Wishing You a

Merry Christmas

and a

Wonderful New Year!

New York City is one of most perfect destinations for families.  You can never run out of things to do and there is something fun for all members of the family.  As a born and raised New Yorker, NYC holds my heart!  The following are my Top 10 Things to Do in NYC with Kids:

1.     MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: Every time we travel there we make it our first stop.  This museum has the best dinosaur exhibits of any museums we’ve been to.  Our favorite sections are: Hall of Ocean Life, Asian Mammals, Hall of Asian Peoples, African Mammals, and African Peoples.

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I have a feeling there are many ladies out there making their Christmas lists because I’ve had several people email me this week asking for recommendations for spa resorts in New England.  If you know me, you know there’s almost NOTHING I like better than a relaxing spa treatment, and especially when it is at a fabulous resort.  The following are 10 spa resorts I’ve been dying to try in New England.  Santa, if you’re reading this, they are all on my list and I haven’t been naughty!

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While in Santorini, we had one night to slip away for some time alone.  Although Mykonos was my first choice, the distance from our island would eat away at our time so we decided to go to the small island of Ios.  My only apprehension was that Ios is known as the party island of the Greek Isles and hundreds of 20-year-olds flock to the island to party the night away.  Being that we were celebrating my 40^th, it was the opposite of what I was looking for.  I was happy to find that these partiers spend the entire day sleeping off their hangovers and the island would be all ours!

Read about our night away HERE.

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Whenever my family returns from vacation, I like to surround us with memories we’ve made on our trip.  Souvenirs are great, but I’m not going to put salt and pepper shakers of the Eiffel Tower on my kitchen table.  So instead of displaying your “My mom went to Italy and all I got was this lousy t-shirt” souvenir, take a look at these creative ways to display memories from your travels.   

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When I dreamed of traveling to Santorini, Greece, I knew I wanted to wake up in Oia, look out my window, and see the traditional postcard view of white cave houses blanketing the hillside.  We decided to live in a traditional cave house to feel immersed into the community during our week-long stay. 

We arrived at midnight, but the walk through town to our home for the week woke us right up.  After seeing our view, we decided to skip the bars and instead grab a beer and sit on our veranda to enjoy our first glimpse of Santorini. I had been dreaming of that moment for years.

 The next morning, I opened the door to our room and my jaw dropped when I saw what was in front of me.

Click here to read all about it… 

Squam Lake Natural Science Center

As soon as we walked into the Squam Lake Natural Science Center, we knew it would be unlike any animal park we’ve been to.  My girls immediately let their creativity take over and pretended to be wildlife explorers scouring the forest for animals.  At the Science Center you don’t find an animal in a cage, you walk to each exhibit through beautifully maintained trails until you reach the animal in a lovely natural habitat. There are 232 acres of fields, forests, and wetlands. You can tell great lengths are taken to see that the animals are well cared for.  Most of these animals are rescued and will spend the rest of their lives in their safe, protected new home.  Let me show you some of our favorite moments of our day.

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Don’t get me wrong…my husband and kids are the BEST people to travel with and I’m fortunate that we get to do it all the time but I can’t help being a teeny bit jealous when friends tell me they are traveling alone on business trips.  Ok…some days I’m so jealous I may actually turn a slight shade of green.  The realistic part of my brain knows they will miss their family but the dreamy part pictures them sitting out by the pool with a glass of wine and a good book.  That may be pushing it but I’m pretty sure no one is yelling from their bathroom, “There’s no more toilet paper and I’ve just pooped!”

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If you are looking for a quintessential New England coastal town, Freeport Maine may be exactly what you want.  Shopping, hiking, boating, amazing restaurants…what more could you ask for? Just two blocks from downtown, the Harraseeket Inn is the perfect place to call home during your trip.  My daughters and I had the pleasure of staying there and it exceeded our expectations.  Click below to read all about our stay…

Two nights at the Harraseeket Inn…