I'm here now.

🎶 "Everywhere I've been, and everywhere I'm goin'" 🎶

Jun 14, 2024

This post is dedicated to my college roommate Erica, who gave me the encouragement I needed to finally start my Substack. Thank you, Erica.

Hi everyone. It’s been a minute.

It’s been over a year now since I last posted on my blog, and starting a new thing seems like a good way to snap myself back into the routine of writing. I have done this once before (let’s pour one out for Vicky La France). And with Substack replacing the humble ol’ blog, I’m finally jumping on the train.

I don’t exactly know why I’m doing this. It’s been a prompting of the Holy Spirit, and the encouragement of family and friends, that I’ve been very good at ignoring. However, lately I’ve been thinking about the true definitions of two words: “obedience” and “freedom.”

This Substack is an act of obedience. “Obedience” is a scary word and is so deeply misunderstood, even by Christians. We think of cult leaders, or tyrants, or narcissists who demand unfailing submission to their will. But that is the furthest thing from the character of God. The God who created the world out of nothing, who arranged every blade of grass and every hair on your head, who knows you better than you know yourself, doesn’t want to dominate or control you. We have that pesky little thing called free will to thank for that. If God is infinitely good, and desires our ultimate good, then obeying Him—through the personal promptings of the Holy Spirit and the teaching magisterium of the Church—is the most surefire way to build the life that we most deeply desire. I’ve been a writer since I was a kid. But lately, I’ve allowed the busyness of life, the pull of my responsibilities, and the distractions of Al Gore’s Internet™ to make me…not write. I haven’t allowed myself the freedom to write for a long time.

And there’s the other word that’s so misunderstood: “freedom.” As the oft-repeated quote goes, freedom isn’t the right to do whatever we want, but the opportunity to do what is right. That’s true in both the big, overwhelming issues that wrack our world today, and in my little choice to wake up early on a Tuesday morning to write this Substack and not scroll on my phone for another hour.

Art is freedom. When I look around at the artists in my life—my best friend since sixth grade designing clothes between caring for her farm and her child, a new Atlanta friend showing up every week on YouTube sharing her love for chinoiserie painting and interior design, every single artist I have interviewed for the Catholic Artist Connection—all of these people are so free. They are obeying the Lord’s call on their life and using the talents He has given them to bring truth, beauty, and goodness into the world. That’s the freedom (and obedience) I want for my life. So I’m here now.

Thank you for joining me on this journey.

aerial view of city buildings during daytime — My new home. Photo by ibuki Tsubo on Unsplash

Life Lately

A rapid-fire life update:

In December 2023, my husband Charlie and I made the big move from NYC to Atlanta. I’ll get more into this in a future post, but I’ve been shocked at how quickly this city has felt like home.
In addition to my day job, I’ve been the communications manager for the Catholic Artist Connection for over a year and I love it! Check out their website to see all the amazing artists that make up our community.

ATL Spotlight of the Week

For Mother’s Day, we took my in-laws and my husband’s godparents to Capolinea, a beautiful Italian restaurant at the Hilton Hotel near Mercedes-Benz Stadium. We came for the tableside martinis; we stayed for the drop-dead gorgeous sunset overlooking the city.

Photo 1: Vicky and Charlie standing on a balcony at sunset. Charlie wears a blue suit and pink tie and holds a champagne flute. Vicky wears a hot pink dress. Photo 2: The Capolinea martini, a gin martini with lemon with optional olive and rosemary over ice on the side. Photo 3: The old-fashioned bar in the entryway of Capolinea with fully stocked brass shelves in back. Photo 4: The layout of Capolinea. The rollable martini cart is in the foreground with a pot of pink flowers next to it. Round tables and chairs stretch all the way to the back of the restaurant through a series of light green arches.

Free Things that Make Me Happy

I started doing a blog series about this a while back and I still love the idea, so I’m bringing it to Substack! And for the purposes of not splitting hairs, my definition of “free” is “not spending money I haven’t already spent.” OK? OK.

🎼 🙌 New worship music: I’ve lost most if not all my interest in contemporary Christian music over the past few years. However, two notable exceptions popped up recently—and they’re both from Catholic female artists!

The cover art of Sarah Kroger's album "A New Reality," Sarah standing on a rock on a beach, looking to the left, with a mirror behind her, showing a blooming garden scene.

A New Reality by Sarah Kroger: Oh, the number of times I’ve sobbed in my car listening to this album! If you’ve been missing Audrey Assad’s worship music, this is for you. My faves are “No Filter” and “Human.”

The cover art of Marie Miller's album "The Way of Love," a painting of Marie in a pink dress walking down a woodsy path.

The Way of Love by Marie Miller: I’ve enjoyed Marie’s music for years and if you like folky mandolin as much as I do, you’ll love this. Also, “Woman” is my new ugly-cry-during-prayer song.

OK, I know I said both of these things that make me happy also make me cry, but the real ones know those things are not mutually exclusive.

Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what other topics you’d like to see from me, and I will see you next time.