Community Celebration Round-Up: One Month, Seven Cities, One Brand New {THE AND} Edition
Last month, we did the damn thing: we handed our Community Celebration over to the people who make our community what it is, a series of intentional moments of meaningful connection.
There was just one, very important instruction.
At every gathering, guests wrote their own questions on blank cards, and the best of them are now coming together to build a brand-new {THE AND} Community Deck, created entirely by our community. Beyond that? Every host made the night their own.
Here's a glimpse at the beautiful moments they shared.
Amusing With No Theme Park Required in Orlando
At the Renaissance Orlando Resort by Disney Springs, Elizabeth Sabillon, founder of She Cultivates, had guests warm up with the Strangers deck before writing their own questions for the {THE AND} Community Deck. It's a fitting move for someone whose entire community started with a podcast about healing, and one belief: women weren't looking for superficial events. They were looking for real friendship.
Follow along with Elizabeth's work:
In the Orlando Area?
Check out the amazing small businesses that participated in Elizabeth's event!
- Photobooth and event design @prettypleese x @so.crafty_
- Permanent jewelry @the.sparkcollective.co
- Perfume bar @emmarose_eventglamstudio
- Handcrafted jewelry @franchescajewels
Pikes Peak to the Dolomites in Sacile
No production, no fuss, just Missy's own dining room. Missy Miller, a social media marketer and photographer living far from family in the U.S., knows exactly what it's like when "home" doesn't feel automatic. So she built her gathering around that: new friends around her own table, many of them also living abroad, finding a piece of community they didn't have before the cards came out.
Follow along with Missy's work:
- Instagram: @missymiller__
- Portfolio: missymillerportfolio.weebly.com
- Peak & Pine Press
- Make Way for the Grand Illusionist
Strangers Around the Table in Christchurch
Back at home in Ōtautahi Christchurch, storyteller Kai J. Lee gathered close friends, new connections, and a few (past-tense) strangers, around his dining table. Kai's documentary and podcast work spans four continents, and the same values that guide his storytelling (connection, intimacy, honesty, humor, healing) showed up in the room just as much as they show up on camera.
Follow along with Kai's work:
Beyond Belgium to the Beaches of Croatia
Dietitian and Nourish Coaching founder Angie Inghelram usually works with women exclusively. For her Community Celebration gathering, though, she did something different: brought both women and men together on the beaches of Croatia. Angie's own path through disordered eating and back to a healthier relationship with her body shaped the belief behind the whole night, one she's built her entire coaching practice on: every person who reconnects with themselves creates a ripple effect outward.
Follow along with Angie's work:
A First-Timer's Wine Bar Debut in Atlanta
An event that was a first time, but not a last time. Lenna Davis had never hosted a gathering like this before. Her path to our Community Celebration started with a hard season, some conversation cards, and intentional conversations that helped her and her nine-year-old son, Pierre, connect and find a deeper understanding of one another. For her debut event, she brought brought an incredible group to VinoTeca for an afternoon of wine tasting and honest conversation.
Follow along with her work:
In the Atlanta Area?
Find VinoTeca at www.shopvinoteca.com/ or on Instagram @shopvinoteca
Book Zachary Toth Photography at www.ztothphoto.com or on Instagram @ztothphoto
Cocktails and Conversation in Seattle
Jennica Lynn, a Seattle real estate agent, has had {THE AND} decks on hand for years, even before they helped her build intimacy early in the relationship that became her marriage. For Community Celebration, she hosted an intimate night of relating to women, careers, and the connection necessary to do it all.
Follow along with Jennica's work:
From a Surf Injury to a Coffee Shop in Wollongong
It's fitting that the first stop started with a wipeout. Sonia H.E. Rivas, a former international commercial lawyer turned nervous system and emotional intelligence coach, credits a surf injury with sending her toward this work in the first place. For her gathering, she brought women aged 35 to 50 together at her favorite Wollongong coffee shop for breath work, mini story-sharing, and then, finally, {THE AND}. Her goal was simple: an uplifting night, a few new friends, and a small act of resistance against a world that keeps pulling people apart.
Follow along with Sonia's work:
- Instagram: @womenmakewaves_
- Instagram: @amazingamazigh_
- Women Make Waves
- Sonia Houria
- The Sahara Project
A Mile-High, but Add Some Oxygen
Closer to home, Liz Kurpanek kept her Denver gathering small and intimate. Guests spent the evening asking and answering some genuinely great questions, writing a few new ones of their own for the {THE AND} Community Deck. Proof that celebrating your community doesn't need a packed guest list to be meaningful.
The Common Thread
A lawyer-turned-breathwork-facilitator. A photographer. A community founder. A storyteller. A dietitian. A previous cast member turned event host. A real estate agent. A host who kept it small and let the questions do the work.
Seven cities. Seven completely different rooms. One thread running through all of them: nobody waited for a perfect plan. They opened the door for an intentional gathering and let the love of connection do the rest.
Those questions are exactly what's shaping the 2026 {THE AND} Community Deck, a deck built not by us, but by the community we have built {THE AND} for and with.
Want to Be Part of the Next One?
If reading these stories has you thinking about your own circle, coworkers, old friends, new friends, or friends you just simply haven't met yet, join our community and keep the celebration going!
Karissa Basalyga
The Skin Deep | Global Community Activator
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