Nice day!

Today was really nice. We had a few things to do, starting this morning. I took Rowan to our new house to see what he thought, and he must have felt right at home! I took him in his new room, though it is still occupied by a 13 month old little girl, and he just wanted to lie on the floor with the dog and take everything off of her shelves! LOL He ran around a lot! I had some contractors in there to do some measurements, order a new back door and check the inspector's to-do list. It all looks good, and they gave me some pointers and advice on the kitchen floor (it needs leveled). I may have them do it, and I may wait until Jamie gets home...depends on how much they want to charge me! LOL
I had errands to run afterwords, but Rowan had other plans. He wanted a NAP! So, we came home and he got a snooze. He didn't sleep too awfully long, but I did have a bit to get myself together, get some thoughts down on paper, and make a shopping list. Yep, my LIST! LOL
So, when he woke up we played for a bit, and then I got him ready to go shopping. I had to hit the grocery store for a few staple items: milk, bread, juice, eggs, pickles, cereal...ya know, the likes! LOL Moms, you get me, right? Since Ro is such a big boy now, I am attempting to not carry him so much. I let him walk from the car to the grocery store, holding my hand of course, and he did REALLY well; I was pleasantly surprised! I wiped down one of the car carts with sanitary wipes (hey those things are COVERED with nasty germs!!!), and Ro rode in the "car cart"!!! He loved it, and was such a pleasant little man! He waved at everyone that went by us and squealed in absolute delight! It was really cute.
Home Depot just happens to be right next door to the grocery store, so I decided to stop in and look at a few things. I picked out some paint for Ro's room, Kyle's room, the master bedroom, bath and kitchen! I love bold colors, I can't help myself. Also, I looked at ceiling fans and a light for the hallway. I was really enjoying myself, but Rowan started to get really cranky!!! :-( Upon leaving, I decided I needed a caffeine kick. SOOO, I got an iced mocha, that's right!
Rowan has been up a bit past bedtime, but that's okay. We have been watching "Jon and Kate plus 8", yeah Ro LOVES that show! And God bless Jon and Kate...how do they do it??? Troopers, I tell ya!
So yes, Ro is in bed, and I am headed that way!

Loves and smiles

IMAGE BY DESIGN, CONSUMER REPORT: Springfield, Illinois salon

Hi folks! This was sent to me by my sister-in-law, and I feel compelled to show it to the world. Having years of experience in customer service, I just cannot imagine anyone treating a client as such. Please read and take heed, also, if you would, please inform others. I think it is just appauling!!!

In My Opinion! Horrible experiencewith this establishment (Image by Design) and I WON'T EVER GO BACK!Today I am sending this email out because I am so appalled by how I was treated by Angeline Severens, the owner of this business. I felt it was worth passing the information along as a warning and a punishment for her poor behavior!
I received a $50 gift certificate over the Christmas holidays from a friend who's mother frequents this salon and recommended their services... Well after what I've been through I can honestly say that Ms. Severens couldn't have been recommended based on her couth or customer service skills! I made an appointment back in March to utilize my gift certificate for a pedicure for a late Saturday afternoon.
I had a prior commitment that morning and I set out very early so that I could complete that task well before my pedicure appointment that day... But somehow the project proved to be too large and time ran over. I suddenly realized that I was not going to be able to get all the way back to Springfield in time for my 1pm appointment. I was totally caught off guard by this fact, and was desperate to alert the salon.
I quickly telephoned Image by Design and explained that I was too far away in Glenarm, that my morning appointment had taken over and prohibited me from getting to my pedicure appointment. I apologized profusely and told the girl that I would like to reschedule if possible. She replied, noproblem, asked if I wanted to pick a new time now. I explained to her that I was not in front of my calendar and that I would have to call back on Monday. She replied that would be fine and we hung up the phone. It was not two minutes later when my cell phone rang back and I could see that the number was from the Image by Design Salon. I answered only to immediately be barked at by the owner of the salon, Angeline Severens. She was very nasty, belligerent and informed me that I had completely inconvenienced her by canceling my appointment... That she had brought on extra staff that day just to take care of this pedicure. I told her how sorry I was that my situation was out of my control and that I didn't flippantly disregard the importance of my appointment to her business day, but that I really wanted to reschedule?
That is when she said it was too bad because now the gift certificate was void! I audibly uttered WHAT, are you kidding me... I didn't even get to use it? I explained to her that the giftcertificate was given to me by an individual who's mother did Image by Design's bookkeeping and that he was going to be so upset when he heard she wasn't honoring the $50 gift card. She said she didn't care, that was her policy. I explained to her that it was not written anywhere on the card about cancellations and voided the dollar amount. She said at the bare minimum, it would be missing half of it's value. I exclaimed that she sure was making a terrible first impression on someone who had never frequented her salon before and that I had even been looking for a new place to get my hair done, but now I was certain I didn't even want to step into her salon.I told her that I was going to have to hang up the phone now before I said something I might regret!

...now 3 months later, I have looked and looked at this gift card in my wallet and thought what a shame my friend had to lose his hard earned money over her ferous nastiness! It was just yesterday, when I had a little time to spare in my busy schedule, that I decided to give the place one last try. I knew I would have to pay for half of the pedicure, but at least the whole gift would not be a waste. So I called up and asked if they had an opening at 5:30pm. I recognized the owners voice on the phone, she replied yes they did and began to take my information. Now I did not proceed to remind her of the nasty altercation, however I did not hide any of my personal information. She asked if I had ever been there before and I replied no, she took all of my personal info as I had given it before, home address, work numbers, even what I did for a living. When she got to the part of how I heard about Image by Design I informed her that my friends mother recommended it and she even did the bookkeeping for the establishment.
She exclaimed that was all she needed and she would see me at 5:30. I got there, checked in with the owner herself. She left the counter. I exclaimed to the girl that I would be paying part with a gift card and part with a debit. She asked if I wanted to check out and I told her nobecause I may want to purchase product when I was through. I was shown back to the pedicure chair and the process began WHEN all of a sudden the owner appears hurriedly around the corner and shouts out 'WHERE DID YOU GET THIS GIFT CERTIFICATE'... She totally startled the crap out of me... I informed her that my friend (gave his name) had given it to me for Christmas. Shespouted out that is so and so's son! She turned to her worker and exclaimed 'THIS PEDICURE IS OVER... THAT GIFT CERTIFICATE WAS USED UP MONTHS AGO!' I was in complete shock. She said 'I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR ARE TRYING TO PULL HERE...BUT YOU ARE OUT.. GET OUT!' My mouth was just dropped open in total shock. I had never been treated so poorly in all my life! I asked if she was kidding – that I already knew that I would be paying for half of the pedicure and she said you won't be paying for anything because there will be no pedicure NOW GET OUT! She turned on her heal and stormed back around the corner just like that!
The poor girl who had been working on my little toes, turned sheepishly to me and said in a low whisper 'I am so sorry'... I said SO AM I! I proceeded to push my pant legs back down and return my half polished toes to my sandals and I stormed out into the main hair salon. I confronted her and told her I thought she was incredibly rude, that I couldn't believe that she served thepublic in the customer service industry and that I didn't know how she had managed to stay in business. I informed her that I would NEVER be back, that I would tell everyone how horrible she was and she spouted back 'Well I'm sure they will consider the source!'
Oh My God! Now I totally understand if an establishment, especially appointment based has a cancellation policy. But let me tell you it was NO WHERE listed on my gift card nor was it kindly explained to me back in March! My real beef here is not that I missed out on her crappy $60pedicure – what a crock! But that she was SO rude, belligerent and downright distasteful! I was appalled and embarrassed in front of all the other patrons – treated like a criminal for christ's sake!
I CHALLENGE EACH and everyone one of you to forward this on to as many people in your email address book as possible. And I totally warn you against spending any time or money with this horrid woman in this establishment! And if you do... I suggest you haveher print off the 50 page rule and stipulation book that goes along with obtaining services and not losing your money!!!