Latest news with #emptyNester
Wall Street Journal
4 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
A $450,000 Kitchen Renovation Marked a New Beginning for Chicago Empty-Nesters
Ask any empty-nester how it felt to watch their children fly the coop, and chances are they'll call it a bittersweet experience. But for one 50-something Chicago couple—a businessman and an artist—the bitter quickly gave way to the sweet. 'It was our chance to break free and embrace a daring new era,' says the wife. For them, it was an opportunity to rediscover their chic side, seek new adventures, and, best of all, trade their suburban home for a sky-high contemporary penthouse, which they did in 2022 for $2.85 million. They enlisted interior designer Donna Mondi, founder of her eponymous Chicago studio. 'They had one requirement: ditch the standard-issue builder finishes and dial up the drama,' Mondi says. 'Their goal was to conjure a bold, head-turning vibe straight out of 'Selling Sunset'—luxurious, provocative and unapologetically fabulous.'
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What's going on with the Obamas? Michelle admits she's in therapy
The Obamas and the state of their marriage have been hot on the political gossip scene for months, with rumours of separation and even (false) whispers that Barack was having an affair with Friends star Jennifer Anniston. Being such colossal figures in the world, former President Barack Obama and his First Lady Michelle Obama are always going to have the gaze of the world upon them. Now, Michelle has revealed that she is receiving therapy - but why? In an effort to cope with becoming an 'empty nester', Michelle disclosed that she is receiving therapy. The former first lady claimed that she was getting ready for the "next phase" of her life, which included working on overcoming guilt. The mother-of-two told Jay Shetty's On Purpose podcast in a recent appearance: 'At this phase of my life, I'm in therapy right now because I'm transitioning, you know? 'I've finished a really hard thing in my life with my family intact, I'm an empty nester, my girls are in – you know, they've been launched.' Her two children, Malia, who graduated from Harvard in 2021 and Sasha, who graduated from the University of Southern California in 2023 are 26 and 23, respectively. But this isn't the first time the duo have been - unfairly - scruitinised for their happiness, after months of speculation about their marriage. Speaking to actor Sophia Bush on her podcast, The Conversation Continues, Obama said that people 'couldn't even fathom that I was making a choice for myself', leading them to jump to conclusions about her relationship. 'They had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing,' she said. What were the rumours and was there any truth to them? Despite ups and downs over the years, the Obamas have nearly always presented as a united front. Therefore, the fact that Barack Obama attended major state events by himself in January sparked questions and unearthed some outlandish stories from the gutters of tabloid gossip, including the bizarre theory that the former president was linked with Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston. Rumours began to circulate that Barack and Michelle Obama were drifting apart after Mr Obama attended former president Jimmy Carter's state funeral without his wife on January 9. All five living presidents and their partners were there, except Michelle, whose advisers told CNN that she had a scheduling conflict and was in Hawaii on an extended holiday. Days later, the Obamas' office released a statement saying that Michelle would be absent from another major political event: Donald Trump's inauguration. They did not provide a reason. "Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration," the statement read. This marks a break from tradition, although Donald and Melania Trump did not attend Joe Biden's inauguration in 2021. The explanation for this could be as simple as the fact that Michelle Obama has long expressed her distaste for President Trump. At a campaign rally for Kamala Harris back in November, she described Trump as 'a convicted felon, a known slumlord' and a 'predator found liable for sexual abuse'. She did attend his first inauguration back in 2020 but said on her podcast in 2023 how unpleasant it had been 'to sit on that stage and watch the opposite of what we represented on display — there was no diversity, there was no colour on that stage, there was no reflection of the broader sense of America'. Obama also said she 'cried for 30 minutes straight' after the inauguration. Yet journalists and pundits mused over whether her absence is a sign of internal fissures. Some said they had been hearing whispers for months, including blogger Meghan McCain and Tara Palmeri, Puck News's senior political correspondent. Discussing the story on a podcast together, McCain said that she had been hearing the rumour from 'very serious journalists'. Palmeri agreed: 'I just heard that they live separate lives.' Incidentally, Meghan McCain is the daughter of Republican senator John McCain, who Obama defeated in the 2008 presidential election. She was not willing to name any of the 'reputable people' she had heard the rumours from. As if to set the record straight, Barack Obama shared a heartfelt post to Instagram on Michelle's birthday on January 17. 'Happy birthday to the love of my life,' the caption read. 'You fill every room with warmth, wisdom, humor, and grace – and you look good doing it. I'm so lucky to be able to take on life's adventures with you. Love you!' Yet sceptics like Meghan McCain were unconvinced. 'I would kill Ben if he put a picture of me looking like no makeup with that lighting on social media,' McCain said, referring to her husband, Ben Domenech. 'I would kill him. So for me it didn't help the rumours, and like why are you putting this like s***ty picture of your wife up?' So, the evidence for a marriage on the rocks went something like this: Michelle Obama skips inauguration of man she detests and husband uploads purportedly unflattering picture of her for birthday. Hardly a smoking gun. Just in case that wasn't enough, a crackpot cover story from In Touch magazine came back in the headlines, which claimed to know 'The truth about Jen & Barack'. That is, Jennifer Aniston of Friends fame. 'They're obsessed with each other!' claimed one highly reputably anonymous source from 'power circles in Washington and Hollywood'. Aniston addressed the story back in October during an appearance on chat show host Jimmy Kimmel's show. 'Of all the calls you get from your publicist where you're just like 'Oh, no, what's it gonna be?' or you get an email saying some cheesy tabloid is gonna make up a story — and then it's that…I was not mad at it!' she laughed, before clarifying that the story is 'absolutely untrue' and she has only met Obama once. Aside from heard-it-through-the-grapevine chitter chatter, there was little to suggest that the couple were on the rocks. The rumours turned out to be just that. 'We as women, I think we struggle with disappointing people,' said Michelle Obama on The Conversation Continues. She explained that people were unable to see her decision not to attend Carter's funeral and Trump's inauguration as 'a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself,' instead feeding off hearsay. 'That's what society does to us,' she said.
Telegraph
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Joanna Lumley's stiff upper lip is the perfect antidote to celebrity oversharing
My oldest child started her GCSEs this week, so like any parent of teenagers, I can hear the distant pitter-patter of feet, about to empty the nest. When you've got babies and toddlers, you long for the freedom of late nights, lie-ins and even unaccompanied toilet breaks. Then the children start walking and talking and becoming such good company that you feel lost without them. But while I dread the idea of my three leaving home, I don't think I would seek counselling to cope with it. The same cannot be said for Michelle Obama, who this week admitted that she is in therapy as she adjusts to life as an 'empty nester' outside of the White House. The former First Lady told life coach Jay Shetty's podcast: 'I'm getting that tune-up for this next phase, because I believe this is a whole 'nother phase in life for me… 'I now don't have the excuse of, 'Well, my kids need this, or my husband needs that, or the country needs that.'' While I appreciate your country no longer needing you might be cause to seek help, why on earth does someone like Mrs Obama need to pay for therapy when she seems to spend so much time talking about herself? Like Harry and Meghan, she falls firmly into the celebrity oversharer category. Just when you feel you've heard enough from her, she goes and records another interview. Aren't their whole lives just one long public therapy session? Especially the Sussexes, who appear physically incapable of speaking about anything other than themselves. I much prefer the subtlety of Dame Joanna Lumley who went viral after telling The Telegraph's Mick Brown: 'I think there's too much self-exploration. I think we're all as dull as ditchwater.' Asked if she had 'ever been one for self-reflection or introspection', the Absolutely Fabulous star replied: 'I can't see the point. Also, I'm as shallow as a puddle.'
The Guardian
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Buck up, Michelle Obama – nothing is more fabulous than an empty nest
Your kids are the greatest love affair of your life, and that love is unconditional … Although wait, on second thoughts, there are a few conditions. No child must ever be allowed to take up the bagpipes, drums or descant recorder. Come meal times there are two options – spag bol or adoption. No mother should have to teach a child to drive while simultaneously going through the menopause. And, most important of all, progeny must be out the door by 24. Without a doubt, the two nicest words in the English language are 'empty' and 'nest'. And yet my kitchen is constantly full of female friends weeping into their wine about how much they will miss their kids when they leave for university, flat shares or gap year travels. Michelle Obama has joined the chorus, revealing that she's going to counselling to help her adjust to life as an 'empty nester' now that Malia, 26, and Sasha, 23, are fledging. On Jay Shetty's podcast, the former first lady said: 'I'm in therapy right now because I'm transitioning, you know? … I'm 60 years old, I've finished a really hard thing in my life with my family intact, I'm an empty nester, my girls are in – you know, they've been launched! … This is a whole other phase in life for me.' The difficulty with adjusting to this new phase is that the psychological umbilical cord is still firmly attached. For days after my kids flew the nest, I'll admit I wandered around their bedrooms, touching old toys and storybooks, feeling totally bereft. The silence roared at me. But this ennui began to evaporate as I realised the redecoration potential. Would I turn their old bedrooms into a gym and a study, a craft area or a walk-in-wardrobe …? And that's not the only joy. Imagine this for a moment – you open your cupboard and your clothes are not ransacked. Nor do they reek of beer fumes, bonfire smoke or rave sweat. Your expensive hair conditioner is not tipped over in the shower, dribbling slowly down the drain. You open your fridge and there is food. No lipstick marks on the milk bottle, or empty packets put back into the pantry. Plus there is nobody standing before that full pantry moaning 'there's nothing to eat in this house'. In fact, you can now hang up your cooking apron. Nesting mothers roast whole schools of salmon and flocks of lambs; now you can just wear your finger to the bone ordering take away. Your hairdryer is where you left it. As is your phone charger and TV remote. Your purse is full. Your car is where you parked it, and actually contains petrol. When you leave your pristine house for work in the morning, you do not come home to find a flotsam and jetsam of dropped wet towels, apple cores, bike helmets and random teenage school friends crashed out on your couch. Best of all, you can now have sex loudly. So as not to 'give the ick' to embarrassed offspring, parents are forced to endure muffled sotto voce nooky, limiting expressions of enthusiasm to the odd strangled, asthmatic gasp. Well, now you can give full vocal vent to your joy. Michelle doesn't need therapy; she needs to have sex in every room of her empty house – in the kitchen, on the landing, atop the washing machine. She and Barack need to run around the house naked. Yodelling. With antlers on their heads. When the Obama girls move out, yes, their empty bedrooms will yawn at Michelle. She won't be able to walk past without a shiver of sadness and the odd sob. But rest assured, just when an empty nester is beginning to ponder colour charts, one kid will ring to say he's popping home for the weekend for 'some pampering', and the other is planning on coming back to stay a few days later to do laundry and 'pick up a few things'. Another bit of advice for Michelle – in the case of missing linen, postage stamps and vintage wine bottles, a parent has the right to search and seizure. So, if you're a new empty nester, do not feel despondent about this next phase. You've hatched and dispatched. Give yourself a parenting medal, and now go make proper use of the kitchen counter. Kathy Lette is a comedy writer and novelist. Her latest book is The Revenge Club
Times
09-05-2025
- Health
- Times
I'm with Michelle Obama, an empty nest could break me
The news that Michelle Obama has gone into therapy since her daughters left home to help her cope with being an 'empty nester' has been treated with unfair derision in the British media. Yes, sure, she could have kept it to herself. And, of course, we don't really like the idea of 'therapy' in this country. We prefer to stiffen the upper lip and keep buggering on until the weight of our collective mental unwellness bows the very legs of the NHS and drives millions out of the workforce. But the cries from below the line of 'narcissistic overload!' and 'you'd think no one had ever had children before!' along with a general dismissal of therapy as 'Yankee woo-woo' and repeated pleas to 'contrast with
