Little Luxuries: A great massage!

I lay on my stomach, eyes closed, face nestled between white towels. I breath in the scent of cedar, then deeply exhale.

I think it is so important to treat ourselves well. Treating ourselves well takes many forms. Sometimes we need to stay home, rest, and allow our mind and body to refresh. Sometimes we need to say 'no' to things that we don't want to do, or let or go out & experience new things that we DO want to do! Sometimes we just need to indulge in something that makes us feel fabulous!

Today my indulgence was indulgence. I love day spas and I love massages. I would love to get a deep tissue massage at my favorite spa twice a month, but as a self employed person, a spa treatment is a treat, and not a regular occasion. I recently found the next best thing: hour-long reflexology massages for only $20! The rooms are not private and the cedar aroma was from the furniture, not essential oils, but for an hour I let go of my mind as every muscle in my body was massaged and beat up a little. That's how I like my massages: firm, slightly painful, and effective! And for $20, plus a tip, I may have found my twice-monthly massage location!

"If you aren't good at loving yourself, you will have a difficult time loving anyone, since you'll resent the time and energy you give another person that you aren't even giving to yourself." -Barbara De Angelis

Gift Card Winner

I loved the responses from the first Little Luxuries post! You definitely chose some of my favorite items. I bought my first re-usable water bottle from the Crate & Barrel outlet last week, LOVE my stand mixer (although I don't use it nearly as much as I should), and am hooked on my morning coffee. There is something beautiful about treating yourself well, if only in small ways!

Thank you for participating in my first Little Luxuries adventure, and congratulations to Leslie for winning the $10 Amazon.com gift card! There were only a few entries, but I used a random number generator to pick the winner fair & square! Leslie, I will email the gift card over to you ... maybe you can use it towards the peacock feather water bottle you liked! =)

Here's a peek at my new water bottle!

Little Luxuries: An Introduction

During Spring 2000, I spent a semester abroad in Salzburg, Austria. During the week, we had set meals for dinner, and all 27 students in our program ate together at the scheduled local restaurant. I was vegetarian at the time, which worked out fabulously when the meat meal fell flat. Sometimes it was my vegetarian option that didn't work out so well, such as when I was served dinner consisting of only steamed zucchini and squash. We were sometimes fed unappealing things like a frothy garlic soup, and sometimes delicious things like schnitzel and strawberries & ice cream. Midway through the semester, I un-vegetarianized myself, and fell in love with the schnitzel & kasekrainers of Austria. And the giant chocolate-covered or apple-filled pretzels from the pretzel street vendor. =)

One March night in Rome, after we had been abroad for over a month, we found a taste of home: Planet Hollywood. In a continent that mostly served warm, bubbly water, a restaurant that brought pitchers of ice-water to our table was the closest thing to heaven! Of course, the fruity cocktails were nice too. I have pictures in my scrapbook of us drinking a rainbow of fruity cocktails, with giant smiles on our faces.

Nine years of passed since that night, and I can't tell you what my cocktail with the pineapple wedge and maraschino cherry was, but I can tell you one thing: as we walked to Planet Hollywood, I dreamed out loud to Kelli about opening a boutique called Little Luxuries. Little Luxuries would be about treating yourself well. I pictured pewter, cashmere, and pillows. Little Luxuries would be soft, welcoming, and delicious.

Instead of the brick-and-mortar version of Little Luxuries that I imagined with Kelli, Little Luxuries has launched as a virtual store though Amazon. Little Luxuries about knowing that you deserve deliciously good things in your life, even if they are only sprinkled in. It's about drinking your $3 wine from a $20 glass ... or aerating that $3 bottle so it tastes like a $30 bottle! It's about having a really cute re-usable bag for the grocery store. It's about reading books that makes your soul feel good. We all deserve things in our life that make us swoon. I am very excited to share my Little Luxuries with you, and to hear about your favorite Little Luxuries. I am going to show you things I think are fabulous, books that made me grow, and the equipment in my camera bag. Little Luxuries is also going to be a regular segment on my blog, and I can't wait for the delicious things I am going to feature! =)

Click through Little Luxuries, and leave me a blog comment with what your favorite item is and why. After 9pm on Monday (July 20), I'll pick a winner at random for a $10 Amazon gift card. Be sure to leave your real name or email so I can get ahold of you!

Good luck! =)