This was meant to be a just 3 min announcement, but based on your reaction to the news Dean Street Society is closing, I felt we needed another moment to just hang and process.   Pay The Value Closing Sale: DeanStreetSociety.com/closing   Also read information shared via email, by clicking “Hear More” at the bottom, and you can catch up on all emails sent since December 1st ..read more

You asked for help choosing joy now and in the new year, after a hard year or season.   Can you relate to any of these?   You’re wishing time would go faster to get to something good or past something heavy? Feeling a case of the winter blues? Walking through disappointment? Or feeling energized about making 2024 your best year yet?   Today’s 5 Q’s with my teaching on each from my own life currently are for you! Review these after the teaching to come up with your own answers: 1. What do I have that others don’t have? // Gratitude 2. Who have I seen rebound that remind ..read more

The closer we get to a due date, the more I’m overthinking the name we have picked.   Here’s my advice on naming, plus what I’m looking for in case you have ideas?   Share this one with anyone working on their baby names.   Or to spark some conversation this holiday if you’re done with naming in your family.  Links in this episode:   Instagram post to give suggestions once you listen! ← Will be linked when post is live Truly, Internet Aunties (and a few uncles) thank you for your help!   ..read more

Sadly, much of a surrogacy journey is bracing for disappointment. However the positive side of that, is when things are easy you feel so incredibly lucky.   This week Jeremy, myself, and my mom all flew out to meet our surrogate’s family, our doctor, do a hospital tour, and have our 20-week anatomy scan.   All in a whirlwind 6 hours!   It was hilarious (y’all, our doctor is both an angel and a SNL character), a bit awkward, slightly triggering, and super heartwarming.   May it bring you more compassion, all the good feelings, and make you want to watch Bette Midler and Lily ..read more

A breakdown of my last 24 hours and the choices I made when there was too much on my plate.   Things are a lot right now.    Today I’m sharing exactly what I’m preaching, practicing, and sending in voice memos to my girlfriends.   We’re talking about:   How to avoid triggering people and *being* “that person” when someone’s struggling How to get out of unsolicited advice convos #palmtoface The #1 action to keep yourself and those around you more safe in the storms of life How to get saved or have something solved when times are tough   I want to help you ..read more

I’m watching friends navigate life from a place of burnout vs healing, and the difference is astounding.   Comparison (their grass is greener) keeps us chasing goals harder than we should.   Yet, the opposite of envy is even more destructive to our burnout, and far less talked about.   Today we’re healing the crippling mindset that keeps us chasing a dream until it nearly kills us. Anxiety and depression are two manifestations of the same burnout root.   Whether today you’re sprinting to keep a million balls in the air, or struggling through a sad fog to get much of anythin ..read more

What if some of the biggest choices in your life actually came from outside your head, not inside your heart?   That’s the hard truth I’ve been grappling with.   I’ve been coming up for air a bit after a season of grief (with my book story) that (I see now) was followed by a season of hustle and determination to put life back together again.   I’m remembering how it felt in my body to dream many years ago with more hope, less disappointment, and less outside voices.   And now I understand why choosing the wrong dreams led to burnout and never enough These are the complex ch ..read more

So many are struggling lately, both personal friends and members of our community.    I had a different episode planned for today when a friend called with hard, hard news and I wanted to share part of what we discussed.   Listen in to hear:   What to text a friend when you want to help, or need it yourself Two specific steps to make metaphorical winter seasons in our life harder or easier Why these are tools we’ll use repeatedly throughout life My mid-episode aha on the deeper issue with “and they all lived happily ever after” Bonus: How I’m applying this to a be ..read more

What advice would you give? Would you want?    The last two weeks while in Italy, I was swept away in the best romantic story.   A dear friend unexpectedly met someone while traveling internationally far from home and texted, “I might have met my husband.”   The wrinkle is that a life with him means a major fork in the road, leaving possibly forever things she’s loved, and for various reasons the decision is going to be made quickly.   When you have a major life decision, how can you be confident you won’t regret whatever you choose? Over hours of voice messages back ..read more

Join us on the road from Tuscany to the Italian Riviera via Rome on: My 3 biggest takeaways from the 1st trimester of our pregnancy and surrogacy journey  Who we’ve shared the gender of the baby with and why/why not  The 2 extra special places we found on our first time in Tuscany (will share links on IG after our trip!) The Italian political perspective on surrogacy that I can’t help but think about while here  We get lost, have to change audio sources halfway through, and I don’t allow for silence so we don’t have to make edits once we arrive in Positano so he doesn ..read more