Family update, Valentine's 2024

Happy New Year's Valentine's Day, friends!

2023 was a doozy for us, but we felt so held by our community that we could always find the silver linings. Thank you all for being a part of that. As we ease into the new year with optimism (and a little trepidation), we wanted to send an update for those of you who we catch up with less frequently.

We are loving living in Austin. Zephyr, age two, is now walking running and talking (including in español!), and is enrolled in a Montessori program that he loves. Our immune systems, however, have not loved the transition, and we probably spent >50 percent of 2023 with at least one of us ill. Our little germ shuttle Zeph thankfully fared the best among us.

It’s been an absolute delight to get to know Zeph now that he can talk, sing, joke, and negotiate (he plays hard ball!). He’s practicing being a big brother with our brand new puppy, Diggory, or “Digs” for short. About 14 weeks old, Digs is a rescue pup through SNIPSA, and the genetic test shows he’s a German Shepherd/Pit Bull/Husky/Malamute supermutt. Family lore had it that Mayflower immigrant Diggory Priest was Alex’s relative, but after sifting through the ancestry, there doesn’t seem to be any verifiable link. So we decided to put a real Diggory Priest in the lineage. :)

We got around this year, and Zeph is a great little traveler! Our family took trips to Mexico (Mexico City and Cancun/Mayakoba), California (San Francisco, Healdsburg, and Santa Barbara), Colorado (Beaver Creek, Telluride, Golden, and Evergreen), DC, NY, Seattle, and Asheville.

After a year of entrepreneurial exploration, research, and experimentation, Alex is back in the job market and doing some consulting and advising until after the new baby arrives. And between toddler time, puppy training, and new baby prep, he’s writing, reading as much as he can, and playing more music (including picking up guitar lessons again). If you’re interested in more regular updates from Alex and a curated selection of the things he’s loving, you can opt-in for his weekly newsletter, "The Squiggle," by updating your subscription preferences here.

Miranda continues to manage their home renovation (almost done!), make art, take pregnancy naps, and had a brief stint singing in a country music band. She’s due to give birth (gender surprise!) in late March. The pregnancy is moving faster than the last one did with the added distraction of a toddler, and thankfully without complications so far. 

“New life makes losing life easier to understand,” as they say. Miranda and Alex are remembering Zeph’s best friend Han Kranzchin (11/27/21–7/9/23) and our beloved family dog Bender (1/15/16–11/5/23). These losses were unexpected and devastating, and make us ever more grateful for the time and space we share with our loved ones. 

We know so many wonderful people (you among them!), we thought we’d highlight a few in case they’re relevant to our community.

Are you looking for…

🫶 Companionship in grieving? If you or anyone you know is struggling with the loss of a child, we wholeheartedly recommend the blog Good Griefing, written with so much love and wisdom by our friend Amy as she navigates her own tragic loss.

🎨 Guidance in the art market? Charting Transcendence guides clients intuitively towards meaningful art experiences and valuable acquisitions through a personalized “outsider’s insider” approach. A recommended consultant for novice and experienced collectors, founder Matthew Blong has spent 25 years exploring the world as diplomat, businessman, and photographer, discovering and contextualizing a wealth of human knowledge, feeling, and creation along the way. He is based in Miami but travels regularly to see art across the U.S. and abroad. If you want a cicerone for the art market, or just a fascinating deep dive email every couple weeks, highly recommend signing up for his newsletter (note: we are proud investors!).

😍 Love? Inevitable Love is designed for awesome, otherwise successful, mysteriously single professionals. Our friends Jon and Alex are crafting this startup from their font of knowledge in relationships and human psychology.

🧠 Philanthropic opportunities? We’re both still serving on the Psychiatry Advisory Board for the University of Texas at Austin, where we’re continuing to raise awareness for the work the department is doing, especially postpartum depression and psychedelic therapies. If you are interested in knowing more or getting involved, please reach out!

💸 Investment opportunities? We have friends doing cool things, from producing delicious aqua frescas to opening a futuristic cowboy “high design dive bar” in NYC. If you are investing and haven’t already, please fill out our 30-second investment survey so we know what kind of opportunities to send your way in the future.

🆘 A personal assistant aka HALP? Duckbill. An ex-Uber friend started this AI-supported personal assistant service and they're absolutely killing it (and at a super reasonable price point). After trying out lots of different personal assistant options for our family, we can’t recommend this enough.

🤰 Pregnancy and parenting tips? Miranda wrote out her pregnancy tips here, and we've listed out some of our favorite kiddo products here. Feel free to share with anyone you think might benefit!

As always, if there’s anything we can do for you, please don’t hesitate to call on us. Sending our love and hoping we’ll get to host you here in Austin real soon! 

Big hugs,
Alex, Miranda, Zephyr, Digs, and Mystery Baby #2