Come on the Go!

Damn, I only flew 30K miles last year. Totally shocking when I got my AAdvantage statement - I felt like I was on the road the same amount of time as normal. But, when I factor in that one European conference was cancelled, and most of my conferences were a short hop away, that majorly cut down on miles.

The sucky thing is, that pushed my status back to Gold again. It just didn't seem possible! Nooooo! I like the 72-hour upgrades and the special security line. The thought of losing my status made me want to buy a first class ticket to Europe for 12K, just so I would have enough miles to kick me over the limit. OK, OK. That's soooo stupid. I get it. But that doesn't mean that I almost didn't do it (which I would have regretted...I know, I know.)

Good thing I called the AAdvantage desk first. Turns out, I can "extend" my status for $599. Whew. $599 is way cheaper than having to buck up, spend the big bucks and fly all over just to maintain status...

I'm down with aesticians. Getting a good glycolic-peel facial is pretty much skin care Nirvana - I could get a facial every day and love each one as much as the last. In fact, facials are what got me addicted to the whole day spa thing.

I'm waxing poetic about facial places, 'cause I found that I totally dig (and I'm picky about my skin care). Located at 9 Maiden Lane in San Francisco, the people at Bella Pelle (Italian for "beautiful skin") are good. I mean really, really good. Here's why:

It was my birthday. Unfortunately, I also had to catch a flight to SF - which meant getting up at the godawful time of 4am. I. Looked. Like. Hell. The kind of hell that doesn't get any better without divine intervention. The kind of hell that makes small children run, and cute boys call you "ma'am." What's worse, my birthday party was later that evening. I couldn't look like hell during my own party!

I was a little freaked about trying Belle Pelle on such a big day. How many times have you walked out of a facial blotchy and red? Yeah. Exactly. But I had to do something. I was willing to take a chance on blotchy if there could be some slight improvement. Somehow.

After explaining to the very knowledgeable aestician about my birthday party she suggested we forgo the extractions (yay!). Instead, she gave me a fantastic gentle fruit peel which offered all of the peeling power and none of the redness. Plus she used a super-hyrading mask to plump up what the plane sucked out. She even dyed my eyebrows, which was a treat for this super-blonde chick.

I looked great. I really did. In fact, I still haven't found a facial place that I love as much as Bella Pelle. I'm plotting ways to go on SF business trips. They were that good.