Getting My Money's Worth

One of my first orders of business upon arriving in Seattle was to find a good (read: non-sketchy) nail salon since I indulge in a pedicure on a pretty regular basis.

Well-kept feet are important. At least to me.

I had a fabulous place in North Salt Lake where maybe I was sometimes known as Jennifer, but most of the time they called me Stephanie, and I wanted to find that place in my new town. After trying a few I stumbled upon one close to home. It only took that one time for me to know that I had found what I was looking for.

The last few pedicures I have gotten have been with co-workers at "fancy" places downtown with sales reps that I work with footing the bill. The going rate for these pedicures is probably close to $75+ per person, which is completely absurd. Having had my fair share of pedicures over the last few years, I can safely say that the fancy pedi's are not as good as what I get for $20. Sure they may use special salts to exfoliate and paraffin wax to hydrate, but all I'm really looking for smooth feet, a nice paint job and a killer leg massage. Oh, and in a non-sketchy atmosphere.

Needless to say, I had missed my ladies close to home. So today I paid them a visit and it was a treat. I've outlined a few highlights below.

• When I walked in the door one said, "It's YOU!" while the other said, "Where have you been?!".
  
• They always make sure to let me know they last time Lindsay was in and what color she got. (It was yesterday and she got french on her feet and black on her hands, in case you wanted to know.)
• Li randomly started singing "I Dreamed a Dream" and then we talked about Susan Boyle for a while. She know all her stats of how old she was, how many albums sold, etc.
• While my nails were drying she found me a copy of EW that had an interview with Ellen DeGeneres and Simon Cowell discussing American Idol, opened it up to that page, set it on my lap and told me to read it and report back what it said.
• I learned all about The Bachelor and she explained how one girl got kicked off for some scandal with a producer. She then went on to ask me if the show was actually real...as if I had the inside scoop somehow.
• She thinks I should be a foot model. Apparently my feet are nice.
• The shop is run by two women (sisters-in-law) and one of their husbands also works there. As I was paying she whispered to me, "He never remembers you. But today he did and remembered that you always bring a Diet Coke. He just asked me why you didn't bring one today." Kind of embarrassing, mostly funny.

Who needs to pay $75 when I can get all of that for $20?