Summer as a Human Ping-Pong Ball

School officially ended, and the kids went on some trips with their dad before spending a week with me in Denver. They're now officially enjoying their very first sleep-away summer camp – Elizabeth at Wyonegonic (the oldest all-girls camp in America, and the camp I spent all my summers at growing up!) and Zach at its brother-camp, Winona. Cabins for E and raised tents for Z – let’s see how much they appreciate electricity when they come home.

I’m most definitely thinking about them nonstop and curious about their experiences (no calls home - or vice versa - allowed), but I'm sure they're having a great time and not thinking about me even the tiniest bit. The transition from constant chaos to sudden quiet has been...an adjustment. Part of me misses the noise, and part of me is secretly enjoying meals that don't require advanced negotiation tactics.

HOW YOU CAN HELP CAMP MYSTIC: My heart is absolutely shattered for the girls of Camp Mystic and their families and loved ones. It's impossible not to think of my own children away at camp right now. If you can, please consider making a donation to any of the several organizations with boots on the ground - American Camp Association Disaster Assistance Scholarship Fund, Kerr County Flood Relief Fund, The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services, and the Texas Community Recovery Management System.

In my former life running an event planning company, Bluebird Productions, summer was always the start of my busiest season. But with Partytrick, I’m learning that everyone else sort of winds down during these months. Who knew this was how the rest of the world lived?! It’s a really big shift for me!

But we all know you'd need to sit a 2-ton elephant in my lap to keep me from hustling. So in June, I spoke on a panel about the Experience Economy at New York Tech Week. Then I headed back to Aspen to dive into an activation showcasing how our platform powers our friends at Everyday Dose (a mushroom coffee brand) and Focus Fuel (caffeinated gummies) at Food & Wine. Perfect partnerships really, since I'm basically a human energy drink.

Marketing fun fact. It takes 7 times on average for someone to hear something and take action. But I know that you, my people, are above average, so you won’t need me to remind you that our consumer platform is live again 7 times, right?  What’s different? So much! However - THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: your old account is OLD and no longer works. I need you to set up a new account HERE. Please, please let me know what you think - the good, the bad, the ugly. 

WHO PARTIES BEST: We’re about to find out if the young folks still party like we did back in the day! We're launching a college ambassador program! Please share with your friends, family, and anyone who might know someone living their best college years! 

The Aspen Food & Wine Classic was last month and ended up being such a perfect way to share a little of my Aspen and event world with my bf, Chris, who lives on the East Coast. Isn’t there something magical about sharing a place that's been such a huge part of your life with someone new? It felt like the perfect bridge between my old life and whatever this new chapter is becoming. Sometimes you completely rediscover a place when you experience it with someone who helps you see it through fresh eyes. And, on the back half of the month, I explored his New York world - time outside the city, time out at his beach club, time with our two pups learning to be friends….. 

WHAT KEEPS ME AWAKE: This one probably isn't going to break the internet, but coffee. Not matcha (I'm not that evolved), not Red Bull (I don't need wings, just consciousness), just pure coffee beans. Current favorite brand: all of them.

"Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." 

- Henry James