Massage For the Win

Oh what a wonderful day…

Yes, I love my job. But wow. How sweet life could be if I could spend every day running, getting massages and running errands.

Let’s talk a bit about what went down today, shall we?

As you know, I took today off from work.

I have a few vacation days remaining in 2010. The goal of today’s vacation day was to get a long-awaited massage and run various errands.

I also wanted to start the day with a long run which, despite the chilly (OK, frigid) temperature, I did. I conquered 12.3 miles, pre-massage.

My 60-minute full-body massage at Exhale Spa was everything I was hoping it would be.

First of all, the facility is wonderful. It’s clean, warm and smells delicious. Cinnamon, perhaps? Every room I entered smelled so good. My senses were in Heaven today!

I slipped into my robe in the locker room, which was small, but clean and not over-crowded. Exhale NYC houses rooms for massages as well as large studios for Yoga and Core Fusion classes. I peeked into the studios, and they’re lovely. Very clean and spacious.

I’m a sucker for spa and hotel robes.

See? Here I am wearing one during a trip ABS and I took to Washington, DC, last May. I loved it so much that I slept in it.

I digress.

Mary was my massage therapist today. She was great. She didn’t try to make conversation with me during the massage. We chatted about the weather at the beginning, and I asked that she not touch my face (hate that). After that, it was straight up massage time.

She spent a ton of time working my back, which was painful at times, but afterward felt fantastic.

The best parts were the feet and the arms. I never knew I liked having my arms massaged, but it felt darn good today!

At one point, while I was laying on my back, Mary put a warm towel underneath my head. Later, she wrapped warm, wet towels around my feet.

To die for.

Of course the hour went by too fast, but I made a conscious effort to enjoy every moment and really focus on how the massage felt. Instead of letting my mind wonder to thoughts of work, to-do lists and party planning, I concentrated on which body parts were being worked and how it felt.

And you know what? It all felt awesome.

After my massage, I walked around the entire Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Seriously.

I walked down Madison Avenue, window shopped at the fancy places I can’t afford, then strolled over to Lexington Avenue, where I reunited with my true love: The Container Store.

I ended up walking all the way back home from 59th Street and Lexington Ave. I covered a lot of ground today!

But it’s worth it — NYC is so wonderful right now!

I made a pit stop at Dylan’s Candy Bar for some snackage. Dark chocolate everything? Yes please!

The ceiling is so cool at this fancy candy shop!

Tonight, ABS and I went to a Hanukkah party for his temple. They were doing a toy drive and today I found the perfect present:

Why is that perfect, you ask?

Remember ABS on Halloween?!

The party was great and it was so nice to see how many toys were donated.

Whew. I’m exhausted. Days off are tiring!

Lastly, I’m really excited because today I was featured on one of my favorite blogs, Meals and Miles.

Meghann’s blog was one of the first ones I ever started reading, so I was happy to be able to share my story on her blog today.

Check it out here. And thank you to all of the new readers who came to Ali on the Run from Meals and Miles. So happy to have you!

The comments people left about my running journey were so sweet and inspiring.

And yes. I’m planning on running a full marathon in 2011. Stay tuned.

On that note, sweet dreams, everyone! I have to return to work tomorrow, but then I have Friday off again!

TELL ME: What do you like to do on your days off? Be lazy? Be productive? Run a crapload of miles?