WELL, it only took until week 4 to forget that I committed to a weekly newsletter. I thought I'd screw up sooner than that, honestly. I also really appreciate the reason yanpennings slipped my mind. (Isn't it soooo nice to forget ourselves for a little while?)  Its because I spent the weekend celebrating someone I'd much rather make cookies for than St. Nick. 

 

It's time to talk about St.Tina

 

Twas the night before yet another ego-Deathmas and all through the magic mountain house I'd just moved into, 

which I had no clue how I was actually going to pay for, 

a lot of creatures were stirring, mostly my three kids---of which, Wren probably looks the most like a mouse.

 

Sadly, I won't be able to keep up the rhyming…..

 

But there I was, smack dab in the middle of a total shit storm of personal and financial devastation, wondering how the cuss I was goin to keep going, and knowing that I needed some help. I was advised to make a Mary Poppins list of every single quality I could dream of in a person I would want to work with me.  As I made the list, it was hard to believe anyone would:

 

A. Fit the bill

B.  Be able to translate my long list of “idiosyncranies,”  (which is a nice way of saying things that make me a pain, albeit endearing, pain in the ass to work with) into systems that would keep my business and me afloat. 

I made the list the total opposite of every weakness I had, and posted it to my instagram. Out of the, internet thin air, materialized St. Tina. (aka Kristina). She descended not with an umbrella in her hand but with more than one spreadsheet and several spoonfulls of sugar.

 

Was she a human? 

Was she a witch?

Was she an angel?

Was she an auditor by day?

Was she soon to become the type of friend that ends up like family?

 

The answer is, she was EVERYTHING. And more.

 

Without St. Tina, it is likely that:

 

My business would be in the red

The IRS would have come after me

I wouldn't have been able to buy a house

Covid would have put me under

I wouldn't have had the guts or womanpower to offer ¼ of what I offer you all.

So next time you're sitting there, as I'm sure you often do, wondering:

 

1. how the heck yan does it all and

2.  if magic is real. 

The answers are: 

1. I don't. I am backed by St. Tina (And others at times. Hi Nimmi.)

2. Yes. Absolutely. A thousand times yes.

 

Lastly, and semi-related, and because tis the season, by which I mean Sagittarius season. It amazes me how many precious Sagittarians there are in my life. Not unlike the abundance of Gemini men, who I promise to never date again. 

 

Thus, I wanna also shout some birthday love toward:

 

 

 

 

Lastly, lastly, below you'll find a gift of a December Spotify playlist. And something else you'll have to keep reading to discover.

 

xx, 

Yan

moody in some parts. silly in others. like me.

02  Did you know I do year long mentoring with photographers? Probably not because I hardly uttered a peep about it in 2022.  Instead, I simply reveled. Still, check out this peek of Maryam Salassi's cool project.  I had a 2023 SIDEDOOR participants who had to bow out,  so read all about how it works on my website holler at me via email if you wanna jump in.