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We’re having a baby, and we’re so excited to meet our little Levi Elliott!

September, 2026.

This week is full of milestones.

Back in July, I got a call from a friend seemingly out of the blue. I was surprised to see @greecemonkey22’s name show up on the caller ID on a random Wednesday morning; we’re good friends, but it was unusual for him to call on a weekday and we hadn’t connected in a while. After a quick 10 minute call, I walked into @zozonthegogo’s office and told her, “I just took a phone call that I’m pretty sure is about to change our lives.”

He had called to tell me that, since opening and running @smokecigarlounge for the past 10+ years, he and his fiancée were about to to embark on their next adventure and he was wondering if I’d be interested in running SMōKE since he’ll be focusing on their next steps. I had worked there while finishing grad school back in 2016-17, and he knew how much I love the shop and had a tremendous amount of faith and trust in me. Over the next few weeks, we worked on a plan to fit all of the various a moving life pieces together into something that might work. Zoë was on board from the jump, and I started commuting up to Philly on my days off from therapy to start getting my sea legs under me again. Fast forward to the start of October, and we made the move official. After another several weeks of Zoë commuting and finishing things up at the old house, we are finally back to being in just one place.

This week also marks the first cigar release that I’ve been a part of. A project born out of my love for cigars and my obsession with birds. One of the things that I love about SMōKE is that we’re not just a lounge, we’re a burgeoning cigar brand with lots of passion, expertise, and great stories to tell.

Who knows where all this takes us, but I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

This week is full of milestones.

Back in July, I got a call from a friend seemingly out of the blue. I was surprised to see @greecemonkey22’s name show up on the caller ID on a random Wednesday morning; we’re good friends, but it was unusual for him to call on a weekday and we hadn’t connected in a while. After a quick 10 minute call, I walked into @zozonthegogo’s office and told her, “I just took a phone call that I’m pretty sure is about to change our lives.”

He had called to tell me that, since opening and running @smokecigarlounge for the past 10+ years, he and his fiancée were about to to embark on their next adventure and he was wondering if I’d be interested in running SMōKE since he’ll be focusing on their next steps. I had worked there while finishing grad school back in 2016-17, and he knew how much I love the shop and had a tremendous amount of faith and trust in me. Over the next few weeks, we worked on a plan to fit all of the various a moving life pieces together into something that might work. Zoë was on board from the jump, and I started commuting up to Philly on my days off from therapy to start getting my sea legs under me again. Fast forward to the start of October, and we made the move official. After another several weeks of Zoë commuting and finishing things up at the old house, we are finally back to being in just one place.

This week also marks the first cigar release that I’ve been a part of. A project born out of my love for cigars and my obsession with birds. One of the things that I love about SMōKE is that we’re not just a lounge, we’re a burgeoning cigar brand with lots of passion, expertise, and great stories to tell.

Who knows where all this takes us, but I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

This week is full of milestones.

Back in July, I got a call from a friend seemingly out of the blue. I was surprised to see @greecemonkey22’s name show up on the caller ID on a random Wednesday morning; we’re good friends, but it was unusual for him to call on a weekday and we hadn’t connected in a while. After a quick 10 minute call, I walked into @zozonthegogo’s office and told her, “I just took a phone call that I’m pretty sure is about to change our lives.”

He had called to tell me that, since opening and running @smokecigarlounge for the past 10+ years, he and his fiancée were about to to embark on their next adventure and he was wondering if I’d be interested in running SMōKE since he’ll be focusing on their next steps. I had worked there while finishing grad school back in 2016-17, and he knew how much I love the shop and had a tremendous amount of faith and trust in me. Over the next few weeks, we worked on a plan to fit all of the various a moving life pieces together into something that might work. Zoë was on board from the jump, and I started commuting up to Philly on my days off from therapy to start getting my sea legs under me again. Fast forward to the start of October, and we made the move official. After another several weeks of Zoë commuting and finishing things up at the old house, we are finally back to being in just one place.

This week also marks the first cigar release that I’ve been a part of. A project born out of my love for cigars and my obsession with birds. One of the things that I love about SMōKE is that we’re not just a lounge, we’re a burgeoning cigar brand with lots of passion, expertise, and great stories to tell.

Who knows where all this takes us, but I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

We eloped, and that meant Zoë talked me into taking some photos.

Photos: @mariadeforrest
Tattoos: @francooomaldonado

We eloped, and that meant Zoë talked me into taking some photos.

Photos: @mariadeforrest
Tattoos: @francooomaldonado

We eloped, and that meant Zoë talked me into taking some photos.

Photos: @mariadeforrest
Tattoos: @francooomaldonado

Had the pleasure of talking with the folks at @TWLOHA about grief for their podcast. You can find the full episode wherever you usually listen to podcasts, or watch the video version on YouTube.

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of sitting down with Chad from @TWOHA to talk about grief for a new segment of their podcast. We talked about what grief is (and isn’t), how it typically presents, and even talked a bit about treatment. Our talk certainly wasn’t exhaustive, but I hope that this conversation can be meaningful to you, or to someone you know who might be experiencing grief right now. You’re not alone; and you’re worthy of the healing that comes with grieving.

The entire episode is worth a listen, and you can find the audio version wherever you typically listen to podcasts. The video version is up on YouTube.