If I had been at the mall.... I wouldn't have been taking pictures of the bathroom!!

Last December, I bought myself a Groupon for a spa package.  I finally got around to booking an appointment, probably because I wasxn't in the mall.  Today I went for my Vanilla Breeze spa treatment at NVE Institute Phyto-aroma Cosmetology.  Honestly, I have no idea if "phyto-aroma cosmetology" is actually part of their name but that's what their website says.  I'm not going to lie... I was a little nervous and really skeptical, due to previous experiences with Groupons and even more so, previous experiences with body scrubs.  I'm not really sure what possessed me to even buy this package in the first place.  Let me give you a little background on why body scrubs terrify me... a few years ago my buddy Jen and I went to a conference in Banff.  We wanted to treat ourselves so we booked appointments at the spa at The Rimrock.  This was a fancy place with fancy prices so we had fancy expectations!  They didn't have room for both of us to do a facial so I booked myself for what I thought sounded like a delightful sugar body scrub.  It was winter.  It was cold.  My skin needed a good exfoliation.  I don't know what I thought that would entail exactly or whose body they'd be scrubbing but I sure was surprised when it turned out it was going to be MINE.  So, I went into this room that did not strike me as being spa-like at all.  There was no sounds of nature CD playing, no dim lighting, no flowers.  Just a shallow bathtub at the height of a massage table with a mat in it.  The waxing rooms at Merle Norman are more relaxing and inviting than this was and they play The Bounce.  So I will spare you the gory details but basically a guy in a smock scrubs your body with a sugar scrub and then rinses you down with a sprinkler/hose device that is mounted on the ceiling.  Kind of a cross between a carwash and a milking barn when they spray the manure off the cows.  Yep.  I paid $200 for that.  When I came out, Jen was sitting in the lounge looking completely relaxed and glowing from her facial and immediately said, "what's wrong??"  

Today's experience, however, was nothing like that... thank goodness.  Although my therapist probably would have appreciated it.... it would have taken countless sessions to sort that mess out!  NVE is located in a 100 year old house in Glenora.  It was super cute inside and the owner was friendly and gave me all kinds of background and information on the spa, their experience and philosophy.  The treatment room was cozy and very spa-like.  It reminded me a lot of the spas we went to in Asia.  It was dimly lit with a regular massage bed (no weird bathtub bed here!) and a gorgeous, fresh -cut flower on my robe. This was definitely a lot better than the farm-feel of the Rimrock! The treatment was so relaxing I felt like I was going to melt into the massage bed.  Like a Popsicle... or a witch.    

After my treatment I was served tea and fruit and enjoyed watching a bride and her wedding party getting their makeup done.  I'm not really sure how they felt about being the entertainment for the greased-up girl drinking tea but whatever!  After I had paid and was heading out, I asked about their products because that's what I do and the owner jumped to find me samples of their skin care line.  I was expecting little pots or sachets but he returned with four decent sized products!  A waterless cleaners, two toners and a day cream.  All their products are made with only a few ingredients and have been developed by the owners of the spa.  They are made in Montreal and have minimal packaging, which I love.  Have you ever bought something from NARS?  The packaging has packaging.  Ridiculous.  Anyway, at this point I was still kind of on the fence about whether or not I would return.  I always question if a spa treatment is really worth what it costs after I've done it and usually come up with a big, fat NO.  However, if there is one way to woo me, it's with free beauty products. I think this is a sign of a company that truly believes in it's product and knows that if people can give it a good try, they will come back for more.  I have to be honest.  I like my AHAs and hyluronic acid so I'm a bit skeptical but  I will give these a go and we'll see!  

And now I am going to RAVE about my new favourite food-related discovery.  Steeps is a local tea shop/cafe and it is absolutely wonderful!  Tea is my new thing so I was looking for a  place to buy loose-leaf tea that wasn't in  the mall.  The internet machine once again did not fail me and I found Steeps.  I popped in there a couple weeks ago on a rainy Tuesday when i had some time to kill for a nail appointment.  I knew exactly what I wanted and was very specific and quick about my purchase.  No, wait.  That's not me at all.  I was very vague with a "well, I'm looking for something lemony... maybe minty, you know.. something..."  The lovely ladies who worked there were very helpful and let me open pretty much every tin of tea and sniff it.  Then they helped me figure out what I wanted to drink while I pondered all my take-home options.  "I want something like a London Fog but not because I don't like Earl Grey..."  They hooked me up with a Market Spice latte and my life changed forever.  This is like... cinnamon heats in warm, sweet, latte-y goodness.  The other thing I loved about Steeps was the atmosphere.  It wasn't too busy like so many of the places on 124th and it was comfortable without looking like a grandma's living room.  It's funky without being too weird and I love it.  So today after my spa I decided to pop in to pick up something "gingery and lemony," as last time I had left with spicy and minty.  One of the ladies working was the same as my first visit and both were super friendly and informed me that..coming soon... they would be revealing Market Spice ICE CREAM.  Oh my gosh.  I can't wait.  I will be first in line, no doubt.  Ok, so while I was waiting for my latte today I popped into the bathroom, which, guess what?!  I loved.  That's right.  I loved their bathroom.  And I thought to myself, I need to take a picture of this bathroom to post on my blog!  So I did.  The whole time thinking, I wonder if they are going to wonder what is taking me so long?!  I hope they don't think I'm taking pictures of their bathroom!  Right.  Because the first thing I'm sure all cafe employees assume when someone is in the bathroom is that they are busting out their phones to document the experience.  However, due to my anxiety in this matter, I rushed and the pictures didn't turn out great.  But here you have it... the bathroom at Steeps in Old Glenora.

Yep.  That's a bathroom.  I'm trying to increase my readership.

I'm saving my scathing review of the "salmon stuff" I had for breakfast for a later post so there you have my morning.  Feeling like a creepy weirdo while taking pictures of a bathroom... It never would've happened at the mall!  

(Ok, you're right...it totally could've happened at the mall.  But it didn't!)