I would love to take a cooking course in Italy, or a six-week Spanish-language-improvement holiday in Mexico or the Dominican Republic, or go on a yoga retreat in an ashram in India: a trip to learn to do one thing well.
Dea Birkett: Community projects, self-improvement holidays… when did a fortnight just flopping out in the sun become such a crime?
The results indicate continued gradual improvement in holiday spending plans since a sharp decline four years ago, said Bill Hampel, chief economist for the CUNA, in a statement.
"I'd like to spend some of it on home improvements, a holiday or a new car".
Because it is secured, a bigger mortgage is a cheaper way of financing home improvements or holidays than an ordinary bank loan.
"I was very pleased with our improvement from the Holiday Cup and even our improvement over the last week," Damato said.
Mr. Dye said after a lackluster back-to-school season, retailers would probably experience only modest improvements in the holiday season sales compared with last year.
By Raquel Wilson NEW YORK, USA, 20 December 2006 ─ After a successful first year, UNICEF's electronic greetings service, available online at www.unicef-shop.com, has undergone several improvements for this holiday season.
On public holidays, the improvement can exceed 80%, but, remarkably, also during non-holiday periods the forecast accuracy increases by about 10% only due to properly covered holiday effects.
But it was at least an improvement from last year's holiday season, which was called the most disappointing in a decade.
Executives admitted this month that the brand is still not hitting its fashion mark — and that it probably won't see meaningful improvement until after the holiday season.
