2 Boomer Broads Podcast

Coming to you from the exclusive Lane Bryant Tea Room. The 2 Boomer Broads talk about fashion over 50.

This show is funny. Please listen in by clicking on the player at the top of this post.

What do we do? What do we wear?

Footwear

Sharone wears Birkenstocks and socks. Rebecca has been wearing big boat tennis shoes and loafers. (She sprained both feet last year) We both can’t see how women our age wear high heels.

Finding something that fits after 50

It’s almost impossible. Both Sharone and Rebecca are apple shapes and can’t find anything that doesn’t have a narrow middle. All they can wear are empire waists or moo moos. We can’t believe we’ve digressed to moo moos. Or the more chic caftan.

Dressing comfortable is great, but if you keep dressing that way your elastic waistband will eventually get tight.

Corsets

What’s up with corsets? They’re big right now with the Kardashian clan. They’re hazardous to your health because the squeeze your internal organs, mess up your spine, and make you faint. Who needs that?

Fashion Over 50 Clothes

We’ve noticed that some clothing lines that specifically market to older women are UGLY! Big buttons, big snaps, what else do you want from us? The fabric looks like something we put on our couch in the 80’s.

Lane Bryant, Melissa McCarthy’s line, and Avenue offer nice clothes for larger women. Torrid is only for curvy young girls.

Hair

Being over 40 doesn’t mean you automatically have to cut your hair short. If you like long hair (like we do) make sure it’s not long hippie hair but is beautifully coiffed and color enhanced, if necessary.

Color

Don’t be afraid to have colorful clothes. Black and white can make you look older and isn’t flattering for most people. However, color makes you look younger and more alive. Wear navy blue instead of black if you want to look thinner. A monotone colored top and bottom with a contrasting jacket will slim you down as well.

Rebecca’s mother was a color consultant and Rebecca will not go out of the house without her “winter” color palette because Mom is watching from above.

Don’t be afraid to be eccentric in the way you dress. Be YOU!

Back in the 60’s and 70’s we went bold and wore big prints. It was fun! There’s nothing wrong with being colorful and flashy as long as we don’t look like Bozo.

Break a few fashion rules as long as it’s appropriate for your age. Don’t be blah!

Shopping

Shop with a fashion consultant if you need to.

Both Rebecca and Sharone hate shopping and wish their Mommies were still here to help them dress.

Dressing like a shlub affects your self-esteem. You can be comfortable without looking dumpy.

Just because you are embracing Grand-motherhood doesn’t mean you have to dress like your grandmother.

Lose the pumpkin sweaters.

Rebecca is terrorized by shop owners. She always buys stuff they tell her is cute and then hates it when she gets home.

The leakage problem

Rebecca prefers dresses because if she sneezes, she wets her pants. Sharone says, “There are products for that,” but Rebecca says she isn’t ready. She’d rather be in denial.

Fashion Over 50 Style Tips

Wear three quarter length sleeves to hide your arm flaps. That way your sleeves won’t land in your soup.

The best skirt length for women of ANY age is mid-knee.  Mid-shin makes you look like a stump. Too short looks cheesy. (Even though we loved our minis)

Rebecca makes fun of the weathercaster here in LA.  We won’t mention any names.

Ditch your Pantyhose

They’re a thing of the past. Tights are OK.

We miss wearing garter belts.

Current Trends

What’s with putting your dress on backward?

Have you seen the dresses at awards shows where the neckline dips down to the waist? Even older Broads are doing it.

Our guest in this episode is Vikki Claflin, a midlife humor writer, and founder of the blog Laugh Lines.

Coming to you from high atop the parking structure above Hollywood’s Comedy Club row.

According to Vikki, midlife is hilarious and we need to laugh about it. You can either laugh or cry when you look in the mirror, so choose LAUGH.

She’s 59, writing full-time and is the author of “Who Left the Cork Out of My Lunch”

She also gives advice and marital advice to men on her blog.

Men say, “Nothing good ever comes after “We need to talk.”

Upcoming for men will be a post on how not to screw up Valentine’s Day.

She’s been blogging for 4 years but has always been a writer. Before quitting her day job, she worked in the Beauty Industry as a trainer for Estee Lauder and in retail for thirty years. All fodder for midlife humor. She is also a motivational speaker.

We talk about whether or not to let our hair go gray. Vikki’s is white.

She says her natural color is rodent gray and that sometimes we need to give Mother Nature a little help. That leads us into a discussion about dying our armpit hairs pink or purple and chin hair. It’s that kind of show. Listen in by clicking on the player at the top of this post or Subscribe to our show in Itunes.

An editor walked into a retail store where she worked and told her she had read her blog. She suggested that she write a book. At first, Vikki didn’t know what she would write about but the editor said, you already have. It’s in your blog.

Her first book was “Shake Rattle and Roll with it – Living and Laughing with Parkinson’s.” Vikki was diagnosed with Parkinson’s when she turned 50. It’s a humorous book about having the disease. She has been speaking at Parkinson events about the book and has had a wonderful response.

Goals for the future are to do more speaking engagements. She loves being in front of a crowd and speaking in front of women’s groups. “Women want to be entertained.”

Her most popular topic is “How to love your midlife body without losing weight.” She has an EBook on her blog on that topic available to download.

The official launch date of her new book, “Who Left the Cork Out of My Lunch” will be Valentine’s Day but it is available for pre-order on Amazon now. She will be doing a book bundle giveaway on her blog. 60 talented midlife humor and related niche authors have donated books for the giveaway. Each bundle will also include one of Vikki’s books. During the month of February, the book bundles will include 5 books.

Her writing process comes spontaneously from things that have happened to her. For example, her son Skyped her from Iraq. Vikki was in such a hurry to take the call, she forgot she was naked. Her son said it was the most traumatic thing that happened to him the entire time he was in Iraq.

Advice to someone who wants to write a book.

* WRITE ONE. Don’t make excuses.

* Also, for the love of God, don’t compare yourself.

* Start a blog. Don’t worry about who sees it because you won’t have any readers for the first 6 months.

As you write on a blog,

In this podcast episode, we interview Lauren Bortolami who is a psychic medium. She’s been able to connect with the beyond since she was 2 years old and is now in her 50’s.

She says we’re all psychic and are born connected to each other.

The difference between a psychic and a medium.

Psychics can see into this world and can tell what kind of person you are, where you’re going, where you’ve been, and who is affecting you. Their skills include:

* Clairvoyance – the ability to see

* Claircognizance– ability to know

* Clairsentience– the ability to pick up and feel the person’s emotions

A medium has all 6 senses. – see, hear, feel, smell, taste, know.

A psychic medium can do both. They go between the physical and spiritual worlds and can read the other side.

Lauren knew by the age of 17 that she was a full blown psychic medium. She could read all the kids in high school and knew if they were honest, were liars, if they would ask her out or cheat on her.  It wasn’t until she was in her 40’s and weird things started happening in her house. Her former husband called a medium to come to the house. She told Lauren that she was keeping certain objects in the house because she was a medium herself and spirits were trying to talk to her.  Her son, who is now 16,  also developed the gift at the age of 2 years old.

Her grandmother, on the other side, began to connect with her. Soon, things began to flow to the point she couldn’t shut it down.

Some people have chastised her for being a medium. However, she believes if the right kind of person is doing it, it comes from their heart and they help others.

She’s dealt with negative entities and people being possessed but has been able to clear them. She’s also done paranormal investigations.

In this podcast episode,  Lauren reads both Sharone and Rebecca over Skype. Because of the personal nature of the reading, you’ll have to listen in to hear what she says. Click the player button at the top of this post or listen to the show on Itunes.

In addition to in-person sessions, Lauren does phone and online readings when necessary. She is pre-cognitive, meaning she may say something that will come to pass at a later date.

Tips to develop your own psychic medium ability

* If you feel like you’re in the presence of someone from the other side, ask who they are. Anyone can connect on their own without using a medium. Focus, call in the white light to protect yourself and ask that your loved ones on the other side come forward. As long as you are with white light and with God, You’ll bring in the right kind of energy. Say to them, “Who is here for me?” Then, wait for the answer.

* If you get an impression of who it is, then you’re right. They’re giving you a signal, telepathically, to say they’re here with you.  You can speak to them anytime in your head to let them know how you’re feeling and ask them to give you strength. They will.

* Never tell them not to go or they’ll get stuck in the middle layer where the paranormal happens and will have difficulty finding the light.

Lauren does an online medium show called Voices Across the Veil once a month. She’s one of 9 endorsed mediums on the show. It’s a way for science to prove mediumship. She’s big into science proving mediums are real through evidence. Scientists tape the sessions with up to 10 people.

She also has her own show called Voices from Heaven where she channels loved ones and does psychic messages with small groups of people.

Her website is www.lauren-bortolami.com

You can book sessions with her and find out about future events.

Tell us one instance when you felt like you were psychic or had ESP....

Coming to you from the single’s bar high atop the Monrovia Marriot.

We interview Helen V. Reese, author of the book Project Ex, an entertaining novel about dating after 50.

We wondered how much of the protagonist of the book (Lydia) actually came from Helen’s life. Both are therapists. Lydia has a long list of ex’s she finds using a Facebook ad and interviews them for an article she’s writing. Helen says she didn’t have as many. However, with Internet dating, you can meet a lot of guys.

Rebecca mentions how guys try to pick her up on Facebook, probably because she used Photoshop on her profile picture. Sharone says the guys who try to friend her are 23-year-olds from Southern Hemisphere countries trying to get a green card.

Lydia has been single for 12 years and is trying to figure out why she can’t find a decent relationship. She discovers that in many cases it didn’t have much to do with her personally. The guy was the one with the problem. We’re always asking ourselves “Am I too heavy?” “Did I have bad breath,” “Is it my age?” Then we beat ourselves up.

Men also use Photoshop and don’t look like they really are on dating sites. Sharone found a man she knew on JDate who still had black hair when she knew it was gray.

Put you’re a current photo on your dating site profile but make sure it’s a good one.

Are there benefits from dating after 50?

After 50 were not so much into perfection and don’t have as rigid of ideas on how we want a man to be. (Height, weight, profession, etc.)

Hopefully, we like ourselves more and have a better sense of who we are.

We have life experience and more to share. In other words, we’re more fascinating.

How to Jump back into dating

In the book Lydia takes her best friend on some adventures (including a cruise) If you go somewhere with a girlfriend and don’t meet a guy you can still have fun with your friend.

Girlfriends are great resources to meet other people. Single girlfriends don’t mind listening to you tell them a guy was a jerk, whereas your married friends may not understand.

Rebecca says she has a hard time imagining a romance with an “old guy.”

After Helen’s brother passed away, her sister in law became involved with an older man and it turned out to be a wonderful match. He was in great shape, so you never know.

As women, we need to accept that we’re older. Many women over 50 are in better shape than men because we use anti-aging products to keep us younger looking.

All three of us agreed that Harrison Ford is a hunk, despite the fact he’s with a much younger woman.

Sharone used to avoid bald guys until she realized it was because some of the bald guys she dated were lemons.  The baldness had nothing to do with it.

We regret the “nice guys” we let get away when we were young.

Are you terrified of online dating?

Security is paramount. But still take a chance and get out there.  Do it professionally. Have a great photo taken of yourself and take care writing your bio even if you need to pay a professional to do it. An excellent profile is key.  Be open to revising it if it isn’t working. There’s no commitment in just doing that much.

Meeting people in bars can be scary and depressing. You don’t know who is married or whatever.

Avoid serial dating – That’s someone who has their profile up all the time. If you meet someone, take it off while you’re dating. Then put it up later if you are looking for a new relationship.  Take breaks. Spend time with girlfriends doing fun activities.  You don’t need a man to do things.  Have friends over. Throw parties. Someone you connect with may know someone who’s perfect for you...

The Broads interview Maggie Espinosa a woman in her mid -50’s who walked 800 miles to all 21 of the California missions.  She’s an award-winning travel writer, teaches travel writing, a member of the Society of American Travel Writers and former president of the San Diego Press Club.

Broads – Do your feet still hurt?

Maggie – Yes, they do. I have one toe that’s still acting up.

Maggie completed her walk 1 year ago.  She has written a book about it called On a Mission – An 800-mile walk to discover California’s El Camino Real.

She had thought about trekking through California but wasn’t sure where to go. Born and raised outside of Philly, she didn’t come out to California until she was almost 30. She had read about a retired school teacher from Oregon who had walked all the California missions. He was 70+ at the time. If he could do it, so could she. Besides, it would be a fabulous way to learn about California and its history.

Her journey started in San Diego at the Mission Acala going south to north.  Normally this takes about 55 days. Since she was neither hard core or an athlete, she divided the journey into 12 months. She would walk approx. 80 miles each month, come back, work for 3 weeks and then walk again. It took her a total of 10 months.

She invited friends to walk some of it with her and was surprised when they took her up on it. She spent nights in discount hotels, people’s homes and a few deluxe accommodations as a special treat. She doesn’t like camping and felt she needed a good night’s sleep after walking so far.

When she walked from Capistrano Mission to San Gabriel Mission she didn’t have friends along and did it alone.

It was “boring!”

At that point, the scenery wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t particularly interesting.

She picked up reminders of her trek like rocks, a cool cigarette carton from Hong Kong and other items she found on the trail.

The distance between missions, with the exception of Santa Inez to La Purisima, were more than a day apart walking. Besides the 21 California missions, there are estancias and asistencias. Some used to be trading posts or places to hold mass. They still exist although many are in disrepair. Some are being restored and others are have been given other uses.

Maggie wasn’t able to stay directly on the El Camino Real because it’s now a major highway. Because she couldn’t walk on highway 101, she had to cut back and forth from the coast to the inland. That added mileage but also made the walk more interesting. She especially loved walking on the beach.

The farthest mission north is in Sonoma. Not all the California missions were erected sequentially up the coast. Father Junipero Serra built the first 9 missions and then passed away. Others were added between the ones he built.

Some of them are located in affluent communities and are well taken care of. Others have as few as 200 parishioners but are simple and beautiful. The San Antonio Mission is located on an army base called Fort Hunter Liggett. It’s located on grounds that used to belong to William Randolph Hearst (who built Heart’s Castle) Maggie was able to go on the base to see it. It’s one of the few missions that allows you to spend the night in the mission itself but you have to book it well in advance. Maggie didn’t and wasn’t able to stay there.

The weather on the walk was extremely hot, especially in the Central Valley. There are long stretches of road with no infrastructure or water in between. Sometimes it was 96 degrees with no shade. By mile 19 Maggie was crying. She saw skeletons of animals and turkey vultures. Scary!

Coming to you this time from Chez Sharone’s chocolatieria.

The Broads bring back Max Izenberg from www.suddenly65.com She has written a book called “Who Took My Chocolate Cake?”

Suddenly 65 is an email newsletter that posts things to do and places to go for Boomers and Seniors in the San Fernando Valley. (Los Angeles) She also offers healthy tips. Her book is a compilation of those tips.

The title came about at a meeting of wealthy women that took place at the Bel Air Country Club. Max was there to speak about health and wellness. The women had instructed management to tell the waiters not to serve the club’s signature chocolate cake because of Max’s topic. They didn’t get the message and went ahead and served the cake anyway. In deference to Max, none of the 150 women at the meeting ate the cake.

Max says, “If you want to put the life back into your life, read my book.”

Max has a degree in nutrition. She made up a phrase she talks about in her speeches. “What FEWLS (sic) your body?” It means Food, Exercise, Water, Less Stress. In her newsletter, she adds the word Loneliness because it plays into the whole health and wellness area.

Max Izenberg Notes From Her Book:

White bread is dead bread. Max doesn’t eat white bread, potatoes rice or anything else that’s white.

If only green vegetables smelled like bacon. We all know bacon isn’t good for us, but who doesn’t like bacon?

Suicide in a spoon – Sugar is more addictive than cocaine or heroin. Read “Sugar Blues.”

Do the foods you eat like you and love you? In a perfect world, Max would have a rare steak, baked potato, butter sauerkraut and a hot fudge sundae for dessert every night. Unfortunately, it’s not a perfect world. None of those foods like her.

Max talks about beauty and believes in using products without additives. Whatever you put on your skin goes directly into your bloodstream. She likes using coconut oil.

She brushes her teeth with coconut oil and baking soda.  Her dentist thinks it’s wonderful.

If you get a headache, don’t take aspirin. Eat fresh ginger. She cuts fresh ginger into cubes and chews them. It’s also good for arthritis. Every afternoon she makes green tea with ginger cubes, honey and cinnamon.

Max loves Indian food because much of it is made with turmeric.

She makes her own hummus and is big on beans. Using a small Cuisinart mixer, she takes organic spinach or kale and puts it in the bottom. Then she throws in garbanzo beans, fresh lemon juice, olive oil, water, and canned anchovies, (no need to add salt) and the contents of a turmeric capsule.  You can also add raw garlic. (if you’re able to tolerate it)

You can get away with not buying organic fruits and vegetables if they have hard skins like cantaloupe. However, apples and potatoes must be organic because of the pesticides that are used to grow them.

The dirty dozen of fruits and vegetables that must be organic.

Peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, imported grapes, spinach, lettuce, and potatoes.

Other Random Tips

Wine – If you can’t sleep, don’t take sleeping pills, drink a glass of red wine instead. Rebecca says there’s more resveratrol in wines that come from the Finger Lakes District in upstate New York State or the Willamette Valley in Oregon.

Chocolate – Eat dark chocolate with at least 70% cacao. Sharone says milk chocolate is barbaric. Max recommends, “One little piece please,

Coming to you from among the fairy fold in Edinburgh

The Broads interview Lorrie Oshatz and Theresa Amy of Flights of Fantasy Story Theatre. It’s a Los Angeles based theater company that’s been providing arts education services, early literacy programming and theatrical performances throughout Southern California for 20 years. Lorrie and Theresa work with children and parents from local schools to build important social and communication skills they can use throughout their lives. Their programs introduce low income children, many of whom have never been read to before, to interactive story theatre based on quality children’s books. This helps children develop a love for literature and improves literacy.

Lorrie and Amy work also present workshops for parents. They’ve found that parents in low income brackets are unaware of what’s necessary to help their children in school because they haven’t had a proper education themselves. The workshops help them learn how to converse with their kids to build a connection. The beauty of reading books to children is that they can ask questions that create a back and forth conversation. For some parents, the program is also their first introduction to theatrical performance.

Both ladies go in depth about how the parent program works in the podcast and it’s very cool. – Listen in by clicking the player at the top of this post.

Why kids and teachers benefit from Story Theatre

Invariably a kid who’s considered to be a “problem child” or can’t sit still, does very well in the program because he or she is a kinetic learner. Shy kids come out of their shell when they are given the opportunity to be on stage in front of their peers.

Lorrie and Amy do a theatrical presentation first and then go into the classroom to work with one of the stories they’ve performed. Afterwards, the kids act it out. For many kids, English is their second language and they’ve never stood in front of have the capacity to succeed.

Many teachers do not have a theater background and are intimidated by it. The program shows them in a simple way how they can use it as a tool to teach history, science, math, etc.

Doing is more effective than just sitting at a desk and writing or listening.

The classroom programs are not about inspiring kids to become actors.  They’re about instilling confidence, and allowing kids to be who they really are in front of other people.

Both Lorrie and Theresa have extensive backgrounds in theater

Lorrie became involved in theater when she was in high school and never stopped. After having 3 children, she and a friend were looking for a children’s theater experience. There wasn’t much happening nearby, so they decided to put on their own show. Both women worked together for 9 months until her friend quit to pursue dancing. She found another partner who worked with her for several more years but also left to continue her education. She still works with the company designing sets and costumes.

Friends of  Lorrie suggested that she meet Theresa, who also had a background in theater and was moving from Chicago to LA. She was a good fit and both have been working together for the last 13 years.

Read their bios here.

Favorite Stories

Theresa loves Caps for Sale because her father used to read it to her when she was a kid. She also likes books by Eric Carle. She prefers colorful books and books with flaps.

Lorrie also like Eric Carle and loves books by Audrey and Donald Wood such as

Coming to you from the business district of the Haight-Ashbury.

We interview Tim Berry,  the Obi-Wan Kenobi of business planning. He’s a Baby Boomer, ex-hippie, Stanford MBA, entrepreneur.

Tim told us he failed as a hippie. He left home at 18 to live in Haight-Ashbury but it didn’t last long. He didn’t want to “take the damn LSD.” After a few weeks he called home telling his parents he wanted to come back. They said, “Okay, but you have to go to Notre Dame.”

That’s where he met his wife Evangelina who he’s been married to for 45 years. He majored in literature and enrolled in a PhD program. After talking to a shoe salesman who had gone through the program, he realized it was a bad idea and switched to journalism.

Soon after graduation, he became a journalist and worked for 10 years as night editor for Northern Latin America of United Press International in Mexico City. His wife helped him learn Spanish quickly by not speaking a word of English to him for 2 years.

Eventually, he figured out that journalism wasn’t going to help him “change the world.” It was filling the space between ads. At that point he had 3 small kids and realized that journalism wasn’t ever going to pay well. He took up business writing, which doubled his income from terrible to a little bit less than terrible. While he was there he took grad classes in business and found it to be more interesting than journalism. When he left Mexico and returned to the U.S. he had savings in hand and a letter of acceptance from Stanford business school, where he ended up getting his MBA.

His wife was supportive during all these transitions, which made it easy for him to become an entrepreneur. Two years after getting his MBA, he worked as a VP at a marketing research firm. He was doing almost exactly what he did as a business journalist but charged 5 times more.

Businesses in Silicon Valley were in start-up mode and he became excited about developing business plans. His background in journalism, plus his love for numbers gave him an edge. By this time he had 4 kids and left his job to start his own business with his wife’s continued support.

Entrepreneurial tip:

Make sure not to put yourself in the position of losing your relationship.

Success in Business

Tim built Palo Alto Software, a company with 65 employees and more than 10 million in sales.

Watch Tim’s Video – Startups and Entrepreneurship: Beyond the Clichés – click here.

Debunking business myths

People listen to experts, read all the blog posts and then parrot information to others.

Myth #1 Do what you love – Tim says he loves to play the guitar but no one is going to pay him to play it. You have to do what other people love. It will also be hard to build a company around it. What’s less hard is if you’re doing something that relates to what you love, but is also offering value to other people.

Myth #2 – All it takes is persistence to succeed – It’s not true. You have to give value. People are told “keep on going and you will succeed,” and they end up losing their homes and relationships.

Palo Alto Software had a product that got out into the market and it grew. The company brought in venture capital and 3 years later, during the .com crash he bought it back. Tim was able to create a living doing what he “liked” to do, surrounded by people he had chosen himself who believed in the same thing.

He’s still involved with the company and is making a good living even though his second daughter is now running it. Four of his five kids have worked in the company and all are successful in business. They learned by doing.

His son, Paul Berry is CEO of Rebel Mouse,

Recorded from the Golden Years Hippie Hut

We interview Beverley Golden, author of “Confessions of a Middle Aged Hippie.” Beverley’s definition of the word “hippie” has less to do with lifestyle (sex, drugs, and rock and roll) and is more about the value system. She says our values from back then are still alive, kicking and part of the conversation.

Sustainability, organic living, community, compassion, art and music, meditation, expansion were part of the movement we “birthed” back then and is still in the forefront today. People of all ages considered themselves to be “hippies.” It’s the core of our humanity.

It was a seed that was planted, germinated, cultivated and has become part of the common cultural conversation. It’s where the “peace movement” and the concept of “love” was born.

Love is the essence of who we are as human beings. ~ Beverley Golden

These concepts and the movement have been “repackaged” in ways that resonate for others outside of our generation.

Former hippies became environmental lawyers and people who formed new communities.

Fashion has been influenced by the 60’s and 70’s like Bolo Chic with fringe and boots. Tie dye has never really died.

Young people want to embrace “hippie values.”

Bringing people back together in a face to face community is important because technology causes us to disconnect.

Is Facebook our new commune?

Women and Beauty

Beverley has a written a series of articles for the Huffington Post on Women and Beauty. When she was younger, she was ill for 10 years. She said she doesn’t know how she would have aged if she hadn’t become well again. The media makes it hard for women. We start to feel negative about how we are going to look as we get old. Many women have procedures done and then don’t look like themselves anymore.

Beverley’s mother is 99 years young and has never used anything but soap on her face. She looks like she’s in her 70’s. She’s alive and vibrant even though she grew up in a time when beauty in old age wasn’t part of the conversation.

There are many lessons we can learn from our mother’s generation like writing in long hand. We have to remember to exercise because we’re often sitting in front of a computer. We need to get out in the fresh air and commune with nature. Her mother has never been ill her entire life and was only in a hospital to birth her children until she broke her ankle at age 96. They call her “Legendary Lil.” She still has an amazing life force, is very engaged, has something to say and is active.

She was also active in her younger life and spent the majority of her time outside at the park speed skating, playing volley ball and baseball, swimming, etc.

Her mother is overweight but it hasn’t been a health issue. 60 Minutes did a segment on people who have lived to be 90+ and found that being slightly overweight as seniors is a health advantage. Women need a higher percentage of body fat but most are striving to be too thin.

If you ask her mother what her secret is, she’ll tell you, “Talk yourself out of it.” (Meaning mind over matter)

During the show we go more in depth about looking younger, having plastic surgery vs aging gracefully and more. (Listen in to our podcast by clicking on the player above this post)

Mother of a TV Star

Beverley’s daughter was an actress in the TV series “Ready of Not” that was filmed in Canada. She was 11 when it started and is still recognized 18 years later after the show ended. She continues to act and do voice overs. Beverley spent many years as a stage mom overseeing her career.

Singing and Songwriting

Coming to you from the Boom Boom Room of Box Canyon.

In this podcast episode, we interview Seana O’Neil and Carla Bosacki founders of Boomerluxe.com.

It’s a website that offers a monthly subscription gifts for Baby Boomer women over 50. Both ladies are from Toronto, Canada and originally met in high school. They lost touch, found each other on Facebook recently and went to Costa Rica together. There, they came up with the idea of starting their Boomerluxe online business.

The monthly gift box of “presents” is designed for you to pamper, honor and treat yourself. You can also treat your friends, mom, sister, or girlfriends. A beautiful box arrives at your home mid-month addressed to you. Inside, you’ll find 5 items from 5 specific categories – fashion – beauty – sexuality – wellness and technology.

There are many subscription box services out there but there are no other ones specifically targeted to Baby Boomer women so far. Our needs are different now than they were when we were younger. Seana and Carla chose the 5 categories because they feel that’s what’s most important to us at our age.

Many marketers want to promote items to women over 50 like adult diapers, walk-in tubs, etc., because they view us as seniors. However, it’s not what we really want. We see ourselves as being much more vibrant and alive with many more active years to come.

Both ladies personally seek out products from local, mostly women-owned companies that you wouldn’t be able to find in a big box or drug store. They look for products that are organic and eco-friendly. Boomerluxe subscriptions are available throughout North America and they even ship to Europe.

For wellness, Seana and Carla have partnered up with a doctor in Toronto who has a line of supplement and health products geared for women over 50. He has provided each gift box with full sized products. (Not samples)

One of their “sexuality” products was a cute pink vibrator. Other products have included stylish infinity scarves, natural organic lip balms, and a wireless speaker for laptop or tablet, etc.

The subscription charge per month is $34.99 but the actual value of each box is over $70. The contents are designed for luxury and geared to women who enjoy nice things. Customers receive an elegant black box with silver writing on it that has pink and silver tissue paper inside. It’s lovely to open as a gift for yourself.

A Boomerluxe subscription is a perfect gift for the holidays. Seana and Carla suggest that men purchase a subscription for their ladies because it’s a gift that keeps on giving. If you’d like your man to give you a Boomerluxe subscription, give Seana and Carla his email and they will let him know. For $199 you will receive a box each month for 6 months. This will include 2 bonus bags of treats. (One at the 3 months and one at the 5-month mark)

We discuss the fact that many Boomers are online, meeting each other, shopping and starting businesses.

What we love about Boomerluxe is that Seana and Carla personally pick out products for you rather than a marketing company who has no clue what you really want.

After a month’s shipment has been completed, you will find a listing of each product contained in the box on the Boomerluxe website. That way you’ll be able to shop for additional products or replacements from the companies that provided them.

Seana and Carla mentioned how they found other women business owners to be incredibly supportive of each other. It goes against what everyone says about women in business and competition.

With more illnesses coming up in the Baby Boomer demographic, Boomerluxe will donate back to causes each time a box is purchased.

Seana and Carla’s background

Seana has worked in the TV and film industry in Toront...