Foot Care for my Soul

Okay, I broke down today and had a pedicure...alright alright, I went for it and had the mani/pedi combo pack. It use to be that my feet were naturally polished and shiny from being a beach bum at the Jersey shore in the summertime. Now that I live in the Midwest, the broken seashells and sand are impossible to come by.
With my daughter Heather as my Pamper Self Thursday partner in crime. Off we went in search of the perfect summer color for our feet.And there it was. Heather and I stood in front of the color counter, our mouths barely able to contain the shrills of happiness when we saw the perfect color at the same time..flamingo pink!!

We eagerly scurried over to the recliner chairs and plopped our feet into the warm bubbly water. I turned on the chair and enjoyed a deep back, neck and buttocks massage whilst getting my feet scrapped, trimmed, buffed and polished. The angel that was caring for my feet ( she had to be an angel to tackled my poor old neglected feet)painted a pretty design on my big toes and put such a sheen on them. I was amazed when I finally peeked at the finished result.
Next we were onto the mani part of the experience.
I decided to go with the same color on my fingers, just because I could. While with my Nail Angel, she was on a call via speaker from her cell phone as she began my mani. When she got off the phone she was telling me that she was speaking with her aunt back in their home country, Vietnam. She went on to tell me that her aunt has a very old motor scooter that is broken. My angel wanted to buy her Aunt a new one but the Aunt kept refusing her offer. The Aunt said that she doesn't need a new one that she can get the one she has been using for 25 years fixed. This saddened my Angel. I asked my Angel how long she has been in America, to which she replied 5 years. I commented on how well she spoke English and asked if she new English before coming to America. She said that she knew a little, but it sounded different once she got here. She and a few other family members came to America to find work to make the lives of those left in Vietnam better. She went on to tell me that she watched TV and paid attention to customers when they came into the salon. Angel said that she tried to soften her tone since in her native tongue the words come out with a sharpness. I complimented her on beautiful tone with a cute accent. She giggled and thanked me. Before I knew it, we were finished and I had the prettiest tootsie toes and fingers. My Angel told me that she was going to send enough money to her Aunt so she can purchase a new scooter. Her eyes welted up as she thought about home. I knew she missed her home and the rest of her family.


When I left the salon, I knew that I had the best PamperMyselfThursday just from being graced with the foot Angel from Vietnam. She pampered not only my feet, but more importantly, my Heart. I am so grateful for all that I have and no longer felt guilty for pampering myself, for I knew that for what I received out of the day, an elderly woman in Vietnam is a bit closer to getting a new scooter. Apparently new scooters cost about $300... American dollars.


What I received today was priceless.

RuthAnn's Food Network... Blogger Style

Food is another one of my passions. Especially preparing, cooking and fiddling with recipes.My husband Frank loves Hummus so I would buy him some as a treat. In these poor economic times,and at $5.00+ for a container that is only enough for 1 consumption.

I decided to figure out how to make it myself. With an initial investment of $7.00 for a 16oz jar of Tahini (sesame seed paste), look in the gourmet section. This will last a long time since all you will use at a time is 2 tablespoons.
So here we go

You will need:

1 (14oz) can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans
2 tabelspoons of tahini
juice from 1 lemon
2 cloves of garlic
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
half of a whole roasted red pepper(I make mine when I grill) can be bought in a jar
if using the jarred peppers, use 2 slices

I throw all ingredients into my and before you know it.. Walla.. Fresh Homemade Hummus

Try substituting your favorite pesto for the roasted red peppers or sun dried tomatoes.. this hummus also makes a great sandwich spread along with spreading it on flat bread,pita bread, carrots or any veggie of your choice.

Total cost for approximately 2 cups of hummus is under $2.00 .. and it tastes

Yum O

Enjoy...