When Joan Hug of Los Angeles, California was finally able to take a vacation from her overbooked days as the favorite facialist at a very well known Sunset Boulevard salon, she and her (future ex-) husband drove up north to Petaluma, where they wandered into a wonderful little shop that had ‘loaves’ of fabulously colored, beautifully scented soaps.Joan had never seen soaps like that before and they completely captured her imagination. “My clients would love that,” she thought. So she bought a loaf of the Blue Marine and one of the Cinnamon Spice. The fun part was the special tray and soap cutter that would fit perfectly on the shelf above the sink in her treatment room.The first day back, a client wanted practically all the Blue Marine, but Joan convinced her to settle for a “slice.” By the end of the third day she was sold out and ready to go back up north to restock. Within two months, the two loaves had turned into four, and the little shelf turned into a display case that finally outgrew her little room at the salon and became The Humble Abode. Two years later Joan took over all the massage and treatment rooms on the top floor. Then she expanded downstairs and added a hair salon and gift shop on the main floor.A year later Joan added endermologie and chiropractic, and two years after that the accountant and the architect on the other side of the courtyard had been moved out to make room for Joan’s new Pilates Studio. Today The Humble Abode Spa is one of the most popular full service day spas in the city. The net net is, go with your instincts, follow your nose and for goodness sake, take a vacation once in a while. Check it out at The Humble Abode.