Birthday? Pleh. Birthweek!

To extend my birthday celebrations well beyond my birthday, I cashed in a gift certificate from my mum and sister on Saturday and spent an hour and a half at the spa.

Plant Essentials is a locally-owned shop and wellness spa in Townsville. Their products are free from animal products and are not tested on animals. (The shop isn't entirely vegan as they sell some organic dairy and egg foods.) This is what their website says about their spa products:

All the products used in our treatments are blended in small hand made batches in our Townsville store. Using plant derived ingredients and no animal testing . Where possible we source local, organically farmed & wildcrafted [collected from the wild, not farmed] ingredients. We use recyclable packaging, & most products can be refilled in store for a discount.

These products are not only better for the environment, but better for you. We prefer to choose cruelty free products & ingredients. We believe in fair trade. We believe in uninterrupted treatments, that's why our salon is separated from our fully attended retail store. We are here to help you be and feel as beautiful as you can be, naturally.

I was really happy with my spa experience. The half-hour massage was a welcome break in my usual routine of sitting at a computer desk and riding my bike. The facial left my skin smooth and glowing. And the "feet treat" was a relaxing experience for my toes... and I now have painted toenails, for the first time in several years. I must say, I am theoretically uninterested in things so frivolous as toenail polish... but I love it! My feet feel dressed up, even when I'm barefoot. And since I don't own polish-remover, my toes will be dressed up for a while!

If you live in Townsville, or will ever be near Townsville, I highly recommend a visit to Plant Essentials. Unless you don't want to feel this relaxed:

Now, to counteract some of the self-indulgence I've been guilty of in the past week, I'm lucky enough to have been "tagged" in another meme, of sorts. Vegan_Noodle from Walking the Vegan Line posted about a new blogging phenomenon called "Pay it Forward". Here are the rules:

The rules are simple:
I will send the first three people to leave a comment on this post a handmade gift within the next 365 days (that’s my kind of time frame!)
I am willing to post anywhere in the world, so don’t let that stop you commenting.

The catch is that you have to have a blog and be willing to do the same thing....

If you’ve got a blog come and join in the crafty fun, I promise Ill make something special! Leave me a comment and make sure to leave me a valid email address/link to your blog so that I can contact you for your address.

So, it's pretty simple. The first three people to comment on my blog will get something for free. As long as you're willing, of course, to play along. I'm sorry that I can't give something to everyone who comments... so I offer you another photo of Nacho, doing something weird to Andy's car.