Living on the Virg Podcast

You raise your children to build lives of their own—and then discover you’re still learning how your own life fits intothe family they’re building.This week, I’m talking about changing holiday traditions and the monthly Sunday family breakfasts that are giving usa simple way to stay connected. A full house is wonderful, but smaller gatherings have their own kind of closeness.Then it’s Travel on the Virg: Ben and I revisit Santa Anita Park and Clearman’s North Woods Inn in San Gabriel tocelebrate 30 years since we got engaged. There’s a cigar mishap from the original day, a personalized crossword, ananniversary dessert, and a piano player’s kindness that I still remember from my earliest days as a mom.We finish with Reality on the Virg and my 90 Day: The Last Resort tell-all wrap-up—including the Rebecca and Ziedconversation and my promised verdict on Ross Mathews as host.What new tradition is becoming special in your family? Listen, share this episode with someone navigating achanging family, and follow Living on the Virg wherever you listen or watch.#LivingOnTheVirg #FamilyTraditions #90DayFiance

A grandbaby sleepover, a beach stop, a wine-country getaway—and a few changes that made the trip even better. I’m takingyou from Nana’s house to Pismo Beach and Paso Robles, where a local recommendation and some new friends opened thedoor to experiences we hadn’t planned.We’re talking Cypress Beach House, dinner at Catch and The Hatch, and my honest takes on Eberle, Opolo and Torrin.There’s a standout Zinfandel, a favorite Syrah, and a cocktail I want to recreate at home. Then it’s Reality on the Virg with thefirst two episodes of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City: Mary’s moving scenes, changing relationships, and what it takesto move forward after an apology.Have you ever changed your travel plans and ended up with a better trip? And what stayed with you from Salt Lake City’s firsttwo episodes?Content note: The RHOSLC conversation includes bereavement and discussion of substance use.Follow Living on the Virg wherever you listen, and share this episode with a friend who enjoys travel, wine and Housewivesconversation.#LivingOnTheVirg #PasoRobles #PismoBeach #WineTasting #RHOSLC

A girls’ getaway should come with a few good stories. Four nights on Quantum of the Seas with Susangave Virginia a dinner she loved, some food she didn’t, lovely new company—and a bedtime momentshe and her bestie will be laughing about for years.Life on the Virg starts with a quiet Sunday, a good experience taking the dogs to Animal Friends of theValleys, the TWBC women’s blanket collection, and a simple way Virginia is making room to breathe:putting no-booking days on the calendar before the month fills itself.Travel on the Virg heads to Catalina and Ensenada. Virginia shares quiet afternoons at Vintages, themain-dining disappointments, a standout Chef’s Table evening, a tequila-and-cooking outing, afinger-painted souvenir, and the eye-mask mix-up that turned a conversation about the five sensesinto a very funny bedtime story. There’s also a stop at Claro’s on the way home—and an honestanswer to whether she’d sail Quantum again.Then Reality on the Virg catches up with The Real Housewives of Orange County. The women splitbetween Los Olivos and La Quinta, Gina puts Heather on the spot, Jenn keeps winning Virginia over,and Vicki’s getaway takes a turn. Virginia has thoughts about the women, the friendships, and an editthat sometimes leaves her wondering what happened in between.Is Jenn winning you over, too? And if you’ve sailed on Quantum, what should Virginia try next time?Come along for Life, Travel, Reality, Food and whatever else comes with Living on the Virg.#Bravo #GirlsTrip#LivingOnTheVirg #QuantumOfTheSeas #RoyalCaribbean #CruiseStories #RHOC #RealHousewivesHELPFUL LINKSAnimal Friends of the Valleys: https://www.afv.org/Quantum of the Seas: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/quantum-of-the-seas/Carry-on beverage policy: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/food-drink-onboard-policyTRAVEL NOTE-Royal Caribbean currently permits up to 12 standard 17-ounce cans, bottles or cartons of nonalcoholicbeverages per stateroom in carry-on luggage on boarding day. Check the policy before sailing. CheckAFV’s current service notices and donation needs before visiting.

A technically true answer can still leave someone with the wrong idea. This week, Virginia starts with a missing-leftovers joke and an ATM that somehow took the blame for a human mistake. Then she asks what happens when someone keeps quiet because the truth might change another person’s choice.There are good secrets, too. Virginia talks about surprise celebrations, what she tried to teach her kids about keeping secrets, and why privacy can be honest without inventing a story. She also looks at “ask for forgiveness later,” the difference between a disagreement and repeatedly making someone doubt what happened, and the simple words that can start repairing trust: “I made a mistake.”Where do you draw the line between a loving surprise and a truth withheld to get the answer somebody wanted? Reach out and tell Virginia.At the end, Virginia corrects NeNe Leakes’s name and updates the outcome of the misdemeanor domestic battery charge previously mentioned involving Thaís Ramone.#LivingOnTheVirg #Honesty #Relationships

California officially has a Dolly Parton Day, and September 25 is also Give Like Dolly Day - a fitting way to celebrate Dolly'slegacy of kindness and giving.Virginia starts with Dolly, the Imagination Library and Old Town Temecula's local celebration benefiting Michelle's PlaceCancer Resource Center. Then an ordinary load of laundry leads to an unexpectedly useful Life on the Virg realization:sometimes you do not need to overhaul everything. Sometimes you need fifteen minutes, one finished task and a cleandamn mirror.Winos on the Virg heads back to Wiens Cellars for a TWBC gathering with great wine, Chef Leanne's serious food spreadand a reminder that a familiar place can feel completely different depending on who is sitting around the table.Then Reality on the Virg gets into 90 Day Fiance: The Last Resort Tell All Part 1 and The Real Housewives Ultimate GirlsTrip heading to Atlanta for old-school flashbacks, NeNe Leakes, Phaedra Parks, Lisa Wu and all the history that makesAtlanta iconic.#LivingOnTheVirg #DollyParton #GiveLikeDolly #90DayFiance #TheLastResort #RHUGT #RealHousewives #Bravo#WiensCellars #TemeculaWineCountry

Learning does not stop when school ends—it simply becomes harder to measure. In Episode 155, Virginia reflects on the quieter lessons that arrive without a teacher, diploma, or gold star: noticing a reaction sooner, questioning an old pattern, protecting peace, resting without guilt, and learning to hear her own life beneath everyone else’s expectations. She explores why the same advice cannot fit everyone, how capability can drown out self-awareness, and why growth may look less like becoming someone new and more like uncovering the person who was there all along. The question at the center of the episode is simple: beneath all the noise, what has your own life been trying to tell you?Subscribe for new episodes of Living on the Virg every Tuesday and Friday. #LivingOnTheVirg #PersonalGrowth #SelfAwareness #LifeLessons #AuthenticLiving

Virginia starts with a question she cannot stop thinking about: why do some people move through life at an even, measured pace while her mind turns an ordinary Tuesday into a private race against the clock? From there, she looks at the difference between making a plan and letting the plan run the day—and why being present may matter more than finishing every task.Life lately includes football season, the return of the kids’ sports calendar, Inland Valley weather finally dipping below 100, the joy of being Nana to a new baby, and a gym routine that is becoming less about punishment and more about strength, balance and staying capable for the life she wants to live.Then it is Travel on the Virg: Virginia previews the Paso Robles trip listeners helped shape and an upcoming honest review of her Quantum of the Seas cruise to Catalina and Ensenada. Reality on the Virg brings the RHOC friendship fallout around Heather, Gina and Carmella; Vicki’s 90-day relationship probation; the Dior hat investigation—allegedly; Shannon’s birthday; Jenn and Tamra; and the news that Tracy Tutor and Leah Remini are headed to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 16.The question underneath all of it: is urgency moving life forward, or keeping us from being present in it?Direct linksRoyal Caribbean — Quantum of the Seas: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/quantum-of-the-seasBravo — The Real Housewives of Orange County: https://www.bravotv.com/the-real-housewives-of-orange-countyBravo — The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills: https://www.bravotv.com/the-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills #LivingOnTheVirg #LifeOnTheVirg #TravelOnTheVirg #RealityOnTheVirg #RHOC #RHOBH

Before Virginia understood the lyrics, she understood the feeling. In Episode 153, she traces her earliest relationship with music—from the Spanish lullabies her Nana sang while rubbing her back to family parties where little Virginia performed for change and folded dollar bills.She remembers the record-player consoles that anchored the family living room, the painstaking ritual of learning lyrics one line at a time, and a household filled with Carole King, Motown, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Eydie Gormé and Trío Los Panchos. She also reflects on why “Piel Canela” still brings her Nana back, what “You’ve Got a Friend” taught her about dependable love, and how some songs introduce a feeling years before life supplies its meaning.The story comes full circle through Virginia’s children and grandchildren—especially the unforgettable sight of Cory holding newborn Zeke skin-to-skin while singing the family’s evolving lullaby. Music did more than entertain her. It preserved people, rooms, safety and love, then carried them into another generation.This is the first installment of Music on the Virg, with some future episodes reserved for the equipment Virginia begged for, her brief-but-notable singing career, the songs that saved her, and the era when music, love and hormones collided. #LivingOnTheVirg #MusicOnTheVirg #MusicAndMemory #FamilyStories #SongsThatRaisedMeListener prompt: What song reaches a place in you that conversation cannot—and who lives inside that song?