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Guilt Complex
Wherein I pay people to do stuff I could totally do myself.
- 126
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14 Places
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Janna’s 5-star review: I went to Lucid for an eyebrow wax a couple weeks ago. I contemplated a facial, but my skin is quite sensitive and even a fantastic one is likely to leave it looking a wee bit raw before the eventual glow-y result. As I didn't want to spend my birthday peeling, I decided to make do with clogged pores for a bit until I have some downtime. Contrary to Mira S.'s complaint, the stuff peeling off your face is actually a good sign, because that's what you're trying to get rid of. Problematic skin is undoubtedly going to mean you have more to purge before you wind up looking radiant. If your skin is sensitive, a facial that doesn't result in peeling probably just isn't very thorough. On to the eyebrow waxing experience. Wow! I'm pretty confident that Catherine evaluated each and every one of the hairs in my brows. It certainly took longer than any other brow waxing I've had (that's a good thing!), and the result was perfect. I'm more than satisfied, and I will definitely return for that and... well... the anti-aging facial. Gulp. Yeah, that birthday was not of the Benjamin Button variety. I am instead getting older, and I don't know why those lines are called "fine". They are not fine, and they are not welcome, and I will gladly peel for a bit if that's what it takes to get rid of them. -
Janna’s 5-star review: I have hired Marisol and her team twice, the first time being when I moved out of an apartment I'd lived in for two and a half years. I stupidly thought I'd have time to clean it myself, and by the time I realized my mistake it was a couple of days before my lease ended. A dozen frantic phone calls later, Marisol was able to accommodate my tight schedule after I explained the situation. They not only arrived on time, but left the place absolutely spotless for a very fair price. They saved my sanity, and also got me 100% of my security deposit back. I hired Marisol again when - ick - my indoor cats managed to contract fleas (To cat owners: treat your kitties with preventive stuff even if they never set foot outside. Ew.). I was mortified as soon as I realized the problem (I had two roommates then), and Orchids Cleaning Services came immediately to the rescue. I had already been to the vet, treated the cats, and sprayed anti-flea stuff everyone, but I wanted to make sure everything was super-clean. Once again, they did a great job. My current apartment is feeling a little un-sparkly, so I am considering having a cleaning service come by sometime. I know exactly who I'll be calling. Why would I go to anyone except Marisol? *Note: I have to add that the only non-5 star review (Shin C) is from a reviewer who has 13 one or two star reviews out of 15 total. Hello, uber-complainer! This type of profile is what makes people dismiss Yelpers as whiny and unfair, and with good reason - why would you trust a person who has so little positive to say? -
Janna’s 5-star review: Nick saved the day! Another hauling service canceled on me with a day's notice, and I had a living room full of stuff to have hauled away in a short timeframe. He was not only able to schedule a pickup for the next day, but was also super friendly about it. He showed up right on schedule, and had all of my unwanted stuff transferred into his truck in no time at all. The price was completely fair, and it was a totally stress-free interaction overall. This was a huge relief after my bad experience with the other place. -
Janna’s 5-star review: I needed some time to myself to de-stress, so I took the day off work and booked a body wrap at Kabuki Springs. Before my appointment, I decided to check out the communal baths experience. I was pleased with both. The baths were fantastic. I had never been here before, or to another business like it. There were perhaps 1-2 dozen women there at any given point in the early afternoon on a Friday, which gave everyone plenty of space. I spent an hour and a half mostly alternating between the wet and dry saunas, with a short stint in the warm pool and a brave foray into the cold. It was incredibly relaxing, and I fully intend to go again. My green tea body wrap went very well, but I don't think I'm partial to this type of treatment in general. The therapist I worked with (I do not remember her name) was very professional and personable, and I think the execution of the wrap was very good. If I were to have another spa treatment, I'd probably go for a massage or facial instead. However, I need another trip to the baths to be sure. I felt very relaxed and detoxed after leaving, but I can't tell whether the sauna would have done that on its own without the addition of the body wrap. I am delighted to have found this lovely business, which also happens to be a short walk from my apartment. -
Janna’s 5-star review: My sister came to town a few years ago and suggested that we go to a Tarot card reader. I had never sought out this service myself, in San Francisco or elsewhere, so I was at a loss as to how to go about it. Of course, Yelp came to the rescue. I find it a little odd to say that I arranged Tarot readings via the internet, but nonetheless the result was positive. I believe in the value of gaining clarity through a Tarot reading. I was raised to, in fact - my mom has a Tarot deck given to her by her Spiritualist grandmother. She doesn't use it often, and never taught me more than the basics of how to interpret the cards. A Tarot reading is not my go-to option when sorting through chaos, but I do consider it to be a viable one. My reading that day wasn't spectacular, but I wasn't that engaged for some reason. As noted, it's not that I'm skeptical - I just had trouble making a connection. My sister, on the other hand, had a phenomenal reading. I won't get into the details, but her life changed significantly thanks to a choice she was compelled to make after leaving The Sword and Rose. I met with Randy a couple of years later to seek guidance on a situation that sucked so spectacularly I was barely functional, let alone able to achieve clarity on my own. In combination with the very accurate cards, he addressed all aspects of the painful issue at hand with minimal detail from me. We sorted through it, and he gently nudged me into reality. It wasn't the reality I wanted, but it was what it was. That day I needed a person I could trust to help me make sense of a miserable situation. He came through with flying colors. Thank you, Randy. -
Janna’s 4-star review: Crystal Cleaners will come to your home, pick up your dirty laundry, wash it, fold it, and bring it back the next day. Whoa. This seemed like a dream come true, until I realized two things: 1) it costs more than doing laundry in a laundromat, and 2) it requires being at home for a specific and significant chunk of time two nights in a row. I'm the type of person who feels guilty about having someone do something for me that I could do myself. Professional movers, a cleaning service, laundry service, you get the idea. I tried to convince myself that the cost of having Crystal Cleaners do my laundry was comparable to doing it at a laundromat, but it's simply not true. As for scheduling, doing laundry at a laundromat takes about one and a half hours. Having Crystal Cleaners pick up my stuff means that I must be at home during what is theoretically an hour-long window. However, I have had the pick-up guy come half an hour early and half an hour late, meaning a safe estimate is two hours. Granted, I can do other stuff at home for two hours on two consecutive nights at home, but I came to realize that I prefer to just squeeze in a laundromat run instead of planning my week around having laundry picked up. These observations, of course, are specific to me. If you have no guilt issues and no scheduling concerns, Crystal Cleaners may actually be your dream come true. They do a fantastic job and never lost any of my stuff. Additionally, you can drop things off yourself and pick them up later, so if you have a car this solves the problem of having to wait around. If you're on the fence, I'd recommend calling in CC in a pinch (or when you're feeling lazy or overwhelmed) and doing your own laundry the rest of the time. -
Janna’s 1-star review: Yelp will not let you rate a business below one star, so allow me to explain that, in this case, 1 is equal to -326.5. Why? This is the total number of dollars I would have lost thanks to Yellow Cab if a flight I was trying to catch had not been delayed. I would subtract even more if I could quantify the possibility of having missed my stepmother's 65th birthday celebration. This is the only time I have taken a cab to the airport. I had booked a Friday early evening flight, and that evening happened to coincide with both Critical Mass and the beginning of Pride weekend. I figured that hiring a professional to drive me through the likely clusterf#%k was my best option, and that if I arranged to be picked up a full hour before I would normally leave, I'd be safe. I had once been told by a Yellow Cab operator that the only circumstance in which they take advance reservations is for airport trips. Armed with this information, I called a couple hours beforehand and made the arrangement. Fast forward to the designated time. Ten minutes passed. I called to make sure the cab was on its way. The next 45 minutes or so are a bit fuzzy, but I did note that I called Yellow Cab nine times. Here's a rough outline of the conversations: One: I am told that the cab is on its way. Two: (10 minutes later) I am told that the cab is on the way. Three: Reservation? What reservation? There's no reservation here. OK, now there's a cab on the way. Four: There's a cab on the way. Five: Ma'am (aside - I hate being called "ma'am"), we don't have any control over the cab drivers. If someone flags them down, the driver might pick them up instead. Six: (after being transferred to a supervisor) La la la la la lame on-hold music... la la la la la CLICK. Disconnected. Seven: There's a cab on the way. Eight: OK, yeah, I told them you're going to miss your flight, the driver will be there right away. Nine: There's a cab on the way. At this late hour, I was pretty much out of viable non-cab options. I called a couple other companies, but they were all slammed due to the 10 zillion extra people in town. Finally, after 45 minutes, a Yellow Cab guy showed up. He was nice, and also drove like a maniac when I told him what was up. I did make it on the flight in the end, but only because it was delayed. I spent the few minutes I had in the gate area composing a Yelp review on my iPhone. I deleted it because it had unladylike content, but it went something like this: These LYING MOTHERF#%ERS DO NOT GIVE A SH!T ABOUT ANYTHING ASIDE FROM GETTING YOU OFF THE PHONE. Yeah, that was the ladylike part. -
Janna’s 5-star review: A year ago I had my jacket cloned. Yes, that is correct: I presented a beloved nine-year-old falling-apart jacket to a genius of a seam-ripping, pattern-making, fabric-cutting, garment-crafting friend of a friend. She created an exact replica of the original item, but made with way awesomer material, wicked cool new snaps, and some sort of fairy dust that makes it even more fantastic than its predecessor. Satin Moon's role in all this, of course, was in supplying the materials. I didn't come here initially - don't kid yourself, it's not cheap - but when I couldn't find anything suitable on any of Britex's four floors, I trekked over to the Inner Richmond to check things out. Somehow, this tiny shop had just what I was looking for. They also had a bunch of fabulous large gunmetal-colored snaps that were the perfect finishing touch. Just finding these items would have made me happy. The entire shopping experience was also great, though. They do have beautiful, unique fabrics, and the women who run the shop know its inventory inside and out. And when I say "out", I mean that literally. I kid you not, when there wasn't enough material for my jacket on the premises, they conferred for a moment and agreed that there was more stored in a specific location in their garage. And then - I am still not making this up - one of them actually went home, picked up the fabric, and brought it back so I could purchase it. All within fifteen minutes. Take that, customer service complainers. Save your pennies and hightail it over to Satin Moon next time you need fabric. It's definitely my Plan A from now on. -
Janna’s 5-star review: Move 28 in 31 years. If I move four times in the next five months, I will not only average 1 per year, but also provide Darragh with a steady stream of business from me alone. They were very efficient, and also used the kind of sense you'd like to describe as "common", but is actually in limited supply. For instance, when I offered the opinion that my bed could be transported in one piece, they politely observed that its intrinsic IKEAn qualities might not withstand the (three block) journey. They took it apart, transported it, and expertly put it back together. This maneuver is easily worth the money I paid them, as I would have either moved it in one piece and broken (or weakened) it, or taken it apart only to put it back together backwards or something. Hire these guys. They know what they're doing, and will get you from Point A to Point B so smoothly you'll actually find that yourself bored silly mid-moving day. -
Janna’s 5-star review: I've had one experience with Sunshine Cleaners, so I can't speak to their general dry cleaning or alteration services. I went there because I was stupid enough to place a lovely leather bag on a park bench with a lingering post-rainstorm puddle. The bottom few inches were left an unattractive, uneven color several shades darker than the rest of the bag. I never really entertained the idea that it might be salvageable, so it sat in a large pile of handbags for about four years. However, after walking by Sunshine's leather cleaning advertisement a gazillion times I thought I'd give it a shot. I am astounded by the result. It looks exactly like a ten-year-old leather bag should, with no sign of the puddle mishap. That pretty much covers it. Five stars, well-earned. -
Janna’s 4-star review: A confluence of factors brought me here: a hopelessly delayed MUNI experience, a Yelp intro special, and a love of funny wordplay. I walked in sober, with icky nails, and lacking any knowledge of the late Queen Mother's youth. I walked out in a champagne-induced haze, beautifully manicured and pedicured, having learned from Vogue that the young Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon collected proposals like petticoats and made Prince Albert beg for her hand in marriage. If that is not time well spent, I do not know what is. I deducted a star because my manicure chipped within a few days. Otherwise, my experience was lovely. They were very attentive, and I think it's fair to describe the complimentary champagne as "free-flowing". Your day might wind up being a lot less productive - and lucid - than you intended, but you're there to relax. Chill out, read some Vogue, have your nails painted a scandalous shade of red. Hand Job is out of my price range without the Yelp-y discount, but otherwise I would probably return on occasion. Maybe I'll just wait until my mom comes to town - after all, love of funny wordplay is a familial trait. -
Janna’s 5-star review: I first went to the Nail Spa after a week of packing, carting my stuff into a new apartment, unpacking, and putting together various IKEA items. My nails were a disgusting mess, and I decided I needed professional help. The experience was so lovely that I went back four times before remembering that pedicures are a luxury expense and that I couldn't justify a "need" for them post-traumatic moving experience (or, honestly, to begin with, but let's not go there). My mom does HIV research for a living, so after a childhood infused with stories of infectious disease, I am hyper-vigilant about avoiding such afflictions. My first move after deciding to indulge was to call salons with decent Yelp reviews until I found one that uses an autoclave to sterilize its tools. The Nail Spa met this criterion, and upon actually showing up, I was pleased to observe them using a new set of clippers/buffers/etc for each client. You watch them take each item out of a sealed packet with color-coded indicators that show the sterilization took place, and they even offer you the nail file after using it to illustrate that they won't be recycling it. Aside from the non-Hepatitis transmitting aspect of the Nail Spa experience, they always did a good job with my nails. My cuticles are generally a disaster no matter what I do, but they managed to keep things under control for about a week before I looked all raggedy again. The color always stuck around for a satisfactory amount of time, too. Nail Spa = good. If you're looking to indulge, check it out! -
Janna’s 5-star review: This is pretty much the best idea ever. Chasing phantom craigslist boxes all over town is crazy when you can hire a friendly and punctual guy like Warren to deliver inexpensive but high-quality stuff to your front door. Moving is always stressful, but I got myself into a ridiculous situation in which I had to to put the usual experience in fast-forward. To make a long story short, I lost my current apartment one Saturday, yet with amazing luck managed to move into a new one the following Sunday. Eight days of mad apartment searching, lease signing, Comcast wrangling, moving day planning, cat boarding (they were the reason I had to leave), and so on left me more than a little overwhelmed. Not having to scare up packing-related stuff was incredibly helpful for my sanity, and my experience with this company was superb. I emailed Warren around 2 AM one night (morning?), and he was at my front door with everything I ordered less than 12 hours later. Everything was tip-top, he was really nice, and the materials really were cheaper than they would be anywhere else (unless you want to play the phantom craigslist box game, or get beat up weird-sized ones from a convenience store). His dog, Tony, was adorable, though he was totally unwilling to enter my apartment. Maybe the landlord set up an anti-pet force field after finding out about the cats? Who knows. Thank you, Warren, for smoothing out one unpleasant wrinkle in my surprise high-speed relocation. -
Janna’s 2-star review: Ugh, I have to rescind my previous positive review. I scheduled another pickup with these guys, and received a confirmation that they'd be there at the requested time. 24 hours in advance, I received the following vaguely coherent email message: "Can we come. Early. 12---2 pm" That wasn't workable for me, so I called them to figure out what to do. I received no apology for the mixup, and - more alarming - no offer for other alternate times. Just "yeah, [the time they already agreed to] is too late." Out of desperation to get rid of the pile of random crap occupying my living room, I asked whether they could come in the morning and be done by [X time]. The guy agreed. After hanging up, I considered the chances they'd 1) show up, and 2) not do anything else to annoy me, and came up with 10-20%. I made a few desperate calls to other places, and wound up going with this place: http://www.yelp.com/biz/nicks-hauling-and-junk-removal-san-francisco. They did an awesome job at short notice, and I therefore shift my loyalties to Nick. I suggest you do the same!
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