Gather Connect Create || (formerly Cream City Dreams)
Cream City Dreams is now Gather Connect Create!
New name, same host 👋🏼 Bite-sized episodes with big connection!
Join me weekly for inspiration, interviews and simple ideas you can use in your own community to create more connections IN REAL LIFE, no matter where you find yourself!
Episodes
209 episodes
In praise of front porch season, in conversation with Dr. Jane R. Shore of School of Thought (part 2)
Front porch or back porch? It sounds like a trivial choice. But as Dr. Jane R. Shore unpacks this question in a recent Substack essay, that decision carries real weight, shaping who we encounter and how connected we might become in our own neig...
Why the future of learning MUST be human, with Dr. Jane R. Shore
What does it really mean to learn with people, not just from them? In this episode, I talk with Dr. Jane R. Shore, learning scientist, researcher, visual storyteller, and founder of a beautifully illustrated Substack, School of Tho...
Wait, There's a Club for That?
As kids we didn't need a reason to start a club. A treehouse, a secret handshake, a made-up name (as in my case, The Silver Binder Club) ... and that was enough. But somewhere along the way we convinced ourselves that clubs needed a...
When your nametag says "I am here to listen"
This week another short and sweet story about what it means to be a good neighbor. A full-circle story of gratitude, connection, and what happens when we share of ourselves with abundance. If you need a pick-me-up this w...
The Secret to (Great) Small Talk with Nydia Maurás-Jones
If showing up to a room full of complete strangers, or to a networking event, or to any situation where you must interact with people you've barely met gives you even the slightest amount of anxiety ... today's episode is for you.T...
The Whistling Fake Librarian Garden and Book Club
Now there's a podcast title that will gain NO SEO traction whatsoever. But it's worth it. It's a name my mother invented for my daughter, and you'll hear all about how it's run, how it got that title, and why I wanted to...
Wild Writing and the Practice of Being Human — with Laurie Wagner
Today on the podcast, I’m excited to introduce you to a small (but mighty) practice that has changed my life, and the woman who created it. Laurie Wagner is a writer, teacher, retreat leader, traveler, published author, and the founder and guid...
🇺🇸 50 States, 50 Gatherings, One Ambitious Relay, with Garrett Bucks
Garrett wears so many hats that we could have gone in so many different directions with this conversation, but in today’s episode, we talk about his latest undertaking: The Declaration of Interdependence Relay. (Or just The Relay, for short).
How to start a cookbook club with friends
In today's episode, my friend and neighbor Maura Flaherty, shares the secrets of her longstanding Cookbook Club. For the last 4-5 years, she and 6 other women have been meeting and sharing recipes from a rotating cast of cookbooks and (sometime...
Why do our screens evoke so much shame?
Today on the podcast, I'm reflecting on the last four episodes of the podcast, where I've talked at great length about screens. It's a conversation that isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so it's important that we keep talking about it. But if ...
An Amazing Teen explores The Amazing Generation (a book review and an example of the conversations we need to be having with our teens!)
Today on the podcast, I'm excited to introduce you to my niece, Sophia and my sister, Molly. In less than a week, Sophia will turn 13 and I wanted to bring her on the podcast so that - for this last episode of the February series on...
Three cheers for the teens who are teaching US about the boundaries they need
A few weeks ago, Thekla Brumder Ross and I hosted a live panel with last week's guest, Kat Zilka, Founder and Executive Director of Dis/Connect, and two of the high schoolers who are a part of the Dis/Connect movement. It was eye-op...
The Teens are NOT okay, but they CAN be, a conversation with Kat Zilka of Dis/Connect
Today's guest is the founder and Executive Director of Dis/Connect, a local non-profit attempting to create screen-free spaces for teens and young adults in our community. But let this conversation inspire you, wherever you live, to lo...
In praise of screen free childhoods (and the parents behind the movement!) with RECONNECT MILWAUKEE
In today's episode, Christina Dinur and Amanda Metropolus from RECONNECT MILWAUKEE talk about how and why they founded this group and what they hope to offer kids instead of endless (and mindless) screen time. A screen free childhoo...
In praise of the voice memo friendships!
If you've ever met someone and thought 'GAH I wish we lived closer, I'd love to be friends.' This episode is for you! It's also for you if you are tired of texting or emailing and want to put more emotion (and less emojis) into your...
How to host a women-only dance party in YOUR city! (sorry, guys!)
Another week, another way to gather and connect! Join me today as I talk with Rebecca Jankowski and Theresa Kopak of Interwovxn who alongside professional Event Planner Grace Fuhr are organizing quarterly dance parties for midlife w...
A standing dinner date with friends: A simple way to build community
I love this story of my friend Dorthy and her family, who share a meal, week after week, with the same family. They rotate houses, they cook the food, they share the meal, they put away the dishes and then they go home. It's simple. It's no fus...
An update on life OFF social media (and what I'm doing instead)
It's been over seven months since I've been on the socials! And it feels GREAT. AND ... also slightly disconnected from reality, from my community and from my creativity. So I'm back in a new way. Or, really, an old-school way. A bl...
In praise of wonder seeking with a professional Wonder Seeker, with Andrea Scher
Today I am SO excited to introduce you to the woman who has inspired me for the last two decades (at LEAST). I've been following Andrea Scher from her earliest blogs back in the early 2000s and have learned so much about creativity, wonder, att...
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In praise of extraordinary deeds!
Happy ALL THE Holidays today. A short and sweet episode about a book I recently read with my daughter. Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed, by Emily Pearson. A beautiful book with an extr...
When music is the medicine | In praise of connecting through song with Holly Haebig
Today on the show, how can we gather, connect and CREATE through music? With voice, with song and with breath, we are ALL musicians and creators. Today's guest Holly Haebig is Milwaukee's musical maven and talks with me about the power of music...
How to host women's circles with Nora Oaks
If you have been longing for connection in a safe and - dare I say - sacred space, filled with people who are authentic, and who bring their full selves, look no further than a circle. And if you've not experience the magic of a good circle, le...
How to (re)define a successful gathering
What does it mean when you invite dozens of people but only three show? Is bigger always better? Is more really merrier? This week I dive into how we define successful gatherings and whether we should be looking at numbers as the holy grail of ...
In praise of poetry and prose in person with Angela Voras-Hills of Book Drop MKE
Today on the show: a gathering of words.I'm talking with Milwaukee Poet and interdisciplinary artist, Angela Voras-Hills. She and her co-host Danielle Harms have organized a semi-regular book reading they call Book Drop MKE, inviting loc...
Getting people to talk at the Thanksgiving table (or any table!)
Today a tiny tip for getting people to share when it's their turn at the table. Use this at the Thanksgiving table, or any table where there's a go-around that requires a creative answer. It's my new favorite trick at any gathering where I'm ho...
