I have had a free massage for The Massage Place in Venice for over two years. My roomate Laura used to work there as a receptionist and gave it to me for my 21st birthday. Since I no longer live in LA I figured I should probably use it so it doesn't go to waste. My friend Allison found it very appealing to get a massage so I decided to make an appointment for both of us to get a massage on the same day during the same time. You know, girl bonding time. First, when I called the receptionist to make the appointments she was very nice but asked me two things: what sensitivity we were comfortable with and if we preferred a man or woman to give the massage. I wanted to scream "WOMMMAAANNNNN" but didn't want to be THAT difficult customer. So, I preferred that I would rather be choosy about the sensitivity preference, and said medium range would be fine. When she repeated back to me the time and date for our appointments, she let me know that I would be working with Ann Marie and Allison would be with a masseuse named Kelly. Two women? YES!!! I was completely relieved!
When I woke up this morning I was a little nervous because I had never gotten a massage before, but I had been to The Massage Place to visit Laura so when I got there I was just kinda like "Okay, let's do this!".
Let's just say I did NOT know what I was getting myself into. The massage itself was not as awkward as I thought it would be but it did hurt a little. My massuese Ann Marie was really nice and made me feel comfortable but I'm not gonna lie, there were instances of pain. Ann Marie said I had a lot of knots in my neck and shoulders and asked me if I was "physically active". I was hoping she was referring to sports so I said yes I play tennis. She asked me if I was good. I lied and said yes. (One lie never killed anybody). She said the tennis probably caused all the tension in my shoulders and neck and then made her own decision to work those knots out. When I went to pay, she handed me a cup of water and said drink lots of water and fluids today (ironically about 3 other people told me to do the same thing-Is it just something you're supposed to do after you get a massage?). I took her advice and finally left. When outside of The Massage Place I looked at Allison and, being as honest as I could ever be, told her how that massuese just kicked the crap out of me. Fortunately, I was not alone.
On the drive back from Venice to Marina Del Rey Allison and I decided that if we were to get massages more frequently maybe we wouldn't be so sensitive or sore. It was then and there that we decided on our Christmas presents to each other.
