Jason told me last week that he had a “surprise” for me. If you know me at all, you know I HATE surprises. Hate. LOATHE. I do not like to be surprised at all.

So yeah. This drove me crazy for a week. I wouldn’t even get to find out until the day AFTER Christmas. ::sigh::

I had so many questions. What will I wear? Do I need a special outfit? Should I shave my legs? Will my hair need to be fixed up? Will it be hot or cold or inside or outside? Paper or plastic? GAH!

Christmas was wonderful. But there was a wonderfully twitchy anxiety underneath it. WHAT WAS THE SURPRISE?

Wednesday morning, Jason leaned close in to my face and asked if I wanted to know… uh, of course I did!

I was going to the Four Seasons Spa for a 2 hour Calm treatment. It would include a 50 minute massage and a 50 minute facial. This was going to be amazing.

And it was.

As Jason drove me down to Midtown, Henry had questions. Of course! Once he realized what a spa was, he put it all together… “Mom, they’re going to give you a massage, put green stuff on your face and put pickles on your eyes.”

Uh, I hope not, kid!

I ventured into the spa, anxious and ready to relax.

After sitting with a warm neck wrap for about 15 minutes, I was called back for my first treatment.

My first treatment was a 50 minute aromatherapy massage. I’m not sure if the highlight of the massage was that she never said “OHMYGAWD you need to relax” or that the music was hymns being played on a piano. I don’t normally like massages, but this one? This one really was amazing.

Between the massage and facial, I had some time to sit in the relaxation lounge. I made a cup of mandarin spice tea, enjoyed a little tray of mixed nuts, and just sat. I just “was.” And it was just lovely.

My facial was such a treat. Especially since there were no pickles on my eyes. That really would hurt, y’all. There was green stuff (that was actually clear) and scrubbing and citrus oils and really just 50 minutes of fabulousness.

I can honestly say that at the end of the facial, I felt calmer. The whole afternoon, from Jason planning it out to the decadent services to the lovely setting, was perfect.

Jason picked me up and of course, Henry wanted to know ALL THE DETAILS! I told Jason about the piano hymns because I was totally taken by that little detail and Henry was flabbergasted that they didn’t play “whale music.”

It took me a few minutes, but then once he performed (god-awful) whale music, I realized he was speaking of New Age music (and it totally does sound like whale music!).

The day was perfect. It was topped off with a traditional post-Christmas dinner at Dante’s. I’m not sure I could ask for much more.

I do know this… For somebody who doesn’t like surprises, I’m secretly hoping for a little one again soon!

Skirts that have a snap, zipper and a drawstring are awesome. Especially when they have shorts underneath them.

But what happens when one of the modes of closure fails on you?

ps: I didn’t wet my pants. But I almost did and by God, that’s good enough to make it onto my blog.