Scrub You

While I was away I had the distinct pleasure of having a body scrub at the Eau Spa. Being in the business that I work in, I was more interested in the body treatments than I was in massage. I had a fab mani/pedi on the first day I arrived and after My Guy had a wonderful massage that he raved about, he persuaded me to try the services at the Spa.

I chose the decadent Champagne Shimmer Body Luster. A 60 minute service, it was nothing short of incredible. After being ushered into the spa facilities where I was given a robe and flip flops, I was taken to the relax lounge where a hot tub(with a cascading waterfall fell continuously from the ceiling), steam shower and heated lounge chairs set the tone for my body scrub. I entered into the treatment room where I was instructed to choose the lighting and the music for my treatment. I chose an upbeat playlist with a mixture of lighting (different colors changing sporadically).

The treatment began with a spoon full of honey that was curated by the spa's very own bee keeper and told of the benefits of a spoon full of honey a day. Then it was time for the treatment. Face down, I laid on the massage table as my girl worked the gritty scrub into every part of my body. I had never experienced a spa scrub before, so when it was done my body felt invigorated, yet gritty. I was then allowed to go to my own private, outside shower, just outside the treatment room, to rinse the scrub off. My skin looked amazing and felt even better. Smooth and supple, I then climbed back into the massage bed where I was massaged with exotic oils till my skin literally glowed.

My friends thought the body scrub would scrub off any suntan that I might have gotten the two days before, but on the contrary, my tan was even better and my skin felt and looked...glowing.

I can report that almost 5 days later, my skin never looked better. No dryness, no flaking, which usually happens when I change from a warm climate back to a cooler one, and the best thing? The condition of my skin has improved dramatically. Dimples, freckles and all of those "older skin" issues have almost disappeared completely. I think I may be onto something here! I can't wait to inform my clients the benefits of a 30-50 minute at-home scrub for healthy skin. I would say that an oil based scrub would be most beneficial as we head into the summer and I'm thinking that once a month I will take to a Day Spa for a serious scrub treatment.

I will keep you informed of my results...and I will thoroughly enjoy it. I''ll just file that under "research and development".

 

Homeless Hero

You are never going to believe this one..

Boston Police reported that over the weekend, a homeless man turned in a backpack he found with over $42,000.00 in cash. You read that right. There was over $42,000.00 in cash in the lost backpack. The back pack contained $2400.00 in cash and $39,500.00 in Amex Traveler's Checks.  There were also several personal papers and a Republic of China passport. The unidentified homeless man notified police that he found the backpack outside a mall in Dorchester near the TJ Maxx. 

An hour later, police were contacted by a person claiming to have lost a backpack "containing a large sum of money". The rightful owner was identified by his passport and the backpack and cash were returned to him. I, for one am amazed by the homeless man's integrity. That's not to say that homeless people have no integrity, I mean that even a well intentioned and contributing member of society would have a moral conundrum if faced with the same situation. 

Several of the homeless man's friends claim "he's got a great heart" and even though the man has nothing, he would "still give you what he's got." 

I'm still amazed. 

I mean, what would you do? 

Inspiration Comes In Many Ways

Commit a random act of kindness. You never know what may happen.

Luck Be A Lady

This is Jessica Buchanan. Jessica could be considered one lucky American.

In the fall of 2011, Jessica and a Danish citizen Poul Hagen Thisted were working with children on a demining project in the Somali town of Adow, when they were kidnapped by Somali Pirates. Held for ransom for over three months, the Somali's nearly killed their golden goose, Jessica.

Apparently, the Somali's refused a 1.5 million dollar ransom offer and many attempts to free the hostages by the Danish Refugee Council were unsuccessful. Sick, half starved and beginning to give up hope, Jessica was recorded explaining that she thought she had what was a serious kidney infection, and feared that she would soon die.

For Jessica, luck soon intervened.

On January 25, 2012 a group of United States Navy Seals, late one night raided the compound where the hostages were being held, killed nine pirates and rescued Jessica and Poul. They brought medicine for a sick and weak Jessica and incredibly, as they carried her to the location where they waited for the helicopter to lift them away, the navy seals delicately placed Jessica on the ground then the entire navy seal team gently laid down on top of her to protect her from danger.

They laid down on top of her...They placed their lives before hers and ensured that Jessica would get back to the US safely.

Was it luck?

Some say Jessica placed herself in a dangerous situation that she could have avoided. That being where she was increased her chances of danger dramatically and that the US should not negotiate with terrorists. Personally, I feel that's an argument for another day. What I think the most incredible thing in this story is this:

They laid down on top of her.....

Was it luck that a Navy Seal Team rescued her that night when time was running out for her?
Was she in the wrong place at the wrong time or was she at the right place at the right time?
Maybe luck had nothing to do with it, but Poul Hagen Thisted reportedly said, in his interview after their rescue, he considered himself "lucky" to have been held hostage with an American.

The Ten Dollar Difference

She walked away thinking, "Who am I to have been blessed with so much?" Then,"
Why me and not her?" Realistically there was a vast difference between them, but
what was it? Clearly it was more than just ten dollars.

If it is true that people come into your life for a reason, she wanted to know
what the reason was? The woman told her she was her angel. An angel disguised as
a person but she was beginning to think it was the woman who was the angel.

It was a quiet Sunday in November and she found herself with something she
hadn't had in weeks; time. But she wasn't complaining. She was on top of the
world, feeling a high she hadn't felt in years. She was living out her dreams
and watching them come true. And she had the love and support of her family.
She knew they believed in her. That morning was not unusual. She had stopped off
to get some cash at the ATM, then on to the nail salon to pamper herself. The
few extra minutes to the city were worth it because they do the best job. She
almost stopped to do ten other things that morning before the bank, but she
didn't.

She pulled up to the closed bank in her expensive car, a pricey , designer
handbag dangling from her arm. As she took out her ATM card to gain access to
the door a man and his young daughter were exiting. They hurriedly pushed past
her when she immediately heard the bellowing sobs from within.

The woman stood shaking, short of breath, almost hyperventilating, fumbling
with her cell phone, her greasy nails and hands visibly shaking uncontrollably.
"Are you alright?" she asked the woman.
"No," the woman said through heavy sobs. "That machine just ATE my ATM card!"
the woman screeched. "I came here to get ten dollars and that machine ate my
card."

Immediately, she felt a small sense of relief. She put her hand up to the
shaking woman and said,
"Relax honey. It's happened to me before. You can come back tomorrow and get
your card." she said. "Don't worry."
This only made the woman cry harder, as the tears streamed down her slightly
grey complected face and dropped onto her grease stained jacket.
"But that was my last ten dollars." the woman said. "I haven't eaten in three
days and I needed that money to get some food. I can't wait until tomorrow" she
cried.

She knew what was coming next, but she wasn't sure if the overwhelming feeling
of doom was because she knew that the woman was going to ask her for the money
or because she already knew that she was going to give it to her.
"Can you give me ten dollars? I haven't eaten in three days." the woman sobbed.
"I'm having a bad week."
"Why don't you call the bank and see what they can do for you?"she said.
"I already did," the woman replied. "I have to wait until tomorrow. Oh God, I'm
having a bad week. Can you give me ten dollars?"

She stood there, in all of her abundance. The blessings practically dripping
from her body and she quietly wondered why me and not her? She felt like a
little girl doing something she shouldn't. Like when you know your going to get
into trouble with your mother, but she didn't hesitate.
"I'll give you the ten dollars. OK? Now take a deep breath and calm down. It's
going to be alright," she said.
"Oh thank you. You're an angel,"the woman said as she paced back and forth
within the small ATM crucible. "I'm having a really bad week."

She kept repeating, "Take a deep breath." to the woman as she effortlessly took
out ten times the ten dollars so desperately needed . The two then walked across
the street to change the $20.00 bill that the ATM dispensed. "It's going to be
OK," she kept telling the woman, to which the woman kept replying, "I'm just
having a really bad week."

She knew she had to ask, but she felt a bit guilty after she did, "You are going
to buy food with this money, right?" she said. "Not something you shouldn't be
buying."
"Yes. I'm going to Hannaford Farms right now. You are an angel dressed as a
person. Thank you," the woman sobbed.

They then parted ways. She was left to feel the mixed emotions of that exchange.
Why her? Why that morning? And what makes them so different? Aren't we all just
ten dollars away from having a bad week? What was ten dollars to her on that
day? How could she say no, with everything she has been blessed with? It made
her feel sad because she knew that it was a lot more than ten dollars that
separated the two women.

She remained quiet for the next hour or so. Even her regular nail girl
commented, " You're so quiet today. Not your usual self." She had lots to share
about her own life, all the good news that was happening to her right now, but
it wasn't important any more. She just wanted to be quiet.

She didn't tell anyone about it either, because that's not why she did it. She
did it because that woman needed it and she knew she had to help her. She knew
there would be those who would tell her she got fleeced by a con artist, and
taken for a ride. Maybe she did but maybe she didn't. Maybe it was a cautionary
tale for her, but she decided to keep it to herself.

Until right now.

Tater Tale

So I heard this great story over the weekend, and I thought I would share it with you.

The book above was written by a local guy, who created, "The Adventures of Pat The Potato" to explain to a young family member about the size of one's heart and what can happen when a young potato finds the courage to succeed. It is a story about a very small, second grade potato who leaves home to get away from the ridicule of being the smallest potato in town. Written for his young family member who was struggling with peer pressure, the book became family lore and was then accidentally introduced to a publisher.

Mr. Gannon, flabbergasted that someone found his children's tale interesting enough to publish, was overjoyed to learn that not only did his tale about Pat sell, but the book was quickly adopted by the Potato Museum in Idaho as their pseudo "mascot" book. The sales of the book from the visitors of the museum and the sales on Amazon.com have been good and Michael Gannon couldn't have been more surprised.

Mr. Gannon relayed how amazed he is every month when he opens his small royalties check from book sales. The publisher has since asked Mr. Gannon to write another book. He has declined, of course, because the story came from an idea he had to help a young family member to understand that it's ok to be small and that sometimes being small sometimes has it's advantages. Never claiming to be an author, Mr. Gannon decided that Pat the Potato would be his only literary effort.

An effort like that, it seems, is no small potato.

Little Miss Woods, Comma, Elle, Part II

Encore! 

It was a long weekend and a great time was had by all. Sorry about Friday bloggers, but we had out of town family that came in to see the show with us and the schedule was quite hectic. It's amazing to me that my child is graduating high school and going off to college. Like, when did this happen? I never gave my permission to this, yet the whole thing continues to progress getting realer and realer as each day dawns. 

And Frick? She's growing and maturing into quite a young lady. She had all her girls from the show stay over on Saturday night. They "rolled" in about 1:30 (her curfew is 12 midnight) after a late night Wendy's run, and all 8 of them went down to our basement where they did Lord knows what till Lord knows what time.

Actually, I do know what Lord knows what is. While making the crew breakfast on Sunday morning, I could not locate the salt shaker. 

"Where is the salt?" I inquired.

"Oh, we had nachos late last night, downstairs," they responded. 

This seemed logical and I dismissed the entire thing until I went downstairs to assess the damage done to the basement and I found 2 shot glasses and about 20 chewed out lime wedges strewn around the coffee table. The missing salt shaker immediately clicked.

I chuckled, and gave Frick a free pass. Like mother, like daughter. 

Anyway, we are all slowly coming down from our high, so by request, I post this video I shot from Friday night. What a show! The Weston High School Theater Company should be quite proud. People were actually saying it was better than Broadway.

This was Frick's big moment on statge, but forgive me the horrid quality. I shot it with my 3GS iPhone and the quality sucks. But you can hear Frick, and you get the point. 

If you want to see more of Frick's performance, go to my Facebook page and click any of the three other links. Crystal's Aunt captured the videos on Saturday night and they are awesome quality. 

Bravo Frick! 

Little Miss Woods, Comma, Elle

She's been preparing for this for what seems like her whole life.

It's opening night and she's about to live a dream, in front of all of us.

She's been working so hard; they all have, and tonight they get to dazzle us with their theatrical prowess. Performing for a sold out crowd, a first time ever for their high school.  For Frick, the role of Elle Woods, is the brass ring on her high school merry go round and the proverbial "cherry" on the musical theater sundae. See? Dreams really do come true when you work hard and you believe in yourself.

I'm watching you grow and reach for those stars I always knew you would land among. I've been waiting for this day to come, but somehow it snuck up on me and caught me a little off-guard. Now that it's finally here, I couldn't be prouder.

 I'm in awe. My baby girl is all. growed. up.

Frick, I wanted to find a quote about opening night that would give you some sort of great inspiration for this evening. Something you would always remember and call to memory in the hundred of other opening night's you will have in your career. But you know your mom.... I think I found one that best puts tonight into perspective.


"The best audience is intelligent, well-educated, and a little drunk.
Alvin Barkley"

Break a leg kiddo.
xoxoxo

LINsane In The Membrane

You shoulda heard all the hoopla. All weekend long it was all most TV, radio and newspapers could talk about. Jeremy Lin was returning to Boston, home of Harvard, where he began his basketball ascension to greatness. You couldn't miss it. Heck, I even got caught up in it all. Who doesn't love a great Cinderella story like Jeremy Lin's?

Boston Herald Sports scribe Ron Borges put Linsanity into perspective for me with his Sun morning Page 8 article in the Boston Herald. Borges wife, a Taiwanese American, and her family, including his 5 year old son, described how Jeremy Lin and his recent NBA success has "rekindled and old flame". Suddenly, yesterday's game was more about Lin and less about the Celtics.

What's even more amazing is that in a place like the Boston Garden, where Celtic greats like Bird, Cousy and Bill Russell were worshiped and glorified, and where 17 World Championship banners hang in the rafters, and where it's storied parquet floor has played host to some of basketballs greatest rivalries and where Celtic fans bleed a proud and deep green, the crowd was cheering a hometown cheer when ever Jeremy Lin touched the ball in the opening minutes of the game.

Now that there is some powerful Linsanity!

Let's not forget that this guy has been Lin-sane for only about a month now, and has revitalized a New York Knicks team that was literally flat lined. Dead. In the time since his Feb 2012 emergence that made him a household name, he has led the Knicks to winning streaks, major media coverage, and been on the cover of Sports Illustrated twice. To say that Lin controls the flow of their game is an understatement.

But Jeremy Lin is not invincible, and his play as of late has been humbling. Yesterday was no different. But hard core Lin fan's don't care. Even the big guy himself, the POTUS, Barry Obama who sat down with Bill Simmons, aka ESPN's The Sports Guy, last week. When asked about Lin, Mr. President claimed to have been in on Linsanity long before all of us. Arne Duncan, his secretary of education, was captain of the Harvard basketball team, who told POTUS that Jeremy Lin was one to watch.
"So I've been on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon for a while...I can't take credit for (Linsanity). but I'm just saying I was there early." Obama said.

WOW. The leader of the free world claiming to be a big fan.... Now that's some serious Linsanity.



Simmons entire interview is available on his website Grantland.com

Snow Day

DAMN, did we get bombed!!!

Yesterday was a serious snow day. I woke up around 7am and the snow was coming down at an unbelievable pace. By that time we already had a foot of snow and it looked like white out conditions outside my window.

Then the snow continued All. Day. Long. And did not stop. We ended up with probably 17-18 inches in total, and some places in MA got up to 2 feet or more.

I gotta tell you, it was AWESOME. With no where to go, the weather furious, everybody was home bound for the day. I couldn't feel that pang of guilt you sometimes feel when I make a decision to close the store. This one was a no brainer. No one could move for most of the day. Wherever you were, you pretty much stayed put and had to wait it out.

Today begins the messy process of clean-up.

And my home town never looked more beautiful.

The majesty of Mother Nature never ceases to amaze me.