Summer has arrived with an intensity we could have barely imagined. Our seemingly endless days of sunshine have afforded us the recovery from a quarantined year that we all so richly deserve. So, drink your water, water your gardens, and let’s reinvigorate ourselves and our lives. It’s an opportunity to contemplate new places and ways to live as we enter a new phase on our planet.

The great gift of June is the first bloom of our roses. Subtle fragrances, sublime colors, and arms full of blossoms to bring into our homes. Could there be anything more divine? And this year we can, again, share them with our friends and neighbors in celebration of all that is good about those we love.

Just as spring is revealing herself, we too are emerging from our self-exile and basking in the sunlight to heal ourselves and renew our love of life. In the spirit of healing, I’m partnering with my wonderful women friends, neighbors, colleagues, and clients to bring hope through a giving circle. I’m looking for 100 women who can donate $100 to collectively gather and donate $10,000 to the charity of our choosing four times per year. I’d love for you to embark on this budding adventure with me.

The COVID-19 pandemic has weighed heavily on each of us, affecting the lives of people across the country and the world. Hauser's rendition of “One Day Soon” provides a much needed message of hope.

E.E. Cummings wrote: “I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart).” We look from afar at those we love, waiting for the moment we can embrace them again. We are brave. It is lonely sometimes. Only love will carry us through.

We are in a moment of stasis. Winter allows us to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. Frozen for the briefest of moments. It’s been more than most of us can absorb. We now have the palette of our futures to consider: red for vitality and love, green for the miracle of spring, yellow for sunshine and warmth. The choices are endless. We are the masters of our destiny. Let us take up our respective brushes and begin to paint.

We are all feeling, perhaps more fragile and human from our most unusual year. However, unlikely gifts have emerged through our isolation. We have had Zoom reunions, long phone conversations, baked for our friends, greeted our neighbors on daily walks, rescued unloved dogs and cats, and cleaned our garages…

This is the season of retreating to a more interior life. Our gardens are going to sleep, our personal libraries are calling to be read and kitchen chemistry entertains. These quiet moments are always an opportunity to take stock and consider the possibilities, as we rest and look toward designing our future. The subtle transition of the earth shows us the way each year.

Mother Nature is providing us with one last brilliant display before she rests for the winter. We, too, are being asked to retreat for the sake of the greater good one more time. So, perhaps we can learn from the good earth we walk on and take the coming months to enjoy our warm homes, our good books and restore our collectively tired spirits. There is so much goodness to be harnessed and shared. And this will always provide us the opportunity to make a difference.

Fall has arrived bringing us fresh, clean air and a chance to consider what is ahead as we look at the final stretch of 2020. It has been a challenging time for all with many unexpected silver linings. Take a moment to celebrate all the good things in your life and the hidden gifts this unusual moment has delivered. Joy is just around the corner.

We are in the peak of summer bounty and beauty, and most of our lives have become very domestic. This month, under the shade of beautifully designed pergolas, I’m taking you on a virtual adventure to Montana and Alabama for two very American cultural experiences. Relax and enjoy!

Summer and warm water are in a seasonal embrace. Seventy percent of the earth is covered in water and we, too, are the same content. The ocean and amniotic fluid have the same saline and mineral content: thus Mother Earth. Have you ever wondered why swimming in salt water salves your mind and body? This month is an exploration of the important role water can play in our lives and how it so graciously escorts us into the exploration of renewing ourselves.

During this window of physical confinement we are still allowed to dream and plan for adventures yet to be realized. I have three personal experiences to share with you in hopes that someday you will include them on a trip itinerary. Each of them offers a kind of visual joy you will always remember. I hope you will indulge yourself someday.

The finale of our Spring gardens is punctuated by the arrival of the sumptuous peony flower. We deserve this kind of beauty. They are a reminder of all that is beautiful in life. Not unlike our friendships, their perfection renews us.

Nature, in her graceful dance, emerges each spring to remind us of our own possibilities as we stand witness to this cyclical transformation.

As the earth warms and releases the last vestiges of winter, we celebrate the unfolding glory of our orchards and gardens. Once again all things seem possible as we breathe in the perfumed air and stand in a moment of grace.

February celebrates those we love and reminds us that spring awaits around the corner. A peek through this topiary Valentine is an invitation to anticipate the annual rebirth of our planet and the abundance of this beautiful season.