Stephanie's 2025 holiday letter

Dear Friends & Family,

If you’re reading this, thanks for clicking on the QR code on my third annual holiday card! I wanted to share more highlights from 2025 (some are pictured on my card and others in the photo galleries on this page).

In January, I performed for Duck Soup Cinema, a silent film series where vaudeville acts open the event. I’ve wanted to perform with this show for many years and it was really fun. I performed to my friend Betty’s song. You can watch the video here.
I did an Audrey Hepburn inspired photoshoot with my photographer friend Mick. He’s super skilled and it was really fun to feel glamourous. You can see some of the photos here.
The legacy of Stripes (Sarah), my best friend who passed away in July 2023, lives on in my house and life. I’m continually making progress on my financial goals. My house continues to be a good source of income, but more importantly a home for many during their travels or transitions. This year I hosted so many Airbnb guests. Most notably, I was lucky to have two amazing women as winter housemates - Andrea and Jessy. We did lots of cozy things, learned about perimenopause, and supported each other through winter and tough transitions.
I went to DC again with the Madison team of John F. Kennedy Center’s Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child network. This time my colleague Yorel and I presented a workshop about how embodied arts can support students and educators.
I produced Circus Valentine at Madison Circus Space and put my heartbreak solo to bed. You can watch the video here. My students also created a montage of the stages of love and friendship, video here. I hosted 200 elementary kids from Nuestro Mundo school for a daytime matinee followed by circus try-it stations. They loved it!
We took an inaugural ski trip to the ABR in the upper penisula. Karen and I got a little lost hauling our gear on sleds to our ski-in cabin, Andrea took my ancient skis out for their last adventure, Speicher and I enjoyed the in the middle pace, and we all had a wonderful time in the woods!
My first epic travel was to Mexico in March. I went to my beloved Casa Chango for an open gym aerial retreat. Then, flew to Mexico City to see Solange and experience Cuernavaca. Then I made my way to Baja for the most incredible whale experience to celebrate Kate’s 40thbirthday. Watch this recap which included petting a grey whale!
I learned how to Swedish weave thanks to Linda Woodford (Kate’s mom). As it turns out, I’m only 2% swedish, but I’m enjoying this new needlework skill.
In June Madison Circus Space hosted our first Pride show. My students presented a powerful act about gender expression and got to witness lots of humans express Pride about their identities and expression. You can watch the act here.
My brother Neil, his wife Katelyn, and the girls visited me late June and we had a fun time visiting Circus World Museum and Devil’s Lake in Baraboo, WI. I gave them an aerial lesson and loved hearing about how much love they have for each other. I got to have a special auntie day and we went swimming, had ice cream, and made pompoms.
I celebrated my 40th birthday with lots of festivities including an epic group canoe trip on the Wisconsin River. The headwinds made for more adventure than some (most) of us wanted, but it was beautiful! Fern orchestrated a rewrite of the most popular song from the year I was born, 1985. I thought it was a really cute and slighlty weird song about me, without realizing it was set to the tune of Like a Virgin. I blame my parents for raising me on radio country and John Denver. Lots of friends made my 40th a sweet celebration and I’m very grateful.
My bestie Ophelia visited me in Madison shortly after my birthday. We went to yoga and had a picnic at James Madison Park, then met Andy for na drinks at Mint Mark, my favorite restaurant.
My third epic travel was to Cancun for Betty’s birthday in August. We stayed at an all inclusive. All ethics aside, it was the most relaxing girls trip ever.
My incredible aerial coach, Kerri Krisinski, visited Madison to teach workshops and explore Madison. I finally got to meet her friends Christopher and Simón who I’m excited to connect with more.
I continue to work on mostly small projects in my old house. Dad made a trip or two out to help with various odds and ends and I always manage to take him out for a little fun on the town. Jessy and I choreographed a dance routine with the goal of drowning out our terrible rendition of “Meet in the Middle.”
Francis and I put Summer of Love and Community Connection on pause, giving us a much needed break from event production and also our friendship. We now have a better friendship than ever.
Per usual, I spent hours paddling with friends, including the Mecan with Fern and Karen, Sugar river with Jessy, Yahara river, Lake Wingra, and Lake Monona too.
I enjoyed a short stint of bar trivia, which included winning with completely unbiased scorekeeping.
My business, Air Craft Madison (.com), turned 2 and has been super successful! Teaching children who are creative, brave, and delightful continues to be a huge joy in my life. I’ve taught more than 250 students in the last 2 years alone. One of my students is graduating high school and I helped him with super cool senior photos.
I’ve had an irregular yoga practice since I was 16 and on my birthday in 2024, I decided to get back to my mat. I’ve taken countless classes at several studios near my home and landed at Inner Fire for heated yoga, which is the best way to get through Wisconsin winters. Thanks to Andy for bringing me as a guest. I’ve already shared my guest passes with Christopher and Francis and look forward to deepening my practice and sharing the heat!
I started going to the gym and am determined to lift heavy as I get older. I worked with a personal trainer, Lacouir Yancey, to correct some imbalances and focus on functional movement. I did a special TRX workshop with my aerial girlfriends and am so grateful for friends who want to slow the decline together.
Dating has been an ongoing source of entertainment and learning. This year featured “probably (I guess not) Paul,” “forgot Scott,” and a few other less notable nicknames.
My twin sister Lucie and niece Anna Rose came to visit in October and we made the most of short time - going to see a Whoopensocker show, walking all of State Street and half of UW campus. We saw a quilt exhibit, had ice cream at the UW Terrace, went to the circus space to do aerial and see the tech rehearsal for the Halloween Show.
I participated in the Halloween show at Madison Circus Space. My students choreographed an act about spiders set to original song by local musician, Jason Kutz of Mister Chair. I got to be a human attempting to escape a zombie takeover. You can watch the videos here and here.
My third epic travel was to Germany and Austria! Jessy and I wanted to visit Andrea who moved to Nuremburg to work at Puma. The three of us traveled by car to Austria with stops in Salzburg and Vienna, where we met up with Kellie (Michigan friend). The hills are alive!
I resigned from the Madison Circus Space board after finishing a second strategic plan. I’m proud of what I contributed to MCS over the many years and am excited to have time to focus on other priorities.
Mom and Dad came to visit. We did some projects and went out for supper club dinner. Dad helped me put up Christmas lights on my house and patch a hole in the eaves (spoiler, the squirrels were trapped inside).
I attended a few notable concerts: Sharon Van Etten with Andy, Jon Batiste with Jes, and Ben Kweller with Becky. Sharon stayed at my studio apartment more than 10 years ago when she was traveling in her car and opening for bands. Now she’s touring the world and headlining huge venues. She and I met for lunch and she gave me VIP tickets to her show at The Slyvie.
I took Ruthie May (Karen and Rocky’s 3.5 year old) to see several live theatre and dance events. She’s a lady on the town and I love having a tiny companion.
I hosted a second “Mosaic Dinner” where I invited 6 people from various pockets of my life who don’t know eachother. No one was allowed to talk about what they do, only who they are. It was pure magic. Our favorite poem to the future was: Find Joy in Something.
In the Fall, I joined Whoopensocker as a classroom Teaching Artist at the elementary school close to my house. It’s been a joy and challenge to support 3rd graders in their creative writing and performance.
The “craft baes”, Costanza, Claudia, and I, met at various patios and living rooms to continue our crafting and connecting. I’ve officially leveled up to “knitting mommy” helping Claudia finish her first hat in time for Christmas.
Speaking of Claudia, she moved in at the end of November and we’re full on cozy, crafty, and cute.
I celebrated the holidays in Madison with Fern and Christopher and their loved ones, then in Milwaukee with Costanza’s parents and family, then in Evanston, IL with Jessy and parents. I spent a few days in Michigan with my family with lots of memory making thanks to Lucie who organized and orchestrated so much. I presented my niblings with hats they designed and I made and we made pompoms to finish them off. We made traditional Austrian Linzer cookies filled with mom and dad’s wild black raspberry jam.
I didn’t close out 2025 as a human ball drop for the Madison Children’s Museum’s party due to our President cutting funding to many sectors that support my work. But Claudia and I got cute and sparkly and had a fun night out.