Several years ago, Anne Elizabeth McIntosh and I chatted on a sunny Florida beach. Ours was the polite conversation people have when neighboring umbrellas and beach chairs are close to one another. What book are you reading? Where are you from? We ran into each other again at the airport as we boarded the same flight back to Nashville. And once more on the parking lot shuttle bus.
Since then—via Instagram—I’ve watched Anne Elizabeth’s luxury concierge business sprout, grow, and flourish. What I’ve learned—if you want to know anything about Nashville, Anne Elizabeth is the one to call.
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“You can’t spend a weekend with someone seriously ill and grasp what they’re going through,” says Brett Swayn. “I never understood the depths of despair homeless men face….until I was homeless myself.”
The Orchid Series
A collection of conversations featuring inspiring humans over 75 years young. Curious, engaged, active, interesting. The sort of person I want to be when I grow up!
How did I know, when I said hello to Marty Pavelich at a Colorado workout center, this almost 95-year-old dynamo would turn out to be one of my favorite people stories? With his wisdom, crinkly smile, and gift for storytelling, Marty makes anything in life seem possible. Whenever I plop my coffee or water bottle into my car’s cup holder, I’ll think of Marty…
I’m hooked on HBO’s The Gilded Age. I adore peeking into the late 1800s and the opulent lives of America’s shipping, railroad, and coal mining magnates. I love the history, fashion, architecture, and those over-the-top homes.
Many of the industrial tycoons and their families lived in New York City. But for the summer season—all six weeks of it—they packed up their trunks and gowns and escaped to their “cottages” in Newport, Rhode Island.
A few years ago, I had lunch with an author who was in Nashville to promote her new cookbook. I wondered, after a late night flight, how she’d organized and prepared the dishes she’d cooked on an early morning television program. “Oh no, the food stylists do all that,” the author said. And I wanted to learn more.
Not long ago, I began reading a book by one of my favorite authors. But, because of characters with names I couldn’t pronounce and descriptions that rambled on and on, I couldn’t get into the story. As much as the subject matter intrigued me, I gave up.
In 2009, when Rachel Marks and her husband married, the young Jewish couple struggled to find the perfect ready-made ketubah. “There weren’t many options back then, and the artwork was more traditional than we wanted,” says Rachel. So, the trained landscape painter designed a ketubah as a keepsake of their special day.
Hassan Sharaff had “no gardening experience whatsoever” when he and his dad built a greenhouse in their suburban New York backyard. While he experimented—on a small scale—with growing crops in water, he researched hydroponic farming and developed his business plan.
Years ago, sandcastle-building kids in Sunset Beach, North Carolina nicknamed Hunter Gibbes. His moniker? The Maze Man. A celebrity in this part of the world, Hunter is a big part of the Brunswick Islands’—a chain of five barrier islands—charm.
Years ago, it seemed easier to shed an extra pound or two when the bathroom scale numbers crept up, or the jeans grew harder to zip. I’d cut back on snacks and sweets, and the weight would fall off. Ha! Not any more. When those excess pounds latch on, they do not want to leave—no matter how hard I try.
I’m always excited when restaurants include signature mocktails on their menus. Although I enjoy a good drink with alcohol, sometimes I’d rather skip the spirits. Yes, I can order sparkling water or soda, but a colorful drink in a pretty glass seems more festive.
For decades, David Sipress’ cartoons, depicting what most people think and laugh and worry about, appeared in “almost every magazine and publication.” Except The New Yorker. He “couldn’t crack the tower on the hill.”
On a recent getaway with a girlfriend, a stay at the luxurious Breakers Palm Beach resort didn’t fall within our budget. Instead, one afternoon, we popped into the Italian Renaissance-style hotel to grab a drink and marvel at its majestic architecture. Lucky for us, we met Maria Ospina.
I’d love to see the mass of penguins and Antarctica’s pristine, rugged landscape. But, I know myself. For various reasons, I won’t make the rigorous trip to the coldest, highest, driest, windiest continent on earth. And so, I must live vicariously through Lynne Warne.
A collection of interviews featuring inspiring women over 75 years young. Curious, engaged, active, interesting. The sort of woman I want to be when I grow up!
As tough as the preteen and early teen years are to navigate, can you imagine spending the entire workday with dozens of middle-school-aged kids? And, often, their parents?
In The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner, the main character joins a mudlarking tour in London. She discovers a bottle along the shoreline, etched with a bear, and sets out to determine its provenance. I loved the novel and also the idea of scouring the River Thames for historical artifacts.
When I spoke with Alexandra Mosca, I learned a new word. Taphophile— one intrigued with gravestones, cemeteries, and the art and history that goes along with them.
At 82, Sandell Morse skis down snowy mountains, hikes rugged trails, and hops on planes to explore new cities. Married more than sixty years, she and her husband used to be partners in those adventures. But not anymore. “He and I began to age very differently,” says Sandell.
And so, to accommodate both of their lifestyles, they reside in separate homes.
Long before we met, Anne Byrn’s face was familiar to me. In 1999, The Cake Mix Doctor, featuring Anne’s smiling image and flavorful ways to create magic with a box of cake mix, sold in Costco, Target, bookstores, and—well—most everywhere.
Life can change in an instant. The death of a husband, no matter how strong or capable the surviving spouse, leaves us shocked and overwhelmed and incapable of putting one foot in front of the other. Especially when young children are involved. David Doyle, and his wife, Anita, know this first hand.
