Friday Five: September 12, 2025

This week has felt simultaneously exhausting and grounding. Wedding celebrations are behind us, new creative projects are taking shape, and I'm finding myself drawn to traditions that connect me to family in deeper ways. Here's what's been on my mind as we settle into September's rhythm.

1. Our wedding reception last weekend was absolutely perfect, it was everything we hoped it would be and more. After so much planning and anticipation, it felt incredible to finally celebrate with so many of our favorite people in one place. The dance floor was grooving, the food was delicious, and there were so many moments of pure joy that I'm still processing it all.

   
   

   

   Photo from our wedding reception. It rained during the afternoon, but we got lucky and the sun came out just in time during the evening.

   We did have one heart-stopping phone call the day before when we found out our photographer had to cancel due to a medical emergency. I was briefly convinced our reception photos were doomed, but this is where booking through an online service really saved us. They were able to connect us with another photographer on incredibly short notice, and she ended up being fantastic. It was one of those reminders that things usually work out, even when they feel impossible in the moment.

   
   

2. Earlier this year, my husband and I applied for a cannabis business license in Minnesota, and we recently received preliminary approval. This is huge news for us, both personally and professionally. Minnesota's legal cannabis market is just beginning to take shape, and we're excited about the opportunity to help define what that looks like by sourcing and offering high-quality products.

   
   

   The legal cannabis landscape here is evolving rapidly, and we want to be part of creating a market that prioritizes quality, education, and community benefit. It's still in its early stages, and there's a lot of regulatory work and business development ahead, but the preliminary approval was a big win, validation that we're on the right track. We're particularly interested in the wellness and therapeutic aspects of cannabis, which feels aligned with everything else we're passionate about regarding intentional living and holistic well-being.

3. I've been working on a new creative project that has me really excited: planning an art show for sometime this fall to display my artwork. Art became such a grounding force during my mom's illness these past few months. When everything else felt chaotic and uncertain, I could lose myself in painting and find some peace. The paintings themselves are bright and colorful, in juxtaposition to the concept of grief.

   
   

   I feel the pull of desire to share that work with others. It feels both vulnerable and important to put your creative expression out into the world, especially when it was born from such a difficult time. I'm looking into local venues like coffee shops, community centers, and breweries to create a pop-up art gallery.

   
   

4. I wrote about navigating grief earlier this week, and the changing seasons are definitely intensifying those feelings. There's something about September that makes loss feel more acute. Maybe it's the back-to-school energy that reminds me of preparing for a new school year with my mom, or maybe it's just the way autumn naturally invites reflection.

   
   

   Processing my mom's death alongside all the other transitions this summer, like my husband moving to Minnesota, our wedding celebrations, job changes, it's all been complex. Joy and grief exist simultaneously in ways I'm still learning to understand. Some days I feel guilty for being happy, other days I'm grateful that she was here for the most important moments before she passed. The seasonal shift feels symbolic of the internal work I'm doing to integrate this loss into my life. Just like the trees are preparing to let go of their leaves, I'm learning what it means to carry love and loss together as I move forward.

   
   

5. This month, we're working on a special project with my grandparents: making sauerkraut according to a longstanding tradition in my dad's family. Every year at summer's end, they make and can a big batch of sauerkraut using techniques passed down through generations.

   
   

   My husband was curious about the fermentation and canning process, so we spent Labor Day with my grandparents learning their method. There's something healing about these intergenerational knowledge exchanges, watching my grandmother's hands work with the cabbage, hearing stories about how her mother-in-law taught her this same process decades ago.

   
   

   The sauerkraut will spend the next 3-4 weeks fermenting before we can it. I filmed the process for my YouTube channel and plan to share the link once we complete the canning phase. It's such a gift to document these family traditions and hopefully inspire others to connect with their own cultural food practices. Working with my grandparents on this project feels especially meaningful this year. After losing my mom, I'm more aware of how precious these opportunities are to learn from the older generation while they're still here to teach us.

This week, a thought occurred to me: September is about integration. It's about taking all the experiences, changes, and growth from summer and finding ways to weave them into who you are becoming in the next season.

The wedding reception celebrated our new beginning as married partners. The art show planning honors the creative work that helped me survive a difficult season. Our cannabis business opportunity represents building something meaningful together. And the sauerkraut tradition connects me to family roots that ground me, no matter what changes come.

All of these projects feel connected by a common thread: they're about creating, connecting, and honoring both the past and the future simultaneously.

What projects or traditions are grounding you as we settle into fall? I'd love to hear about the things that are bringing meaning to your September.