I tend to get really excited about good deals.

For the most part, particularly when it comes to clothes and household (decorative) items, I buy things on sale. I hate paying full price for stuff (though strangely, I don’t use coupons when grocery shopping because I always forget to take them) and often come home exclaiming about the shorts and 2 shirts I found for $20. When I lived with my parents I only got my hair done by a friend of the family, because she only charged $40 for a highlight. Since moving here, I’ve had my hair highlighted at a salon once and a hair school once, because I typically buy boxed dye. At my friends wedding I recently admitted this to a stylist, who shuddered. I know many times you get what you pay for, but since my hair is curly, its difficult to make it look too terrible.

Sorry, but I just don’t have 100+$ lying around and quite frankly, I’d rather buy running shoes.

Groupon has been a favorite of mine recently, and I’m always on the lookout for good deals on hair. So when I found one that was priced at $39 for a full highlight, cut, and style only a few miles away from my house, I was so excited I clicked buy immediately. $40 for a full highlight? Sign me up!

I shared my excitement with a friend the next day, who pointed out that $40 was awfully cheap for what you got. (But it was SUCH a good deal!!) So I showed it to her and while yes it was cheap, it looked like a normal place. I did have to admit, however, that the name Gracious Living Salon and Spa was a bit strange. I Google mapped the address and found that it was not downtown like I had thought, but along the area of road with houses and businesses in houses. Salon in a house? Not a big deal.

On the way home from work Monday I kept my eyes peeled for the address, and as I drove by, discovered that the address exactly matched the address of the brand new retirement community, named Summerville Estates: A Gracious Retirement Living Community.

And suddenly, it made sense why the name Gracious Living Spa seemed kind of odd.

For about a day and a half I toyed with the idea calling my $40 a loss. I kept imagining myself sitting in this chair surrounded by 5 or 6 of my best retired friends, hoping the lady didn’t accidentally highlight my hair grey. I considered the questions I might ask when I called, wondering if there was an appropriate way to ask if they had experience working with….uh….younger hair. I could just see the conversation:

Me: Hi, I purchased a Groupon for your salon and would like to make an appointment. But uh….I have a question first. Are you directly affiliated with the retirement home? And if so, am I going to look totally ridiculous walking in asking for a highlight? Also, do you carry blonde? No, I’m not joking.

After doing some more research, I found that it is actually located BEHIND the retirement home, not in it. (That was another funny picture – walking in to the front desk, asking for the salon….and no, not for my grandmother). It has some good feedback on Facebook (oh what would we do without Facebook?) so I called yesterday to make an appointment and had to leave a message. Regardless of the outcome, it makes for an amusing story, where everyone makes fun of how silly I am.