Something Holistic - in New York?

Weekend mornings are quiet in Manhattan - even when it's not a holiday. I can appreciate a city where any hour before noon is seemingly uncivilized - and brunch is served proudly until 4 PM. Finally, a place that gets it.

Taking advantage of the quiet city, I headed to (shocker) Exhale for some Core Fusion at noon, while Brad went for a run. After taunting us with the possibility of rain, this morning unveiled clear sunshine and 84-degree weather, which is expected to maintain throughout the week. So what better time than today to, after our workouts, take Moby for his first NY bath? Because after a trip across the country and romps throughout the parks, he was...decidedly...funky.

I, of course, had done some earlier research on the proper bathing establishment for Moby. We don't have him professionally groomed. The only folks besides us who bathe him are the staff at his SF daycare spot. And after seeing some of the dogs in this city with their wild blowouts and pom-pom hair, we weren't about to turn him over to a salon for the first time...here.

A search for "self-service dog bathing" in the area didn't yield many results - but Holistic Hydrosurge stood out as a bright spot in the small bunch. The owner has some crazy dog grooming and handling credentials; has patented some sort of super-dog-bathing-hose, and really hit my San Francisco soft spot with claims of holistic care. In fact, his baths (which you do yourself, with his guidance) even massage your dog's spleen and liver, promoting better health! I love this place.

And Moby loved it to. After combining some ingredients the owner promised would "bring out his highlights," (his words, NOT mine), Moby looked very pleased. Sure, it cost 4x as much as a normal self-service bath back home - and more than 2x SF daycare bathing services - but it's HOLISTIC!

We rewarded ourselves with legitimate NY bagels from H&H (YUM) - a strong recovery after I accidentally took a fork to my NY pizza last night - oops. You can take the girl out of California, but you cannot take the California out of the girl.