The walls are up and painted in Bellevue

For all of you who are, along with all of us at Julep, eagerly awaiting the opening of the Bellevue parlor in March - the walls are up and there is color on them! (Thank you AGAIN Wilcox, Hutchison & Maul, Thuma Works and especially Kate MacDonald).

THANK YOU for the overwhelming response - we've sold hundreds of gift certificates and have over 50 appointments on our books already! And we're not even open yet!

This is the wall where our 54 inch plasma screen is going to go. We're playing Wonder Woman in our parlors for our Chick Flicks for March, and Bridget Jone's Diary for April. I just emailed out a survey by surveymonkey for our Mother's Day May movie. If you're interested, please fill it out too! But as Susanne just observed, all the mother's day movies are quite depressing:

“Stepmom” (1998) Susan Sarandon & Julia Roberts

“Freaky Friday” (2003) Lindsay Lohan

“Heartbreakers” (2001) Sigourney Weaver, Jennifer Love Hewitt

“The Princess Diaries” (2001) — Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway

"Terms of Endearment" (1983) - Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger

If you have any other ideas, please let us know!

But we're all set for Father of the Bride in June. Why do dads always get to have all the fun?

Board Games

I just finished playing Tsuro with my family tonight - a board game that calls itself "The game of the Path." Each player puts tiles on the board that connect into a path, and the object is to stay on the board and not let an inadvertant move or another player's move change your path such that you go off the deep end. You have to keep moving forward, no matter where the path may lead. You can shape and connect the path, but ultimately much of the path has been laid and connected by others.

Lessons for my life at Julep abound. To wit: always try to keep all the paths and potential paths in view so you can make the best choices. (Of course, I got knocked off the board twice by my spouse tonight - but managed to survive my seven-year old). Strategy is all about seeing ahead, and not being blinded by satisfaction of the immediate next move. Keep moving forward, making the best moves you can through the criss-crossing maze of options. And try not to be beaten by a seven-year old.

I've also enjoyed playing Blokus with my son. The object of the game here is to take over as much of the board as possible with your color pieces, and leave as little space as possible for your opponent. While I don't think of the world is as being as zero-sum as the Blokus board, this game still MAKES YOU THINK. The first few moves feel just like building a start-up in the first days. As you stretch out and take up as much of the board as possible, each move is exhilerating - anything is possible, each step builds momentum and feels like a bridge to victory. The last few moves feel like navigating through a tough economy - thinking hard about where to put your limited resources, what will make the largest impact, how to conserve your space while still going for the ultimate goal.

Of course, the ultimate lesson is that it's fun and energizing to engage with the people I love - over a gameboard or anything else. And maybe that I should stop drawing work-related lessons from a game board. . .

But if you have kids around age 7, or are in any kind of leadership role in your life, or both, I highly recommend Tsuro and Blokus.

Girlfriend's Glycolic Manicure

I'm on my third week of doing the Girlfriend's Glycolic Manicure - and what a difference.
Lisa has always said that I'd see more results by doing a series - since skin takes 2-3 weeks to turnover, doing the glycolic treatment weekly really helps to improve the look and feel of your hands.
I'm now an even truer believer. The lines at my knuckles have disappeared - spots are gone and my hands feel baby soft. Even lotion goes on differently - it soaks in immediately.
Since my hands are always dry and scratchy in the wintertime (from cold, and perhaps exacerbated by the fact that I drive around with my car heat on high, blowing right at my hands), it's such a relief.
I've loved getting periodic Girlfriend's Glycolic treatments, but three in a row has made a huge, noticeable difference.
I want to bathe in this stuff - maybe I've got to get Lisa to develop a glycolic wash for guests to take home . . .