To feed or starve the trash gremlin

Things to do and not do in January

Dear reader,

I am coming to you live from under an electric blanket. It’s cold. So very, very frigid. My friend Caroline says that in January, you can listen to whatever makes you happy (Despacito 300x a day in the year of our lord 2025? Yes, it’s January) because there’s just LESS of the good stuff this time of year. She also taught me the phrase, “Sometimes, you gotta feed the trash gremlin.” In its original context, this meant causing drama in your own life. But to me? I feed the trash gremlin soul junk food: scrolling furiously on TikTok (use it and lose it), listening to Post Malone (I have two ears and a heart, don’t I?), googling things like “young Elliott Gould” and “cat in bathtub,” yelling expletives at sports (and hell, Queer Eye design choices) on the television instead of reading a BOOK about HISTORY, and skipping that thing on my calendar because I can’t do it in pajamas! Feeding the trash gremlin is sometimes good. I think it helps a lot during January.

That said, sometimes you need to feed the angel gremlin. I just invented that. Just come with me on this journey. The angel gremlin is still a gremlin because it’s greedy and requires a lot of input from its host (you). But feeding the angel gremlin looks more like making veggie stock in a crockpot, subtly blending afternoon tea time with evening hot toddy time, stretching in the morning, and enriching your heart and mind with some creative classes led by MOI. See what I did there?

I have two workshop offerings coming up that I’m just so jazzed about! Please join me and tell your friends.

The first is my much beloved and upgraded Valentine Making Workshop at my new favorite spot, Bartleby’s Homemade Ice Cream on Saturday, February 8th. Boy, this is going to be a blast. I have so many odds and ends and glues and markers and ideas to turn into unique cards you can send to friends to feed their angel gremlin. Getting a Valentine in adulthood is truly a rush. Be the person who makes that happen! PLUS you get 15% off ice cream. IKTR!

The second is a Paint a Partner workshop on February 12th - so romantic! You may have seen these sweeping the nation on the world wide web. With guidance from me on the basics of portrait painting, you and a friend/lover/enemy paint each other’s likeness on canvas. It’s so silly and fun, but it also feels extremely cool and LL Cool J-like to have your own portrait in your home. Take it from me, person with severa portraits of herself in her home. The workshop is at Ponnopozz in Ravenswood, which is a really cool art and gifts spot you have to check out. The ticket price is for 2 participants!

Thanks for coming with me on this slightly strange dive into the merits of feeding gremlins. Y’all are real for making it to the end of this newsletter. I’ll be back really soon with an inspiration Monday drop!

xo,

Emma