Since I was already quite familiar with Armory Park Inn, I knew what to expect. But I was still surprised. Our group of 7 women arrived at the inn to the most warm and special welcome. I won't go into too many details here as I always hope people will experience things through their own eyes and senses without too much influence from my words. But I will say the food, full breakfast, and every 5 o'clock Armory Hour are quite the culinary experience at this beautiful historic inn just 5-minute Read more [...]

On a visit to Florida last year with my children the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center was certainly a highlight of the trip. Highly recommend a visit to this well-run, educational experience. The center is clearly dedicated to the preservation of our natural environment and wildlife resources . The volunteers and staff are extremely knowledgeable and demonstrate a sincere love and dedication for their work. Gumbo Limbo's website touts itself as a coastal and marine experience unlike any other Read more [...]

If you're ever in need of some good news, no-brainer stimulation as I have been a lot in the past few years, watch the Emmy award-winning Undercover Boss. You'll find it on CBS and Hulu. The concept is clever and the layers of entertainment are many. Seeing how companies operate from an inside, hidden-camera perspective, how execs deal with and participate in the actual work done by their many employees, hearing the real-people stories of the lives of the employees and their families, and then Read more [...]

Update: Will, by Will Smith, another 5 Heart Rating, is one of the best books I have ever listened to. It's been so long since I've done a 5 Heart Rating post that I had to answer security questions just to sign in! So for my very first post in a while, I'm going to do something a little different and share my favorite 5 Heart-rated books you may want to consider for your summer reading list. Here they are in no particular order. And I should mention I listened to all of them on audio: Shantaram Read more [...]

Monsoon Chocolate, in the Armory Park neighborhood near downtown Tucson, is THE coolest place I've happened upon this year. Recently, I had the opportunity to do some work for a lovely historic boutique inn, Armory Park Inn - another 5 Heart Rating, just blocks away from Monsoon Chocolate. Shortly after I had arrived in Tucson, while doing my usual thing of familiarizing myself with nearby businesses and what-to-dos, I found Monsoon Chocolate. Never in a zillion years would I have imagined Read more [...]