To avoid the V-Day crowds, we held back till today to use the Spa Esprit@House vouchers I gave June for Christmas. She could have used them for one glorious afternoon of personal pampering, but she chose to buy a single treatment for each of us instead.

Spa Esprit@House is one of the big tenants of Dempsey House, occupying one whole floor of differently themed massage rooms and relaxing corners for tea and light reading. The set-up is modern and professional, and the rooms give a calming sense of privacy as they overlook the secondary forest area of Dempsey Hill.

We both opted for the 'Hot Stone' massage which fully focused on the back, neck, shoulders and limbs... whatever was accessible without having to flip us over on the table. Having slept badly the night before, I was grateful for the extra attention I got for the crick in my neck I'd been nursing all day. While the massage didn't make the pain go away entirely, at least it got soothed down some.

The massage was mostly the application of rolling pressure to the muscles. With the application of some wood-scented essential oil, ginger and black pepper, after a while I felt like pastry being prepared as piecrust. There was an odd disconnect between mind and body -- about halfway through the treatment I couldn't tell if I was awake or not. Mind in beta, body in alpha, a pleasantly weird sensation.

After a relaxing rub-down, it was dinner at Margatita's. I had no idea what I was in for when I ordered the lamb shank. I got two huge, meaty bones of stewed lamb with tortillas on the side. June ordered the mixed fajitas, chix and beef served on a sizzling hot plate. There was so much in just these two dishes, we couldn't get everything down. Way too full for the Ben & Jerry's we had planned on.

Next time, we'll split one main course and top up with a couple of starters and dessert. Or work out a solid week beforehand.

Off topic: Anyone looking for more kitten pix? Got a couple of new shots over on Flickr.