Pretty han!

I can't boost my self-esteem overnight, nor can I lose 50 pounds that fast, but in an attempt to self-soothe without eating, I decided to get a manicure and pedicure.

The salon is just like thousands of others. It has bad decor, a little Buddhist shrine in the corner, and a massive flat-screen Hi-Def TV that is always incongruously tuned to Animal Planet. The entire staff is Vietnamese. The owner's precocious seven-year-old daughter chattered away at me about dogs--puppies, to be exact--for the duration of my pedicure. Once my toes were finished, I was able to escape motormouth and move over to the manicure station where a different tech took over.

She didn't say anything for a long time, other than, "How short?" and "Uh-oh!" upon seeing my thumbnail that had broken almost below the skin line (ouch). As she worked on my hand massage, the tech kept looking intently at my hands. She filed my nails "faw computa," and started in on an arm and hand massage with peach-scented lotion. She looked up during the massage, smiled broadly, and exclaimed, "Pri-tee han! You have very prit-tee han! So beautiful!" She smiled again and admired my hand, which she had draped over hers like a fancy glove.

So, from someone who sees hundreds of hands a week, the verdict is in: I have pretty hands. To be honest, I knew this already but it seems so inconsequential in the big picture of me--the physical package--that it's something I forget about. The nail tech's compliment took me by surprise a little bit, too. One of the side-effects of Lyrica is that it causes swelling in the hands, feet, and ankles, so I'm extra puffy right now. My fingers look fat to me, but everything is relative.

I love getting a manicure and pedicure. I only do it twice a year, but that's enough to keep me fascinated by the pretty polish colors for a week or more. At the moment, it's OPI Ultimate Ruby, SR 3K1. It's a beautiful crystalline burgundy (identical to the picture, but that's not my hand). A little Goth for summer, but I don't feel very pink these days.