Have You Tried a Meal Kit Service?

Watch an hour of TV and you will most likely see 1 or more ads for meal kit services like Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, or Home Chef.  Curiosity enticed me to read blogs and reviews on them and I found opinions ranging anywhere from “it’s cheating” to “it’s a lifesaver”. A meal kit contains food ingredients (exact measurements) and recipes so that fresh meals can be prepared without grocery shopping or searching for new recipes.  They have turned into a multi-million dollar business since becoming popular some five years ago.  I figured someone must like them - they must offer something that attracts consumers - so I gave them a try.      

About 2 months ago, a friend of mine shared with me how much she enjoys her Hello Fresh meal kits and had a coupon for a free box if I wanted to give it a try.  It sounded like something I might like - I like to cook, like to try new recipes, but I don’t enjoy going to the grocery store or wasting money on ingredients/spices I am only going to use for one recipe.  I chose my meal plan (2 meals-3 days/week), delivery day, and 3 meals for the first week from about 8 options (that was fun) and waited patiently for the first box to arrive. 

The ingredients and recipes for the 3 meals that I chose were delivered to my front door, packed in a box with plenty of cold packs to keep them cold all day until I arrived home.  The ingredients were organized into clearly marked packages.  All I had to do was pop them into the fridge.  After trying a meal kit service for 6 weeks, here is my review:

Cherry-Drizzled Pork Chops with Tomato Couscous Salad
- one of my favorites

Cost:  It’s cheaper than eating out, more expensive than purchasing your own groceries.  Hello Fresh (and many of the others) works out to be around $10 per meal.  Factor in the money you save by not buying ingredients you need just for one recipe (ever had to buy an entire jar of something and you only need a teaspoon?) and it can be pretty economical.  

Recipes:  Probably my favorite feature is that the recipes are different - not the same old meals we are comfortable cooking/eating.  Each week there are 8 completely new options.  Recipes are printed on nice cards that can be kept for later if you want to repeat a recipe.  Everything you need is included with the exception of salt, pepper, and olive oil.  For novice chefs, the recipes are easy to follow.  For experienced ones, you will expand your horizons and learn new skills and recipes.   

Healthy:  The meat and produce are fresh and the recipes use a variety of vegetables.  When selecting your meals, the nutritional information is provided.   

Flexibility:  If you are going out of town, or none of the menu options really appeal to you for a particular week, you are not committed to buying a meal kit.  Just edit to “skip week” and you won’t be charged.  Again, another great feature. 

Crispy Frico Cheeseburgers with
Caramelized Onion Jam and Roasted Broccoli - Yum!

Convenience:  I thought that once I retired, I would have all kinds of time on my hands.  Well, it didn’t work out that way.  I am just as busy (if not busier) than I was when I was working.  It’s so nice not to have to think of what to make for dinner, let alone go grocery shopping.  I can get home from my day of whatever by 5, and usually have a restaurant-type meal prepared for us by 6:15.   

Delicious:  I have yet to cook a meal I would not eat again.  There will be favorites, but they are all delicious and fresh.  

All in all, it’s not cheating.  The meals don't make themselves so you are still cooking.  They may not be a lifesaver for us because we are not going to survive on them, but we will continue our 3 days/week schedule and skip weeks when out of town - perfect.   We like them.   

How's That Bucket List Doing? Making Time for Your People

After returning from a wonderful long weekend getaway to San Diego with my daughter, my friend, and her daughters, I reflected on the short three days we had together - the giggles, the new experiences, the priceless moments we shared.  There’s no argument that saying “yes” to an extended weekend of wine tasting and beach walking in beautiful San Diego is pretty easy, but I am also aware of how difficult it was for my daughter to say goodbye to her baby and husband, and to block out all of the work that would be waiting for her when she returned.  She’s a full time teacher, part-time grad school student and new mom.  But she’s also her mother’s daughter - she took advantage of a 4 hour flight and did school work.  I so remember those days as a working Super Mom.  My schedule was so tight that if anyone even hinted at going away for the weekend, my first reaction was PANIC.  But I made the effort, juggled duties, and made sure that I reserved at least one weekend a month to spend with my parents who lived several hours away.  Either we would go there or they would come here.  We had a nice comfortable van.  When the kids were old enough, the three of us would be busy grading papers while my husband drove.  I taught them at an early age the value of multi-tasking.  I don’t regret it for a second.  Not only was I able to spend time with my parents, but my kids were also able to build beautiful relationships with both sets of their grandparents. 

One thing my mother always said to me when I started having children was, “the housework can wait, duties will always be there, people won’t”.  She was right.  Sometimes if we wait to take vacations, grab weekend getaways with our loved ones, or check anything off our bucket list - if we wait until the time is “perfect”, the perfect time may never come.  Before you know it, we aren’t physically able to get around any more and we may have lost our window.  I definitely don’t want to have regrets of things I always wanted to do and am no longer able to.  

My bucket list is important to me.  Spending time with our children, their spouses, the grandkids - priceless.  Those of us who are retired and are still physically able to travel are truly blessed.  My daughter and her family don’t live far, and I have made a personal goal to try and see my son and his family, who live out of state, monthly.  So far, since grandson Carson was born in February, I have only missed two months - not bad.  Of course, my bucket list actually hangs on my wall (a great hand-made gift from my daughter-in-law).  I’m a list person - gotta write things down.  

So far, the bucket list has a ways to go, but I'm working on it and it's always changing.  It’s a work in progress.  How’s yours look? 

Layering Lavender for Sleep

A night can seem like eternity when you are trying to get to sleep or when you have trouble falling back to sleep.  Although trouble with sleep is common (especially as we age), the consequences can be serious - low energy, impaired judgement, diabetes, depression, heart disease, obesity …  Experts say we should get anywhere from 6-9 hours/night.  Our bodies carry on a lot of maintenance while we sleep which makes us healthy.  Finding a safe and effective solution to getting a blissful sleep can be a life-saver.  

Hoping to get a handle on my on again, off again challenge of a good night’s sleep, I started looking at the consistency of my pre-bed rituals - using music as medicine, no screens, warm shower, no caffeine, sometimes listening to meditation.  Anything that doesn’t involve prescription or over-the-counter medication or even melatonin (it can raise your blood pressure) was worth a try.  After none of these seemed to be real game-changers, I tried the remedy a friend of mine uses - lavender essential oil - and it worked!  Not only does it have a calming effect, but it also makes the room smell nice.  A few drops of lavender in a bedside diffuser proved to be a great way to help me get to sleep and stay asleep.     

Lavender seems to be most commonly used for aromatherapy.  Fragrance from the essential oils of the plant is believed to promote calmness and wellness.  Some think it lowers heart rate and blood pressure.  For my birthday this year, my son and daughter-in-law gave me a nice lavender set which included shower gel, body lotion and pillow mist.  I never really thought of layering my lavender, so I gave it a try and loved it!  A nice warm shower with the lavender shower gel, followed by lavender body lotion and a spritz on the pillows with the pillow mist is the perfect combination to ease into a good night’s sleep.  Having trouble sleeping while out-of-town?  The diffuser is a bit much to pack for those of us who like to travel light, but packing the shower gel, lotion and pillow spritz is a great option for trips.    

Getting better sleep may be as easy as making simple changes like turning off your tech well before bed, taking a warm shower or using lavender.  For me, layering lavender works like a charm.  It may not help everyone, but it’s worth a try.            

Lake Life in 24 Hours

When your friend says, “Wanna go to the lake on Thursday?” a random, last minute invite turns out to be a great 24 hours of lake life.  So many times we miss out on fun and interesting experiences because we feel the need to calendar everything a month in advance or we feel “caught off guard” by a last minute invite.  When our friend, Kathy, invited Patti and me to her lake house with a 2 day notice, we took a glance at our calendars and immediately accepted.  The three of us had worked together as teachers for years.  Grabbing a last minute getaway to Michigan in the early fall sounded extremely tempting.  It was only going to be 24 hours (midday Thursday to midday Friday) but you can pack a lot into 24 hours and this is how we did it:

Early Thursday morning (but not too early) we packed Kathy’s car with lake apparel, wine, enough food for 24 hours and drove 2 hours to her lake house in Michigan.  Not far from our destination, we stopped at a roadside market and picked up fresh calico corn that we would add to dinner and homemade pineapple salsa for a snack.  We knew we had 24 hours to cram in as much lake life as we could so we hit the ground running.  1st on the agenda was a journey around the lake on the pontoon.  Enjoying wine, boiled shrimp and the warm sunshine aboard the pontoon set the tone for our 24 hour lake getaway.  Since it was a Thursday in September, the lake was pretty vacant except for the 3 of us on the pontoon and some beautiful swans.  The water was as still as glass.  We could see an occasional turtle peak his head up for a few minutes.  It was fun looking at the different lake houses and waving to a few of the year-round residents.  

Have a lake house?  Gotta have the toys.  My friend had plenty of toys to play with - ski boat, jet ski, paddle boat, paddle board, kayak, etc.   We spent the next couple of hours getting in some physical activity on the kayak and paddle board.  If you like to kayak and have decent balance, you would probably enjoy paddle boarding.  On a calm lake, it’s pretty easy and great for your core.  After playing on the toys, Kathy took us on a land tour of the lake homes on the golf cart.  We had at least another hour before starting dinner, so we took the speed boat out to the island, anchored it, and jumped in with our floats near the island in the middle of the lake.  Ahhh…just us and the swans.  

Dinner was yummy - grilled chicken marinated in The Shed all natural marinade, grilled asparagus, calico corn from the local farm stand, and a fresh peach and garden salad.  Add some girl talk and a game of our favorite cards and it was the ending to a great day at the lake.  

The next morning, we enjoyed pumpkin and ginger tea while sitting on the deck admiring the bright orange sun reflecting on the water like a mirror.  It was so peaceful.  The swans came up near the shore to say hello and the turtles climbed up onto “turtle island” to sunbathe.  After a 3 mile hike around the lake, we had breakfast and went shopping at Bullseye Marketplace and Farm House Bakery in town.  It’s an adorable market/gift shop with a quaint café that’s perfect for breakfast or lunch.  

With a few hours left, we took another ride around the lake to take advantage of some early season leaf peeping, got in another workout on the paddle board and kayak, and relaxed with a book on the lake floater.    Pretty soon, it was time to shower off, pack and head back to Chicago.

Sometimes, the best getaways aren’t planned and cost next to nothing.  It pays to keep your calendar and mind open a bit for those last minute “hey, let’s go…”  And always, always, try something new.

Get In the Car…Book That Flight…Go!

How many times has a friend or family member asked you to come for a visit?  You have every intention of going but you keep putting it off and never go.  Too many times we wait for the “perfect time” to travel and although some dates are definitely better than others, there never is the “perfect time.”  When my friend of 48 years, Tracey, sent a text, “why don’t you come to Georgia for a few days?,” I started checking airfare and patiently waited (no more than a couple of weeks) until I found a great price.  Fortunately, one of the benefits of retirement is travel flexibility, so it’s easy to grab those flights on unpopular days.  Since I watch my grandson on Wednesdays, traveling Thursday - Tuesday worked out perfectly and allowed me to secure a round trip flight from Chicago to Atlanta for $120.  Can’t beat that!  

About 40 minutes northeast of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is a great place to stop for lunch - Three Blind Mice in Lilburn.  TBM is a warm, comfortable urban eatery, a great place to enjoy food and wine.   Of course we had the Peach Salad (being in Georgia and all) and it was tasty - greens, peaches, cucumbers, spiced almonds, Farmers Cheese and champagne vinaigrette.  Add a glass of sauvignon blanc from New Zealand and you have a perfect girls lunch to launch the perfect girls getaway.   

After a long weekend at Tracey's beautiful home golfing, swimming, and gabbing at the pool, we traveled to Lake Oconee for a few days of kayaking and more girl talk (cheaper than therapy), but first we had to get in some retail therapy.  A girls trip is never complete without retail therapy.  We stopped in Madison (named for President James Madison) on the way to Lake Oconee for lunch and a little shopping.  Understandably, Madison, GA was named the #1 Small Town in America by Travel Holiday magazine and Budget Travel magazine voted Madison as one of the world’s most picturesque villages.  It’s adorably quaint with nearly 100 carefully restored antebellum homes along with many boutiques and eateries.  We chose the Chop House Grill for lunch - the Orchard Spinach Salad was delish while dining alfresco in the near perfect Georgia weather that day.  One of my favorite boutiques in Madison is Laughing Moon (right across the street from the Chop House Grill).  If you're in Madison, it’s worth a visit.  

After arriving at Tracey's SO's beautiful lake house on Lake Oconee, first on the agenda was a glass of wine on the beautiful dock.  It was late afternoon and the lake was incredibly calm and serene.  A yummy place for lunch near Lake Oconee is Sweet Kneads Bakery and Cafe.  They are famous for their chicken salad (Jack’s Favorite Chicken Salad).  We had it over greens with Thai soup and it was delectable.  Try taking home a quart of the Thai soup with the pepperoni stuffed bread - it's a great option for dinner (that’s what we did)!  With the million dollar view of the beautiful lake, hot ginger peach tea and more girl talk on the deck in the mornings for breakfast were priceless.  

My dear friend's request, “come to Georgia for a few days” turned out to be a much needed getaway with a childhood friend who means so much to me.  Take the trip. 

Be Grateful for Another Candle

Do you ever think aloud, “Oh no, I’m growing old!”  Another birthday is approaching.  I began struggling with birthdays ending in zeros starting with my 30th.  At 30 I was pregnant with my second and made a silly request of my OB-GYN to change my age to 29 on my records.  My 40th birthday present to myself was a mid-life crisis convertible, and for my 50th my only request was, “Please no party.”   

There seems to be some aversion to growing old - that slight dash of panic as our next dreaded birthday approaches.  Mention the word aging and we become fearful of all that comes with it - anywhere from wrinkles to sickness.  Understandably, we want to exercise and eat right to keep our bodies in good shape so that we have good health for as long as possible.  We strive to stay active physically and mentally to ward off Alzheimer’s and dementia.  It makes good sense to want to keep our minds and bodies young so that life is enjoyable as we grow older.  But to be offended when we get the senior discount without asking for it or to refuse to celebrate any more birthdays - shouldn’t we instead be celebrating each day given to us with an Attitude of Gratitude?

No matter how much we loathe aging, know that being given the opportunity to age is a gift.  Another year has passed and we are still here.  Every wrinkle I see in the mirror represents a time that I worried about my children because I love them.  I am so grateful for them and their families.  This is not the year I am one year closer to 60, it’s the year I get to see Carson and Dominic learn how to walk and talk.     

Age is just a number.  It’s the number of years we have spent on Earth.    There may be some nuances of social behavior that come with it, but besides that, it doesn’t mean much.  James A. Garfield said, “If wrinkles must be written upon our brows, let them not be written upon the heart.  The spirit should not grow old.”  Bring on another candle I say.                    

Loving My Vegetable Garden

Everyone needs to have a Retirement Wish List when they retire.  Included in this Wish List might be new hobbies or endeavors.  Some will be loved and others may be deleted from the list.  Always an over-achiever, I am guilty of having quite an extensive Wish List.  One of my “loved” Wish List items is gardening.  

I grew up on a farm, my mother had a garden, and I remember helping her harvest her garden and watching her can and freeze vegetables from her garden.  I never had a garden - never felt like I had time to take care of it.  Most of the crop would need to be harvested about the same time I was going back to school in late summer.  I put "growing a garden" on my Retirement Wish List and it was one of the first things I did when I retired.  

Of the many good reasons to plant a vegetable garden (like reducing my carbon footprint or saving the bees), primarily I wanted to plant a garden in order to eat fresh vegetables and attempt to try out some great canning recipes.  It didn’t occur to me until after I started planting and working in my garden that there would be so many other positive health benefits such as exercise (cultivating, weeding, lifting, and planting), better immune system (Vitamin D from the sun) and improved mental health (stress reduction and released serotonin).  

Our year 1 garden was so enjoyable last summer that I planted another garden this year.  Last year, all of the plants came from seedlings and this year the garden started from seeds, except for the tomato plants.  (Seeds are sooo much cheaper, and yes they sprout right through that soil and grow just fine!)  Last year’s crop included tomatoes, green and red pepper, poblano and jalapeño peppers, cilantro, broccoli, cucumber, green beans and corn.  This year, I did not plant the poblanos and jalapeños (not much use for them) and cilantro (tricky to harvest) but I added peas, peppermint and zucchini.  

Don’t know how much canning I will be doing this year.  We are simply enjoying eating the vegetables fresh!  Grandson Dominic has even been enjoying fresh puréed vegetables from our garden.  Here are some tips for new gardeners:

• Put a fence around it.  I learned from last year - the bunnies and raccoons certainly enjoyed themselves.  This year, the only enemy has been deer.  
• Grow broccoli.  Each plant doesn’t produce a lot, but there’s nothing like fresh broccoli. 
• If you are growing squash, allow plenty of space.  It likes to spread out.  
• Keep those tomato plants off the ground.
• Corn - the deer love it.  Won’t be planting it next year. 

How's Your Airplane Etiquette?

Have you become a frequent flyer?  I do love a good road trip, but driving can be a lot more taxing as we get older.  Although traveling via air is preferable for many people, it does have it’s disadvantages.  Most of us have experienced at least some of the obvious ones - flight delays, cost, lost baggage - but what about dealing with other travelers who break the unwritten rules of flying?  

Want to really know a person?  Pay attention to how they treat other people - especially on an airplane with a hundred people packed into a small space having the potential of triggering total chaos.   Fortunately, nearly everyone does manage to observe the social, unspoken code of flight etiquette most of the time.  Most people naturally get it.  But there are those occasional rule breakers who are clueless of the effect they have on other people's travel experience.  If you happen to take a flight in the near future, do some people watching - you will be sure to spot one.  Some infractions are pretty obvious while others are in that gray area of “should I or shouldn’t I?”  

Here are a few guidelines that will either make you reflect, or make you laugh.  Either way, enjoy the reading:

1. Be patient while going through security.  Allow the traveler in front of you to place their belongings on the rollers before blindly plopping your big bag down in front of them.  
2. Push your belongings onto the conveyor belt before skipping off to the body scanner.  You're stuff is your responsibility - not the traveler’s behind you.  Those rollers before the conveyor belt don’t move on their own.
3. Board with your proper boarding position, but also don’t get too crazy if you think someone has “cut” you during boarding.  The boarding process is not perfect, but it’s the best attempt at establishing order to the process so just go with it. 
4. If carrying-on, don’t leave your bag sticking out so that the flight attendant has to re-
   
   organize all of the bags in the overhead bin because you failed to realize that the bin door has to close before taking off.  And by all means, please try your best to use the bin over YOUR seat.  
5. Quickly put your bag in the overhead bin and take your seat.  There are a hundred travelers behind you waiting as you re-organize your life in the aisle.  
6. If you are a snorer, DO NOT fall asleep.  Consume enough caffeine to stay awake through the flight.  No one wants to listen to you snore.  
7. Offer to switch seats so someone can sit next to the child or elderly person in their accompaniment.  It’s the right thing to do and just plain decent.  
8. Do Not Recline if sitting in economy.  The quarter of an inch you gain is not worth disrupting the comfort level of the traveler behind you, not to mention forcing them to readjust their laptop, knees, drink and life for the next few hours.  News flash: there’s not a lot of room back there.  
9. You are allowed to say something to parents of obnoxious kids.  This does not include babies.  Babies are babies and sometimes they cry.  If the crying bothers you, put on your headphones.  But parents who don’t intervene when their five year old continuously kicks or bangs the seat in front of them should not be offended when the traveler in front of them intervenes on their behalf.
10. Let’s agree.  The middle seat is the worst - no window, no breathing room.  Let the middle seat person have the armrests if they need them.  With that in mind, if you are a middle seat traveler, don’t take this opportunity to spill yourself over past that sacred armrest boundary.  
11. If you need to get up during the flight, don’t grab the back of another seat while getting up or walking.  Your fellow passengers don’t want to be yanked around every time you get up or walk past.  
12. If listening to or watching something with sound on your device, by all means, use headphones.  This should be a no-brainer.
13. When it’s time to leave the plane, remember what you learned in kindergarten and file out IN ORDER.  I don’t know why we forget all of those niceties.  
14. In case I have forgotten any other “rules” - just be polite to everyone.     

Loving Traditions

When my daughter went to kindergarten, my mom started a tradition where she would take her shopping for a back-to-school outfit.  We looked forward to this event every year.  It wasn’t about getting a new outfit - it was about spending the day with my mom, having lunch at my mom’s favorite restaurant, and continuing a tradition that was extended to each and every one of her grandkids.  I love traditions.  My mother loved traditions.  The traditions she created for our family had a profound impact on the memories we created and stories we gathered.  Traditions tell a story about a family - it’s history, events, and experiences.  Focusing our lives around experiences rather than things is a vital ingredient in the recipe for a happy family life.  

Families that establish rituals build stronger relationships with each other and give children a source of identity within the family.  Carrying on the traditions created by my mother allow my grandkids to know the great grandmother they will never meet.  When my brothers and I were children, one of our favorite Christmas traditions was listening to my mother read “The Littlest Angel” on Christmas Eve.  After our baths, we would put on our PJs, put out milk and cookies for Santa, then listen to my mother read this favorite Christmas story before falling asleep in anticipation of Santa.  This magical ritual meant so much to us that we shared it with our children and it became a Christmas tradition for them.  Now this tradition, started by our mother close to 60 years ago, will be carried on to our grandchildren and their great grandmother will become a part of their story.  When children grow up knowing stories about their parents, grandparents, and even great grandparents, it provides them a source of identity that creates a higher degree of self-confidence.  

We have dozens (more like hundreds) of photos of our kids from our many Disney trips from ages 4 to 24.  They can't wait to repeat and share their magical Disney experiences with their children.  Same goes for all of our beach vacations.  This summer, our new grandsons were introduced to the beach to become a part of the tradition of family vacations and start making their own stories.  They will grow up knowing all of the family vacation stories and making some of their own.  They will know that although they live miles away from each other, they will get to spend time with each other on family getaways.  The lasting memories they will make will be priceless.  Many of my friends have been going on multi-generational vacations for years - they have built strong family relationships and have made so many precious memories.  

As new grandparents, it’s so much fun to see our children carry on family traditions to their children - it shows that those traditions meant a lot to them.  My son and his family have adopted our “find the pickle” Christmas tradition and my daughter (now a teacher) and I still honor the “back-to-school” tradition started by my mom.  When my grandsons (and other future grands) are in kindergarten, we will be “back-to-school” shopping.  They will know the story behind this tradition.  They will know another part of their great grandmother.

Fit Your Retirement Wish List Into Your Budget

Familiar with the term, “retirement spending smile?”  It’s a term coined by David Blanchett at Morningstar that represents a retirement spending  pattern arc that looks like a smile.  😊  This spending pattern suggests that when people reach their 50s and 60s, they have an increase in disposable income - the mortgage is paid off, kids are out of college and income is up.  It’s kind of like a financial honeymoon period.  So when retirement hits, young retirees tend to use this extra money for their wish list.  Some travel, others renovate their homes or even buy a second home.  In other words, spending is up immediately after retirement.  After several years, spending goes down - retirees in their mid 70s and 80s tend to stay home or closer to home more often and spend very little - so the arc (spending) drops down.  But the arc soon goes back up as aging creates health problems and health care spending dramatically increases - thus creating a spending pattern that looks like a smile. 

The interesting thing about the spending smile is that the spending on the front half is controllable, but unfortunately, the spending on the back half (health care) is not.  I remember when my parents retired.  Their conservative spending and smart choices about planning for long-term care when they were in their 50s and 60s allowed for my mother to be well taken care of when she got sick in her 80s.  That’s not to say that they didn’t have a little fun and fulfill their wish list.  They purchased a winter home in AZ, they traveled, but they watched their “splurges”.  

Many new retirees who envision retirement as a time when they can really sock away the money, soon find out that a lot of their extra available money is being spent on new hobbies, travel and entertainment - their “wish list".  Is it possible to fulfill our wish lists and put money away for the years in later retirement when health care spending is up?  Of course it is, as long as we budget for it.  

Our retirement wish lists don't always consist of things of material value like second homes or expensive vacations.  Some of the best features of a wish list are experiences.  I love going to the city to see Broadway musicals.  Before retirement, there was barely enough time to see one show a year.  And the expense - at $150+ per ticket (and those were for upper balcony), seeing shows on a regular basis can get pricey.    A friend of mine who retired a few years ago suggested I look into season tickets to Broadway in Chicago.  Each season includes 4 or 5 shows with your choice of matinee or evening, week day or weekend, and choice of seats.  At around $450 for 2 lower balcony tickets to each of 5 musicals, the $45 per ticket that I am spending for better seats is much better than the $150+ I spent before.   

Since my daughter is also a fan of the theater, she attends the musicals with me.  It’s a great mother/daughter outing that we look forward to once a month.  We choose a restaurant in the theater district and walk to the show after dinner.  Parking in Chicago can get expensive, so here's another useful bit of information - many of the restaurants in the theater district are "theater partners", provide free valet if you are seeing a show, and keep your car for you while at the theater.  We have enjoyed the summer season so much that I secured tickets for the fall/winter season.  

Remember - retirement is an adventure and slow and steady wins the race!    

Beaches and Babies

We just returned from our first multi-generational vacation with the kids and their families.  With grandsons Carson and Dominic only 5 and 6 months old, choosing a destination was a delicate task.  We needed to choose a getaway that allowed for flexibility of babies’ needs, opportunity for parents (or grandparents) to play, and by all means included a beach (we love the beach).

We have always enjoyed vacations with a great balance of play, sight-seeing and relaxation.  The notion of taking our first vacation with the kids and grandkids filled us with excitement, but also a little anxiety knowing that careful planning was essential.  Since we have always enjoyed the Outer Banks, and it’s a vacation that can be tailored to fit everyone’s needs, this destination seemed like a perfect choice.  We wouldn’t be tied to a strict schedule, there would be plenty of opportunity for water sports and sight-seeing, and it’s never failed as a relaxing beach getaway.  We could rent a 4 bedroom beach house, take turns at cooking, and enjoy the Atlantic for a week.   

Hangin' out under the beach canopy

After choosing a week that fit into everyone’s schedule, we had to secure a beach house.  We had always loved the house we rented in the past - it wasn't oceanfront but it was oceanside, and a short walk to the beach.  We never needed a pool since we spent most of our hours at the beach.  But our needs are different now with Carson and Dominic.  An oceanfront beach house with a pool would be better.  It would be easier for lugging beach and baby gear, and the boys could play in the pool when the sand and waves got to be too much for them.  The beach house we selected was perfect - 4 bedroom, oceanfront with a pool.   

The pool was a big hit!

Exhausted!

Although the dynamic has definitely changed from our past beach vacations now that the kids have young families, it’s a welcome change.  We used to watch our kids “ride the waves” and do their best to stay on top of a surf board and now we watch them having the time of their lives throwing their babies in the air while playing with them in the pool.  We used to watch them boogie board for HOURS and HOURS and now they build little sand pools to introduce their sons to the ocean.  I remember constantly nagging my children to reapply sunscreen and now they have become obsessed with keeping their children plastered in SPF 50 and covered in full body swimsuits and hats.  

Filled to the top w/beach and baby gear

It was so much fun watching the four young parents toss a football around on the beach and play in the surf while the babies slept underneath the canopy that their parents had set up for them.  Sitting around the campfire we built on the beach, making S’mores and watching our kids and their families sit back, laugh, and enjoy being together is the best part of a family vacation.    

Family vacations are not easy - planning requires some compromise, packing can be rough, children (and sometimes adults) can get cranky, and the entire experience can be exhausting (aren’t you supposed to feel rested?).  But here’s the happy ending:  being together with your family for one solid week a year is irreplaceable.  Growing up, the boys will look forward to these vacations with their cousins.  These are the very best of memories. 

Vacation Recreation: Escape the Ordinary for the Extraordinary - at least for a few days (Part II)

One of the most exciting things to do on a trip is vacation recreation.  I can’t remember a single vacation I have ever taken that did not involve some type of sport, particularly one that is specific to the locale.  While in the Outer Banks, we kite surfed, jet-skied, and surfed (well I didn’t surf, the kids did), while in Destin, we snorkeled, in Cabo we went scuba-diving and horseback riding on the beach, and in Puerto Vallarta, we did the obvious-zip-lining.  Vacation recreation always makes the trip memorable and unique.  In fact, I guess it’s safe to say that when choosing a destination, we always look at available activities.  

The activity of choice in Sedona?  Hands down, it was hiking.  There are close to 100 different hiking trails in Sedona, with a variety of ability levels from easy to difficult.  The great thing about hiking is that you make it what you want.  If you're hiking a 4 mile loop and you start getting tired, just turn around and go back.  Turn the 4 mile loop into a 1 or 2 mile hike.  The main thing is that you STAY ON THE TRAIL.  Although it’s kind of fun to challenge yourself and try to do some climbing (like we did), safety is very important.  

We were only going to be in Sedona for 5 days with days 1 and 5 partially used as travel days.  Since day 4 was our Spa day, we only had days 2 and 3 to beat up our bodies executing “Xtreme" activities (at least Xtreme for us).  We had seen images online of hikers standing on an incredible arch, which we later learned is called “Devil’s Bridge,” so that was definitely on our radar.  To get to the trailhead for Devil’s Bridge, we needed to walk close to 2 miles one-way down a “road” that’s only accessible to off road jeeps (so you can only imagine how rough THAT road is).  After getting to the trailhead, the hike was a gradual incline until we got closer to the bridge.  After getting close to the bridge, be ready to walk up a very steep, natural “spiral staircase” to the bridge.  Challenging, but worth every step!  If you are scared of heights (or should I say scared of falling) walking out onto the bridge can definitely be intimidating.  Once we got out on the bridge, it wasn’t that bad.  This group of spa warriors did the entire hike -  “photo shoot” and all - in approximately 3 hours.    

The Devil’s Bridge hike and the climb to the top of Bell Rock offered plenty of recreation during our Sedona Getaway.   Now that we are all grown up and our kids are all grown up, it’s fun to explore, discover, and try new activities.  Do’s and Dont’s?  Any activity we can do is beneficial so Do what you enjoy but Do take precautions.  Don’t let fear get in the way of physical activity and Don’t limit yourself to only “senior-type” activities.         

Escape the Ordinary for the Extraordinary - at least for a few days. Part 1: Destination and Accommodations

You’re retired.  Your job is in the rearview mirror and ahead of you are time, energy and a travel budget.  According to an AARP 2017 Survey, travel is at the top of 83% of Baby Boomers’ bucket lists.  You’ve looked forward to this after 30+ years and now it’s time to start planning some trips.  

Selecting accommodations, restaurants, activities, and above all, destination for this year’s Spa Warrior Getaway was not an easy task.  We require a combination of vacation recreation, unique (but not touristy) restaurants, a little shopping, an extra special spa experience, and something other than your garden-variety hotel.  To top it all off, beautiful landscape is essential!  Our destination needed to be friendly to all of those requirements.  

So great to wake up to this every morning!

To choose the destination, we researched places that would include beautiful landscape, great spa, and recreation.  Where could we go where we could do something we could never do at home - where we could see beautiful mountains, beach, or other landscape -and also has an amazing spa?  Shopping, eateries, and hotel would fall into place later.  From a short list of 4 options, we made our final pick and Sedona was our favorite.  With it’s breathtaking landscape, choice of several unique spas, and many hiking trails, it had the trifecta - aesthetic appeal, exceptional spa, and amazing recreation.       

We mixed botanicals and herbs to make body scrub in the L'Apothecary 

The great thing about booking accommodations at a spa resort (as opposed to hotel and spa separate) is that many spa resorts allow their guests unlimited use of the spa amenities throughout the stay.  So in selecting our accommodations, we narrowed our search to spa resorts.  With so many beautiful spas in Sedona, it was tough to choose one.  We looked for one that stood out above the others.  An extraordinary spa experience is more than just beautiful treatment rooms.  It needs to have something unique that we can’t get at home.  We decided on L’Auberge de Sedona Resort and Spa because of it’s location on the artistic, babbling Oak Creek (so relaxing), it’s gorgeous view of the beautiful Red Rock of Sedona, and the added treat of creekside massages.  

We chose one of the Vista Cottages, and so happy we did - we had the best seat in the house.  If you ever stay in a cottage at L’Auberge, I would suggest the Vista Cottage.  We had a 180-degree, panoramic view of Snoopy Rock, Giants Thumb, and Elephant Rock.  What a great wake-up we had every morning sitting on the balcony admiring the Sedona red rock.  Other great features of the resort were morning Yoga classes, creekside breakfast, and the exceptional spa.  

Besides having an indulgent spa menu at the L’Auberge Spa, Oak Creek is integrated into many of their treatments.  Our creekside massages were a real treat - it was so relaxing listening to the soothing sounds of Oak Creek during our treatments.  In between massages and facials, we spent a couple hours at the L’Apothecary Blending Station mixing up botanicals, herbs and flowers for take-home body scrubs.  

Sedona’s majestic red rock scenery and unique energy certainly was a great escape from the ordinary to the extraordinary.  Even if you only go for a few days, Sedona is definitely a bucket list getaway! 

Part II Next Week - Incredible Activities in Sedona