If you’re asking, “how can I spice things up in the bedroom?,” then you’re asking the wrong question. The real solution, according to Espinoza Therapy, is understanding what’s holding you back.
It’s not about trying new tricks to spark romance. It’s about figuring out the obstacles that block intimacy every day.
These obstacles might be:
- Mental health issues, like stress or anxiety
- General tiredness or exhaustion with your life
- Tension in your relationship caused by ongoing arguments
All of these can seriously affect how you feel about connection, romance and pleasure.
So what should you be asking instead?
Start by identifying the blocks to intimacy in your life, and working together with your partner to overcome them. This will create a stronger bond and a more intimate atmosphere. The key is knowing that relationships – and the people in them – are complicated. Real intimacy needs honest communication, understanding, and empathy.
If you want to dig deeper with the guidance of a qualified therapist, contact Espinoza Therapy for a free 15 minute video consultation.
Let us help you communicate better with your partner, for a more intimate and satisfying relationship!
Laura Schwartz is a licensed Realtor in VA and D.C. with McEnearney Associates in Vienna. You can follow Laura on Instagram at @LauraSchwartzRealtor or her Facebook page. Laura can be reached at 703-283-6120 or Laura@GuidingYourMove.com.
The Vienna Jammers is a percussion ensemble with more than 135 children ranging from age 8 to 18 based in Vienna. Their ensemble members are devoted to sharing their passion for music with the community. The Jammers were created and are run by a beloved Vienna Elementary School teacher, Dave Reynolds.
The Big Jam is their biggest event of the year! Each of their ensembles will be performing a variety of originals, cover songs, and traditional pieces from around the world, with music guaranteed to entertain audience members of all ages.
The kids perform at Capital One Hall on Saturday, April 13th at 7pm (doors open at 6:30pm). This year the special guest is Yasmin Williams, a local musician and guitarist.
You may have seen the Jammers in the Vienna Halloween Parade on their float or when they play on the Town Green at ViVa Vienna every Memorial Day. It’s a great way to expose kids to some music options if they’re at all interested in getting involved. It’s also a fun show to watch.
I’m not only a sponsor of the event, but I’m also the mom of two Jammers. It’s a great organization and it’s one of my favorite days of the year.
Intriguing international dishes. Flavorful fresh ingredients and from-scratch recipes. Inspired, ever-changing menus. An in-house beverage program featuring craft cocktails and an enviable wine list.
These are all things you might enjoy at a five-star resort or world-class hotel… and you’ll also find them at The Mather, a Life Plan Community for those 62 and better that opened in Tysons this month.
“It’s time to scrap outdated ideas about food and beverage offerings in senior living,” says Thad Parton, AVP of Restaurant Operations for Mather, the parent organization of The Mather. “Residents at The Mather are connoisseurs of fine food and wine, world travelers, and discerning diners who seek out top-rated restaurants wherever they live and travel. Our menus and experiences are designed to meet their expectations and tastes.”
Each of The Mather’s three restaurants, as well as its bar and lounge, has a distinct menu, and all are rotated regularly to offer creative new selections. Menus showcase cuisines from around the world including sushi, Berkshire Pork Bao, Mushroom Biryani, and crab cakes with mango-habanero salsita.
The Mather’s enticing food and beverage program is supported by the culinary standards and philosophy of Mather. Mather has been highlighted by the New York Times as a prime example of senior living residences offering residents top chefs and “foodie delights.”
The Mather takes local, seasonal food to the next level, adding inspired touches from inside their community:
- A dedicated bake shop/pastry shop features a German-made, state-of-the-art bread oven.
- On-site honey production by Italian honeybees will be available (starting late spring 2024) through a partnership with an urban beekeeping program.
- Specially trained team members make coffee and espresso drinks to order, using beans from an Alexandria-based coffee roaster.
- A hydroponic micro-farm provides opportunity for year-round fresh herbs and edible flowers to be used for special culinary events and resident programs.
In addition to these special touches, The Mather will use technology to enhance residents’ culinary experiences. A country club-style plan allows them to draw on a prepaid account for meals, drinks, guest meals and private catering, CUISINE2GO food, and more. They can also use an in-house app to order food for pickup or delivery and make restaurant reservations. And a robot server will be on-hand in the restaurants to help with bussing tables and delivering food.
“The Mather restaurants and event spaces are truly inspiring us to take our culinary processes, creativity, and service to the next level,” says Thad. “It’s been rewarding for our team to break new ground while we build a cutting-edge food and beverage program for residents.”
The Mather, which opened in March 2024 in Tysons, VA, is a forward-thinking Life Plan Community for those 62 and better that defies expectations of what senior living is supposed to be.
Reston celebrates its 60th anniversary this year and remains a model of a true planned community — one that stresses quality of life and the ability for residents to live, work and play in their own community.
Founder Robert E. Simon had that goal of quality of life and common shared scenic beauty, and those guiding principles remain, even as Reston has changed over the years.
Today, Reston Association and its Board of Directors are the ones tasked with ensuring we have a community that is sustainable, inclusive, and resilient. It is those qualities that make Reston a great place for people to call home. Those qualities are fundamental to maintaining excellent property values and our prized community amenities. So it’s important that all of us within Reston Association take time to cast votes this month in our annual Board of Directors election.
A total of four seats are open in this year’s election, and the candidates for each seat have shared priorities and goals. These individuals are the ones tasked with guiding the policies and procedures for the Association, approving the annual budget and assessment, and helping to ensure Reston remains a unique and welcoming community.
If you value being a part of the Reston community and want to ensure its place in the future, I urge you to take a moment to learn about the candidates and cast your vote in the Board of Directors election. Ballots were mailed to all households within the Association and must be either mailed back or submitted online no later than 5 p.m. on Monday, April 1, 2024. The results of the election will be announced at the 2024 Annual Members’ Meeting on Tuesday, April 9. All RA members are invited to attend the reception and meeting; registration is required.
By Ed Abbott, Chair, Reston Association Elections Committee
Written by Mina Lucks, Synergy Design & Construction
As a home remodeler, we love creating spaces that adapt to one’s lifestyle and the ever-changing needs of our modern way of living.
In this blog, we explore ways to diversify spaces in your home to help you to transition from work to relaxation and beyond.
Designing Versatile Spaces For Modern Living
Imagine seamlessly moving from a productive work zone to a serene sanctuary in seconds. Or picture hosting a social gathering in your home that effortlessly adapts to accommodate your guests.
Crafting these multifunctional areas starts with understanding your unique needs. After identifying your range of daily activities, you can explore the specific furniture and layouts that make sense for you!
Take this kitchen island, for example.
The island can blend a computer workstation with a meal prep zone, a breakfast bar, a place to socialize, and even sneak in some display shelves underneath. Talk about versatility!
Adaptable Furniture And Layout Ideas For Flexible Living Area
We see crafting a flexible living area as an art form, and luckily, we’ve got a few expert strategies to achieve just that.
The key ideas lie in blending comfort, flow, and, of course, personal flair.
Open-Concept Design
By removing walls, you connect different areas offering a continuous flow of energy and activities.
For instance, this open-concept design harmoniously blends the areas on the entire first floor while maintaining a cohesive look.
Modular Sofas
Rearrange modular sofas to suit any occasion, allowing various seating arrangements, from small and intimate settings to larger gatherings.
Convertible Tables
Accommodate additional guests or offer ample workspace when needed with convertible tables that can expand or contract based on your needs. One of our favs is the Transformer Table!
Versatile Built-in Media Centers
A built-in media center can serve as a focal point and provide storage. With rotating panels or hidden compartments, reveal or conceal entertainment devices to quickly transition from a cozy family movie night to a sophisticated cocktail party.
Vertical Space
Keep floor space open by installing tall cabinets, sliding doors, large bookshelves, or counter units. These vertical elements can be used to display decorative items or act as dividers to create zones within your home.
In this project, we maximized floor space and established zones by utilizing floor-to-ceiling cabinets on the other side of the kitchen fridge wall.
Curate Your Home
So, if you’re after a home that enables flexible living and supports every aspect of your life, we’re here and all ears!
Get in touch with Synergy Design and Construction today, and let’s team up to create a multifunctional space where you can truly thrive!
What do I do if school doesn’t fit my kid?
That’s the question that so many of the parents and families ask when they’re looking at small independent schools like The Howard Gardner School. There are any number of reasons that their current school might not fit.
- “My son is surviving, but they definitely aren’t thriving”
- “My daughter stopped doing gymnastics, and doesn’t ride horses anymore. She just does schoolwork.”
- “I don’t think the school ever really ‘got’ my kid… they’re just different”
These are quotes pulled from parents looking at HGS this year. Our families are a diverse group from all different backgrounds. Our students are just as varied with all kinds of reasons for being at The Howard Gardner School. The common thread is that school wasn’t working.
When school — as we think of it now — was invented, in the 1800s, it was in answer to the industrial revolution. Desks in rows and columns, classrooms with the same number of students as factories had workers in each shift. Even a curriculum contained by four walls and a textbook, set to a standardized approach for a standardized set of goals.
A few things have changed in the last two hundred years
Public school in the United States was and is a ground-breaking, crucial program with an audacious mandate: Educate every single citizen of the most diverse nation in the history of the world. Public educators are dedicated professionals seeking to do just that — but the mandate is virtually impossible. What works for one student might be antithetical to the needs of another. What makes one kid excited might make another kid anxious. As a result, typical schools seek to do the most that they can for as many students as they can. It’s a laudable and practical approach to a truly difficult circumstance.
But what if your kid doesn’t fit?
The parents, families, and kids who are exploring The Howard Gardner School are obviously considering a new school setting. It’s a wonderful truth that this region has an incredible array of top tier public and private schools. In particular, this area’s set of intentionally small schools is truly impressive. The Washington Small Schools Association and the Virginia Small Schools Association can provide interested families with information and ideas about how to find a school that fits.
In fact, the admissions staff at these small schools will take the time and effort to help each individual student find and access the best possible fit for them. Because each small school can be a different place — with programs, teachers, even campuses that fit different kinds of kids.
At The Howard Gardner School, we work with a very small number of students, in very small classes, designed around experiential programming. For instance, we take thirty-six field trips per year. Our students have multiple overnight travel opportunities each school year. And because of the needs of the teenage brain, we start the school day at 10 a.m. If sitting at a desk for eight hours a day, or slogging through another two hours of homework at night isn’t the right fit for your kid, HGS could help you find a better one. 
Our mission here at The Howard Gardner School is to help bright, creative, non-traditional students use their unique strengths to thrive academically, intellectually, and emotionally.
Please check out our website at www.TheHowardGardnerSchool.org, and call or email to learn more about how to find the best fit for your kid.
There is a place where each young person can find their fit and thrive. The process is a bit like being in a dark room — the hard part isn’t turning on the light, it’s finding the switch.
The Howard Gardner School
Serving bright, creative, non-traditional learners in grades 6-12
Alexandria, VA & Sterling, VA
703-822-9300
Laura Schwartz is a licensed Realtor in VA and D.C. with McEnearney Associates in Vienna. You can follow Laura on Instagram at @LauraSchwartzRealtor or her Facebook page. Laura can be reached at 703-283-6120 or Laura@GuidingYourMove.com.
Last week you may have read some headlines about how the “6% real estate commission” as we know it is dead. There was a class action lawsuit that the National Association of Realtors ® agreed to settle last week for $418M. Here’s what you need to know about how that impacts you:
What the lawsuit was about
There was an argument that real estate commissions were fixed and it wasn’t clear that the seller was also paying the buyer’s commission. Worth noting: the original lawsuit was filed in Missouri where real estate practice may differ from the way we do things in the D.C. Metro area. We have ALWAYS had forms that the seller signs and that the buyer is required to sign to create representation agreements that clearly spelled out how, and how much, agents were getting paid. And buyers and sellers have always had options of how much service they want and what they were willing to pay for it — always.
What this means moving forward
Part of the lawsuit settlement, if approved, includes the following changes to how real estate is done — the MLS will no longer have a buyer agent commission (also known as selling agent) listed as part of the advertisement. In fact, the MLS will be prohibited from publicly offering one starting mid July of 2024.
There are lots of details to be worked out, including a court approving this settlement, but here’s what you really need to know about buying and selling real estate in the coming months:
- Until July, you might see subtle changes but the big changes won’t take effect until then.
- Sellers CAN still choose to offer compensation to the buyer’s agent, but how that’s advertised will be different — still TBD.
- Buyers who want their own representation will now have to pay for their own agent. You will have to discuss this with your real estate agent and have a signed agreement prior to seeing any houses.
- Buyers can ask for closing cost credit from the sellers as part of their offer to cover the commission of their agent, if they don’t want to or can’t come out of pocket to pay the agent directly as part of their closing costs. Sellers can agree or disagree.
There are parts that bother me that I think got severely overlooked:
- Buyers who plan to use a VA Loan (used by our Veterans and/or active duty military) are NOT allowed to pay any fees related to a real estate agent as part of their loan. They don’t even have the option. So unless the VA figures out how to handle this new policy, there’s a lot of uncertainty related to using a VA loan and representation.
- First time buyers and FHA buyers — usually believed to be smaller down payments (FHA is a 3.5% minimum and a conventional loan can be as little as 3%), will now also have to come up with more money to pay at closing to hire an agent unless they can get a seller credit to off-set the cost.
I believe the intent of this was to make the process clearer — and that’s a good thing — but the experts think this will bring down home prices because prices were inflated to account for commission. However, I think they’re actually making the entry into owning homes harder. Buyers don’t know what they don’t know and not having an experienced professional to guide them through the process and protect their interests will end up hurting them in this major life purchase.
More to come on this as things get cleaned up and new policies get put in place, but change is coming.
Earn top dollar with full benefits!
When you join the Electrical Alliance, you get to contribute to the biggest projects in the area, all while earning top dollar and employer paid benefits.
As an Electrical Alliance worker, you get:
- Salary Range $11.50 — $54.00/Hour
- Paid Apprenticeship
- Continuing education to advance within the industry
- Safer working conditions and top-tier safety training
- Full Family medical care, eye care, dental care, and EAP programs
- Paid time off
- Employer Paid Retirement Benefits: Pensions and Annuity
This biweekly column is sponsored by The Mather in Tysons, Virginia, a forward-thinking Life Plan Community for those 62 and better.
Generation X — whose members are currently 43 to 58 years old — has been continually overshadowed by the much larger baby boomer and millennial generations. Yet these days, this “forgotten generation” has moved to the forefront. They are parents; employees and bosses; social, cultural, and political leaders… but who are they?
New research offers a detailed look at Gen X’s key lifestyle trends, attitudes, and interests. The Gen Xperience Study is a five-year research study of Mather Institute, an award-winning resource for research on wellness, aging, and successful aging service innovations. The Institute is the research area of Mather, a not-for-profit organization with other areas of service, community-based initiatives, and luxury senior living communities including The Mather, a Life Plan Community for those 62 and better in Tysons, Virginia.
“The topic of Generation X is important to us for several reasons,” says Raj Radke, Vice President and General Manager of The Mather. “Many of our team members are Gen X; the adult children of many current residents belong to this generation, as do a sizeable percentage of The Mather residents!”
For its Year 1 report, Mather Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,504 members of Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980). In order to draw comparisons and paint a picture of where Gen Xers might be heading in the future, they also surveyed 2,515 members of the baby boomer generation (born between 1946 and 1964).
“We found that Gen Xers have three clear priorities: family, career, health and wellness,” says Jennifer Smith, PhD, AVP and director of Mather Institute. “Interestingly, we also found that although they are generally satisfied, many of them are also experiencing considerable stress in these same areas.”
For example, it’s no surprise that 81% of Gen Xers are stressed about finances at least sometimes. And — although this generation prioritizes their physical and mental health — nearly one-third of them reported that their wellness is a source of concern: 35% are stressed about their physical health, and 34% are stressed about their mental health. While 96% said that self-care is important to them, two out of five also admitted they don’t get as much self-care as needed.
“We were curious about how these stresses, perspectives, and experiences among Generation X compared to those of baby boomers,” says Jennifer. “We were intrigued to learn that Gen Xers — despite being younger — have more concerns about aging than their boomer counterparts.” The study shows that members of Gen X are specifically worried about their future finances, memory problems, and social isolation. However, when baby boomers think about growing older, they are more concerned about losing their independence.
In short, members of Generation X are doing their best to Age Well. For the most part, they are satisfied with their lives, though many are also coping with stress. The next few years of Mather Institute’s research may reveal changes in both the levels of satisfaction and in stressors.
“The Gen Xperience Study gives us deeper insights into an important generation,” says Radke. “We at The Mather are delighted to have this opportunity to better understand Generation X. We’re looking at ways to apply what we’ve learned from the report to support team members and residents alike.”
The Year 1 findings of the study are available in a free downloadable report, The Gen Xperience: A 5-Year Journey into the Lives of Generation X. You can find it at GenXperienceStudy.com.
The Mather in Tysons, VA, for those 62 and better, is a forward-thinking Life Plan Community that defies expectations of what senior living is supposed to be. It opened in March 2024.
Laura Schwartz is a licensed Realtor in VA and D.C. with McEnearney Associates in Vienna. You can follow Laura on Instagram at @LauraSchwartzRealtor or her Facebook page. Laura can be reached at 703-283-6120 or Laura@GuidingYourMove.com.
Decided to stay in the area for spring break and didn’t sign you kids up for any camps? Don’t worry as I have you covered for some exciting events taking place in the area.
Saturday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 31 at 1 p.m. –– Washington Spirit
Fresh off the USWNT Gold Cup Championship, head to D.C. to watch the Spirit, including Trinity Rodman, either in a night game or Sunday matinee. If you are headed there for either game, there are great dinner and brunch options in the area, including Osteria Morini.
Tuesday, March 26 — Nationals Futures Game at 12:05 p.m.
The Washington Nationals are putting their best prospects in D.C. for a special showcase game and will include some current major leaguers. Pro tip: Check Seat Geek and Stubhub for possibly better ticket prices.
The National Air and Space Museum in D.C. has 8 new galleries open as they continue their years-long renovation. Reserve your free timed entry pass.
Jurassic Park fans can head to EagleBank Arena in Fairfax to check out the live tour of Jurassic World in an “action packed, live arena show.” Each ticket includes a pre-show experience of photos with some of everyone’s favorite dinos and vehicles. There are shows starting Saturday, March 23 and run throughout the week including noon showings on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Of course there are our families two favorite local places: Topgolf (Loudoun and National Harbor) and Dave and Buster’s. Don’t forget Topgolf on Tuesdays is half price and games at Dave and Buster’s on Wednesdays cost half the tickets. If you go to Topgolf in Loudoun take the kids for crazy shakes after just across the street in One Loudoun to The Yard.
