Topping the vineyard laden hills of the Piedmont (Piemonte) region in Italy are charming little ancient villages with quaint lodgings, wonderful food and wine specialties. With a romantic getaway in mind, Claudia, hostess extraordinaire, took us on a driving tour down the lovely rural lanes of Monferrato to show us her favorite villas. She insisted […]

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One of our readers sent me an email that really touched me:

“I am not completely an empty nester unfortunately. My 20 year old son was not able to return to college this fall because of the lack of loans and grants available to him. So now he is doing nothing except for playing the computer game WoW (World of Warcraft) most of his waking hours. He did just purchase a small business that will make him a small living, but I pray he goes back to college. He is very bright and it would be such a waste if he didn’t.

Hannah, my heart goes out to you. As a mother of three adult…

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There may be more than ten ways to chase off your boomerang kid — in fact we’re sure there are!  The GypsyNesters have assembled ten sure-fire, never-miss, bound to run ‘em off suggestions to send your boomerang kid screaming out of your house for good.
10. Greet him at the door naked with a bottle of […]

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I’m an advice column junkie. I can’t help it. I kick off my morning with a frothy soy latte, my “Crack”berry and a heavy dose of the “Dear crew”. When I’m lucky, I can persuade David to play along with a game of “What would Abby do?” If he’s is in a particularly sporting mood, […]

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