I genuinely thought this past week was launch week.
I had it in my head: June 3rd, this Wednesday, woodland creatures go live, code goes out, we celebrate. I'd been grinding toward it with that date locked in my brain like a countdown I couldn't turn off.
And then I looked at the calendar.
Next Wednesday. It was always next Wednesday.
I won't lie — I stood there for a second just letting that sink in. One more week. Which meant one more week to make sure the website was ready, the checkout felt right, and every last detail was exactly where I wanted it. Because that's the thing about my shop: I hold it to a standard I don't apologize for.
Here's why.
I personally know how many hours you stare at nursery art in the middle of the night when your child decides sleep is optional. T
hose of you who get it, you get it. And if you don't, well, count your lucky ducks.
Bonnie did NOT sleep. For two whole years I was miserably sleep deprived. And the art on her walls? I looked at it more than I've looked at almost anything.
It had to be right. It had to be something I still loved at 3 AM when I was running on nothing.
Five years later, I still love safari jungle. Bonnie does too.
That's the bar. It's always been the bar.
Inside My Studio
Woodland creatures is done. Photographed, edited, listed, and waiting.
Getting here took grit. Real, unglamorous, steal-an-hour-where-you-can grit. Full time job. Mom life. Website rebuild. And somewhere in the margins of all of it, painting. Making sure every piece met the only standard I actually trust: would I still love this at 3 AM in a sleep-deprived fog?
I'm proud of it.
Wednesday, June 3rd, it goes live. If you're reading this, you're on the list, which means you're the only ones getting the code. The promo code is not going anywhere online. No social post, no public announcement with the discount attached. You get it because you showed up. 20% off for one week only on the entire shop, and then it's gone.
What I'm Cooking
Full disclosure: not everything I ate this week was intentional.
We were at the store this weekend — me, Nathan, Bonnie — and Bonnie has a standing request to eat a warm tortilla fresh out of the package while we wander the aisles. It's her thing. We oblige, simply because it makes the shopping process smoother. So there we were in the beer aisle looking for a good summer pick when Bonnie suddenly hands me a bite of her tortilla. I looked at it. Did she chew this? Is it a torn piece? It didn't look particularly slobbery and there was no trash can in sight, so I did what any reasonable mother would do and popped it in my mouth.
I heard a chuckle from around the corner. A woman doing beer samples had watched the whole thing. She looked at me and said, "the things we eat as moms, right?" I was slightly mortified...and she was completely correct.
Anyway. On purpose this week: broccoli cheese soup. Fifteen minutes of prep, then the Instant Pot took over. Make-ahead meals are getting a permanent spot in the rotation right now — anything that can cook itself while I'm rebuilding product pages and hauling pool bags is earning its keep.
If you have a slow cooker recipe that requires approximately zero brainpower and isn't all mush, I'm accepting submissions.
What I'm Reading
I finished Yesteryear and gave it five stars, which I did not see coming. I didn't like a single character and I still couldn't put it down. Normally that's a dealbreaker for me. If I can't find one person to root for, I'm out. But this one held me anyway. I kept wishing it had ended like The Village (the M. Night Shyamalan movie — if you know, you know). It didn't. I'm still thinking about it.
Now I'm rereading Shield of Sparrows, then Rites of the Starling, and Strangers finally hit my Libby holds so that's coming up soon.
What's Inspiring Me
The pool. After weeks of grinding, painting, editing, rebuilding, there's something about just floating there that resets everything. We've been going a lot lately and I have zero regrets about it.
Plus, a friend sent me this instagram post + article and um, hello. Those bathroom walls and the coral windows? Yes, please.
Check your inbox Wednesday morning.
— Katie
P.S. The code is only going to this list. Not online, not on social. Just here. If you know someone who's been looking for joyful watercolor art for their home or nursery, send them to the sign-up link before Wednesday — the discount goes live then and they'll want to be in the room when it does. [sign-up link]
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