I have a great story for you! A social media story with a very happy and delicious ending. A fellow foodie named Susan, who lives near where I live, connected with me on Instagram. She found me and followed me and I followed her in return!
I could tell that she and I had a lot in common through her posts. She loves going to outstanding restaurants and eating great meals and she is also very innovative in her kitchen. Recently she posted a gorgeous photo of a lunch dish she was having at an Argentine restaurant in Pasadena called Malbec.
Almost every day, I receive a request from a new blogger who is starting out or a company that would like to reach the Adventures of Empty Nesters audience. I spend a great deal of time answering the emails and doing my best to help without cutting in to my time for writing, sponsored posts, brand collaborations and TRAVEL!
Consulting with other bloggers has become a huge passion of mine and I have come to understand that after 3 ½ years of blogging experience, I have a lot to offer. I grew this blog readership person by person, reader by reader hoping to inform, inspire and connect. I love it. I really love it.
When our paths connect with others unexpectedly, it can enhance our lives immeasurably. How fun is it to watch someone’s dream become reality? How good does it feel to assist someone? To mentor someone?
The answer is fantastic! I just wanted to take this opportunity to share this newest adventure with you and hope you will share it with others.
I offer an introductory package that includes a one hour planning session along with a 30 minute follow up for $150.00 We can then meet (virtually) on an as needed basis.
Location, location, location. This “restaurant without walls”, farm to table dinner feast was in Lillywaup, WA at the Hama Hama Oyster Farm. Just imagine dining on the west shore of the Hood Canal where the water was so close you worried the tides would rise too fast. It wasn’t scary, it was dreamy.
Although the was dinner was located in the state of Washington, notorious for rain and grey skies, we experienced none of that. Just bright blue sky and vivid green grasses and trees, with white puffy clouds sprinkled on top. Goosebump scenery. You know that other worldly feeling of discovering a new place that you can hardly put in to words how incredible that moment in time feels? This is how I felt and most likely everyone sitting at the one long table set for 150 food loving diners did as well.
What is it like inside a Presidential Suite in San Francisco?
How about a sneak peek inside a Presidential Suite at the Grand Hyatt, San Francisco? What is a Presidential Suite exactly? Do presidents stay there? Rock stars? The Dalai Lama? How about a travel blogger and her business traveler husband? Check, check, check and check.
We actually did stay in The Onyx Suite in Downtown Seattle just after the Dalai Lama left the hotel. That felt pretty darn cool.
We are offered upgrades to suites of this kind because my husband spends half of the calendar year in Hyatt Hotels. Think of how many days that is. These upgrades are a type of thank you for his continued support and loyalty. It is a lovely perk for the sacrifices he (and I make) when he is far from home so often. Upgrades to this level don’t happen often, but when they do, we are very impressed…and grateful!
Hotel Points ~
I have always suggested that sticking with one hotel chain and building loyalty points for future travel is so beneficial. This strategy helps us build hotel points and has allowed us to stay in many extraordinary luxury hotels. Craig and I just returned from a stay on the island of Mallorca at the incomparable Park Hyatt and we stayed there using points. Many of the hotel chains have credit cards where you can earn points for future stays as well.
It was a big, fat, glorious Labor Day Weekend. We hit the family bonanza when both of our grown children and their significant others could fly down from Seattle and San Francisco to be with us for the holiday weekend. The Empty Nest was full to the brim and no one could swipe that silly grin off my face for three days!
If you have been following our adventures, you may remember that we have downsized in the last year and now our current home is not the spacious dwelling where the kids grew up. No, we are living in about half the square footage with fewer bathrooms. Everyone is a good sport and sleeps where we can find room. Rocco (our dog) was beside himself with joy because he could not decide who he wanted to lay by and cuddle with next!
The home of Frank Lloyd Wright is shaded by a small forest of trees
While planning a trip to Chicago I stumbled (luckily) upon a tour of the home of Frank Lloyd Wright. There were twelve different tours to choose from and I chose to take the Wright Around Chicago tour.
“Truth is life
Good friend, around these
hearthstones speak no evil
word of any creature”
Frank Lloyd Wright
I am absolutely fascinated with Frank Lloyd Wright and have been for years, but I actually never knew that I could tour his home! While I was in Chicago, I wanted to divide my time between the more touristy places like the world-class museums, Cloud Gate, aka “The Bean”, shopping on Michigan Avenue and Millennium Park, as well as satisfying my passion for architecture. There is a long list of architecture tours to enjoy directly in the city, but on this day I was trying something different.
Our daughter Alex bought us these fun pool floats to go with our mundane ones from Target
What are your favorite summer activities?
Summer is beginning to wind down and this has caused me to pause and reflect upon what I love most about this time of year. Did you love it when the kids were little and there was no set schedule? When this summer freedom became threatened by the Fall school year, there was almost a layer of sadness when that first day of school was on the horizon.
There is the sweetest little elementary school in our neighborhood and we can see the hand painted welcome signs and shiny new backpacks as the children walk to school already in August. What happened to going back to school after Labor Day?
Do you love to read like I do? Do you lug around paper copies when you travel? Or do you bring all your titles on a kindle? An iPad?
I actually do a little bit of everything. My primary reading device is my iPad mini where I have loaded iBooks, as well as the Kindle app. My favorite genre is probably historical fiction, but my passion for reading something well written and entertaining surpasses any type of category preference.
Welcome to Los Angeles ~ 25 Awesome Things to do in Los Angeles!
Summer is still here and the daytime sun is blazing. I know that doesn’t make Los Angeles sound too enticing, but come anyway we have air conditioning! Or if you live in So Cal – Get out and come visit! Maybe wait until the kids go back to school (which is like, now.)
How come they go back so early now? When we were kids we had the luxury of enjoying much more summertime because we returned to school after Labor Day.
A visit to Los Angeles includes a HUGE geographic area. From Disneyland to the South to Venice in the west and Universal Studios to the Northwest. It doesn’t just include Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA). The traffic is awful so you may want to break your time down in to day trips or stay in a centrally located spot and venture out like spokes on a wheel.
The travel year is barely halfway through and we can already pick the Park Hyatt Mallorca for the luxury resort of the year. It is five star and beyond amazing. When we decided to plan a relaxing retreat in Mallorca, we knew it would be special, but it was not only special it was probably our favorite hotel experience of all time.
Where on earth is Mallorca? Mallorca is the largest of Spain’s Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean. It is known for beach resorts, sheltered coves, limestone mountains and Roman and Moorish remains. It was just a forty minute plane ride from Barcelona and is truly the quintessential Mediterranean postcard. It’s gorgeous.
Just like in a local village square, there is a fountain and a clock tower.
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