Saturdays Backwards and Forwards

On this, the last Saturday of 2007, a Saturday retrospective seems appropriate. For me, Saturday mornings more than likely included a mother-daughter breakfast or lunch at a B'town eatery. In fact, I've frequently described many of those meals including breakfast at Cafe D'Lish and lunch at Truilli Flatbread. Saturdays from May through September more than likely also included trips to the eclectic Bloomington Farmers Market. It's a cacophony of cultures, religions, ethnicity and lifestyles that truly epitomize Liberalville.

Once a month, Saturday afternoons were spent having my hair tinted and trimmed at Champs Elysee Aveda Salon. And what would Saturdays be without regular trips to Sam's Club. As I've said many times, when memberships are listed in my obituary, Sam's Club will be the only one. The "sample" ladies now smile when they see Mom and me coming towards them...except when they're offering goo in a hot pocket.

Then Saturday evenings are always spent relaxing at Chateau Hamm in the country, watching for snowfall or the barn swallows to return in the spring. How I love spending Saturday nights on the patio and listening to the tree frogs, crickets and the mother cows calling their calves. Many cold winter Saturday nights, I'm curled up in the recliner with a glass of wine, my crochet project and Lord of the Manor watching a movie or in the steamy summertime, discussing our plans for Sunday on his boat at Lake Monroe.

Now as one year ends and another begins, I look into the future and the 52 weeks of Saturdays ahead. Will the new year bring any changes? Change is always inevitable. But equally as cliche, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." I can only hope that's true for my favorite day of the week.

Les Champs en Bloomington

Every August I start getting the urge to return to Paris. Mais, alor, the closest I'm getting this year is Les Champs Elysee right here in town. But that's OK. My self-pampering budget stretches a lot farther in the City of Blooms than the City of Light.

I discovered the Aveda day spa and salon right after it opened in 2004. I needed a touch up on my greys and my longstanding salon just wasn't cutting it--so to speak. I think it was the scalp burn from the caustic chemicals a.k.a. hair tints that forced me to find another beauty shop. Donna Disque, half of the mother/daughter ownership team, immediately took me under her wing and assuaged my fears that, yes, there was a salon that could color and cut grey, wavy hair without causing tortuous pain and suffering.

Les Champs is a terrific place to eavesdrop, which I do quite often while I'm waiting for my color to cook. I especially enjoyed the day when five, adorable "tweens" came for their first manicures, pedicures, and makeup instructions--all to celebrate one girl's 12th birthday. Then there was the Saturday when the entire salon staff had spent the morning styling bridesmaids' up-dos and painting their nails for a famous NFL quarterback's mega-wedding. In March, during the week leading up to spring break, the Champs waxing technician earned 5 digits getting the IU Chickie's defuzzed and denuded for the beach. (I didn't even ask how many hundreds of toes were made "flip-flop-ready" during the same six days.)

Mere, Donna et fils, Margarite are on first name basis with everyone and treat every customer like they, too, are the bride of a Superbowl quarterback. Complimentary mini facials and manicures are ways that each client gets a little "value added" from the Disque duo.

Les Champs in Bloomington isn't quite like the Parisian version. But Donna and Margarite (and sometimes grandmere, Mary Anne) make me feel like it is.