Speaking of pedicures The first pedicure I ever got was in a swanky spa in Naperville, Il., just outside of Chicago. That was about two years ago. I hadn't braved one until then because when I was little, we were at some kind of picnic/beerfest and some woman stepped on my right big toe. She was wearing those corky-looking wedge shoes. (You know, when they were in for the first time. I guess they're called espadrilles now.) Anyway, it was very tragic. I'm sure you know the drill. It turned black. It fell off. Actually, through the years it came off a lot. It always grew back, but it was never right. It doesn't grow flat, it's kind of rounded and grows away from my skin. And it's thick. I know, it's gross. I'm sorry. It's really not quite as bad as it seems. I never wore open-toed shoes. I do now, but I'm still pretty self-conscious about it. I always feel like I have to apologize for my one bad toe nail. The good thing -- my feet are fairly attractive otherwise. See?

And the nail has stopped falling off. It's still not perfect, but I'll deal with it. I went to a podiatrist once and he wanted to send me to some other kind of specialist, but I just couldn't be bothered. Somewhere along the way, I heard that a doctor might want to take it off permanently. Yeah. I don't hardly think so. After that, I stopped pursuing it until a couple years ago. I'd seen commercials for Lamisil so I asked my gen. practioner about it. She tested the nail and said there's no fungus there. (I know. Eww again. I'm really sorry!) Then she asked if I wanted to see a specialist. Nope. I sure don't. At some point, I just thought "screw it" and started painting my toe nails and then wearing open-toed shoes anyway. At my first pedicure, I was very anxious. I sat there wondering if and when the lady (what's the professional name? pedicurist?) was going to ask me WTF was wrong with my toe nail and refuse to touch it. I can't remember if I brought it up or if she asked me what happened. But I told her and then Nabbalicious, who was the inspiration for the trip (it was her wedding weekend), might have mentioned that I was nervous about it. The lady said, "Oh please. This is nothing. I've seen LOTS of stuff and this is nothing. And that's how the magic of the pedicure entered my life.