I’ll never forget arriving at a luxury hotel in Napa to celebrate our anniversary only to find that half the hotel was under construction and that the gym and spa were closed for renovations. It was a hotel booking nightmare. Fortunately, there was copious amounts of wine which filled time I would have spent working out or indulging in spa treatments. I’m pretty thorough when researching hotels, especially in unfamiliar destinations. So what are the …

I’m seeing so many posts from animal shelters about the need for urgent rescues so I wanted to tell you all how easy it is to foster an animal to save a life. The animal shelters are generally all full most of the time – irresponsible pet owners, abandoned, abused and unwanted animals are filling them up. Local rescue organizations are doing their best to pull animals out of the shelters to help find them …

There’s one thing you should know about me. I don’t like cold weather. I mean, I abhor (and that’s a strong word) being cold. But when a destination calls that’s a bucket list experience, how could I say, “no?” So when the invite for travel to Patagonia came, I began ferociously reading everything I could get my hands on about a packing guide for Patagonia. One thing that was clear in everything I read? Pack …

Now that the kids are out of the house, my husband and I are always looking for easy weekend escapes and romantic getaways where we can totally unplug and relax. I haven’t spent much time in the Pacific Northwest, save for a quick trip to Seattle, so we decided to take a weekend trip to Whidbey Island in Puget Sound. Getting there is a bit of an adventure unto itself, taking a shuttle from the …

We live in one of those neighborhoods where there are a lot of impromptu happy hours and friends who just drop by. I live near the beach so making quick trips to the grocery store is a nightmare. I hit beach traffic and the store can be crowded with Millennials buying their White Claw and Doritos. So I try to plan ahead and keep my fridge and pantry stocked with a few items that let …

We’ve all heard those horror stories of travelers who have hotel room safety problems. I’m a pretty seasoned traveler and even I got caught off guard. While at a beach resort in the Caribbean with my husband, an employee gained access to our room and took our cash and some personal items. We broke the first rule of hotel room safety – we did not use our in-room safe. My husband is former law enforcement …

It’s taken me a long time to write this post. I generally write about happy things – mainly my happy places. But writing is therapy for me. So as difficult as this is, my mother’s story needs to be told. So many people are looking for help with aging parents and I was quite suddenly, thrown into this mix. Often, when I’m writing a blog post, I talk into a recorder and tell a story …

Making dinner. Every. Single. Night. Am I right? Who feels like cooking these days? I’ve been in a bit of a culinary funk because I have absolutely no dinner inspiration. So we usually end up gravitating to our old standby, pasta. But even I’m kind of tiring of that. So I’ve been trying to come up with ideas for how to make quick and healthy dinner ideas for two that fit our lifestyle. No thinking …

It seems like a lot of people are thinking about moving to Italy from the U.S. these days. I did it several years ago and it was a magical experience. I’ve had friends ask me what it was like moving to Italy as an American and it certainly requires a lot of patience. Families may be curious about moving to Italy with children. We moved to Milan when my children were 7 and 9 years …

I recently read an article in Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Journal, “Nurtured for Generations,” about the legacies of grandmothers who cooked, and the home chefs – and the family food culture – they spawned. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, as I grew up in one of these families, and recently lost my mother who held so many recipes, cooking tips, and family food memories. I fear that so many of those treasures are …