I remember, almost twenty years ago, taking a trip with my friend Gretchen through the central California wine country. It wasn't as fancy there as it is now, with its vineyards and tasting rooms. But we had fun, we explored, and on the way home we stopped at an Ojai spa. The setting was rustic. We drove off the highway along a winding drive to a low building among the trees. The swimming pool was empty. It seemed like no one else was there, which is entirely possible. All they had was sun, relaxation and quiet. And a couple of masseurs.
Not so here in Pasadena, where you can get Microdermabrasion and Photodynamic Acne Therapy and and "virtually painless hair removal." I'm sure all these things are lovely, but I'm realistic. They will not make me look like the models on the website, or even like the young woman I was in Ojai twenty years ago. That's fine. She was pretty enough, but she had a few things to learn.
19 comments:
"Virtually painless hair removal"? They lie...
What a fabulous photo, Petrea; another in your wonderful series of architectural "shots you can only get in Southern California and which make English folk ache with longing."
As for "virtually painless hair removal" I've been undergoing that for decades now; it's called male pattern baldness. Why anyone would pay for that is beyond my comprehension.
Maybe it is lovely and peaceful, on the inside? Like one of those West Hollywood baths?
Ha! Ann, I think these days some people use the word "virtually" to mean "almost."
Dive, when you say "ache with longing" I believe you refer to the blue sky and not the building, although it's possible this building has history in the California sense. I don't know what that might be, but the pleated brickwork at the top makes me think it's not a new structure.
Jean, I'm sure it's very nice. It's in the antiques district on the west side, where it can cater to the well-heeled.
Laser hair removal is for sissys. Electrolysis - trading pain for a steep discount
"getting it cheap is part of the esthetic"
Virtually pain free simply means when you watch hair removal on your computer in the virtual world, it's pain free for you!!! You don't feel a thing!!!
TheChief and I spent the weekend at the Ojai Spa for our anniversary about 4 or 5 years ago...it's a beautiful little oasis! Lot's of golfing and tennis going on around us...but for me...nothing beats a massage!!!
Gosh, well spotted! I often drive down this stretch of Fair Oaks and have never noticed the archway. Did you stop the car and jump out to photograph it?
As for laser treatment to improve my skin, no thanks. Apparently skin looks much better if you keep off carbohydrates, and eat lots of red and yellow vegetables and fruit. One day, I may try it for a few weeks to see if it works. Cheaper than lasers and a spa.
PA, plucking my eyebrows is cheap. The chin hairs aren't that much of a problem. Yet.
I wonder if it was the same spa, Chieftess. Is that the only one in Ojai?
We were snooping in the antique shops, Bellis, so we were on foot.
I eat lots of fruits and vegetables but I tried giving up carbs and it was like taking downers. Not that I would know how that feels.
As far as I know Petrea, it's the only spa...probably was the same! It's grown over the past 20 years I'm sure!!! They also have a delightful restaurant where we had our Thanksgiving dinner that year (we typically went away for T-day down south because the kids have too many places to go...so we have it the weekend before!!!)
I've been by there hundreds of times and never noticed the open arch. Have they recently reopened it or do I just drive too fast?
Virtually painless? How virtually? Hmmmm. I do like a good massage, but, to be honest, I often feel undeserving of such an indulgance. Sad, but true.
That sounds pretty nice, Chieftess. It must be the place. It was quite bucolic when we went.
Laura, I'll have to guess it's the latter. The building looks like it's been there a while.
Margaret! You deserve a massage! You have just published a book! You are a big success! Get the massage now while you still deserve it!
Ok, so I had to look up virtually.
"being something in essence or fact, though not in name" is first recorded 1650s, probably via sense of "capable of producing a certain effect" (early 15c).
I guess they didn't want to say "Almost painless," because that of course implies pain in some degree or other.
I like these warming colors! (Those "treatments" sound vaguely clinical thus vaguely scary. I'd happily stick to a good old-fashioned spa soak and massage, for sure :)
Written of the wise woman you are, Petrea.
I'm suspicious of "almost painless" procedures. But massage is good, very good. Like really dark chocolate. And Shiraz.
Karin, that definition makes me think the hair removal is painless in essence and even in truth, but we don't call it painless. Which makes me think in this case the word is misused. But I won't blame them for that, virtually everyone misuses it.
Me too, Lulu--I'll hang out in the jacuzzi, get a massage, then probably hang out in the jacuzzi some more, or just lie by the pool. I may not be beautiful but I'm lazy.
Speaking of wise, ladies and gentlemen: I give you Ms. M, who offers us dark chocolate and fine wine. Merci, good friend.
I can so relate to Ms M!!!
Actually what she did was zap away these tiny spider veins I had at the base of my nostrils, but most importantly, she zapped away a ton of "unwanted" moles. What happens is the electrical pulse (applied around the base of the mole) causes it to die, scab over and fall off. The woman works fast, and it's so much cheaper then a dermatologist. 10 years ago it was 35 bucks and hour. Yeah, not a day at the spa, but an hour in Eagle Rock
Sounds like the spa for me, PA, except probably too expensive by now.
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