Back to Cali / Mighty Summit

I just got back from the Mighty Summit. I think people usually get to go once. But a few days prior to the event this year Maggie asked if I'd like to come again as the photographer. I think it took me about five seconds to book my flight, in large part because of the incredible time I had last year. So many friends I met there, are now an integral, cherished part of my life. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet new women who would no doubt be (and were) equally inspiring. 

I was also excited because it's hosted in Guerneville, which is about 30 minutes from where I grew up. So I got to visit a few best friends from high school too. 

Coming from the Texas summer inferno where everything is dead or dying or on fire, I might have been disproportionately overwhelmed by the abundance of 70 degree beauty. I might have been so overcome that I was willing to risk a car accident to grab a few snapshots from behind the steering wheel. 

Hard to believe this is someone's every day. 

This photo doesn't do an ounce of justice for how beautiful this light was setting over the hills. 

It almost took away from the fact that my phone was dead and I didn't know where I was going. Realizing it too late to buy a charger in the airport, I tried to remember my friend Lisa's address from her text a few hours before. Note: it's not helpful when you only know the street name. I thought I would drive to her road and magic butterflies might emerge from her windows guiding me to her door with trails of glitter. Instead I knocked on three unresponsive doors until I realized I was going to have to wander town hoping for a Radio Shack to jump in my lap.

I even got out of my car at a gas station like it was 1999 to ask if anyone knew where I could find a car charger. That's when the cashier flatly pointed to the rack next to me that was FILLED WITH iPHONE ACCESSORIES. Seriously? That's when you know you're in silicone valley people. That's also when I got back into my car, and while waiting for my phone to charge, looked up and saw this:

Lucky! Car chargers in gas stations and A DIAMOND IN THE PARKING LOT. For real. Fifteen(ish) years ago I was walking out of this grocery store with my mom when she saw something sparkling in the asphalt. Turned out to be a loose half carat antique diamond. I should've purchased a lottery ticket while I was there. 

After charging my phone I made my way back to Lisa's street (again), only to be greeted by possibly the most charming human in the universe. 

I know I have three children and they are adorable, and I know all kids are sweet and amazing, I'm not comparing. I'm just saying that every so often Dakota Fanning or Jonathan Lipnicki comes along to knock you on the floor. Assuming your standing. If you're sitting, maybe they knock you back in your seat, or knock your socks off or the wind out of you. My point is that their precociousness knocks the crap out of you. Which now sounds like a rogue gang that might terrorize Disneyland. This is Stella. She's actually not terrorizing Disneyland. But one day she will be on television, or curing cancer or ruling the northern hemisphere. I spent the night being mesmerized by how much she could relate to adults. It was as if, in her mind, the only thing keeping her from letting us in on all the secrets of the universe were a few vocabulary words. 

The next morning I was on a mission to SEE EVERYONE AND EVERY PLACE THAT HAD EVER MATTERED TO ME IN THE SPACE OF HALF A DAY. I had a delightful breakfast with Lisa, pictured below with Stella Bella.

Then mid-morning coffee with Melissa and her girls, who let us talk for a few hours without even getting fussy. I've written about how much I love her before. It's always great to catch up in person. And I had my first pumpkin spice latte of the season.

Crappy photo of the lovely proof that is fall upon us:

Had lunch with Vicki and Rochelle (two more HS friends). And it made me think about this weirdly awesome (albeit sometimes scary) facebook and twitter world, where even if you don't see someone for years, you pick up by talking about current events. No one needs to ask how many kids you have, where you're working, or what you've been up to all these years. We start with what we did yesterday. It makes me wonder what it will be like to be old in this world of easy connecting.  

To celebrate we took the obligatory, overly-processed, mounted-on-ceiling iphone pics of ourselves. ...You know, so we could post them on facebook.

Me and Melissa.

Rochelle, Me, Vicki.

You can check out the the photos from Mighty Summit on our flickr stream.   

Alli The Great

Once upon a time I went to Nashville to photograph one of the new fall styles. Alli had graciously agreed to be the next Epiphanie model. And in true form, I made things more complicated than they needed to be by organizing a girls trip around it because:

1. I am addicted to girls' trips. 

2. I think work and play should converge whenever possible.

3. No photo shoot is complete without a little bruising. 

It was such a great time. I'm now an advocate for planning random girls' trips around any sort of business travel. Dental conference in Des Moines? Realtor meeting in Bakersfield? Party.

...The only thing is that I might have extended my complication extravaganza a little too much, by deciding to entirely change the design of the new style ... oohhhh you know weeks AFTER our shoot.

Because:

1. I am clearly allergic to simplicity. And there is not even a 2 or 3. 

Sooo, I won't be posting the photos from the first bag because I've since broken up with it. But I do have a few of Alli that we just took for fun. And she is too cute not to plaster all over the internet. 

Alli is The Quintessential Southern Belle in the loveliest sense. 

My favorite:

If you don't know Alli, she is (among other things) founder of all things Blissdom. I think she is also Czar of the Internet. 

And this look, including the belt that was cut from a pair of orange TIGHTS was crafted by amazing Macgyver Stylist: Erin Loechner. 

Nashville Girls Retreat

There are lots of things I didn't know when I launched Epiphanie. But one thing I was sure about was our branding. From the beginning, I had a very clear picture of what I wanted our company to be about: travel, adventure, and the idea that life was waiting for you to go explore it. I think it's because at the time, that's what I was craving for myself. So last year, I planned a series of shoots in distinctive locations from Phoenix, to NYC to California to Paris. I did all of them within the span of ten weeks. It was the surreal experience of a lifetime. I met the most inspiring people, and I'm so grateful for it. 

The summer was also naturally riddled with real life stresses and at points, super overwhelming. So by the time the holidays came, I was in Full Hermit Mode, intensely guarding my calendar. Anything that meant I had to get out of my sweats, or wash my hair had to be damn worth it. And that's how my life has always been; a pendulum swinging between extremes. I don't know if it's "right", just that I have a propensity for it. Eventually enough time passes, and I'm ready to wash my hair to go play outside again. 

This is where I was a few months ago when I started planning the next Epiphanie shoot. My adorable (insert every lovely adjective here) friend Alli had agreed to be our next model. Each shoot is based on a particular region. And since she lives in Tennessee, I knew I wanted hers to feel very rustic with a country vibe.

So I started googling log cabins. 

Then I found this. 

Then wheels started turning. 

The house was gorgeous and perfect and COULD SLEEP 14 PEOPLE. Which is all I needed to read before I knew I was going to make a girl's trip out of this. Who could I lure into the woods with me? Since I met Alli at the Mighty Summit, it seemed natural to invite the same people. So literally five minutes after finding that cabin the evite was sent out. 

Like that, I hit "send". Then I realized I had just voluntarily taken on the planning of a weekend for four.teen.people: what was I thinking what if no one shows up why do I always complicate my life what the hell am I getting into.

I'm a little bit addicted to doom-thinking.

But I'm more addicted to the adrenaline of planning fun events. So that's what I did. I planned and planned and planned, and googled like a maniac. I became obsessed with details and caterers and flight schedules. And as the weekend took shape, it went from being a fun idea, to a labor of love. 

When it finally came, I wanted to make sure we were (freakishly) prepared. So Lauren (My Friend and I Might Die Without Her / Helper Of Everything Person) and I flew in the day before everyone arrived. We got there just in time for Nashville to spank us on the ass. HARD. Five minutes into driving our rented unfamiliar vans, we were greeted with a MONSOON. People driving 5 miles an hour on the freeway, my windshield was WHITE. I couldn't see cars, or lines in the road, or my hood. We barely found the exit to make our way off the freeway into a parking lot, where we sat talking to each other through windows until we found the courage to take the backroads to our hotel. *Side note: maybe it's because we were just happy to be alive and everything seemed sweeter, but the Hutton Hotel is one of the best I've ever stayed in. If you're ever in Nashville, I highly recommend it. 

So we got to our room, cleaned up, and decided that it was only responsible for us to go check out the downtown strip. We were going to have dinner, scout out a few spots for the weekend, then come back to the room and work. Yeahhhhh.

We did go to dinner. We did scout locations. We even took cheesy tourist pictures with Elvis. 

Then we decided to have one drink. At Tootsies. Because it's a Nashville Icon, and we had to. 

But we all know one drink is never really one drink. In fact it was maybe five or six, and no one's driving so let's have another drink. The next thing you know Lauren and I are screaming Sweet Home Alabama from our barstools until 2 in the morning. 

Which meant that I, who had planned on leaving the hotel at 8am, slept 'til 9, had a head ache 'til 10, and barely got my ass out at noon. And that meant I had about five minutes to get everything ready at the house I had never been to. 

Untitled from maile wilson on Vimeo.

I raced to find a Target, I power-shopped for everything from milk to extra tampons and razors and candles. I found a grocery store that Tennessee doesn't let sell wine. Which meant I had to scramble to find to find a liquor store, get lost ten more times, lug 32 bags of food and preparations up a massive flight of stairs. Running behind, texting Lauren (who was picking people up at the airport) to "please take your time", "please go the long way, I still have to make the gift baskets!"  

Inner Martha was in FULL FORCE. 

But, I have to say that putting these together was my favorite part of all the preparation. All I could find at Target were easter baskets. But when I posted this on twitter, a few people asked what was inside. I can't take the credit because the contents were a result of obsessive googling. But if you're interested, it was lotion, a candle, snacks, a monogrammed notepad, tea, water, a magnet, and most importantly glow sticks. 

All sweaty in 42 degree weather (pretty!), I finally got stuff put together. Then I took a minute to be astonished by where I was and by what I was doing.

The result of my impulsive evite, and weeks of obsessive planning was finding myself in the middle of obscenely beautiful nowhere, waiting for some of my favorite people to come meet me there. 

Worth it. 

I wanted to take in every minute, every bit of conversation, every spark of connection. And as a result, didn't get that many photos. But here are a few.

I'd planned a picnic. I ordered blankets (which *TIP: $20 quilts from Walmart are way cheaper than actual $70 "Picnic" Blankets. But they sat in the corner as it rained. So we moved our ideas indoors. And the awesome troopers from Tin Can managed to lug their adorable trailer up our massively dirty road to bring us cupcakes and old time-y treats. Who knew Tennessee was this adorable?

I'm not sure they knew what they were in for, looking that cute in a room full of bloggers and photographers. 

They also let us use their sweet trailer as prop. 

*Note about Alli's outfit. In another things-don't-always-go-as-planned-moment, the clothes I'd pre-ordered for her didn't work. But then Magical Princess of Styling Erin Loechner came to the rescue. See that orange belt? It's actually a pair of tights that she MacGyver-tied into a knot, right before she plucked that floral pin out of thin air. She is a Renegade. And we made the shoot happen despite the rain, also thanks to Leah for randomly having an umbrella. 

We also fit 13 people into a rainy 6 person hot tub. 

When the lightning struck, we took the party to the bathtub.

And yes, I know we should've used plastic glasses, but look how pretty they were in the morning. 

One night we hired a cheesy limo to take us into town. Because it's not Nashville until you ride a mechanical bull, and rock out the karaoke stage. 

It was so much fun. And I couldn't have done it without Lauren The Great (Thank you LL!) You are a truly bionic woman. 

Leah blogged more photos here and here. My favorite part of what she said was this:

"Here's the truth of it: Blogging facilitates closer, faster friendships because even if we don't all read each others' sites regularly--if at all, because who has the time?--the mere fact that we have that quirk in common means it's easy to move past the smalltalk in short order and find ourselves doing intensely personal things like giving each other permission to say and think and do things we might not think we can or should say, think, and do, whether it's as innocent as using certain swear words or as deep as feeling things about our lives, our loves, our wants and needs that we might never have dared to feel without someone from the outside saying, "It's okay."

That, for me, says it all. 

Love you girls. 

Mighty Summit

I have a bad habit of ignoring things in proportion to how much they mean to me. I think it has to do with the disease of perfectionism. If you send me a benign email that can be answered in one word, you'll probably get an immediate response. If you send me a beautiful heart-warming message I'll say to myself, "Oh wow, this is so lovely. I'm going to have to wait until I can send back the PERFECT, most well-thought-out response in the history of mankind". Translation: It will sit in my inbox for so long that responding feels asinine. And as a result, the people who mean the most to me become neglected. Boo. Right? I think I need to order Brene's book asap.

Because the same thing goes for blogging. I've had some of the most life-changing experiences over this past summer, yet I've had such a block up when it comes to writing about them. It's like, there's so much I want to say that my mind short-circuits into silence. 

But I'm working on it, starting right now with The Mighty Summit. So let me tell you how it happened. One day, I was reading Maggie's blog about last year's Broad Summit, and she mentioned that this year they were opening it up to applications. Never one to turn down a girl's trip, I immediately applied. And then I forgot about it because I was 99% sure I wouldn't be selected.

*Note* Tara wrote a fantastic post about putting yourself out there "how the 'no' we hear should never come from our own lips." Amen sister! And it turns out that sometimes the answer is yes! Because weeks later, an email appeared saying that I'd be joining these incredible women in the redwoods, to drink wine and roast marshmallows. And by the way it was paid for. DUDES. I'm sure I screamed for five minutes. 

And then I stressed over losing weight (of course). And finding the right outfits to wear (of course). 

And then I got there and realized I'd been stressing for nothing (of course).

This group of women is so remarkable. I adore, and was so inspired by each and every single person there. I know that sounds so shmoozy. But it's just true. I love them. And ever since I've been back, I've been wishing the internet would please just move into my neighborhood already. 

Thank you Maggie, Helen Jane and Laura for creating this incredible experience, for allowing me to be a part of it, and for inspiring so many women to live their lives more courageously. It was a gift. And for anyone who wasn't able to go this time, guess what? I think next year it will be open to anyone!

Okay, now this is the part where I mention that my other bad habit is not taking pictures in proportion to the level of fun that I'm having. I literally forced myself to grab it a few times, so these are just a bunch of random moment snapshots (cleaned up in PS). If you want to see more, you can look through the Zan's flickr set. She photographed the whole weekend, and I was lucky enough to have her as a roommie too. 

 

What's not pictured here (that you'll see in Zan's set) is the highlight of my whole trip when we were in the wine cave. I mean, for one WHO KNEW THERE WAS SUCH THING?! And second, who knew how amazing it could be to talk about your dreams in one, especially with a group of women who was so willing to offer up ways to help you achieve them. It was nothing short of magical. And if you want to read more about it, mostly everyone who was there (aside from me) is a real actual writer. Maggie has a great wrap up with links to their posts here. 

I have to also mention that another (slightly unrelated) highlight for me was driving RIGHT PAST our old house on the way in. It's been seven years since we left, and I feel like I've lived fourteen lifetimes. It felt somewhat serendipitous for a separate event like this to be swinging me right back where I started, like a reminder of how far I've come from the sad, home-sick girl crying on the laundry room floor when we first moved away.  

The little house that used to be painted pink, is now beige and being guarded by a doberman pincher with anger issues. Oh well. It was still a moment. 

Next up, why I've been traveling almost every week since June, plus photos and stories from Paris and England! 

Staycation

It's been 100 degrees for weeks, and our air conditioner's out. American Home Shield sent a tech out last week who rigged it to work until it went out again. The next tech immediately saw it was the compressor, and said significant damage had been done since the first lazy ass had to hurry home to his six pack. Grrrr. Now the soonest they can get this specific part is THURSDAY. So it's 90 degrees in the house. Children are living in their underwear. And I'm resisting the urge to lock myself up in the freezer.

Jason on the other hand has turned into an expert in "wind patterns". He woke up at 4:30 this morning to cool everything down with his special recipe of Fan Placement. It's kind of cute, but I also find it annoying that he seems to regard this as an adventure. Especially since he is working from home today in the bedroom, next to the portable air conditioner. Glad someone's cool today.

I can't complain too much though, because I just got back from yet another girls' trip. This has been quite the summer for girl-time. And my husband has been super tolerant of all of it. So I guess he can have the air conditioner for one more day.

Here are a few photos from the weekend. All of which I almost didn't post because I'm starting to think my life here looks one dimensional...as if all I do is whoop it up with my girlfriends. And it's ironic because I found myself crying more than once this weekend about how out of balance my life has been. For longer than I care to admit, my days have consisted of nothing but work. And as we head into another school year, I feel scared that I will yet again be "that" mom who is always misplacing flyers and forgetting about pajama day. I'm feeling slightly desperate about putting together a routine that allows room for ALL the aspects of my life (including white space). The overwhelming part is trying to smash 60+ hours into about 20. And also the fact that I hate routines.

I don't know know what the answer is, so I'll just liven it up with some pix. This was really a stay-cation. We rented a house on the river and experienced our own Texas "backyard". My stomach muscles are still hurting from laughing. And my underarms are still raw from tubing. I couldn't find my waterproof case, so there are no pics of us floating down the Comal river. It was my first time. Fun and I'm glad I did it. But after 3 hours of moving at a snail's pace, I was more than ready to get out.

From left to right:

Pam: is kind of quiet at first, but has a crazy streak that surprises you sometimes. My favorite thing about her is that she lives and lets live. She doesn't try to control people or situations, and just goes with the flow.

Me. 

Tina: will always have one more glass with you. Her friends are really diverse because she accepts people for who they are. She's also always been there for me when I really needed someone. Like when she watched my children when I went into labor. And when she pulled my daughter out of the bottom of her pool. Twice I never saw her go under. My stomach still flips when I think about it.

Courtney: is the one Nordstrom calls when they get new shipments. She's also so pretty that she gets away with making dirty jokes look cutesy. And I love her because she screams as loud as I do when the DJ plays "Big Butts" or any other old school rap song.

Kristen: is a dancer, and has the body of a 20 year old. I spent the whole weekend looking at her legs, in complete awe and amazement. 

Michelle: is someone I admire for her ability to be balanced, and know her boundaries. She doesn't let little stuff bug her. She laughs heartily and easily. And she rocks a Depends diaper like nobody's business.  :)

Judy: is a physical therapist. She has the best stories, and a no-nonsense approach to life that makes big problems seem smaller.  

Suzanne: teaches Tai Chi. She's a voracious reader, and one of the people who made me cry this weekend when she read out of her book Zen For Martial Arts. I know that sounds random, but it was exactly what I needed at that minute.

Love them.

This was at Gruene Hall, the oldest dance hall in Texas. YIT YIT!

The western version of Shorty Get Low Low Low.

 So we also went to this place called "The Watering Hole" (because it's cool to be cattle?). This is where Tina found a boyfriend. Apparently you're never too old to feel up a stranger's armpit. Geesh, that looks like it left a mark.

So one Christmas we had a party and played the White Elephant game. It was so much fun, that now we find excuses to play throughout the year. This time was the best because we found the Capital of White Elephant gifts right down the street at Helen's Treasures. I'd gone in originally to find river shoes. She asked me if I wanted them "new or 'seconds'". I said "new, size 9". She handed me a pair of bananas. When I asked her if they were mens or womens, she said "It doesn't matter." Nice.  :)

I told you, White Elephant Heaven. Not the least of which was an OPENED bag of Depends. Because apparently incontinence comes and goes. And why would you waste all those good diapers? Give them to Helen! Or Michelle, who ended up "winning" them...along with a pair of wooden clogs. Best shot of the weekend.

And now back to work. Later homeys.