It was absolutely worth the wait!

We walked down a dimly lit hallway into a changing room, where we donned plush bathrobes and sandals. Soft, instrumental music played in the background as we gathered in a comfortable sitting area, sipped Diet Cokes, and talked about how excited we were to be there.

We had looked forward to this day for two months. A mini-spa day at Sanctuary. It was my Mother's Day gift to Shulamith and Amanda, but it took this long to schedule it. 

It was absolutely worth the wait.

One at a time, each of our massage therapists called us into one of the massage rooms. From that point, the experience varied somewhat depending on the therapist. Mine gently washed my feet with a lavender scented scrub, then instructed me to lie on the table face down. For the next hour, I lay like a rag doll, allowing the therapist to manipulate my limbs to the proper positions. It was glorious. Head to toe, my body fell into relaxation. 

The hour passed far too quickly, and the three of us gathered once again in the sitting room and waited for our facials. The last time I'd had a facial (the only time, actually) was 12 years ago. I remember exactly when, because it was my birthday week, and Shulamith had just found out she was pregnant with Swen. She arranged surprise facials for the two of us as part of my birthday celebration. 

This time, as with the massages, we were alone in a room with our esthetician. Mine was awesome! She asked if I wanted to diffuse some essential oil along with the steam. Why not? I chose a rose scent, which was delightful. As the rose-scented steam enveloped me, the esthetician used an assortment of luscious products on my face, massaging each into my skin. Between each product, she wrapped my head in a hot towel for a few seconds. This felt so, so good! Even though this was a facial, she also massaged my arms, hands, and fingers!

Our final indulgence was a foot treatment. This time the three of us were together in the pedicure room, where we enjoyed a 30-minute foot massage. We sipped more Diet Coke and chatted about nothing and everything, before it was time to return to the changing room, but not before we spent a few minutes in the wet steam room. I'm not a super fan of these types of things, but the wet steam was way better than a dry-heat sauna.

We were sad it was over, but we left with bodies relaxed and faces aglow. And we decided this needs to be an annual event.