Catalina says this is Rose. Her name is on the lunchbox where you can find her sandwich and apple juice. You can feed Rose pizza, a fried egg, or a boba drink. And then when Rose is tired of eating, she can take a nap with her sleep mask.

Catalina didn’t make this for the Bob Ross presents AMERICA’S MOST ARTISTIC KID, but because she spends so much of her self-motivated free time making things like this that I threw her name in the hat.

See more of her work and VOTE for Catalina here.

Voting does not cost any money but there is an option to donate cash for a cancer fighting organization. The winner has a chance to appear on (an episode of?) Bob Ross's The Joy of Painting and exhibit her work in a museum (in Indianapolis).

Voting for the Top 20 closes this Thursday (2/26)! Only the top artists in each group will move forward.

As you can see in Matt’s lovingly rendered family portrait, this year was mostly about recovery and resilience. Many of our friends and associates lost homes in the LA fires at the beginning of 2025 and continue to navigate the ramifications of that, but I hope you will forgive me if this letter focuses on the MacFarland family’s (small in comparison) tribulations this year.

On the last weekend of March, we decided to finally spring for ski/snowboarding lessons. Only 1 of the 4 of us returned home unscathed. Matt is currently working on an illustrated version of this story available soon. Here is Athena’s account:

At first on that Friday, I thought we had unlocked a life hack when visiting Big Bear: Spending several hours in Running Springs is a great way to acclimate to the altitude. Our first mistake was waiting until the end of the season when the snow was more ice than powder.

Charles has never found a comfortable pair of boots in any of the three years we’ve fitted him, and so it was not new when he complained in his rented gear. As parents, we are advised to teach our kids grit, so we encouraged him to persevere, even though he kept falling on the bunny slope.

In actuality, Matt and I were trying to enjoy a perk at the Snow Valley Mountain Resort: there’s a bar with a patio deck that overlooks the space where kids are with instructors, so you can après-ski before you ski with the kids.

So, there Matt and I were, enjoying our beers, patting ourselves on our backs, when we saw Charles walking down the mountain — with his instructor carrying his snowboard.

This image above is what we found when we came looking for our son. Yikes! Poor guy couldn’t even throw a snowball for the rest of the weekend. But don’t feel too bad for Charles! He was the fastest to heal after getting his 2 fractured wrists set in casts. They were off within 4 weeks, and he was able to swim by his birthday in May.

Matt and I, however, paid the piper on Day 2. Long story short, I went the wrong way and down a run I was not ready for, fell, and popped my ACL. That afternoon, Matt went down the same run, intentionally, and landed on his clavicle.

I let him get his surgery first (age before beauty) and, honestly, I cannot remember anything that happened in 2025 before this catastrophic trip. Hold on let me check my calendar… I took a ceramics class? I went to Vegas for KBIS? Let’s take a little trip through my iPhone photo app. . .

JANUARY

Charles’s school basketball team ended the winter season strong with 2nd place overall in the school district championship. In November, his flag football team fought hard in the championship game but lost by 1. Great season overall. This amazing highlights compilation video credit goes to our neighbor and overall good sport Win.

FEBRUARY

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

SEPTEMBER

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Meanwhile, Catalina was recognized as Rockstar of the Month in her first month of 3rd Grade and I had, like, 2 Modern Luxury events per week including the Angeleno 25th Anniversary at the Academy Museum, the Interiors kitchen issue release parties at B/S/H in Beverly Hills and at Scavolini in the Laguna Design Center. We took a trip to Pismo Beach, SLO, and had a really fun time at the Great American Melodrama & Vaudeville in Oceano. Highly recommend!

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

I love writing this email every year and remembering all the good times. I would share even more photos but have hit my maximum email length limit. Reply and regale me with your tales, too, please!

Looking forward to another year chock full of laughter and hugs. See you then!

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But as I am writing today it is the last day of 2024, a year that brought me closure at home, in health, and at work.

Review 2023

home

To recap last year’s The MacFarlands newsletter: a mold remediation in August that we thought would last a single weekend had us living in AirBnBs for 9 months. We moved out about a week after school started (1st Grade for Cat / 4th Grade for Charles) and finally moved back home about a week before the school year ended!

It wasn’t all bad: we took one last insurance-funded hotel trip to Idaho for a snowy spring break and got the kids to try a magic carpet for the first time. They both fell a bit: and this is the metaphor I’m taking to heart for 2024. When it’s your first time, of course you might fall! Chumbawamba 4 life.

You don’t often get the opportunity to move completely out of your home and completely back in… to rethink where the furniture goes and what can be thrown away.

I love that the song of the moment is not only by a Korean and a Filipino but about building an apartment tower.

Special thanks to Home Front Build for the time, so much time, and hand-holding, Winning Renovation for going above and beyond within our limited budget (although we’re not technically finished, yet, lol), Phase Interiors for exciting renderings of what could have been and staying calm when I was panicking, and forever my boo Yael. The opposite of thanks to our HOA property manager and the 3 insurance companies we were constantly following up with and to this day are still chasing for money.

It might go without saying but I’ll say anyway that this experience could have broken our marriage and certainly tried to turn us against each other. Instead, my husband was a man of steel through my ferocity at the ongoing incompetence we were navigating and although I wouldn’t wish to relive this past year I couldn’t have been luckier than to have him with me. My kids could have been brats about not having their stuff or enduring any hardships of the nomadic life, but they were instead amazing. The cats… also survived.

health

I saw my friend Anna for the first time in nearly 10 years and learned she did not read all the way to the middle of last year’s newsletter where I told you about my left eye stroke (CRAO) which, I mean, I can’t blame you for not getting this far. You’re just as busy as we are. So, to recap: I went to lots of doctors and no one could figure out why it happened until I went to a hematologist who explained that I have some abnormal protein S activity. Protein S helps prevent blood clots, so I’m now taking an anticoagulant to reduce the risk of a future episode.

Ah, closure.

Everyone else on Team MacFarland is very healthy. Charles plays basketball everyday after school on campus with Parks & Rec in season (when he’s not co-quarterbacking the flag football team), on the weekends with a private youth league, and at least once a week with his 5th grade buddies at the local outdoor court. Matt and the other dads join these pickup games and have only let the kids win once this year.

Since moving back home, Charles has been walking to school every morning with our neighbor and fellow 5th grader Benjamin, his newest bestie. We call him Big Ben because he’s the most punctual child and has caused both of our kids to earn perfect attendance this year. (In contrast, Catalina had at least 25 tardies in 1st grade.)

work

Matt has had his fair share of middle-aged health concerns, which maybe you will read about in a future semi-autobio graphic novel. For now, you can enjoy his recently published OK Cryptid (sorta about his life before he met me). You could have bought this in person at one of the 2024 shows he tabled at (such as in Ohio, Maryland, or Toronto). In 2025, you can read about his life (a long time before he met me) in Cookies and Herb published by Fieldmouse Press.

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When he’s not traveling around N. America, he’s teaching kids how to make their own books at Art Center, the Armory, PS Arts and Cal Arts. Catalina got to take one of his classes at the Armory this fall and made some epic work that I need to get framed.

Charles has had an obsession with manga and can’t get enough One-Punch Man, a 30 book series. We can barely pull him away to practice baritone which he started playing with the school band this year. His Playworks Junior Coach role ended with 4th grade, but 5th grade has introduced new leadership opportunities such as speaking at the school community day tree planting event.

Catalina is also obsessed with Japan and Sanrio. She graduated to Daisies this year after having sold an impressive number of Girl Scout cookies at the beginning of this year.

As for me, today is my last official day at Condé Nast. I wanted that job a lot, I was proud of myself for getting that job, I did the best I could in a challenging economy while handicapped by nonstop personal obstacles at home and in health. Ultimately, I’m looking forward to my new role starting January 6 as Associate Publisher, Modern Luxury Interiors West Coast. I will be reporting to Janice Browne who interviewed me for Luxe Interiors & Design in 2016 and remembered me fondly if you can believe it! New email address to come from my other Substack Athena on the West Coast.

That’s it! Maybe if you give us your physical mailing address we’ll send you a real card next year. Or better yet, we’ll come visit because we’re so good at packing and traveling! Until then, all of our warmest wishes for a happy healthy 2025 and that we see you IRL soon.

xoxo

The MacFarlands

… and I’m finishing it in our true home-away-from-home, Matt’s parents’ desert pied-à-terre.

Long story short: a major leak at home in May lead to multiple plumber visits and ultimately a mold remediation in August and an insurance fiasco that is still, as of today, December 25, 2023, unresolved.

I thought about going into great harrowing detail in this letter about the who and when and how much, but it’s the hap-happiest season of all. I have too many marshmallows for toasting to focus on scary ghost stories.

To be fair, many of the cities in our “world tour” were pre-determined vacation destinations such as a biannual trip to visit my college pal and her brood in New Mexico (timed with the International Balloon Fiesta) and Matt’s first annual retreat with his dudes in Oregon. I also counted in this list a couple of Condé Nast sponsored business trips (SLC and NYC) and weekend jaunts to explore California wine enclaves.

We spent Father’s Day weekend in our new favorite small town Idyllwild. Matt deserves accolades for all his children’s accomplishments, especially Charles who, not only is a Playworks Junior Coach who showcases student leadership skills, was also awarded R.O.C.K. Star Student in September. Check out this very earnest email we got from the school:

I am taking a certain amount of credit for my children as well, of course. As a parent volunteer (which required a rigorous screening process!), I joined Catalina’s Kinder class on a field trip in May. I also helped her find all the pieces for her Mal from The Descendants Halloween costume this year (no small feat). And! I shuttled her to hip hop dance classes, golf lessons, summer camp, Girl Scout troop meetings, and as many dumpling and boba trips we could manage this year.

The timing also worked out for us to use a chunk of insurance money on a somewhat extravagant Thanksgiving week in a 3-story AirBnb with a hot tub that sleeps 10. I made these Buttery Milk Buns and Matt made this Chocolate and Coconut Cream Pie.

I love butter and cream and a generally unhealthy lifestyle which has been extra sedentary since switching jobs last summer. I’m not saying that any of these facts about me are why, but I started 2023 with a central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO). The first few months of this year were spent with my primary care physician, an ophthalmologist, a retina specialist, a cardiologist, a neurologist, and a rheumatologist. I also had gallons of blood drawn, an EKG, a MRI, an echocardiogram, more than 1 ultrasound, my eyes dilated for the first time in my life, a bubble test, and I wore one of those things for a few days or weeks that monitored my heart — all of which have shown that I’m very healthy.

I’ve learned that it’s not uncommon for doctors not to know why someone too young to have had a stroke had a stroke.

Hearts will be glowing when loved ones are near, so it’s hard to feel sorry for myself when I’m surrounded by just about the best people I’ve ever met (not counting you, dear reader).

For example, my Gifted & Talented Charles kept us busy every Saturday this spring and fall with another banner athletic year, including both golf and basketball.

Golf? you are asking yourself. Well, I’ll tell you: some of the best cafes are near golf courses, and the one in Alhambra also happens to be next to the court Charles tears up twice a year. You will find us most weekends enjoying a short stack and bloody marys at (formerly known as) Birdie’s. You should please join us in January as basketball season commences again.

Meanwhile, Matt has had his own world tour selling Dark Pants 1 through 4, Seasons of Gary, Scenes from a Marriage volumes I, II, and II, Rustbelt Review, and shirts and screenprints at festivals in Chicago, Pomona, Eagle Rock, Anaheim and San Francisco. We’re looking forward to TCAF Toronto Comic Arts Festival in May next year!

Matt also spent a lot of time at Universal Studios this year because we bought season passes to celebrate Charles’s 9th birthday. Since we had season passes, we went to Universal Studios on Matt’s 46th birthday in September! Catalina’s 6th birthday, on the other hand, was celebrated at her favorite fancy restaurant.

On my birthday in June, because I’m sporty, we rented an electric cargo bike and rode it from Duarte to West Covina, took the train to Claremont, and kept the bike for most of the summer for breezy trips to Main Street and movies in the park. I also forced the whole family to visit 123 Farms for the lavender festival where we tasted lavender ice cream, lavender beer, lavender lemonade, lavender balsamic vinaigrette, and so on.

Catalina wants to do her 7th birthday at McDonald’s again, Charles wants to do his 9th birthday at laser tag (shout out to 2nd cousin Carson) although technically we’re in Canada on his actual birthday, while Matt and I will just be happy to have this whole leak situation behind us. We’re throwing the biggest housewarming bash possible in 2024, and you are invited.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Our kids are not Girl Scouts, and we have not yet introduced them to the trials of selling door-to-door.

Instead, I am asking you in a more civilized (and easily ignored) channel to please purchase a bag of popcorn to benefit their elementary school.

You can send me $10/bag/child and please specify which flavor you want or if you are donating the bag of popcorn to one of the children in their Kinder or 3rd Grade classrooms. I’m thinking out-of-state donations will support additional snacks provided at Catalina’s 6th birthday party.

Thank you for taking the time to read this! Each benefactor will receive a video thanking you from whichever of my children you are supporting with your popcorn dollars! I prefer Venmo @heyathena because there’s no fee but we still appreciate anything in this PayPal pool. Order deadline is March 17!

Winter

December January February

The MacFarlands usually travel in a pack, but Matt and I were able to round out the end of 2021 with a very pleasant overnight in Paso Robles thanks to childcare provided by Tutu and Bampa (shout out to the Richard Diedrichs Substack you can read here). I’m a wine mom now!

Our kids, Charles and Catalina, spent most winter weekends sweating it out in gymnastic class while during the week we were commuting 20 minutes each way to the elementary school. It was a lot of time in the car, honestly, racking up hours each week.

Long car drives only pay off if you’re on your way to Palm Springs! which we did in February for Modernism Week. I toured the Lautner Compound for the first time and I think Limón on this trip while the kids spent a lot of time in our AirBnB pool. I missed a party at Leo DiCaprio’s house. Ask me about that one!

Spring

March April May

These annual letters really help me recognize how incredibly blessed we are. Matt and I kicked off spring with another just-the-two-of-us trip, to Austin! I don’t think we’re the only ones that hadn’t been on a plane in a long time… so we definitely maximized our vacation and packed in as many boozy TexMex dates with amigos as possible. I finally got to meet Laura Gay’s baby, and he was worth the hype!

Back in SoCal, we had another Legoland day (remember in my last letter that this is the best amusement park ever?) and, then, we hit the road to see the Grand Canyon for the first time. Have you been to the Grand Canyon? Again, the hype doesn’t even do it justice. Your mind cannot fathom how big it is. It looks like a Wile E. Coyote painted backdrop.

For the first few nights in Arizona, we stayed in a freezing guest house with no plumbing on a small farm. The farmer family was nice and let Charles go check out the goats in the morning. From there, we drove to much-better accommodations in Sedona and ate some very good food, hiked some spectacular trails.

Back in SoCal, it was time to throw Catalina’s 5th birthday party! I am kind of embarrassed to say that we hosted it at Griffith Park Pony Rides which is currently in the news as it closes down for good after 70 years in business. Catalina had the BEST time, so.

So, I haven’t even mentioned just how many events I was producing in 2022 for Luxe Interiors + Design…Interior Illusions in Palm Springs, Pasadena Showcase breakfast, Gloster and Downsview in West Hollywood. Well, I got a little loose with the hugs at Legends of LCDQ and I caught the Vid.

Sadly, ironically, I tested positive on Mother’s Day which was also the day we had invited 30 of Charles’s best friends over to celebrate his 8th birthday.

Summer

June July August

Charles was pretty sad about cancelling his party although he took catching Covid like a champ! and by June, all 4 of us had recovered enough to host a do-over that was a smashing success.

We rewarded ourselves with our first camping trip on Catalina Island timed to see my maid of honor David and his (then betrothed now husband) Brian. We broke in a brand new gigantic tent that we actually remembered to bring with us later in the summer for our annual camping trip with the Murillos. This time, we met them at Saddle Mountain Ranch in Carmel. I’m outdoorsy now!

The rest of the summer was a blur of Matt’s neverending tomato plant, basketball and field trips for the kids at their summer camps, quality time with our pod fam with whom we would pod even if we didn’t have to pod, and reading magazines by the pool.

Then, I got a new job! at Condé Nast! I posted about it on LinkedIn. Shout out to my LA Weekly homies who wrote glowing referral letters. And my ladies at Luxe for an astonishing 6 and a half years.

Meanwhile, the kids started at a new school… Catalina has been thriving in kinder while Charles has learned that he can make new friends in 3rd and keep the old. He was recently selected as the R.O.C.K. star of the month in his classroom, and we continue to be obsessed with him.

Fall

September October November

At their new school, Charles joined the flag football team where he did not dominate in the same way he always has at basketball. There were mostly 4th and 5th grade giants playing both with and against him, but he found a way to have fun.

We certainly didn’t have any trouble having fun at Disneyland for Matt’s bday. Or when we went to Palm Springs again for the Fall Preview of the next Modernism Week. This time I was able to bring Matt’s mom along with me to see a new showcase home and the classic Elvis Hideaway House.

I was on crutches, though, and noticed for the first time how very un-ADA compliant architects were back in the mid-century. I had an unwieldy large hematoma on my shin after tripping on roller skates while trying to slow down during CicLAvia. If you haven’t heard of the event, then you are like every single person who asked me how I injured myself in the weeks following the accident.

Luckily, Matt’s weekend after weekend of zine fests across the country (OC / San Diego / NYC / Boston) happened after I had healed enough to stand again! and I was also able to travel to NY for a Condé Nast thing without drawing too much attention to my leg.

The last thing I’ll mention is a wonderful outdoor matinee of Midsummers Night Dream that our kids absolutely crushed (as far as being excellent audience members).

Thanks for reading this winding tale. You’ve been a dream to know. Here’s to another year and hope that the next one will draw us near.

As you have inferred from this comic lovingly illustrated by Matt MacFarland, we have two cats now! One of them is quite skittish. When brainstorming names for a black cat and a white cat, 7-year-old Charles won with “Skeleton” and “Zombie” (inspired by his interest in Minecraft). 4-year-old Catalina’s submissions to the naming contest were House and Car, respectively.

Charles is midway through 2nd grade and is student of the month at his elementary school for December. Catalina has been at the same school since August but enrolled in an “ETK”/ early kindergarten program. They both love being with other kids in-person even though they have to wear masks all day.

Athena (who is currently writing this in the third person) is celebrating her 6th year at Luxe Interiors + Design and the 2nd year as “Associate Publisher” for Los Angeles. She has been happily planning and producing live events since July and will never complain again about small talk, waistbands, or driving long distances.

Matt (who has returned to teaching in-person at both The Armory and PS Arts but not yet at Art Center) has also enjoyed a few live events recently including a holiday market on York Blvd. and a Zine Fest in San Diego. If you weren’t in town and can’t travel because of a wicked thing I will not name, you can find his work and purchase year-round at mattiemac.com.

Although we spent a lot of time on the couch (depicted in this comic lovingly illustrated by Matt MacFarland), we also seemed never to stop moving. Some highlights include Legoland (possibly the best amusement park ever?), Knott’s Berry Farm (season passes purchased in 2019 extended to 5/5/22!), camping on a farm in Santa Cruz, surf camp in Oxnard and Camp Alhambra for Charles (including a total rental of the Moonlight Rollerway), a trip to ABQ and Santa Fe for Athena (literally going to Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta every year for the rest of my life), and getting published by zines + things for Matt (which required many virtual press tours!).

Mostly, we had the gift of each other’s company. We shared a lot of laughter and more baked goods than reasonable. We listened to some great podcasts and audiobooks and read a million magazines. Say what you will about the evils of social media, I personally felt connected to you through the stories you have shared on Facebook and Instagram. Even if it’s a little fake, I find joy in seeing you smile with your kids or over a good meal. So thanks for not blocking me, yet, and for reading this note.

Happy Hanukkah if you celebrated a little while ago, Merry Christmas tomorrow, and Happy New Year next week. Please do comment or even text us! We miss you!