The Empty Nest Chronicles

two friends. two coasts. two cozy homes.

Summer is a-Comin’ In!

 150 150 Frances
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Dear Kristin, Happy May, one week(+) late! I think I’ve finally recovered from April, but just barely. It was a month filled with teaching and travel, and it’s taken a minute to get back into my groove. As the weather gets warmer, I’ve got a few things I’d like to accomplish, starting with attending to…

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5 Things We’re Loving Right Now: Spring Edition

 150 150 Kristin
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Dear Kristin, Spring is springing, and I am sneezing. It’s the pine pollen, same as always. April in North Carolina is a beautiful, terrible thing. Still, there’s lots to love about this time of year. Some of the things I’m loving right now include … The Spencer Street Garden Collective. A bunch of us on…

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March goals

 150 150 Kristin
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Dear Frances, How is it March 1 already? That really snuck up on me! One of my favorite bloggers, Tonia Peckover, brought up a really good point recently. Why do we start a bunch of new resolutions on January 1? It’s the dead of winter, the end of the holidays, and maybe not the perfect…

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And We’re Back!

 150 150 Frances
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Dear Kristin– So, where were we? Okay, we may have possibly dropped off the face of the earth for a few months, which wasn’t exactly our intention. Our intention was to take a little break. But somehow the little break grew into a great big hole. I wonder if our readers missed us? Just in…

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Two months left (of 2023)

 150 150 Frances
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Dear Kristin– I’m writing this on October 25th, a date that’s significant for two reasons. First, it’s the anniversary of the day I met Clifton in 1991. He’s now been my boyfriend for 32 years! Second, October 25th means we have two months before Christmas. Eight weeks. 56 days.  Once upon a time, the idea…

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Fall Break

 150 150 Kristin
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We’re taking a little break this week while Frances enjoys a much needed vacation. Here is a little glimpse of the slice of heaven she’s enjoying. See you back here next week! xo,Kristin

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5 Fall Meals We’re Excited to Make

 150 150 Kristin
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Dear Frances, We’re starting to see a change in the weather here (hopefully the 90 degree days are behind us) and it has me thinking about changing up the menu plan. It still might not be “sweater weather,” here, but it is definitely “soup weather”! Out are main dish salads and in are soups and…

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Tempus fugit

 150 150 Frances
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Dear Kristin, I’m always shocked when autumn finally arrives–I mean, really arrives. When the chirps of the crickets and the cicadas grow few and far between, when it’s cold in the morning no matter how high the temperatures get later in the day, when I look outside at 7PM and realize it’s already dark. I…

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[Re] Feathering the Nest

 150 150 Kristin
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Dear Frances, One of the things that I didn’t spend much time thinking about before the kids moved out was how we were going to use those empty rooms. To be sure, there have been lots of suggestions—sewing room, home office, and exercise room, to name a few. And I went all in on the…

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[Old] Puppy love

 150 150 Frances
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Dear Kristin, I’m writing this on the couch in the front room, Travis snuggled by my side, his hind feet resting against my leg. This has been our habit for nearly sixteen years, me writing, Travis napping, the two of us always attached. Travis is an old guy now and it shows. He’s still eager…

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