about my next trip to the mall....but now you know I will be - because of the massage station. ;)