Oooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

That was very lovely with lovely company too.

I don’t really do much girl-y stuff. Tonight I ventured into new and exciting territories. I went to the Korean spa that’s not far from where I live in lieu of being able to go to LRC this weekend. So much with the lovely!

So my adventure began with M2 following me tearfully around the house telling me how much she was going to miss me. The bedtime reading ritual has been a Big Deal in our house lately. M2 is… well, she’s recognizing letters & has huge swaths of Dr. Seuss memorized & recognizes the word “is”. She has also learned to really work the cute to get what she wants. As I was walking out the door, she looks at me with big, puppy dog, tear-y hazel-y green eyes & says mournfully, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mommy.” Heh. That’s right, little monkey girl!

I showed up & they gave me my lovely little robe & funny little hat & towel stuff, the Very Tallest Box to put my shoes in & had someone show me where things were. She showed me where the tea room was [note to self, pay $4 extra for unlimited tea tag next time], where the scrubby things took place, and the [mani-/pedi-]cure things and the face things and the stuff & stuff, and the hot rooms (more about these shortly) and the pools and showers & stuff. So I was all kind of oriented and she showed me where my locker was and deserted me.

These people have done this before. It was so organized, it made my library/information science heart sing. I had box 9 for my shoes, a little bracelet with key that said “9″, and my locker was locker #9, and there were little boxes in by the showers & pools where I would have had my own little box 9 for my towels, and everything! If I’d known about the tea tag for unlimited tea, my tea tag would have been also… Number 9!

So I got into my soft cotton robe & funny little hat. The bathrobe reminded me of the one my mommy brought back for me from the Japanese bathhouses. I wore holes in it, it was so comfy. The funny little hat was actually shockingly comfy & comforting. I ventured forth in my new fancy stylish outfit & peeked in all the hot rooms looking for a familiar face. Not seeing any, I paced and eventually settled on sitting in the “reception” area with an Architectural Digest which I couldn’t read because I left my glasses in my #9 locker, but the pictures were pretty. Before not long at all J came along freshly scrubbed & then promptly S & L came along. Hoorah, lovely & fun company (and such *charming* outfits!).

It was then decided that it was Time For The Hot Rooms. We went into the 150F “charcoal room” first. Yes. I know. I like my beef rarer than that. I was really concerned that it was not going to be my thing, but it’s so very lovely. There was charcoal on the wall (very pretty!) and charcoal under the mats. Did I mention it was hot? It’s really hot. For the first time in… years? my monkey brain just shut up. Of course, all you can do in a room that hot is sit or lie down and go, “Oooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” as you melt into puddles.

After the charcoal room, there was a 140F salt room. Maybe I’m mixing up temps. There was salt under a canvas floor covering. That room was very lovely too. From there we went into the 75F room — yes. That’s a temperature difference of 65F. We all started giggling when we realized the “log cabin” styled walls had skis hanging from them and a winter-y “scene” outside a faux window. We did not venture into the “chill” room (60F). There was also a room that was 170F. There’s a five minute limit on staying in that one. I didn’t go in there. I will try it next time when I’ve brought my water bottle in with me. Maybe. It was really hot. So I went back in the charcoal room for a bit, then came out and sat in the reception area again on the comfy couches. Then J & I went and sat in the tea room. She let me steal sips of her tea and we talked of things & stuff and then it was time for her to go walk the dogs. She ran and took a quick shower & I’m going to go bathe very shortly here. Then we walked out to our cars. It was so wonderfully lovely. I might even be inclined to go back there all by my lonesome at some point. I didn’t get to the pools or the steam rooms this time at all. This must be rectified.

But it is bath time now. Silly people are coming to tromp through our little house tomorrow morning & that means I don’t get to sleep in. It is good to go take bath. It is sleepy-times now. Before the monkey brain comes back.