Welcoming Fall

I woke up at 4:30am with the concept for this post swirling around in my head. I took some notes and tried to go back to sleep for another hour or two but my body’s olfactory system reminded me of the smell of a specific nespresso flavor that I’ve been loving recently and wouldn’t let me go back to sleep.

So, it is with the early morning sounds of the NYC garbage trucks rolling below my windows, a very dark sky and the distinct smell of the early morning mixed with my freshly made coffee that I sit and write.

To begin, I hope that you all had incredible summers. It’s such a distinctive season; a clear marker of time and one that makes you inspired to take note of your day-to-day and infuse it with more outdoor activities, social gatherings and hopefully, a vacation or two.  This particular summer was a bit of an interesting one for me. I’ve written before about how challenging this journey of launching my own whisky company is (and yes, I’m still a 1 person company! #drinkbrenne) and how strange, lonely, frightening & exhilarating it is to journey from one mountain peak to another.  Since my last post (~6 weeks ago), in keeping with that analogy, I haven’t felt like my usual “mountain climber” self but instead like an intense, bullish, excavator; burrowing in straight lines underneath the trails instead of wasting steps going up, over, and back down again.

When asked this past weekend how my summer was I reflected for a moment, smiled and simply said, “focused!“

With my husband traveling every week for work, my week nights were not our typical “married couple routine” of ending work at some late evening hour, eating dinner in front of the TV, cleaning up/prepping for the next day and/or trip, chores, bed. Instead, I just kept working – often late into the early morning hours (like the time I woke up today!).  I felt like a human machine working through my micro and macro tasks with efficiency and excitement. I checked off my To Do lists with gusto and even started running again on a more regular basis (which only fueled the focus even more!).

The great thing is as Fall kicks off, I feel ready. I’m looking forward to a strong close of 2014 and think 2015 is going to be exceptional. Lots of exciting things happening for Brenne so I hope you all stay tuned.  It’s funny, as I hit the pavement running literally (I often post photos and what thoughts I meditated on my run on my personal Instagram feed HERE if you’re interested), I regularly reflected how happy I am that whisky takes so long to make. For someone who throws a lot of balls in the air and constantly moves things forward to get these opportunities to drop, I really appreciate that at least one aspect of this business is quiet, calm and something that really truly cannot be rushed.

Me in Cognac, France analyzing a barrel sample of aging Brenne

Enjoy your beauty sleep, Brenne. I’ll be ready for you when you’re done!

…and with that, it’s time to lace up my sneakers & fly! Happy Kick-off to Fall, everyone! I’ve got a sunrise to run towards 🙂 ~ xo ~ Allison

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