New year, new things

It is 20 days into 2026 and I already feel like I have done more this year than any of the previous 5 years of my life combined. This is hyperbolic, but seriously it is off to a crazy start. In a good way. An amazing way, even. 

To end off 2025, I had a post go viral on my personal art Instagram. This rocked, because it was a lot of positive feedback and momentum that made up for my personal images being ripped off and reuploaded to Pinterest and Tiktok (if you wanna know more, see here). I reached 100K followers after being stagnant for years; now, follower counts really don’t matter in the grand scheme of Instagram’s algorithm anymore, but it was an exciting bucket list item to check off the ol’ mental list of things nobody really cares about but me. 

Then, there were the holidays. I think my favorite gift I received this year was my new fancy hairbrush. I really don’t know what to say about it besides that it’s fancy and it makes my hair feel soft. Then, on New Years Eve, I got my hair done in a completely new color. The only times I’ve ever lightened my hair were to add vivids, like hot pink (and that one time in 8th grade I had “rose gold ombre” hair). It is now an auburn-y sort of color. I’m a naturally dark brunette, so lightening my hair is a real undertaking. But I needed a change. And I really love it. It feels like this has been my hair the whole time. My inspiration from it came from realizing I have a lot of natural red in my hair, like more than I ever realized until about this summer. And then… Born To Die era Lana, with that almost reddish coppery auburn color. I wanted that. And now I have it. People keep saying I look blonde. Maybe eventually I’ll go blonder. I have to try it at least once in my life. 

Then, on Christmas night, Sophie and I booked tickets to visit our cousin in LA. We flew there on New Year’s Day. We had never been further west than Chicago in the 19 and 22 years we’ve been around. It was also our first time alone on an airplane. Obviously we had each other, but since there was no true elder guiding us we felt like this was an accomplishment for us. The airport is actually not as scary to navigate alone as I thought. Plane rides are very boring. 

LA was beautiful. It was raining a lot when we got there and there was also an evening that was so windy it felt like being back in freezing cold Michigan, which was interesting. But the sun felt good. That made it really easy for me to pretend it was summer even though it was still around 50-60 degrees out the whole 10 days we were there. We saw all the classic sights, like the Hollywood sign and Kermit the Frog’s star on the Walk of Fame. We went to Erewhon. We ate the best tuna sandwiches I’ve ever had in my life (they had banana peppers on them). Sophie and Allison (oh yeah, Allison met us there too, btw) met Connor O’Malley on the street. We saw a marionette show at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater (which was maybe the most magical thing I’ve ever done in my whole life. Allison and I cried the whole time but hid it really well). And, we went to Disneyland, which is one of mine and Allison’s main interests in life. I don’t think I should be qualified as a Disney adult because I truly only care about the engineering of the parks. I don’t think I’ve watched any new Disney movies that have come out in at least the past 5 years. There’s just something about animatronics. 

And then, it was time to go back home. And home we went. Here is where it gets REALLY good. The day after our return I was walking distractedly up the stairs of the building my studio is in, on my phone, when a little meow rang out to my left. When I looked up, a beautiful grey cat was sitting on the steps. I was in awe, and sat down to pet it. It was instantly rubbing up against my legs, begging for attention. And I’m a sucker, so I sat on the steps and hung out with it for a while. It crawled into my lap. I started crying. I called Allison, telling her there was a cat on my lap meowing at me and I think it needed to be mine. Then I called my mom and told her the same thing. I decided that since this cat was feral (I know now he was not, and was more likely someone’s pet that got abandoned), it could be really hard, or even dangerous, for me to bring him home. Especially since we have Allison’s cat Mike in the house (Allison is my roommate, if you didn’t already know). He could have all sorts of issues from living outside, and I didn’t really know how to wrap my head around what needed to happen. So I left him, and went home to sleep on it for a night. I then tossed and turned and texted whoever could possibly provide me insight, on top of Google researching. That needed to be my cat. I knew it the second I saw him. So the next morning, I went to feed him and see if he was even still there (he was), and try to ponder what to do. And then, like some sort of spirit or omen or something, a woman I had never seen before walked over from across the street to talk to me about the cats. 

In the area I found the cat, there are a lot of ferals, which is what led me to believe my now cat Grischa was a feral cat. I now know more about what it means to be feral, which is pretty much the opposite of being a friendly cat. I told the random woman that I was thinking about rescuing him, and she gave me some insight, telling me it was indeed a risk to bring him home, but that I should try playing with him outside, or to try holding him and see what he does. So, a few minutes later we hung out on those steps again, and he let me hold him, purring in my arms until I set him back down. I needed him. 

Within the next few hours I went grocery shopping, went to the Petstore to buy a litterbox and a carrier, went home to clean my room and prepare for him, called vets until I found one I could get into day-of, picked up Sophie, and went and scooped this cat up off the street to head to the vet. It was stressful, but we did it. He was cooperative and very brave, only meowing a little bit when we first got him into the carrier. Everyone at the vet was so impressed, and kept telling me how special he was. 

That evening, he settled into my room quickly. We brought in a cat bed that Allison’s cat doesn’t use, and he immediately settled into it. And then when I went to bed, he crawled in to sleep by my legs. It was perfect. And now, a week and one day later, he is still just as perfect, but now brave enough to be more curious about the rest of the apartment. I let him walk around yesterday to see all of it. I’ve only kept him in my room because he has some sort of upper respiratory infection that needs to go away before he can be fully exposed to Mike. But he is on the mend, so soon enough he will be fully acclimated to the rest of his home. 

I’ve never had a cat before, besides cat roommates. And I certainly didn’t think I’d be getting a cat anytime soon, but he crossed my path and I truly believe that he chose me. He is named Grischa after my favorite character from The Red Shoes, which is one of my favorite movies. It’s also the perfect name (Sophie came up with it, full credits to her) because “gris” is grey in French. He’s my perfect little guy. And now I am an anxious cat mom. 

Life is busy, which is good. I’m about to embark on a dream project that has been in the works for a long time, so I’ll be occupied for the next few weeks. It’s very exciting stuff. Unfortunately my Instagram momentum has been too hard to keep up with since so much has been happening outside of that, but that’s great to be able to say. I do miss my studio though. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to sit down and do personal work, but it’s best for me to save up my creative juices for this mysterious dream project that I am keeping a secret from you all until it’s completed. Here’s to a magical, wonderful, eventful, fulfilling 2026.