• Life lately. Mapping out a campervan adventure, impatiently waiting for spring.
• What’s on my mind. An audiobook that’s reshaping everything I thought I knew, a quote that won’t leave my head (from a book that helped me not get mugged), and my latest experiment in making the house smell exquisitely good.
• Work in motion. Clearing out the digital chaos and getting a jumpstart on a project before future-me regrets it.

Hi, friends!

You know that feeling when your to-do list is a mile long, but instead of tackling it, you deep-dive into planning a campervan trip, test new ways to make your home smell suspiciously inviting, and rethinking everything you thought you knew about debt? Yeah, same. Let’s get into it.

The latest:

• Had a lovely, divine, super-cozy rainy Sunday in full couch potato status.
• Meanwhile, my to-do list is a masterpiece of procrastination. Not in the fun, "Look how productive I am, so many tasks!" way, but in the soul-crushing, "The majority of these would take 90 seconds, but my brain has entered a ‘nope’ loop" way. But! This week is on the quiet side, so my goal is to trick myself into doing at least a few of these before the next procrastination cycle kicks in.
• In way more exciting news: planning a campervan trip to the Scottish Highlands next month *cue the Outlander theme song on repeat*. My parents and sister are coming too—but staying in hotels—which is great because we’ll have the camping vibe but have access to a shower. Also, fully expecting to return with local wool and an overestimated belief in my sweater-knitting abilities.
• Spring is so close I can almost smell it—except I can’t, because the past few years in Mallorca, all we got was smoke from farmers’ garden-waste bonfires and pesky Saharan dust. Now that we're in the lush Garden of England (AKA Kent), I’m holding out for the good stuff: fresh green air, bluebells everywhere, and that unmistakable life is rebooting feeling.

As someone who once went so deep into a Chernobyl Reddit rabbithole that I ended up visiting the actual site in 2019, this one hits. People panic over plane crashes and terrorist attacks—meanwhile, heart disease and texting-while-driving quietly rack up the stats. The stuff we think is scary? Not nearly as scary as the stuff we ignore.

The title makes it sound like a snooze-fest on loan repayments, but nope—this book is basically about what it means to be human. Fun fact: people used to put up their wives and daughters as collateral for debt. Wild.

I usually read books the old-fashioned way, but this one’s on audiobook. Pros: squeezing in more “reading” time. Cons: half of it probably goes in one ear and out the other. Still debating whether audiobooks fit the bill for deep dives or just background noise—TBD.

• This week marks five years since I took Bungalow Creative full-time (February 2020—impeccable timing, right?). It feels like it’s been both a decade and five minutes. Here’s to the next five years of figuring things out and making cool stuff. 😊
• A project for this week fell through, so I’m shifting gears and getting a head start on another—details soon, but it involves a next-level supplements brand with some seriously cool anti-aging science. Excited to share more! See below for a sneak peek 👇🏼

• Also, getting my Notion setup back in shape. My business hub turned into a digital junk drawer while I was on maternity leave, so it’s time for a deep clean—like a wardrobe edit, but for systems instead of sweaters.

Got an idea in the works? I’ve got openings starting mid-April to bring it to life.

Lately I've been making simmer pots, which are basically the grown-up version of those weird childhood “potions” where you’d mix ketchup, lotion, and whatever else was in arm’s reach just to see what happened.

Except this time, the results actually smell good. Basically, you toss some fruit like lemons and apples (bonus points if it they were about to go bad), cinnamon, and vanilla into a pot of water, let it simmer, and boom—suddenly your home smells like a cozy wonderland.

🎹 piano 🎹 • Julia Dennis River Flows in You • Yiruma PREVIEW   ​

Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of piano music in the background, and I have to say…Mozart knew what he was doing. There’s something about it that makes me feel like I should be sipping tea in a grand library, dramatically journaling my thoughts by candlelight. Am I getting old? Maybe. Is this my Jane Austen era? Possibly.

Hit Reply If....

• You have any recs for must-see spots, things to do, or whiskeys (or should I say whiskys?) to try in the Scottish Highlands and/or Isle of Skye
• You have any super-useful Notion dashboards/setups that you've found helpful
• You're launching a new bikini line, pool floatie business, or sunscreen brand (AKA anything that flies off the shelves come June) and would like to team up to have things in tip top shape for summer ☀️​

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