Spa Lady

I think I could easily be a spa lady -- one of those 'society' women who has weekly salon appointments for nails and hair and other unmentionable grooming rituals. I never would have thought this of myself. For one thing, one needs time and money, and as soon as I spend either on something frivolous, I tend to be overcome with guilt, which interferes with the pleasure of the whole thing. Which is kind of the whole idea, isn't it? To enjoy the process?

Midway through my twenties, I admit I started to enjoy indulging in the occasional pedicure or massage. And since it was 'occasional' at best, I was able to maintain the perfect balance between guilt and pleasure.

But since such services are so incredibly inexpensive here in Turkey, I have taken to having my hair styled just a little more often; paying a little less attention to my eyebrows, knowing I can always get them reshaped for a few Lira; and have stopped shaving altogether, opting instead to have my legs waxed once a month -- it's fast and inexpensive, and you never have to think about stubble.

However, where Turkey excels in hair removal, it sadly lacks in nail care. The manicures I've seen involve nothing more than removing and reapplying polish, quickly and only slightly better than I could do myself. So I've been getting one pedicure a year, namely when I go home to Toronto each summer, and then try to maintain it as best I can until I'm next in Toronto. (Qualifier: I knew there are good places out there, there had to be, since I've seen Turkish women with great nails. But it had been more than three years in this city, and I had yet to crack the mystery of where they go to get their nails done.)

It had been a few months since I could reach my toes, though, and I was feeling grizzly. And grizzly leads to desperation. The not-having-an-emergency-go-to pedicurist had really been bothering me. It's like the Starbucks syndrome -- just knowing there's a Starbucks out there if I want one is enough, without having to be a regular customer. But there wasn't a place to 'grab a coffee' in this city for years, so now that there's a Starbucks, I go every chance I get!

In Canada, I took certain things for granted. Now, stumbling across the smallest difficult-to-find thing moves me to tears. I've just discovered that my local Metro Grossmarkt carries celery, and even though it's smaller and thinner than more expensive than the hardy, ubiquitous, rather boring, it's-really-just-water staple it is at home, I can't get enough of it now! I can't stop making celery soup, and flavouring everything else I cook with its leaves, and I'm almost tempted to make a Bloody Mary, just so I can stick a piece of celery in it!
But then, just when I'd given up, I finally asked the right person, and found a kuaför that does good manicures. And inexpensively at that. I put this new salon to the test yesterday, not daring to get my hopes up, and left feeling like a princess. Next week I'm going back for a pedicure, and who knows, I may just have to get my manicure touched up!