Downtown Northampton Association Holiday Campaign

It’s hard to believe it’s holiday time already - weren’t we all just dining al fresco on Strong Avenue? But here we are somehow, decking the halls.

Holiday joy came a little early for me this year, when the wonderful Downtown Northampton Association got in touch about creating a big, beautiful holiday campaign to celebrate shopping locally. I couldn’t have been more excited! Downtown Northampton has been my go-to for holiday shopping since I was a teenager - I can always count on finding something unique for everyone on my list, a festive winter stroll, and a hot tea from Familiars on one end of town, and a cookie from Hungry Ghost on the other. I wanted to illustrate that wholeeee cozy, jolly vibe.

Our campaign was focused on that magical feeling you can find in Northampton this time of year.

We created branded materials that shop owners and shoppers can all enjoy. There are posters…

…gift tags…

…greeting cards…

…window clings - how many can you spot downtown?

…and a full page ad in the Gazette!

Shopping locally is so important to me - and it’s what fuels our vibrant, magical community. I hope this inspires all you Western Mass folk to make your way downtown this holiday season, support our business owners, and share in that holiday magic.

A HUGE thank you to Amy at the DNA for being the heart and soul behind the shop local movement. The DNA is keeping Northampton vibrant in so many ways - check them out!

The Berkshires in October

It’s been a while since I posted a travel blog, as the theme for 2020 has decidedly been stay home. Although Jake and I have missed exploring new places, it’s been equally gratifying to find all sorts of beauty and adventure in our own backyard and out on the farm this year.

We were supposed to get married on September 26, and decided it was best to hold off celebrating with family and friends until next year. We both needed a little honeymoon though, and decided to venture just a little ways outside of the backyard and into the Berkshires. We’ve made lots of journeys out to those hills over the years, but only as day trips and never for an extended stay. So we booked three nights at The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, and got excited to explore all of our favorite spots slowly and in their October finest.

The Red Lion Inn is one of my most favorite places in the world. My siblings and I grew up knowing it as a fancy lunch spot with the wooden rocking horse, as my mom and grandmother would take us there around Christmas time. I’d never stayed over though, and was thrilled to experience the historic New England landmark as a guest. I was instantly charmed by the intricate yellow wallpaper in our little room on the second floor, and savored the creaky floors, fireplace, and big old windows looking out to downtown Stockbridge.

Our first hike was a favorite revisited – Steven’s Glen in West Stockbridge. This is a pleasant, easy trail that meanders through an abandoned Christmas tree farm, across the wooded site of many turn-of-the-century jazz parties, and along the bubbling Lenox Mountain Brook. The trail leads to a little observation deck with a stunning perspective of the brook cascading over a ravine. We’d last passed through Steven’s Glen on a very snowy winter day, and it offered a whole new kind of beauty in peak fall foliage.

We wanted to keep dinner casual and outdoors on a still-warm evening, so we picked up pizzas from Berkshire Mountain Bakery and found a picnic spot at Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary. The pizza was seasonal and excellent – butternut squash, figs, caramelized onions and blue cheese – only to be outdone by the bakery’s famous chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

The next day was devoted to two of our most favorite spots in the Berkshires: Bash Bish Falls and Umpachene Falls. We headed South from the Inn and parked on the New York side of Bash Bish (MA parking lot is closed right now?) and wandered slowly along the stream that leads to the highest waterfall in Massachusetts. No matter how many times we visit Bash Bish, the view always blows us away. It was particularly nice to visit on a weekday, with only a few others hiking, and in peak foliage it felt truly special

Bash Bish always delivers a thrill, but Umpachene Falls is where we go to find a little calm. We make a summertime journey out to this quiet New Marlborough spot each summer for a cool swim, but hadn’t yet made it there this year. It was nice to have the place all to ourselves, and we recalled the first time we went there together and lots of other happy memories as leaves fell into the too-cold swimming hole.

We headed back to the Red Lion Inn beneath foreboding skies, reservations awaiting us in the dining room, and a highly anticipated viewing of the Naumkeag Pumpkin Show to follow. Back in our room, the winds picked up and I watched the Red Lion’s wooden roadside sign fly clean off its post. The rain came down in sheets and thunder hammered, knocking out the town’s power. Here we were, weeks away from Halloween in a spooky old New England Inn, all the lights off; we were elated. We wandered the dark halls and found the lobby glowing with candlelight, the Wednesday night jazz trio carrying on with their show.

As fun as it was, no power meant no fancy dinner and no Pumpkin Show. We shifted dinner plans back South to New Marlborough, where Gedney Farm still had power. We were happy to dine in the place we should have been getting married just a week earlier, and got excited for next year’s celebrations over a delicious meal.

We slept a rather haunted night with no lights and no phones, and awakened to power snapping back on just in time for breakfast. We had sights set over the state line for Friday, heading towards the Catskills and Kaaterskill Falls.

We’d never been to this popular destination before, and the towering, misty cascade certainly lived up to the hype. The winding drive up 23A is breathtaking in October, and the falls themselves are sublime. The trek was a little more populous than we would have liked given the pandemic, but people were pretty courteous about keeping distant and wearing masks.

I insisted we make one stop on our way back to the Berkshires: Rodgers Book Barn in Hillsdale, NY. I’d been following them on Instagram for a while, and I’m never not on the hunt for good second hand books. Deep into country backroads, rolling hills, many cows, and spooky forests, the Book Barn came into view, just as much of a fairytale as I’d hoped. The proprietors were very surprised to see us, as their power was still out, but welcomed us in and offered a flashlight to browse the dark shelves. I loved it all the more.

After reading out on the iconic Red Lion porch for a bit, we enjoyed dinner over in their cozy Widow Bingham’s Tavern. I warmed up with a bowl of butternut squash soup and roasted fall veggies, and Jake had a nice piece of cod. 

Our last day, we enjoyed a perfect breakfast in the dining room, and were thrilled to watch the grand tractor delivery of two giant pumpkins to the Inn’s entrance.

A final hike on our way out was one we’d been meaning to do for years and had never quite found the opportunity: Hollow Fields in Richmond. This is pastoral path mowed into rolling hayfields, leading to forest trails and a beautiful overlook of South County. This was such a pleasant hike on a fall day, and I would love to go back and do it in late spring, when first-cut hay is at full height.

Before heading back East, we stopped at favorite No. Six Depot Roastery & Cafe and split a veggie hummus wrap and lentil sweet potato soup. We have never been disappointed by a meal at this establishment, and once again they offered flavorful twists to old classics that far exceed expectations. I ran into Shaker Mill Books across the street (I can’t resist) and picked up a timely volume of Berkshire ghost stories, and this local cookbook which I’ve heard so much buzz about. 

We returned to our own corner of Western Mass relaxed and refreshed, our case of pandemic wanderlust safely satisfied. There are so many beautiful spots to explore here in our own state, and no better time to do it than October. 

Special Offer for CISA Local Heroes!

CISA has been doing some incredible work in the Western Massachusetts community for 25 years, providing resources and support for the local farmers that feed us all. Most notably, they’ve established the Local Heroes campaign, which is the country’s longest running and most comprehensive “buy local” program for farm products. Farms, restaurants, retailers, and more join together to raise awareness and sales of locally grown products.

Good news if you’re part of that awesome movement - The Homegrown Studio has partnered with CISA to offer Local Hero members 15% off any graphic design or branding project! Let’s work together to tell your story, and tell the larger story of what it means to farm, buy, and eat locally.

Send me a note if you’re a Local Hero and want to take advantage of this offer, I’m booking projects for January. Winter is the best time to develop your branding and marketing, and prepare for a bountiful 2019 season!

AND, I’ll be teaching a branding workshop through CISA this February! Stay tuned for details.

Ladies Drawing Night Western Mass

I’ve been feeling like talking in real life with other local creatives; exchanging ideas, learning about others’ processes, getting feedback, and enjoying a laugh together at all of this. I’ve long been inspired by the original Ladies Drawing Night movement in Brooklyn, and loved the book by Julia Rothman, Leah Goren, and Rachael Cole. So I put a little idea out there on Insta, and was thrilled to see an enthusiastic response both from people I know and don’t know, and local businesses offering to host. I fleshed out the idea a little more from there and came up with Ladies Drawing Night Western Mass.

The first LDN will be Thursday, November 8 from 7:00 - 9:00 pm at Holyoke Hummus in Holyoke, Mass.! It will be a fun, casual atmosphere for local creative women to make some art, share ideas, get inspiration, make new connections, and enjoy the best falafel in the Pioneer Valley.

And, this will all be in benefit of the Holyoke Creative Arts Center, which provides low cost artistic instruction to the Holyoke community and beyond. They do a lot to support local arts and foster creative thinking in the community, and we’d like to show our support in return. Please consider donating when you come out to Ladies Drawing Night.

So, put LDN on your calendars, and I’ll look forward to seeing you on November 8! Can’t wait to meet you!

A Quick Escape from Winter

Winter on the farm means pulling on my heavy insulated overalls, breaking through frozen water bucket after frozen water bucket, lugging hay out to barren pastures, and a host of other frigid, less-fun chores that often leave me dreaming of a warmer escape. Luckily there is one nearby that I can always count on, offering chilled bones and runny noses some tropical humidity, lush flora, and soft white light from every direction. That's the Botanic Garden at Smith College.

I spent the 20 degree morning on Saturday getting the horses set up for the day out in their frosted pasture (they don't mind), and arrived home chilly but game to finish a little last minute holiday shopping with Jake in downtown Northampton. The weekend before Christmas, you can imagine the chaos. Pushing through Thornes at noontime I was still pretty frozen and feeling sleepy. We made the executive decision that the only good, right place to be in that town at that moment was the Botanic Garden.

Passing through the first door to the Warm Temperate House, the first deep breath of dewy air is like a drug. How had we forgotten August so quickly? Layers are shed in the heat, attention turned to the omnipresent plant life. Every shade of green, every strange variety, blooming from the ground, creeping along walls, and cascading from the ceiling. 

The greenhouses became a labyrinth, and we wandered along the paths from glass door to glass door. The stillness was such a relief after being caught up in a swell of panicked shoppers downtown, plants oblivious to the number of days until Christmas. 

I felt so much better after submerging in that tropical cleanse for an hour, fingers, toes, and mood thoroughly defrosted. Green plant life, natural light, and warmth are actual medicine. (The happiest of memories are too. Jake and I went to the Botanic Garden on our first date.)

This winter, don't forget about the Botanic Garden. Treat yourself to a little time in there and suddenly spring won't seem so far away.