History, Philanthropy and Family

21:56Right. Pick the right period appropriate paint colors and things like that. We refinished the floors. We didn't want to spend a lot of money. Yeah. But we wanted to make this place look as good as it could. And it turned out. For the phase one. Because right now it's phase one. We are a venue site. So we're. And we have been renting like hotcakes, you know, for. As you mentioned. I'm so excited about that. But we have. You know, it's 13 ,000 square feet. I couldn't believe that. It's the third oldest building in Washington, D.C. I just saw. What is it? 1741? 1796. 1796, yeah. All the founding, the floor that we are eating on right now, George Washington walked on this floor, Thomas Jefferson.

22:29For the record, I'm not eating on the floor. Just be listeners out there. None of us are eating on the floor. We're in a beautiful table with a tablecloth. I have to correct Kristen. But the truth is there's so much history here. After the second president of the United States, John Adams, was elected, the White House wasn't built yet. It was in construction. And he came down to see how the construction was going. and as the story goes, he needed to have meetings and dinners and whatever he would be doing, right? And so he used the city tavern for that because it was the closest thing. So he was checking in.

23:01He was staying in Alexandria. He didn't spend the night here, but he was staying in Old Town. He was checking on the White House and he was conducting business and having meetings and dinners here at the city tavern. And George Washington was the president of the bank next door, which was the Bank of Washington. Oh, my God. And he was spending time in here. And so you have these founding fathers that were really using this place in 1796, 97, 98. And that history has just continued throughout the 230 years. And we also have the long room that's upstairs. They call it the long room because it was the biggest room in Washington, D.C., in the whole area until the White House was completed.

23:33Oh, my gosh. So there's, I mean, we could, you know, talk for hours about all the important, because at that time there weren't corporate headquarters. So I believe when they were building the C &O Canal, they would meet here. I mean, businesses, this was the center of commercial, civic, and government. And then it was many different uses after that. From when it started in 1796, it was a boarding house. It was, you know, when they were going to demolish the building in 1959. Why? Well, the last tenant was a print shop. And so there's old photographs of a print shop was here. It was a hardware store at one point.

24:08Oh, it was in such a skip-diss repair. It had all different uses, but this was being used as a print shop. and the back part of the building was a courtyard because back in the early days, this was one of the stops on the stagecoach line from Philadelphia to Richmond. The stagecoaches would stop here, change out the horses, fix the tires, whatever you're doing. Or the court was very active so they would bring in things through the court. Yeah, that's where the stagecoaches would set up. And at the time, in 1959, the print shop, whoever owned it, said it would be best served as a parking lot. So that was the highest and best use back then.

24:40Demolish the building, Let's put it in a parking lot. And so a group of Georgetown residents banded together. It was started by women, by the way, Georgetown women. Yep, a group of leaders of Georgetown. That's interesting. And they banded together to purchase the building. And they purchased the building from the owner at the time. They saved it from being demolished in a parking lot. They took the courtyard and they did an addition on the back, which is the basement kitchen, the first floor ballroom, and the second floor restaurant. And they created the City Tavern Club in 1960. So that's when the club started.

25:12And there's many articles about the renovation they did. It was really heralded as one of the most, you know, premier examples of a historic restoration renovation project. Because the first and second floors were used over the years. They had lost so many of the original details, but they were able to find some crown molding or some of the details around the door in some of the other areas and sort of piecemeal it back together. and actually when we were cleaning this place out we found like a little treasure trove like in the boiler room it was like a little time capsule and it was the little pieces of artifacts of the things that they were able to save to kind of base when they were doing the renovation like what what like what did you find well we found one thing we found so as people were like let's clear it out and track it and i'm going through everywhere i'm like have we checked the whole boiler room now let's go behind let's go everywhere right like forensically let's go through here We find this metal chest, and it's been sitting under a stack of other things, right?

26:12Equipment, things like that. It's metal chests. Who knows how long? Yeah, decades. And we open this chest up, and it's full of silver. It's got all these old pieces of silver. You're kidding.

26:21Shelley:Candlesticks. Did you feel like you found treasure? We sort of did. We sort of did. We did. That's so cool. And then another time, our manager here, Brian, was looking around in the boiler area, and he pulls out these old pieces of millwork, and they were original. And he's like, look what I found here. And it's all labeled, you know, and it was what the architect used to kind of reconstruct. But no one in all those years had thought, you know, people were just running the club. It was doing well at the time. And why go clean out an old part of the area? And it gave us an opportunity to do that and really discover things that had been kind of hidden.

26:54Well, you had to get the silver, not the millwork. But who were the women?

26:57Shelley:Do you know? We don't know the women specifically. It wasn't like Helen Graham. There's a plaque in the front. There's a plaque in the front. And so it was the, and at the time you couldn't even see the federal, the brick of the building. It was all covered over by layers of commercial. They probably put on stucco or whatever they were doing in signage. So once they peeled that back, they saw this unbelievable example of a federal period building. Literally the hands that laid the bricks of this building fought in the Revolutionary War, you know, and that is something. And it's in pristine condition.

27:28Yes. And it's in pristine condition. Really, if you look at the outside of the building, it's so beautiful. I know. And we're the last remaining federal period tavern that's left. And the third oldest building.

27:39Shelley:I should know this, but what is the sign of the Indian? Or what is the significance of it? It's the only way anybody can find it. I know, I know. Did you guys, there are people here who are having lunch with the two Georgetown students as well, Allie and Sally. You guys walked by here a thousand times and you never even knew to open the door, right? No. Right? It's so crazy. The whole building is very inconspicuous. You walk by, you see a green door there, a set of doors. It just says private on the door. You see this sign above that says sign of the Indian. But nobody's ever looking up. You know what I mean?

28:12Shelley:No one's ever looking up. It says City Tavern. It's just very, very low-key and inconspicuous. And I think that's what they wanted. And, you know, walking by, you would never know because you're next to all these big stores. Right. And it's just the quiet townhouse. It's like this beautiful little preserved piece of history amongst all of these commercial spaces. But why the Indian? That's what I'm asking. Well, so apparently, again, as the story goes, when you're reading up in the history and what we found in the files, was that there was a moment when this place was called Sign of the Indian King.

28:44It had different names throughout it. Oh, okay. So at one point, that was the name of it. And the reason it was called Sign of the Indian King, I believe, was that this group of Indians had helped the Americans fight in the Revolutionary War. and so they were kind of paying tribute to them as their and the French Indian War as well so at that time in that time in history this place was named that because of what they did it's an homage to them

29:13Shelley:and after literally the thousands of times that I've been here I always knew that there was an Indian but I never actually realized it said sign of the Indian king I just was like oh and that was one of its identities You know, the place has so many identities. Through the centuries, it's had many names. This building has had many names. What a treasure. I'm so, so happy to be here, and I'm so excited for you guys. So, I mean, I could talk about this forever, but we have other stuff. So what are the plans, and when can I join, and when can people join? Well, yeah, so the plans, like I told the board when I was trying to purchase the place, is to turn it back to its old glory and turn it into one of the finest clubs in Washington, D.C.

29:54And by the way, I give the board a lot of credit because they could have probably sold this building for a lot, even more than what they sold it to us for, maybe two or three times.

30:05Shelley:But everybody cares. But what they really cared the most about was the next chapter and finding the best stewards for the building. And I give the board that made the decision, I'm so grateful to them that they trusted and believed in us to be good stewards of the building as well. Yeah. That's very Georgetown-y, don't you think? People really care. We've spent 15 years building a reputation of not only doing beautiful work, but also giving back to the community. We are part of the community. So I think our reputations in many ways preceded us as people who would be good stewards. Yeah. I mean, I love biking through Georgetown with my children back when it was COVID.

30:41And I had my little three-year-old on the back of my bike and the kids. And I'd be like, Daddy did that house. Daddy redid that house. It's like the dentist of Georgetown fixing all the bad teeth, right? Yeah, right. So I've just enjoyed, since I started doing this, being able to look at these houses that were, you know, dilapidated, sometimes decaying properties and breathe new life. And then also bring new residents into Georgetown that move here and really are great. It's really like laying down a legacy, really. So this was another chance to do that on a larger scale. And again, my point being, the intention is to bring this back to a club.

31:16So it always was a club since 1960. I know. And it always will be a club and we'll return it back to that. And Reagan had his inaugural lunch here in 81. Lyndon Johnson's daughter's rehearsal dinner, Linda, to Chuck Robb, the future senator and governor, was held here. So this was at one point. Some very, very important events occurred here. And it wants to be a club. It's the way it's set up. Exactly. So we want to turn it back into a club. Right now we're in kind of the planning phases. Okay. And so we're hopeful that sometime in 26 or 27 we start to do the development to bring it back up. You know, the kitchen needs work.

31:51The elevators need work. The furnishings, you know, need to be updated and stuff. But to turn it back into a, you know, beautiful members club, sort of like the clubs you find, like in London that have been around so much longer than we have. That you find some of those beautiful social clubs. That's what we're looking to do. We're going to do a concept that is not in this city and maybe not even in this country, right? Like we want to do something that's really special, unique, bespoke. Sort of European. And it would have a beautiful restaurant. This place would be a beautiful grill. The most incredible food.

32:21Yeah, you get a great burger here. You get a great ribeye here, like sort of the Polo Bar up in New York. And then upstairs, a Mediterranean restaurant. And again, the uses are similar to the way the club was used before. And lots of incredible events and bringing in different brands to sponsor and do events. I could see events and private dining and that being a very big piece of the future club. I can't wait. Yeah, the club landscape is really coming back. You're listening to Lunch with Shelly.

32:50Shelley:Tell me all about the Third Line Project. Okay, well, I think it was, I was going to say, excuse me, because you had said something about D.C. getting there. And you had mentioned something, you guys are doing something new that D.C. doesn't have. And when you and I spoke briefly, you had said also that what you're about to do with the Third Line Project is also something that Washington doesn't have, which is this whole mental wellness health holistic wellness yes i mean i think it's really there's again dc we're ready we're so primed and ready to have that you shouldn't have to travel to new york or to miami or to tampa or to la or arizona or wherever it is you shouldn't have to travel to be able to attend events or retreats or have experiences that are focused on holistic wellness and integrative health and that's something that i've been passionate about in my own journey as for my own health as I became a mom of three children just really starting even starting you know 15 years ago learning about reading labels and the chemicals that were in the food that now it's become a lot more mainstream in the news you know with the latest selection in RFK whether you love them or hate them I think we can all agree that we don't want to have poisonous chemicals in our food right and so uh that kind of started me on this this journey I'm a real seeker and a searcher, and I'm a huge share.

34:11I'm like the opposite of a gatekeeper. If I find something I love, I want to share it with other people. And, you know, for the past 15 years, excuse me, for the past 15 years, I've been involved with, you know, helping the National Portrait Gallery or National Museum of Women in the Arts or various charities or even coming up with my own events around the causes that are important to me that I just don't see other people doing so I chaired um excuse me I hosted and produced the fashion reimagined movie premiere in partnership with the motion picture association which was like a huge and undertaking an event I did that with my friend Maya and we we brought this movie here and it really opened my eyes a lot to how clothes in this fast fashion mindset impact the environment I we're all kind of plugged in in a way into this machine of the fashion where they're constantly coming out with the new trends and we're constantly buying.

35:07But what is the impact on the globe for that? You know, the third largest producer of carbon is not a country. It's the fashion industry. It's right after China and the United States. Are you kidding? How did I not know that? Yes, it's the third. Well, if you watch the movie, Fashion Reimagined, this documentary, it will really, it's a beautiful film. It's told beautifully and it really opens your eyes to the impact of every piece that goes into making the article of clothing. If you're buying a t-shirt for$20, it's probably you would not believe the carbon footprint it probably laid out because of this cheap fast fashion kind of machine that the industry uses.

35:47So that started kind of my first real big event that I kind of dreamed up and did and did on my own. And it gave me a lot of confidence. And then this past spring, I always thought White House Correspondence is this unbelievable platform to really have an event based on integrative health or holistic wellness. And no one's really doing it. There's lots of events and there's lots of buzz all around White House Correspondence. But I really wanted to see something that was substantive That was something that could speak to all of the media and the celebrities And we have the world's attention on DC And why are we not capitalizing on that And I had this dream to do an event around the mind-body-gut connection to disease and prevention And then we own this venue site So it's like, here I am I have this venue where I can start Which is such a big piece of putting something together Not just any venue, but like the best venue.

36:41Right. With so much flexibility and multiple layers, multiple levels with ballrooms. So I had this dream and I brought it together in six weeks. I partnered with Vital Voices with the ADDF, which I am on the board of. I really want to talk to you about that too.

36:56Shelley:Yeah. Yeah, I'd love to. And then the Estee Lauder company. So they came on as my event partnerships, partners. And then I brought in these amazing brand sponsors. And we did a panel and a lunch around longevity and the brain-gut connection to disease and prevention. And I had people from the administration there, congressional leaders, business leaders, health and wellness influencers and doctors. And it was the most incredible thing. And the response that everyone had to this was, I wish you would have been there. But there's going to be more. And there's going to be a round two of that this year at White House Correspondents.

37:32But that really gave me the idea, the bravery, and I will say Leonard Lauder, a few weeks before he passed away, he was the loveliest man in the world. The fact that he would even take a minute to pay me attention as someone who had just come on in the board. I was able to have lunch with him at his house in a small group and a dinner. And he was just one of the most inspiring people I've ever met, and I barely got to be around him. That's incredible. And he sent me a note after the ascension saying how proud he was of me for doing that event. And he says the advice that he always gives everyone is to launch strong and stay strong.

38:10And that I have already mastered the first part, which was launching strong, but a reminder that I should stay strong, meaning like keep going. Don't keep take this momentum and keep going forward with it. And getting that was really inspiring to me because I've been kind of playing around always like, why don't I formalize what I'm already doing for others or kind of doing on my own? and really form a company that can create and curate events, experiences, and conversations around integrative health, holistic wellness, sustainable fashion, green beauty, whatever it is that contributes to creating wholeness.

38:43And that's really where I got the name for the third line because you can have two lines. They can be parallel or they can intersect, but you really can't form a whole shape without the third line. Oh, thank you. That's so interesting. So the company, it's also, you know, in reference to the mind, body and spirit of the triangle. But it really is about creating. It's it's limitless. Right. The content that of the events or experiences that I could be putting on, because it's really about connection. It's what I realized is that everyone comes to D.C. for power and influence. But what they really are starved for, what they really want is authentic connection.

39:18Yeah. And they want access to these healing modalities or exposure. And we all we all get it on our Instagram feed. Right. And what I'm doing is cutting through the noise and really curating the best speakers, the best practitioners when I do my retreats and creating these, whether it's a retreat or a scientific summit or something even bigger. What my goal is is to provide for whoever comes to my events to walk away better for it.

39:45Shelley:So, I mean, is there something that I could go to soon? Like, how is this manifesting? Yes. Well, so I'm working on right now a Finding Your Third Line wellness series. Okay. So there'll be various dates coming out and being announced. I believe my first one, next one, will be November 2nd. I've already done some partnerships with an amazing practitioner, Jaya Mara, from Blackberry Mountain. We did an event in September around the fall solstice, and we're going to do another one again in winter on December 21st for the winter solstice. Cool. But in the meantime, I am starting this, these mini retreat wellness series where people can come in and you're going to feel like you were at the golden door or Blackberry mountain.

40:23And through that four hour experience, you're really going to leave feeling refreshed and have your nervous system reset through the different modalities. We do like an intentional kind of ceremonial writing, journaling kind of get clear part. Then there's always going to be a somatic movement piece, which helps open up the channels, helps get your body, get the energy flowing because everything is energy. Yeah, right. Truly and then we end with A breath work and Sound bath experience And sound baths are my new Favorite obsession because that For me is like it's like meditating For dummies you know you cannot And it's called a journey because you go with it

40:58Shelley:You're so right because I'm a terrible meditator And I really wish I was better But my husband and I also went to The mountain Blackberry mountain And he did a sound bath Well you might have done it with the person I partner with When she comes to DC I think it was a guy with a man bun. Okay. Yeah, no, no, he's there too. He's there as well. They're usually good man bun practitioners. You're listening to Lunt with Shelly. My grandmother had Alzheimer's, and I think she passed when she was 65, or something heartbreaking, in her 60s. And I was actually in college at the time, but she's my mother's mother, and I loved her.

41:40Shelley:And it was so heartbreaking, A, because she had Alzheimer's, and B, because her body was fabulous. And her mind left. And so her body kept going, and they kept resuscitating her, and she was so fit. Anyway, it's a terrible, terrible story. So when I saw that you had been so involved in this foundation, I really wanted to talk to you about it. Because it's so scary, and I guess, actually, self-servingly. So is it true, I keep telling my mother My mother is terribly worried about getting dementia She's, I can't even tell you how old she is Because she might listen But do you think Or have you found that Alzheimer's Skips a generation Or are we all at risk?

42:27So I'm not, you know Obviously I'm not a doctor And I don't have a medical background But what I can share with you is what my impression is Is that there are so many factors I believe genetics are maybe Let's say I'm throwing this out there, don't quote me, but it might be around 40%. But lifestyle has a huge impact on whether it's expressed or not. You can have the genetic predisposition and never develop it. You cannot have a specific gene and still develop it. I think they're still really working on figuring out exactly what are all the different pieces that come into drugs. Hold on a second.

43:03I'm getting a call from Johnson & Johnson to fact check this right now. We're going to have to take a commercial break because some executives are calling us a couple fact checks here. Kristen's board certified at what now? I'm not. I'm not a medical professional. I'm taking it to heart. Go ahead. But what I will say is when I first attended the first Great Ladies Luncheon here, that's the ADDF's big deal in the spring. It started by Elise Lefkowitz, and she started it for her mother who passed away from Alzheimer's. And I work really closely with her and with her daughter, Charlie, now taking it to the next generation.

43:38And when I started attending these events, actually all roads lead back to Tom Pheasant because actually I came as his guest because he's very involved because he also lost his mother to Alzheimer's. And when I would go to the scientific discoveries, they were just talking about what could we do. They were talking about eat a Mediterranean diet, exercise, kind of talking about those healthy markers of lifestyle things that you could do. But there was really not a lot of drugs yet that were in play. Now, and they've got all these biomarkers. They've got all this testing that's starting to come out, which really that's the first layer.

44:13How do you develop drugs to treat Alzheimer's? But first you have to be able to diagnose the people. And also you want to try and catch them before they're super far progressed, maybe even before they're symptomatic. So they have all these biomarkers and testings and things that they've been using. It's an accelerator. It's like an incubating, accelerating foundation where they go and invest in different companies or doctors who are developing these drugs or therapies or testing and they invest in them. And so what's really exciting is not only that they're able to diagnose things a lot sooner, there's blood tests.

44:48I know there's been talk of even eye tests that might be coming out that they'll be able to tell it through your eye. It could be part of your eye examination. And then there's actually therapies That you can start and drug trials That you can start that can really help slow Or prevent or Buy you more time I really think that where we saw heart disease Used to die from heart disease Then with the development of statins Heart disease is something you die with Not because of Then we've seen all the latest breakthroughs with cancer So now cancer used to be something It's like a death sentence Now it's becoming a more chronic manageable disease There's therapies And I really believe and they believe at the ADDF that this is what's next for for all of the neurological diseases, Alzheimer's and dementia.

45:32So I think there's a lot of hope on the horizon because of foundations like the ADDF who are putting the money into the right people. And it's almost like in an open sourcing way, you know, where they're collaborating with lots of different people to bring about these therapies and treatments. And I think that there's a lot of hope for us. I would do. Was it your mom or who was it? So my grandmother had dementia and Alzheimer's, and I was very close to her. It was my mom's mom, and she was a huge part of my life. And actually it became a huge part of John's because we would drive up there when our kids were little almost every weekend that I could to spend time with her.

46:10And my grandfather was the caretaker because that's the real story of Alzheimer's. It's what they steal from us. John's mom also is afflicted with Alzheimer's and a form of dementia. and we talk about it all the time because she's now had the disease for 15 years and that's since she was diagnosed and she is so healthy otherwise and it's really it robbed my father-in-law of his golden years with his wife where they were supposed to travel um it's robbed my children of a grandmother it's robbed my husband of a mom of me of a mother-in-law that i know would be a huge part of my life and she's literally perfectly healthy except for what she has going on in her brain and it's just such a devastating disease and what it steals from families and the stress of caretaking and all of the dimensions that go around that it's just, I mean I could start crying now it's still something that affects us every day with John's mom and so I'm really very passionate about sparing my kids what we've gone through with my grandmother and with his mom I really think there's a lot of hope And I remember back when hearing like Ronald Reagan had Alzheimer's and I thought it was a foreign thing.

47:23You know, you didn't, it wasn't that talked about so much and so common. And now in real estate development, you hear about all these retirement communities that have the memory care. And memory care is such a hot button because so much of society is having this happen. And so every, it's an eventuality. Absolutely. Every retirement community you're going to see is having a memory care wing. Right. And so it has to be addressed because it's only growing. And one of the best tips from my Ascension Summit, I had an incredible doctor, Dr. Phyllis Farrell. She's also on the board of the ADDF, and she was with Eli Lilly, and she is the brain health expert doctor.

47:59And at the White House Correspondents event that I did, her big takeaway was at 50, every single person should be demanding a brain cognitive function test for their brains. And I don't think a lot of doctors just offer them up. I've never heard that. Well, you should. Every single person starting at age 50 when you do your wellness visit should ask for a cognitive function test. For no other reason, you can also get a baseline. And I actually had someone share with me that came to my event that went for her checkup, and the doctor did not ask her if she wanted one. She asked for one, and she failed it.

48:33Probably she had been having some thoughts to herself if she wanted to go ahead and actively. And now she's pursuing treatment. And if she hadn't come to my event, she wouldn't have heard that advice and she wouldn't be on the course of where she might be able to slow down or, you know, I'm not familiar with that one. Just for that one person, what you did was. Yes. And I put that together in six weeks. I did not sleep or eat or, you know, think for six weeks. All I did was pull that event together. So last minute. But I always said if I helped one person walk away, then it was worth it.

49:04Shelley:And she reached out to you. Yep. She followed up. I didn't even know her very well. She came as a, like, found out from a guest of a guest. And I haven't heard from her since. But she just wrote me and said thank you because of what I learned at this from Dr. Farrell. She went and got her cognitive function test. Shelley, I have a copy of that test if you want it before you go. I know. I'm just thinking. I'm selling the copy. I have such a weekend of debauchery ahead of me. And you're making me rethink that. Speaking of lifestyle, actually, I'm an enormous italophile. And my parents have been going to Capri and Rome and all of, well, actually just Rome and Capri, but I love Italy so much.

49:41Shelley:I know you're Italian. I know, I apologize. I understand your uncle passed away while Kristen and I were talking during August. And he lived in Italy. He was in Milan. Oh, in Milan. Okay, I like Milan. My dad was from Milan and him and his brother grew up there. So that's what I was going to say. So is Milan your place? Well, it's kind of like the New York of Italy, right? It's where all the business happens. And all the other towns in Italy are where the fun happens and the tourism happens. And so we go there because we've always had family there. My grandmother lived there and my uncle lived there.

50:15And so that would always be our first stop. His uncle was a priest for 64 years. I know, you told me. Yeah, but we love to travel all over Italy. So with the children, we've taken them to Capri. We've taken them to Rome. We've taken them, you know, to the Amalfi Coast and all those areas. So certainly we've not stopped in Lake Como. We did. Actually, we've driven through there with the kids there. Yeah, it's always a stop. On our way, my great-grandfather had a house in the Alps. And so we would go up there and visit. Oh, you'd take the boat over. Yeah. So, you know, Milan's always a stop because that's where the family is.

50:51That was really where my uncle and my grandmother would be. But then we would travel to the other parts of Italy that are, you know, again, more fun, more leisure, more touristy places to enjoy. But we truly love Italy, and we would try and go every summer. When the kids were little, every summer, Kristen and I would make a point to take a trip to Italy to both see my uncle and to show the kids. That's so nice. I think a cool fun fact about John and our family. So John's real name is just, not real name, his first name is just separate. And so in John's family tree, going back, I'm not kidding you, until probably around the time that this was being built, They have this like handwritten family tree and every Giuseppe has an Antonio and every Antonio has a Giuseppe.

51:33So in Italian culture, they alternate the names. And so John's dad was Giuseppe. John's oldest brother is Antonio who had all girls. And then you have kind of like an heir and a spare. And so there was a Giuseppe. John is the youngest of the four boys. And so when I was pregnant, I knew that if I had a boy, I was going to have to name him Antonio or I would be the reason that this tradition was stopping after hundreds of years. So no pressure. But also I love the name Antonio. It's a beautiful name. It is a beautiful name. So is Giuseppe. My kids are Antonio, Valentina, and Giuseppe. I'm always like, do you think I married an Italian guy?

52:11So how do you guys unwind? Sound bass. Are you a golfer? Sound bass at the third time. I'm not a golfer. Are you a biker? I play here and there. I love mountain biking. So I think our biggest way to unwind is really on vacations with the kids. When the kids are off school for Thanksgiving, for spring break, for Christmas or for the summer break, we love to take vacations with the kids. And we'll go do adventures and we'll go ziplining or we'll go mountain biking or whitewater rafting or whatever we put together. But I think that's one of our biggest things to do as a family. And I think day-to-day unwinding.

52:45I'm working on it with John. Like, I want him to build more of a self. Like, John is, like, one of my main targets because he is someone who doesn't practice a lot of self-care. He's super busy. He's – I did the sound bath the other day. He did. Did you like it? I got a great sleep score that week. So it really works. It resents your nervous system. It was really great. It's science. It really works. And so hopefully he's going to be doing a lot more sound baths. And I think also, like, just getting out into nature for me, walking the dogs. Me, that's one of my favorites. When you live up against Glover Ultra Bowl Park.

53:18Right. And so you can just take the trail there and go as long as you want. I think the best way to ground yourself, like I try to walk barefoot, right? You know, grounding is a serious thing. I actually bought us both the grounding mats that sit in our car. So you basically put the mat, you sit on it, and you just attach the little cord to something metal in your car. Because we all build up these electromagnetic static as we're walking around. And we're not, usually our feet aren't touching the ground or the grass. Right. And so it's a way to sort of like cheat the system. I'm not 100 % sure if it works all the time, but I was like, you know what?

53:50It doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt. I'll sit on this mat in my car and maybe it's, you know, helping us discharge some of that. So I think like hitting it in every way that you can.

53:59Shelley:So you are like me. So you walk in nature, you bike, but you don't, and you sound bath now. Well, I sound bath. I've done it once or twice. So I wouldn't say sound bath. I start doing them all the time. But, you know, I enjoy biking a lot when I can. But to tell you the truth, I've got a hectic, busy day, and it's always running from one place to the other. So there isn't a ton of time. I have to say, to tell you the truth, I don't have a ton of... What, do you like to watch movies? Yeah, I was going to say, that's your guilty pleasure unwinding thing, what you like to do at night. It's like he loves to watch a show.

54:28Yeah, me too. Watch a show, or I'll be on, you know, honestly, I'll be researching properties. I enjoy that. I enjoy looking at things. Here with the club, I enjoy researching what we're going to do next. So a lot of it has me, you know, entertained. It's not work when you're enjoying it. Right. And so doing these houses, I'm looking for new houses to do. I'm thinking about the houses that we are doing. A lot of that takes up my time where it's not actual work, but I'm just kind of daydreaming. A lot of daydreaming of like what I'm going to do next. He's a big daydreamer. Yeah.

54:58Shelley:So my favorite question, because we are a lunch podcast, is if you both, well, I'm going to ask you separately and you can answer however you want. But if you were going to have lunch anywhere in the world, where would it be and what would you be having? For me, it's not that difficult. I would be in the Mediterranean having a lunch. So I'd be having what we're doing now, but I would be somewhere in south of France or the Amalfi Coast. And I feel like the most fun there is you do these big long lunches and there's rosé involved and there's pasta and different things and, you know, bronzino and stuff like that.

55:33So I think my favorite place would be in the summertime, Amalfi Coast, south of France, a beautiful lunch.

55:39Shelley:And grilled fish, pasta, grilled vegetables. Yes, yes, yes. Yeah, me too. All of it. How about you? So I was glad you asked him first because I was like, okay, thank Kristen. And a couple different ideas came up for me. But I would say one of my favorite places I've ever been is Alaska. I really have just such a connection to the place. It kind of reminds me of Hawaii or we went to Bali for our honeymoon. It's like you go to these places where they feel sacred and you just. So I think my favorite, like if I could do and if I could move us anywhere, I think we'd be on a boat, a beautiful boat somewhere in Alaska with humpback whales jumping in the background and otters swimming.

56:20And we would be eating like a delicious piece of salmon that was just caught that morning and have bald eagles soaring above our heads. That's super good. I'm watching glaciers count into the ocean. Oh my God.

56:33Shelley:Yours, John, was really perfect and just like mine. But Kristen, yours is very extraordinary. You guys, it is so nice to have lunch with you. Thank you for hosting us at the fantastic City Tavern Club. It is so great to be here. And I am enthralled with so many things that you guys have talked about. I know I'm going to be thinking about this lunch for days after. everyone I hope you really enjoyed listening to this episode check out other episodes at www.lunchwithshelly.com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts and in the meantime and as always peace love and lunch