Reflections of Today - November 24

11/24/2025

✨ This series is an in-between space for sharing behind-the-scenes thoughts and honest reflections.

A Reminder of the Wonder at My Back Door

I had the loveliest interview yesterday with a writer from The Bend Magazine. She walked into the new Evoke Studio & Gifts space and her face lit up—at the tiara bar (her personal favorite), the art, the energy of it all. But what struck me most wasn’t her excitement about the shop…it was the way she saw our Island.

She asked if I could take my golf cart to work. I smiled and said, “Yes—actually, I have a few times.”

In that moment, I realized how easy it is to forget the beauty of the everyday when you live here—the "golf cart lifestyle" as she called it. The way we can pop over to the beach in minutes. The small-town feel where my daughter’s optometry office, my boutique gallery, my daughter's home and my home all sit in one simple, breezy circle. Things that have become part of my normal…things people elsewhere only dream about.

She was captivated by it all. And I found myself thinking, When was the last time I let myself be captivated?

The truth is, I’ve been so immersed in the new direction for my business—painting walls, rearranging displays, setting up the hat bar, planning events, moving inventory—that I haven’t taken enough time to enjoy the very thing that inspires so much of what I create: the beach.

So this morning, before the day fills itself with tasks and to-dos, I’m heading out on my golf cart as the first light hits the sky. A quiet beach break. Bare feet in the sand. Salt on the breeze. A moment to remember what I enjoy most about this place.

It’s funny how someone else’s wonder can open your eyes to your own blessings.

This Island is more than where we live—it’s a reminder to slow down, breathe deeper, and savor what’s right at our back door. And today, I plan to do just that.

hanks for walking alongside me in both the art and the in-between places.

PS

The beach sunrise did not disappoint!