Happy Monday, friends! Things have been a little quiet around these parts as I spent last week down in beautiful Austin hosting our April Illume Retreat. Together with my incredible lineup of speakers and guest teachers, we welcomed our most intimate number of attendees to date which made for a truly once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience! From truly engaging speaker content, to planned periods of rest and refresh, to countless one-on-one conversations between speakers and attendees, there were so many organic opportunities for relationships to form and businesses to be transformed. I created this little retreat as a place where talented and tenacious creatives who found themselves lacking purpose, passion or direction to step away from the trenches of their businesses to fall back in love with their work. Through our signature approach of “productive rest,” we delve deep into a curriculum designed to help attendees identify the core of their life’s best work and then bring it to life through actionable steps, all in the setting of an all-inclusive experience.

Last week was no exception, and I’m still processing all that took place during conversations with attendees, quality time with my sweet speakers, and in brief times of rest at the beautiful Travaasa Austin. After the retreat wrapped up on Wednesday evening, a few of us spent a leisurely morning at the resort before hopping in the car to explore Magnolia Market. I absolutely loved getting to show Jenna, Katie, Shalyn, Laura (and her mom!) around our sweet town. You can bet we treated ourselves to a few goodies from the Silos, followed by laughter and heartfelt chats over margaritas, chips and salsa!

Thanks to some crazy Texas weather, Jenna’s flight was delayed about a handful of times which just meant more laughter, good conversation and margs while she crashed at our place. After spending the week together in Austin, it was so sweet to be able to bring a little bit of that energy and joy back home to share with Armon! Once Jenna was finally able to get her transport woes sorted out (thank goodness!), Armon and I spent the rest of the weekend hitting the trails in Cameron Park, chatting long-term goals over glasses of wine, and catching up on a horrendous amount of laundry. But there’s no one I’d rather match socks with than that handsome guy, for sure!
What good things were you up to this weekend, friend? I can’t wait to share more about the retreat in the months ahead as our incredible retreat photographer, Shalyn Nelson, edits all the beautiful shots she captured last week!

Rentals pictured in our welcome dinner sponsored by Birch + Brass Rentals; attendee gifts pictured sponsored by Val Marie Paper, Skinfood by Aubrey, Plumtique, Lara Casey Shop, Graceline Art and Dear Sweetheart Events.