Pampering Day 2: Toe Time

Back in 1999 and 2000, I worked at a luxury linen store in a fancypants part of town, in the most upscale mall in the area. Across from the linen store was a high-end salon. Well-to-do women would go to the salon and then come over to the linen store to redecorate their homes in all the latest styles. A broke college student who took the bus and couldn't afford to buy lunch out on my lunch hour, their sheltered existence seemed so far removed from anything within my realm of experience.

You might think it was the designer clothes, expensive highlights or the  parking lot full of Mercedes Benz that caught my attention, but it wasn't. Do you know what it was? Their toes! Those women would come into our store after going to the salon for a pedicure, wearing the latest brand-name flip-flops and sporting the shiniest toenails I had ever seen. Their feet didn't have a single callous in sight and the polish was perfectly applied.

In contrast, my feet ached from standing for 10 hours on the retail floor, they smelled like a goat's rear end, were cracked, the polish was chipped and I had toenail fungus. YUCK! I vowed to myself that one day I would be able to stay off my feet long enough for them to be presentable and sweet smelling. I promised myself that I would learn how to do a proper pedicure and get my toenail polish to look all shiny and glossy. Most people aspire to reach a point in life where they have a booming career, a nice car or a big house. Me? I just wanted to reach the point where I could have shiny toenails. It symbolized so much more to me: rest, time to take care of myself, a little more in my pocket, a better job, different opportunities.

I've since learned to duplicate the pedicure that I envied so badly while working in that store. Every year or two I splurge on a salon pedicure, but the rest of the time I replicate it pretty well at home. I have found that my feet are a good barometer for how crazy my life is and how much time I am taking to tend to my own needs. When life is calm, my feet look amazing and when life gets nuts, those toes are the first thing to go.

I had a crazy morning this morning. After homeschool, I was going to take the kids to do a bunch of fun stuff, but long story short, the 3-year-old was intent on tantruming and our plans got canceled and I had to deal with a couple of hours of little one rage. For those of you who don't know, my Mom died on 12-27-2010. She lived with us and she and Will were extremely close. Since she died, Will hasn't known how to handle her absence and every now and then his anger and hurt comes out sideways in seemingly unrelated tantrums and outbursts. We're working with him on it and it is getting better, but today was not a good day.

Once things finally settled down and both kids went down for a nap, I looked at my feet while prancing around the house barefoot and realized that my toes looked like heck. Apparently, having a baby and losing my mother in the same week as my husband's birthday, Christmas and the anniversary of the baby I lost in 2008 is not good for toes. With Valentine's Day coming up, I just couldn't stand the thought of rugged feet and chipped polish glaring up at me from my designer pumps.

So, today's pampering mission is toes. I didn't pay attention to my heels, as they are so far gone that they'll require their own pampering day.

Here are my supplies:

First, I lit the candle and put on some spiritually renewing music: 

I filled up my husband's watermelon bowl (shhhhhhh) with hot water, epsom salts and sweet smelling oils and then soaked my feet while listening to music and doing deep breathing exercises. Breathe in the peace of God. Breathe out tension and stress. I prayed for God to give me peace, relaxation and renewed energy. I asked to be the mother and wife God wants me to be and to be able to enjoy the rest of my day.

After a good soak, my toenails were ready for clipping. I also worked on my cuticles and slathered them with Burt's Bees cuticle cream, before soaking them for a few more minutes.

Next came a nice foot and leg massage with shea butter and lavender massage oil, followed by fuzzy blue spa socks. I left those on while I put my feet up and disinfected Allen's watermelon bowl (lol). 

With the bowl safely stowed away, I removed the old chipped polish. I do this after I moisturize because the lotion makes it so that nail polish doesn't stick properly to the nail. I was left with nicely groomed bare naked feet.

Next up was polish. I've done all kinds of polish colors over the years but nothing makes me feel as sexy as red nail polish. Sometimes I wonder why I ever even try anything else. Red makes me feel hot and it's by far Allen's favorite color. Always makes him want to have a date night. LOL! I started by applying a ridge filler to hide bumps on my nails and then followed with two coats of red polish and one coat of clear topcoat. 

Do you see how shiny those toes are? Yep, I got it! I have shiny toes. As I sit here and type, my toes are still drying and I can't help but peer over the laptop screen and smile at them. I am at a point in my life where I can have shiny toes. It's the little things!