What A Day!

Remember the photo contest from a couple months ago? Well, this past Saturday I cashed in on my grand prize….a day at the spa.

To add the to excitement of the day, on my drive to Sarasota I stopped in Tampa to meet a guy (found on Craigslist) to buy his two lenses and external flash. (For any photographers out there I purchased a Tamron 18 – 200mm and a Nikon 50 mm 1.8 lens with a SB600 flash). Also, Mike and Sarah and I struck a deal and so I am now the proud owner of their D200!! What a dream come true! This is something I have wanted for so long but never thought was possible. And it wouldn’t have been possible without Mike and Sarah’s expertise and generosity! Thanks guys 🙂

After that I headed to Sarasota with my trusty camera on the seat next to me which I frequently took my eyes off the road to look at.

Now, if you want the ‘glass half full’ story of the spa day…here it is:

It was such a relaxing, wonderful day. I was pampered and beautified to my heart’s delight. A new woman has emerged and I am now better looking than I ever thought was possible. It was a dream come true!

If you want the whole truth, as Ben says I don’t always share, here it is:

Now, was it was you would picture when you think of a spa? No! It was in fact a beauty salon with a nice, small little room in the back where they do facials and massages. But, I tried to keep my spirits high when I saw the po-dunk place.

Upon entering they informed me, rather unkindly, that I was an hour late. Apparently there was some confusion about the start time of the appointment. So, they told me their wouldn’t be enough time to do the ‘hair’ part of the session. This was a sad moment for me as I had been looking forward to getting some cool hair-do for a day. But, again, I tried to stay positive as I reminded myself that it was free and this was still a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’.

So, they took me back to the nice, small little room in the back where we discussed my facial routine (which doesn’t exist, but I tried to pretend like it did). I mentioned I was pregnant, which she said wasn’t a problem!, and then she left the room so I could ‘prepare’ for my facial and massage.

The facial was lovely! It really, really was. I’ve only had one before, (thanks to Jaclyn and Tina), and I forgot how amazing they were.

So, after the facial she had me get dressed and go to the pedicure station. I’m thinking, “What about the massage?” But, I kept my mouth shut as I was far too relaxed to think straight.

Later the pedicurist informed me that because I was pregnant she couldn’t do my massage! Aye! That was not the story she said the first time we discussed it!! I think the manager didn’t like me (because she thought I was late) and they kept trying to cut my free session down with any excuse they could find. It was very disappointing!

So, in the end I had my facial, pedicure, and manicure. It was still nice and relaxing, but my $250 package only ended up being $120 worth of services. Also, it was the massage and hair-do that I was most looking forward to.

I just kept telling myself – at least it’s free.

So, that’s the whole truth. A little disappointing, but still worth the drive.

As I headed back to my car I remembered I had my D200 waiting for me, and then the sun began to shine again 🙂