Back from my adventure, Reader. ... Only to remember it takes almost as long to catch up from a two-week vacation as it does to take one. 😂 I missed my usual Friday email the past couple weeks, so I thought I'd catch you up. Life lately:🍁 Six States, Eleven Days & a Whole Lot of Squiggly Roads After my business retreat in Boston, my friend Lisa and I headed off on our New England road trip. Eleven days, six states, a couple trolls, three moose, two dirt road adventures … and more little...
8 days ago • 5 min read
Hello from Boston, Reader! We've been blessed with great weather. And the view from the 10th floor of our building has been spectacular! I can't remember if I mentioned this, but officially, I came to New England for a small group business retreat with several women entrepreneurs and my coach, Marisa. Marisa does SUCH a great job of welcoming us in and helping us feel seen while helping us think through the next steps in our businesses. She also invited a few of us to present, so I put...
25 days ago • 2 min read
I leave for Boston on Monday, Reader. Which means, naturally, that I've spent this week frantically trying to get everything done before I go. Including things that probably could have been done weeks ago. 😆 Like ordering more of Micky's medication because, of course, he's scheduled to run out while I'm somewhere in the northern Appalachians. And buying a new suitcase. Because the one I've been using is quite possibly older than the World Trade Center disaster. (It's not broken or anything....
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Here’s another piece of my life that I miss, Reader ... When I was in my 20’s and just out of college, my life revolved around road tripping in my little wine-colored Honda Accord with my dog Bart. This was L - O - N - G before smart phones, Google maps, and “find the nearest Starbucks” commands. So I bought maps. The fold out state maps that you could buy at gas stations. And because I’m allergic to the main highways (so BORING when your point is adventure!) I would find the tiniest little...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
Last week I left you with three questions to help you think about belonging, Reader: What am I tending? What is tending me? And what have I stopped tending that I want to belong to again? One of my top goals this year answers that last question: Kristin the athlete. There was a time when being an athlete was simply part of how I understood myself. I climbed mountains. Rainier, Olympus, Adams, Baker twice. I ran a marathon and competed in Olympic-distance triathlons and at least one mud run. I...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Earlier in the week, I learned that Wendell Berry died. I know Wendell Berry from his poem The Peace of Wild Things. It's one of the poems I return to again and again when the world feels like too much. When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night … I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. This is exactly what I do … I came across a tribute to Berry and his lifelong question of how to live well in relationship with...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Somehow an entire month has passed since I last popped into your inbox, Reader. I could tell you I spent August quietly soaking up the last golden days of summer. But I didn't do much of that. Instead, August included: #1: Some truly lovely Airbnb guests. Remember the guests with the repeatedly blown breaker I told you about last time? The ones whose impending terrible review existed entirely in my head? Well, since then I've gotten a couple of reviews and private notes from guests that were...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Have you ever had one of those moments where you're bracing for the fallout even when you know you've done everything you could to solve the problem, Reader? This one just goes to show the negativity bias is real … Last week, a couple stayed in the basement Airbnb apartment, and they kept blowing a fuse. This had never happened before. As in, my brother and his girls lived there full time; another couple and their dog lived there full time; we've had repeated Airbnb guests since early July …...
3 months ago • 4 min read
Tomorrow is my birthday, Reader. It's a big one. For weeks, my loved ones have been asking how I wanted to celebrate. After thinking about it, I finally came up with a plan. Sleep on the dock tonight —my favorite "it's summer!" tradition. Spend a quiet day at the lake tomorrow. Just Justin, the dogs, a good book, and maybe a paddle with my mom. No big party or elaborate itinerary. Just the people and places that allow me to feel most like myself. Unfortunately, the weather gods appear to have...
4 months ago • 3 min read