Valentines Day is right around the corner – which of course brings to mind some of my favorite things: flowers and chocolate! 

The red rose, which in flower language means true love, is the most popular flower bought by men on Valentine’s Day. I was recently told about some roses that claim to be the world’s tallest at over 5 feet.  Grown near volcanoes in Ecuador, the climate is apparently ideal for these organic roses.  Even at $250 per dozen, the roses are sold out for the month of February.  For details see Organic Bouquet. 

One of the most striking boxes of chocolates I’ve seen recently is from Godiva’s jewel-toned G Hearts collection. Not only are these hearts gorgeous, they also come in flavors like Passion orange, Tahitian vanilla, Lemon Drop, Mexican hot chocolate and Bananas foster.  Yum! 

If you’re looking for a local chocolate maker to buy something for your valentine, check out this handy chocolate finding site.

Links:  Godiva   |   Language of flowers  

One of my first small business ventures was creating a portable carrying case for the Mac when it was introduced in 1984.  At the time there was an incredible amount of excitement surrounding the Mac and its groundbreaking design.  More portable than other competing computers, it only weighed 20 pounds.  Our Mac carrying case was a tasteful charcoal gray with a rainbow-colored logo and was featured in MacWorld magazine. 

Today’s laptops have come a long way in the portability department.  It’s pretty easy to go online and find a 4 lb laptop.  However it wasn’t too long ago that you had one choice for a laptop carrying case – black nylon.  Not anymore! There’s an amazing selection of laptop cases for the girl on the go, spanning the whole spectrum of styles.

For a great overview of some of the fashion choices – check out the Funky, Chic and Cool Laptop Bags, and Laptop Bag Explorer articles on Squidoo.  

You can find the laptop bags pictured above at:

 - careerbags.com

- edotsquare.com

- francesandgrace.com

- acmemade.com

Spa-going is a popular activity in Scottsdale, Arizona even during the holidays.  Yesterday my sister and I went to The Phoenician’s Centre for Well-Being for a facial.  After trying to book spa services at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, the Sanctuary Camelback Mountain, the Camelback Inn and the Royal Palms Hotel Spa – all of which were full -  we felt lucky to get the few remaining slots at The Phoenician.  The Phoenician, located on 250 acres at the base of Camelback Mountain, has been one of the top resorts in Scottsdale, AZ for many years.  Rooms rates average $500/night, so it seemed reasonable to assume the spa would be exceptional as well.

Unfortunately, my facialist had all the spa etiquette of a fish monger.   After hailing me from across the meditative waiting room in a booming voice (“Come on… let’s get to it!”)  I felt like I was in one of those strip mall day spas, instead of a 5 star resort.  The treatment room at The Phoenician was a disappointment as well.  My main view of the room during the facial was the ceiling, which had cheap tiles and industrial looking vents.  Call me particular, but for a $150 facial I expect something a little more soothing.

In all fairness, once I closed my eyes and ears,  it was clear my facialist had good technique and knew what she was doing. After numerous cleansing, moisturizing and steaming steps my face did feel refreshed. 

The spa seems overdue for renovation and care in general.  I saw doors in need of paint, wallpaper coming unglued in the locker room and a lack of décor throughout.   Getting ready in the locker room was a challenge at times - we were either bumping into the spa staff who seemed impatient to finish their duties or dodging a rather large linen cart.  My shower had old razors from previous bathers.

Needless to say,  I don’t recommend the Phoenician Spa  - it has a long way to go to be on par with the other spa options in Scottsdale.

2007 Gingerbread Grand prize winner made by Patricia Howard.
Photo Credit: © The Grove Park Inn.

I love visiting gingerbread villages during the holidays.  Many of them are joint efforts between architects and pastry chefs who team up and spend countless hours in order to create idyllic miniature villages. Most of these villages are sold to benefit a variety of charities.  I try not to let a holiday season go by without paying homage to this wonderful tradition.  

Here are a few of the gingerbread displays around the country that you may want to check out before January:

Grove Park Inn (Asheville, NC)
Home of the National Gingerbread House Competition each year. This year’s Grand prize winner’s creation is shown above.

Holiday Gingerbread Village at Sheraton Seattle
Seattle’s top architecture firms team up with Sheraton Seattle Hotel’s culinary staff to design, bake and build gingerbread holiday creations  benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund. See http://www.nutcrackermarch.org/ for other Seattle holiday events.

15th Annual Gingerbread Village, Prescott, AZ
Over 100 edible & enchanting castles, estates, houses, electric trains, cookie decorating for the kids (Prescott Conference Center through Dec. 27)

Holiday Sugar Castle, St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco
The Sugar Castle is a 12-foot rotating castle which resembles a French Chateau. Weighing in at over 1,000 pounds of confection, the castle has more than 20 towers, 30 rooms and is surrounded by a quaint village and a running train.

Westin Annapolis
This gingerbread village features over 40 houses and historical buildings reminiscent of downtown Annapolis.

Las Vegas Four Seasons - This swiss gingerbread village uses 350 pounds of sugar, 180 pounds of flour, 90 pounds of chocolate and 360 eggs.  

What’s your favorite place to see gingerbread displays? 

On cold, rainy days like this, it’s nice to be able sip a hot drink and do my Christmas shopping from the comfort of home. Being able to browse through a seemingly limitless inventory of products for exactly what I want is one of the great benefits of online shopping. Many of the online stores are offering free shipping as well.

Before you check-out with your online shopping cart of selections, be sure to do a quick search for coupon codes. Some of the popular coupon code sites are:

• CouponCabin.com
• RetailMeNot.com
• CurrentCodes.com
• CouponMountain.com

Some of these sites have coupon codes for over 2,000 stores.  Once you find a coupon code, there’s usually a place to enter a coupon or promotional code in your store’s check-out page.

Saving $10 here and $20 there using coupon codes can amount to some significant savings.  Just think – this could be the fun money for your next girls trip!

The Biltmore is one of America’s great estates.  Once home to the super-rich Vanderbilts, it covers 8,000 acres and is located in Asheville, North Carolina.  The mansion, which is the largest private residence in America, is especially beautiful during the holidays. 

Carrying on a long-held tradition since George W. Vanderbilt first welcomed friends and family to Biltmore on Christmas Eve 1895, the estate celebrates Christmas on a grand scale.  When visiting Biltmore from now until January 1st, you’ll see nearly 100 decorated trees with thousands of ornaments, 1,000 wreaths, almost 1,500 poinsettias and miles of evergreen garland.  Live holiday musical performances are also scheduled until the end of December. 

If you’d like to see the mansion lit by candlelight, check out their Christmas Candlelight Evening tours. You can purchase tour tickets on their website - be sure to reserve before your visit.  A tour ticket includes one evening visit as well as an additional visit of the mansion’s gardens, winery and restaurants during the day.  

Here are some suggestions for lodging options.

Links: The Biltmore

Thanksgiving is just a few days away and is the perfect opportunity for those of you who aspire to be a pastry queen.  Pie, the traditional dessert for Thanksgiving, is probably the easiest pastry you can make.

For pie purists, the crust is a key element, so whatever you do, don’t start with a frozen pie crust.  If you don’t want to hunt for a rolling pin, use what other pastry chefs use in a pinch. The refrigerated Pillsbury all-ready pie crust is about as close as you can get to homemade with a store bought crust.

Here are some of my favorite pie and tart recipes – most have been served in our family for years.  Try these out and you’re sure to move one step closer to being the pastry queen in your circle of family and friends.

MORE »

Recently I read a book that made me think of vacations in a brand new way.  Most of my vacations in the past have focused on family and relaxation. The vacations described in the book, The 100 Best Vacations to Enrich Your Life, focus on improving yourself and the world.  Author Pam Grout describes arts & crafts getaways, volunteer vacations, learning retreats and wellness escapes designed to give you an expanded perspective on life. 

If you’re looking to become more creative, you could paint at Georgia O’Keeffe’s ranch, make a film in New York City, or design your dream home in Frank Lloyd Wright’s studio.  These are just a small sampling of the creative opportunities listed in the book.

For volunteer vacations, you could pick orchids or harvest coffee beans at an organic farm in Hawaii, protect loggerhead sea turtles on Georgia’s sea coast, or help unearth history at Mount Vernon.

For an educational retreat, you could learn about marine science and bird life at a remote research island in Maine, learn Spanish in a quaint village in Mexico, or choose from over 1200 summer seminars at an idyllic New York learning institution.

There are several options listed in the wellness escapes section – yoga retreat destinations and historic spas being among them.

According to Pam, most people want “to contribute, to create and to grow”.  If that’s true for you, this book will give you a wealth of ideas for your next vacation.

Amazon link

Are you grumbling instead of looking forward to the holidays?  Here’s a sure way to get you into the holiday spirit.  The Ritz-Carlton Spa Orlando, Grande Lakes is offering festive and delicious reasons to indulge. Their holiday spa treatments incorporate everyone’s favorite treats like hot apple pie, chocolate and pumpkin to rejuvenate, refresh and remove the Scrooge. 

Here’s a sampling:

Hot Apple Pie & Vanilla Massage
A massage using warm cinnamon apple pie oil tingles the sense and relaxes the mind.  This mouth-watering treatment is topped off with a highly moisturizing vanilla shea butter scalp massage. 
50 minutes - $140

Pumpkin Glow Rejuvenation Facial
This purifying anti-ageing facial uses Pumpkin or wild black cherry enzymes to reduce fine lines, deep cleanse and refine the pores and nourishes from the inside out, leaving the skin look radiant and ready for your favorite holiday party. (Inclusive eyebrow waxing or shaping) 60 minutes - $175

Café & Spearmint Glow Massage
A soothing & detoxifying coffee scrub exfoliates away dry skin and leaves the body smooth and refreshed.  After a warm shower using a coffee cleansing gel, a full body massage is performed using a refreshing mint body lotion to nourish and pamper dry skin.
75 minutes - $215

Cinnamon & Vanilla Chocolate Martini Escape
Indulge yourself in the essence of chocolate from the inside out with the ultimate chocolate pedicure experience that will soften and renew the skin and rejuvenate your nails.  Indulge in the touch and taste of a warm soak, Cinnamon sugar exfoliation mask and a Vanilla Shea butter moisturizing treatment that is blissful, all the while feasting on Ginger cookies and sipping a delectable chocolate Martini.
50 minutes - $120

Contact the Ritz-Carlton Spa for more details.

Last week for our girls’ night out we decided to try something new and took a local cooking class. Our “Autumn Flavors” class was taught by Chef Ray – a Vermont native and a graduate of the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park, New York.  He was there to teach us how to make a classic autumn meal.  The menu was promising: it included romaine & endive salad with honey balsamic vinaigrette, oven seared pork tenderloin with braised fennel, roasted butternut squash, rosemary rissole potatoes and apple cranberry tart for dessert.

We sipped our wine as Chef Ray prepared each course for the class, demonstrating cutting techniques, sharing cooking tips and answering questions along the way.  As each course was ready, we were all served and got to taste the result.  Which was good, because I was able to see which parts of the menu I liked and which parts were just so-so. During the class the aroma of pork, rosemary and apples was incredible – I felt like I was back in Vermont on a cool fall evening. 

By the end of the class we’d enjoyed a wonderful meal and were ready to tackle the menu on our own.  If you haven’t tried a cooking class recently, give it a try!  Check with your local upscale food market (Whole Foods, Central Market, Draeger’s, Wegmans, etc.) for upcoming classes.