Why do girls do this?

So, I attended a big family reunion last week. There were my Mom and Dad, sisters, cousins, nieces and nephews, their spouses and some kids too - a really big family event. Mom and Dad's 60th anniversary too!

We had many activities planned for the days, and in the evenings the card and board games would start and the whole place just seemed to get more lively (and loud).


Most nights you could find a group of the gals together in the loft painting their nails and talking about hair styles, guys, the guys against gals mini-golf tournament that day, whatever. And I cannot explain this, but whenever one of the guys would wander by their 'area' one of them would pipe up and ask if he wanted his nails done too. Most of the guys would shrug with a smile and say 'no, but thanks' (as if they genuinely appreciated the gesture) but one night the gals hit on me and so I smiled and said in a teasting sort of way "sure, what colors do you have?". Well, this certainly got a rise from them.

Bright pink was offered first, and I politely told them "not so much". Cotton candy pink, then blue, purple and even french were then offered. I considered french while they had fun trying to steer me toward the purple. But when my seven year-old neice with her big blue eyes told me it would look "pretty" on me, I was sold!


Let me tell you, I received the royal treatment. These girls were really having a good time with it and so I just took in having six fun women (except for the 7 year-old, they were all in there 20's) crowded around me and painting my toenails purple.

The results were pretty darned good - even my Mom was impressed! The girls all had to have their pictures taken with me - on some we alternated feet, on another I wore one of their plushy pink slippers (those pics are on someone else's camera though). Of course, everyone had to come see, and the girls even managed to talk my brother in-law into letting them do his too (he got the blue)! Craziness, but that runs pretty rampant in my family... They did however receive a bit more entertainment out of it too because I continued to wear the polish for the remainer of the reunion (3 days), and they loved it. And, I managed to crack the ice with them now knowing I like to wear my nails polished.

Here is a pic taken the next day:


So maybe some of you can tell me what the attraction is to these gals to want to paint the guy's nails. Sure, the shock factor of doing something crazy and unusual was there, but whenever we're together in a group like that, inevidibly some of the girls offer to do this for (to?) the guys. And I am not the first to take them up on it either! Well, what the heck, it was fun for all of us.


Oh, and the reunion was a great success too (in case you were wondering)! No major disagreements, no one got hurt, we just had a lot of good clean fun. And yeah, we are already talking about doing it again next year...

A jewel out there...

So, I was driving through my old neighborhood the other day and spotted a sign in a nail salon I had not seen before that said "Grand Opening", so I thought I'd stop in and see what was up.

It was a neat and clean shop and Jenny, the owner, was there to enthusiastically greet me when I walked in. When I asked if they had any grand opening specials, she told me that they did, and the specials were good for men too. I have to admit, it did surprise (impress) me that she had even considered her potential male clients, and so I chose a spa pedicure to see how she treated me.

Jenny told me that she had been previously through nursing school but could not find a job in that field, and then she decided to take a course in cosmetology because she had always liked it. It just so happened that she had a friend who had not quite been able to handle running this business, and so Jenny agreed to take it on. Well, I have to say that she has the gift for providing great service and she knows how to treat her customers like royalty. She is a smart business woman too, she had set up the salon so it was very comfortable and functional with four manicure stations and six pedicure chairs.

The pedicure she gave me was wonderful; relaxing, soothing and enjoyable. When she finished with the cleaning and trimming, Jenny asked if I would like any polish and I asked her if she had any other male clients who got polish with pedicures,he replied that yes, she had four others who were regulars. I asked for her suggestion on a color and she went to her collection of mostly OPI colors nicely displayed on the wall. She returned with a few colors she thought I'd like and I decided on this lighter gray/tan.

The results of my experience were fantastic and my feet felt great for days afterwards. As I was about ready to leave, one of her other clients walked in and she noticed my feet, commenting that she thought they looked really good, wishing that her husband would come in and have his done too.

I am telling you about this experience because I think Jenny really works at offering the best service she can to her customers, and she is open-minded and just as accomodating to men as well as she is to women. She is an impressive salon operator because she knows that a happy customer will become a repeat customer - as well as referring others to her.

I think that in order to be successful in today's tight economy, we all need to take a lesson from Jenny. Provide the best customer service you can, and it will come back to you.

I have already referred two propsective clients to her.

In case you are ever in the area and want to stop in for some great nail service, do a search on "Katie Nails" in Savage, MN. She is on Facebook too.

And yes, I gave Jenny a generous tip too! ; )