Being Productive is Highly Overrated

I think it is safe to say that I’ve had the most unproductive day ever. But boy, was it a good one!

Yesterday I was the very definition of productive—up at 6am on my day off (totally unintentional – I had the misfortune of  not being able to fall back asleep after being woken up by Jason’s going-to-the-gym-before-work alarm) I not only met a friend for lunch but also unpacked, baked some pretty tasty bread (more coming on that later), went to the gym, did several loads of laundry, ran some errands, bought some new work shoes at DSW, and made a very tasty dinner consisting of steak with chimichurri sauce and creamed spinach.

Today has pretty much been the antithesis to that.  Instead of getting things done I spent the morning getting pampered at the Sugarhouse Day Spa in Old Town Alexandria. I had a couple of gift cards leftover from Christmas before last (!) and my birthday  and decided if ever there was a time for some professionally aided me time, it is now when I am decompressing from one job and gearing up for another.

I did not want to leave that place…..ever.

I started with a hot stone massage. I’ve never had a hot stone massage but have always wanted and decided to give it a try. Oh. My. It was so delightful. In a way that you could never imagine that having someone rub you down with warm (and incredibly smooth) lava stones could be. It was all about heat and just the slightest bit of pressure rather than anything deep tissue related. And it left me in this odd twilight state of being—somewhere between being asleep and being awake-- that I can only imagine would be described by others a Zen state of mind.

Next I had my first facial which consisted of an exfoliating mask enhanced by steam, extractions (fancy spa speak for getting rid of any blackheads or other clogged pores), another clarifying mask, and then being moisturized. Oh and an additional hand, arm, and neck massage while the masks were doing their thing.  I left with sparkly clean skin and a directive to use a heavier-duty exfoliant from time to time to keep my pores nice and clean. (If anyone has a good one they like, be sure to let me know).

I got home around noon, ate some lunch, and then promptly took a two hour nap. I don’t know if all the pampering tired me out (ha!) or if it just had relaxed me to the point that I couldn’t do anything else but sleep. Either way it is now 4:30 and I find myself having accomplished very little today.

 I guess it’s a good thing that I will be returning to the working world in three days….I could get used to this!