The simple blessing of being here

A personal note from Juli: A year and half later, I might finally be starting to be adjusting to a life here sometimes and in Colorado the rest of the time.   Colorado has offered all that we required when we moved and I am eternally grateful, but I have to say- St. John still feels like home.

As we prepared for the journey down here, I found myself getting frazzled by what has become the hassle of flying these days.  Inflated airfare prices, security checks- shoes off, shoes on, does that qualify as a child's liquid, overweight baggage, extras charges for everything, and seemingly smaller seats had me thinking I was never going to travel by air again.  Motion sickness in the taxi from the airport, missing the targeted ferry, traffic and noise!  But then....
                                                                 ...sigh....
you board that ferry, sit down and breathe in the sweet air of Caribbean breezes.  Suddenly it is worth every hardship.  Just to be here- for the holidays!  Away from the mass-produced commercialism that has become the holiday shopping season and away from the cold.   Colorado and the East Coast may have had a picture-perfect White Christmas, but we had the beach!

My favorite parts about being down here are the friendly faces.  Whether you have been to St. John twice or twenty times, chance are you will recognize some people from your last trip.  Those of us that live here are loyal to this little rock and we love to share it's beauty with travelers. 

Inspired by Dana's article on stand-up paddle boarding, I tried it.  What a wonderful way to spend a day!  This is an activity that one can do alone, with friends, or even with your small children.  If you haven't tried SUP yet, I encourage you to read our Winter newsletter for some tips and GET ON THE WATER!  If you are familiar with sup, then why are you sitting in front of your computer?  Get to the beach!

I wish you all a blessed and peaceful 2013.  May this year help us to move past some of the darker parts of 2012. 

Interested in the January promo?  Check the website for savings on gel nails.  New promos every month so make sure we have your email address!

Good Afternoon from the beautiful island of St. John, in the US Virgin Islands!  My name is Dana Neil and I am the new manager at Drift Away Day Spa, the premier day spa in the VI.  As I sit on my porch overlooking the south shore of our tiny Caribbean island I am reminded how lucky we are to have such beauty surrounding us.  SO, whether you live here on-island with us or you are a visitor to our little piece of paradise, or if you are just dreaming of the day you too can join us here on St. John, we at Drift Away wish you all a very warm Hello!! 

               As September settles around us, the island of 5,000 seems to be at its sleepiest.  Though we are in the heart of storm season, the weather could not be more peaceful and sultry.  The water is 80 degrees and clear, perfect for snorkeling or just floating in the sun.  I, myself, spent the day with friends at Cinnamon Bay this past weekend, soaking up the sun and feeling the soft white sand between my toes.  With all that sun, even with all the sunscreen I applied, I still managed to be just a touch too sun-kissed, but not to fear…Drift Away always has something just right to make my skin feel better!  Eminence has a line of products derived from the plant Stone Crop, which is all about hydrating the skin.  The Stone Crop Hydrating Gel soothes, heals and evens skin tone to help minimize skin pigmentation, fine lines, wrinkles and the signs of old or even new blemishes.  Stone Crop also increases the hydration of skin and slows the signs of aging!  YES!  That sounds like it’s just what I (and every other woman I know) want. 

               As I sit back and listen to the waves run up onto the shoreline and see the kaleidoscope of intense island colors surrounding me I cannot help but be lulled into a peacefulness I sometimes forget about when I am going on about my busy day.  I have to remind myself to slow down and FEEL the beauty our island of St. John brings to us.  When I move too fast, I forget sometimes to listen to what my body needs, and in this sleepy time of late summer I am reminded to slow down and take care of myself…for it is the PERFECT time to totally lose myself in a massage treatment or a body scrub.  Allowing that peace to settle over me as my muscles and bones are convinced to relax and enjoy!  I mean, who wants to say no to that sentiment??  Certainly, not this girl J 

A special thanks to everyone who participated in the Fun-raiser at Lime Inn! The event was a smashing success with happy faces all around. Thanks to tech support by Culver Consulting, the guest of honor was able to view the antics of friends and family. Chris wants to say a very special THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to this very fun event.


Juli and Scott want to say Hi to all our special friends on St. John. We miss you all so much and wanted to let you know that we are finding the services that Scott needs in Colorado. We've been blessed to have met a great team of specialists and are getting many benefits from resources not available in the islands. Thanks to you all for for your love and support in our journey.

New this month at Drift Away: We have microdermabrasion available as a full time service now! Take advantage of our July Savings to get the great skin you've been wanting. A special offer for clients who have not experienced microderm with us before: Try a 30 minute Express Micro for only $49.

Everyone was shocked when our dear friend, Christine, was diagnosed with throat cancer.

Chris flew up to Boston this month and has begun treatments at the Dana Farber center. Her husband is with her and they are both remaining strong and positive about the process. Chris's birthday present this year was learning that her cancer was localized only to the throat and had not spread anywhere else in her boday.

While the island misses her greatly, she can feel our love and support and is ever grateful for true friends and family. We all look forward to her return to health and return to St. John.

There will be a fundraiser at the Lime Inn on June 11th- a Saturday Night Fever Extravaganza! Please contact Chris Meyers, Judy Whitley, or Susan Stair for details and tickets.

It was like "Service Industry Day" at the spa today! As we started a birthday party celebration for a special group we came to realize that every one of them was related to our industry. Ali Phillips was our organizer and birthay girl extraordinaire, who just happened to also be an event planner with destination weddings on St. John in the months ahead. Along with her were friends who were photographers, caterers, event planners and family to celebrate the special occasion on our lovely St. John.
Wedding season approaches! For all those Chicago gals looking to plan their special day- what a wonderful team to choose from. Ali, Steph, Sarah and Kristin were a great group to work with and I hope they have many fond memories of Drift Away to look back on.

Holiday Happenin's

Alas, I guess it can't always be Full Serenity at the spa. Busiest week of the year, spa full of families relaxing together...
and...
the fire alarms decide it is time for them to announce their need for new batteries.
LOUDLY.
ALL AT ONCE!

Aye, aye, aye.
If that weren't bad enough- if you can only imagine- turns out our lovely clients had their own home burn down 2 years ago so their daughter was not so able to relax for her massage after the alarms quieted. :o(

A special thanks to the massage therapists at Drift Away tonight for making a rough start to an evening end with a smile.

A month of Plenty

Today as I enjoyed a holiday meal with my small family I reflected on the many blessings available to enjoy. Along with the aforementioned 'small family' I am blessed to have the larger family of our talented spa staff. Larger than that still is our ever-supportive island family.

This month our island certainly had its share of abundances! First to mind comes the rain... then more rain... and more again. How nice it is to be able to take a long hot shower without the water worries of our dry season!

Then there was an incredible amount of crystal clear days and cooler weather to remind us that we will yet pull out of the summer season, with our in-season being closer than we think.

And who does not have pictures of those dazzling sunsets? There were certainly about two weeks solid of photo-op sunsets.

At the end of another Thanksgiving Day I am so grateful for many, many things. Thanks to all our customers who took advantage of our October Groupon Savings. They were a smashing success and as a result you can look for them again in promos to come!

I am happy that our busy season is starting again and invite you to take advantage of our December promotion- 10% off of all gift certificates sales over $150. Break this up however you like- 15 $10 gifts, 3 $50 gifts, etc for an easy gift idea for friends, employees, coworkers and yourself.