Haircut: Seventy Dollars. Wonderful Evening with a Friend: Priceless.

Today was one of those which found me stumbling awkwardly into the "real world." Long ago, some of my students arranged for a very thoughtful gift for me: a $100 gift certificate to the Avant Salon & Spa. This a high class operation and the brochure that came with the card made my head spin...herbal body wraps, sap moss nourishing treatment, cherry almond bark treatments, etc. I put off using this gift for so long that I actually started to lose some of the value of the card.

So, with no further excuses, I finally stopped by the studio yesterday and met with Janie for a brief consultation. She talked me out of a perm, tried to talk me into some highlights, but at last we agreed to just cut several inches off of my tresses which had reached the lower third of my back. This morning I nervously entered the salon, was greeted by my first name and taken right away by Janie.

First I was ushered by a young apprentice named Charlotte to a changing room where I hung my shirt and scarf on a wooden hanger and changed into a black robe. She awaited me in the shampoo salon; a quiet and very dim room with contemporary decor and "soothing" music. There were two others being shampooed at that moment and we were required to keep talking to a minimum and no louder than a whisper so as to not disturb the ambiance. I was seated next to a girl who could have been no more than eight years old. As Ave Maria piped away in the background, I could only ponder what Maria would think of all this vanity. Anyway...

The shampoo session began with a scalp massage followed by a wash and condition with top o' the line products. Next we returned to Janie's chair. Janie proceeded to cut my hair while the apprentice observed politely. Charlotte was allowed to blow dry and then Janie styled. The last step was to change back into my street clothes and have a seat at the make up counter. Janie insisted on a "make-up touch-up;" afterall, she said she really wanted me to impress the family when I returned home. (Firstborn's first words to me were, "Mom, what kind of haircut did you get? It doesn't look like anything is different. Sunshine wondered why it wasn't shorter, she thought it ought to be a bit shorter. No one commented on the touched up make up).

Then the real moment. I stepped up to the counter to settle my account. "Seventy Dollars." Seventy dollars?! Are you kidding me? I couldn't say anything. I just handed over my gift card and a tip. It is a great haircut and the scalp massage was...pleasant. But, for heaven's sake, Seventy Dollars. That eight year old girls' mom paid seventy smackeroos for her daughter's haircut, too. I wondered if she knew it was going to be that much or if she was just playing it cool like I was.

Well, that was enough "real World" for me for quite a while. However, I should interject that it is a rather nice haircut and, most importantly, the Professor was very complimentary about it. Afterwards, I did a few errands, took Sunshine to ballet and then came home. We had Quiet Time and I took a nap. Boy, did I have a headache. Where was that scalp masseuse when I needed her?

After my nap, I combed through my hair and felt like a million bucks-or seventy, at least. We had a dinner guest coming and that was something I could really look forward to. We prepared our favorite Grilled Summer Salmon using handfuls of herbs from the garden and threw Firstborn's eggplant along with some red bell pepper over the coals. Inside, I boiled some pasta and slow cooked some simply seasoned zucchini and homegrown tomatoes to mix into the always delicious Pasta Leonardo.

Our anticipated guest, Antonio, arrived and had a singing rehearsal with the Professor. Antonio is a professional opera singer so these rehearsals are a delight. While we were cooking up dinner, the children gave Antonio a tour of the gardens and somehow they all ended up in a rousing game of football (that's soccer to you). We had a wonderful dinner with great conversation about music, Mass, family and life (the "permanent things"). Antonio invited our family to travel to his home in Guadalajara, Mexico with him next year. That is an invitation we are taking seriously.

The evening was a pleasure through and through and we hope for many repeats.