Distilling Essential Oils with The Twisted Sisters

When I finished school, one of my first professional acting gigs was part of the Shakespeare troupe for the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. It was a great place to learn and grow and spread my wings. We did improv and kept it in the language of the Renaissance. We didn't do it in verse. Think Shakespeare in Love - that sort of thing - with a lot of "thee" and "thou."

And at the Faire I met my husband, Rob, and made lifelong friends with these two wild women we called, "The Twisted Sisters."

They were hired to run the Herb Shoppe, and they always had great natural remedies for everything.

Fast forward to Now, and The Sisters, Maryanne Schwartz and Tina Sams, run various small businesses, including The Essential Herbal Magazine and Lancaster County Soapworks. Plus Maryanne makes jewelry out of her Torchsong Studio.

I went to see them to learn about Distilling Essential Oils and to interview them for my upcoming web series, Project PrePause, which is about the wild adventures of perimenopause. Since they've both been through it, I wanted to tap into their wisdom, so I can share it with other women going through The Change.

Tina had her distiller all set up, and we a had a lot of fun!

Auditions, Steel Magnolias and Mother's Day

Yesterday, I was up early for an audition, and I ran into a little gal who looked like The Little Mermaid. I kid you not. And she was auditioning for The Little Mermaid, which was just too perfect for words!

It was so easy to chat with her. With some actors, there can be a beautiful flow of conversation, and this was one of those actors who was uncensored and not "in her head" about the anxiety of auditioning, which let's face it, a lot of audition rooms are filled with fear, so I tend to walk out of those holding rooms and find my happy place.

We chatted for about 10 minutes, and then it turned out her audition was in another building, so she had to dash down the block. I wish I would've gotten her name, because she inspired me, and made me think of some of the wonderful women in my life. 

So to all you ladies out there, celebrate yourselves and the women in your lives! We deserve it :)