I tried taking pictures, but they were so mediocre. I guess every girl goes through a photography phase. You know, horses… taking pictures of your feet.

– Charlotte, Lost in Translation

Hello. Here’s a picture of my foot.

No, I am not auditioning for the female lead in the next Tarantino film. (Although… Quentin, you can give me a call if you like what you see.) I want to share the story of that little speck of green polish on my big toe nail.

For my Mom’s birthday in August, she and I drove to Galveston for an overnight stay. She blagged our way into a fancy hotel, I ran a 5k on the beach, and we got pedicures at a little walk-in nail shop. I was reading Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian at the time, so the story of that pedicure can be found in my book review over at Goodreads (this is not required reading, but it illustrates that I have written about this particular pedicure before).

Here is a photo of my Mom’s feet. This is from the balcony of our room in Galveston back in August of 2012, and is one of my all-time favorite photos.

The polish I chose for the pedicure in Galveston was called Mermaid’s Tears. I don’t know about you, but I usually base my lipstick/nailpolish/wallpaint decisions on the poetry of the name rather than actual appearance of the color. In fact, I wouldn’t mind a career in cosmetic nomenclature.

Anyway, because my toes have not seen the light of day the entire time I have been in Ireland, I have neglected to beautify my feet in any significant way beyond toenail trimming. I never used nail polish remover on my toes, and essentially let the Mermaid’s Tears grow out naturally. So when my Mom came to visit last month, that tiny speck of green still remained on one toe. All in all, it was a damn good pedicure.

Our feet at Barceloneta Beach.

While my mom was here, we visited Barcelona and its beautiful beaches. Even though the Mediterranean was still “a little frosty” (my sister’s words), we managed to dip our toes in for a moment. (Actually, it was more than a moment, and more than just a dip. Our shoes almost got swept away by a wave that came out of nowhere, and our pant legs got drenched. Also, my sister was there for a few of the “under toe” photos, but she ran away. Like a cat.)

Look, Mermaid’s Tears!

So now that I’ve seen my Mom again for the first time in eight months, and the weather is getting nicer, maybe it’s time for a new pedicure.

Especially after seeing these in the window at Brown Thomas Galway:

Hello, gorgeous.

Happy Muttertag, Mom! Thanks for everything you do, for everyone around you!