Saturday, November 11, 2006

Coats, Massages, Manicures, Pedicures, and Perfume


I've been in Washington, D.C., one of my favorite cities and one of the most beautiful American cities. It also boasts some fabulous shopping and services. I made sure that I did sample some of them.First, I found the coat I needed, but on the day before I left. And instead of buying the perfect Burberry, I found it down the block at the Filene's Basement (again). I tried on every Burberry that I thought might remotely fit me or look good - nothing worked. On a whim, I tried Filene's and voila, found a Tahari coat in black that looks almost identical to the one in the picture of my last post. And as luck would have it, it was far, far less than the Burberry I was going to buy. Saving money meant that I had more to spend, of course, so I treated myself at the nearest Hermes store to a turquoise Hermes scarf (I'd been wanting one with turquoise). I found Les Jardins d'Andalousie (I'm too lazy to get up to check to see if I got the prepostition right, but it means The Gardens of Andalucia - perfect since I love Andalucia!)
In Georgetown, at the Georgetown Mall, there is a little perfume shop that I've been going to since 1992 that has wonderful fragrances, including those that are often hard to find. I had to pay a visit, and though I wanted to walk away with most of the stock, I limited myself to one small, but incredibly potent, bottle of Fracas. It's a fragrance that isn't for everyone, but I adore it and wearing it makes me feel sexy and a b
it decadent (not to mention very floral) so I tried to spray a little of it as possible when riding in the car with others.
One of the first things I did was go to the Ballston Mall in Arlington, Virginia (courtesy of my lovely, lovely daughter-in-law) and sign up for some badly needed beauty treatments. A Swedish massage by Misty (whose gifted hands would have made her a high priestess in the Ancient World) made by body feel better than it had for some time, and her sinus massage did the same thing for my head. A manicure and pedicure improved the appearance of my awful hands and feet by 100% and felt as marvelous as a massage. I also left with products, namely soap and a shea butter based creme with a "Pink Champagne" scent that is heavenly (Natural Body Day Spa). My sister-in-law and daughter-in-law opted for facials as well. At the risk of sounding terribly pampered and spoiled (and I was for that day, anyway), it was a day well-spent.
I found Cole-Haans (my favorite style, too) for half price at
Bloomingdale's, a pair of boots that make walking easy (difficult for boots to do) and at least 4 pairs of black slacks (when I travel, I think I keep leaving them places) and probably a lot more items that I shouldn't have bought. (Beware of shopping with your sister-in-law and daughter-in-law!) But every purchase fit properly, was a good or good price, and, after all, I will wear everything!
Donnachloe