Checking in

Proof of life happening offline and a weekend I can't seem to shake.

Hi. Finally… a little life update (and a very overdue one)

Where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing, and why it’s all meant more than I can really put into words But I’m going to try anyway.

I feel like I blinked and lived an entire year in about one month.

So hi. I’m here.

Reporting live and slightly sun-kissed from St. Barts (which I haven’t even gotten to posting yet). I’ve been meaning to sit down and write this, but every time I tried, I kept getting pulled back into a recent experience that I just can’t shake.

So we’re starting there, because everything else honestly feels like background noise in comparison.

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The weekend

We hosted our first ever Disabled& Limb Difference Weekend earlier this month and… wow. It was all I thought about for two months leading up to the weekend and now is proving to be all I think about two weeks after (and counting).

This event is something we’ve been dreaming up since we hosted our last event for young girls with limb differences and heard this one thing from our community: we want more time together.

So I drafted up an idea that included a full 3 day weekend experience not just for the girls with disabilities in our community but their parents too.

I don’t think I fully understood what it would feel like until everyone actually got there.

There’s something about watching an idea exist in your head for so long… and then suddenly you’re standing at a venue in Nashville, watching families arrive, girls stepping out of cars, a little nervous, parents scanning the space, and thinking:

oh. this is real.

I’ve hosted events like this before but they’ve always just been a few hours - never a full weekend.

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Friday: the tone was set immediately

We kicked things off with an Italian summer-style welcome dinner (if you know me, you know I’m a proud Italian so this was very on brand for me).

Long tables, plenty of pasta, handmade details (did you guys see the custom lampshades we commissioned?!), kids crafting and running around barefoot by the end of the night… it felt like stepping into a little world we created together.

But what I didn’t expect was how quickly the energy shifted.

The first hour always feels like a first day of school. Quiet, a little tentative. And before I knew it, guards were down.

Girls crafting, parents chatting, people lingering longer than expected. By the end of the night, they were running around the lawn, laughing like they’d known each other forever.

At one point, I saw one of the girls tug her mom’s sleeve and say “I’ve always wanted a friend like this,” referring to her newfound friendship.

Tears.

I kept looking around thinking: this is what happens when people don’t have to explain themselves first.

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Saturday: where it all clicked

The next morning we joined our friends at Jordan Thomas Foundation for their annual picnic.

This event is especially meaningful to me because it’s at this picnic, 2 years ago that I met other people with arms like mine for the first time. And it was that experience that fueled my passion to begin hosting and eventually create Disabled&.

The picnic felt like a continuation of the playful spirit that Friday brought.

And then Saturday night…

Might’ve been my favorite part.

Girls’ night upstairs with matching PJs, crafts, pizza, feather boas, the whole nine yards.

Meanwhile parents had their own dinner downstairs.

Creating space for both groups was really important to me for this weekend. Our past events have always been centered around the kids but it’s not lost on me that spaces like this can be just as impactful (and hard to come by) for parents of kids with disabilities as it is for the kids.

I wasn’t sure how we were going to pull it off but this night turned out to be the perfect solution.

The girls get independence, fun, and freedom of being “on their own”. The parents get to exhale, connect, be understood in a way that’s also rare.

Conversations that probably would’ve taken weeks anywhere else were happening within hours.

I popped in and out of both rooms and just kept thinking: this is exactly what we hoped it would feel like.

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Sunday: the part no one prepares you for

We ended with a dance class led by professional dancer, Sydney Mesher. To many of the young girls with a limb difference in our community, she is a total celebrity so it was so fun to

And I know I said Saturday night was my favorite (aaand Friday) but this morning really was something special.

The girls all lined up at the ballet bar in matching outfits, each adapting based on their unique bodies.

Sydney shared a profound reflection from the dance class on her instagram here. It’s safe to say we were all in tears.

We ended with a casual brunch and then… the goodbyes.

Which were harder than I expected.

If you were a camp kid, you know the feeling. There’s something about packing so many meaningful moments into a short window of time. The emotions sneak up on you. You go from strangers to something that feels like real community, and then suddenly you’re hugging goodbye in a parking lot.

It makes me so grateful for this community.

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What people shared (in the most respectful, can’t-stop-thinking-about-it way)

Clearly I could talk about this weekend until I’m blue in the face but I think the most powerful stories are the ones straight from our community.

Here are a couple moments that were shared with us by parents after the weekend:

“My daughter met another girl once we arrived at our hotel. For the remainder of the weekend they found each other at each event. It was almost as if they had known each other their whole lives. Their bond didn’t stop them from meeting other new friends and being social, but it was just beautiful to watch that little relationship happen and blossom!

I was struck by hearing some of the women with limb differences sharing how they didn’t see anyone like them until adulthood. The beauty and blessing of this event is that, that won’t be my daughter’s story. That won’t be the story for any of the young girls who attended. Not only did our girls get the chance to be seen but the adults receive the same gift in return. Events like these are like a healing balm. There is magic and necessity in seeing someone who looks like you, in being able to enter a space knowing that no one will wonder about you and ask questions about who you are. The weekend provided a peace in this way and these are the moments that get stored in your heart, tucked away to boost your confidence, and create imprints that are invaluable.”

“After the first night, my daughter said while poking her cheeks, “I have a smile on my face that I can’t even get off.” That about sums up how we both felt! Getting to witness her being fully included without being bombarded with questions first was so wonderful.”

What I’m sitting with now

I’ve had a lot of “pinch me” moments in my career.

But this was one I’ll never forget.

It reminded me of why I started all of this in the first place. And also made me realize… I don’t always know what’s next. In a good way. I almost never have, until *that* idea sparks, which is what led me here in the first place. So many people don’t realize Disabled& is just a tiny team of two.

Which is both exciting and slightly terrifying.

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Everything else (quickly, because it feels like a blur)

Right after the weekend, I was in Palm Springs for Stagecoach with Nivea which was fun and chaotic and very dusty in the best way.

And now I’m in St. Barts on a quick (and much needed) family trip, still trying to process everything.

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What’s next

Heading to NYC soon for a Met Gala watch party (???), and attending an awards ceremony with the one & only Sara Blakely for Sneex.

And then… back home and into the normal swing of things.

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Now that I’m (kind of) back

I’m easing back in slowly.

Answering emails from a beach chair, rewatching moments from the weekend on my camera roll, already thinking about how we make the next one even better.

And also trying to stay present here, because I know I’ll blink and this will all be over.

If you were at the weekend, I’m still thinking about you.

If you’ve been following along, thank you for caring about something that means so much to me.

This really does feel like the beginning of something.

Love you.