Muscles, like the tails of sleeping cats or levers labeled “drain ocean,” were never meant to be pulled. Reverse the damage with today's Groupon: for $75, you get a couples-massage package that includes chocolates served in a candlelit room at The Oasis Salon & Spa in Springfield (a $150 value).

The Oasis Salon & Spa’s skilled massage therapists team up during one-hour couples massages to help to imbue bodies with supple, pillowy feelings of relaxation. Pairs of spa-goers can saunter into a private treatment room, which the staff sprinkles with chocolates and permeates with the warm glow of soft, flickering candles that burn gently, like a star whose core is chamomile tea instead of plasma hydrogen. Two treatment beds, nuzzled side by side, create a tranquil atmosphere in which couples can enjoy each other's company while soft music floats around.

A pair of therapists animates the Swedish modality to send serenity gliding across bodies, from which tension flees in fear. To encourage the best possible results, the experts coat their hands in exotic essential oils, helping to destress stiff muscles, stimulate circulation, and expunge unwanted toxins. The 60-minute experience aims to leave clients feeling refreshed and more limber than Gumby moonlighting as a slinky.

Groupon Says

The Groupon Guide to: Being a Good Friend

Is being a good friend the most important job? Way more important than teacher?

Read more...

Going to the theater lets you take in dramatic scenes at a safe distance, much like listening to your neighbors argue about how to pronounce "gnocchi." Hide behind the fourth wall with today’s GrouponLive deal to see Almost, Maine presented by the Sinclair Community College Theatre Department at Blair Hall Theatre. For $15, you get two adult tickets for reserved seating, which will be assigned when calling the box office (a $30 value). Choose from the following options:

• Friday, February 24, at 8 p.m.
• Saturday, February 25, at 8 p.m.
• Sunday, February 26, at 2 p.m.
• Friday, March 2, at 8 p.m.
• Saturday, March 3, at 8 p.m.

Shrouded in the winter’s frigid cold and the Northern Lights’ ethereal beauty, the residents of the titular small town in Almost, Maine fall in and out of love during nine loosely linked vignettes performed by Sinclair’s ensemble cast. Written by John Cariani, the play thawed Off Broadway hearts six years ago in a debut that drew the New York Sun to herald it as a tale of “love in the time of frostbite.” Each of the short pieces chronicles two characters who lament love lost or revel in budding romance and long johns magically overflowing with $5 bills. In one scene, a young woman carries her broken heart in a balled-up paper bag she clutches to her chest. In another, a married couple lobs verbal jabs and emotional roundhouses at each other while looking for a missing shoe. Many of the mini plays skewer reality with a fantastical lance, the enchanted devices often directing the characters' precarious ventures of the heart. The mysticism of Almost, Maine is further reflected by the colorful history of Blair Hall Theatre, rife with supernatural stories, ghost sightings, and actors with sparkling smiles that cast no reflections.

Although Sinclair Community College occasionally offers discounted tickets online, this Groupon still offers the best deal available.

Groupon Says

The Groupon Guide to: Writing an Urban Legend

Can I make an urban legend from soap?

Read more...

Pancakes, like acrobats, are easily stacked but make children cry when they topple to the ground. Have a balanced breakfast with today’s Groupon: for $7, you get $15 worth of breakfast and lunch fare at The Butter Cafe.

The Butter Cafe's chefs have designed a menu dedicated to healthy culinary experiences by populating it with breakfast and lunch fare forged from organic dairy, local and organic veggies, and free-range, locally sourced meat and eggs. Topped with sweet-cream butter alongside maple syrup, fluffy buttermilk pancakes arrive in a stack of three discs dusted with powdered sugar ($5.50) and make mouths forget about whatever they were thinking about. Servings of french-toast kabobs, alternatively, present themselves creatively skewered with grilled strawberries and pineapple ($7.95). Three-egg omelets metaphorically hail from Paris by enveloping chèvre and roasted mushrooms ($7.95), while the mexican omelet packs a mélange of cheddar, jalapeños, and house-made salsa ($8). Lunchtime begins at 10:30 a.m. and champions BLTs ($6.50) and vegan burgers ($7.50), as well as presenting house salads ($6) topped with onion, cucumbers, and croutons as crunchy as a cannonball's journey through Styrofoam peanuts to a bed of tortilla chips.

Groupon Says

The Groupon Guide to: Office Icebreakers

Is lack of self-confidence contagious?

Read more...

Originally a still-life art form, boudoir photography switched to human subjects when clothiers stopped making apple-size garter belts. Bite the fruits of seduction this Valentine's Day with today's Groupon: for $35, you get a boudoir photography package at Nixon Photography in Germantown (a $149 total value). The package includes:

• A 30-minute shoot in one outfit with one set or backdrop of choice (a $99 value)
• Choice of one pose, from 20 proofs, on a high-resolution digital file (a $50 value)

The shutterbugs at Nixon Photography shoot tasteful, enticing boudoir portraits of women of all ages and sizes in a modern Germantown studio replete with artful studio lighting. During the private, 30-minute photo shoots, seductresses can stand, sit, or execute their best impression of a bendy straw in front of one backdrop or set of their choice. After the posing concludes, two optional Facebook photos give subjects a sneak peak of the shoot's results, and later, clients can review all of the photos in a password-protected gallery on Nixon's website. Each model gets to choose one pose out of 20 proofs to receive in a high-resolution digital file, which they can subsequently print in sizes up to 8”x12” as a holiday surprise to a special someone, such a lucky Valentine or favorite groundhog.

Groupon Says

The Groupon Guide to: Writing an Urban Legend

Can I make an urban legend from soap?

Read more...

Fresh flowers spruce up Valentine's Day dates easier than making your own candy or paying your nephew to dress as a Cupid-themed living statue. Arm yourself with amorous bouquets with today’s Groupon: for $20, you get $40 worth of flowers and gifts from FTD. FTD offers same-day delivery in most areas for orders placed by 2 p.m. in the recipient’s time zone. Service or shipping fees vary widely based on order and delivery dates but typically range from $15.99 to $29.99. For detailed instructions on how to redeem your FTD Groupon, click here.

FTD steeps rooms in the fresh scents of spring with hundreds of thoughtful bouquets delivered by artisan florists or sheathed in gold organza and shipped in an award-winning gift box. Yield to Cupid’s arrow and persistent text messages by presenting a loved one with an FTD-exclusive Sweethearts bouquet, a heart-hued collection of red roses and burgundy mini carnations elegantly interspersed with sprigs of greenery in an etched glass vase ($44.99–$64.99). Or follow a more polychromatic path with the My Everything Valentine's Day bouquet, an unexpected marriage of deep-red roses and white Asiatic lilies ($29.99–$59.99). Red roses and pink lilies spring forth from a sculpted red vase in the Lasting Romance bouquet ($69.99–$94.99), and a spray of 12 long-stemmed roses ($49.99; $59.99 with vase) stands firmly on stems that measure around 16 inches without heels. FTD backs each floral arrangement with a satisfaction guarantee, which pledges that flowers and plants will remain fresh and keep their bedrooms tidy for at least seven days.

Those looking beyond the bloom can peruse FTD’s gift galleria, which encompasses a smorgasbord of specialty gifts, including jewelry and chocolates. Live plants, such as orchids ($39.99+) or miniature roses ($19.99+), outlive their clipped comrades with a simple regimen of watering and pruning, and silk floral displays brighten up sunless corners and survive solely on nightly bedtime stories.

Groupon Says

The Groupon Guide to: Office Icebreakers

Is lack of self-confidence contagious?

Read more...