My cellphone rang after 10 PM, as I put on soft pajamas. Screen said it was my Chicago son.

“Hi, what’s up?” I forced a chipper voice, my intuition light flashing red.

“Sorry it’s late, Mom… but we need help!”

Trouble Stirring or Great Times Rising?

I sat down. My heart hammered, fearful for my four-year-old grandchild, afraid Covid-19 caught their household. Did my son get laid off? Most calls from him during the pandemic weren’t joyful.

He continued, “My wife and I are going nuts in our cramped townhouse. Working virtually plus taking care of our son is tough! Can’t go anywhere in Chicago with this lockdown. That plus getting our place ready to sell makes everything impossible… We argue a lot.” His voice broke up, but not from a bad cell phone connection.

“We want to drive out and stay with you and Charlie (my husband) for a month, maybe more, and bring the dog, too.”

An hour later, I said good night, after talking through a plan to bring my son’s family to our upstate NY house. (That included everyone getting tested for Covid-19 and following CDC guidelines.) Two weeks later, they dragged into our driveway in their packed SUV, after almost 19 hours and 900 miles on the interstate.

Bringing the Family Together

A few days after our clan arrived, another four-year-old grandson and his parents joined the fun! Our New York City daughter also wanted to escape from their crowded townhouse with no backyard for their kiddo to play. Family #2 ended up overlapping time with Family #1, spending many extended weekends and a few full weeks together at our house.

Good thing we have 5 bedrooms, 3½ bathrooms, big double office, large kitchen, great room, huge deck, and an acre lot with interesting outdoor activities. We could accommodate everyone – even the dog.

The cousins loved being together. Living about 1,000 miles apart, they rarely spent more than a few days at each other’s house during special visits. While they played and did activities with Grandma and Grandpa, their parents could do their professional work uninterrupted, accomplishing much. We also prepared most meals and managed household tasks to free them up.

These 42 “Camp Grandma & Grandpa” Activities Made Each Day Special

• Gathering wood for the crackling firepit – to toast marshmallows and make delicious sticky s’mores with graham crackers and chocolate.
• Riding in a restored vintage Radio Flyer wagon – originally was daughter’s ride 35 years ago.
• Running through the spray from a gigantic, inflated plastic elephant’s trunk in the backyard.
• Building castles, roads, and water moats in a big sandbox shaded by towering trees.
• Swimming in the refreshing pool with floaty tubes and wind-up fish toys.
• Drawing colorful rainbows and designs with sidewalk chalk.
• Baking and eating yummy gingersnaps, chocolate chip, and peanut butter cookies.
• Picking lettuce from the garden and watering the other growing veggies previously planted—tomatoes, green beans, carrots, beets, and basil.
• Helping set the big brass table and for family dinners together on the deck.
• Laughing in the bathtub bubbles before nighttime jammies.
• Hitting colorful wooden croquet balls through the hoops.
• Speeding scooters down the driveway and trying out a junior-sized bike with training wheels.
• Turning the great room into a big playroom, complete with a camping tent for two.
• Dangling from a tree rope swing.
• Trying to catch fireflies at dusk.
• Reading favorite books while snuggling close.
• Writing poetry with Grandma’s prompts and proudly framing the result to display in the hallway.
• Chasing the dog around the fenced yard after she figured out what real grass was!
• Helping make homemade waffles for breakfast and filling the little squares with maple syrup.
• Playing with a life-sized stuffed tiger cub toy and a menagerie of others.
• Packing a picnic lunch, colorful tablecloth, lawn chairs, and frisbees, for a state park outing.
• Assembling picture puzzles without forcing pieces to fit.
• Building little racecars with tiny-sized Legos and racing them across the great room.
• Watching popcorn tumble out of the hot air popper and turning this into an impossible-to-resist sweet caramel candy corn.
• Begging for “just one more story, please” before bedtime tuck in.
• Walking masked up through the neighborhood for a change of scenery.
• Running across the lawn after the kickball.
• Building a fort with sheets and chairs.
• Popping 4^th of July “bang snaps” (with supervision) for a minuscule explosion and audible crack.
• Playing simple board games including Chutes and Ladders.
• Creating a birthday card and putting lots of candles on a cake baked for dad.
• Keeping screen time to a minimum to watch a few educational shows during cool-down breaks.
• Assisting to grill burgers on the deck.
• Planting bright pink geraniums along the front walk, with Grandpa’s guidance.
• Printing alphabet letters in pre-school practice workbooks.
• Building tall towers with red plastic Solo cups and crashing them down.
• Jumping in backyard puddles after a rain shower, splashing each other.
• Making homemade popsicles and sucking these on hot afternoons outside.
• Hiking a mile around a municipal park lake trail and skipping rocks in the water.
• Shucking sweet corn for roasting and eating it on the cob.
• Listening for different bird songs.
• Being in the fresh air outdoors whenever possible!

Every day was an adventure with our grandsons. Grandpa and I tumbled into our bed most evenings, falling asleep faster than the time it took to eat one of the kids’ homemade popsicles.

Here’s a one-minute video including some of our active days together:

Plans for the 2021 Summer Are Underway

This coming August, our family will be together again. Indeed, several aunts and uncles also want to join us for a few days. Some will base out of a nearby Airbnb, depending on everyone’s travel plans.

Being past the worst of the pandemic, we can add activities such as enjoying a nearby playground, amusement park, miniature golf course, local ice-cream shop, boat ride, some restaurant dining, and more without fear. With everyone vaccinated except our ineligible young grandsons, we expect to be masked in some public spaces. But mostly, we’ll be freer than we were last year.

Treasured Time Together

The best benefit of “Camp Grandma & Grandpa” for us during last summer’s pandemic peak was precious time with our grandsons and their parents. We never shared this many weeks together with them since their own childhood… and they probably won’t be able to spend this much time together with us in the future.

The parents caught up on professional work. Family tensions lessened. The cousins bonded beautifully. Our Chicago family even sold their townhouse virtually while out-of-state. Then they started the process of buying a more spacious house in the suburbs. That included a backyard “to run around outside… like in NY.”

Was all this hard work? Yes, certainly. I’d be Pollyannaish if I said everything went smoothly all the time. But everybody put in effort to make it work, and I believe we became closer because of our treasured time together. These happy memories will linger long in my heart.

What have been some of your most cherished times with family members? Have you hosted a variation of “Camp Grandma & Grandpa”? Has the pandemic impacted your gathering with grandchildren? Have you considered writing a brief memoir like this as part of your own legacy writing?

Enjoying or taking tea was made fashionable by Anna Russell, the 7^th Duchess of Bedford, in 1865, when the lengthy wait between lunch and dinner left her feeling peckish enough to have small, yet delicious snacks delivered to her rooms!

Enter the emergence of the High Tea or Afternoon Tea, as an opportunity for women, in particular, to connect and talk about their families, culture and politics over tea while devouring delicate sweets and savoury sandwiches.

High Tea Today

This traditional British pastime is enjoyed around the world today and is ceremoniously celebrated in 5-star hotel lobbies, cafes and lounge rooms, providing a forum for everyone, of all sexes and ages, to share a cuppa and a chat.

Enjoying a High Tea with friends doesn’t have to be a calorific experience, laden with sweet and savory delights washed down with cups of sugary tea. Have you ever thought about breaking with tradition and opting for a Healthy High Tea instead?

Healthy High Tea

My wife Alka and I really enjoy having friends over, and recently, we decided to try something different and invited our friends over for a Healthy High Tea, a simple gathering of friends who can meet weekly and talk about our families, our experiences and our journey.

Our afternoon tea is mentally healthy because we talk and connect amongst friends. It’s physically healthy, because we’ve eliminated sweet treats in favour of fresh food alternatives and opted for some healthy, caffeine free herbal teas to serve!

So, break with tradition today. Afternoon tea is a great way to see your friends, get things off your mind and enjoy some guilt-free treats over a heart-warming cup of tea!

Start Planning Your Afternoon Tea

Here are the three most important components of any High Tea gathering:

Drink Options

Give your friends a choice of 3 or 4 different tea varieties and include caffeine-free, natural herbal teas. Have you tried peppermint or chamomile tea? Or you could try an anti-oxidant packed Green (matcha) Tea

Eat Wise

Replacing the scones won’t be easy! Think of foods that complete the flavours of the herbal teas you are serving.

Perhaps a fresh fruit plate (think colourful fresh berries, vibrant mango and sweet kiwi fruit), and some raw nuts scattered over the top.

Talk

Our purpose for having a Healthy High Tea is to talk and share our thoughts with our friends, without having to worry about overindulging! So be sure to invite friends who could really use a friend and an open heart.

Cheers to your health and friendships with a cup of healthy tea!

If you are looking for a something new to try, have a look at the brand new Fontanella collection of Organic, herbal teas. Each variety is naturally free from additives and caffeine and can be enjoyed every day at leisure either hot or cold.

Do you snack between lunch and dinner? Would you call this snack High Tea? Why or why not? What could you do to gather friends for High Tea – English style or healthy style?

Larsa Pippen’s Red Halter Dress on Instagram

Real Housewives of Miami Instagram Fashion 2021

She’s in Miami trick! While we’ve gotten used to seeing Larsa Pippen in LA on Keeping Up With the Kardashians over the years (RIP), according to Insta the RHOM OG has made a return to the sunshine state to film the much-anticipated reboot. And based on this red halter dress she wore during a recent night out with the cast, it appears as though she’ll be bringing some serious Miami heat to our screens and closets.  

Fashionably,

Faryn

Click Here to Shop Her Amanda Uprichard Dress

Click Here to Shop it in Navy

Click Here to Shop Her Gianvito Rossi Sandals in 3 Colours

Photo & Info: @LarsaPippen

Originally posted at: Larsa Pippen’s Red Halter Dress

Whether we retire or continue working part-time in our 60s, we become conscious of money in an entirely new way. For much of our lives, we were earning money and saving it. If we were smart about how we invested, spent and saved our money, our net worth was always going up.

One of the biggest transitions to life after 60 is learning to accept the fact that, for most of us, we are now spending down.

It’s scary at first to watch our savings diminish instead of grow. It requires that we forge a new relationship with our money. I was determined that I wouldn’t let this reality make my life miserly or penny pinching. After all, I’ve saved my whole life for this!

Luxury Is a State of Mind

I was not going to adopt a poverty mentality. I didn’t want to feel “less than” before. I didn’t want to fall into the cliché of the penny pinching retiree who was looking for early bird specials.

I discovered, during the course of my life in the tropics, things that make me feel like a millionaire that don’t cost a thing. For example, I love watching a palm tree sway in the breeze, letting the rustling sound flow over my body, it’s a giddy, extravagant experience that’s absolutely free. It makes me feel absolutely rich because it’s priceless.

Before I continue, I want to share with you that, when I turned 60, I vowed not to give other people advice. So, what I’m going to do is share with you what I do that makes me feel luxurious, pampered, and cared for. The same may or may not apply for you.

I Shop Like a French Woman

I’ve always been impressed watching Europeans shop. Because many Europeans use public transportation, they don’t have cars to load up in a parking lot. Rather, they stop in the super and pick up what they’re going to cook for dinner and carry it home on the tram, train, subway or bus.

Another reason Europeans shop like this is many live in small flats. They have no room for lots of stuff.

So, now I take my shopping bag and buy for one meal. How does this make me feel like a millionaire?

Looking at what looks divine at the super and planning a luxurious, sexy dinner makes me very happy. I spy the perfect thick pork chop, a luscious ripe tomato, a bunch of arugula, a hunk of cheese and some bread. I enjoy the freshest, gourmet dinner and there’s no waste!

I’m not spending money on items that might spoil or I might lose interest in. Not wasting makes me feel smart, lucky and rich.

I Eat Outside

You’ve often heard it said that for some reason food tastes better when it’s eaten outside. And I think it’s true. Instead of sitting at the dining table for breakfast, it feels totally decadent and luxurious to take my piping hot cup of milky morning tea and a slice of my home made bread out to the terrace. The cool morning breeze – or the frosty morning breeze – is sensual and exciting!

If I’m up early, I enjoy a beautiful sunrise, which is pure extravagance and… free. Or sometimes I’ll make a picnic lunch and meet a friend for an alfresco lunch. A picnic turns lunch or dinner into a free vacation.

I Light Candles

What is it about candlelight that makes me feel positively fabulous in every way I can think of? Candle light soothes, softens and makes my life dreamy. I feel extravagant when I’m chatting with a friend, or enjoying a glass of wine by myself by candlelight. Suddenly the evening seems scintillating and special.

I have some large crystal hurricane lamps and a selection of small flickering votives. In candlelight, I feel like the luckiest, most beautiful woman. This is another feeling that money can’t buy.

I Go For a Walk

Going for a walk is the simplest, most luxurious pleasure you can imagine. If I’m feeling a bit “fuzzy” – perhaps sad, confused or perplexed about something – I say, “time for a walk.” It’s excellent exercise and it makes me feel free and possible.

The feeling that this gives me is priceless. It puts me in touch with nature. I see other people and am touched by humanity. It makes me breathe deep and exhilarates me. It sharpens my appetite. It makes me feel grateful for my body. I return home refreshed. I don’t need expensive gym clothes or a membership. I can go for five minutes, fifteen, or an hour. It’s all good.

I Make Time for Tea Time

Now that I’m no longer working in a traditional job, I enjoy the famous British ritual of tea time around four o’clock every afternoon. Remember Downton Abbey?

A cup of tea seems to solve everything. And, when I brew a cup of tea in the afternoon, I feel as rich as the Queen.

Teatime is the marvelous refresher of the titled nobles of the past who didn’t have to work. It’s a reward to an afternoon drawing to a close. It’s a lovely pause to the prelude of cocktails and dinner. Tea time is a ritual that comforts and stretches out the day.

A cup of tea and a biscuit, or a clipping of grapes or a sliced apple. A sacred space for conversation or contemplation. Tea time is also an inexpensive way to entertain a friend. No big expense, but all the glamour.

So yes, these are “little” things – but they create tremendous luxury in my life. I have more life hacks that I’d like to share with you in the future. But for now, I’d love to hear from you.

What small things do you do that make you feel like a millionaire? Do you have any tricks or attitude adjustments about what constitutes luxury in your life? Please join the conversation.