Living the dream, 12 minutes at a time
I think the first time I ever went to a tanning salon was in 1982 - it was at a place called The Tan Machine in Hillsdale. Jeri T. (now P.) and I were in our senior year at Beaverton and though she had a pool, we didn't spend a ton of time in it in the summer, and frankly until I met the tropical sun, I wasn't ever able to actually retain any color. We made the decision to check this out based on the fact that Barbie had been going to one and it was working for her. Back then you laid in these flat hard plastic beds and the top wasn't hinged to come over you like they are now. They had this remote control type button and the whole thing came down from the ceiling and sort of sat over you like one of those grilled cheese sandwich presses. Thirty five minutes, unless you were in with the owners, as we were, and then they'd let us go for an hour.
Over the years I have been tanning on and off (mostly on) as the winter starts to get long or if I am getting ready for a trip. Tanning beds just don't make me tan like the real sun does, and I think I do it more for the "fake sun" effect than anything else. Though it IS nice to have some color on my face.
Beds now are contoured, high powered, aromatherapy coffin-like monstrosities and a lot of salons now offer spray on tan (what we used to do with QT in the 70s and 80s you can now do standing up in a machine with no vigorous hand washing afterward). I have simple needs - I need to get in and out, no waiting, no $50 bottles of accelerator and no real need for soft music from a boom box sitting on a folding chair in the corner. I prefer the quickest, most efficient path to keeping the dream alive.
My current tanning salon is over by where I used to live, and I bought a one year package about a year and a half ago and they still take it out of my account. It's not much money a month, and though they have gotten MUCH more out of it than I have, it's nice to know that on a Saturday morning, pre-Duck game and post-Tic Tacs at the Golden Crown (good Lord), I can race over there and feel the warmth of the hard plastic and hear the roar of the lamps that canNOT be healthy and feel like I am tan again.
No Olly Girls and no Hollywood hype. I don't look like a Southern California fake-and-baker, I simply don't look dead. That's all I need. I think I really like your idea, Elizabeth. I think if I were in your position, I would totally go for it.
posted by JJ @ 9:59 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
OMG...Joyce, I've been back reading you ever since my friend, Tami, met up with Becki (Tami is friends with Brent) at a wedding and mentioned that you were back in town. What a loser I am....geez...I really think that 10 years or so must go by before we can actually see each other face to face... :) Do you still have those peanuts, I know I owe you big money for them...tee hee...ANYWAY, LOVE the tan machine story, I made out with Jim there.....God, so high-school...But I thought he was so HOT and he gave us free time in the beds, such a trade....my email is still the same but we have moved to LO...so email me and then I will give you my #....or you can try my cell if you still have it....I am so happy you are here, it makes me tingle all over.....We MUST get together and soon...........Call me, email me or send me smoke signals and let's hook up...And hey, even though we are a Beaver household, you should see Brad's man room, GO DUCKS!!!! Quite a showing today, yeah for them....Can't wait to see you and hold you in my arms once again... :)
You know, actually, I don't think Becki mentioned it to Tami, I mean why would she, it just made me think of you and so I checked out Trauma: The Drama. Loved catching up.......You are still as fun as ever....Call Me.....
I tanned in those antique booths for years. I knew the owner of the one in Raleigh Hills (it's an antique store now, right across from New Seasons.) I loved it. I actually forgot that I could control the tops of the booths and I made mine come down so it was just a millimeter away from my body. I wonder if that's why I have these wierd white spots everywhere on my body now - hmmmm?
These days, if I must, I do go to a stand up spray booth. It's great and you get a pretty even tan. I even tried the type where someone sprays you with a gun, but the coverage wasn't quite as good as the spray booth. I remember sitting in our back yard with Sharon Brazil holding a mirror under my neck to reflect the sun onto my face. Now, I slather on two layers of sunscreen daily and wear powder bronzer. Oh, for the good old days when sun was our friend and full of Vitamin D and A, booze was a once a week treat and smoking 4 packs of smokes a day was offset by running an hour!
Barbie
St. Tropez self tanning lotion is the best. It kind of scares you the first time you go to use it because it looks like thick Hershey's syrup...but you slather it on at night before bed and after your morning shower, you're nicely bronze. A few times a week si all you need. Have to admit the tanning booth feels good in fall and winter, even though the lectures from my dermatologist kind of take the fun out of it. I need to go though, since there has been virtually no outside tanning in Portland this summer...and I'm heading to Maui 11/4 :)
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