CarePossible: How to find your passion as an Empty Nester

November 10, 2016

Please welcome my friend of 20 years who is a fantastic husband, father and friend, Randy Moraitis. Randy is a counselor, life coach and interventionist in private practice in Laguna Niguel, CA. He founded CarePossible to provide free mental health and addiction care to low-income families and veterans. On the eve of Veteran’s Day, I felt it was the perfect time for him to share his personal adventure with all of you! Thank you Randy.

How to find your passion as an Empty Nester ~

Recently, after raising a blended family of five, my wife Kim and I became empty nesters (unless you count our Morkie named Rambo).

One of the best parts of being an empty nester is having more time and freedom to pursue one’s passion. My passion is helping those affected by mental health and addiction issues—specifically low income and military families.

After over a dozen years leading large mental health counseling and addiction recovery programs in some great mega-churches, I became exasperated by the number of people who finally get to a place where they really want help for their issues, but because they lack resources they end up slipping through the cracks of society, sometimes overdosing or committing suicide, or at the very least never living a life of purpose or contributing to the community.

Seattle Baking Class: How to Make a Pie – Ninja Style!

November 7, 2016November 7, 2016

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and what post would be more perfect than ~ How to make a pie !!

Nothing exemplifies happiness, family love and America, like the pleasure of baking a pie. Baking has always been a passion of mine and I have learned from my mother, taking classes and reading cookbooks. When the kids were little, for their birthdays, there was always a special themed cake. Then after they out grew the children’s cakes, their choice was always my Spice Cake with maple frosting. I remember so clearly the pure joy of creating a Cinderella Castle cake or a Peter Pan alligator cake, decorated Halloween sugar cookies and my “famous” Oreo Cheesecake at Christmas.

Seattle Art Museum – The Spectacular Yves Saint Laurent Exhibit

November 4, 2016

Seattle Art Museum ~

Are you planning a trip to Seattle in the next few months? Don’t miss this extraordinary exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum Yves Saint Laurent – The Perfection of Style.

If my dear friend Shari, who is a Seattlite and a Seattle Art Museum volunteer hadn’t told me, I would have missed it! So now it is my turn to share with you this AMAZING fashion adventure.

The exhibition only runs from October – January 8, 2017. But just in case you live near by or want to plan a trip to my favorite city in the Pacific Northwest – Here are the details ~

A NASCAR Racing Adventure from our Newest Guest Adventurer

November 2, 2016November 1, 2016

I am Laurie Napier, I am a married, 53 yr old mom of 5. I live in Scotts Valley, CA in the beautiful Santa Cruz Mountains. I have 4 grown adult kids all off living their lives in different parts of the West Coast. I have 3 amazing little grandsons and I have one very special son still at home.

I love traveling and discovering all the wonderful people and places in our Country.

I hope to get to do more as the years come. Looking forward to the exciting new things each day brings.

Adventures in the NASCAR racing world!

I am not quite an empty nester yet, luckily I have a spectacular tag-a-long son who is 17 and happens to be a young up & coming rookie in the NASCAR racing series. We have had many adventures together in the last few years, which is a joy to me! To be able to spend this time with my boy before he moves on and leaves me alone is priceless. We have traveled all over the country visiting the different race tracks and exploring new cities, meeting new people and having a blast along the way!

Happy Halloween! ~ Elaborate Old Cemeteries in New Orleans

October 31, 2016

Cemeteries in New Orleans are big tourist spots.

Yes, they really are! On our small group tour of the city, we stopped at St Louis Cemetery #3. It was a scorching hot day, with a vibrant blue sky and impressionist clouds. If the sky hadn’t been so spectacular, I don’t know that I would have taken so many photos.

Since today is Halloween and New Orleans celebrates this holiday to the extreme, it seemed fitting to share these photos with you. Many of the enormous stone-carved family tombs cost tens of thousands of dollars to create and there were some (I did not photograph, unfortunately) that were even over $100,000.

The Happy Hour Hiking Club with Chris Erskine

March 24, 2020October 28, 2016

Photo: Dave Wilkenson — Photo: Dave Mickelson

An Empty Nester Hiking Club Adventure ~

When was the last time you did something for the first time? My most recent experience was Wednesday. Craig and I joined a cheerful group of hikers who were mostly middle-aged and some even a bit older, who live near Los Angeles. We went on a short, but steep hike to the Griffith Park Observatory and it was awesome.

Columnist Chris Erskine, from the Los Angeles Times, put this group together. Yes! That guy! He is just as great in person and as friendly as you would assume he would be.

Chris had this idea of getting some nice people together, taking a short-ish walk or hike and finishing with a Happy Hour. This became the Happy Hour Hiking Club.

The views of Los Angeles and the Hollywood Hills were spectacular. Many of us had never been up there before and we all lived nearby. Hard to believe but true! Chris said “Welcome to the rooftop of Los Angeles”. The sunset sky rolled out a rainbow of colors for all of us to enjoy.

My Top 13 Favorite Things to do in New Orleans

March 24, 2020October 27, 2016

For those of you who are familiar with New Orleans please understand that this is our first time and we have a lot to learn about this very unique city. We tried our best to dabble here and there to get a flavor for what the city can offer.

Go easy on me about the Big Easy! Like any big city you can have a different experience every time you go. I feel like we made a substantial first pass at New Orleans and absolutely need to go back, maybe in the spring time.

I really want to encourage all of you to go and see it for yourself! It is truly one of the most remarkable places in the U.S. that I have ever visited and shame on me for not going sooner!

Visit New Orleans to Eat, Drink and Be Merry!

A visit to New Orleans has been on our destination “to do” list for quite a while and we had actually planned a trip for this time last year, but had to change our plans.

We wanted to go on this vacation with our longtime college friends, Jon and Angela because not one of us had ever been!

Beautiful Doors & More in the New Orleans Garden District

October 24, 2016

Charming porch vignettes, cast iron scrollwork, colorful painted doors and magnificent homes line the neighborhood streets in the New Orleans Garden District.

Luckily we missed the rain, the humidity and bugs to enjoy nearly perfect weather on our first trip to New Orleans. The city is so amazing and we found that the most difficult part of visiting is finding the time to see it all! (Sorry it is impossible) We just loved it though, so stay tuned for many more details in the days/weeks to come.

Although through the majority of the trip the temperature was pleasant, on the first day we arrived, the sun was scorching with intense burn-your-shoulders kind of heat. We toughed it out while touring the city but we were so pleased at the relief we received at sunset. Fortunately, for the rest of our wonderful four-day trip, the weather fully cooperated!

7 Extraordinarily Brilliant Packing Tips for Travel this Fall

October 17, 2016

Don’t you always want to hear about a few handy packing tips? I sure do. I don’t know if these ideas are extraordinarily brilliant, but it sure is a great title!

We have several Fall trips coming up and I have started to plan what I will take with me and thought I would share a few helpful ideas. Packing for a summer trip has entirely different requirements, so for today this is just about the Fall.

An “Onolicious” Kauai Culinary Adventure: Eating House 1849

October 14, 2016

‘Ono – The word ‘ono with the okina means delicious in the Hawaiian language.

Onolicious – This slang word is a variation of ‘ono combined with the word delicious.

Eating House 1849

From the culinary pioneer of Hawaiian Fusion, James Beard Award winning chef Roy Yamaguchi, a new concept restaurant called Eating House 1849, was opened just two miles down the road from our hotel in Kauai!

It opened in 2015 and is located in Koloa at the Kukuiula Shopping Center on the south shore of Kauai in Poipu Beach. Eating House 1849 pays homage and was named after a restaurant that was in business in the mid 1800’s. Roy pays tribute to Peter Fernandez, a Portuguese immigrant and an early restaurant pioneer and his style of cooking to create this brand new (and delicious) concept.

We truly had no idea what to expect and the truth is that we tried to get a reservation at Roy’s where we have had many delicious dinners in the Hawaiian islands and in Orange County. After checking the Roy’s website, we learned that the restaurant had closed on Kauai and something else took its place. Totally unfamiliar with this restaurant, we charged ahead and made a reservation. We knew that if Roy was executing this menu, it had to be outstanding.

Emphasizing this Hawaiian culinary history and focusing on local farmers, foragers, ranchers and fisherman, Eating House 1849 performed like it had been there for years.