Dupont Circle is nicely decorated for Pride Week, and I had the pleasure of taking a late lunch hour to redeem a Groupon certificate for a mani-pedi at Spalon at the corner of 17th and Q, NW. I am pretty sure that I bought it for $25 back in November. I just know it was a while ago, and way before I became pregnant. I'd never had a pedicure before, and I'd only had a manicure insofar as applying artificial nails, and that's still not the same as a real manicure with one's natural nails. While cost is often a reason for skipping such services, my real reason is that, up until about two weeks ago, I was a nail-biter. Nail length could not survive more than a day, and it would have been laughable to have my stubby, rough nails l looked at by a professional. In fact, general embarrassment and booking this Groupon were my biggest inspirations for quitting. So I did, and almost cold turkey. (I did slip once and bite my right thumb nail a day into the commitment, but I stopped right after that.) My nails had never been longer than they were pre-manicure, and that still wasn't very long, but oh well--I'm two weeks in to quitting a nasty habit, and that's good enough for me.
I had a very nice time at Spalon. Miss Diane was my nail specialist, I was happy with her work, and she was very polite to contend with my inexperience. I was intimidated to climb into the pedicure chair (being short and preggers), I didn't think to wear sandals, and I generally had to wait for instruction. The other customer next to me didn't really talk to or even look at her specialist, which made me feel a little uncomfortable, but I soon found a friendly conversational tone with Miss Diane, and that felt much better. I picked a dark color of polish, but I liked it, and it turned out nicely. I think if I try again this summer, I'll pick something lighter. Overall, though, it was a success.
