Hold on to your seat, you are in for a wild ride at The Palio!
Before we even arrived at The Palio in Siena, I knew that it would be a vibrant, colorful spectacle, but it was way bigger than we imagined! The passion and emotion that runs through the crowd feels like a strong electric current. Not a seat or section of pavement was available and the famous Piazza del Campo was transformed into a carefully constructed racetrack with an audience of thousands of excited Italians, mostly from the walled city of Siena.
Just in time! We were so fortunate to take a tour of the LA Times building only two weeks before they move to their new location.
Our tour of the LA Times ~
Yes, it’s true, the Los Angeles Times is packing up and moving from Downtown Los Angeles. The new owner, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, announced in April, that he is vacating their historic, architecturally significant home and taking The Times to El Segundo because he could not reach a satisfactory lease agreement. The new building is just about twenty miles (but a long commute) from Downtown. The landowners wanted to increase the rent by $1 million per month. Wow!
This news came as a huge shock to the employees of the newspaper and Los Angeles history will be forever changed. The fearless leader of our Happy Hour Hiking Club, author and columnist Chris Erskine, has worked for the LA Times for twenty-eight years and he was able to arrange a special tour for us just before they all left for good.
You Can Beat the Challenges of the Empty Nest and THRIVE
The truth is that the Empty Nest isn’t really all that empty. It is actually a place full of ideas and possibilities that will blow your mind! It may seem very quiet and empty right after the kids have left for school, but soon it won’t feel that way. It takes time, but the Empty Nester Adventure is an enlightening one and one filled with promise.
What’s up for Spring Break? Baseball tournament? Football or Lacrosse practice? Rehearsal? Term Paper? Nope, none of the above.
Now that the nest is empty…WE are in charge of our holidays. Woo Hoo! What are we going to do? It’s time to start planning. Although I do miss those activities, it is our time to decide what new adventures we are interested in doing!
I receive a large number of emails asking about our “fixer upper” and questions regarding the entire adventure. Everyone loves HGTV these days don’t they? Every season there is a new city where couples are fixing up old homes and creating amazing living spaces. I can’t get enough. How about you?
Our “updated Spanish” designed kitchen and dining room are my happy place. They are bright and cheery, quaint and efficient. We don’t have a lot of extra room for “stuff”, therefore, we do not purchase multiple sets of dishes and glasses like we had prior to downsizing. Just the basics. Downsizing feels good. Everything has a place and if we want to buy something new, we need to get rid of something in order to make room.
Life in the Empty Nest at Christmas is definitely different from when the kids lived here. Not bad different, just different. Actually… exciting different.
We don’t have any Toys R Us shopping to do any longer or a list for Santa. Most of our shopping was done online, how about you? What we do have is lots of quality time with our grown children and our extended family. I think that is what Christmas is really about. We spend more time planning the menus and the handcrafted cocktails, making playlists and taking selfies and Boomerangs. What’s a Boomerang? It is an app where it takes a four second video and repeats it over and over. It’s creative and clever and everyone seems to be doing it. You can see more over on my Instagram=> Here!
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.
We were honored to be named one of the Top Baby Boomer Travel Blogs! Thank you Southwest Discoveries!
Southwest Discoveries
Last year we were thrilled to be on their list for the Top Senior Adventurers. Southwest Discoveries offers unique itineraries, with expert guides for some fabulous tours of the Southwest. If you have a sense of adventure, want to break a little further away from your comfort zone and be enriched and awed by extraordinary places, these trips are designed for you.
Mitch Stevens, founder and lead guide from Southwest Discoveries shares,”In 2016 we decided to separate the wheat from the chaff and give you the absolute cream of the crop in our blog post entitled the Top Travel Blogs For Senior Adventures. In that post, we rounded up 50 Awesome Senior Adventures Travel Blogs that we felt you should be following. These blogs will transport you to fascinating and beautiful places and provide tools, tips, and techniques to help you get the most out of your travel.”
How to create happy events when your nest is empty ~
Who knew you could have so much fun with your adult kids? At first when the nest was empty I had a difficult time adjusting to the lack of schedule and focus on the kids’ every need. As time went on I learned that I was in charge of my own happiness and had to turn that focus back on to Craig and me.
I realized that although our children are no longer in our day-to-day lives, we could lead successful fulfilling lives, as well as build an equally happy adult relationship with them.
Now that the kids are grown and living on their own, we need to change the way we hang out, but we can still have lots of fun (maybe even more fun).Two times in three weekends we have spent quality time with Nick and his girlfriend Kylie and it worked out perfectly!
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