Adventures of Spray Tanning

I was sick and tired of my pale, winter-white skin. Skin that looked like it hadn't seen the light of day since August 30th, 1984. I decided to throw caution to the wind....risk looking like an oompa loompa...and signed up for a Mystic Tan session. I know all the horror stories associated with spray tanning. But honestly, the color of my skin was by far more horrific than any accidental spray-nozzle-filled-with-orange-stain catastrophe. (Besides, I think flab looks better tan, don't you?) Study the above picture carefully. See Gene Wilder? My skin was whiter than that. See the Oompa Loompas? That's what I thought I would look like after the Mystic Tan session. But I am here to set the record straight for all of you who have ever pondered or skeptically considered this art of body shlacking. My advice? It ain't that bad...

So here's the scoop. I paid $10 for one session. I stood in a booth, with nothing but my birthday suit on, and allowed three giant spray nozzles to coat me with "light" body shlack (I love that word "shlack"--it's so 70's!). A sexy woman's voice filled the booth and said, "Mystic Tan will begin in five seconds...4,3,2,1." And as the final second escaped her computer lips, I gulped what some might have considered to be my final breath. I intended to hold my breath the whole time, but soon my body let me know that not only was it impossible but also unnecessary. The mist filled the entire booth, and I thought for sure I was going blind.

But in a matter of seconds, it was over. Oompa Loompa or not...there was no turning back now. I had to wait approximately 4 hours before I could shower or see the results. And I'll admit it-- I liked it. Even this morning, the slight golden appeal was a little more pronounced than the night before, and I've only seen two areas that I should have rubbed in a little more. But overall, I really think this is something worth doing again, especially since it's so much better for your skin than UV rays. Upon reaching my 32nd birthday, I realized that all the sun damage from my tanning-on-rooftops-with-Crisco-days had finally caught up with me. The best age-prevention for me is to limit my sun exposure, and spray tanning might be one way to do just that. So if any of you have ever considered spray tanning, my suggestion is Just Do It!

In other news, Cody and I went out last night with three other couples for dinner....and country dancing! This was so out of our comfort zone!! Even though Cody and I met this way in college and kicked it up many a-night while in College Station, we haven't done this since our migration to Waco. Let me tell you, it was so fun! I asked Landrie to take a picture of us as a keepsake and here's her first attempt:

So I aligned her a little better, asked her to actually look through the view finder this time, and this is what we got:

As you can see, there's no confusing me with an Oompa Loompa!