Life Lately + August Recap

There is a lot going on in my world and I wanted to share an update with you with what’s been going on. I’m sharing all the details below so make sure to scroll down.

August is often a hard month for me – it is so hot down here in TX, and it’s the month I completed chemo (twelve years ago now). 

This summer I’ve made an effort to ENJOY our hot hot summers, rather than just wish them away.

This August:

• I launched my podcast
• Lots of sweaty walks around Town Lake
• Boat rides on the lake
• Time with my dudes (always)
• More time reading and resting 
• Worked on a BIG house project
• Started a super exciting passion project (work) that will begin next month, when lots of other big life changes are happening

You know how you work towards making certain things happen, and then they all happen AT ONCE?

That’s what’s going on in my life right now.

Pretty much everything is growing, shifting, and changing (and upleveling). 

It is exciting, and also a little terrifying. It’s what we ask for and then it’s like ‘holy shit it’s happening’. 

That has been my main experience this month, and it’s going to continue for the next several months. 

I’m sharing a longer update today, so settle in + I hope you enjoy.

I also share a few of my favorite finds from August (tv, books, + tea) and link to an IG video August recap if you want a visual of what my month looked like at the very bottom of this post. 

LIFE LATELY

HOUSE

We are renovating our house – we are doing a pretty major gut renovation. We’ve lived in our house for 3.5 years and I am so excited for how the project is shaping up (and that we waited until now, because I know exactly what I want from living here for a while). We are working with a local designer (Emily Seeds Interiors) and she has been so lovely! I love her vision and I am learning so much. 

Construction begins on October 15th! We are packing up and moving out of our house, and will be spending time on both coasts during renovations. First up, we’ll be staying in Santa Barbara through Thanksgiving, and then we’re driving across the country to stay in Charleston, SC through the end of the year. 

One of our goals is to spend a couple months a year outside of Austin, and it felt like this opportunity fell into our laps to experiment with it this year. It is exciting and fun, and it has been a bit stressful too (finding long term places we can stay, packing up, moving out, settling somewhere, being nomadic). I’m learning it’s good to remember that many things are fun, and also a bit stressful, and it doesn’t mean anything is wrong.

I cannot wait to introduce our two pups (Charlie and Reese) to the beach. They are becoming quite the water doggies and I can’t wait to share my love of the ocean + beach with them. 

COMMUNITY

I am working on organizing a creative community (!). Things are still in process and therefore under wraps but this community will ‘launch’ in early October and I am just so so so excited to put this out in the world. This group is everything I looked for for so many years when I was a solo creative spending hours working away at my jewelry bench, and more as I incorporate all the wisdom I’ve gained over the years. I’ll be sharing more soon but for now, I want to share the group ethos with you:

We creatives need community and I am very intentionally creating this creative community to support you to:

• Get into action on the projects that really matter to you (and often won’t leave you alone)
• Have accountability and spend time together co-working
• Integrating all the creative acts you do in your life into your creative identity (mothering, cooking, gardening – it’s all creative ‘work’)
• Make time for your creative work in light of ALL the demands in your life

The program structure will consist of:

• Not a ton of content to consume (this is not another course)
• Teach you only what you need to know
• Workshops to implement and create assets that enhance your creativity
• Monthly planning + assessment (to actually make those projects real things!)
• Hot seat calls to help strategize on problems that are keeping you stuck
• CO-WORKING SESSIONS!

That’s where we’ll begin. I’m committed to fostering the group for one year (just like I teach – I begin everything as an experiment), and will assess how it’s serving all of us. My intention is to keep it going but I never know where life will take me, so I like to remain open to ideas and new information. 

SO! If you know this is for you, and you want to spend a whole year together in what I know will be an amazing group, keep your eyes peeled. I’ll be sharing on my newsletter and instagram as the group ‘open date’ approaches.

Thanks for hanging with me while I shared all the exciting things that are happening around these parts. I love getting to make my passion projects real things that help other people, and I hope to see you soon inside this new community. So we can work together and walk our paths together as we create things that change peoples’ lives. 

If you’ve been around here for a while, you might remember when I used to send a weekly ‘Wonder Letter’. I loved sending them, and y’all loved them too. So I wanted to include a few links to things that I’ve loved this month:

WATCHED: All four seasons of Glow Up, I could not get enough! If you love the Great British Bakeoff vibes, you will love Glow Up (also highly highly recommend The Great Pottery Throwdown!!). The artistry and creativity is so inspiring. It’s also very low stakes and feel good tv. 

READ: My favorite read so far this year: A Flicker in the Dark (which was my first read of 2022!). I am super excited about Other Birds (I LOVED The Girl Who Chased the Moon by the same author).  

DRINK: My favorite matcha right now is by Big Heart Tea Company (called Happy Matcha). It is great quality, tasty, and organic. Big Heart Tea Co. is women owned – I love support women owned businesses. I also love their rose tea!

I shared a video on instagram if you’d like to see a visual of my August recap – check it out HERE.