In Preparation

Soon after arriving in Brasil, my mother-in-law takes me over to a friend's house for pedicures. They have a girl that comes to the house and does everyone's toes in turn. All the women sit and gossip and eat a lot. It's somewhat of a tradition now, and I really look forward to it! Knowing that this event was only a few days away, I just went and got myself a pedicure.

I haven't had one all winter, and there was no way I was going to bare my dry, crummy feet in front of all those sleek Brasilian women without a little help first.

And by the look the pedicurist gave my feet when she saw them, this was a very good decision. Better her giving me the look than anyone my mother-in-law knows!

Not wanting to appear negligent, I went on and on about how I don't do pedicures in the winter, and this was my first one of the summer, and I KNOW they were in bad shape, blah blah blah. I ended up getting suckered into all the extras because I didn't want her to think I kept my feet in such a bad way on purpose. Including flowers with little jewels in the center.

If you think I'm not a flower and jewel kind of girl, you are so right. Especially bright pink and green ones on my big toes. But by the time I realized what was happening, the majority of the damage had already been done. I am now sporting some pretty fancy toe nails. And you know what the worst part is? The flowers are starting to grow on me! Maybe there's hope for this hippy chick after all.

Actually, the worst part is that my tan, the one I worked so hard on the past two weeks, went right down the spa tub drain. I guess I should have used sea salt on my orange feet instead of lemon juice, because it worked like a charm!

After all was said and done, in order to make my feet presentable for the $5 Brazilian pedicure, I forked out $55 for an American one.

I waited an extra half hour in my car with the fan on high trying to dry my toes, but finally had to give up and come in to work. So I'm sitting at my desk in flip flops hoping no one important comes by. Flip flops are a HUGE no-no at my company. My boss just asked me to make a copy of something, and I waited until he was in a meeting before walking to the copy machine, and I was nervous the whole time!

But I am NOT smudging my brand new pedicure, even if it means getting caught with inappropriate shoes. My toes MUST look good for Brasil. My flip flops do have black sparkly bands, though. I like to jazz up the casual in little ways like that.

I always forget how great a pedicure can make you feel. Despite having to hide out. I am now officially ready to fly across the world!