Since her goal was to run her first marathon at age 40 (and I had already signed up for the same one), I wanted to tie that in to the theme of the celebration, so I decided on a Spa Massage Party. It was the Friday night, approx 9 days, before the marathon. The party was to begin at 6:30.

The masseuse came to my house at 6pm to set up. I happened to choose my bedroom as the massage room. I chose this room because it had the largest open area, as well as having a private bathroom for changing. The birthday girl arrived at 6:30 and off she went for an hour of relaxation. By the time she came down, the rest of us, were well on our way for a "girls night in".

The other four guests all decided ahead of time that they wanted to go for the ½ hour massage so they wouldn’t miss too much gossip going on downstairs. One by one they disappeared for their half hour of heaven and the rest could spend plenty of time with the birthday girl. I opted for an hour massage on a separate day due to time restrictions. If I had to do it all over again I would have had her come earlier and done mine before anyone else arrived.

We enjoyed delicious Low Carb Appetizers and wine from the Sale Shop at 800wine.com, then we all went into the hot tub later in the evening. Everyone knew that we were hanging in for the night so they were all dressed appropriately for a night of total relaxation and laughs. It was a blast!

See how you can look better, feel better without the trip to the spa!