My First Workshop and a Wonderful Reunion
My First Workshop - (And the Most Unexpected Reunion)**
Last weekend, I led my very first watercolor workshop… and I’m still floating. Truly. My heart feels like it has been dipped in cerulean blue and sparkled with joy.
The class filled up faster than I expected, and we already have a waiting list for next month (which feels unbelievable and wonderful all at once). Hosting these in my home each month might just be one of my favorite new traditions.
But the real magic?
Oh… the magic showed up in the form of two women who had no idea they were about to have a 40-year reunion.
My best friend from high school came — We’ve been through crushes, perms, heartbreaks, weddings, babies, and more questionable fashion choices than I care to admit — and here we were, sitting side-by-side, laughing and painting like not a single year had passed. That alone felt like a gift.
And my right-hand woman on my work team came — the person who helps me keep Imagine (my real job) and all my projects breathing and moving. She's the person I spend every single day with and can't imagine a day without her.
A couple of hours into the class — brushes going, laughter flowing, everyone settling into that cozy watercolor rhythm — these two suddenly realized…
They knew each other.
From college.
Forty years ago.
And not just “Oh, I think we crossed paths.”
No.
They were friends. Like actual, laugh-till-you-snort friends.
One of them got so excited she went home mid-workshop to grab her old college scrapbook. When she came back, they opened it up right at my kitchen table and started flipping through photos of the two of them from four decades ago — big hair, big smiles, and memories they hadn’t revisited in years.
It was… magic.
Pure, unexpected, goosebump-inducing magic.
The workshop was scheduled for two hours…
but it turned into five.
Five hours of painting, storytelling, reconnecting, and laughing until our cheeks hurt.
Moments like that remind me why watercolor has stolen my heart — not just for the art, but for the community it creates. For the women it brings together. For the memories it stirs up and the friendships it revives.
Building friendships in middle-age isn’t as easy as it was when our kids were in school, sports, and activities — but now the friendships we form are deeper, sweeter, more intentional. And this little workshop felt like a glimpse of everything I hope to build: connection, creativity, and the warmth of women gathering together.
My dream is to someday host retreats where we paint, rest, connect, and create lifelong friendships. Saturday felt like the very beginning of that dream.
I’ll post a few photos from the workshop — snapshots of color, joy, and one magical scrapbook reunion I’ll never forget.
