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“I am always posting pretty photos from my life and brain downloads on Instagram. ”
— @LAURABRADBURYWRITER
Sometimes when I talk to people who dream of being authors I get frustrated. It’s not because I don’t understand their compulsion to write and to “be” a writer but their paralysis around actually pursuing that goal. I do. I was in that state for roughly a decade - wanting desperately to be a writer but barely writing anything and NEVER finishing anything. 🍇 It’s not because I underestimate the sheer difficulty of writing, finishing, and publishing a book - I completely get that too. 🍇 What I get frustrated with is the waiting...waiting to no longer be scared, waiting to be told by some gatekeeper or other that they are good enough, waiting to have “more time” (bwah ha ha). Waiting for something to change so they can start, or finish, or publish. I was in this place for so long, and now I’m not I see it for the invisible wall that it is. 🍇 This makes me want to shake people (but rest assured, I don’t, most of the time). Sometimes I feel like I’m an avenging angel sent from that limbo-land between life and death, a trip I was lucky enough to return from. I can guarantee you this - most of us in that limboland did not expect to find ourselves there - not so soon anyway. 🍇 I’ve seen what is important at the end and waiting around for things to be perfect is not important. Perfection is irrelevant. Waiting is a huge regret. Doing what you love matters, and doing it starting today matters even more. Show up, decide to believe in yourself, and do the work. 🍇 Do not wait around for some mythical “right” time. There’s no such thing, ever. Take the first step and walk right through that wall, just like Harry Potter and Platform 9 and three-quarters. I’ll be here cheering you on.
At the last wonderful @flytographer Rosé & Real talk event, when on the topic of following one’s heart, an audience member asked what to do if friends & family didn’t approve. 💗 I gestured for the mic at this point, as I just so happen to have Strong Thoughts about this topic. 💗 Sure doing something new and different will cause your entourage to react both positively and negatively. That’s okay. Allow them their opinions and reactions. It is up to them to process them. However, never confuse that with having to let those reactions influence anything you do. 💗 You are the final arbitrator and gatekeeper of yourself. Remind yourself of that, every hour if necessary. 💗 It boils down to this - at the end of your life do you want to have lived your dreams, or the dreams others had for you? 💗 I know my answer.
We just bought our plane tickets to France to do the rest of the photos, recipes, etc. for our upcoming French cookbook. 🍇 Gah. We are SO excited. I cannot wait to show Rebecca the charm of Beaune and Burgundy. We will for sure be hitting the antiques stands around the Place Carnot for the Saturday morning market. 🍇 We may even buy wee antique glasses like this to drink a cheer to our cookbook-in-the-making!
Twenty-two years ago today we got hitched in a teeny Roman church in the winemaking village of Marey-les-Fussey and then had an epic weekend-long party in a wine cellar in Nuits-Saint-Georges afterwards, and the story still unfolds.
Do you like to peek behind the curtain and spy on what’s going on behind the scenes? That’s always where the best stuff happens, ammirite? 🍇 Are you curious about the how and why of projects? What inspires them, how they are built, how they are sometimes difficult and full of roadblocks, and how sometimes they are the source of joy and creativity? 🍇 If you know what I’m talking about, follow @rwellmanphoto and me on our other IG page @french_cookbook_duo_ . 🍇 You’ll watch our French cookbook being built block by block and photo by beautiful photo (like Rebecca’s lavender photo here). It’ll definitely be amusing, because I’ve never written a cookbook before and I’m learning this right alongside you. Allons!
It’s summertime! Which means the livin’ is easy. 🍇 Well, sorta. Like all working moms, the juggle between getting work done and also enjoying the free and unstructured no-routine of summer means rejigging things a bit. 🍇 My priorities this summer are 1) have fun with friends & family 2) finish writing the @french_cookbook_duo_ cookbook 3) finish my Wine Cellar Grape Series short story 🍇 Et toi?
Hey, hey, hey, My Grape Escape is FREE today. 🍇 200+ five star reviews. #1 Bestseller in multiple categories. 🍇 “All I can say is READ IT! You will love it too.” - Amazon reviewer 🍇 Download from your choice of vendor at the link above in my bio, and surtout enjoy!
In 1991 I was sitting in this café (café du Square) when my new French friend Stéphanie started telling, between frequent drags on her Marlboro, hilarious stories about her older brother Franck. He sounded a bit crazy, but definitely worth meeting in person. About a month later she invited me out to the discotheque with him. 💕 The rest, as we say, is history.