Sunday, October 22, 2006

Trekking through Connecticut...

Ahhh...New England...the chilly air, the leaves changing color, fall is in the air...and... time for a Spa-Getaway-Weekend for the girls!

My critique partner, Diana Peterfreund (left), and I said way back when that if (when) we sold our books, we were going to take off for a girl's weekend -- which we did this weekend.

We picked Stamford, CT (with me driving down from Boston and her driving up from DC) as our locale to coincide with a speaking engagement with the CoLoNY RWA chapter. Our talk was entitled: Networking 101: Getting Past "Hello...My Name Is..."

Check out the awesome poster the Harry Bennett Library made to promote our speaking engagement.

We had a great turnout, fun crowd and the chapter gave us these lovely, custom-made paper weights.

While in town, we spoiled ourselves at the Agora Spa in downtown Stamford. On Friday, we each had 80-minute massages (ahhhhh...) They had scented candles, lavendar water for deep breathing, the Relaxation channel from Sirius Radio and an hour and a half of attention to all of those knotted muscles in the neck, shoulders and hands from hours of typing. (Funny, both Diana and I had "tenseness" in our neck, shoulders and hands...couldn't be from all that writing, now could it be?)

Today, Diana endulged in the foot treatment with pedicure while I got the sea tonic body wrap. Let me tell you...every girl should splurge and enjoy such a weekend of pampering. Not only was it great to hang out with my friend, but we both got a lot of work done on our revisions, we spoke to a great group of people, hit a Borders so Diana could sign stock of her debut book, Secret Society Girl, and had a fantastic dinner at g/r/a/n/d of monkfish, beef tenderloin and amazing wines and sides (check out the truffel and gruyere mac 'n cheese).

Such a wonderful weekend!

So, what do you do to treat yourself?

Marley = )

8 comments:

stephhale said...

Oh man, Marley! That sounds like an incredible weekend. Much better than mine which was spent wiping butts and noses and trying to keep a 1 year old from getting his cast dirty or wet!
I usually treat myself to books. I really need to work on this because it takes less and less to justify "treating" myself. Hmmmm....I unloaded the dishwasher today...yeah, that qualifies for a couple hardcovers! :)
xo,
Steph
www.myspace.com/stephhale

Simone Elkeles said...

Can I be invited next time? I need a spa/girls weekend away desperately!

Just got done with my own signing today in Illinois and sold 115 books. My hand is tired, but it was awesome!

Diana, I loved SSG and can't WAIT to read the sequel.

I pamper myself by going out with friends for lunch...but I tell you it's not good on the diet.

Simone Elkeles
How to Ruin a Summer Vacation in bookstores NOW!

TinaFerraro said...

Simone, you sold 115 books? That's awesome!

I treat myself with a manicure and pedicure when I've accomplished a particular goal (like returning revisions), but going to conferences with my friends feels like a treat, too.

Tina

www.tinaferraro.com

Me said...

I'm soooo jealous! I definitely treat myself with a mani/pedi... and sometimes with a facial or a massage. When I started grad school in New York, I bought a half-day package at the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa that included a mani/pedi, a massage, a salt scrub, and a seaweed wrap. The latter was awesomely bizarre. The woman slathered me with green sludge and then wrapped me burrito-style in a metallic sheet. She warned me beforehand that the green sludge reacts with the heat to form bubbles... and boy did that feel weird!

Sometimes I treat myself by going to the movies alone. (No arguing over movie choices, drink/popcorn sizes, candy purchases, distance from the scree and/or aisles...) Entertainment bliss!

Marley Gibson said...

Simone!!!!! 115 book?!?!?! I'm blown away! Good for you, girl. How exciting.

Oh...and just wait until you guys read the sequel to SECRET SOCIETY GIRL...it's called UNDER THE ROSE and let me tell you, it's even better than the first one.

Marley = )

Anonymous said...

it looks like you two are holding hands.

Diana Peterfreund said...

That's because we luuuuuuuuuuuv each other.

Actually, if we're holding hands, it would mean I have two right hands. Two left feet, sure, but two right hands? I'll never play the piano again!

Yes we had so much fun. I think I'm addicted to massages now, The pedicure, unfortuantely, was mostly wasted because I spent the rest of the day moving stuff and driving, so now my feet are all sore again.

Dona Sarkar-Mishra said...

Lucky gals! I love massages:) I know some people are squeamish about people touching them, but I'm all like bring it on!

Simone, 115 books! How awesome is that! I got a chance to start HOW TO RUIN A SUMMER VACATION this weekend and I was hooked from pg 1! I wanted to stay awake last night and finish it, but --sigh-- work gets in the way!

The original question: How do I pamper myself? Massages and things are all good, but my favorite recharager is to take a day off work (shh!), lie in bed all day and watch a marathon of LOST, Prison Break or ALIAS, and eat soup.

The next day I feel like a new person!