Shapes Salon & Day Spa, an award-winning salon and spa with locations in Charlotte, N.C., Herndon, Va. and Fairfax Station, Va., today announced its 30-year anniversary. To celebrate this significant milestone for a women-owned business, Shapes is giving customers a special “Year of the Pearl” offer including 30% off of selected day spa services.

Shapes invites its customers to celebrate 30 years of success with a special “Year of the Pearl” offer that features 30% off on selected services in its Charlotte Spa, Herndon Spa and Fairfax Spa. This discount is available with a purchase of three microdermabrasion sessions, ultimate spa manicures, circulation mud pedicures, Brazilian bikini waxes, 80-minute hot stone massages, full-head of highlights or luminous pearl shine conditioning treatments. Spa packages expire four months from the date of purchase and hair packages expire six months from date of purchase.

“Thirty years ago, Shapes was just a dream at a time when becoming a women-owned business owner couldn’t be more difficult,” said Sam Lane, owner, Shapes Salon & Day Spa. “Yet, with a passionate focus and unwavering dedication we’ve continued to make Shapes an award-winning salon were customers know they will receive the pampered attention they deserve. As Shapes turns 30, we are pleased to celebrate this tremendous milestone with a number of special offers for our customers – the extended Shapes family that has been integral to our three-decade success.”

Lane opened her first Shapes Salon location in Virginia in 1979. With her young son by her side, she made Shapes a rapid success moving her first location to Fairfax Station, Va in 1986 and opening her second location in Herndon, Va. in 1988. Now, with three locations in Virginia and North Carolina, Lane is proud to have three generations of family beside her as Lane’s grandchildren join her son in learning the family business.

The Shapes Salon “Year of the Pearl” specials are available to customers visiting any of Shapes’ three locations. For more information, please visit www.shapesdayspa.com or call 704.341.0922 (Charlotte), 703.713.0222 (Herndon) or 703.250.0000 (Fairfax Station).

About Shapes Salon & Day Spa
The award-winning Shapes Salon & Day Spa was founded over 30 years ago on the principals of delivering premiere services with the highest level of customer care. With locations in Charlotte, Herndon, Va. and Fairfax Station Va., Shapes Salon & Day Spa is committed to excellence and world-class service for every guest on every visit. For customers looking for a simple hair cut or a full day of relaxation, Shapes Salon & Day Spa has the perfect service to put your mind and body at ease

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 Residents of Alexandria’s Cameron Station used to be able to walk down the community’s tiny main street on Brenman Park Drive, buy a bouquet of flowers, grab a latte and even stop in for a spa treatment. Afterward, they would gather at the local restaurant to chat about the gossip of the day.

But since January, the mixed-use town center has lost three of its eight retailers for a variety of reasons, ranging from a highly publicized shooting and suicide to economic problems.

As Cameron Station works to recover from its losses, the center symbolizes the struggles many small retailers and landlords are facing in this recession.

“We were fully leased until this year,” said Christina Sanders, vice president of Tysons Corner-based GreenVest LC, which developed and manages the property. “It’s an unfortunate situation.”

The first casualty was in January, when Stems, a flower shop, closed. The owner filed for bankruptcy under the Chapter 7 liquidation process.

The second loss was higher profile. Cameron Perks coffeehouse owner James Downs shot his business partner and personal partner (who survived) and then killed himself in his townhouse within the development in early February. The store closed.

Now the development is facing another setback. L’Vida Spa closed two weeks ago, after months of struggling to stay viable.

Owner LeisaMarie Brewer, who bought the spa in November 2007, saw her business begin to falter in October due to the struggling economy. Brewer said she made repeated attempts to renegotiate her $10,000-per-month rent from her landlord. She believes that traffic to Cameron Station was not helped by the highly publicized shooting tragedy, she said.

Brewer had high hopes that this month’s Spa Week, a promotion in Virginia to lure customers to participating spas with special deals, would boost business.

She had more than 60 new clients scheduled for that week and an offer from Northern Virginia Magazine to be featured in its “best spa” section.

It obviously wasn’t enough.

On April 17, Brewer went to her store and found the locks changed. Her 12 employees were “instantly unemployed” she said, and she still has not been able to access the property.

“I was hoping to salvage the business, make some money to put toward our debt, but we weren’t allowed to do that,” Brewer said. “My reputation has been damaged, and I’ve been doing business in Alexandria for 20 years.”

Brewer’s attorney, citing the lack of notice for eviction and the locked property, charges that GreenVest wrongfully terminated her lease.

Michael Chamowitz of Alexandria law firm Chamowitz & Chamowitz PC said he and Brewer are weighing their options.

Sanders, the GreenVest executive, declined to comment on the specifics of Brewer’s case, beyond noting that the landlord has not been paid rent since the third quarter of 2008.

“She owes us more than $100,000 today,” Sanders said. Henry Brandenstein from D.C.-based Venable LLP, GreenVest’s counsel, stated that his client made overtures in January to Brewer but said there was no response. Brandenstein also said Brewer’s attorney was notified that the store was going to be reclaimed by the owner.

Cameron Station residents are taking the loss of their Main Street’s third store seriously.

“It’s definitely an issue for us,” said Ingrid Samven, president of the Cameron Station Civic Association. “Residents don’t have places they can walk to to get the services they need, and there’s a general sense in the neighborhood of, ‘Oh, there goes another business.’”

There are still businesses surviving in Cameron Station. A dry cleaner, corner mart and the Food Matters restaurant remain. A dentist office and day-care facility are operating.

Workers at both the dry cleaner and convenience store say they have not felt too much of an impact from the empty storefronts because their businesses can survive on customers strictly within the Cameron Station boundaries.

“But people are very worried about all the closings,” said Moo Sang Ve, manager of Main Street Market.

Food Matters, which opened in January 2007, saw a 30 percent drop in business between September and December. Co-owner Gerald Hebert attributed the decline to worries over the economy but said business since the new year has turned around.

The restaurant changed its menu and has been getting more publicity from its sustainability and local farming message. Customers also heard that business was down and responded.

One thing that all parties seem to agree on: Cameron Station needs better signs in the surrounding area to draw people outside of the community to the main street. Community leaders have been working with city officials to do this, and have seen some response.

There are signs of progress for the shopping center, Sanders said.

The day-care center, Bright Start Learning Center, is expanding into some of the space formerly occupied by the Cameron Perks coffeehouse. GreenVest is in talks with one prospective tenant for the rest of the coffeehouse space, and three tenants have expressed interest in the spa’s location, Sanders said. Possible tenants could include a gift shop, a UPS packaging store or other amenity-type retailers.

“There’s a lot of activity going on,” Sanders said. “People are still wanting to be at Cameron Station, despite the series of bad events.”
Retail vacancy inches up, sluggish sales continue

Local retail sales will remain soft throughout most of 2009, with a slight rise later in the year, according to a new report from Alexandria-based real estate research company Delta Associates.

The company’s annual survey of more than 300 grocery-anchored retail shopping centers showed a metrowide vacancy rate of 3.7 percent at the close of 2008, up from 2.3 percent a year earlier. Delta noted that the vacancy rate is still more than a whole point less than the last downturn, when vacancies hit 4.8 percent at the end of 2002.

In suburban Maryland, the vacancy rate was 3.8 percent, up from 2.2 percent. The Northern Virginia vacancy rate was 3.6 percent, up from 2.4 percent.

Rental rates at the centers surveyed increased 1.7 percent in 2008, less of an increase than the previous year, when they went up by 3.9 percent. The average rate for the tenants was $33.71 per square foot per year in the metro area.

Delta noted that the decline in retail spending nationwide is having less of an impact on the Washington area than nationally. For example, the consumer price index increased locally by 0.4 percent during the year ending March 2009, compared with a 0.4 percent national decline.

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A fire at a popular Arlington salon and spa will keep the doors closed through the end of the month.

For more than six hours, 45 firefighters battled a 3-alarm fire at Daired’s Salon and Spa Pangea at Interstate 20 and Bowen Road early Sunday morning.

Most of the back of the building was destroyed and the company said the structural damage was significant but limited to the rear of the building and a small collapse on the second floor.

On Daired’s Web site, the company said the fire was electrical and started between the building’s two floors.

There were no injuries reported and Daired’s expects to be closed through at least March 1.

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The DSF Group and Kimpton Prepare the $50 million Lorien Hotel & Spa in Alexandria, Virginia for Ope

On Feb. 12, 2009, the $50-million Lorien Hotel & Spa will debut in Alexandria, VA as Kimpton’s crown jewel of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region. Owned and developed by the DSF Group and managed by Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, the 107-room urban retreat will bring an elevated level of style and service to historic Old Town, Alexandria with a full-service spa, world-class interior décor by acclaimed designer Vicente Wolf, and three culinary venues by celebrated chef Robert Wiedmaier.
“The Lorien Hotel & Spa will be a destination all its own, with a level of service that is unsurpassed,” says Don Anderson, general manager and Alexandria native. “We are in the unique position to offer the comfort and intimacy of a boutique hotel, with the amenities of a resort, to deliver a four and a half star-caliber hotel experience. This is a highly anticipated opening for Kimpton and Old Town alike.”

At Kimpton hotels, every hotel tells a story, and the Lorien Hotel & Spa will celebrate the story of dreams. The dream story will be brought to life through personalized amenities such as a 24-hour “dream” button on all guestroom phones, with a direct line to a highly-trained concierge to coordinate all elements of a perfect stay. An extensive “Dream Service Menu” will make available specialized amenities including comfort foods, soothing bath, aromatherapy and pillow options, that can be delivered to the room to help set the stage for a good night’s sleep and sweet dreams.
With an eye towards offering a heavenly retreat for travelers, world-class designer Vicente Wolf was hired to create the hotel’s décor. Artfully blending old with new, Wolf reinterprets American classic design with a modern flair at Lorien Hotel & Spa. The building’s exterior reflects the historic charm of Old Town with its warm coral-hued brick walls and copper rooftops. But stepping inside, guests are welcomed by sleek and elegant interiors that hint at both past and present and evoke a fresh and contemporary feel.

The 107 spacious guestrooms and suites have a warm and residential atmosphere, with a calming palette of robin’s egg blue, gray and white. Custom-made furnishings, such as wingchairs and trellis-style headboards, are reinterpreted with a contemporary flair. Numerous suites and specialty Spa Rooms also boast spacious bathrooms with claw foot tubs and rainfall showers.

All rooms offer a wide range of amenities including 42″ flat panel televisions, a spacious work area, wireless and wired high-speed Internet access, an iHome clock radio, laptop safe, plush robes, and a gourmet honor bar featuring organic and healthy options. Guests can also enjoy signature Kimpton services including in-room yoga, Pilates and meditation TV programming, 24-hour room service, Forgot It? We’ve Got It! travel items, and overnight shoe shine and valet/laundry service.

Perhaps one of the most inspiring aspects of the Lorien Hotel & Spa is the hotel’s Terrace Suites. These unique suites offer expansive terraces, some as large as 700 square feet, complete with cozy couches and seating ideal for hosting intimate gatherings for up to 30 people, or for nighttime stargazing. To enhance the experience, the hotel will offer a “Terrace Menu” with choices that range from private wine tastings and alfresco dining to dance lessons, as well as more playful amenities such as sleeping bags, luxurious blankets, telescopes, and more.

The Lorien Hotel & Spa will be the first hotel in Old Town Alexandria with a full-service spa. The 4,000 square foot spa and fitness center includes five treatment rooms, private locker rooms, two steam rooms and an indulgent dream-inspired treatment menu utilizing organic and paraben-free products from Kerstin Florian that are restorative to the body and in harmony with the environment. The spa’s 24-hour fitness center offers a full range of exercise equipment, free weights, and personal training and private yoga classes are available by appointment.

Lorien Hotel & Spa is also a gourmand’s dream with not one, but three dining venues helmed by celebrated chef Robert Wiedmaier. The foodie trifecta includes a 105-seat restaurant, a 43-seat tasting room, and a wine and cheese retail shop. At the restaurant, Chef Wiedmaier will serve Belgian cuisine with American inspiration and offer a collection of hard-to-find, yet approachable wines and an extensive list of Belgian beers to pair with any meal. The tasting room will provide a more casual, European-style dining experience experience, where guests can enjoy light fare from the chef’s wood-fired oven and sample wine and other spirits. At Chef Wiedmaier’s retail shop, which will be Old Town’s first gourmet food shop, guests and locals alike can shop for wine, gourmet beer, and various treats ranging from cheese to olives and charcuterie.

The Lorien Hotel & Spa will also feature more than 3500 square feet of sophisticated meeting and event space, including three meeting rooms, a hospitality suite, and functional outdoor venues. Customized meeting breaks, including private wine tastings and chef dinners, can be arranged through the hotel’s team of highly trained professional meeting planners.

Lorien Hotel & Spa is ideally located within steps of the metro, located in the heart of Old Town Alexandria and offers easy access to the surrounding Washington, D.C. area. The hotel is just four miles from Ronald Reagan international Airport, and four blocks from the Amtrak station. For guests who prefer a different mode of transportation, complimentary bicycles are available for a ride to the Potomac River. Chef Wiedmaier picnic baskets, filled with all the makings for a gourmet lunch, can be prepared upon request.

Room rates at Lorien Hotel & Spa start at $329, and special weekend rates are available. Lorien Hotel & Spa is located at 1600 King Street, Alexandria VA, 22314. For more information or reservations, please call 703.894.3434 or 877.856.7436 toll free or visit lorienhotelandspa.com.

The Owners DSF Group
The award-winning DSF Group is a private real estate company that makes value-added investments in multifamily and commercial properties, primarily in the high-growth Northeast Corridor between Washington DC and Boston.

Having extensive business and leisure travel experience, the founders of The DSF Group wanted to create a hotel they would choose to stay at…and one they would want to return to.

Lorien Hotel & Spa is the result of that vision. The DSF Group partnered with boutique hotelier experts Kimpton Hotels, world-renowned designer Vicente Wolf and critically-acclaimed Washington DC chef Robert Wiedmaier to create an environment in which the business traveler could relax, unwind and feel rejuvenated following a long day. Whether that is accomplished through a private spa treatment, dinner from one of the three destination food venues or simply returning to the restful guestrooms, it is all available to choose from at Lorien Hotel & Spa.

With over $1.5 billion invested in four million square feet since the year 2000, The DSF Group has quietly become one of the most successful private real estate investment firms in the country.

Designer Vicente Wolf
In the world of contemporary design, Vicente Wolf has been at the top for three decades. Through his firm, Vicente Wolf Associates, he explores his passion for design, guided by the principles of integrity and simplicity. Lorien Hotel & Spa is the latest in his pursuit of this passion, benefitting from his design throughout the hotel, the spa and the restaurants.

Wolf has designed a wide range of projects, including the LS Store in Hong Kong, the Luxe Hotel Rodeo Drive and Café Rodeo in Beverly Hills, the Andrew Fezza company offices and showrooms, the Registry stores in Chicago, Bedell Cellars Winery and guest cottage on Long Island’s North Fork, the executive office of J Records for Clive Davis, the interiors of New York’s L’Impero and Alto restaurants and an extensive list of residential interiors.

House Beautiful named Vicente Wolf as one of the ten most influential designers in the United States and Interior Design Magazine inducted him into its Designer Hall of Fame. Selected as one of the top 100 designers in both Metropolitan Home’s “Design 100″ and Architectural Digest’s “AD 100,” Wolf’s work has been featured in various design books and magazine, including these publications, The New York Times, Elle Décor, House & Garden, Vogue Decoration, Country Living and Maison & Jardin.
Over the last few years, Wolf has become known for his other passion: photography, which can be found throughout the Lorien Hotel & Spa. He has had individual gallery shows, photographed his design projects for magazines and shot the advertising campaign for Anichini Linens. He also put together an exhibit of his photography, titled Series III: Compositions, for the Pucci Gallery in New York.

Wolf has contributed his designs to many arts and charitable organizations, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA) and the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). Wolf teaches an annual course through Parsons School of Design in the Dominican Republic and his first book, Learning to See, focuses on personal style and travel.

The Chef Robert Wiedmaier
Now leading the culinary efforts at Lorien Hotel & Spa, chef and proprietor Robert Wiedmaier developed a strong passion for the culinary arts at a young age while growing up in Germany. Born to a father who is 100% Belgian and a mother who is Californian, Wiedmaier was given a chance to experience ingredient-based cuisine with the freshest produce, meat and dairy.

Wiedmaier attended the Culinary School of Horca in the Netherlands. His apprenticeship at the Thermidor Restaurant, a Michelin two-star establishment, brought him to Brussels to work with famed Chef Eddie Van Maele. In 1986, he took the position as Saucier at Le Chardon D’Or in the Morrison House in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, bringing him to the United States for the first time in his culinary career.

In 1988, Wiedmaier joined the team at the renowned Le Pavillion as Chef Poissonnier, and a year later, moved to the Four Seasons, the most prominent hotel in the city, as Sous Chef position at Aux Beaux Champs restaurant under the tutorial direction of Chef Douglass McNeill.

Seven years later, Chef Wiedmaier opened Café on M at The Grand Hotel, giving Wiedmaier a personal venue to use his culinary roots and where he established his critically acclaimed French Cuisine Flavored with a Flemish Flair.

In June of 1996, The Watergate Hotel asked Wiedmaier to oversee and manage the culinary operations for the hotel. He also undertook the re-design of the kitchen and opened their then-new restaurant, Aquarelle. Wiedmaier replaced Executive Chef Jean-Louis Palladin, whose tenure at the hotel had been immensely successful as well as having been a strategic mentor to Wiedmaier.

In March of 1999, Robert Wiedmaier opened Marcel’s restaurant, named after his first-born son. Between this opening and the opening in April of 2007 of Brasserie Beck, named for his younger son (and only a mile from Marcel’s), Wiedmaier received significant acclaim for his cuisine, including Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year (2004) award by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington and Chef of the Year by the American Culinary Institute. Marcel’s was inducted to the prestigious Distinguished Restaurants of North America (DiRoNA), the only anonymous restaurant inspection program in North America and maintains Washingtonian magazine’s high level of status with 3.5 out of 4 stars. Additionally, Zagat rates Marcel’s in the Top 5 for Food category.

Some of Wiedmaier’s favorite things to cook with are sweetbreads, foie gras, skate and any variations of wild game at Marcel’s and at Beck’s. According to Wiedmaier, “My cuisine is simple. I concentrate on high quality ingredients. More than anything, I’m a cook first, chef second.” An exceptional highlight of Wiedmaier’s cuisine techniques is his use of all parts of each animal he cooks with to create his sauces. “Nothing goes to waste. If you’re not tasting, you’re not cooking.”

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Virginia’s spas bypass laws by serving alcohol

This article is brought to you by Spavelous.com.

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It’s been 40 years since Virginia allowed liquor to be sold by the drink. Since then, the state’s ABC laws have gotten complicated.

For example, day spas can now purchase a license to serve alcohol. Customers at the spa for a massage, manicure or other service may be served two glasses of wine or one glass of beer, bypassing Virginia’s standard requirement to serve food.

But at restaurants where liquor is served, 45% of the establishment’s sales still have to come from food.

“The primary public policy issue of all of our ABC laws since 1934 has been the prevention of the return of the saloon days,” says ABC Chief Operating Officer Curtis Coleburn.

Coleburn says requiring food keeps rowdy “watering holes” from popping up. He was speaking to a newly-formed joint committee studying Virginia’s ABC laws. The goal is to clarify the standard that businesses must meet to sell alcohol.

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Taking the spa to new heights

Couple transforms routine retail space into three-level Le Papillon

Since Carolyn and Thomas Webber spend most of their time at Le Papillon Day Resort, they depend on the chefs who work there for just about all their meals.

An intimate kitchen-style eatery is made available to spa members or private parties who can sit in groups of four to five people at large island and eat exotic gourmet fare while watching Le Papillon’s chefs at work.

Lea Wells, an employee at Le Papillon, drinks some tea as she models the spa’s meditation room. Before opening their Winchester spa, owners Carolyn and Thomas Webber studied the city, noting the area is growing in population as well as in levels of income.

The former Montana residents have spent the last few months pouring most of their time into birthing Le Papillon, a three-level upscale spa in Winchester that has been in operation for several months.

 

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The detailed planning can be seen in every aspect of the spa, from the large sunlit kitchen eatery, to the extensive list of health and wellness services that include massages, acupuncture, yoga and Pilates classes, hairstyling and coloring, manicures, pedicures, and facials.

In establishing the spa, Carolyn drew from her 12 years of experience in the industry. She started out as a massage therapist and most recently worked as a consultant helping to design and develop luxury spas around the country, including The Crossing in Austin, Texas, and the Spa at Red Rock and the Bellagio Spa, both in Las Vegas.

“Most of the facilities I’ve helped open were on a much grander scale,” she said.

Although the Webbers did not want to reveal the cost of retrofitting the suite they occupy at the end of a strip mall at 650 Cedar Creek Grade, it’s evident that the couple heavily invested in high-end features.

Some of them include the Italian plaster in the men’s and women’s “retreat” areas, where clients can shower, change, and store their belongings. The retreat areas have stylishly tiled showers, sinks with ample counter space, and wooden lockers that blend in with the rest of the colorful decor. Soaps and lotions are also provided.

In the meditation room, clients can sip on tea and recline in cushy chairs while listening to the trickle of a fountain to enhance relaxation. Massage rooms are dimly lit and have iPod stations that play soft music.

The hair salon features some high-tech equipment, including a machine that moves around the clients’ head to give an even and long-lasting color. Another similar machine gives hair deep conditioning that is supposed to last longer than traditional treatments.

The Webbers also developed their own make-up line of mineral foundations that are mixed at the spa to match the client’s exact skin pigment.

Prices, listed on the spa’s Web site, vary depending on the service.

Carolyn and Thomas Webber were living in Montana when they visited a bed and breakfast in Winchester and decided they wanted to relocate here. The pair has transformed a routine retail space on Cedar Creek Grade into a spa/resort offering massage, meditation, yoga, gourmet meals, facials, acupuncture, and more. Still to come: a roof-top garden terrace where clients will be able to relax at bistro tables and on lounge chairs while taking in the view of mountains in the distance.

A 60-minute massage is $70, while specialized massages, such as deep tissue, run $10 to $30 higher. Facials start at $50, a basic manicure is $30, and a haircut and style is $55. Yoga and Pilates classes are $15 per drop-in visit or $150 for a three-month membership.

Spa membership and multi-service packages are also available at varying levels and prices.

Still under construction is the roof-top garden terrace where clients will be able to relax at bistro tables and on lounge chairs, while enjoying distant mountain views and the sound of trickling water fountains.

The Webbers said they pay their 23 employees above average salaries in return for accredited and experienced specialists.

Thomas said he and Carolyn believe in making long-term investments in their employees by offering good salaries, medial benefits, vacation pay, and sick days to avoid high turnover.

“It’s actually more expensive in the long run to under pay or just barely pay them and then have them turn around and look for a better-paying job,” said Thomas, who worked in computer and management training at General Electric for 17 years. “It costs a lot more to re-train them,” he added.

At Le Papillon on Cedar Creek Grade in Winchester, VA a waterfall feature creates an Impressionist-like look as a spa customer gets a manicure. Owners Carolyn and Thomas Webber say they hope to eventually employ 50 spa professionals at the resort. Right now, they have a staff of 23.

When the spa began hiring, Carolyn said she received a total of 267 applications.

“We had five interviews minimum for every person,” she said “We actually interviewed, face-to-face, 46 people, and from there, we hired 23.”

Some were hired locally, while others came from other areas of the country.

As the Webbers expand their staff, they said they would like to start offering employees profit-sharing and bonuses.

“I think in the fourth year, we’ll be at full peak, and staff should be up to 50 employees,” Carolyn said.

The Webbers had market studies of the Winchester area done before initiating plans for the spa in 2005. They said the studies showed steady growth in population and income levels.

“When we looked at it two years ago, we could see that the trends were just starting,” Thomas said.

It also showed that a day spa of Le Papillon’s scale, with a full range of health and wellness services, was lacking in the area’s market.

In addition to market potential, the Webbers also had personal reasons coming to Winchester. Carolyn, who grew up in Arlington, said she was re-evaluating her life after her father died several years ago.

She was tired of all the travel that came with being a spa consultant and started investigating other options.

About that time, a friend gave Carolyn and Thomas a gift certificate to a bed and breakfast in the area, and during their visit, fell in love with Winchester.

Knowing right away that they would eventually move to the Winchester area and start their new business venture, the Webbers began working on plans for the spa immediately after returning to Montana.

Carolyn said she knew it would take a couple of years to establish the spa “because of the size and stature and quality of what we were doing.”

After several years of developing plans and redesigning their commercial space, they finally opened the spa in February.

“This has been the most challenging, most painful, and most heart-wrenching experience,” Carolyn said. “But at the same time, this has been the most positive and most fulfilling experience of my life.”

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