i could get used to this...

27. Do something kind for myself, that I would normally never do. - DONE!

My sister Neda and I are very much alike.  We share a dad, a sister, a last name and our initials.  We never lived in the same household at the same time.  We actually never lived in the same county together.  We have different moms and we are nine years apart.

But somehow we share the same brain.

We often finish each other's sentences or call one another up to tell a story when a very similar thing happened to the other one of us.  It really can be a little twilight zoney at times, but I love it, cause I always wanted a sister and God made me wait nine years to make sure I got just the right one.

We are also both very hard workers.  We work hard because we like to play hard and enjoy the fruits of our labors.  I couldn't be prouder of my sister because she knows the value of a dollar and contributes towards her own education.  We've both had times in our lives when we had lots of money at our disposal, and times when we've had none.  We've both learned that it's always best to be able to provide for yourself...to be able to pay your own bills and buy your own things, because you never know in this life what's going to happen, and to be able to support yourself at any time is liberating.

A lot of the tough lessons we've learned have come by way of our father, but that's another story that's not worth getting into tonight.

In any event, a few months ago I was wasting time at work surfing the internet when I saw the daily Groupon ad. For those of you who do not know what Groupon is, RUN (don't walk) to Groupon.com and sign yourself up for alerts in your closest city.  There's a daily deal each day and they are AWESOME.  Most of the time they are non-essentials, which is PERFECT cause who wants to pay full price for non-essentials anyway?

So on this particular day the Groupon was $35 for deep conditioning treatment and a blow dry at a nearby salon, plus $75 worth of other services.  All for $35.  A steal!! So I bought one for myself and one for my sister.  This was back in the spring.  We waited until just the right time to treat ourselves.

That time came on the Saturday before Labor Day weekend.  We both were in between semesters and had had busy summers.  Perfect time for a relaxing sister day.

So we headed down to the salon, and decided to each get a few more services, above our $75 allowance...this was a special occasion, right?!?

I got a hour massage, half hour facial, and pedicure in addition to my deep conditioning treatment and blow dry.

Neda got an hour massage, pedicure, hair cut (sassy new bangs!!!) and style in addition to her deep condition treatment and blow dry.

Afterwards we decided to get some lunch at a great Italian restaurant owned by the family of one of my college friends.  My friend's son, Luca, has been battling cancer for about 18 months now  The restaurant sells wine  and a portion of the proceeds are donated to The Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center Musculoskeletal Tumor Research Program in Luca's name.  Of course I had to buy a few bottles.

Next thing you know I'm making some crude joke about drinking the wine straight out of the bottle while still wrapped in the paper bag and my sister almost falls out of her chair saying, "I was about to say the SAME THING!!!"

We were sharing the brain that day. :)

Lest I forget....Wanna know the grand total for BOTH of us for all of that wonderfulness INCLUDING tips for all of the awesome ladies who de-stressed us?  Just around $300.  TOTAL.  For BOTH of us.  For four and a half hours worth of services at the salon.  Thank you Groupon for being that awesome.

I don't know about you, but I think that's a steal.  And well worth it.

As we were sitting there waiting for my pedicure to dry Neda said, "Ya know, I could really get used to this...."

Couldn't we all honey...couldn't we all!

PS - If anyone's interested in supporting Luca's cause or learning more about it, please visit Love for Luca's facebook page. Especially if you are in the Annapolis area.  They have some great fundraisers, including one coming up October 9th/10th.  Hopefully one day we'll see the end of cancer once and for all, but certainly no sweet little innocent baby should have to go through what these little ones have had to do in their short little lives. Luca recently had his last chemo treatment.  Let's hope all kiddos battling cancer make it to that awesome day, just like Luca has.