2025

We kicked off our 2025 in snowy Colorado. My family and I spent the week in Telluride skiing, eating, hot springing, chilling, and watching Wicked. Grateful for the time away and getting to experience a brand new town – an adorable one at that!

I turned 40 a few days later. What a gift it is to age! We then all tuned in to the fires that ravaged LA reminding us that climate change does not care about the size of your house or celebrity status. It's here and we all need to plan and act accordingly. Now, there's a new administration that not only ignores climate change but is set to take a bulldozer to programs that help protect many of the families I work directly with.

Whew. 

The next few years will be a challenge and my work will certainly be needed more than ever. I plan to focus on these community efforts, seek out in-person connections, take adventures with my family, and find small joys every day. One of those joys, will be continuing to use this blog as a creative outlet. (Really hoping to kick my Instagram habit!) With that, here are a few links and internet findings:

+ New to me Mary Oliver poem

+ The perfect and easy-to-make lentil soup

+ The new season of All Creatures Great and Small did not disappoint. We are ready to move to Yorkshire Dales!

+ Low-fi playlist for hi-fi times (playlist creation is one of my favorite small joys!)

+ I've been revisiting Francis Weller and his concept of the long dark. Buckle up, headlights on!

+ Just finished this podcast and WOW. Highly recommend, keep an open mind.

Thanks for reading, friends. Chop wood, carry water, show up for the cause! New mantra for the next four years. 

Sunday Hits + A New Month

I meant to post here all month. The past few weeks were busy and emotion-filled. The election left me feeling disappointed, angry, and confused. How can we all see the world so differently?

Lately, I've been craving books, interviews, and words from north stars like Gregory Boyle, Ada Limon, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Tara Brach, and Nicholas Kristoff. I'm turning to the notion of active hope and have pledged to dig into work and community efforts even more. While I recognize that most everything is out of our control, my plan for the future is to find my role in this collective transition and live with intentionality and purpose. 

Here are a few internet findings that have brought me a sense of peace and belonging:

+ The power of small groups. 

+ Wildflower patches FTW!

+ Appreciated Oliver Burkeman's take on moving forward.

+ My Low Frequency playlist has been on repeat, plus this one with chill, nervous system regulating tunes. 

+ Stress baked these cookies a handful of times. (Cook for 14 minutes)

+ More hope and human connection in divided times.

+ Food as love.

+ Just finished Greg Boyle's new book which was perfectly timed. 

+ On gratitude and being in sacred relationship with life. 

I'll leave you with a few words from the great, Margaret Renkl: So for me, there will be more watchful stillness. More walks in the woods to watch the still heron standing one-legged in the shallows; to watch the still deer, waiting to see if I mean them harm; to watch the stillness of the red-eared sliders, resting on the sunny log, and the stillness of the wood duck, whose stillness is on the surface only; to linger in the stillness of the lake itself, a perfect mirror giving back the sky.

There will be more books and more poetry and more time with friends and more afternoons sitting on a bench and watching the leaves fall. I will be fighting with all that I am, but I will also be reminding myself again and again not to wait for the world to give me a reason to sigh with relief. I will give myself respite. I will remember not to keep waiting for sweetness and rest to arrive on their own.

Sunday Hits

 

Friends of the Library sale book haul!

+ Current podcast obsession.

+ On a major Rising Appalachia kick after seeing them perform in Marshall, NC!

+ Must watch on Netflix!

+ You better believe I preordered this book. 

+ For a chuckle.

+ Tis the season.

+ Words to live by.

Getting In the Mud with People

 

My love for Western North Carolina runs deep. I spent a lot of time there in college, seeing shows, wandering the aisles of health food stores, buying life altering books, and hiking beautiful trails in the Blue Ridge Mountains. To this day, I always feel like my most authentic self in Asheville. 

After the hurricane hit, a friend and I decided to take a last minute trip to lend a helping hand with whatever was needed. We ended up in Asheville, Burnsville, and Marshall where we rescued plants, picked up and dropped off supplies, and mucked out insane amounts of mud from a church and restaurant. It was a sobering and meaningful three days. Hoping to get back there again as these communities repair and rebuild.

If you're looking for ways to help from afar, I recommend supporting ROAR, Beloved Asheville, and the Nanostead.  

Backlog of Hits

 

Elk Lake Lodge

Our summer ended around mid-August after a fantastic trip to Vermont and upstate New York. We've been back to school for 2 weeks now! It feels like the longest shortest time. 

I've missed posting links and findings on here. Now that it's September, I'm hoping to get back on here with more regularity. 

Now for the hits:

+ Loved everything about this and how we show up for our friends.

+ New favorite enewsletter.

+ Much needed poem during these fast, frantic times.

+ LOL

+ Just finished this book which has taken me down quite a rabbit hole. Currently watching Ken Burns' 18 hour documentary on Vietnam. 

+ Speaking of war, I'm tearing through this intense podcast. Incredible reporting.

+ On repeat.

+ Next read. Just put this one on hold. 

+ Excited for this new show. 

Sunday Hits

The Rivanna River's still beautiful despite being SO low

+ Put a giant zucchini to good use! Delish, easy, and a big hit in our house.

+ Much needed dharma talk on living life from the heart. 

+ Plum Village is now most definitely on my travel bucket list!

+ Fantastic ep on everyday enlightenment. Adding her new book to my queue. 

+ One more podcast rec with the great Katy Bowman. A good one to listen to while on a walk. 

+ Against micro-tasking. 

+ This book should be required reading as a parent or caregiver. 

+ Yay, new Gillian Welch!

+ It does feel so good to lie down on the floor. 

Wednesday Hits

 

My first Tigers Blood, yum!

+ Loved this film! It was like a 2 hour meditation. Slow yet captivating.

+ Great recipe ideas. I just made the chickpea dish for lunch. Delish!

+ Finished this heart wrenching memoir yesterday. I've always admired Alexandra Fuller's work and wit. Her latest, albeit painfully tragic, is so beautifully done.

+ Appreciated her thoughts. 

+ Summer BOP

+ On routine.