FAQ: Why do housecalls cost more?

Q: Why do housecalls cost more? An hour of massage is an hour of massage no matter where I get it.

A: Housecalls take (depending on where you live) almost 2 to 2.5 times more time, plus gas, plus wear and tear on our equipment and our vehicle.

While you are paying for an hour massage, you're actually paying for the amount of time that we spend on your massage. That includes time to go to the office, get our equipment loaded in our car, drive to your place, unload it and set it up, go through the intake process with you, get you on the table, perform the massage, wait until you're dressed, take the equipment down, load it back in the car, drive back to the office, and set up the equipment there.

We don't charge that much for the non-massage time.

An office massage for an hour: $65
Basic service area housecall: $85

That's only $20 more for about an extra hour to ninety minutes of our time. Plus gas, etc.

The furthest service area we do, which is about a 45 minute drive, is only $50 more. That covers almost an extra two hours on top of the massage time.

We feel that it's reasonable and may even increase our rates slightly soon to cover the increased cost of gas.

Allison's Next Appt. Is Tomorrow

Allison is coming in for another appointment tomorrow. I'm probably not going to post any videos or pictures from her visit. Mostly because I'll be busy setting up everything and getting used to being in the new space.

We'll be doing a deep-pore cleanse followed by either an oxygenating treatment or a peel. I haven't had a chance to look at her skin very closely lately, even though I did see her a few days ago. Stay tuned!

You think my photo was silly?

We both went to one of the largest area employers to do onsite chair massage this week. They also had a group of thai massage therapists come in for demonstrations.

It was a crazy day! It's probably the most fun I've had doing chair massage (sorry, Gaylee--you got trumped!) because the employees were having so much fun, were laid back and loved to joke and laugh, and the demonstration was truly impressive and awe-inspiring.

The small woman who was doing the table-demo had no compunctions about jumping up on someone's back, grabbing their leg and pulling it over their head, picking them half-off the table, or any number of very impressive modified thai massage moves.

It made my "silly" elbow photo from a month or so ago seem tame by comparison.

Now, if I offered to walk on someone's back, I bet they'd run off the table and out the door so fast that they'd forget to get dressed first... hehe. I can't imagine the reaction if Jay offered.

(For our not-yet clients, I'm 5'10" and he's 6'4". We're both sturdy at that height; neither of us are skeletal by any stretch. The woman doing the thai demo must have been under five feet and maybe 115 sopping wet with lead in her pockets.)

So much fun!

We're Officially Moved!

The rooms are nowhere near as snazzy as we'd like them to be, but we are officially out of our old treatment room and into the new one(s).

We stayed with the purple and tan (my interior designer would kill me, but I can't remember the exact "name" of the color--so sorry!) color theme and kept all the furniture and shelving that had been built for us.

The ceiling fabric may not be replaced. Honestly, the plain ceiling looks fine. In our old room some of the "tiles" were stained. The new room is pretty pristine and had recently been repainted a nice white. Because the room is so much bigger I think that expanding the ceiling treatment to fit would be overkill. We're not entirely decided on this issue however. (Got a vote? Comment!)

The front treatment room/consultation area has no furniture in it yet. We need to find a nice table and some shelves before it will be finished. There also needs to be blinds or drapes for privacy.

We can fit two people in the new room, but it's going to be a tight squeeze. If it's a facial and a massage it will be a lot easier because one person won't need a lot of "around" room. We can probably make it work for the massage, but we want to give it a practice go first.

So... if you'd like to be a guinea pig and you can come in around 6:30 on a M-Th with your friend, significant other, spouse, etc. we'll give you a discount. Normally $130 for 60 minutes, the first person to respond and make an appointment will receive a rate of $100 one-time only.

May 17th at SSMT

I've been invited back to speak at the massage school again. I had so much fun the first time; it was great to share what I've learned. One day I hope to teach massage to students just like them, and this is a step in that direction.

May 17th at 10:45 AM I'll be a guest lecturer at SSMT again. Yay!

Quick Note about Lizz's Appointments

(These affect Lizz's clients only; Jay will not be changing any of his appointments.)

I'm changing the types of appointments I'm going to be taking from now until the new year. I hope this doesn't inconvenience anyone; I really don't think it will.

- I will not be using essential oils (aromatherapy) during the massages.

- I will not be doing housecalls unless the person already has their own (set up) massage table OR unless it's a couple's massage in which case Jay will also be coming with me. (Chair massage is unaffected.)

- For the next few weeks, at least, I won't be taking any appointments early in the day, and I'll also be cutting back on late-night appointments as well. We will also be enforcing the 10-4 business hours on Friday; I've worked late almost every Friday for the past few months.

There is a very good reason for all of this which we'll likely announce in one way or another in a few weeks.

Thanks,
Lizz