Vin Scully: A Special Adventure with a Legend Update 10/2

Vin Scully at Dodger Stadium
Vin Scully at Dodger Stadium
Herb, Jan, Mr Scully, Me and Craig – Priceless

10/2 – Vin Scully Update ~

I wrote the post below almost two months ago when all of the good byes to Vin Scully had not quite started. Since our meeting, the Vin Scully Farewell tour has begun. He has been interviewed, filmed, photographed, hugged, sung to, given the key to Los Angeles, awarded plaques and been surrounded by love from fans, ballplayers, friends and family.

Honestly, I don’t know how he and his wife Sandy have kept up with all of it. Through all of these accolades, Mr Scully just waves it off, “Enough, I am just me” He says.

The Dodgers even clinched the National League West on his very last day announcing at Dodger Stadium. No Hollywood movie could have played this scenario better. It is astounding how spectacular his good byes have been and the amount of cheering and tears that have been shed.

He is the man, no question. I am super sad that we will no longer hear him announcing the Dodger Games. Craig will be in San Francisco today  just to hear Vin call the game with the Giants for his very last time ever. Mr Scully is a legend with a golden voice and a heart of gold that goes with it.


Our love for the Dodgers and Vin Scully ~

Craig was just ten years old when he started listening to Vin Scully. He would put his small transistor radio next to his ear or under his pillow to listen to the Dodger games. It was most likely past his bed time, but he didn’t care, it was baseball season. In 1970, Craig said he became obsessed with the Dodgers and played the “Pop Tart” game. Inside the Pop Tart box was a paper scorecard where he wrote the stats, stayed organized and focused on Dodger Blue.

My grandparents bled Dodger Blue, they were HUGE fans. I can clearly remember them sitting under their backyard willow tree in the summer heat, listening to Vin Scully’s play by play and keeping score. My grandma kept the scorecard on her lap and she would keep score for every game. The summertime in the valley was so hot and they had no air conditioning, so grandpa would bring a cooler of cold drinks and they used that as a side table.

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How Social Are You? An Intriguing Podcast Adventure

How Social Are You Podcast

How Social Are You Podcast

 

Are you a podcast listener? Are you part of the social media world? There is a brand-new exciting and intriguing podcast called How Social Are You?. This podcast is the brainchild of a long time friend of mine Mark Lindheimer. Mark is the COO of one of the largest and most influential Instagram based luxury lifestyle travel companies in the world.

On the podcast Mark examines how social media has impacted his life and business and then interviews others to find out how social media has affected them and their world.

We recorded a fun and informative interview which talks about how my life, Adventures of Empty Nesters and social media all interact. I believe that social media is here to stay and that we all need to create our own boundaries and allow it to enhance our lives and keep us connected.

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Sage Advice for the New Empty Nester: Cheer up!

advice for the empty nester

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Are you looking for advice for the new empty nester?

It is August and new empty nesters are now arriving at the most difficult of the empty nest hurdles. Navigating the college send off, dealing with the new freshman’s anxiety, the anticipation of the actual “goodbye” is a lot to deal with. Not to mention how you use your acting skills to pretend this is all for the best and you are “so excited” for their first year away at school.

Of course you are excited and proud of your 18 year old baby who has accomplished such amazing things! But the fact is, that adorable, perfectly delicious child of yours will not be walking back in to your house for a while and certainly NOT on a daily basis. This my friend is not an easy situation to handle. Some of you will breeze through this process and some will cry a little more than you want to. That was me.

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Seattle: A Mother/Daughter Blueberry Picking Adventure

blueberry picking in Seattle

 

blueberry picking in Seattle

A blueberry picking adventure with the princess ~

blueberry picking in Seattle

 

Why pay nearly $5.00 a pint for organic blueberries when you can pick them yourself for $2/lb! Since Pasadena is not anywhere near a blueberry farm, it would make picking blueberries nearly impossible at home. However, I was on my way to Seattle where there are many blueberry farms, so the time was ripe!

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Listening to a Conversation with Frank Gehry at the Walt Disney Concert Hall

Frank Gehry at Disney Concert Hall

 

Frank Gehry at Disney Concert Hall

Listening to a conversation with Frank Gehry at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles was a pretty awesome way to spend an evening! Christopher Hawthorne, architecture critic of the Los Angeles Times, interviewed Mr. Gehry on stage. They talked a lot about his early beginnings and coming to Los Angeles as a teen from Canada.

Frank Gehry at Disney Concert Hall
A view of The Walt Disney Concert Hall from across the street. It is so large it is difficult to get a shot of the whole building!

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He is now 87 years old! Who do you know that is still being interviewed, sought after, hired, consulted with, admired and revered at that age? Easy going and truthful, strong willed, creative and sweet, I was totally captivated and so was Craig.

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Rock and Roll in Midlife: The English Beat Concert in Pasadena

The English Beat rock and roll

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Rock and roll and midlife fit together like a melody and lyrics. We grew up in the 60’s but we found our rock and roll stride in our high school and college years in the late 70’s and 80’s. From high school sweethearts, to now at 32 years of marriage, we have been listening and discovering music and bands, as well as attending countless concerts for almost forty years.

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Flashback Friday ~ Our Summer Edition!

 

flashback Friday
Chillin’ in Kennebunkport – #heavenly

 

I thought it would be fun to do a Flashback Friday post. Today’s post incorporates May 30th – August 30th 2015. Oh my, a lot can happen in one summer.

Flashback Friday 2015 – Summer Edition

flashback Friday lobster roll
The mouth-watering lobster roll in Kennebunkport – To die for!

 

In the summer of 2015, my Dad was still with us, I went to Kennebunkport for the first time and Nick graduated from UCLA! I had a blast at a UCLA sorority reunion and we went to a music festival called Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Craig and I filmed an infomercial for the Perfect Cooker in our very un-perfect kitchen in the fixer upper. We discovered new places to walk in our new neighborhood. We had a great time in New York City, discovering new places to go and we also discovered some great places to eat in Pasadena. And last but not least, we started the adventure of living in Seattle for “6 months” which turned into eight.

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A Mother/Daughter Trip to Italy ~By Kathleen

mother/daughter trip to Italy

 

mother/daughter trip to Italy
(The matching dress pic). We love our perfect linen dresses that we bought in Anacapri at the darling boutique Sesto Senso.

 

Please welcome new Guest Adventurer, Kathleen. She is a sorority sister of mine from UCLA, a teacher, a mom, a great friend and wonderful person. When I saw the photos of her trip to Italy on Facebook, I begged her to share her trip! She graciously offered to write up a little something for us and let us drool over her incredibly beautiful photos! Thank you Kathleen!

A Mother/Daughter Trip to Italy ~

My daughter Jacqueline and I just spent an amazing 2 weeks in Italy to celebrate her graduation from USC. We absolutely loved everything about Italy including the people, history, architecture, art, the sea and the food. We planned our entire trip using other travelers’ reviews on TripAdvisor and everything met our expectations.

trip to Italy
Jacqueline and I arriving by ferry on the island of Capri. We know we are in for an incredible experience.

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Seattle: A Postcard Perfect Visit to Vashon Island

Vashon Island

 

Living in Seattle for eight months provided Craig and I with so many new adventures! We chose a gorgeous, dry, sunny, Sunday morning to take the short ferry ride over to Vashon Island.

Vashon Island is a small, pastoral island in the middle of the Puget Sound. It is 13 miles long and about 8 miles wide (at its widest point) with an eclectic mix of quaint shops, historic sites, places to hike and bike and about 45 miles of coastline. We chose to drive around the island to see as much of the scenery as we could, but you could stop, take walks all over the island, grab a cup of coffee, and relax. It is a no hurry, do what you like kind of place.

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