The Chateau Chronicles

02/10/2026

My article was recently featured in Business Insider; this link provides free access for a limited time.
Enjoy!🌻

At midlife, I moved out of the US, bought a chateau in France, renovated it, and built a successful business abroad. The pros beat the cons.

04/06/2026

This garden has a story.

From chaos to beauty, one impossible project at a time.🌿

28/05/2026

Painting in France. It's one of those dreams people carry for years and never quite act on.

If that's you, this is your sign!

Celebrating Light and Color with Michael Ryan is happening July 18-25 at Château de Borie in southwest France.

A small group, a beautiful setting, an extraordinary artist to guide you.

And no, you don't need to think of yourself as an artist to come.

A few spots still available.

Link in bio 🎨

26/05/2026

I met Gloria Steinem in helmet hair and wet jeans

I showed up to meet Gloria Steinem in helmet hair and wet jeans, straight from a motorcycle safety class I was certain I'd failed.

I had passed.

And then I sat in the audience at Benaroya Hall and heard Gloria say, "Women become more radical with age."

Then she talked about the purple motorcycle, the one that lives inside each of us, the one we only have to discover and ride.

I thought about my sixteen-year-old son watching his mother show up anyway. Soaking wet. Terrified. Refusing to quit.

What I gave him that day wasn't just time together. It was a lesson about women's resilience, about doing hard things even when you have no idea what you're doing.

I may never ride a motorcycle again. But I am claiming my purple motorcycle.

What's yours? Tell me in the comments. 💬

The Alchemy of Loss, link in bio. 📖

25/05/2026

Masterpiece Fountain Reveal: Stunning Beauty Restored!

Chateau life is NO joke 😅

Cleaning a 400-year-old basement, rebuilding a stone well, and turning a wash house window into a bar counter — all in one week! 🏰✨

The wedding prep grind is REAL.

Catch this week’s full vlog episode on YouTube at Chateau Chronicles or via link in bio

21/05/2026

I took a motorcycle safety class to spend time with my teenage son- Part 1

I ended up with a duct-taped bike, a puddle for a seat, an instructor I wanted to kick in the shins, and absolutely no idea what I was doing.

There is no way I passed.

I passed😁

Part two tomorrow, because where I went next (still in my helmet hair and wet jeans) is the part of this story I'll never forget.

Have you ever done something terrifying just to be with your kid? Tell me below. 💬

20/05/2026

The thing nobody tells you about grief is that it gives you permission.

Permission to blow up the life you were living. To do the thing you always said you'd do someday. To stop waiting.

When my husband died, I lost the future I thought I was building. The plan, the trajectory, all of it gone.

Grief is terrible, I'm not romanticizing it. But somewhere inside the devastation, there was also this: nothing left to lose.

And "nothing left to lose" is a surprisingly powerful place to make decisions from.

I bought a château in France. I wrote a book. I learned to paint again. I built something from nothing in a country where I barely spoke the language.

None of that was the plan. All of it came from grief, showing me a door I never would have opened otherwise.

If you're in the middle of grief right now, I'm not going to tell you it's a gift. It isn't. But it might be showing you a door.

Has grief ever pushed you somewhere unexpected? Tell me in the comments. 💬

Read more in The Alchemy of Loss, link in bio. 📚

13/05/2026

I want you to see like a child.

This is how Michael Ryan starts his workshops at the château.

Not because he wants less from his students, but because he wants more. He wants you to see from a beginner’s mindset, before vocabulary, before labels, before all the preconceived notions about what art is supposed to be.

When you strip away the mental clutter, you can see what's actually there: colored shapes in relationship, light and composition, beauty without overthinking it.

It can be quite simple if you don't make it more difficult than it needs to be. And that's what makes his approach accessible to everyone, beginners to advanced.

Celebrating Light & Color: The Figure in Nature with Michael Ryan

July 18-25, 2026 at Château de Borie

This is your chance to learn from someone who teaches you to see honestly.

chateauchronicles.com/celebrating-light-and-color-2026 or link in bio ✨🎨

21/04/2026

Buying the château is the easy part...

Buying a château in France is surprisingly affordable. What comes after? Not so much.

Here's what nobody tells you:

That cliff face next to the property? Turns out it's a sponge. I have seven springs running through my land, one directly under the house.

Historic preservation rules mean you can't just fix the roof. You have to restore it. In slate. Which is now ridiculously expensive and nearly impossible to find the right artisans for.

Those suspiciously low prices? There's usually a reason.

I got lucky on the systems (plumbing, electrical, and septic had all been redone). But the cliff and the roof have been humbling, to say the least.

Most of these châteaux have been in families for generations. They're for sale because it takes millions to maintain them, and the families simply can't afford to anymore.

So if you're dreaming of a French château, dream on. Just go in with your eyes open👀

What's the unexpected cost you'd most want to know about? Drop it below.

Watch the full story on YouTube at The Chateau Chronicles or link in bio! ✨

20/04/2026

I finally finished painting the dining room, just in time for guests arriving Saturday!

The full reveal is in this week's vlog😉

Also, I've had a cancellation for the Write Your Unexpected Life retreat in May, so there's one spot available.

For my UK audience in particular, this is such an easy escape! Just a short flight from London, Manchester, or Bristol to Bordeaux or Toulouse.

5 days in Southern France. Intimate group. Chef-prepared meals. French rosé. Time to explore the story you've been carrying.

Watch the full vlog on YouTube at The Chateau Chronicles! Link in bio or visit chateauchronicles.com. 📝