Celia M. ~ Living My High Heeled Life

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Massage Therapy & the Wax Pot

I have been seeing the same Massage Therapist for about 3 years now. I don't know what I would without her. She is truly God sent, along with massage therapy she does cranial sacral which works on the damage to my neck and cerebral spinal fluid. After her sessions I feel my body actually relax from its constant protective state from pain by tensing its self even more. Sometimes the relieve may only last a couple of hours, but for that time I can breathe.

Three years is a long time, one gets to know the other quite well. So during our sessions a month ago ( I see her twice a week), she commented on my pedicure or lack of is more accurate. To which I admitted had not been touched since our trip to Peru at Christmas. Knowing how I take pride in my appearance she questioned this... I really did not have an answer for her aside from I forget to book an appointment or I'm just tired of people poking at me (since my accident mani/pedi are something that I can no longer do myself ... and each time I go in for a mani/pedi is a reminder of something else I must depend on others for). I know many of you are saying .."Wow, I'd love to have the excuse of needing someone to do that"... trust me when you have to, its no longer that treat of pampering you feel. Any ways, I promised that I would go in and have it done before our next session (which I did).

Well, she is quite observant in over the last couple of sessions she started commenting on the slight grass spikes growing on my lower legs and during our last visit the "shadow" she noticed when I lifted my arm. So when I showed up for my last session of this week ~ she said "by the way I have my wax pot on". After some discussion I agreed I would get my legs and under arms in to see my esthetician before our next session.

I'm going to make standing appointments with my esthetician ~ this will solve the forgetting to make appointment part (you may be asking yourself ..how could you forget? well that's what having an ABI is like, if you don't do it at that moment you are thinking of it ..it may not get done). You may be asking what about shaving? Well, that is something that I would require assistance with - the ability to control the shaver at proper angle and pressure can be a challenge.

What came out of our discussion was even deeper than the need for waxing ( my Massage Therapist, is not in the habit of pointing this sort of thing to her clients) which she only brought up to me because in the past three years she has gotten to know me quite well... and this was certainly not normal for me, thus she was highly concerned. Subconsciously I was rebelling against depending on others. Since its not something that affected my health and was concealed by clothing, it was my way of feeling some control over my limitations.

I am sharing this in hopes that it may help others to pick up on subtle changes in grooming in either themselves or those close to them that may be a result of something deeper.

So thankfully I will not be joining these ladies in the future...

Have you found yourself in a similar situation?

Friday, February 25, 2011

A Taste of Heaven Cake

Whenever I entertained pre-accident this cake was always part of the dessert table. Many wanted to know what made this so yummy ~ but I kept my little added touch secret. My friends enjoyed this cake that they would often ask me if I would bake it when I was invited for dinner. I hope that you enjoy it as much as we did.
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch tube pan.

1 C. soften butter
2 ¼ C. granulated sugar
1 Tsp. pure vanilla
2 tsp. grated orange peel
6 eggs
3 C. all purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
1 C. sour cream

In a large bowl beat butter until creamy; gradually add sugar beating until light and fluffy.

Beat in vanilla and orange peel. Add eggs one at a time and beating for 1 minute after each addition.

In a small bowl combine flour, salt and baking soda. Alternating with sour cream add flour mixture to butter mixture ~ starting and finishing with flour mixture.

Pour batter into prepared pan and place in oven. Bake for 1.25 hours.

While cake is baking prepare the heavenly syrup.

In a medium saucepan combine 1/3 C. slivered orange peel and 2 tsp. of salt. Add enough water to cover and bring to boil (about 2 minutes). Drain. Add 1/3 C. orange juice and ¼ C. sugar, simmer for about 10 minutes. Once simmered add additional ¼ C. of sugar and 1/3 C. of lemon juice and 1 tsp. of vanilla, stir until smooth. Optional Secret ingredient ¼ C. of Grand Marnier ~ can be added after lemon juice.

After removing cake from oven spoon the top of hot cake with the syrup mixture. Allow cake to cool in pan for 20 minutes before moving to wire rack to cool completely.

Tips: To cut down on prep time I would often bake the cake the night before add some of the syrup mixture to top after baking. The morning of party I would warm up additional syrup and drizzle it over cake, adding more grated orange peel for added touch. At Christmas I would use the forest baking pan from William Sonoma and just before serving would use a sifter or tea strainer to sprinkle powder sugar over the tree tops (make sure cake is completely cool before topping with powder sugar.

I hope you enjoy this cake as much as my friends and I have over the years. Original recipe was given to me 15 years ago by an elderly woman (80 something)in the building I lived in.