Manicures, Pedicures, and Facials OH MY!

Mike, the 2 dogs, the 2 geckos, the chameleon and I have been in Ohio for the past 2 weeks (we will be heading back to the comforting warmth of Florida on Monday). For my Christmas present my mother took me to the Off Main Street Salon for my first real spa day. I received a manicure with a hand massage, a pedicure with a foot massage, a deep cleansing facial, and much needed professional haircut. It was wonderful! I have never had a real manicure, pedicure, or facial before! No wonder why people go all the time, they are so relaxing! Sitting here typing and looking at my french tips makes me really feel like a sophisticated woman. Working with animals and in the lab doesn't normally allow one to look like a woman. My main wardrobe consists of jeans and graphic tees, slip-on shoes and sneakers, and very little jewelry. Now that I have a lot of time to my self I am starting to learn the ways of a pretty woman. Boy did the spa day help. Mom, if you are reading this, I had such an excellent time, thank you so much! I feel like I have missed out on a lot of the fun of being a girl....maybe all this sewing and cooking is making up for lost time.

One more present left to make (yes I know Christmas has past and I was an idiot trying to take on such a large embroidery project) but in the mean time please take a gander at a project I did last Christmas for the high school girl I tutored:

It's a brown tote bag with felt monkeys. The monkey patterns I got from the Cute Book. Please be forewarned, completely original ideas are not my forte. I prefer to peruse books and blogs for inspirations and then make them my own. If I ever forget to tell you where I got the starting idea or pattern, please let me know so I may update my blog and give credit where credit is due. The same goes with my cooking. New tricks and techniques are still being learned, but hopefully one day I will be able to run a test kitchen out of my house.

Now I am off to try and make chicken gravy in my father's kitchen (which relies heavily on the microwave for food preparation) with left over chicken stock, butter, olive oil, flour, and whatever spices my father may have. Yay cooking!