Hello, nice to meet you
If you got this far, I probably don’t have to tell you, that the world we live in isn’t what we hoped for our kids. You also know you are ready for a solid support system for this new phase of your life.
Parents like us want…
A place where our kids are seen and appreciated.
Relationships that allow us to be generous, creative and feel optimistic.
Connections and relationships that are a good role model for our kids.
Communities that lift people up instead of tearing them down.
Hi, I am Anne
community builder
master gardener
baker
mom to a daughter
food allergy mom
I am committed to building community and making a positive dent in this crazy world we live in.
I want to help you do the same. My goal is only a little selfish.
Now to be sure, I genuinely want to see you succeed and thrive. I just happen to know a secret…
That if YOU build the best community for you, the one that makes you feel like the baddest bitch, it will ultimately help US.
If enough people lift up themselves and others the numbers are simply on our side to change the course.
Community is the answer to everything that is broken in our country.
You should join us if you...
are tired of feeling isolated & like you are parenting without much support
think you can't help because your one parent with limited time
want to help but don't know where or how to start.
Kindness and inclusion are contagious. Just ask my neighbors.
We relocated to Michigan right before winter 2019. When the snow thawed it took a lot of creativity to build a community while being 6 feet apart.
It looked a lot like turning my ENTIRE front yard into a cut flower garden so I could meet neighbors and give them flowers.
QUADRUPLING our cinnamon roll recipe to share with neighbors on New Year’s Eve so they could share in our New Year’s Day tradition. We were separated but connected.
Ready to brighten your neighbor’s day and grow a community?
It's up to you if that means digging up your entire lawn to plant hundreds of zinnia seeds or delivering cinnamon rolls. I am here for all of it!
We just relocated again in 2023, hopefully for the last time - unless I can afford San Diego, so I have a new community to build. This time with an HOA so it won’t be a front yard cut flower garden! I will keep you posted on what I come up with.
My Mom, Martha Stewart, & ElizabethWarren
I have been heading towards creating this business since before I could walk.
It all started with my mom. I got lucky in the mom department. She gave me all the information I needed to make good choices. She had the courage to let me make those choices, even when those decisions weren’t her favorite. Sidenote: I once called home for college and asked for advice. I laid out the entire situation and she responded with, “that is a choice only you can make.” Infuriating, true, and the best advice I ever got.
The three most important things my mom taught me.
Creating a safe comfortable home is the way to take care of your family.
It is important to be neighborly even if the results don’t feel tangible.
You have to learn to make your own decisions and stand up for them.
She once told me, “You should decide for yourself what if any religion you want to belong to. Don’t make your decisions because it is what I decided for myself.” I probably shouldn’t use quotes because I don’t remember the exact conversation, but that was the sentiment. It made me feel safe to make my own decisions. She approves of many, but the tattoos aren’t her favorite. Don’t worry mom the tattoos didn’t make me criminal or a biker.
The example she set and continues to set about being neighborly is top-notch. Only Mr. Rogers did it better.
Martha was like a gateway drug as I entered my 20’s-30’s.
I got a subscription to Martha Stewart Living in college. I absorbed all of it waiting for a day when I would have a house, a yard, and the money to have all the hobbies I was learning about in that magazine. Martha got me into cooking, baking, and gardening.
I took that into a food blog, which combined with working at Trader Joe’s in California, led to a passion for local food and food justice.
Now, because of the age difference and the jail time (I am a first-child rule follower), I relate more to Joanna Gaines than Martha. Though I am not against CBD or 80-year-olds as swimsuit models.
You don’t get what you don’t fight for
Food politics changed me. Elizabeth Warren sealed the transformation. Volunteering for her campaign I realized I could simultaneously be a mom, a nurturer, and a fighter for women and others that benefit from more voices. These roles don’t need to be in conflict. In fact, the world is stronger when they are in concert.
Our communities in the U.S. are in desperate need of some neighborly actions to right the ship. In the words of Brene Brown, we are in a bit of a shitstorm as a nation. I know we can do better for each other while doing better for ourselves. These ideas don’t have to be at odds with each other. We can find a way that all people can thrive and flourish.
It all starts with being neighborly, creating a safe place for us & others to make their own choices, and fighting for what we believe.
In case you didn’t already get enough…
I was the kid who wanted to belong and the kid who questioned everything. My teenage years were filled with constant tension.
In college, I learned to ditch belonging and focus on exploring new experiences instead. I studied journalism and public relations with the goal of going into event planning.
After college, I moved to San Francisco from Indianapolis without a visit and before Google.
I knew one person.
Had no job.
While in San Francisco I learned HTML, how to put my needs at the front, and that every job is essentially event planning, more on this later.
After 17 years, I moved back to Indiana with a husband, two full careers behind me, and more friends than I have had at any other time in my life.
I have been a mom since 2017. I could give you a ton of cliches here. If you are, or have been, a parent you already know what it’s like. If you haven’t and choose not to I will spare you one more sappy growth story created from parenthood.
I have worked hard to learn about myself and how to find my people. Damn lucky I have because two months before winter and 5 months before the pandemic I again moved to a brand new city.
No extended family.
No friends.
Just my husband, toddler, and dog.
We have made it through the rough part. Added some friends AND then we moved again in 2022! For the last time?
