How about...

taking a milk bath?

getting a pedicure?(Ask for the wildest color that's popular now.

getting a manicure?(Make sure they do a wax dip on your hands.

getting a massage? (schedule a weekly massage for a month, it'll change things dramatically!

having a blow out and style for your hair? (lasts a week!)

getting a silk pillow case, no more lines on your face in the morning from your pillow case!

putting heavy cream or vaseline on your feet and cover then with socks while you sleep?

home facial: boil some water, put in a bowl, cover your face with a towel and let the steam clean your pores!

take 5 min. in the morning before you get dressed to dance around the room in your underwear of naked!

Soak your feet in a really gentle soap product using only a bit, add Epsom salts as well. Stay there and read for a bit.

have a manicurist do your polish change on your nails this time!

trade manicures with your best friend!

Play music, any kind you like, while you do your morning routine for a change?

Take the morning off from work. If you are retired, take the morning off from EVERY chore you do.

Make yourself up, get beautiful and take your own photo?

Go have an expert do your eyebrows

Go to a counter at a department store and have a make over from a line of make up. Choose the best and NO, you don't have to buy a thing, just ask for a list afterwards of what they used! (then report here!)

Go shopping for a print of a painting of a place that looks idealic and have it framed, even if it is a postcard.

Ask your S.O. to cook YOU dinner or take you out for dinner tonight!

Go to a vintage store and buy some gloves to wear now in the cold, make them lacy or dainty! They don't cost much!

Give yourself a half hour to read everyday that you do not hae. Just stop time somewhere in your day to sit and read that book you want to read, no interuptions!

Or,

Grab a chair, put up your feet, leave it all behind you, stay in your pajamas, lean back on a pillow and call a friend just to "dump," all the stuff you've been thinking about?

add to this list?

************

Oh, I have a million. time for dinner. someone else made it.

dancer

Eat ice cream. (And Oreo's, of course)

Get on your Word program and title a page "I love myself because...."
This is one of the most difficult things for most people, but write yourself a love letter and save it! In it, tell yourself about your good features both physical and otherwise. Add to it!
Thanks, dancer....great list!

Wow, Lady Jane, that is a powerful idea and a good one! I'm afraid I'm not ready for that one! It would make me nervous! Maybe I must do it to face the fear?

Oui!

dancer

Just because I suggested it and it sounds like a nice idea....doesn't mean I've done it myself!!!! LOL

Lady jane..I think that i could do it now..at the place that I am right now..interesting thought. Must follow up and see how far I have come..

I always finds it interesting in differences & similarities amongst women what they consider "pampering" self. Here's what I luxuriate in:

*a nice long hot shower...(not bath, then I have spend more time cleaning the bathtub...!) with lovely, fragrant bodywash.
*a great wash, excellent haircut and blowdry
*lovely lingerie..quality silky slip dresses or camisoles
*a long bike ride on a fine, windless day with no rain and not much heat that takes me in view of mountains, ocean and soaring temperate rainforests along the way. My heart sings when I ride along...whee...this is the life...and if my life could ALWAYS be like this...whee
*a massage
*throwing on my baroque music CD...or something similar to IL Divo cd...that hot Italian male vocal group
*a fat magazine filled with photo pages of funky great/haute coutre fashion (but please no dumb articles about sex and other airheaded stuff). Haute coutre just gets my imagination on clothing, textile going
*or about travel elsewhere
*alas, now I can't think about treating myself to chocolate, gelato..because of this near diabetes 2 diagnosis..so I haven't quite think of a luscious HEALTHY dessert/food thing....yet.
*a bike ride with my partner....I know this is strange. It's not exactly a romantic restaurant meal. (though a lovely meal with sweetie at a winery restaurant is always memorable since we are foodies.) But a few of my most major sad moments in life, were lifted up when he was there ..waiting for me...to hug me and ride along with me homeward.


Those are my chocolates for the soul.

Orchid,
these ideas are wonderful! You and I share a great many of your pampering thoughts! I have not found many who could match some of mine as you have! Right down to the lingerie and Couture magazines, ( foreign for me. I read Italian Vogue as a little girl, my mother got it for me!)

Italian Blues and Jazz, have you heard "Zucchero?" You might like him if you haven't heard him. He is an Italian singer with most of his lyrics in Italian. He records in Italy and enjoys a huge following there. I love La Perla lingerie and a few other brands and tights, etc, from Wolford. Seeing your photo, you, like myself, can wear about anything. I can see you in Comme des Garcons. ( To find Comme, you can go to Style.com and pull up the designers shows and scroll to Comme.) You would be stunning in those clothes if you had a call to wear them but your lifestyle probably does not demand such things. I, love Comme, and it is strange stuff, I think it's brilliant. To feed my need for good Couture, I go to Style.com and look at what the designers are doing for each season and also, a website, Yoox.com, sells last years couture for inexpensive prices.
I go on, sorry about that, you have tripped my artistic brain!
Thanks again for the post, it reminded ME to partake in a few things!
dancer

You go for it, humlan.....if you get stumped I'll bet there are many here who would add to your list...you have a multitude of qualities to love!

Get knee-deep to a giraffe's butt in antique shops spending hours and hours knowing that you can, because there's nothing to stop you from browsing. No rush, no appointments to keep, no deadlines to meet. Just you, the antiques, and your imagination. I love to browse and wonder what the previous owners lives were like and catching your breath when you find a sleeper! (That's antique talk for a great find among the antiques, something priced way below it's value, OR, something that is rare and hard to find, like a "saleman's sample" or old, old, children's furniture.