Girls Day with the UCI Roomies

One of my friends was able to get the day off from the rest of her family, so some of us went to a fancy nail salon in West Hollywood, l.a. vie l'orange hand + nail spa.

It was more expensive than I'm used to paying, but this was more like a spa experience than a regular salon, and they served us beverages, such as water (which, like a spa we go to, is flavored with fresh cucumber and oranges)/iced tea/hibiscus tea, and they also baked fresh cookies while we were there, which made us all more hungry for lunch. At least when I went here, I was prepared for how much I'd be spending, unlike that time we were in Reno and there were no prices marked anywhere, and the women basically ripped us off.

Here, we sat in individual little cabanas (Christine's word), yet we were still able to talk to each other. That might have annoyed other people there if they wanted a quiet atmosphere, but we were the only ones there for most of our appointment time, so we didn't really disturb anyone. Their basic foot soak contained stones and rose petals, and it smelled really nice, and they have their own small line of lotions/body wash. The technicians were friendly, and mine had even memorized half the names of the nail polish colors, which was quite impressive. She heard me tell my friend that I wanted a different color than what I had chosen, and when she heard the kind of color I wanted, she promptly had one of her co-workers bring the exact shade that I was thinking of, requesting it by name.

Afterward, we went to Orso, and had a tasty Italian meal. Their menu changes every day, but you can check the New York page on their website for an idea of what they serve. We were seated in the (enclosed) patio area, and they had heatlamps on, so it was very comfortable. They weren't particularly busy due to the time of day, we were served promptly, and the food was tasty. One of the servers had a little bit of an attitude, but he wasn't our main waiter, so that was OK. I split a plate of Insalata Caprese as well as Pizzetta Elba with one of my friends, and we enjoyed our food, as did our friends whom had pasta dishes.

If we had more time, I would have led them to MILK for dessert, but alas, one of us needed to get home, so I just told them about it instead.

I had a great time with you gals! Thanks for helping me get my mind off the stressors in my life. I was happy to relax with all of you.