Let’s start with some updates this week. Fairfax, VA is being added to the schedule on April 19. I’m super excited about this one. It was produced by FARM the past few years and when they asked me to take it over so it can happen this year, I said YES! We want to bring DC Vegfest back, but times are weird and albeit dangerous, so this will be pretty close in proximity to DC and parts of Maryland and more. I have a meeting next week with the venue to discuss logistics and then will get this opened up to vendors. Mark your calendars now!

I also had a meeting with Wild Pines Sanctuary about going back to Greenville, SC. We are actively looking for a venue and to make a weekend out of it, including visiting the sanctuary. It might look like a cooking contest and festival plus a brunch at the sanctuary or some iteration of these ideas. I’m also thinking it will be on October 25 instead of doing a second Asheville this year. So, if you love Asheville, you might want to join us in June because you’ll need to head to SC in the fall instead of NC.

I want to talk about the mental strain the state of the world has had on me over the past few weeks. I’m the type that sees a dead animal in the road and I apologize under my breath every single time. It leads me to think about how anyone could drive around and not care that these sentient beings, who feel pain just as we do, are killed and left to rot on the road. The cognitive dissonance is real. They share our planet with us and we prefer to be speciesist over compassionate.

As you can imagine, seeing other humans getting beaten, killed, injured just for standing up and speaking out and sometimes for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, is atrocious. My brain is trying to process all of this and stay sane. How are you handling all of this? It can be at your door/city/state at any moment. This is far from just happening in MN and it will not happen anywhere else situation. Anyone reading this from MN, please know that we are with you and we see you.

Have you thought about what you would do? Would you protest? Would you stay behind the scenes? Would you give up your neighbors to ICE?

How do we keep on living life as usual when this is happening before our eyes?

I know this is heavy and I try to balance this. I feel the weight of all of this weighing on me and it’s definitely impacting my interest in meeting new people (I mean complete strangers to me) as opposed to staying in my bubble of people that I trust and align with.

Perhaps it’s time for April Lang and I to go live and talk about how this is impacting people and offer tips for getting through it. What do you think? Is that something you’d be interested in?

Here’s to another week of 2026. Stand strong. Keep your voice.