Empty Nest Life

Spring Travel News, Favorite Bits & Bites

travel news

Travel News for Spring

Spring is in full bloom in the Northwest. Blue skies, tulips popping up, and wild daffodils sprouting everywhere. It feels good!

I decided to write a short “newsy” letter to all of you, catching you up and keeping you in the loop. I don’t know about you, but social media can be exhausting and frustrating, and I never seem to see what I am looking for. Frankly, I am too busy to go searching, but I would love to learn about new things from inside my inbox and not have them disappear (like an Instagram Story) in 24 hours! So here we go!

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The Wonderful Smells of Life in the Pacific Northwest & Other Observations

life in the Pacific Northwest

What are the smells of life that evoke an emotional response? I have so many, do you?

Ah, the wholly different and wonderful smells of my new life in the Northwest.  

Back in 2014 when I began Adventures of Empty Nesters, I wrote a post called, “Do certain smells trigger a rush of memories for you? and it was all about smell memories and my family. 

I have always associated certain smells with people, places, and experiences. Maybe it was a perfume my teacher wore, or the aroma of a glorious meal while traveling, or the familiar scents of the holidays. Do you associate meaningful smells with exceptional memories?

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A Juicy Springtime Cocktail & Savory Appetizer with Melissa’s Produce

Springtime cocktail

Just for you! A Springtime cocktail for toasting friendship & family!

Spring is the perfect time for a new cocktail adventure! I just love bright new beginnings, sunshine, handcrafted cocktails, and a beautiful asparagus appetizer to accompany the tasty beverage.

We have been raising our cocktail game and consistently trying to include the very best organic ingredients and search for empty nester-friendly recipes. I found a gorgeous Blood Orange Margarita on Instagram, created by The Bitter Fairy. We have made it two other times already and thought it was time to share it with you!

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Come Walk With Me to the Eastside of Seattle & Visit Kirkland, Washington

visit Kirkland
We live one mile from this spot at OO Denny Park, so we just grabbed our beach chairs and headed over at 4 pm on a weekday!

The Eastside of Seattle – Visit Kirkland, Our New Home

Come over to the Eastside of Seattle and visit Kirkland, WA. Eight months ago, we made the challenging decision to move to the Pacific Northwest to be close to our newborn grandchildren.

visit Kirkland
4 Generations – My Mom came to visit and we were delighted by the magical sunset. L to R Me, Josephine, daughter Alex, my mom Linda and James. The twins are 7 months in this photo.

We sold our perfectly appointed Empty Nest in Southern California and bought a modern, sleek home with a view of Lake Washington. I have written about our experience HERE and HERE, and for the most part, I would say we are thriving.

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Life’s Simple Pleasures – A Recipe for the Perfect London Fog

Life’s Simple Pleasures

Among the many lessons learned from the Covid quarantine, embracing life’s simple pleasures must be at the top. Life was so restricted that we needed to look for happiness in different locations.

Where I would normally embrace going out to a new restaurant, this was now not an option; shopping in a fun boutique, nope, not happening. We all ended up just accepting the circumstances and staying home to stay safe. 

We cooked, we learned, we read, we baked, we did puzzles, we stayed home. 

In our house, we created Cocktail Adventures– I was so desperate to talk about travel and share travel stories that Craig and I created a video series where we shared our favorite cocktail recipe and paired it with a travel memory. Click here to watch – these videos were pretty popular!

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