A boutique spa offering Skincare, Electrolysis & Massage. Result oriented, and Holistic minded prod
We offer an authentic skincare experience that provides personalized result oriented treatments in a relaxed boutique setting to improve your skin and nourish the body and soul.
10/13/2025
Welcome Monday, welcome new day, welcome new week, and welcome to the rest of this three-day weekend. This holiday Monday is brought to us by Christopher Columbus.
Today we celebrate arrival of the acclaimed explorer who, on October 12, 1492 – seeking a short route from Europe to the East Indies – lost his way and set foot instead in the Americas … the “New World,” as it then became known.
In recent years, the day also celebrates the diversity of people populating the Americas, both indigenous and those who arrived at her shores seeking opportunity. It is, perhaps, serendipitous that the iconic pioneer arrived during one of the most beautiful times of the year … autumn.
“Autumn teaches us a valuable lesson. During summer, all the green trees are beautiful. But there is no time of year when the trees are more beautiful than when they are different colors. Diversity adds beauty to our world.” – Donald L. Hicks, American author and poet.
Enjoy the beauty everyone and let's hope this 'Nor'easter doesn't blow away the glorious foliage we usually expect to enjoy this month!
Looking forward to seeing you here again next Monday for another inspirational thought.
10/06/2025
Welcome Monday, welcome new week, welcome start of glorious autumnal foliage, and welcome first full week of October … the month set aside for Breast Cancer Awareness.
If you are a woman, love a woman, or if there is a woman in your life, please encourage breast health awareness. Especially encourage mammogram testing, a proven method for early detection of breast cancer. And early detection can save lives!
Please schedule those mammograms, women. Just do it! And guys ... it's okay to nag the females in your lives to schedule their mammograms EVERY year.
“We can’t control everything, but we can control the choices we make to reduce our risk of cancer.” — Michelle Obama, former U.S. first lady
See you all back here next Monday! In the meantime ... Stay safe and healthy out there! And women: If you haven’t already scheduled a yearly mammogram, do it!
Looking forward to seeing you back here next Monday for another inspirational thought.
10/01/2025
Wishing our Jewish friends on this day of preparation for Yom Kippur - a day of reckoning and atonement fasting, beginning at sundown today and ending at sundown tomorrow
"Rather than allow ourselves to be burdened by regret for our past misdeeds, we must strive to develop the inherent goodness which lies hidden in our souls, beneath layers of tarnish left by our sins."
– Rabbi Joseph Stern
09/29/2025
Hello Monday, hello new day, and goodbye September. Yes, on Wednesday we say hello to October, the month that tree leaves put on their show.
In spite of the summer-like weather we’ve been having, it really, truly is autumn. Weather patterns never disturb Mother Nature, who always performs her special magic in October, turning green tree leaves into brilliant colors.
Because of the diversity of trees here in our neck of the woods, the burst of color includes yellow, red, orange, and even some purple. Like this past spring, autumn may be having a late start thanks to unseasonal weather, but it really is autumn.
Yellow leaves are already floating from some maple, poplar and oak trees. Enjoy the sight of them seemingly dancing about in the breeze.
“There is something so special in the early leaves drifting from the trees – as if we are all to be allowed a chance to peel, to refresh, to start again.” – Ruth Ahmed, author
Let’s all get outside and enjoy the magic! As an unknown person once put it, “A fallen leaf is nothing more than a summer’s wave goodbye.”
Looking forward to seeing you next Monday with another motivational thought.
09/23/2025
Best wishes for a wonderful New Year to all our friends who are celebrating!
09/22/2025
Welcome Monday, welcome new week and welcome autumn!! Indeed, today it's official: It is the first day of autumn.
If you’re still a bit melancholy about the end of summer, try to think of all the pluses – no mosquitoes or pesky gnats, less humidity, crisp air that is energizing and wonderful blue-sky days.
Yes, it’s time to switch out those closets and drawers if you haven’t already. Time to put away sundresses, bikinis, and halter tops. Bring out the sweatshirts, denim jackets and hoodies!
Also time to store away all the summer gear; gardening and barbeque tools, hoses, watering cans, and beach paraphernalia. And do find a place for all those seashells collected for the past months
If you consider all this a chore, know that there will be an upside: nature is about to present us with another astounding magical show.
"It’s the time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale." — Lauren DeStefano, American author
Take a deep breath of the newly fresh air everyone and enjoy nature’s miraculous transition.
Looking forward to seeing you back here next Monday for another motivational thought.
09/15/2025
Hello Monday, hello new week, hello new beginning, hello last week of official summer.
Awwww … don’t be so upset. We had a good run, didn’t we? Our vegetable gardens were bountiful, the flowers were – and still are – amazing, some even still blooming on the side of the road. Really, once the unusual May rainy season called it quits, summer has been fairly close to perfect.
Anyway, we all know how summer weather can linger for days – even weeks – after autumn begins. So chin up!
Yes, the daylight hours have already started to shorten, with sunset coming earlier. But many of us are happily anticipating the thought of beautiful autumn and welcoming the breathtaking colors of fall foliage. In fact, many consider it a second spring in which oranges, yellows, reds, and purples abound.
“If a year was tucked inside of a clock, then autumn would be the magic hour.” -- Victoria Erickson, American writer
Enjoy the change of season out there! It’s one of nature’s wonders.
Looking forward to seeing you next Monday for another inspirational thought.
09/08/2025
Welcome Monday, welcome new day, welcome ‘back to school!’ To the moms out there with kids…congratulations! You did it again. You got them ready for school.
You tried on clothes to see what still fit, bought new outfits to make up for what they outgrew, checked off the list of necessary school supplies, shopped for new shoes, got them haircuts, and more. Congrats!
But after the rush of back to school, (and actually spending so many years in school ourselves), many of us still consider September as the start of a new year. Maybe it’s the latent ‘student’ in us remembering the excitement of a new teacher, a new grade, maybe the new shoes, and definitely seeing all of our classmates once again. Our inner student may even fondly remember favorite teachers and the special lesson they shared.
“That old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air… Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year’s mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.”— Donna Tartt, American novelist
Let your ‘inner student’ find the jubilee once again in this annual transition! See you next Monday for another motivational thought!
09/01/2025
Hello new week, hello first Monday in September, hello Labor Day, an official national holiday rooted in the late 19th Century, The day was conceived when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to” recognize the many contributions workers have made to America's strength, prosperity, and well-being.”
Today – for most of us, it’s a day off from work and a three-day weekend. It is a day to celebrate all of us who toil in a profession, a trade, a service, a vocation, a calling, a passion, either remotely, in person or surrounded by a team.
Yay, us! We deserve this day.
"Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." — Theodore Roosevelt, 26th U.S President
Enjoy a day of respite everyone! And do give a shout out to those who must work today in service to us and our country’s well-being. As stated by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr: "All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity."
See you next Monday for another motivational thought.
08/25/2025
Hello Monday! Goodbye August … Wellllll, almost goodbye.
Can you believe this is the last week of August? Where did the time go? Hard to comprehend that summer is almost over!
Not to worry though. Don’t be fooled by retail shelves sporting Halloween decorations or shelves stocked with pumpkin spice everything or whole retail spaces encompassing brightly lit Christmas trees.
Although we are less than a month away from the start of autumn, we all know summer likes to dawdle a bit, much to the delight of many.
Daylight is still lingering until almost 8:00 pm, there are plenty of warm sunny days ahead, and flowers are still blooming. Especially those gorgeous, yellow sunflowers that seem to be smiling endlessly, beckoning us to embrace the leisurely seasonal change.
“May the wind of August lift you up, elevate you and blow you in the right direction.” ― Kyos Magupe, artist, author, motivational speaker.
Enjoy the winds of change out there! Looking forward to seeing you next Monday for another inspirational thought.
08/18/2025
Happy Monday, happy new day, happy new week, and happy “Serendipity Day.”
Yes, serendipity. Remember that time you found an old $20 bill in the pocket of a jacket you were taking to the cleaners? Serendipity! Or that time you were thinking about an old friend, and they text you? Serendipity!
The word itself is the term for “happy accident” or “pleasant surprise.” However, many believe that serendipity is no accident at all, but an attitude or a lifestyle in which people are always reaching for those unexpected things and expecting happy surprises to occur.
“Serendipity is the gift of finding things we didn't know we were already unconsciously looking for.” – Glauco Ortolano, Brazilian author
Stay ‘mindful’ everyone so we can recognize serendipitous moments…those happy little surprises.
Looking forward to seeing you back here next Monday for another motivational thought.
08/11/2025
Happy Monday, happy new day, happy new week!
Well, today is officially the last day of summer’s “dog days,” according to the experts who declare such things. But you won’t be able to prove it in our neck of the woods where the temperatures this week are expected to peak up close to 90 degrees, with humidity around 80 percent. If those numbers don’t register as dog days … well we don’t know what does!
On the brighter side – and we do mean bright! – for those of us who are not terribly fond of heat waves, there will be another type of peaking this week: Tuesday and Wednesday will be the height of the Perseid Meteor Shower, which appears as shooting stars. While the ‘shower’ doesn’t end until August 24, this week will be the best time to see the shooting stars.
And, according to legend, we must always wish on a shooting star. So, this will be a good week for wishing! This annual event is one of the brightest, most numerous, and long-lasting of all the meteor showers, which guarantees a multitude of ‘shooting stars.’
“Look at those stars. See their beauty. And in that beauty, see yourself.” - Draya Mooney, Irish author
Look up, keep your eyes peeled, everyone, and WISH! Looking forward to seeing you back here next Monday for another inspirational thought.
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If you ask Cora Ciaramello about her profession – one she has been practicing for twenty years – she will likely describe it in several ways. She’ll say she is a licensed massage therapist, electrologist and aesthetician. But after just a few minutes of conversation it becomes obvious she is more than all that. She is following a vocation driven by a passion to help people feel and look their best, promoting health-based skin and body care.
For Cora, it’s all about helping others feel good about themselves using the skills she learned through years of study, training and doing.
“It’s been a journey,” Cora says, referring to the inspiration that guided her on the path to launching Changes Spa & Aesthetics. The altered course was quite a diversion from the successful sales and marketing career she had been experiencing for nearly two decades; the one college had prepared her for.
But like many of life’s U-turns and winding roads, Cora’s diversion resulted from some personal circumstances along with a measure of introspection.
One circumstance was her own boost in self-esteem following a series of skin treatments for some problem areas. She recalls that “The experience boosted my self-confidence and my desire to help others feel better about themselves.”
Resulting from her own experience, Cora decided to switch gears and begin skin care studies, first with electrolysis. She apprenticed part time, while still working in the sales and marketing arena.
It was after two life-changing experiences, however, that she made the choice to surge full steam ahead on the skin care and wellness track.
And she has never looked back.
Cora says that it was during her father’s battle with leukemia that she fully realized the benefits and rewards of personal attention and care for others. “When my dad was in the hospital with leukemia, I would go to see him
every day to cleanse and put compresses on his face, hands and feet. I would massage his hands and feet a bit as well,” she adds.
“It was then and there, that I discovered how happy someone can look and feel,” after soothing attention, “and decided that was what I wanted to focus on as a career.”
Following this awakening, Cora began intensively studying aesthetics, even taking advanced classes to further her knowledge, experience and skills. As a New Jersey licensed aesthetician and electrologist, she worked at her calling for years at different spas and salons.
A second life-threatening experience – this one a serious auto accident in which she was involved – motivated Cora to further pursue well-being practices and routines: massage therapy.
“During my recuperation from the car accident, I discovered how much massage and yoga improved my recovery process.” As a result, Cora decided to add massage therapy to her skills, taking courses to become a fully licensed therapist. She is also a devout yoga enthusiast to keep herself limber and flexible, a vital part of her wellness regimen.
With so many skills and such a wide breadth of experience – not to mention, Cora’s passion for wellness – it is no wonder that her vision, Changes Spa & Aesthetics, is no ordinary in-and-out salon du jour.
Cora believes there is no ‘one size fits all’ where skin and wellness are concerned. “I call Changes a ‘boutique’ salon because it is different and unique. It’s not like some franchise that has a revolving door of experts and consultants,” she quips.
“Each client receives a full evaluation. At Changes we aim to provide an authentic skincare experience that provides personalized, results oriented treatments in a relaxed boutique setting. Our goal is to improve our clients’ skin and nourish the body and soul…one client at a time,” Cora emphasizes.
“My passion is helping people look and feel their best!” she adds. And her passion is her goal – one she achieves one client at a time. Just ask one!
Come in and visit us at Changes Spa to have your own authentic skincare experience in a relaxed boutique setting--you’ll leave feeling nourished through your mind body & soul. Book a service with myself, Kim, or Mary.
