How Book Nerds Have a Spa Day

Aug 25, 2016 by Jeanette Hanscome

First, I should start out by confessing that my spa day experience is limited. I’ve always been too poor for such things. Plus, it is fun to see reactions when the girl with 20/200 eyesight and no color vision says, “I do my own nails.”

I’ve had a few manicures and four pedicures. (How sad that I can count them.) This is one beauty treatment that I could totally get into splurging for on a regular basis (especially after almost falling over the last time I polished my own toenails), as long as I’m not required to say mani/pedi. That term is a bit too Malibu Barbie for me.

The one facial I had was nice until I and the friend who treated me to it had to leave the place without makeup on. (Say what?! We were going out for lunch afterward. In Danville!)

The idea of a massage sounds lovely until I picture myself in a closed room with a stranger, wearing only a towel. Then it sounds creepy.

I color my own hair. (See opening paragraph.)

As much as I love feeling pretty and enjoy being pampered once in a while, I guess I’m just not a spa girl.

I’d rather save my money for books.

So would my friends Susy, Cheryl, and Julie. Last Thursday, instead of going out for manicures and pedicures (see!), we toured three famous Bay Area bookstores.

Book Passage in Corde Madera

Booksmith in the Haight Ashbury

City Lights Books in North Beach

It was a day of bliss! We talked books, recommended books, smelled books, took pictures of books.

I bought three books (one in each store, all memoirs) in one day. And only one was used! It was still cheaper than getting my nails done.

We didn’t even mind being guilt-tripped out of a parking space by a guy who accused us of being “sort of rude” for taking it. He had no idea what fodder he’d providing when he insulted a carful of writers! By mid-afternoon we had an entire character sketch crafted!

Compliments of Susy

I have never felt more in touch with my inner nerd and proud to be one!

So, why the spa day metaphor when I clearly don’t know what I’m talking about? Here’s why I chose it:

• Thanks to those few manicures and pedicures, I do remember the feeling of Is this heaven?
• I can’t remember the last time I felt so relaxed. (Except for the brief moment when I got lost in the Fiction section at City Books, and a few minutes later when I realized that I was walking around with a bugged-eyed awe-struck tourist expression.)
• The day included lunch at a cute cafe.
• Scent added to the experience. (Instead of a lavender-citrus blend, we melted under the aroma of paper and wood floors, and in the case of Booksmith, incense.)
• There was fancy coffee involved.
• We ended the day with a nice dinner that we would never make at home.
• I was with my girlfriends.

Spa day!

There is something special about breaking away from our everyday routine with friends who love what we love. In this case those loves would be books, coffee, Moleskine journals, and turning encounters in parking lots into material. We could browse without anyone getting bored or going into a tirade about the cost of books and why “I never buy them new.” I could proudly buy a third book without anyone questioning my frugality, because others in the group bought at least that many in the first store alone. We understand that while getting our nails done is fun, books last longer.

Thanks, Susy Flory, for planning this amazing day!

The shelf that made me think of Christian

When was the last time you got out with your girlfriends? What made it special? If you were going to plan a non-spa “spa day” what would it look like?

[bctt tweet=”While getting our nails done is fun, books last longer.”]

[bctt tweet=”Thanks, Susy Flory, for planning this amazing day!”]