January Newsletter: My Favorites of 2025

Happy January, My Cozy Caterpillars! It's time to embrace the art of Dilly Dallying!!

I hope you all had an amazing and wonderful Holiday Season! Mine was filled with so much family time! We went back to Cincinnati for 2 weeks, choosing to drive home instead of flying so we could bring Frankie! I was proceeding with caution, taking on a 16-hour drive with a fresh 2-year-old, but holy moly, Leonora did amazing!! We split the drives up over two days and spent the night at dog-friendly hotels, and made sure to make pit stops at playgrounds and parks along the way. And, as a fun bonus, it worked out to spend the night at Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas on our drive back to Houston (what a fun way to start 2026)! Our holidays overflowed with activities, socializing, treats, and so much more. And let me tell you, by the end of the 2 weeks we were happy but EXHAUSTED!!

So, naturally, we have officially entered my yearly Hermit season! After a truly wonderful holiday season and the hustle and bustle, I love getting cozy, quiet, and hibernation-y for January (cough cough enter "Dilly Dally"). I like to move more slowly, catch my breath, and spend time at home thinking about my hopes for the year (with doses of cleaning and organizing, of course).

I re-read my January post for 2025, and I was so delighted to realize I accomplished just about everything I wrote down! In thinking about this January post, I started listing out my favorite things of 2025, both in work and in personal life. And suddenly I realized that I needed to share it with you! It's a wonderful way to reflect on the year and relive some wonderful moments!

So without further ado, here's my Favorites of 2025!!

• FAVORITE PROJECT WITH A CLIENT

Hands down, Illustrating The ABCs of Grief: Coping by Jessica Correnti! This is the third book in the series, and it brought me so much joy! I found myself painting more slowly because I wanted to savor it! The book will be out in mid to late February, and I can't wait for all of you to see it!

• FAVORITE PERSONAL PROJECT

My Big Foot and Camping Collection!!! This was such an unexpected addition to the year! The idea came to me after hiking in Sedona, Arizona. A man asked if we saw Big Foot and suddenly I couldn't stop thinking about Big Foot Illustrations, which then birthed my camping collection. It took me several months to chip away at it, but I finished them up just in time for fall!

• BEST SELLER IN THE ETSY SHOP

I painted this whimsical moth during the pandemic in 2020, and this past year she has been the best seller in the Etsy shop. It's so fun to see what new and old pieces will gain traction in the shop each year.

• FAVORITE CRAFTING PROJECT

For Christmas, I made this ADORABLE stuffed octopus for Leonora! I purchased the pattern way back in January of last year as a winter project and never got around to making it, so for Christmas, I made it a teeny tiny hope on my to-do list. And after my mom whispered to me, "You can do it!" over the phone, I made it a priority. I used my old t-shirts that were meaningful to my life with Ricky. I should add that when I was preggo, I made a stuffed whale out of Ricky's old jeans, so now Leonora has two keepsake nautical animals.

• FAVORITE RECIPE I TRIED

Rainbow Plant Life's Lentil Bolognese won my heart last year. I think I made it 3-4 different times (once for a friend). It created sooo many leftovers, AND it was insanely easy to make

• FAVORITE DESSERT RECIPE

Okay, this is a tie between these cinnamon-baked apples from Autumn Elle Nutrition and these homemade fig newtons from Nadia's Healthy Kitchen. I made the fig newtons for Ricky over Father's Day weekend and the baked apples for Halloween week. Both were truly hitting all of the cozy vibes I love in a recipe!

• FAVORITE TRIP

Italy & Slovenia, without a doubt!! We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary and Leonora's 2nd birthday by going to Rome, Florence, and the Italian and Slovenian Alps. It was such a magical trip for our little family, filled with extreme highs and hilarious lows (we still chuckle at some of the toddler meltdowns...for example, pic in the top left: Leonora was on the verge of having a meltdown before our Collesum tour, so we were pumping her full of cookies).

• FAVORITE TRADITION

Ricky's hand-drawn Birthday card! I have done this for 3 years in a row now, and it's such a fun activity. I provide you all with the digital download, so you can participate in the fun! I look forward to it every summer! So stay tuned for that!

• FAVORITE MOMENT

Okay, this one is tricky, so I have multiple in no particular order. The first is eating PB&J's with Leonora in Sedona whilst on a hike. The second is watching live Jazz in New Orleans with Leonora on Ricky's lap, munching on a Po-Boy. The third is watching Leonora squeal with delight over the bunnies at the farm-stay in Slovenia. Fourthly, watching Leonora's eyes light up while exploring museums/the colosseum, eating Italian food, and swinging at playgrounds in the Italian Alps. And the final moment has to be Leonora eating ramen for the first time at a local restaurant in Houston.

• FAVORITE CHILDREN'S BOOK I READ TO LEONORA

Dandelion Magic by Darren Farrell! This is such a cute interactive book about our imagination! It's so silly and so fun to read! We received it as part of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library! (Check this out if you have little ones! You get a free book every month in the mail.)

• FAVORITE ART SUPPLY/TOOL

Whilst this tool was technically purchased in 2024, I didn't start using it until this year. My iPad and pencil have become an integral part of my art-making process. My pencil isn't magnetic and is frequently floating in my bag, so I bought this cute lil' adhesive sleeve to add to the back of my iPad cover.

• FAVORITE BOOK I READ

This one is tricky, because I read a lot, but I think I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue will be my winner for the year. It was a funny and cringe-y office comedy with a tad of romance and a ton of anxiety.

• FAVORITE PODCAST EPISODE

Y'all know I love Armchair Expert. Off the top of my head, the Luke Combs and Adam Scott Returns episodes were winners this year. Amy Poehler's new podcast, specifically this episode with Rachel Dratch, made me laugh!

• FAVORITE NEWSLETTER

Brad Montague has truly won my heart. He's an amazing illustrator who gives so much positive, joyous vibes to my inbox, not only sharing his artwork, but also his hopes for the next generation. My cup is filled after every newsletter, and I leave inspired to think differently, have compassion for others, and embrace my failures.

• FAVORITE TV/MOVIE I CONSUMED

While there are sooooo many that I have shared with you over the year, I think my immediate winner is The Great British Baking Show. It always warms my heart, inspires me to bake, and brings me all the cozy vibes.

• FAVORITE PROGRESS ON A PROJECT

My children's book that I wrote! OKAY, I'm ending on this one because I didn't finish illustrating it as I had hoped to in 2025, but I made massive progress on it! While I was a little discouraged realizing I wasn't going to be able to finish it in 2025, I remembered what I wrote about the book a year ago:

"It's been a pet project that has ebbed and flowed in excitement...coming in and out of focus when I was inspired or needed a break."

So naturally, this occurred towards the end of the year when other projects needed my time and attention. But here we are in 2026, and I'm already working on it!! This will be the year!!! I gotta finish and move on with my life!! I realized last year, nearing the end, that a smidgen of procrastination was at play (likely out of fear of completing the task, even though that's always been the goal). It brings up questions like "what's next?" and "what then?", but I just have to close my eyes and jump!

• HOPES FOR 2026

  
  

Finish my book (Obvi!) and create a calendar for 2027! I didn't have time to do this last year, and I was so touched how many people reached out asking if I was making another one. I plan to make her a higher priority this year because she brought me so much joy. I'm going to wrap it up with something I wrote last year about New Year's Hopes and Resolutions

"I like to think of the new year as a mere continuation of the last. A way to build upon things that already exist or remove a few blocks from the pile of life to better focus on what matters. The New Year feels a little more hopeful and a little less stressful when I think of it that way."

Cheers to all of you in 2026, and here's to the sentiment "just keep going"!

xoxo

Rachel