Relaxation Station

All is well with the world.  My day of relaxation was awesome.  The day started with brunch at Water Course with my friend Christina.  Water Course is a vegetarian restaurant in Uptown Denver.  The ambiance was fun, nothing special.  The food was pretty good too.  I ordered the NYC scramble with sweet potato hash browns and a biscuit.

The scramble was pretty good, the hash browns were really greasy though.  I didn?t finish either.  The biscuit was delicious.  yum!

After brunch Christina and I went on a walk through our neighborhood.  It was really nice to be outside on such a beautiful day.

After the walk I headed over to the massage place.  I went to the Renaissance Aveda Salon and Spa.  It was my second time there, but my first time getting a deep tissue massage.  When I got to the salon, they immediately handed me a hot towel and a cup of tea. 

I had some time before my appointment so I got changed into their robe and sat down in the waiting area.  It was really peaceful, I just wish that they had reading material or something.  I am far too much of a multi-tasker to be ok staring at the wall.

When the masseuse came to get me I was so surprised at how petite she is!  I was worried she wouldn?t be strong enough to work out my knots.  Boy was I wrong!

The massage started out with some cards, I had to pick out my chakra?  I don?t know about that stuff, I hope it didn?t count against my 60 minute massage.  I just wanted her to get down to business.  When she did get down to business, it was fantastic.  I walked out sore, but I could feel that she broke down some of the knots.  It was a fantastic experience, but at the end she took my robe and put it on my back?  That was kind of awkward.

The really weird part of the appointment was when I went to pay.  I never know what to tip, but when I have a good experience I want to reflect that in the tip so I tacked 20% on.  However, when I got the receipt, it turns out that they automatically include $10 in the cost of the service (even though there is a sign in the changing room about the fact that gratuity is NOT included).  So I gave her a HUGE tip. which isn?t the end of the world, but I thought that was kind of shady.  Next time I know to give a 10% tip since it?s included already.  Overall, the experience was a good one, my back feels SO MUCH BETTER!  That is a success.

I walked home from the appointment because it was such a gorgeous afternoon.  Dinner was a bit of a mess.  Since Dan just came home, he wanted to order pizza.  I only had a piece (oops) and then had an artichoke.

I also snacked on some total crap.  I won?t recount it all.  Just let?s say, I need to get back on track.  At least I walked like 6 miles total!

How much do you tip for haircuts/waxes/massages etc? 10%, 20% somewhere in between?