50% off & Vacationing with Princess Penelope!

I had so much fun playing with PP (Princess Penelope!) and found if I barked back at her, it really wound her up 😂 Ha! It's the equivalent of buying your niece a drumset 😜

Happy Saturday friends!

I’ve had a great week full of creativity, wow! It all started on my trip to Pittsburgh when I was listening to business development stuff for most of the 9 hour drive. I know, I know, I can hear you now, “Business development? 😖🤮” But think what my business is about! Creativity and healing so “business development” in my world is really fun 😍

I was listening to Leonie talk about putting your 5 year old inner child in an art room full of supplies and a long roll of white paper and letting her go to town. So:

I created a meditation around it, bought a few rolls of white paper, pulled out a bunch of supplies and let all the women in my  women’s circles play as if they were 5! I was so surprised how much they loved it! I don’t always know how things will land when I offer them, I just have to go by what my Inner Voice is telling me and try. This was a success and so much fun! I was surprised by all the soft pastels that I had that I hadn’t really played with too much. I got to experiment and see what would happen when I smeared them around with my fingers, added water, or layered a bunch on top of each other. Sitting with 5 year old Julia made it much easier to just fool around, not have an agenda or even any idea what I was going to do, and just mix and smudge and get messy:

When there is no attachment to the outcome, the little kid comes out to play:

And my Pittsburgh visit was fun too, we went to visit Ohiopyle State Park and see the Youghiogheny (yawk uh gainy):

This was B-Rad’s favorite river to paddle back when we were whitewater kayakers and it really is so beautiful. I had to look up the name to see where it came from:

The name “Youghiogheny” comes from a Native American word, likely from the Lenape or Algonquian language, meaning “a stream flowing in a contrary direction.” The name refers to the river’s unique north-flowing direction, which contrasts with the southward flow of most rivers in the region.

We took Princess Penelope with us on our adventure and those two boys, oh my gawwwwd, they are over the top with her! It’s so fun to watch them be parents together 💜 She is half princess:

And half actual dog:

And is an absolute delight to be around! 😍

This is after getting out to take pics of the covered bridge, god forbid she get in the car with dirt on her feet, they pulled out special wet wipes to clean her up before getting in the car! The look on her face is absolutely priceless and the look on Michael's face as he carefully cleans her up:

The colors are so much more intense up north:

I didn't realize that they had big sky in Pennsylvania too:

On Saturday we got the first coat of paint in Michael's bathroom done before going to see his friend’s art opening at a Unitarian Universalist church. We ended up talking to someone who attended that church and found that we were both interested—the energy in the space was so positive. I looked up the one in Raleigh and think I will go to a service this Sunday. I love how they accept everyone and how involved they are in social justice issues–they might be right up my ally. When we got back from dinner with his friend, we found that Nic had finished painting the bathroom for us as a surprise! Major brownie points!

THE RANCH:

The donkeys are just so much fun to watch! B-Rad went out one morning and found them like this:

They had long ago played with an old rubber feed pan to the point that the bottom came off and now they are left with a ring which Jaffee is wearing lol.

I didn’t know why this lichen seems to only grow in the fall/winter:

So I asked ChatGPT:

That’s a British Soldier lichen (Cladonia cristatella). The lichen itself is there year-round but you just don’t notice it as much. The red tips (fruiting bodies called apothecia) only develop under the right conditions: higher moisture, lower heat stress, cooler temps, stable surfaces (old wood with moss/lichen holds moisture longer in the cool months.) So, in the summer it can look like dull crust or tiny grey-green fuzz and then once fall moisture arrives, BOOM! Red soldier hats everywhere!

It’s a sign your air quality is EXCELLENT. Lichens are picky and die in polluted areas.

Also! I’ve been watching a ton of bats around here at dusk, so cool to see them swooping around and catching bugs. I just got an email from the North Carolina Wildlife Federation about bats this morning, you can read the post HERE. It’s all about debunking bat myths.

•••

I’ve added real life BUTTONS to my pages about my upcoming FREE Playdate Art Classes on November 17th and December 1st and of course my new Online Women’s Circle that is starting January 5th, 2026. I can’t believe we are already talking about 2026. Where did 2025 go? It feels like the Jan 2 fire just happened. We’ve all been through so much this year, it’s definitely time to slow down and breathe:

Want a print of that piece of art? Click here!

Time to get cozy, eat comfort food (I’m making chicken stew tonight!), make a fire in the fireplace, snuggle with your family and settle in—I love fall!

And then in the new year, when all our thoughts turn to setting intentions on how we want our year to go (even if you’re like me and don’t make new year resolutions, my mind naturally starts to think about the upcoming year) that will be the perfect time to join the Online Women’s Circle! 

How will it work, you ask? I will create a weekly meditation out with the herd and upload it with a check in prompt, participants will check in via writing, audio, or video. On Mondays we'll get together via Zoom to play with art. Any skill level (including none) are welcome. This is a safe place to learn and grow and get to know new friends. The first session will be 4 weeks long, starting Monday, January 5th, 7:30-9:00pm EDT. It will not be recorded, be there or be square!

The first session we will be creating Vision Cards and I can't wait to share the process with you! If you enjoy oracle cards like these, this is going to be extra fun for you:

These are mixed media cards infused with your Inner Voice and your hopes for 2026. No art experience needed, just curiosity and a willingness to explore. This is what they look like as the process is about halfway done, messy, colorful, and fun:

And by the end you'll have a little set of your own Vision Cards, the things that you'd like to see happen in the new year, right in your hot little hands:

So, to celebrate this new beginning, I'm offering an introductory rate: 50% off the first 4 week session! That's just $70! Want more info? Click here to read more! 

Don't wait too long, this offer expires at midnight, Saturday, November 8th! Click here to sign up!

THE MEMES:

PSA: Yikes, looks like an "m" but microsoft is actually "r n icrosoft." Pay close attention to your emails!

I read this to B-Rad because he does this all the time and he just laughed and laughed:

Ok, first of all this made me laugh. Second, isn't it amazing that this was how it used to be?? And third, it's not fair to put all that on kids, a) it's not their fault that this is the way the world is and b) they have their own issues to deal with:

•••

This is an AI-free newsletter! While I love to use AI to help me figure out a piece of software I don't understand, my intention is to use it to help me with the drudgery, never with writing, art, creation. All em dashes are intentional and mine, I was using them way before ChatGPT was a twinkle in Sam Altman's eye :-)

•••

Thank you for reading :-)

If a friend forwarded you this email, you can subscribe here.