I often tell the story about selling our books and bookshelves when we decided to move to the Caribbean. We literally had an entire room in our house that we used as a library with floor to ceiling bookshelves and we took very few books with us when we left. Now we have Kindles, so we purchase Amazon books electronically, download them to the computer and usb them into our Kindles. It seems odd, but it is so nice traveling with 100s of book in something the size of a small trade paperback. Read Full Story

In my ongoing search for the best eye cream I have finally settled on a product that is rich enough to feel moisturizing yet light enough to wear every day in this harsh Caribbean climate. And no, it is not a special brand that is hard to find. I use Loreal's basic RevitaLift® Eye Cream and it works really well and is easy for me to buy. Read Full Story

This year Parrot Cay picked up FOUR Spa Finder Readers Choice Awards (fully half of COMO Shambhala's EIGHT awards). We won for: * Best for Yoga * Best for Water * Best for Romance * Favorite Spa Manager (Susan Allison) I must say that I am quite disturbed by the lack of a fitness or Pilates category! I really think that in this day and age Spa Finder, which even lists us as one of the rare Caribbean spas with Pilates equipment, would not have Pilates or Fitness as a "best of" category. M... Read Full Story

The big new insurance program in Turks and Caicos is the National Health Insurance plan, which is an extra 4% out of salaries. What is interesting is that the hospital is not yet completed, nobody has met the new doctors or knows anything about how it will actually work, but we all submitted our paper work dutifully to the government. Makes me want to look for life insurance quotes :-), but at least I am thankful that we have private health insurance for the moment that covers everything as... Read Full Story

As I am generally a fan of magical fantasy and urban dark fantasy, this novel sounded like it would be right my alley and it was! I can't tell you the last time I picked up a novel that was so captivating that I read it in basically 2 or 3 sittings, and that's what happened with Child of Fire: A Twenty Palaces Novel. Harry Connolly is a new talent and this is the first of a series, so there are still questions left unanswered at the end of this book that I assume will be fleshed out in the fu... Read Full Story

Luckily when we go away for 6 weeks I have someone on island who cleans and watches the house for us, so at least when we return things are clean and we don't have to start from scratch. The problem this year is the power was off at our housing for the entire 6 weeks, so there was some cleaning that could not be done. Now that we are back and the power is on I plan to borrow one of our steam cleaners and give the place a good deep cleaning.Tags: steam cleaners Read Full Story

Computer or hard drive failures can be a pain in the a** at the very best of times, but in a small Caribbean country it can take at least a few days to get new hardware and there are very few places that offer data recovery assistance. Plus the environment here is not conducive to electronics (think salt air, moisture, and heat). So several of my friends have started using online backup services to save their data. Makes sense!Tags: Caribbean, Turks and Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands, da... Read Full Story

Enjoy a luxurious pampering spa and pilates retreat day at the best hotel/spa in Turks and Caicos!Experience Parrot Cay, our award winning COMO Shambhala Spa, and a day of Lynda Lippin's Strength Without Struggle Pilates Retreat, including boat transfers, the daily Pilates retreat schedule, lunch, and a 60 minute COMO Shambhala Massage.Available Wednesday 11th November - Friday 13th November, 2009.$480 + tax & service charge.Tags: Parrot Cay, Pilates, Health, Fitness, Lynda Lippin, Turks ... Read Full Story

It's time for a confession - I am a product junkie. I love products! Creams, lotions, serums, bath fizzies, eye creams, masks, cuticle oils... I could spend hours in a store like Sephora or Bath & Body Works. For a long time I have been searching for the best under eye cream, as I have circles and a few fine lines. So far I haven't found any that I love, but I still keep looking.Tags: Lynda Lippin, Health, eye cream Read Full Story

While I was in New York I spoke with a lot of people about weight loss and weight loss supplements, including personal trainers, yoga & pilates teachers, and my clients who range from PR execs to fashion models. All agreed with me that in the end the only way to lose weight and keep it off is through lifestyle changes in diet and exercise. If your behavior doesn't change neither will your waistline!Tags: weight loss, Health, Fitness Read Full Story