The Empty Nest Chronicles

two friends. two coasts. two cozy homes.

Book List: Five Favorites/Five years

 150 150 Frances
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Dear Kristin, Last week we asked readers for topics, and Patty suggested “Best Book Ever Read.” A great idea, but way too hard! I mean, if I had to say the best book I ever read, I’d have to say A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, right? Or I could make an argument for Charlotte’s Web.…

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Around the Garden

 150 150 Kristin
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Dear Frances, It’s nearly June and I don’t think we have discussed gardening plans this year. I know that for a lot of the country, gardening season really kicks in around Memorial Day, but if I were more disciplined, I could really get started in March. In fact, back when Chloe was little, we often…

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The Difference Between Me & You

 150 150 Frances
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Dear Kristin, As I write this, you’re attending a trade show in Massachusetts. It’s always a little strange when you’re on my side of the country. First of all our daily Vox routine gets disrupted. Early bird that you are, you’re up at least an hour before I am, jet lag be damned, and that…

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Deconstructing/Reassembling

 150 150 Frances
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Dear Kristin, As you know, I love order and routine, but lately I’ve felt a need to disrupt my life a little, and to that end I’ve just blown up half of my house. Last week, I pulled everything out of what I often refer to as the Living Room/Dining Room L (from hereon referred…

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Emerging

 150 150 Kristin
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Dear Frances, Does life feel a little different to you right now? As spring emerges, I feel a sort of emergence too. From a lot of things, really. We just had the coldest, rainiest winter in memory here in California. Even in (mostly) sunny CA, I tend to hunker down a bit in the winter.…

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Stretching

 150 150 Kristin
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Dear Kristin, I’ve been thinking a lot about the third-third lately, which is to say, the next thirty years. Now, I know that there’s no way to predict how long I’ll live; a truck could be barreling down upon me at this moment (if this letter ends abruptly, you’ll know why). But barring accidents and…

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Creating Space

 150 150 Frances
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Dear Frances, I don’t know if it’s the warmer weather, the heavenly spring light, or just plain ol’ spring fever–but I’ve got such an itch to reimagine and rearrange spaces around here! It can be hard to say goodbye to the way we used spaces in the house during the child-rearing years, but… it’s time.…

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Taking a week off

 150 150 Frances
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It’s spring break at the Empty Nest! See you next week!

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Springtime Menus

 150 150 Frances
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Dear Kristin, As you know, I’ve been in a bit of a rut lately. I’m trying different strategies to get out of it–waking up earlier in the morning to have more time to read, writing letters, walking twice a day. Now that spring is springing, I’m thinking about changing up the dinner menu. Of course,…

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5 Things We’re Loving Right Now: Spring Edition

 150 150 Kristin
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Dear Frances, It’s been a few months since we talked about the things that are delighting us. (I loved reading all the wonderful comments on that post, where people shared what they were loving!) Now that it’s starting to feel like spring, I thought it would be fun to spend a few minutes dwelling on…

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