Happy Thoughts About Long-Term Marriages

March 24, 2020October 28, 2015

Allow me to declare that any and all anniversaries should be celebrated! Any time a married couple begins another year together it’s fantastic. Long-term marriages are an important milestone and I wouldn’t be me unless I said we also need to find adventure in life too!

Aren’t we all looking for hope? Hope for a great life for our families, for ourselves and for our friends. On social media I see where “likes” of happy things way outnumber the negative. I actually just scroll past the negative. You and I both know that negativity is floating about, I just don’t need to focus on it, but that’s just me.

hugging in the cornfields — In the cornfields in the Pacific Northwest, a couple of years ago

The Beauty of October in Seattle

October 26, 2015

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

I know that I am not alone when I express how dazzled I am by the beauty of October. The miracle of autumn takes your breath away, doesn’t it? Who isn’t enchanted by the spectacular changing leaves bursting with color, carving plump pumpkins and enjoying the apple cinnamon scent of hot cider. The college football schedule keeps us very busy this time of year and we plan family suppers like delicious chili and belly warming soups. Sunday pasta dinners with homemade marinara sauce are a tradition for us as well.

Jacques Pépin’s 80th Birthday Bash With Tom Douglas

October 19, 2015October 19, 2015

Jacques Pépin is a culinary icon, a husband, a father, a grandpa, a best friend and just an all-around wonderful man with a sexy French accent. As long as I have loved the food world, I have loved Jacques Pépin. I started my culinary journey, thirty years ago, as a newly married woman, soaking up every …

Gone to Maui …

October 12, 2015

We have up and gone to Maui! For our 31st wedding anniversary we are checking out the brand new Hyatt Residence Club in Kaanapali, Maui. Someone has to do it. We promise to think of you as we drink a Mai Tai or two watching the magnificent Maui sunset. I will be back in a …

Four things I’ve learned from living in Seattle for one month.

October 9, 2015

It has been almost exactly 30 days since we started our #6monthsinSeattle adventure.

We drove for three days and nights from California to Washington and the drive was (mostly) fun.

I have already learned lots of great things about the city as well as myself from living in Seattle just in one short month!

1. I can live with much less “stuff”.

We started this whole downsize to a smaller house adventure and I knew that we would need to purge our belongings because the new house is half the size of the old one. We ended up storing about two thirds of our personal possessions in storage and kept one third to be used in the new house.

While we were renovating the house and had to move out, we then hatched the brilliant plan to move to Seattle, to be near our daughter after nine years of living apart, in an urban high rise… in a teeny tiny apartment.

We then had to pare down our belongings even more because of the lack of room and closet space in our apartment. Evidently, I can live without a great deal of what I already own.

In one month, I have not longed for or whined for any of my other clothes, dishes, glasses, books, etc that are packed away and inaccessible.

Park Hyatt New York: Where Luxury is Personal

September 28, 2015

The living room in our suite at the Park Hyatt New York.

Our recent experience at the Park Hyatt New York was so dreamy that it felt like we had stepped into a design magazine cover shoot. The hotel was sleek and exquisite, with cool, polished marble floors and soaring ceilings. Supreme accommodations that included all of the amenities a discerning traveler expects. As our personalized iPad suggests, “luxury is personal” at the Park Hyatt New York.

A Walk Through Central Park in September

September 25, 2015

It was September and still very warm in New York City. The day prior, we spent a memorable 10 hours at the US Open and endured some heavy rainfall and high humidity. We woke up Sunday morning to powder blue skies and lush green trees and everyone was headed to Central Park. It still felt like summer and the leaves had not started to turn quite yet.

Central Park is beautiful any day, any season in my opinion. Blooming spring flower gardens, hot humid summers, fall trees, profuse with color and even charcoal grey days in November make me happy. In November in The Park, I have witnessed spooky trees with gnarly branches and no leaves, but I still think it is one of the prettiest parks ever.

Views From the Roof in NYC with a US Open Finalist

September 23, 2015

The morning after our dream adventure at the US Open Tennis Championships, we awoke to an email inviting us to the roof of the Grand Hyatt Hotel which is very close to the iconic Chrysler Building. Being the adventurers that we are, we knew we wanted to go, there was no time for a shower, so …

Empty Nest Renovation – Before Photos and Video

July 30, 2019September 21, 2015

Built in 1937, this little fixer upper needed some love and updating. The perfect empty nester adventure!

Oh my goodness this Empty Nest downsize and house renovation have been quite a ride. Just last summer we put our house in Laguna Niguel, CA (Orange County) on the market and this adventure began. We sold the house for the first time in late September, it fell out of escrow and then we sold it for the second time in December. We moved in to our fixer upper in Pasadena on January 5th, 2015. I have written several detailed posts that will help fill in the gaps for you:

We were only able to cram just about one third of our belongings into our little house in Pasadena. The balance of which is in storage and we know perfectly well that most of the rest of this “stuff” will never make it into the house. There is just not enough room and it will be time to purge when we move back in…which is actually a very good plan.

There are restrictions by the city as to how many square feet we may add based upon the size of the lot and the possibility of encroaching on our neighbors. We settled on adding a small master bath and walk-in master closet. The current closet was so small that we were forced to place a chrome hanging bar at the foot of our bed to hang the balance of our clothes. Very chic.