Holiday: Valentine's 2010

Big poppa and I normally don't celebrate Valentine's Day but we decided to do a little something together this year. For my birthday, a friend of mine gave me this really generous gift certificate to the Trellis Spa at the Houstonian Hotel. I booked some last minute appointments for me and big poppa. Massage for him. Mini-facial, manicure and hair-dye for me. Initially, I was only going to get a a mini-facial and my hair colored cos it was all the gift certificate allotted for. But when I went in to get my hair colored, the lady (Teresa) who did the coloring did a really, really sloppy job and there was all this dye on my forehead. So when they were rinsing my hair, one of her assistants kept rubbing my forehead with a towel that had some sort of dye removing reagent and I guess she rubbed it enough to remove some of my skin along with it. Ow. I got back to the chair and Teresa asked if I wanted my hair to be blown dry. I told her yes. I mean seriously. What was I gonna do? Walk outside in the cold like a wet dog? As she was blow drying my hair, never once did she mention that gash that was staring her in the face. And I'm the type who usually won't complain about things unless I'm fired up about it. When it was time to check out, she had charged me $95 for the color, which is reasonable I guess, and a fracking $55 to blow dry my hair. That was just plain ridiculous! I was completely frazzled over this. Yet, I still didn't say anything. I went out to get my car from valet and when they went to grab the car, I started getting upset. 1) That stupid Teresa colorist lady didn't even ask if I was okay! She decided to pretend that she didn't see the skin that had been rubbed off. 2) She had the nerve to charge me $55 to blow dry my hair? Even after my whole forehead fiasco? 3) And lastly, I'm gonna have this huge scab/scar on my forehead for all to see for who knows how long?!? And not only that, since I was standing in the cold, it was starting to burn. So I went back inside, talked to the manager, and she gave me my credit back. I should have asked for more! I'm pretty darn sure they would have been in a lot more trouble if this happened to someone that was more high maintenance and someone who actually cared about their appearance. Seriously, I would not recommend the salon to anyone. It seems so low class for the money that they charge. Their high points however are in facials and massages. My quick, thirty minute mini Trellis facial was one of the best facials I've ever had. But of course, that's really not saying much since this is only my third facial ever! My facialist was Olga and she had the softest hands! She massaged my neck, shoulders, arms and hands along with the facial where she gave me some much needed extractions. It felt so nice. And afterwards, since I got some credit back, I got a nice little manicure with Quy, who reminded me of the nail ladies you see on television. A total gossip! Haha. But she did an awesome job. She spent a lot of time with me, almost as long as big poppa's massage. Valentine's actually came early for me. On Friday, big poppa decided to embarrass me at work by sending me cupcakes and flowers. So sweet! Yet so embarrassing. The front ladies were all fussing over me about the flowers and a co-worker lamented about how she wished her hubby would send her flowers. I felt so special and so guilty at the same time. The compliments to big poppa started pouring in thick and I was reminded of what a lucky girl I am to have such a darling boy in my life. I must admit that when I first opened up the package and saw the cupcakes, I got this silly smile on my face that I couldn't get rid of. And when I called big poppa to tell him thanks, I almost started crying.