Blue's last weekend as our only baby I adore a pedicure - always have. Nothing makes me feel as pampered or prepared for anything, whatever the season. Since I first got the pedi-bug (didn't intend for that to sound like a communicable disease), I've made a visit once each month during the summer and maybe every 6 or 8 weeks after sandal season ends.
Even padding around barefoot, there's something special about gazing down at glossy, polished toes. I love the ritual of picking out a color and a magazine, then sitting empty-headed reading celebrity gossip while the massage chair kneads your shoulders and someone works miracles on your feet. Mix in warm towels and a foot massage and it becomes a treat too delicious to describe.
My last pedicure was on Saturday, October 3, 2009, two days before I had Mac. I sweet-talked Bradley into letting me off of bedrest for an hour and couldn't have been giddier. It wasn't a typical pedicure for a few unavoidable reasons.
I wouldn't turn on the massage chair because I thought it might jostle the baby. I couldn't read a magazine because my stomach was too big to read over and, if I propped my arms on my belly, the words were too close to my face. The girl giving me a pedicure found this quite amusing, so I just closed my eyes and focused on the pampering.
When I returned to our sofa, Blue cuddled up with me to enjoy the view. (That's the picture above, when he was our only baby.) Shortly after, I felt my first contractions.
That Monday, my outing paid for itself in the countless compliments from our nurses on my polished fingers and toes. I might have been swollen and uncomfortable, but my feet looked fabulous in the labor and delivery room! I'd recommend a pre-baby pedicure to any mom-to-be. Post-baby pedicures? I'm a little behind on that front.
On maternity leave, I was nursing Mac frequently and too concerned about salon fumes to venture in. Once I returned to work, I was way too busy to set aside an hour for a "frivolous" outing. Now that I'm home, juggling full-time momhood with business pursuits, I'm just as busy and even less able to justify "me" time.
These ten toes are in
shock at having been away from the salon this long. While I do my best to keep them polished and pretty, I just don't have the finesse of the professionals.
So
today, putting aside all excuses and leaving Mac with B, I am getting a pedicure. Let's hope this is my last nine month absence from the swirling foot baths just up the road!
A friend told me years ago that my whirlwind of spray tans, manicures, pedicures, eyebrow waxing, shopping trips and hair cuts would slow down significantly once I had kids. I'd just have other priorities, she said. I rolled my eyes at her.
She was right, though; I
do have other priorities. But for an hour this afternoon, my priority is me - and these ten neglected toes. Blue will be thrilled when his favorite pillow returns home sporting a fresh coat of polish.
Pass the OPI!