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Let's Treat Our Feet!

Firstly, I’m excited to join my fellow Casababes and introduce myself. My first novel with Sourcebooks and the first in the Demons Unleashed series, Demons Prefer Blondes, will be released in June. It’s been a roller-coaster of a ride from start to finish, and it’s been worth every twist and turn.

I find it exciting that this month focuses on treating ourselves. One of my favorite ways of treating myself is going to the spa and getting a pedicure. There’s nothing more relaxing than sitting back while someone massages my feet and makes them all nice, soft, and pretty. Especially when Spring and Summer roll around. That way I can wear sandals without being embarrassed about showing my feet in public.

However, in a way it’s utterly ironic.

“Why?” you ask.

Well... Lucy, the heroine in Demons Prefer Blondes, owns a suburban hair salon and spa. Matter of fact, the first time we meet her, she is on her knees, bending over a bubbling foot spa scrubbing pair of the most hideous feet she has ever seen. Not the most pleasant job in the world, that’s for sure.

Here’s the scene to whet your interest:

When Lucia Gregory became a cosmetologist, she never expected this. Here she was, sitting over a bubbling footbath, scraping the calluses off Mrs. Gunderson’s bunion-ridden feet and sandblasting her thick, yellow toenails.

Got Lamisil?

Thank goodness for the soothing scent of lavender foot scrub and the protection of latex gloves. This

wasn’t what she had in mind, at all. But when your nail tech calls in sick again, what can you do? Grin and bear it. Bearing it was easy. The grinning part she still needed to work on.

“There you go, Mrs. Gunderson,” she said, a wide smile pasted on her face. “You’re all set.” With a quick pat of the towel, Lucia—Lucy to her friends—dried the woman’s feet. Feet that shouldn’t be seen in public.

“Oh dear, you’ve got it all wrong.” Her voice, high and whiny, would make fingernails on a chalkboard sound like a symphony.

“Standard pedicure, Mrs. G.” Lucy ripped off the rubber gloves, powder flying, and threw them into the wastebasket.

Mrs. Gunderson huffed and crossed her arms. “Suzie always gives me a paraffin bath.”

“That’s a deluxe pedicure,” she replied, pointing up to the pricing chart that hung on the wall.

“Suzie ain’t ever charged me extra.”

Suzie ain’t here, damn it! “Okay, Mrs. G.”

Which is another reason , although I love pedicures, I dread going to the local day spa. My own hairstylist confirmed that when she gets someone requesting a pedicure, she schedules it with one of the other stylists. She also said when the others aren’t available, she tells the client that she’s booked. Yikes! My feet aren’t at all as bad as the ones described in that scene, but they do tend to get a bit dry and cracked, especially in winter. Does the person scrubbing my feet the same way as they works on mine?

Then again, once those feet hit that warm bubbly water, all my worries slip away. So what if they think my feet have skin like an alligator. After all, he or she has probably seen worse, right? And they’ll get a hefty tip in the end anyway. If they do a good job and take care of me, they can think whatever they want about my sandpaper like heels.

Matter of fact, I think I’ll get one of those fabu pedicures today. My feet deserve it.

Comments

  1. Hello :) Welcome to the blog! I'm relatively new as well. I have a love-hate relationship with pedicures. I absolutely adore the result but I loathe the process. Well...not the entire process. I like the foot rub. However, the filing of the toenails and weird scrubby thing on the bottom of my feet has me squirming in the chair like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. However, I suffer through that icky stuff so that my feet are fit for public consumption. Fun post and I enjoyed the excerpt. Can't wait to read your series!

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  2. Welcome to the blog, Sidney! I've only had one pedicure, and it was nice, but... strange. I do better at home with my own foot bath and my son to do the scrubbing and massaging. He's got the warmest hands!

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  3. Welcome to the blog! I've only been here a few months but this is a great group. Loved the excerpt. I'm in the boat with Cheryl...one pedicure and then my sister bought me my very own paraffin machine so I do my own!

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  4. Welcome, Sidney! I have to confess, I've never had a professional pedicure, and since I've confessed that much, I should say it never occurred to me to have someone else do my nails when I could do them myself. ;)

    Growing up my mom had a shoebox filled with nail polish...every couple of days my mom,sisters, and I would gather around the table and pick out a new color to paint our fingers and toes.

    It's funny...but Mom always chose red...it was Dad's favorite nail color. ;)

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  5. Nice to meet you Sydney! Nice excerpt.
    I also have never had a pedicure. I guess because the thought never accured to me to get one. Growing up, my mother had a pet peeve about people touching her feet, so it just wasn't something common with us. Sure a nice nail polish was always fun but the odor of polish didn't always agree with me. Luckily my feet aren't so bad that it's something I have to be concerned about. lol

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  6. Sara,

    I have very sensitive feet, so I behave in quite the same way. The first couple of times I got a pedicure, the poor girl had to keep telling me to relax. LOL.

    But, the place I go has these cool massage chairs that totally relaxes me. I think I fell asleep once. LOL

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  7. Cheryl, unfortunately, I don't have that luxury. Hehehe.

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  8. Carolyn,
    Most of the time, I do my own pedicures. It saves me quite a bit of money. But sometimes my feet get so dry, I need professional help.:)

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  9. Colleen,
    I never was good at painting nails. I shake too much. I can't even take decent pictures. LOL. When I paint my fingernails, it looks like I let a five year old run wild. :)

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  10. Thank you Stephanie! Nice to meet you too. The odor of nail polish does quite the same thing to me. At my old job, the lady next to me used to paint her nails while working. *gag*
    The workplace is NOT the place to be painting your nails.

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  11. Sidney, welcome to the blog! I loved the excerpt, the title, everything about your new book! And I love beauty salon heroines. They're just spunky girls!
    I thought I was the only woman in the world who didn't love pedicures, so it's fun to read the other responses! I'm like Stephanie's mom: no strangers touching the feet! My little dog freaks out whenever I try to trim her toenails, and I can sympathize with her!
    So I do my own. They'd look a lot better if I hade them professionally done, I'm sure! Maybe someday...

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  12. I have to run to the grocery store to pick up some things. I'll be back in a couple hours!

    Hugs,
    Sidney

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  13. I love pedicures too, but I do feel sorry for the ladies who work on feet all day long. Must be hard on the back too. I always try to tip well.

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  14. I have never experienced having a pedicure. Imagine it must be very soothing. My feet tend to be quite dry and can crack in winter. Vaseline or Aquaphor and socks at night help but am not fond of the oily sensation I still have by morning. LOL

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  15. Congrats on your first blog Sydney!!! Fabulous post :) I always wonder what they are thinking. My feet aren't that bad either, other than the dried winterlike heels. But the place where I go, the ladies all speak another language and they chat with each other the whole time, and I wonder if they are saying how gross my feet are, lol.

    Good luck with your upcoming release! Can't wait to read it :)

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  16. Thanks so much Joanne! I'm excited to be here. I guess I'm just a rare breed. Most everyone I talk to say the same thing. They hate getting their feet touched. LOL

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  17. Shana, I feel sorry for them too. I always give a good tip for that reason. I've seen some of the feet those poor girls have to work with. Kind of the inspiration for Mrs. Gunderson. LOL

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  18. Eliza, same here. The ladies I go to are Vietnamese and they are always talking about something. I wonder the same thing. LOL.

    Another friend of mine said she wanted to learn Vietnamese just to know what they were talking about. :)

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  19. Pedicures are great and I do them regularly, however...hats off to you in your description. I felt like I was sitting next to the old woman with the problems toes and ya know, not pretty at all. LOL

    Great post in showing (not telling) the experience!

    Karen Cote

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  20. I have to "ditto" everything Sara said. I got my first pedi a few years ago when I married my husband. The part I liked the best was the calf massage, and then the final product. I do like seeing my French-manicured toes. So much prettier than my natural toes.

    However, I only get one pedi a year--for the summer. The rest of the time, my toes don't see the light of day. LOL

    Great excerpt, Sidney! I'm fairly new as well. The Casababes made me feel welcome right away.

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  21. I've always thought when the pdeicure girls are speaking in another language they're lamenting over our gross feet! LOL

    Cute scene! Hope the book is a huge sucess for you! I love the cover! :)

    Lisa

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  22. I've only had one pedicure when my daughter was getting married and it turned into a disaster. I ended up with a fungus under my large toe nail and ingrown toe nails. I had no problems before this. Took a year and a half for the pain to go away and they're still not right (sigh).

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  23. Last time I got a pedicure, I removed it by dinnertime. I couldn't breathe with that polish on my toes. lol But they look nice.

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  24. Welcome, Sidney! Your series sounds like a lot of fun!

    I've never had a pedicure. I know, right?

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  25. Hey Sidney,
    Great post, and I loved your exerpt. I never wanted my manicurist to see my feet. Went to her for 15 years before I would let her touch them. But now, I'm addicted. Not so relaxing for me anymore because we talk (gossip, really). But I love looking at my shiny toes.

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  26. Welcome, Sidney. Oh, I love spa pedicures. The feeling is just incredible. But then I like dental cleanings :) I would get a pedicure every day if I could afford it and if I would still have skin left on my feet. Unfortunately, I only get a pedicure about two or three times a year during sandal season.

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  27. ameliagrey@comcast.netMarch 7, 2011 at 1:55 PM

    Sidney,
    From what little I read you have a wicked sense of humor!
    Best of luck on the upcoming book!
    Amelia

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  28. Welcome to the blog, Sidney! I don't like people touching my feet--it took me five years before I trusted my manicurist enough to get a pedi, and that was after we'd been friends and our kids had played together all that time. I know I'm weird...

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  29. Congrats. How exciting. Enjoy the journey!

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  30. Lol Sidney! I do love a good pedicure but I also do try to take care of my feeet between appointments becausse I don't want them to think bad things about my feet plus I just hate looking at my feet if they look bad. Thanks for the short excerpt from Demons Prefer Blondes...sounds like a fun book

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  31. I'm not much for the spa thing, though many of my friends love it. I went once and didn't make it to the car before I'd made a mess of my nails.

    Congrats on the debut; it sounds TERRIFIC!

    Hugs.

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  32. Thanks everyone for commenting. I got sucked into my real life. Ended up watching my nieces while my Mom and Dad went to a funeral.

    I appreciate all your support!

    Hugs,
    Sidney

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  33. Congratulations on your book release, Sidney! Can't wait to get my copy!

    I've never had a pedicure, and although I'm not crazy about the idea of someone messing with my feet, the thought of all that warmth and massaging actually sounds pretty darn good. Maybe one of these days... :)

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  34. I've only had two pedicures in my life and I like the results but my feet are very ticklish so the scrubbing part is hard on everyone!

    Cheryl - did you say you got your son to scrub your feet?? Seriously, send me your parenting tips!

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  35. Hey, Sid!!!! I'm a day late. One of those life thing, you know.

    I've never had a pedi, but since my dd is about to hit the floor at cosmetology school, I just might give it a try. ;) You know, pay back for all those dirty diapers I changed.

    Congrats on your first blog post with Casa!

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  36. My sister tried to convince me to get a pedicure for years and I resisted. I finally went right before Nationals in DC and LOVED the experience. It's not only a treat for the feet but a massage for the legs as well.

    Can't wait until DEMONS PREFER BLONDES is released! Sounds great!

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