Upcoming Events: Valentine's Day

Can you believe the first month of the year is already behind us? Maybe it's because I took my vacation in January, but that month sure flew by.

In less than two weeks, Cupid will be making his appearance. I won't be available for appointments on Valentine's Day--the Blazers are playing and hubby got quarter season tickets, so that's where I'll be! I will, however, be more than happy to be a part of making your sweetie's day fantastic. You can purchase a gift certificate online through my website (www.rslmt.com), over the phone (503-318-9626), or set up a time to pick one up in person (707 Madison Street, Oregon City--call first)--whichever is easiest for you. I'd say that would be a wonderful gift to get on Valentine's Day! 

My schedule seems to be booking up more quickly lately. If you've normally booked your appointments one week at a time (car accident insurance clients...this is you!), or called looking for a same-day appointment, you'll find it's going to be much harder for me to get you in. Please try to have a few days/times in mind a week or two in advance that you think would work for you--I don't want to leave you hanging and not getting the care you need. I guess that's one negative side-effect of reaching a new level of success in my business! 

Le Sigh....Catching Back Up Again...

Well, I had a pretty good run going at keeping up with this blog, and then came Thanksgiving and the rug got pulled right out from under me. Now in this post, I'm going to catch up for the month of December all the posts I've missed. I'll condense it though. ;)


Upcoming Events
Christmas is almost here, and I've decided December is a good month to block out my weekends from being available. So many family/friend/shopping/decorating/raking/gutter-cleaning/light-hanging demands, I sorta panic whenever I've gotten an appointment request during the weekends this month. Making a note of this for next year.


Recipe of the Month
I stumbled across this recipe in October after watching a few food documentaries on Netflix, and this became the first (and so far only) vegan recipe I've ever made. And it. Is. Good. :)


Pumpkin Pie Brownies (pumpkin + chocolate = safe bet for a first vegan recipe and success!)
Ingredients
For the Brownie Layer
4oz bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 cup canned or pureed pumpkin
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour (in my house, it's always whole wheat, unless I'm making snickerdoodles--wheat just doesn't work for those)
1/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 T tapioca flour (or arrowroot or corn starch--I used corn starch)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
For the Pumpkin Pie Layer
1 cup canned or pureed pumpkin
2 T tapioca flour (or arrowroot or cornstarch--I used corn starch)
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used soy)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
pinch ground allspice
To Decorate
A handful of chocolate chips (would you believe I forgot about that?!)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9 inch springform pan, or use a 9 inch square pan, preferably lined with parchment paper (I used a greased square pan).
To Make the Brownie Layer
1. Melt the chocolate.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together pumpkin, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, tapioca (cornstarch), baking soda, and salt and stir to combine, then mix in the melted chocolate.
To Make the Pumpkin Layer
Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir until thoroughly combined.
To Assemble
Use a spatula to spread the brownie layer into the prepared baking pan, taking care to bring the batter to the edges of the pan. Pour the pumpkin layer over it, leaving a little room at the edges if you can. Bake for 30 minutes, until the pumpkin layer looks fairly firm (a little jiggling is okay) and has cracked at the edges a bit.
Let cool for 20 minutes and then transfer to the fridge to set for at least an hour and a half. Once set, decorate with chocolate chips and serve.


Product & Service Spotlight: Gift Bags & Last Minute Lottery

Included in the $15 gift bag is 2oz jojoba (the "oil" I use for massages, 2oz Aloe Body Wash, 2oz Lavendar Spa Bath/Body Wash, Aloe Foot & Callus Rub, and 2 therapeutic detox bath soaks. I even have some gift bags and tinsley stuff to package it in if you'd like. The perfect way to package a gift certificate. 

The Last Minute Lottery--that name just came to me now--is something I've been thinking about doing for the past several weeks. So what is it? Many of you already follow me on facebook and have no doubt seen my posts offering to book my open same-day appointments for $15 off regular rates. I've been thinking about taking this a step further and calling specific client(s) to fill the appointment gratis. Eligible lottery entrants would be unemployed, students, seniors, and/or veterans. Funny thing is...shortly after I had this idea in my mind, my schedule started to fill up naturally! So I haven't compiled my lottery yet, but the thought is still in my mind. More updates to come--keep a look out.

Post your feedback below! Happy holidays!!! 

Upcoming Events

I hope you all had a fun and safe 4th of July celebration and took advantage of that awesome weather we had. We found ourselves cutting down two poorly placed trees in our backyard and attempting to remove the stumps that weekend. We've since gotten one of the stumps out, and now: back to rain. Nonetheless, I love Oregon. The cooler, wet weather gives us an excuse to let our bodies rest from our newfound homeownership-induced weekend warrior status. 

I've got a few things up my sleeve to tell you about this month. On Sunday, I'm planning on painting the walls of the bigger room next door to my massage room and begin to move into that room. After nearly 3 years in my current room, I'm beyond ready to stretch out my legs. The extra space will be put to use during the workshops I'm trained to teach to other massage therapists, as well as my new project. My business is taking me in another new direction, a pull I can't resist and am SO excited about. I'm in the process of creating study and mentor programs to help newly graduated massage therapists prepare for their licensing exams, get a job, and/or learn to build their own clientele through my help and guidance. 

The study and mentor programs are in the very early stages of development, but I'm hoping to be ready to launch them within the next month or two. As much as I enjoy the hands-on aspect of my job, it still surprises me how much I enjoy the behind-the-scenes business-end of my job, and I feel these new programs will bring a fun twist for me.

In other news, our CD of the month is Medwyn Goodall's Medicine Woman. 

I recently had a client come back to see me after a 3 year span since his last massage with me. Upon seeing the picture above, he said he liked the picture, and thought of me as a medicine woman, not realizing that it was the cover to the CD we were listening to. 

Other client testimonials this week include another client I hadn't seen for a year who stated the he must get massages more often, and would have to get his wife to come in. 

The testimonial I am most excited about was not even an expression of words, but the very dramatic difference I made with her physically, which has now inspired me to keep a little video camera at the office so I can document before and after massage results. When this client was first laying on my table, face down, I thought she was uncomfortable due to seeing wrinkles in her skin where her shoulder and neck seemed cramped. She said she was fine, readjusted a little, and was able to move her shoulder away from her neck a little, but it was still quite "stuck." After my work with her, both her shoulders were leveled out, and she felt the opposite shoulder was the one that was raised up near her neck--she felt so out-of-balance that "normal" now felt wrong to her! 

If you find yourself on my table, and I see something that I think will show dramatic visual results such as this, I may very likely be asking your permission to take some before and after video that I can post on my website for others to see. I so wish I had the opportunity to do that with this client, the results were absolutely amazing!

One more side note: I am hosting a PartyLite party this Saturday to replenish my stock of candles that I use during massages. If you'd like to order and contribute to the sales of my party, you can do so here. Just click on Shop, then Look Up Your Host and enter in my name for your order to be applied to my party. And much appreciation, as always!! I'm excited to be adding their water fountain and maybe a few other things to my "new" massage room soon!

Upcoming Events: Welcome June and Sunshine!

Welcome June, and your long lost friend Sunshine!! 

Who do you know that's graduating this month? What an exciting time in life, closing one chapter and bursting with energy to move on to the next. Show them you care and wish them well as they follow their journey in life. I have special "Congratulations" gift certificates, if you find that helpful. 

Father's Day is coming up June 19, and while I do prefer to work with women's bodies as opposed to men's, your husbands, dads, sons, and brothers are welcome--gift certificates are available if he's like MY dad, that is impossible to shop for otherwise.

This month, I decided Summer Thunder would be our tunes to relax to. This CD is fairly quiet--one track in particular, so enjoy the added moments of peace between the piano, rain and thunder--on the CD, hopefully not so much outside! ;)

So the weathermen say we'll be seeing sunshine and warmer temps this weekend--let's keep our fingers crossed! Supposing the weather follows suit, I expect the weekend warriors will be out in their yards, out at the park with the kids and dog, or otherwise overdoing themselves in true Oregonian form. I also expect that'll bring some sore bodies come next week. Good news for you--my schedule has some play in it this month. If you find yourself a stiff pile of sore muscles, be sure to seek relief for it, so you can be ready to get back out there when the sun strikes us again. 

Remember to put on sunscreen before you head out, and drive safely. Keep aware of "the other driver." As you may or may not know already, I do insurance billing for clients who've been in car accidents. More often than not, my clients are the people who were rear-ended, not the people who rear-ended someone else. In either case, I'm here to help you recover if you find yourself in such a situation. The 4 clients I've been working with over the past several months have improved dramatically, resulting in my schedule now being more open and able to accommodate a new set of these clients. While I don't wish the trauma of a car accident upon anyone, please keep me in mind if you find yourself or someone you know in that situation.

Recent feedback has been helpful and is appreciated. In the next week, I will be adding a "Share" menu button to my website (like the one below), making it easier for you to send others to check out my website. Follow me on Facebook to get more frequent notifications of changes I'm making, and get involved.