Judy Freedman

We visited two, Longboat Key, which is at the northern end with 12 miles of shoreline, and Caspersen Beach in Venice (there’s a Venice in Florida too) where there is a boardwalk. ♥ Cultural and historic attractions: One of the reasons I like vacations to places like St. Pete and Sarasota versus a Caribbean island, is that there are so many cultural and historic attractions to visit. However, if you like roses, I recommend Mabel’s Rose Garden at the Ringling Estate where the Ringling Museum is located. I wished I could have gone on one of the walking tours through downtown’s historic districts as well.

” said Mackenzi, the esthetician at Moxie Blue Salon in Old City, Philadelphia, as I completed my pre-facial intake form, took off my eyeglasses, climbed up on the massage table and closed my eyes. * Not only does Moxie Blue offer exceptional haircut, color, and styling services, but they are one of the only salons in the Philadelphia area offering the HydraFacial,” said Dominique. This resurfaces the skin, it’s a deeper exfoliation” said Mackenzi. I received a complimentary HydraFacial at Moxie Blue Salon in Old City, Philadelphia.

Brace yourself, it’s going to be very, very cold as we go in search of the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis, as it is also known. In case you missed my earlier posts, this trip to Lapland was part of my complimentary Northern Lights of Finland Tour, a new small group itinerary from Explorations by Collette Travel. After our first long ride out under the cold night sky in search of the Northern Lights, after my toes almost froze in hopes that the skies would light up in green and blue waves, after seeing the big dipper but not the Aurora Borealis — Yes, that’s exactly how I felt when I closed my eyes and looked out at the thousands of trees covered with snow and the night sky covered with stars in Lapland.

So when Roxanne Jones came to me to ask to share her new book project about what retirement is really like, I said “yes. Entitled Voices from the Other Side…of Retirement, it will contain insights on what retirement is really like from women who’ve already left the working world. My co-author Leslie Inman and I are inviting retired women to add their voices to this book by sharing the story of what their retirement experience looks and feels like, what they’ve learned—and what they wish they’d known before they stepped away from work. If you’d like to be part of this project and share your hard-earned insights about retirement, simply go to www.retirementvoices.com and complete our online questionnaire.