This will be my 11th year creating sketches for my illustrated Favorite Things Calendar and it’s become a fun challenge to envision an overarching theme for all the months! For the 2025 calendar, each month is inspired by a different print or pattern. And the year before that featured a different grandmillennial pastime on each page. It’s a bit tricky to look well ahead into the future and imagine what will feel fresh and inspiring months in advance. But as I was brainstorming ideas for the next calendar, a quote kept coming back to me from one of my favorite movies, Under the Tuscan Sun. “Never lose your childish enthusiasm.”

It made me think of all the ways in which we push aside our playfulness and creativity as we grow into adulthood, writing them off as indulgent or unnecessary. But what if we lose ourselves in the process? The theme for the 11th edition of the Favorite Things calendar is “Creativity & Play.” Each month is a gentle nudge to harness your childish enthusiasm into a different creative pursuit or playful activity – even better if you invite friends to join along! From making squiggle castles and cross stitch to playing in the dirt and lawn games, my hope is that these brightly colored pages remind you to reclaim a bit of joy for yourself throughout the year.

I’m still in the busy middle of creating over 100 brand new illustrations for the calendar but if you’d like to follow along with the process, I’m sharing work in progress clips in a stories highlight on Instagram. The full calendar will be available to purchase in desk and wall versions in the fall. Do you have a favorite creative or playful activity you enjoyed as a child that you’d like to pick up again? Let me know in the comments below!

xoxo,