Then I got photos from a very fun event I attended — a lot of photos and none of which I need bother saving. I guess these told a story, if you kept them all together and pieced together what people doing (cause we could only see their backs) and no one was really identifiable.

My point? We’re taking and sharing a whole lot of photos these days. And they seem to be taking up a huge chunk of time and data space. In the old days, didn’t you get excited when you picked up your photos at Walgreen’s after waiting a few days to get them back? The really old ones came in little photo albums that made them even more special! You’d pick through the negatives to have reprints made to share with family members or friends and would label the backs with who was in the photo, the event and date it was taken.

Now we just send a link. “Here – go look at a bunch of pictures we took of varying degrees of quality and interest. Save what you want.” As of last October, Flickr had over 4 BILLION photos posted. 4 BILLION! Whoa – that would take one heck of a large attic to store boxes of those! But of those, I wonder how many of them were shareable?

With today’s digital cameras, we’re all so used to cameras and phones documenting everything! Kids grow up watching for YouTube moments, proud parents send weekly updates on how quickly the kids are growing. And, I have to admit, I’ve posted a great dog photo now and then.

We’re also using our cameras to document more — the broken parking meter where we got the ticket, a tag on an item we hope to find online, my friend’s calendar cause it’s easier than emailing — but how good are we at dumping these photos? Or are they just cluttering up our “photo boxes”?

I loved how my friend took the time and selected just a few great photos to share so we could see the joy without the tiresome details. Sort of like hearing 5 minutes of highlights of your sister’s Hawaiian vacation instead of having to watch the 2 carousel, 45 minute slide show. Or having to watch someone else’s family videos.

Voodoo followers and many tribal nations believe cameras will steal your soul when your photo is taken. Are our photos becoming so inexpensive and prevalent that our photos are losing their “souls”? Will this year’s “first day of school pictures” be lost in our cyber albums or can we save the best and preserve them for posterity. Like the old times.

Other people commented on how they are or plan to spend their retirement time. Travel, golf, family, scrapbooks, shopping…and I started wondering about how we spend our time. And what might be a better way than frittering it away as many of us seem to do.

So I made a list of the things I get the most satisfaction doing and a list of the least. (While I’m sort of retired, I’m still trying to make a living as a consultant, so I’m not to the “golf stage” yet.)

Satisfaction… giving tours of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings to the interested public, gardening, lunch with friends, seeing great theater, cleaning out anything (PURGE!, the new Boomer war chant), hugging my dog, classes at the Apple store, Costco surprises, walking with friends

Low satisfaction… going through junk mail (including emails), sitting in meetings, watching most TV (not Project Runway or Mad Men), looking for things, talking to people I don’t find interesting or happy, doing errands, housecleaning.

Thinking about what we get satisfaction from is darn interesting. Why? What’s so cool about throwing things out, yet housecleaning is dull? Or how I can sit in a Mac class but am pained sitting in meetings?

So I took my lists and compared them to my “goal mind map” I have on things I want to accomplish and realized that things I get satisfaction from are directly connected to things I want to achieve. Goal – car in garage. Goal – learn my Mac. I have no goal of a clean house or advancing my career in the corporate world.

One of the workshops we run is “LifeSort”, basically helping you discover what you want to do for the rest of your life. We look at your strengths, passions and concerns and deep dive with interviews and visioning exercises. And I’m always so delighted when our participants leave having a real sense of how they can spend their time to achieve the most satisfaction. It’s gratifying to see them get excited about pursuing something they really care about. One woman is opening a communal art gallery, another diving into spirituality to feed her lifelong curiosity. Another woman has gone back to work, after retirement, and is so much happier. The list goes on.

My challenge to all of us over 50 is to think about what will give us the most satisfaction and then be creative about how to get more of that into our lives. And less of what is not satisfying. Some people find taking classes or starting a degree program is a way to involve themselves in new satisfying topics. Others volunteer or travel or make new friends.

I’d love to hear how you all are finding the best ways to use your time. I hope it’s for something really satisfying.

In my old “world” as a Marketing guru, we identified the REAL New Year’s Day as the 1st day back-to-school in September. And, while most of us aren’t sending anyone off with a lunch box to their first day of class, we still have this “season” ingrained in our mental calendars. We see all the new fall clothes in stores and school supplies on sale. We start thinking about what the new “school year” will offer – even though it may have been years since a “school year” effected us.

So use this deal and this time of the year to do something good for you. Maybe you’ve been wanting to clear out your closet and focus on fall clothes that really capture the best you. Or you’ve been thinking it’s time to put more meaning in your life, but you’re not sure what that looks like. Come to a workshop and bring a friend! We’ll be happy to get you jump-started back into a new routine for the other “New Year’s Day”. Resolutions are encouraged!

We’d love to hear about any interesting routines you have for the end of summer, beginning of the school year! Post your comments here!

Lisa Dodge is the daughter of a dentist – and has great teeth to prove it. But her dad has said to stay away from Teeth Whitening kits as they haven’t been tested for long-term harm to teeth enamel. She shared that Crest 3-D Toothpaste is better – use it 3 times a day and get whiter teeth. Worth a try. I’m still a fan of Crest Professional Effects 3-D White Whitestrips. They’ve improved the stickiness, so they really stay on for the 1/2 hour daily treatments. Thanks for the warning, Lisa!

Face Primers – LOVE these. I’ve used Smashbox for awhile (Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer) but L’Oreal just came out with Studio Secrets Primer (on sale for $9.99 this week at Target) and it’s great. These primers leave a soft, velvety base for your foundation or tinted moisturizer and decrease oil and shine. The best part is they fill in fine lines and imperfections! Yea! Remember as you age, lighten up on foundation and powder — use a tinted moisturizer or mineral-based powder — to stay away from the “cakey” look.

DuWop Revolotion SPF 15. Charla Krupp (of How Not to Look Old) gave me this and it’s pretty amazing. Yes, we can go bare-legged and not look awful. This is a bronzing body moisturizer that has a bit of shimmer to the finish. All natural and not orange! Really easy to apply and quite forgiving so you don’t look streaky! And it doesn’t smell awful like many leg creams. They offer a tanner as well. So far, I’ve only found it online at Sephora. But it’s pretty neat.

Vanishing Edge Panties from Soma (Division of Chico’s) that really don’t ride up. Get them at Chico’s Outlets in Aurora or Kenosha for a fraction of the price.

Speaking of underthings, don’t miss Flexees by Maidenform to control your midriff and tummy. Still comfortable and cool, they offer many different styles of tank tops, camis and more.

Now if only I could give the resource for Julie’s cute topper that everyone loves – and is ultra-flattering to any figure type. Keep your eyes open in the coat department for one of your own.

What are your favorite finds? Share them with a comment!

Want to learn what styles REALLY work for you? Want to get the skinny on what women “our age” truly should be wearing so we look our very best?

Learn what to wear, how to shop and how to incorporate your new style into your life. (Instead of going back to those sweats you should have thrown out 5 years ago!) You’ll leave with a shopping list of items that will complete your wardrobe for the season and the confidence to buy what you need – not simply what’s on sale.

Your hosts are Chris Hauri and Julie Judd, a Certified Image Consultant and member of the Association of Image Consultants International with more than 20 years of experience.

$120 includes a light dinner, wine and materials

River Forest, IL

If you’ve been wondering how to spend the rest of your life, spend lunch with Chris Hauri and Liz Monroe-Cook as they take you through Life Sort. Using a simple card-sorting technique, you’ll identify your strengths, concerns and passions. From these we’ll brainstorm a “life plan” — ways to spend time doing the things that are most meaningful. You’ll leave with a much better understanding of yourself and your future.

$120 includes lunch, snacks and all materials

North Shore Location

Want to learn what styles REALLY work for you? Want to get the skinny on what women “our age” truly should be wearing so we look our very best?

Learn what to wear, how to shop and how to incorporate your new style into your life. (Instead of going back to those sweats you should have thrown out 5 years ago!) You’ll leave with a shopping list of items that will complete your wardrobe for the season and the confidence to buy what you need – not simply what’s on sale.

Your hosts are Chris Hauri and Julie Judd, a Certified Image Consultant and member of the Association of Image Consultants International with more than 20 years of experience.

$120 includes a light dinner, wine and materials

River Forest, IL

If you’ve been wondering how to spend the rest of your life, spend lunch with Chris Hauri and Liz Monroe-Cook as they take you through Life Sort. Using a simple card-sorting technique, you’ll identify your strengths, concerns and passions. From these we’ll brainstorm a “life plan” — ways to spend time doing the things that are most meaningful. You’ll leave with a much better understanding of yourself and your future.

$120 includes lunch, snacks and all materials

Northern Suburb TBD

I was never raised as a real team player. As most of us that are over 50, girls didn’t play team sports. (I don’t consider being in the same gym class a “team” — though the common embarrassment of having to wear gymsuits did offer some kind of bond….)  Didn’t belong to a sorority, didn’t even have a big family, so I never felt much like a joiner. But what a great team to join.

Every 3 minutes, someone in America is diagnosed with breast cancer. Women and men, young and old. So much of the $7.7M we raised is going toward research for a simple breast cancer test (bye, bye mammograms!), for less expensive treatments, gene research and other breakthroughs being conducted by Chicagoland doctors and hospitals. The rest is going for diagnosis and treatment for uninsured and low income people so they have access to the good care most of us have.

To all of you who honked while we walk – THANK YOU! We loved waving back – and if you noticed our 2-handed wave, that’s “applause” in sign language – and an important gesture to keep our hands and fingers from swelling into little sausages.

To all of you who walked – THANK YOU! I’m proud to be part of this “sorority” of selfless people who lived their commitment.

To all of you who donated or supported the walkers in any way – THANK  YOU! We couldn’t have done it without you.

To all of you brave women and men who have or had cancer – THANK YOU! For keeping hope alive and being the strong inspirations you are.

Many of the walkers write who they’re walking for on signs on their backs. There were many powerful images and statements. But one of our favorites (outside of some hysterical boob jokes) was “I’m walking so the only pink ribbons my daughter will wear are for her hair.” Wahoo!