Island boutique LOVE

Nothing inspires me more than ISLAND COLOR and I love to share stories of some of our colorful island boutiques.  Today I want to take you to one of the most stunning islands in the Caribbean.  St.John is one of 3 islands that make up the US Virgin Islands, and although the smallest of the 3, national park makes up more than half of the island, so it is about as pristine as you can get.   A quick search of St.John on google images gets you something like this...

The island has stunning beaches, and amazing resorts to chill out in, but there is also plenty of things to do, for those who don't just want to lie on the beach all day.  The snorkeling and diving is world class, the hiking is incredible and there are some amazing ruins to explore.  Here is a photo of the Annaberg Sugar Mill, which I borrowed from the Westin St.John Resort Facebook Page.

I love Caribbean ruins and the offer of a peak into the diverse history of the islands.  

One of the ladies that I have had the privilege of working with for many years is Susan Stair. Susan arrived in the Virgin Islands in 1972 and started her resort retail career as Manager of the Caneel Bay Boutique.  She had been a buyer for Federated Department Stores after graduating college with a business degree, but decided the island life was for her. (sounds familiar).  Over the past 40 years, Susan has owned and managed 12 different retail shops in the Virgin Islands, and she has also had a Consulting Buying Business for small resort shops throughout the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and the Caribbean.  

In 2015, Susan sold most of her stores and now is devoting her energies to Sunny + Co, a resort shop at the Westin Resort on St. John.  Susan has had retail stores at this resort since it opened in 1989.  Here is a photo of the sunny garden location of her store Sunny + Co.

Susan and her husband live on St. John and are avid world travelers.  Susan's goal is to see 1/2 the countries of the world and she is now at 42%...having visited 116 countries.  Here she is visiting the ancient city of Petra, in Jordan.  One of the New 7 Wonders of the World, Petra is famous for its architecture cut into the sandstone rock 2000 years ago, and lost to the outside world for hundreds of years.

Now the next photo is a zoomed out photo of Susan, so that you can get a true indication of where she is actually standing. 

What an adventurous place to visit, somewhere I would love to visit too one day.  Click here to read more about the Lost City of Petra in this National Geographic article.

Another adventurous island lady... I love sharing their stories with you all.  Here is a little snapshot from Susan's boutique..... looks like my kinda store !

One Love x