Addicted!!

So this whole house building, setting up, decorating process is a tough one I tell you. It takes a lot out of you, mentally more than physically. Choose this, choose that, find this, track that. 
What helps with it? A relaxing day at the spa! Seriously! It does.

Pic courtesy http://bergenlinen.com/

The kid's school hasn't started and I couldn't leave him anywhere to go out to a spa. Then I heard about The Bangalore Mobile Spa. 

They come to your place and offer the same services as you would get in a regular salon spa. 
I will admit I was a little reluctant initially about the doing-this-at-home thing. I wondered if it would be as relaxing as the real go-to-a-spa experience. Also it was a bit of anxiety associated with trying out a new thing, place or meeting someone new. 
But I went ahead and called them up. For me the customer experience starts from the reception desk itself and I was impressed with the way the person on the phone handled the call. She was courteous, clear and confident. She checked on my location and told me she would get back after checking with her manager if they can service this location. And call back she did! They gladly agreed and booked an appointment for the next day :) 

I was sent an invoice via email with the services and charges listed. The next day they kept me informed via sms about any time related updates, which was good to know. 
The team came on time and started setting up the equipment. They took a few minutes and voila the whole spa atmosphere had been set up! Music, candles and rose petals. Who would've thought all this was possible at home while watching the kid play.
The next hour and a half was absolutely blissful. I got a pedicure done - their summer special, the heel peel and for someone with cracked, dry heels it is a sure shot treatment. Loved the clean, smooth look after the pedicure. Also got a hair spa done, my first ever, after hearing from friends how hair spas had helped improve the quality of their hair. The head, neck and back massage that was done as part of the hair rejuvenation was awesome.
The team was efficient, quiet and experts in what they were doing. Once everything was done they cleaned the place and wrapped everything up. I paid by cash against the invoice amount and added a tip.
Loved the whole experience and I am totally going to do this again and again. The mobile spa offers some great services including facials, pre natal and post partum packages, hair treatments and some yummylicious body polish options.
Rubina, the owner, was very sweet and generous to send a coffee body scrub which was heavenly and left my body feeling soft! Super soft. It was an exfoliating scrub with dark roasted organic ground coffee beans and chocolate enveloped in cocoa butter. Usually scrubs tend to leave skin dry but this one was different. 

I am totally addicted to the service and the products and am going to be booking another appointment soon :) Do check them out on their website or their Facebook page and schedule that appointment in the comfortable surroundings of your home!

This post is a part of the Blog-a-Prompt week at Marathon Blogging. Today's prompt is Addiction!

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Frothy South Indian Coffee for Coffeeholics (lisa bay)

South Indian coffee popularly known as filter coffee is very much famous all over India for its aromatic flavor and addictive taste. It is made from dark roasted coffee beans and chicory, which is absolutely different from what we get in Indian coffee shops. This coffee is prepared in its own unique traditional style. It is brewed in a customary metal device or filter and even it is served in a traditional tumbler with a metallic bowl like saucer called as Davarah. This filter style coffee is extremely popular in all regions of South India, be it Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala or Andhra Pradesh.

This style of coffee is a cultural icon in South India. It is extremely delightful and is not at all like other instant coffee varieties. If you will taste it once then this is assured that you will forget other Italian style coffees. This coffee is made up of pure milk and has natural flavors of grounded coffee and chicory roots. Such coffee has loads of health benefits along with mesmerizing flavor and aroma. In South India you can get this coffee anywhere right from a small roadside stall to a five star restaurant. But in other parts of India they are specifically available at reputed South Indian Food Restaurants. There you can experience its authentic flavor in a typical South Indian style. Even at Vaango you can taste this filter coffee in two styles that are hot and chilled.

This style of coffee making is simple as well as distinct. One can easily make this coffee but the real taste and perfection comes only from practice. This method of preparing coffee is so quick and easy that one can prepare it at home with an ease but for original South Indian taste you can visit Vaango, which is a leading South Indian food restaurant in India with a wide range of South Indian cuisines. Here one can get delicious dosa, idli vada, utthapam, payasam, rava dosa, Malabar paranthas, medu vada, curd rice, bisibele bhath, etc. Upma, neer dosa and appams are also available for health conscious customers. Other than these entire delicacies and South Indian culinary experience one can also enjoy the warm and friendly contemporary ambience at Vaango. This chain of restaurants is a people centric organization, which is growing rapidly and is trying to deliver high quality and effective services to its customers across the country. Processing ...

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Day 11 - My Coffee Mornings

Some days after I drop off N at the kindy (kindergarten as referred here) I stop to sit and have a cup of coffee while browsing through the day's news paper. Or I take it to-go and sip it while walking home. 

The cafe I go to, is this ancient looking coffee place with a grinding mini-factory right next to it so you can smell really strong coffee from quite a distance. 

My favourite is a mochachino which, as they say, is a cappuccino with a teaspoon or more of chocolate!! Here in Windy Welly they serve it with marshmallows. 

So there is no sugar in the coffee. You can choose to sprinkle cocoa powder or cinnamon on the top and 2 marshmallows on the side. I dunk the m'mallows into my coffee and that sweetens it gradually. So I drink coffee as coffee and then get my sugar hit at the end :) 

Some times it's just coffee. At other times it is accompanied by a friand, a scone or a puff pastry snack. On this particular day it was a blueberry and coconut friand. 

They do have a few Starbucks' which was and still is a personal favourite. But the locals prefer the millions of cafes in the city with locally ground and brewed coffee. And after tasting coffee there, I am a big fan too.

This is part of Day 11 of the Marathon Blogging December 2012. 

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