Sunday, September 6, 2009

Adventure Day 36 - #14 Walk into a place and get a pedicure

Before I make myself out to be a liar I want to set the record straight: I have indeed gotten a pedicure before. The catch is that I’ve never done it for no reason, it’s usually been before a wedding or something (or maybe I just needed an excuse to go and do it). I will admit I find it intimidating doing anything for the first time in a new place. It’s always nice to get a referral to go somewhere or to go with someone else. It was no different with this number except that the person who joined me for a pedicure invited me to join her - I readily accepted.

The person I shared this number with was Sista. Apparently she visits a pedi place every now and then and said she got a decent deal on it – I’m all about a decent deal, especially when it comes to doing something unnecessary.

We met for lunch (it seems essential to a girls’ afternoon out) then went to a little place called ‘New York Nails II’. The name of this place is absolutely hilarious to me for two reasons: First of all we live in Canada, second of all everyone that worked there were Asian and barely spoke English – a little off the beatin’ trail to New York in my opinion.

As soon as we arrived we were told to go to the colour wall and pick our paint. Sista went with a light bright orange and I a deep red, I thought I would try and match my ‘40 days’ purse (the colour actually looked like black in the end). We then got to take our seats in a couple of side by side gigantic massage chairs. Not long after we were seated the chairs were turned on and boy were they an experience!

I’ve never had a pedicure done while enjoying a massage chair before so this definitely added to my overall pedicure experience. I had no idea a chair could do such things! It really does work you ALL over. I had no idea my butt could be contorted in such a way. The weird part is when Sista saw my face and the seemingly immense discomfort I was in she said “You can change the settings you know, or shut it off”, I couldn’t do it, I felt obligated to get every cent out of what I had paid for my pedicure (even if it had nothing to do with beautifying my feet). I replied with “No, this will give me A LOT to write about … a lot”. Although looking back, I am now speechless about the chair, let’s just said it was a love-hate thing I guess.

As we sat and soaked our feet two Asian little ladies came to work away the calluses that had developed. First they cleaned, then trimmed, a little cuticle work, some cream, then the filing – and I don’t mean our toenails. If you’ve ever had a pedicure you know what I mean. The point when they bring out the huge rough file to help you say good-bye to all of your dead skin. Well, as my lady worked away (all the while speaking fluent something-or-other to the other little Asian lady) she immediately noticed my stiff reaction. I really tried to relax and just let her work but it was killing me! She finally asked “Tick-o? Tick-o?” I quickly replied “Yes, it tickles, a lot!” For some reason I had the absurd idea that if she realized how ticklish it was for me that perhaps she might try being more gentle or careful somehow – boy I was dreaming! She continued to torture each of my feet (along with all of my nerves too).

After the filing work out, more soaking and cream she eventually got to painting my nails. Thankfully that wasn’t uncomfortable – I was starting to wonder why pedicures were considered a ‘treat’. In time we were able to leave our souped up lazy boy chairs to sit on a couple of office chairs with our feet sitting under a giant fan (which by the way didn’t feel like a fan at all – I think it’s just there to make you think you are getting more for your dollar).

The whole experience took about an hour and a half I would say and an interesting one it was. Definitely different than any pedicure I’ve had before! At one point I thought ‘I could get used to this’ and at yet another point I thought ‘Beauty is painful man! Why do we do this?!’ overall I had mixed reactions. I will certainly do it again because there is just something great about getting your toenails painted evenly and perfectly by someone, they were so shiny – they looked fake.

I’m ok with fake every once in a while …

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Eva,

This post made me laugh:) Tick-o, Tick-o! I completely understand! I am extremely tickelish, and when I have a pedicure, it's all I can do not to kick the person! They don't know they're taking their lives in their hands when they touch my feet! Ahhhh! It does feel like torture.
However, there's somthing luxurious about sitting back and having someone else do your feet for you. I actually love it, and sadly may be a wee bit addicted to it, although it's usually an unfulfilled craving:( I just love how HAPPY my feet feel afterwards.
Hmmm, now I want one!
Love Bex

Zoe said...

I want one now too! It's been too long!

I agree - they are pretty rough sometimes, and that certainly doesn't help you "relax and enjoy your massage", does it? It always weirds me out a little when I can't perfectly communicate my discomfort to the person doing it because of a language barrier!