01/01/2026
I’m loving all of the recaps from 2025. I’m still processing what the past rotation around the sun meant for me/ us/ this business/ mending/ sustainable + anti-capitalist businesses. It was a year of some gains but greater losses~ I think that sentiment has been felt by many.
I’m nostalgic for our little shop in Avalon. I miss and ache for it and the people who gave it life, even though I know that closing was the wise decision. I don’t have a lot of eloquent thoughts right now, just a bunch of raw feelings + gratitude.
I am so, so grateful for Justin Strong giving me the opportunity to keep this thing going at Magic Cleaners. I’ve gotten so much positive feedback from existing customers and also have met a new customer base, which is a good reminder that while Pittsburgh is small, it’s also expansive in all its layers / neighborhoods- chutes + ladders / hills, hollers, rivers, + bridges.
I’m grateful for all of the people who have helped, held, and heard me through this past year- I’m not going to rattle all the names off but know that a bunch of faces are flashing in my mind + in my heart, so if you’ve given any presence or patience or resources to me at all in 2025: Thank you for everything. Take every hug you’ve squeezed into me or cry you’ve heard or space you’ve shared and multiply my thanks by 1000. I truly do not know where I’d be without my community and family, both blood + chosen.
I have this tendency to go hard + fast with urgency because I always feel like time is slipping away. I hate the feeling of stagnation more than anything- it actually feels like death to me, in this panicky way I’m not proud of. But I have finally taken a moment to catch my breath, and am starting to realize that I actually don’t want to live like that or operate a business like that anymore. This past year has forced me to quiet down, reflect on mistakes, and sit with myself. It has been painful and hard and dark, but there have been light moments. And living here has taught me that a dark winter makes a light spring all the more sweet 🌷
You can find us at Magic Cleaners on Fridays + Saturdays starting next week- we’re still on winter break.
