Atlantic Shores Executive Director Eden Jones selected

as 2011 Women in Business honoree

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – December 13, 2011 - -  Eden Jones, Executive Director of the Atlantic Shores retirement community in Virginia Beach Virginia, has been selected as a 2011 Women in Business award winner by Inside Business Magazine. This annual event recognizes outstanding women in the business community who are achieving success in their careers and are active in the community as leaders, advocates or mentors.

The awards will be presented on Thursday, December 15 in a special ceremony at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott.

For the past nine years, Women in Business Achievement Awards have been given to celebrate successful Hampton Roads businesswomen who serve as examples to others. The award honors their achievements and encourages other women to trust in their abilities, strengthen their self-confidence and actively participate in the economic growth of the community.

Ms. Jones is among the 25 inductees profiled in the December 12 issue of Inside Business, a weekly business journal serving Hampton Roads.

“I’m humbled and honored to receive this award, and to be among such an elite group of exceptional businesswomen,” stated Ms. Jones. “This honor is also to be shared with the amazing women I have previously and currently worked alongside, that shape my world daily.”

A panel of judges reviewed the nominations to select this year’s honorees, from nominations received from the public. Ms. Jones was selected based on her professional accomplishments, unique business style and acumen.

Ms. Jones directs all day-to-day operations of the Atlantic Shores Retirement Community, a 100-acre campus in Virginia Beach, Virginia, featuring a 50-bed skilled nursing facility, 53 apartment home assisted living facility, a 14-bed Memory Care unit, and 555 independent living units. She oversees 350 employees in providing the finest, fully comprehensive senior living experience possible for more than 600 Atlantic Shores residents.

Since 1999, her team-based budgeting and strategic planning initiatives have successfully transitioned Atlantic Shores to self-management, created new business enterprises, and implemented operating efficiencies.  She is a lecturer on equity owned senior housing and succession planning at key trade association meetings.

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Caroline LaRocca, author, TV personality, and renowned East Coast wedding planner, says the coming year will feature some surprising and interesting trends for getting married. LaRocca’s Fabulous Forecast for Wedding Trends 2012 predicts the new year will be filled with tonal colors, shiny jewels, interesting destinations, and couples inserting their personal styles.

 

“Traditional is out next year,” says LaRocca. “From jewelry to destination to how the event is captured will all turn new corners.” LaRocca predicts colors will be: yellow in all shades, especially canary. Other colors will include Tiffany blue, hyacinth, ink/midnight blue, grass, orangeade, poppy, geranium, and honey. Ivory and white bridal parties are definitely in (a la the Kardashians). Bride jewelry goes from grandmother’s pearls to an investment piece that begins its own tradition; wedding gowns inspired by vampire brides and real-life princesses, and destination weddings are in.

 

Fashion

Three major trends: long sleeves, lace, and ladylike. Vampires and royals will be setting the trends in 2012 with sleeves and lace on the wedding dress. Alfred Angelo has done a knock off of Twilight movie character Bella’s Breaking Dawn wedding gown by Carolina Herrera, and there are Kate Middleton-inspired looks everywhere—*see Monique Lhullier’s Spring Collection. Formal ladylike elements like hats and gloves make a comeback.

 

Jewelry

Grandmother’s pearls remain timeless, but 2012 brides will be donning less traditional bridal jewelry. I see an increasing investment in pieces that have a life beyond the big day like a Todd Reed (toddreed.com) set that offers a personalized and unexpected edge to the long white dress, or a Stella & Dot (stelladot.com) necklace that infuses high style to a simple cut frock. There will also be more rose gold wedding bands and raw diamonds.

 

Colored Shoes, Jeweled Bouquets, Bridesmaids Dresses, and Other Delights

Personal style overshadows tradition more than ever. Brides are escaping what they must do and replacing it with what they want to do. Etiquette? Sure, but whatever feels right is the answer, as long as it makes sense and everyone involved is comfortable. Bridesmaids can choose their own style and colors (as long as they come from a pre-selected palette), white shoes are replaced by colors, and simple bouquets get some jeweled sparkle.

 

Professional Makeup

Everyday makeup doesn’t stand up to lights used with professional cameras of geniuses like William Mahone, so wedding parties, especially for the bride are scheduling professional make-up sessions. Makeup artists have the talent and training to hide blemishes, uneven skin tones, and bring out the most beautiful subject with techniques learned from much experience. Rising stars artists like Christin Burdette can transform any bridal party into walking art that makes a statement and the moment most memorable.

 

Destination Weddings

Whether it is a dreamy castle like Villa Foscarini Cornaro in Venice, Italy, Santa Maria del Mar in Barcelona, a Virginia mountain retreat like Primland, or a gentile Southern estate with Jefferson cups and magnolias, destination weddings are growing by leaps and bounds. When the wedding magically morphs into a festive getaway for your nearest and dearest it becomes a lasting memory.

 

Décor

2012 brides won’t just hire the local florist because wedding day décor now encompasses much more than fresh flowers. Customized table linens, ambient lighting, lounge areas, and complete room transformations have taken the place of the table centerpiece, though they are still as gorgeous as ever. Brides will also opt to invest in a single high impact focal point, balanced with simple less expensive elements.

 

Foods

More sit down dinners with fewer guests, but with longer and more elaborate cocktail hours and midnight snacks served while people are dancing. Snacks will include mini PB&J, sliders, milk and cookies, and freshly popped corn. We see a lot of creative packaging at the cocktail hour like dim sum served in mini-Chinese take out containers.

 

Interactive elements

Guests can expect more than the first dance and the bouquet toss to engage them at the wedding reception. Photo booth rental is at an all time high and will only grow in 2012. Guests get to dress up, let loose, cut up and engage in some serious bonding at the photo booth. Weddings, after all, are meant to be fun.

Reception entertainment

More and more brides are going for bands and DJs. The DJ plays when the band breaks, and the atmosphere morphs from elegant to clubby with house music and unique mixes.

 

Creative lighting

Ambient and mood lighting is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity. Creative lighting has been in fashion now for at least ten years in the wedding industry, but almost never a line item on the budget worksheets and checklist you see in so many publications, and often a surprise to brides. That changes now. Nothing impacts a room like ambient lighting. Without it, you are stuck with institutional room lighting, or if you are in a tent no lighting. We say, let there be ambient light.

 

What’s out:

§  Signature drinks. Who wants to be forced to drink a concoction called an "I’m Yours" when all they really want is a Grey Goose and tonic? 

§  Table names. It’s as difficult to find the “Machu Picchu table” in a ballroom of 36 tables in dim lighting as it is to find the actual pre-Columbian Incan site. It's much simpler to find Table 12.

§  Matchy-matchy colors. No more bridesmaids dress matching tablecloths or specific colors for the event. More brides are going with colors and styles that make the most sense in their chosen venue—i.e. if the carpet is burgundy and green swirl, no more pink and purple stripe tablecloths and flowers.

§  Bridal party/head tables. But darlings, tables are definitely in.

 

To view the report visit: http://www.carolinelarocca.com/wedding-trends-for-2012/

I won eighty six thousand four hundred today. My mind races with what I can spend it on. I could pay off debt, give more to my favorite charity, or maybe buy a new car. Wow! All the good I could do with it.

Guess what; you won it too. The moment you placed your feet on the floor this morning, you were awarded with eighty six thousand four hundred seconds to spend on this day. How are you going to spend them?

Most of us spend them on resentment, blame, shame, or guilt. We squander our time nurturing problems, rehearsing the past, or getting annoyed by current circumstances. What if you spent them on joy, laughter, or reflection without judgment? What if you invested, instead, in building meaningful relationships, living your passion, and feeling confident, proud, and loving?

In celebration of Valentine’s Day weekend, eight Richmond couples will host an evening reception to raise awareness of marriage equality in Virginia. The February 12 event at downtown dining destination Chez Foushee is the brainchild of friends Jeff Wells and Marc Purintun.