Is there anything better than chocolate
for Valentine’s day?

You’ll find the answer at Daired’s Salon and Spa Pangea.

Edited by Madelyn Miller, the travellady

Looking for a unique chocolate gift for Valentine’s Day? Offering an indulgence in chocolate that feeds the skin as well as the taste buds, Daired’s Salon and Spa Pangéa’s Chocolate Decadence Package answers the desire for chocolate in four wonderful ways.  Guests will enjoy a luxurious scented chocolate raspberry Swedish massage, an exfoliating chocolate salt glow, a warm chocolate mint body wrap and delicious chocolate treat.

For couples, Valentine’s Day romance is perfectly staged with Daired’s Sweetheart’s Package offering Moet & Chandon White Star Champagne and Fresh Hand-Dipped Chocolate Covered Strawberries served along with a Couples Pangéa Swedish Massage, Couples Pangéa Pedicure, Express Facial and Swiss Shower for each.

Gift certificates at Daired’s Salon and Spa Pangéa include an eight-page photo sampler of spa/salon services and a complimentary music CD for immediate pleasure.  Gift certificates can be purchased at www.daireds.com and delivered via mail or email to the recipient.  All internet e-mail orders are delivered instantly and regular orders are mailed on the day the order is placed if received by 2 p.m. 

Daired’s Salon and Spa Pangéa 2005 Valentine’s Day Packages

Sweethearts Package for Two $399
*Offered exclusively for Valentine’s Day 2005
Moet & Chandon White Star Champagne, and Fresh Hand-Dipped Chocolate Covered Strawberries are served along with a Couples Pangéa Swedish Massage, Couples Pangéa Pedicure, Express Facial and Swiss Shower for each.
Approx 3 hrs per person

Chocolate Decadence $235
*Offered exclusively for Valentine’s Day 2005
Includes Pangéa Chocolate Raspberry Massage, Pangéa Chocolate Cake Scrub, Pangéa Chocolate Mint Wrap, and Delicious Chocolates
Chocolate cravings? Here’s your fix. Feed your skin with deliciously scented oils served in three wonderful ways. A luxurious scented chocolate raspberry Pangéa Swedish massage, combined with salts for an exfoliating chocolate glow and incorporated into a warm chocolate mint wrap.
Approx. 2.5 hrs

Lavender Luxury Package $185
*Offered exclusively for Valentine’s Day 2005
Includes Pangéa Lavender Massage, Pangéa Lavender Pedicure, Pangéa Lavender Manicure, and Spa Lunch
This luxurious package begins with a soothing Pangéa Swedish Massage infused with lavender essential oils to relax muscles and increase circulation. The manicure and pedicure include a soak in lavender fizz marbles. Relax as the small bubbles caress and soften your skin and cuticles. Next, a lavender peel is worked into the skin for exfoliation.  Nourishing grape seed oil and soothing, relaxing lavender are combined for a hand and foot massage. Finally, your skin is moisturized with lavender lotion and nails are gently buffed and polished.
Approx. 3.5 hrs

Deluxe Getaway for Two $550
Pangéa Pedicure for each
Pangéa Swedish Massage
Back Treatment or Pangéa Custom Facial
Pangéa Body Scrub
Approx 3.5 hrs

Escape for Two $375
Pangéa Pedicure for Two
Pangéa Swedish Massage
Express Facial
Approx 2.5 hrs

Endearment Package $575
Thai Manicure
River Rock Pedicure
Pangéa Custom Facial
Pangéa Body Scrub
Tandem Massage
Daired's Salon Style
Makeup Design
Complimentary Spa Pangéa at Home Body Wash
Spa Lunch
Approx 5.5 hrs

XOXO Package $500
French Manicure
Pangéa Pedicure
Pangéa Custom Facial
Vienna Mud Bath
Sensory Journey Massage
Oriental Body Glow Scrub
Spa Lunch
Approx 5.25 hrs

Pamper Package $350
Pangéa Manicure
Peppermint Pedicure
Pangéa Custom Facial
Cabernet Scrub
Pangéa Swedish Massage
Spa Lunch
Approx 3.5 hrs

Cupid Package $200
Pangéa Pedicure
Pangéa Custom Facial
Express Swedish Massage
Spa Lunch
Approx 4 hrs

From The Heart Package $165
Pangéa Manicure
Pangéa Custom Facial
Pangéa Body Scrub
Approx 2.5 hrs

The Daired's Glamour Package $185
Pangéa Pedicure
Pangéa Manicure
Daired's Salon Hair Design and Style
Makeup Design
Approx 3.5 hrs

Gentleman’s Stress Relief Package $365
Gentleman's Pangéa Pedicure
River Rock Massage
Pangéa Custom Facial
Pangéa Body Scrub
Shirodara Therapy
Approx 4.5 hrs

Daired’s Salon and Spa Pangéa is located at 2400 West I-20 in Arlington, Texas. Hours of operation are:  Mondays and Fridays from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Sundays, from Noon to 6 p.m.  For salon and spa appointments or to book corporate and individual events in the Conference Centre, call metro (817) 467-9991 or (817) 465-9797. For additional information, visit Daired’s at www.daireds.com.

More Fantasies For Chocoholics

Chocolatier Magazine
Great way to get your monthly chocolate fix

Bittersweet
Recipes and Tales from a life in Chocolate
By Alice Medrich
Artisan Books
www.artisanbooks.com

Bake and Freeze Chocolate Desserts
By Elinor Klivans
120 recipes to make now and enjoy later
www.bdd.com

All About Chocolate
The ultimate resource for the World’s Favorite Food
By Carole Bloom
McMillan USA
www.mgr.com

Chocolate Crazy
By Slvia Balser Hirsch
The celebrated Miss Grimble presents more inspired Desserts—all chocolate
MacMillan Publishing Company

Mr. Food Simply Chocolate
Think chocolate goodies are hard to make? Not when you make them Mr. Food’s way
William Morrow and Company, Inc.

The Chocolate Lover’s Guide
To the Pacific Northwest
By Bobbie Hasselbring
Wordsworth Publishing

Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor
By Anne Byrn
Workman PUBLISHING
www.workman.com

365 Great Chocolate Desserts
By Natalie Haughton
Harper Collins Publisher

The Totally Chocolate Cookbook
By Helen Siegel and Karen Gillingham
Celestial Arts

Chocolate
The Consuming Passion
By Sandra Boynton
Workman Publishing
www.workman.com

The Little Book of Chocolate
By Katherine Khodorowsky and Herve Robert
Published by Flammarion
Distributed by Rizzoli through St. Martin’s Press

Cinnamon Mornings and Chocolate Dreams
By Pamela Lanier
Lanier Publishing
www.travelguides.com

Good Deeds With Chocolate

Chef Hilly Blondheim has put his culinary skills to good use and turned a simple boyhood treat into a life-saving instrument in the fight against breast cancer. Whether its sprinkled on top of fruit or ice cream, to enhance the flavor of coffee or a smoothie, blended into waffle or pancake batter, used in a chocolate martini, sampled as fondue, or simply to make the best cup of hot chocolate you have ever tasted, the possibilities for this gourmet chocolate mix are endless.
www.chefhillyskitchen.com

Chocolate Travel Opportunities

"The Chocolate Society café and shop at 36 Elizabeth Street, SW1 Londonmecca
for the chocoholic. Celebrating chocolate as a gourmet delicacy, there are handmade truffles, biscuits and all sorts of other chocolate-based goodies. The shop is open from Monday to Saturday - for more information call 0207259 9222."

Great Chocolate Mousse Festival
New Brunswick, Canada

Sutton Place Hotel weekend chocolate buffet
Toronto, Canada

Hershey, Pennsylvania

Norwegian Caribbean Lines
afternoon chocolate buffet

Chocolate tea buffet
Mark Hotel, New York

Chocolate Festival
Poconos Manor Inn and Golf Resort
Pennsylvania

The Lofts Hotel in downtown Columbus, Ohio is now offering chocolate lovers the opportunity to enjoy the ultimate chocolate experience, while indulging in the luxury of The Lofts.  Featuring everything from a chocolate body massage and a lesson in how to make luxurious hand-dipped chocolates to a souvenir DVD copy of the movie “Chocolat”, the Pure Imagination Chocolat Lovers Package is a sweet escape.

The Pure Imagination Chocolat Lovers Package starts at just $349 per couple and includes:

• Deluxe overnight accommodations at the incredible Lofts Hotel

• Two consecutive 30-minute chocolate massages

• The Pure Imagination Chocolat Experience: private chocolate making lesson with renowned chocolatier, Daniel Cooper, teaching the couple how to make hand-dipped chocolates.  Guests will take home four hand-dipped chocolate-covered strawberries and a gift package of European hot chocolate

• Dinner for two (a $50 value)

• Nightcap of a bottle of champagne and fresh, hand-dipped truffles

• Breakfast for two in bed

• Souvenir DVD copy of the movie “Chocolat”

To top off this romantic getaway, couples can have a photo and a sweet message placed on the jumbo 18’x 32’ ADTV (Arena District Television) screen, located just a block west of The Lofts in the Arena District.  Guests can even have a proposal or “I love you” message strategically timed for unveiling to a loved one.  The cost of ADTV is $35

Doubletree Hotel chocolate chip cookies
THE VERY BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES IN THE WORLD
http://www.travellady.com/Issues/February04/WheretoGettheVeryBest.htm

Fairytale Chocolate Brownies  800-fairytale www.brownies.com

Chocolate Cowboy Crunch from Bumblee Bee’s Baja Grill. 505-820-2862, Santa Fe, New Mexico. You can buzz through and buy them for $2.50 per package. Other irresistible treats are the Cowgirl kisses made of white chocolate and Espresso Brownies.

Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity in New York

Lollipop Tree at DavidBurke and Donatella in New York (okay, it is not ALL chocolate but it is so wonderful I am making an exception)

Chocolate Hotel
The Hyatt Regency in Dallas, Texas offers a chocolate replica of  its  signature location at Reunion Tower. The Landmark Tower is a decadent dessert filled with Berry-chocolate ganache and Champagne Mouse on a sea of mango sauce and berries. At $13 it is a lot better deal than downtown real estate. This stellar sweet is more than enough for two serious chocoholics and worth every penny for the WOW factor

The Golden Door Spa in Carefree, Arizona offers the Chocolate Champagne Body Wrap.  This Valentine's Day-inspired treatment teases the senses with tantalizing aromas while rejuvenating the skin.  The treatment begins with a double exfoliation using chocolate, Ayurvedic herbs and natural fruit acids.  An anti-oxidant mask of vitamins, green tea, chocolate and fruit of choice is then applied to the body and spritzed with champagne or healing vanilla water.  The guest is wrapped like a delectable morsel while the active elements begin to renew and restore the body.  Following a light shower, the body is caressed with an intensive hydrating cream.  This unforgettable sensory adventure concludes with the guest's choice of custom-made chocolate in the same taste as the body treatment. 

At New Orleans Belladona Day spa you can almost OD on chocolate. But then I believe you can never have too much chocolate.
Be a chocoholic: the choco-palooza body deluxe
3 hours - $225.00
This was designed for those who have that never-ending fascination with anything chocolate. The Choco-palooza begins with a serenely romantic still bath, laced with chocolate and raspberry sprinkles, nourishing almond oil, exquisite salts, and healing extracts. Romantic music sets the mood. Scrumptious chocolate truffles are there for the nibbling. Following the bath, a massage therapist begins a light exfoliation using a raspberry scrub, rich in vitamin B and aloe vera.  This gentle scrub enhances the appearance of the skin and is preparation for the Chocolate Surrender Body Treatment, a chocolate body mask rich, soothingly smooth and great for any skin type, especially after a harsh winter.  While the face is cocooned in the mask, the therapist massages the face, neck and scalp. After a shower, the therapist applies "raspberry syrup" to eradicate stress. Belladonna's special Relief Gel gets at those difficult spots in the back, and a decadent chocolate paraffin melts away the last resistance. A 50-minute massage utilizing Belladonna's chocolate syrup massage oil completes the Choco-palooza.

Mini choco-palooza
90 minutes - $125.00
For those who don't have time for the deluxe treatment, the abbreviated Choco-palooza is an option. This mini-version of the previous service entails a scrumptious exfoliation using a raspberry scrub to enhance and prepare the skin for the Chocolate Surrender Body Treatment. This chocolate body mask is rich and lusciously hydrating to winter-ravaged skin. After a shower the next step is the Chocolate Stress Relief utilizing a chocolate whip cream, a silky moisturizer rich in willow and aloe vera followed by an application of Relief Gel and chocolate paraffin. A massage with chocolate whip cream follows.  And it's all calorie-free.

Manicure au chocolat
1 hour - $40.00
This delicious manicure completely pampers with chocolate and raspberry products designed to treat and repair the hands.  Belladonna's chocolate nutty scrub is a luxurious way to smooth away dry flaking skin and allow the rich avocado oil, vitamins and nutritious meadow foam seed oil to do their thing. After a massage using "raspberry syrup," rich in anti-oxidizing vitamins and extracts, the hands are submerged in the utmost of decadence -- chocolate/raspberry paraffin -- known for its hydrating benefits. This manicure's finishing touches are an application of Chocolate Whip Cream and polish. All are calorie-free except the delicious truffles on hand for nibbling.

Pedicure au chocolat
1 hour - $55.00
This sweet treat for the feet utilizes the utmost in decadent chocolate products.  The feet are gently soaked in chocolate sprinkles, which will raise anyone's spirits and relax the mind.  Rough, dry skin is then exfoliated with Chocolate Blizzard, a natural sea salt scrub infused with rich oils and extracts to assist in revitalizing dull skin. A delicious cocoa aroma enhances the whole experience. Raspberry syrup caresses the feet and legs to release all remaining stress. The Chocolate Surrender Mask soothes the feet. Chocolate truffles are served and a Chocolate Whip Cream application provides the finishing touch.

Chocolate Drinks
The Chocolate Jacuzzi Martini
Balcony Club 1825 Abrams Rd @ La Vista Dr. Dallas, TX 75214-
6617 214-826-8104

Most Erotic Chocolate Opportunity
Todos Santos in Santa Fe, New Mexico offers a chocolate kama sutra set. Since I visited right after Valentine’s Day, they were sold out. Not surprisingly, they cost $69.  They can ship them anywhere with a weeks notice. I am sorry I could not photograph them to give my readers a titillating preview.

Another interesting offering is “after dinner saints”.  You could also use them after any sin. Saint boxes cost $28 for a box of four, $56 for a box of eight and $84 for twelve saints. I wonder what sins you commit would need a dozen saints for redemption?

Todos Santos Chocolates and Confections, 125 East Palace Avenue #31, Santa Fe, New Mexico (505) 982-3855