Heidi and Ellen welcome Virgo- the sign of industry, efficiency and devotion. Virgo always invites us to curate our life with meticulous attention. Our health and wellness are a top priority as well as how to improve or streamline our work life. We direct our attention to tending and caring for our bodies and being.

What we talked about in this episode:

Prince Harry’s chart

Zendaya’s chart

POEM

We Are Loved by Heidi Rose Robbins

The Sun is up.

The day awaits.

It’s Sunday morning 

and we are loved.

Even if we try to deny it,

this broken world is holding us

like a mama bear.



We may 

fall to our knees,

this almost daily humbling,

and still the light 

touches our bodies

and every tree on the planet

is whispering

“Live.”



I want to give up 

almost every other day.

I want to say—

that’s quite enough.

But no.

But no.

I have lived a while,

and still am learning

to be ALIVE.



The sun is up.

Let’s turn our faces

towards its generous heart.



This is not just another day.

This day is ours.

This day has opened before us.

This day is wrapped around us

and is setting us free,

all in one 

unbridled,

unbounded,

yes.

BOOKS

Ask Me by Heidi Rose Robbins

Ellen is in A BOOK!!! Recently, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Dr. Anne Welsh for her wonderful new book, Ambitious Mother: From Surviving to Thriving in Your Career and at Home. Anne is a licensed clinical psychologist, a mom of four, and someone who has spent years thinking deeply about the intersection of motherhood and ambition. The book explores many important questions about being a working mom.

FILM

SPIDER-MAN
THE ODYSSEY
TONY
THE SPLIT (Hulu)

PODCAST

Ologies with Allie Ward - Noctohabitology (SLEEP PROCRASTINATION) with Vanessa “Nessy” Hill

TRANSITS

August 22 - The Sun enters Virgo

Today the Sun enters the industrious, efficient, and devotional sign of Virgo. The expansiveness of Leo is giving way to the meticulous attention and discernment of Virgo. Our health and wellness is a top priority as well as how to improve or streamline our work life. Virgo always invites us to curate our life.

Sun enters Virgo at 7:18 pm PT

August 25 - Mercury enters Virgo

Mercury is at home in Virgo. It loves to study, analyze, and discern. Give Mercury in Virgo a spreadsheet or a system to improve, and this combo feels right at home. There is a desire to get it right, be precise, edit and refine.

Mercury enters Virgo at 4:05 am PT

August 27 - Mercury Cazimi

Mercury and the Sun share the same degree in Virgo on this eclipse day as well. We are planting seeds to solve problems. We are getting to work. We are improving the conditions of our lives.

Sun conjoins Mercury (cazimi!) at 10:10 am PT

August 27 - Full Moon of Virgo Season— Lunar Eclipse 4 degrees Pisces

Today heralds the end of Eclipse season, though some of the intensity of the last two weeks will linger. This Full Moon, the Moon is in Pisces, and the Sun is in Virgo. This is the axis of healing. If we’ve been ignoring any physical, emotional, or mental issue, this Full Moon might help us direct our attention to tending and caring for our bodies and beings. Also, if we have any planet or asteroid around 4 degrees Virgo or Pisces, it’s particularly potent as the Eclipse occurs in that exact degree. - Uranus squaring Eclipse

The lunar eclipse in Pisces occurs at 9:12 pm PT

August 28 - Sun square Uranus

Expect the unexpected. Uranus is knocking at the door. Sudden shifts and reinventions could occur on a day like this. We may also want to experiment or change it up a bit. This is not a status quo day.

Sun squares Uranus at 3:18 pm PT

August 31 - Jupiter in Leo trine Saturn in Aries

This is a wonderful transit. When Jupiter and Saturn work together harmoniously, they get things done. Jupiter in Leo comes forth with generosity, expansiveness, and leadership while Saturn offers support and structure to that offering. We can grow the most significantly when these two planets work together.

Jupiter trines Saturn Rx at 3:40 pm PT

September 1st - Mars in Cancer square Saturn Rx in Aries

This is a potential day of frustration as Mars wants to assert and drive forward while Saturn arrests that progress. We may come up against obstruction today. Patience is required. Pausing is paramount. It may also, alternatively, be a day when there is energy to break down an old and outdated structure.

Mars squares Saturn Rx at 3:01 am PT

September 10 - Venus enters Scorpio, Mercury enters Libra, Uranus moves retrograde

This is a big day astrologically. Venus enters Scorpio where she will spend quite a bit of time this fall, as her journey through Scorpio includes a retrograde. She is now slipping into a sign of depth and shadow work. We begin to unearth and reclaim power that may have been repressed or muted. On another note, it’s a good time to work with our money and how we want to save or invest or address debt.

Mercury also enters Libra, the sign of peace. This combo always brings increased diplomacy and an ability to hold the paradox.

Uranus also moves retrograde until February 2027. It’s hard to imagine a quieting of the constant changes and upheavals, but sometimes a retrograde brings a little relief and resetting.

Venus enters Scorpio at 1:11 am PT

Mercury enters Libra at 9:22 am PT

Uranus stations retrograde in Gemini at 11:27 am PT

September 10 - New Moon of Virgo Season

The New Moon also occurs on this day. Seeds are being planted. How can we improve the quality of our lives? What still needs to be cleaned up or addressed? Virgo energy is ready to roll up its sleeves.

The New Moon in Virgo occurs at 8:27 pm PT

September 15 - Neptune Rx in Aries sextile Pluto Rx in Aquarius

This sextile is a part of the ongoing dance of the outer planets, all of which are now in fire and air signs. In this combo, the planet of idealism is creatively and harmoniously working with the planet of power in the sign of the collective. Might there be an influx of hope or a new dream being dreamed?

Neptune Rx sextiles Pluto at 7:11 pm PT

September 17 - Chiron re-enters Aries

Chiron dipped into Taurus in mid-June, and now it retrogrades into Aries until January 2027. We got a taste of where Chiron will now apply its healing work. As it retrogrades into Aries for the rest of the year, we address again how we work with aggression or assertion collectively or individually. We also ask ourselves if we have stepped forth in the areas that call us to initiate or lead.

Chiron enters Aries at 6:51 pm PT

LOOKING FOR A HOUSE SWAP

NEW YORK! BROOKLYN!

I (Ellen) am coming your way!

I’m looking for a 2–3 bedroom apartment from October 14–21.

In exchange, my beautiful home near the beach in La Jolla, San Diego, will be available for a swap.

If London is more your speed, my son’s lovely flat is also available.

If you have a connection—or know someone who might—please message me!

Here are a few things I’ve been up to:

I’M IN A BOOK!

Recently, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Dr. Anne Welsh for her wonderful new book, Ambitious Mother: From Surviving to Thriving in Your Career and at Home.

Anne is a licensed clinical psychologist, a mom of four, and someone who has spent years thinking deeply about the intersection of motherhood and ambition.

The book explores many important questions about being a working mom, including one that stopped me in my tracks:

What are you truly ambitious for?

It’s a powerful question.

Anne invites women to define success on their own terms—and reminds us that motherhood doesn’t require us to shrink our dreams. If anything, it can make us more creative, audacious, and clear about what matters.

I talked with Anne about my own journey: building a nonprofit while raising my boys and learning how to make space for both the work I cared about and the life I loved.

I was a single mom, working full-time, and for years I felt pulled between my work and my boys. I’d always been ambitious—not in the traditional climb-the-ladder sense, but because I wanted my work to make the world a little better and brighter.

Having children didn’t diminish that ambition. It reshaped it.

I found work that allowed me to be home when the boys got out of school, home for vacations, and to have a lighter load in the summer. I was lucky to have the flexibility to build a career around my children, rather than in spite of them.

I often hear clients ask: How do you go after what you truly want without losing yourself along the way? How do you work and parent without constantly feeling like you’re failing at one or the other?

It’s never easy.

But here’s what I wish I’d known sooner:

Ambition doesn’t always require you to choose. Sometimes, it simply asks you to redefine what you’re chasing.

I think Ambitious Mother offers a beautiful invitation to do just that.

WHAT I AM READING

I’ve been reading lots of books this summer, but the standout for me has been A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.

Published in 1943, this semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel follows Francie Nolan, a young girl growing up in the impoverished Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn in the early 20th century. It’s a story about poverty, resilience, family, and finding beauty and possibility even in difficult circumstances.

This was my absolute favorite book growing up, so picking it up again all these years later, I wondered if I would still love it as much as I remembered.

I did.

I alternated between reading and listening to the audiobook, and found myself completely immersed in Francie’s world. There was something especially meaningful about experiencing this story again as an adult—seeing it through different eyes, while still feeling that same connection to the girl who first captured my heart all those years ago.

Some books stay with you. This is one of them.

WHAT I AM WATCHING

It’s been a banner summer for movies, and I’m doing my part to support movie theaters. I can honestly say: mall culture is alive and well in Southern California!

The blockbusters have been fun, immersive, and wonderful summer movie-going experiences. Here’s what I’ve been watching:

SPIDER-MAN
Fun, but ultimately not my jam. That said, the audience—and seemingly everyone else in the world—loved it.

THE ODYSSEY
Hard to put into words. An amazing spectacle in every way. Odysseus’s journey is, in many ways, all of our journeys (minus the 10-foot monsters and being turned into pigs over lunch).

TONY
A terrific film about Anthony Bourdain’s early years. I really enjoyed getting a glimpse into the person behind the legend.

THE SPLIT (Hulu)
This was my second time through the series, and I loved it even more this time around. Some stories just get better with a second watch.

WEIGHT TRAINING

I’m on a roll. I’ve been focusing on weight training, getting plenty of protein and calcium, and building strength one workout at a time.

It’s fun. It’s hard. And I’m slowly starting to see the results—which makes it all worth it.

WHERE I AM GOING

NEW YORK! BROOKLYN!

I am coming your way!

I’m looking for a 2–3 bedroom apartment from October 14–21.

In exchange, my beautiful home near the beach in La Jolla, San Diego, will be available for a swap.

If London is more your speed, my son’s lovely flat is also available.

If you have a connection—or know someone who might—please message me!

TWO SPOTS AVAILABLE IN SEPTEMBER!

If you’re navigating a career or life crossroads—or feeling quietly dissatisfied with where you are—my 3-day Odyssey Planning Intensive, More Than One Story, may be just what you need.

Rooted in Stanford’s Life Design framework, the program helps you map out three distinct, real possibilities for your future. The goal isn’t to force a decision. It’s to step back, explore your options, and finally see what’s possible with greater clarity.

It’s practical, creative, and surprisingly fun.

Two spots are available in September. Contact me with any questions.

LEARN MORE HERE

I hope you are all well and enjoying these last weeks of summer. More to come soon!!!

Sending Love,

Heidi and Ellen welcome the sign of LEO. It is a month to shine forth, to stand in our own light and offer up what abides in our hearts. It’s time to be the SUN in our own families, communities, and homes. It’s the season of generously giving our gifts!

What we talked about in this episode:

Mick Jagger’s Chart

Dua Lipa’s Chart

POEM

Listen by Barbara Crocker

I want to tell you something. This morning
is bright after all the steady rain, and every iris,
peony, rose, opens its mouth, rejoicing. I want to say,
wake up, open your eyes, there’s a snow-covered road
ahead, a field of blankness, a sheet of paper, an empty screen.
Even the smallest insects are singing, vibrating their entire bodies,
tiny violins of longing and desire. We were made for song.
I can’t tell you what prayer is, but I can take the breath
of the meadow into my mouth, and I can release it for the leaves’
green need. I want to tell you your life is a blue coal, a slice
of orange in the mouth, cut hay in the nostrils. The cardinals’
red song dances in your blood. Look, every month the moon
blossoms into a peony, then shrinks to a sliver of garlic.
And then it blooms again.

BOOKS

1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History--and How It Shattered a Nation by Andrew Ross Sorkin

Whistler by Ann Patchett

Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America’s New Age of Disaster by Jacob Soboroff

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

PREORDER (to be released on August 3): Ask Me by Heidi Rose Robbins

TELEVISION

2026 FIFA World Cup

Ride or Die

Trying

Little House On The Prairie

FILM

The Invite

Disclosure Day

The Odyssey

TRANSITS

July 22 - Sun enters Leo

It’s time to exhale, shine forth, and be the royalty of our own lives. It’s Leo time. It’s time to stand in our own light and offer up what abides in our hearts. It’s time to be the SUN in our own families, communities, and homes. It’s the season of generously giving our gifts!

Sun enters Leo at 12:13 pm PT

July 23 - Mercury moves direct in Cancer

This retrograde has been full of visits to the past. Old friendships were celebrated. Nostalgia has been the name of the day. We reviewed, reflected, and maybe even wrote a memoir. Now it’s time to step into a new experience. What new world are we building? Plans are underway.

Mercury stations direct in Cancer at 3:57 pm PT

July 24 - Neptune in Aries trine Pluto in Aquarius

This beautiful trine suggests that our individual dreams and our daring around acting on those individual dreams will deeply benefit the collective. We are brave artists and entrepreneurs and visionaries for the good of the whole.

Neptune trines Pluto at 10:26 pm PT

July 26 - Saturn retrograde in Aries

Retrogrades are a chance to use a more interior energy with any given planet. With Saturn moving retrograde, we can now worry less about outer scaffolding and focus more of our attention on inner intention and alignment. This is the season of trusting that we are ‘right on time.’

Saturn stations Retrograde at 12:56 pm PT

July 26 - Nodes shift to Leo/Aquarius,Sun opposite Pluto

This is an important day, as the Nodal axis shifts from Virgo/Pisces to Leo/Aquarius. The last year and a half has been focused on the axis of healing. Now, we shift to the axis of creativity and distribution, or alternatively, the axis of the Self and the collective. The Sun also opposes Pluto today, which only happens once a year. It could indicate a potent line in the sand, the end of an old pattern.

North Node enters Aquarius/South Node enters Leo at 5:50pm PT

Sun opposes Pluto Rx at 11:55 pm PT

July 27 - Sun trine Neptune, Sun sextile Uranus

The Sun is dancing harmoniously with the outer planets, Neptune and Uranus. We might feel particularly lit up about exciting changes in our lives or inspired by a new vision. It’s a good day to experiment and breathe life and electricity into any quiet dreams.

Sun trines Neptune Rx at 12:36 am PT

Sun sextiles Uranus at 2:35 pm PT

July 29 - Full Moon of Leo Season, Jupiter Cazimi

This is a gorgeous Full Moon. Jupiter is exactly conjunct the Sun, magnifying the light. This is a full moon of identity and whole-heartedness and shining forth. It’s a Full Moon of emergence.

Sun conjoins Jupiter (cazimi!) at 5:11 am PT

Full moon in Aquarius occurs at 7:36 am PT

August 3 - Chiron retrograde in Taurus

There is always quieter inner work to be done in a healing process. This is the reflective, more tender time. Chiron entered Taurus very recently, and we are getting a sense of what its journey through Chiron will involve. There is much to do with our own self-worth, recognition of our value, and how we attract (or not) resources for our work in the world. Now, we pause and regard our path anew. We reflect on necessary shifts and changes to create a healing flow.

Chiron stations retrograde in Taurus at 1:10 pm PT

August 6 - Venus enters Libra, Sun trine Saturn

This is a beautiful, steadying day. Venus enters the sign it governs and loves to be in. And the Sun works with the stabilizing energy of Saturn. It’s a day to exhale. It’s a day to breathe in the beauty present in our lives and to build upon it.

Venus enters Libra at 12:13 pm PT

Sun trines Saturn Rx at 7:44 pm PT

August 9 - Mercury enters Leo

We now hand Mercury a microphone. If we have something to say, we permit ourselves to say it. We come forth with our message and our courageous message. Our confidence is high. Our hearts are full.

Mercury enters Leo at 9:21 am PT

August 10 - Venus trine Pluto,Venus opposite Neptune

Venus is now in conversation with both the dreamer and the planet of power. It wants to love and to create, and it has allies. It is seeking power and love, and today is a day it is freely given.

Venus trines Pluto Rx at 11:09 am PT

Venus opposes Neptune at 3:02 pm PT

August 11 - Mars enters Cancer, Venus trine Uranus

Mars now enters the sign of protecting and defending. It works now to keep all that is in its care, safe and sound. It is also eager to build and fortify new homes, new businesses and a wider family. Meanwhile, Venus always loves the conversation with Uranus. It’s exciting, innovative and stimulating. New ideas abound. Experimentation is abundant.

Mars enters Cancer at 1:30 am PT

Venus trines Uranus at 8:46 pm PT

August 12 - New Moon of Leo, Solar Eclipse

This New Moon is full of expression and not just because it is in the sign of Leo. Venus is also in conversation with Mercury, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Highlighting Venus in this way creates the opportunity for plentiful creativity and collaboration.

The Solar Eclipse in Leo occurs at 19:45 am PT

August 17 - Mars in Cancer square Neptune in Aries

This aspect asks for clarity. We can’t charge forth until we know where we are headed or what we want to initiate. This may require a pause and some time to reflect before tangible action steps are taken. Inspiration is plentiful but action must be taken with care.

Mars squares Neptune Rx at 2:53 am PT

UPCOMING EVENTS

Ask Me: Book Launch and Immersive Poetry Experience Santa Barbara, CA July 31 - August 2, 2026

Godmothers Gather: Conversation with Heidi Rose Robbins and Jennifer Freed Godmothers Books, Summerland, CA August 9, 2026 at 6pm

WORK WITH HEIDI AND ELLEN

ASTROLOGY READING + CAREER COUNSELING

Chart Your Career

Chart Your Career is a unique and powerful series of sessions offered by master astrologer Heidi Rose Robbins and award-winning career coach Ellen Fondiler. Clients get a 60-minute astrology reading with Heidi and a 60-minute career coaching session with Ellen. This is a great way to breathe some fresh energy into your life, feel clear about where you’re heading and create some specific action steps to follow over the next few months.

Learn More

This is the summer I became obsessed with sports.

Nobody is more surprised than I am.

I find myself telling friends and family, “I can’t come to dinner...or the movies...or on a walk—THE GAME IS ON.”

It started with the NBA playoffs. No surprise there—I’ve been a basketball fan for years. My heart belongs to the Warriors, but this season I, like so many others, fell in love with the Knicks. It was a wild, heart-pounding run. Game after game, they clawed their way back from seemingly impossible odds until the impossible became almost expected.

For a few hours each night, for two amazing weeks (Knicks in Five!!), basketball made the world feel a little lighter and brighter.

Then came the FIFA World Cup—and with it, a sport I never imagined I’d fall in love with.

Until recently, I knew very little about soccer (aka football everywhere but in the US). I’d watched a handful of matches over the years, but I never quite understood what was happening. Lots of running. Very little scoring. My son, Willie, who lives in London, is a devoted fan, and over time his enthusiasm rubbed off on me and made me curious about the game.

This summer, once I started watching in earnest, I finally understood the draw.

Yes, it’s the game itself. But it’s also everything surrounding it: the community, the rituals, the shared anticipation, the pain and agony and the joy of billions of people putting aside their differences on an arbitrary Tuesday afternoon for what feels like one enormous family gathering.

What had once looked to me like players randomly chasing a ball transformed into something closer to a beautiful ballet.

But something deeper than the games has captured my attention.

Across almost every sport I’ve watched this summer—basketball, soccer, tennis (yes, there was Wimbledon too!)—I found myself drawn to the athletes standing at the edge of transition, walking that fine line between their known past and their unknown future.

Lionel Messi, still creating moments of magic as he competes in what may be his final World Cup.

LeBron James, chasing one more championship on legs that have carried him for more than two decades.

Novak Djokovic, gracefully competing against players young enough to have grown up watching him.

Serena Williams, returning to tennis and reminding us that endings aren’t always as neat as we imagine. Sometimes we leave, only to discover there’s still something calling us back.

These are people who have devoted their entire lives to becoming the very best, only to arrive at the inevitable moment when excellence is no longer enough to stop time.

No amount of talent, fame, or wealth spares any of us from that reckoning.

Most of us will never take a final bow on a world stage. But all of us will face that moment when the chapter that defined us ends before we know what the next one will be. When the identity we’ve worn for years no longer fits in quite the same way. When the question—What now?—arrives whether we’re ready or not.

This summer, I came for the games.

I stayed for the reminder that even our most painful endings may be the beginning of a story we can’t yet imagine.

Sending Love,

Are you standing at your own turning point? Or simply sensing that the chapter you’re living no longer fits?

If so, I’d love to help.

My 3-Day Odyssey Planning Intensive was created for exactly this moment—to help you discover that you’re capable of living more than one story.

LEARN MORE HERE

P.S. You don’t have to do this alone. Invite a friend, your book club, or a circle of women who are ready for their next chapter. Dreaming together changes everything — and groups receive a special discount. Just reach out and we’ll make it work.

On this Summer Solstice day when we have equal hours of light and dark, Heidi and Ellen welcome the sign of Cancer. Cancer is about nourishment, protection, tending and making things whole. Cancer carries the energy of the mother, holding and caring.

What we talked about in this episode:

DAVID HOCKNEY’S CHART (Time Unknown)

POEM

LOW DOWN NOW

Stop planning. It’s not going to work 
this time. There are better ways 
to do this and you know it. 
Let’s take a moment to pause 
and imagine pulling the rug 
out from under our own feet. 
Can you see me - reaching down, 
tugging, grunting, crashing 
on my own ass? Ridiculous! 
But it’s good. It’s so good 
for us to fold, my friend. 
Low down now, let’s crawl 
a quiet, curving way forward 
from our guts — let’s sniff 
for what, if we were wild 
again, would feed us,
and feed us 
to the whole.

~ Brooke McNamara

TELEVISION

The Other Bennet Sister

The Last Tango in Halifax

Couples Therapy

2026 NBA Finals - New York Knicks (in 5!!!)

FIFA World Cup 2026

BOOKS

Dangerous Dirty Violent and Young: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground By Zayd Ayers Dohrn

Brawler by Lauren Groff

The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

TRANSITS

June 21 - Summer Solstice, Sun Enters Cancer
Today is the day of the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. The Sun enters Cancer and we enter a new season. Cancer wants to nourish all it touches. It wants to protect, tend, and make things whole. Cancer carries the energy of the mother archetype and wishes to hold, feed, and care for all in its vicinity.

The Sun enters Cancer at 1:24 am PT

June 25 - Venus in Leo trine Saturn in Aries

Venus and Saturn form a beautiful trine, working together to create real opportunities to express and create. Saturn always offers authority and structure, while Venus in Leo wants to make beautiful things or lead the way- heart first. Saturn gives Leo a true opportunity to shine.

Venus trines Saturn at 5:01 am PT

June 27 - Mars in Taurus sextile Jupiter in Cancer

Just before Mars enters Gemini tomorrow and just before Jupiter enters Leo in two days, they have one last lovely conversation. Mars in Taurus celebrates with Jupiter in Cancer, and together they note what has been quietly gestating. A lot has been going on just under the surface, and it’s getting ready to emerge.

Mars sextiles Jupiter at 9:38 pm PT

June 28 - Mars enters Gemini

The warrior writer! The bold communicator! The vigorous and strong connector! Mars now enters Gemini, and suddenly, we have the energy for a multitude of projects. We are suddenly also quite brave in our communications. If there’s something that needs to be said, we say it!

Mars enters Gemini at 12:29 pm PT

June 29 - Mercury Retrograde, Full Moon of Cancer Season, Jupiter enters Leo

It’s a huge day. To begin, Mercury moves retrograde in the sign of Cancer. It will remain retrograde for the next 3 weeks. Review and reflect upon the last few months. Get quiet. Turn in. The Full Moon also occurs today. It’s the Full Moon of Cancer Season. It is also a more internal, maternal Moon. Finally, Jupiter enters Leo and will stay there for an entire year. It is a year of sitting on our inner throne and expressing the fullness of Self.

Mercury stations retrograde in Cancer at 10:35 am PT

The Full Moon in Capricorn occurs at 4:56 pm PT

Jupiter enters Leo at 10:51 pm PT

July 3 - Mars in Gemini conjunct Uranus in Gemini

This conjunction is full of ZING. It is activating and possibly agitating. But the best way to meet the moment is to be willing to change and change quickly. It’s a conjunction of spontaneity. It’s also an electrifying conversation, with an urgency for potent revolution!

Mars conjoins Uranus at 11:05 pm PT

July 5 - Mars in Gemini trine Pluto in Aquarius

Power! Power! Power to the people. Ideas spread quickly, and whole social movements can get underway with a transit like this. Humanity has something to say about current conditions and there will be speaking OUT.

Mars trines Pluto Rx at 6:07 am PT

July 9 - Venus enters Virgo

This is a combination that loves to do excellent and specific work. Venus in Virgo loves to improve and perfect whatever it touches. It also loves to tend to our physical, emotional, and mental health. Devotion is a keyword when the planet of love and beauty enters the sign of spiritual practice.

Venus enters Virgo at 10:33 am PT

July 12 - Mercury Cazimi in Cancer

This is the kind of Cazimi that is more emotionally awakening! There could be some clarity and discovery around what we’ve been feeling over the last few weeks — like we can finally give it a name.

The Sun conjoins MercuryRx (cazimi!) at 6:31pm PT

July 14 - New Moon of Cancer Season

This is an exquisitely beautiful New Moon with Jupiter close at hand. Cancer asks us, “What needs to be made whole? How are we fractured? How can we welcome all aspects of ourselves HOME?

The New Moon in Cancer occurs at 2:43 am PT

July 15 - Uranus in Gemini sextile Neptune in Aries

So many of the outer planets are now moving into exact relationships with one another. These last two weeks of July are incredibly potent. Today, Uranus, the planet of reinvention, is in harmony with Neptune in Aries, which is busy dreaming up some new dreams. This combo is beautiful for its brave, innovative action aligned with new, more loving, uniting dreams.

Uranus sextiles Neptune Rx at 1:59 pm PT

July 17 - Uranus in Gemini trine Pluto in Aquarius

Here again, the outer planets are in conversation. This trine is accelerating the revolution. Big changes are afoot, and they are now shifting into a higher gear. Gemini is ultimately a sign of Love and Wisdom. Aquarius is a sign of the people. Uranus and Pluto want potent substantial changes in power. Let’s see how it all unfolds.

Uranus trines Pluto Rx at at 11:04 pm PT

July 19 - Mars in Gemini sextile Saturn in Aries

Now Mars is sextile Saturn. This combo gets it done. It commits and sets out on the mission. There are new, deliberate beginnings afoot, and Mars will help those beginnings grow. This combination also lends authority to any strong, clear message.

Mars sextiles Saturn at 11:30 am PT

July 20 - Jupiter in Leo opposite Pluto in Aquarius

This day is an extraordinary day because Uranus, Pluto, Jupiter, and Neptune are all sitting at 4 degrees in their respective signs. They are forming a basket shape and creating a container for NEW ENERGY. Jupiter is exactly opposite Pluto, welcoming great courage and helping to end patterns in certain Leo leaders who do not take the good of humanity into account.

Jupiter opposes Pluto Rx at 7:54 am PT

WORK WITH HEIDI AND ELLEN

ASTROLOGY READING + CAREER COUNSELING

Chart Your Career

Chart Your Career is a unique and powerful series of sessions offered by master astrologer Heidi Rose Robbins and award-winning career coach Ellen Fondiler. Clients get a 60-minute astrology reading with Heidi and a 60-minute career coaching session with Ellen. This is a great way to breathe some fresh energy into your life, feel clear about where you’re heading and create some specific action steps to follow over the next few months.

Learn More

Many nights, I scroll through hundreds of options and find very little I actually want to watch. Sometimes I look for what feels like forever, find nothing, and just give up. So when something genuinely stops me in my tracks, I pay attention.

The Other Bennet Sister on BritBox was one of those shows. Five minutes in, I was completely hooked — charmed, warmed, and quietly moved in all the ways I’d forgotten television could make me feel.

It is the story of the five Bennet sisters of Pride and Prejudice fame. Specifically, it focuses on the sister most often forgotten — Mary.

We all know Elizabeth Bennet — the second eldest, the protagonist of the book, the one we root for. Fiercely independent, sharp-witted, and magnetic, she falls in love with the handsome, charming, and very wealthy Mr. Darcy. When the novel ends, they have overcome their respective flaws — her prejudice, his pride — declared their love, and settled into a charmed life at Pemberley. Happily ever after, as promised.

But what about Mary?

Mary is the middle sister — the most studious and bookish of the group, often quoting moral philosophy and showing off piano skills that are extensive, if not always appreciated. She is awkward, frequently overlooked, and made to feel, in a hundred quiet ways, that she is simply not enough.

The Other Bennet Sister picks up where Pride and Prejudice left off, and gives Mary the story she always deserved. It follows the ways in which life, loss, and unexpected change give her an opening to grow into herself and find her true path — and true love — entirely on her own terms.

Mary’s story is fictional, of course. But her journey — feeling overlooked, uncertain of her path, quietly aware that the life she was living wasn’t quite the one meant for her — is one I hear from real women all the time.

What moves me most about her arc isn’t where she ends up. It’s that she had to imagine several different versions of her life before she could find the one that was truly hers. She had to try on futures she wasn’t sure about, sit with uncertainty, and trust that clarity would come — not from thinking harder, but from being willing to see new possibilities.

That is exactly what my new offering, More Than One Story is designed to help you do.

Rooted in a framework developed at Stanford’s Life Design Lab, the program asks you to map out not one, but three radically different five-year plans for your life. Not just the safe one. Not just the practical one. But three of them— including one that feels a little wild, a little unfamiliar, maybe even a little thrilling.

By the end you will have mapped out a real vision for your future and a realistic and doable action plan.

Here’s what I’ve learned after years of working with people at exactly these crossroads: the life you want isn’t hiding behind the right decision. It’s hiding behind your willingness to see that you have more than one story available to you and to act on the one that makes the most sense in this moment.

You’ve lived one story well. There are others waiting.

If you’ve been feeling like Mary — thoughtful and quietly restless, wondering if there’s a path out there that actually fits — I’d love for you to take a look.

More Than One Story: The Odyssey Planning Intensive

And if you’re not quite ready to dive in, I’m always happy to start with a conversation. Book a free clarity call and we’ll talk about where you are, what’s pulling at you, and where you might want to go next.

Sometimes that’s all it takes — someone to help you see that your story isn’t over.

It’s just getting interesting.

Sending Love,

P.S. You don’t have to do this alone. Invite a friend, your book club, or a circle of women who are ready for their next chapter. Dreaming together changes everything — and groups receive a special discount. Just reach out and we’ll make it work.

Heidi and Ellen welcome the sign of Gemini. It will be an ever-moving and effervescent month. Gemini knows how to light up a room and how to ask all the good questions. The pace picks up, and so too the number of things we are juggling. Gemini rules the lungs and is ever here to remind us to take a deep breath or two amidst all the activity. Gemini Season tells us that we can connect with our sense of curiosity as a form of care. What we grounded during Taurus Season will now change, morph, and evolve in Gemini Season.

What we talked about in this episode:

PRINCE’S CHART

WALT WHITMAN’S CHART

POEM

The Coast of Nowhere II by Chris Dombroski

My best friend that winter was a cardinal,
male by his call. At the time I wrote
in the closet of a rented house, my desk
a piece of plywood laid atop stacked 
cinder blocks. Our unspoken competition 
was to see who could get working before
the other. If I sat down in the dark
before he called from his oak perch,
I would turn on the light and tap twice
against the window. But if his song
rousted me from bed, I would stagger
to my chair and signal with the lamp,
You win, in Morse code. We didn’t bother
keeping score as sleep was rare for me
and dread rampant, giving me a leg up
on my bird brother. One Tuesday in February 
he failed to show. Sleet and black rain 
pelting the eaves, the kind of predawn 
that reaches through the window, hissing, 
Your heart never was a bird let alone
a bright-red singing one. I wondered
if he’d met his fate the day before:
the supreme banality of a house cat,
perhaps, concealed behind a feeder 
filled with sun- and safflower seeds. I 
went to my job, worked late, drove
the lakeshore home, and, on the coast
of nowhere, slept for once the sleep 
of the drowned. Woke to: Dear-dear,
the notes faint as if heard from underwater,
then sharper, from high in the oak,
Dear-dear-dear-dear. My room flooding
with light and orbiting motes, I blinked
away the glare, looked out the window:
early sun on fresh snow and a bird 
I knew was naming me.

FILM

H is for Hawk

Sing Song Blue

TELEVISION

Peaky Blinders

BOOKS

Famesick: A Memoir by Lena Dunham

Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden

TRANSITS

May 20 - Sun enters Gemini

The Sun now enters the effervescent, ever-moving, quick-thinking sign of Gemini. Gemini knows how to light up a room and how to ask all the good questions. The pace picks up, and so too the number of things we are juggling. Gemini rules the lungs and is ever here to remind us to take a deep breath or two amidst all the activity.

Sun moves into Gemini at 5:36 pm PT

May 22 - Uranus Cazimi

This Cazimi happens once a year. This is the day of Uranus, a day of electric change and the power to reinvent. It’s a ride, and we need to be sure to bring all our stabilizing powers to this day. But it’s also a day of freeing up and making bold, interesting choices. It’s a day to experiment.

The Sun conjoins Uranus (cazimi!) at 7:24 am PT

May 25 - Mars in Taurus square Pluto in Aquarius

This isn’t the easiest aspect, as it stirs up intensity. But power is energy in motion, and it needs to be wielded well. That’s our opportunity today. There are many who currently do not know how to wield power wisely, so it’s left to those who do to steady the ship and keep our attention focused on missions that benefit Humanity.

Mars squares Pluto Rx at 9:02 pm PT

May 31st - Full Moon of Gemini Season

Uranus continues to presence itself in big ways. This Full Moon is conjunct Uranus and the changes continue to accelerate. Expect the unexpected. Expect a miracle. Expect to feel a little out of control. The best way to work with Uranus is to be willing to change.

The full moon in Sagittarius occurs at 1:45 am PT

June 9 - Venus in Cancer, conjunct Jupiter in Cancer

This is one of the loveliest transits of the entire month. It’s cozy. It’s magnetic. It is full of pleasure. And it is also a deep offering of the gifts of the Divine Feminine.

Venus conjoins Cancer at 12:55 pm PT

June 13 - Venus enters Leo

Now Venus gets to roar. Now, Venus tries on her full queen self. Now Venus steps forth with confidence and regality and offers her authentic truth. It’s such a time of creativity and love.

Enjoy!

Venus enters Leo at 3:46 am PT

June 14 - New Moon of Gemini Season

This is a New Moon that doesn’t have a lot of complications. It’s a time to freely connect and build new bridges. Things can quickly slot into place. Conversations are not as fraught. This is a time of swift and potentially more graceful changes.

The New Moon in Gemini occurs at 7:54 PM PT

June 16 - Venus in Leo trine Neptune in Aries

The season of artistry and love begins. We feel inspired and ignited. Our dreams are flowing in the right direction. We give ourselves time and space to create.

Venus trines Neptune at 8:40 pm PT

June 19 - Chiron enters Taurus

This is a very significant moment. Chiron enters Taurus for the first time in about 50 years. Its journey in Aries has done its work, and now it enters the realm of our self-worth and our ability to magnetize and use resources well. It will dip back into Aries before fully moving through Taurus, but we begin to get a taste of this new healing ground.

Chiron enters Taurus at 2:20 pm PT

In 2011 I decided to leave my job as Executive Director of a 10 acre educational habitat called MEarth that served as a huge outdoor classroom for over 2500 students a year.

It had started as a tiny seedling in my mind over 11 years before, and it was from the very start, a labor of love. Over the years, I raised over 5 million dollars in grants and private donations, and with a staff of 6 and many volunteers transformed a 10-acre piece of land into vegetable and native plant gardens, a native bee habitat, a bird sanctuary, a pond, a greenhouse, and a certified green cooking classroom replete with a state of the art kitchen, an outdoor pizza oven and a roof garden.

Leaving that job was not easy, but in my heart I knew it was time. What I did not know, was how lost I would feel after it ended.

I no longer had an easy answer when people asked me what I did for work (I eventually just began to say I was in transition).

I no longer had an identity aside from just being me (certainly good enough but it just did not feel that way at the time).

I missed the focus. I missed the community. I missed the feeling of a hard day’s work. There were days I even missed the stress.

I was also exhausted and could not even focus on what to cook for dinner, let alone what came next. So I decided to take a year off to see what would grow if I just went about the business of living my life. That year turned into two, during which time I decided to rent out my house in Pacific Grove and move to San Francisco..

Still unsure about what to do next, I started to help people with their resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and college applications. It was far from a perfect fit but it paid the bills and I was at least on a path- albeit not the right one.

Then I discovered Designing Your Life. It clicked immediately and I knew I had found a language for my work. I took a few workshops, ultimately became a DYL coach and started using the practice with all of my clients.

What I loved most were The Odyssey Plans.

Odyssey Plans are a great road map for helping us move forward in the next chapter of our lives. They teach a pattern of thinking that changes the way you approach problems, and are equally powerful whether you are planning your next few months or next few years.

They acknowledge the fact that life is not linear; they reduce the fear of failure when we want to make changes; they encourage exploration; and they help you find and align with your true interests.

Over the years I have used Odyssey Plans with hundreds of clients. I want to introduce more people to this amazing experience so I have developed a three day intensive workshop called More Than One Story.

When making life changes, most people don’t get stuck because they’re lazy or afraid. They get stuck because they’re trying to solve the wrong problem — searching for the one right answer when no such thing exists.

So they overthink. Second-guess. Refine a life that doesn’t quite feel like theirs. And the loop continues.

More thinking doesn’t create clarity. Seeing what’s actually possible does.

In this 3-day Odyssey Planning Intensive, you won’t try to choose one path. You’ll design three.

Three fully mapped versions of your future. Not vague ideas. Real, grounded, testable alternatives, each with its own shape, timeline, and energy.

And you will walk away with intentional next steps feeling clarity and focus.

The premise is simple but powerful: you don’t have just one life available to you. You have many. And everything changes when you can finally see them side by side.

I am opening up 10 spots over the summer months.

If you have a work or life decision that you have been grappling with- maybe one of those is yours. Learn more by clicking below.

MORE THAN ONE STORY

I often hear from people who are standing at a crossroads, trying to decide which way to go.

Some have no idea where to begin.
Others know exactly what they want—but can’t figure out how to get there.

Work. Love. Where to live.
Whether to quit or take the promotion.

All of it can feel impossibly heavy.

As my friend Alex Franzen once wrote during a moment like this:

“Do I want to continue working as a writer? … Maybe I should open a hair salon? … Or become a personal trainer? … Or I could just dye my hair blue.
I have many questions and no answers. I wait for clarity.”

That’s the trap. Waiting for clarity.

Because clarity rarely arrives on its own.

This is where Odyssey Plans come in.

Odyssey Plans—a framework developed by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans at Stanford’s Life Design Lab—are three distinct, fully mapped versions of your future. Over the years they have helped thousands of people, in every age and stage, find their way.

These are not vague ideas. They are real, grounded, testable paths—each with its own shape, timeline, and energy.

Most people approach big decisions the same way: they try to find the one right answer. They analyze, second-guess, and stay stuck.

But clarity doesn’t come from thinking harder.

It comes from seeing more.

So instead of asking, What should I do?
You ask, What are a few real lives I could live from here?

You map multiple paths. And something shifts.

The pressure to get it “right” dissolves.
The either/or thinking loosens.
The sense of being trapped begins to lift.

I’ve watched this happen for fifteen years.

People come in stuck—torn between options, convinced they have to choose between safety and risk, meaning and practicality, staying and leaving.

And then the frame changes.

It’s no longer this or that.

It becomes this—and also that.

And in that space, something powerful emerges:

Clarity. Energy. Forward motion that actually feels right.

A grounded, unmistakable yes.

That shift—from one story to many—is the point.

Ghost ships show you that more than one life is possible.

Odyssey Plans give you a way to explore them.

If there is more than one life you could live…

What would it look like to step inside a few of them—fully, honestly, without pressure to choose too quickly?

I’m opening a small number of spaces next week for a private experience designed for exactly that.

On Tuesday, I’ll share more. Stay tuned!

Many (many!!!) years ago, just months before graduating college, it hit me:
I had no idea what came next.

College has a way of holding you in something soft and contained—and I could feel that cocoon thinning.

So I looked around. I talked to people. I thought about my options.

My friends had plans: graduate school, clear next steps—another cocoon.

It sounded good to me. I applied to law schools and social work programs and let the universe decide.

The universe had opinions. Law school it was.

After some travel and a move to Los Angeles, I found myself on a path that, at the time, made perfect sense.

Until it didn’t.

A few years later, nearing graduation, I was right back there:
What now?

I didn’t want the obvious path.
But I didn’t have a clear alternative either.

Then one day, walking down a hallway, I saw a small index card pinned to a bulletin board: a job at a newly formed office handling death penalty appeals.

I knew almost nothing about criminal appeals or the death penalty.
But something in me leaned toward it.

I applied. I got the job. A new path began.

And that’s how it went—again and again.

At every crossroads—jobs, moves, marriage, children—I made the best decision I could with what I knew at the time.

Often uncertain.
Often hoping.
More guesswork than clarity.

And if I’m honest, what stayed with me wasn’t just the pressure of deciding.

It was everything the decision ruled out.

The paths I didn’t take.
The lives I didn’t live.

Years later, I found language for that feeling in Cheryl Strayed’s Dear Sugar essay, The Ghost Ship That Did Not Carry Us.

She calls those unlived lives “ghost ships.”

The roads not taken.
The selves we didn’t become.

In her view, every choice closes off other lives—and part of being human is learning to make peace with that.

It was a beautiful sentiment but it felt off to me.

Those feelings of loss and regret weren’t something to get rid of.
They were something to listen to.

That quiet what if that keeps showing up-
it’s not noise.

It’s information.

A signal that something in you is asking for more.

More expression.
More alignment.
More truth.

Ghost ships don’t pull you backward.

They point to what’s still possible.

There’s something I’ve been quietly building behind the scenes.

A small, private experience for people standing at one of these crossroads—where something no longer fits, but what comes next isn’t fully visible yet.

A space to listen more closely to those “ghost ships”… and to discover what they might be asking of you now.

I’ll be sharing more in the coming weeks.

For now, if you feel that stirring—the sense that there may be more than one story available to you—you can keep an eye out.

There will only be a few spots available.

After weeks of significant Aries energy, Heidi and Ellen welcome the steady, sure sign of Taurus. The urgency and speed of Aries give way to a quieter willpower. There is great strength in Taurus, but it is used carefully and deliberately. Taurus wants to see that what has been planted under Aries will come to fruition. It looks to grow beauty and magnetize resources needed.

What we talked about in this episode:

STEPHEN COLBERT’S CHART (time unknown)

JOHN OLIVER’S CHART (time unknown)

POEM

Mending Blessing by Jan Richardson

Oh my friend,
take heart.
The work of repair
is aching
in its slowness
and beautiful in 
the inches by which
it will arrive.

Do not pray to be patient
but to persist.
Ask for the endurance
that helpsus learn
to breathe
in the midst of fear,
to love
in the presence
of sorrow,
to dream
within the rending
of the world that might
be made.

TELEVISION

The Pitt

The Forsyte Saga (old series)

The Forsytes (new series)

Paradise

Margo’s Got Money Problems

Victoria

FILM

Project Hail Mary

The Drama

TRANSITS

April 19 - Sun enters Taurus ~Willpower~

After weeks of significant Aries energy, we now enter the steady, sure sign of Taurus. The urgency and speed of Aries give way to a quieter willpower. There is great strength in Taurus, but it is used carefully and deliberately. Taurus wants to see that what has been planted under Aries will come to fruition. It looks to grow beauty and magnetize resources needed to do so.

Sun enters Taurus at 6:39 pm PT

April 23 - Venus conjunct Uranus in Taurus, then Venus enters Gemini ~Vivify~

Just before Venus leaves Taurus and enters Gemini, it lines up with Uranus. This is an electric day, vivifying and awakening our truest values. It shakes loose any remnant of complacency and reminds us we are here to be creators. When Venus enters Gemini, there is a great desire to build bridges between apparent opposites. Words become tools of peace.

Venus conjoins Uranus at 6:57 pm PT

Venus enters Gemini at 9:03 pm PT

April 25 - Uranus re-enters Gemini ~Acceleration~

This is a very significant astrological day. Uranus now re-enters Gemini and spends the next 7 years in this quick, versatile air sign. This, no doubt, brings an acceleration to all our communication. It could initially cause a certain instability which would require us to create new ways to relate and connect. Hold on for the ride.

Uranus enters Gemini at 5:51 pm PT

May 1 - Full Moon of the Taurus Season ~Light~

This is the first Full Moon with Uranus now in Gemini, and we may need this Taurean energy to adjust to all the coming changes. We call upon the light of Taurus and the depth of Scorpio. We look to build the LIGHT in these times of great transition. We use the beautiful phrase: “I see, and when the eye is opened, all is illumined” as a way to see greater light and love and power at work.

The Full Moon in Scorpio occurs at 10:23 am PT

May 2 - Mercury enters Taurus ~Hold Steady in the Light~

This pairing makes for methodical and careful thinking. Nothing is rushed when Mercury is in Taurus. Everything is studied and comes to life through careful and steady attention.

Mercury enters Taurus at 7:55 pm PT

May 4 - Mars in Aries square Jupiter in Cancer ~Yin, Yang~

There is a tendency to bite off more than one can chew with this combination. Let’s resist the urge to push through, asserting our will and instead listen equally to the need for nourishment and care.

Mars squares Jupiter at 7:01 pm PT

May 6 - Pluto moves retrograde ~Reflection~

Pluto now moves retrograde until October. Some of the intensity of Pluto might quiet for awhile. This is a reflection more than action. This is a chance to do some private healing work before circling back to the collective.

Pluto goes retrograde in Aquarius at 8:34 am PT

May 14 - Mercury Cazimi in Taurus ~Ah-hah!~

Cazimi days are days of discovery. Uranus is also close at hand, adding a wild card, an electricity in the air. Think of it as a day to articulate new values!

The Sun conjoins Mercury (cazimi!) at 7:34 am PT

May 16 - New Moon of the Taurus Season ~Fruition~

This New Moon of Taurus continues with the theme of electric new ideas and what it takes to make them manifest. There is a new rhythm taking hold. Something new is being forged, but with great care and groundedness.

The New Moon in Tauris occurs at 1:00 pm PT

May 17 - Mercury enters Gemini ~Movement~

Mercury enters the sign it loves the most. There is so much freedom, movement and exchange when Mercury enters Gemini. Every conversation is lit up and rippling over with questions and discoveries.

Mercury enters Gemini at 3:26 am PT

May 18 - Mars enters Taurus and Venus enters Cancer ~determined to nourish~

Now Mars and Venus both enter very different signs. Mars is quieter and more determined in Taurus, while Venus turns her attention to the hearth and home, or to nourishing self and other. Together, they want to grow something beautiful.

Mars enters Taurus at 3:25 pm PT

Venus enters Cancer at 6:05 pm PT

May 18 - Venus in Cancer sextile Mars in Taurus ~Flirtation~

This combination is full of flirtation. By all means, go on a date with someone new or take your partner of many years out on a date and discover something new about one another. This sextile loves a little power and a little passion. It also loves to woo.

Venus sextiles Mars at 10:36 pm PT

Heidi and Ellen welcome the sign of Aries. It is fitting that on the day the Sun enters Aries it is International Astrology Day and the beginning of the Astrological New Year. Today we start anew. We start afresh. We launch a new season. And with Mercury moving direct (that same day), all powers are moving towards bold ideas and assertive action. Let us ride with the hope of a new Astrological Year.

What we talked about in this episode:

CHLOE ZHAO’S CHART (time unknown)

KATE HUDSON’S CHART

POEM

full moon in aquarius by adrienne maree brown

fall in love with the face in the mirror / watch it do new things, lose the mirror / fall in love with the feeling of a new feeling on your face, call it a small freedom / claim a moment unperformed / meet your own eyes in another’s face grasp control and relinquish it / a new story is taking over you and all of us at the same moment / maybe you are the letter r in a sentence that wants to incite a revolution but desperately needs respite and you can do both / everything in between is a different letter to conjure the breath through mouthflesh / a different way of being in the world, a different miracle / now catch your eye again and relinquish solitude / feel how many bacteria and cells and memories and ideas are collaborating for this exhale, this (insert your name) / write a story of satisfaction and swoon and delight and abundance / and when you grieve let it only be for the hours spent lost from yourself / but don’t give up the lessons you could have only learned in that wilderness / like when you see the moon this full, howl.

TRANSITS

March 20 - Sun enters Aries, Mercury moves direct ~Launch~

It’s International Astrology Day today, which is fitting because it’s the beginning of the Astrological New Year. Today, we start anew. We start afresh. We launch a new season. And with Mercury moving direct, all powers are moving towards bold ideas and assertive action. Let us ride with the hope of a New Astrological Year.

Sun enters Aries at 7:46 am PT

Mercury stations direct in Pisces at 12:32pm PT

March 21 - Mars in Pisces trine Jupiter in Cancer ~Protection~

There is a generosity and expansion of feeling with this trine. We want to help and protect others. We want to uplift and welcome those who need befriending. We expand our capacity for compassion and protection.

Mars trines Jupiter at 4:59 pm PT

March 22 - Neptune Cazimi ~Imagination~

We generally underestimate the power of the imagination. We must remember the power of envisioning what has never before existed! What we dream, we can create. What we envision that is NEW and ALIVE can be made manifest. Today, let us dream wider, fuller and more freely.

Sun Conjoins Neptune (cazimi) at 4:17 am PT

March 25 - Saturn Cazimi ~Concretization~

Let’s make it real. Let’s build it. Let’s put the structures into place. Saturn is showing up for duty, deliberately and definitely. It is time for methodical action.

Sun conjoins Saturn (cazimi) at 1:51 am PT

March 28 - Saturn in Aries sextile Pluto in Aquarius ~Power in Action~

When Saturn and Pluto work well together, power is enacted with clarity and care. Deliberate action is infused with the power of a united community. This combo is motivated to build a future in which the people are empowered, and our leaders are mature and thoughtful in their actions.

Saturn sextiles Pluto at 2:40 pm PT

March 30 - Venus enters Taurus ~Beauty and Sensuality~

Make a list of all the things you like to touch. Venus in Taurus will cheer you on. What is beautiful? What brings you alive? How does it make you feel? Can you feel the color, the heat, the texture? Venus in Taurus asks us to be sensually alive.

Venus enters Taurus at 9:00am PT

April 1 - Full Moon of the Aries Season/ Heidi’s Birthday!!/ Passover ~Bursting Forth~

Now the bud fully emerges. The color begins to show. The green of spring is flourishing. There is a benevolent momentum at work. Everything is growing. Come forth.

The Full Moon in Libra occurs at 7:12 pm PT

April 8 - Mars in Pisces sextile Uranus in Taurus ~Shake Things Up~

Just before Mars enters Aries and Uranus enters Gemini, they meet one another in Pisces and Taurus. They connect to see if anything of the old order still needs changing. This sextile helps us shake up old values or patterns that need an update.

Mars Sextiles Uranus at 9:09 am PT

April 9 - Mars enters Aries ~Bold Action~

Now we’re really underway with Aries season. Mars rules Aries at the personality level, and it’s quite happy to be in its own sign. This combo brings vitality and assertiveness. It offers bravery and boldness.

Mars enters Aries at 12:36 pm PT

April 12 - Mars in Aries conjunct Neptune in Aries ~Idealism~

Mars and Neptune in Aries stir the fires of idealism. They want us to act upon our dreams. Our imagination is extra potent at this time.

Mars conjoins Neptune at 10:28 pm PT

April 14 - Mercury enters Aries ~New Ideas~

Mercury rules Aries at the soul level. It’s a combo of bold, new ideas. There is a direct and fiery approach to communication. We speak and write with clarity and power.

Mercury enters Aries at 8:19 pm PT

April 16 - Mars in Aries sextile Pluto in Aquarius ~The Power of the People~

We passionately act on behalf of our communities. We summon power to change what needs to be changed. We are brave and we work together.

Mars sextiles Pluto at 11:55 am PT

April 17 - New Moon of Aries ~The Wound and the Wisdom~

Chiron and Eris are conjunct this New Moon in Aries. We plant new seeds and deliberately begin new chapters but with the wisdom that comes from pain and power that comes from naming injustice.

New Moon in Aries at 4:51 am PT

April 19 - Mars in Aries conjunct Saturn in Aries ~Patience and Power~

This is a day to move slowly and deliberately. Saturn refuses to allow Mars to rush blindly forward. There will be action taken, but with care and with caution.

Mars conjoins Saturn at 3:38 pm PT

GIVE YOURSELF A GIFT FOR THE ASTROLOGICAL NEW YEAR!

ASTROLOGY READING + CAREER COUNSELING

Chart Your Career

Chart Your Career is a unique and powerful series of sessions offered by master astrologer Heidi Rose Robbins and award-winning career coach Ellen Fondiler. Clients get a 60-minute astrology reading with Heidi and a 60-minute career coaching session with Ellen. This is a great way to breathe some fresh energy into your life, feel clear about where you’re heading and create some specific action steps to follow over the next few months.

LEARN MORE

When they last spoke- Alex was confused about whether or not to move- how to feel less stressed by the balance between work and parenting, and how to carve more space in the day for herself.

A little more than one year later, Ellen and Alex catch up to see what Alex decided about her future.

In this episode we discussed Alex’s significant life changes over the past year. Alex shared how she transformed her daily routine, including establishing a morning ritual and adjusting her work schedule to create more balance. We discussed Alex’s decision to stay in Hawaii rather than relocate, and her focus on making incremental changes rather than drastic ones. Alex acknowledged learning from last year’s overcommitment and is being more mindful about workloads in 2026.

The conversation concluded with Alex sending an email pitch to David Blaine’s publicist, which resulted in an immediate response.

Alex Franzen is a bestselling author, award-winning editor, and entrepreneur based in Hawaii. She’s the co-founder of Get It Done, a company providing writing coaching, editing, proofreading, cover design, publishing, and distribution services for clients who want to write a book. She writes one of my favorite newsletters at AlexandraFranzen.com, and runs a popular Tiny Book Course. Alex deleted all of her social media accounts eight years ago as she describes in her forthcoming book, Marketing Without Social Media.

BOOK

Retire Often

PODCAST

Frugal Friends

STORY

The 100 Day Letter and a template to write your own letter

Email to David Blaine’s media/PR team:

Subject: Re: David Blaine.

Hi Jill & the Jill Fritzo PR team,

I’m reaching out re: David Blaine. I noticed on his website that you handle his PR and media inquiries.

I’m a ghostwriter, writing partner, and award-winning editor, specializing in nonfiction, including riveting personal stories and books that inspire readers to see our world differently.

Quite a few of my projects have hit the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Los Angeles Times bestseller lists, have been featured on Good Morning America, and have won awards including the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, the Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, and others.

Recently, a colleague asked, “If you could work on a book with anyone in the world, who would it be?” I said, “David Blaine.”

I saw David perform live, years ago, and it was an experience I will never forget. I have followed his career for a long time, and admire the way that he challenges the limits of what we think human beings can do.

I know that David wrote a book about 20 years ago. If he ever wants to release another book—a memoir, or perhaps a book on the history of magic, or another topic—I would be honored to be considered for the project.

Feel free to get in touch if something arises in the future.

Thank you! Wishing you an excellent week.

-Alex

PS. I’m sure David already has plenty of connections in the publishing world, but I’d be happy to make introductions to some of my colleagues at Folio Literary Management, publishers including Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, and others.

PPS. As a writing partner, I help my clients create powerful books that change readers’ lives. A few projects to give you a sense of my work:

We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers (Wall Street Journal bestseller, more than 200,000 copies sold, featured on Good Morning America)

Your Next Level Life by Karen Arrington (NAACP Image Award winner for Outstanding Literary Work)

Rich Relationships by Selena Soo (USA Today bestseller, winner of the Gold Medal in the Readers’ Favorite Book Awards for the nonfiction/marketing category)

Unicorn Team by Jen Kem (USA Today national bestseller, ranked #9 during its debut week, beating Bill Gates’ memoir which was #10)

Ambitious Mother by Dr. Anne Welsh (featuring a Foreword by Robin Arzón, Vice President of Fitness Programming and Head Instructor at Peloton)

A few other collaborations:

Our Q&A a Day: a 3-Year Journal for Couples (part of the bestselling Q&A a Day collection of journals, with over 2.5 million sold)

Love Is Blind: the Date Night Deck and Love Is Blind: Dating Journal: Your Journey to Love (Hachette licensed the rights from Love Is Blind / Netflix to create this product collection)

The Bibliophile Oracle Deck (illustrated card deck for book lovers from Penguin Random House)

More info at: www.AlexandraFranzen.com

Heidi and Ellen welcome the sign of Pisces, the final sign of the astrological year. It is a culminating and synthesizing sign, a time when we end chapters and release what no longer serves. It’s also a time to start dreaming, listening, and intuiting. We feel our way forward, sensing the route to the new threshold.

What we talked about in this episode:

BAD BUNNY’S CHART (time unknown)

CATHERINE O’HARA’S CHART (time unknown)

POEM

I Ask My Mother to Sing by Li-Young Lee

She begins, and my grandmother joins her.
Mother and daughter sing like young girls.
If my father were alive, he would play
his accordion and sway like a boat.

I’ve never been in Peking, or the Summer Palace,
nor stood on the great Stone Boat to watch
the rain begin on Kuen Ming Lake, the picnickers
running away in the grass.

But I love to hear it sung;
how the waterlilies fill with rain until
they overturn, spilling water into water,
then rock back, and fill with more.

Both women have begun to cry.
But neither stops her song.

TELEVISION

Drops of God

The Pitt

The Night Manager

BOOKS

Wreck by Catherine Newman

The Other Side of Change by Maya Shankar

Bread of Angels by Patti Smith

Art Work: On the Creative Life by Sally Mann

TRANSITS

February 18 - Sun enters Pisces ~Imagine~

The Sun enters the final sign of the astrological year. It is a culminating and synthesizing sign, a time when we end chapters and release what no longer serves. It’s also a time to start dreaming, listening, and intuiting. We feel our way forward, sensing the route to the new threshold.

Sun enters Pisces at 7:51 am PT

February 20 - Saturn conjunct Neptune in Aries - 8:53 am Pacific Time ~a new era~

Last time Saturn and Neptune were conjunct, the Berlin Wall came down. What walls within and without are now ready to crumble? And what dreams are we ready to invest in and cultivate? What are we willing to stand up for and where? This is a major threshold, potent new beginnings. Spiritual, Artistic, and Love Warriors come forth to change the world.

Saturn conjoins Neptune at 7:24 am PT

February 22 - Venus in Pisces trine Jupiter in Cancer ~love grows~

Venus in Pisces loves love. It also loves music, artistry and any compassionate endeavor. Jupiter in Cancer loves to include all and magnify what it touches. Today is a day when our compassion and love can occupy a greater ground.

Venus trines Jupiter Rx at 12:02 pm PT

February 25 - Mercury moves retrograde in Pisces ~write poetry~

If ever there was a time to be more reflective or poetic, it’s now. Turn inward. Listen for the words. Feel deeply. This is not a time to push forward. Pause. Allow inspiration to flow.

Mercury stations retrograde in Pisces at 10:48 pm PT

February 27 - Mars in Aquarius square Uranus in Taurus ~activism~

Mars square Uranus continues to shake up the old way. It comes forth in the face of oppression. It shakes up the status quo. Sudden changes or unexpected plot twists are part of this square.

Mars squares Uranus at 8:20am PT

March 2 - Mars enters Pisces ~the drive towards peace~

There is a strong desire to stand up for those less fortunate, to protect the underdog, to speak on behalf of those without a voice. This is the fight to uplift, redeem and offer refuge.

Mars enters Pisces at 6:15 am PT

March 3 - Full Moon of the Pisces Season, Lunar Eclipse 12 degrees Virgo ~let love prevail~

The Full Moon of the Pisces season is accompanied by a Lunar Eclipse. This eclipse closes the eclipse season. The energies of Pisces are most heightened now, offering a redemptive, compassionate energy. So much healing is required in our world right now. Where can we play our part?

Lunar eclipse in Virgo occurs at 3:33 am PT

March 6 - Venus enters Aries ~bold, immediate love~

Venus in Aries falls in love FAST — with people, projects, or possibilities. This is a passionate, action-oriented love fest. This is not the best for being patient when it comes to falling in love.

Venus enters Aries at 2:45 am PT

March 7 - Mercury Cazimi in Pisces, Venus conjunct Neptune in Aries ~dream a new dream~

Venus and Neptune in Aries are bold in their dreaming. They come forth in the name of imagination and vision. They act for and on behalf of love. And a Cazimi always carries a little magic, helping the new idea take form.

Sun conjoins Mercury (cazimi) at 3:0 am PT

Venus conjoins Neptune at 3:27 am PT

March 8 - Venus conjunct Saturn in Aries ~a contract~

This combo commits to come forth in the name of art or beauty or creativity. It’s a great day to say, “Today I sit down to write the first page of my book! Today I launch my website.” This is concrete, get it done, come forth energy.

Venus conjoins Saturn at 6:38 am PT

March 10 - Jupiter moves Direct ~benevolent momentum~

Jupiter is now direct and forging a path forward — one of growth and opportunity. Jupiter in Cancer is always working to grow our sense of family, so we eventually look at Humanity as one great family. Baby steps. Baby steps.

Jupiter stations direct at 8:29 pm PT

March 13 Mars conjoins the North Node -sense of mission-

Personal drive and desires aligns with destiny and soul growth.. It acts as a spiritual ignition, pushing individuals out of comfort zones toward unfamiliar but necessary future goals. It demands action, transforming intent into tangible life directions.

Mars conjoins the North Node at 2:57 pm PT

March 18 - New Moon of Pisces; Sun Sextiles Uranus ~dreams and revolutions~

This New Moon is flanked by Neptune and supported by Uranus. We are dreaming up a new way forward. We are reinventing and shaking things up. We are grieving and doubling down on emerging anew.

Sun sextiles Uranus at 1:19 pm PT

New Moon in Pisces occurs at 6:23 pm PT

Heidi and Ellen welcome Aquarius, the season of gathering in the name of PROGRESS. This is the sign of HUMANITY. This is the sign of democracy and equality. We are in distressing times. But we are also in a time when huge change and reinvention is possible. This is a call to gather, a call to make new choices, a call to think outside the box, a call to dig deep.

What we talked about in this episode:

TONI MORRISON’S CHART

VIRGINIA WOOLF’S CHART

POEM

Shedding the Old by Samantha Thornhill

Such as the lobster
cracking loose
from its exoskeleton
after moons of moulting,
or the viper that squeezes
out of the skin
of its remembrance,
this oracle invites you
to rewild yourself,
to unbox, detox, and de-
clutter your blood.
Break free from the mold
you made for yourself,
for the animal
in you that craves
routines like sugar,
addicted to the stress
of your comforts. Sling
your arm around the waist
of your discomfort
like it’s a new lover
in these uncharted
seas and distances
untraversed. Take
and give glee.
Summon surprise.
Something whim-
sical this way comes.
It smells something
like wishes wrapped
in wind as you
trod the winding path
through
the forests
of your interior.
Be warned. You will
bewilder beloveds.
Hush. Some
events are better
experienced than
explained. Take soul.
Your joy is your job;
and yours alone.
Hire your
self every day.
Climb into your traveling
shoes knowing that
there, too, will
be dancing.

FILM + TELEVISION

Sentimental Value

The Pitt

The Night Manager

BOOKS

Writers and Lovers by Lily King

Heart The Lover by Lily King

TRANSITS

January 19 - Sun enters Aquarius, Venus conjunct Pluto, Saturn sextile Uranus, Mars trine Uranus, Mars sextile Saturn ~ a new way forward~

What a day! We cross the threshold to Aquarius, the season of gathering in the name of PROGRESS. This is the sign of HUMANITY. This is the sign of democracy and equality. We are in distressing times. But we are also in a time when huge change and reinvention is possible. This is a call to gather, a call to make new choices, a call to think outside the box, a call to dig deep.

MLK Jr. Day

Sun enters Aquarius at 5:44 pm PT

Venus conjoins Pluto at 8:03 pm PT

Saturn sextiles Uranus Rx at 9:53 pm PT

Mars trines Uranus Rx at 9:58 pm PT

Mars sextiles Saturn at 9:58 pm PT

January 20 - Mercury enters Aquarius ~brainstorming~

Mercury now joins Venus and the Sun in Aquarius. This combination is great for both objectivity and brainstorming. It helps break free from old ideas and limiting beliefs.

Mercury enters Aquarius at 8:40 am PT

January 21 - Mercury Cazimi ~Ah-hah!~

Mercury and the Sun share the same degree of Aquarius. The mental brilliance of Aquarius is amplified. As we wrestle with our collective shadow, we find ways to dream a new way together.

Sun conjoins Mercury (cazimi!!) at 7:59 am PT

January 22 - Mercury conjunct Pluto ~investigate~

Mercury and Pluto together INVESTIGATE. They research and dig deep and do not stop until they’ve reached the root of the problem. They are interested in the truth. May we uncover and heal something today that frees us a bit more.

Mercury conjunct Pluto at 9:13 am PT

January 22 - Mars sextile Neptune ~the group that stands for hope and progress~

Together, Mars and Neptune are more idealistic. With Mars in the final degree of Capricorn, there is a determination to stand for love. We must take action on behalf of our essential unity, and not magnify the growing duality. Let us give vitality and energy to our dreams.

Mars sextiles Neptune at 10:38 am PT

January 23 - Mars enters Aquarius, Pluto Cazimi ~the power of the group, death and rebirth~

A Pluto Cazimi only happens once a year. This is a particularly heightened day. What needs to be brought to the surface so it can heal? How will we each wield power? How can we empower groups that need to be empowered?

Mars enters Aquarius at 1:16 am PT

Sun conjoins Pluto (cazimi!) at 2:27 am PT

January 26 - Neptune enters Aries ~the spiritual warrior~

Calling all artists, lovers, and spiritual students! Now is the time to act! We come forth with the beauty within and lead with love. We act as we carry a new dream. Here until 2038. What dreams and ideals are worth fighting for?

Neptune enters Aries at 9:31 am PT

January 27 - Mars conjunct Pluto ~use your power well~

This is a day to RESPOND and not REACT. This is a day to assert and bring our vitality and vision forward, but with intelligence and care. It’s easy to misuse this energy. Channel anger towards positive and deliberate action. Trust your gut.

Mars conjoins Pluto at 3:00 pm PT

February 1 - Full Moon of Aquarius season ~offering our gifts~

This is a potent Full Moon. Venus sits close to the Sun and amplifies the loving potential of the group. This is one of the more harmonious days this Month. It invites us to gather, share and uplift.

Full Moon in Leo occurs at 2:08 pm PT

February 3 - Uranus moves direct ~game on~

The planet of change and innovation is now direct and moving towards Gemini. Everything accelerates. The time for breaking old patterns is here. We act in accordance with our values. We revolutionize.

Uranus stations direct in Taurus at 6:32 pm PT

February 6 - Mercury enters Pisces ~soften the frenzy~

Let poetry win the day for the next few weeks. The power of the intellect is enormous. Let’s lean into the power of intuition and the power of love and the power of looking at everything as a myth unfolding.

Mercury enters Pisces at 2:48 pm PT

February 10 - Venus enters Pisces ~love wins~

Venus loves to be in Pisces. It is exalted there. It’s the planet of love in the sign of love. John Lennon’s “Imagine” has a Venus in Pisces vibe. Dare to love. Dare to dream.

Venus enters Pisces at 2:18 am PT

February 13 - Saturn enters Aries ~begin with purpose~

This is a big day and a major shift. Saturn now stays in Aries for the next two years. We begin a new chapter deliberately and ON PURPOSE. We take action with maturity and in the right timing.

Saturn enters Aries at 4:11 pm PT

February 17 - New Moon of Aquarius season, Solar eclipse ~the new is knocking~

This is a dramatic and somewhat accelerating, (potentially destabilizing) New Moon. Uranus, the planet of change and revolution, is square the New Moon, insisting on change. It can be quite sudden. This is also the first of 2 eclipses. This Solar Eclipse occurs at 28 degrees Aquarius. Let’s be a part of this change with as much grace and decency as possible.

The solar eclipse in Aquarius occurs at 4:11 am PT

I recently received a letter from a listener, and it stayed with me. Because her question touched so deeply on money and uncertainty, I invited Megan deBoer to join me. As you may remember, Megan is a financial doula (you can hear more from her in our podcast What About the Money? that aired in November), and she’s also working alongside me this year in The Next Chapter.

Dear Ellen,

My name is Claire, and I’m in my mid-forties, standing in a place I never imagined I’d be.

After more than twenty years in healthcare administration, I know—deep in my bones—that I need a change. The hardest part is that I don’t yet know what that change is. I only know that staying where I am feels like I’m slowly giving pieces of myself away.

The uncertainty is scary. And the financial reality makes it even heavier: the mortgage, caring for my aging parents, and savings that don’t leave much room for risk. I long for a life that feels more meaningful, but I don’t know how to move toward it without unraveling the stability I’ve worked so hard to create.

I’m writing because I need help figuring out how to step into this next chapter—whatever it turns out to be—without sacrificing my financial well-being. I want to believe there’s a way forward. I just don’t know where to begin.

With gratitude,
Claire

In the podcast, I shared some gentle career guidance with Claire—inviting her to follow her curiosity rather than demand clarity right away. We talked about experimenting with small, low-stakes projects, about letting creativity lead, and about Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic as a reminder that we don’t have to know the whole path to take the next step.

Megan brought a steady, grounding presence to the conversation. She talked about the importance of understanding what you truly need financially—your real numbers, your real responsibilities—while still allowing yourself to imagine something new. She reminded Claire that financial change doesn’t have to be sudden or reckless; it can unfold thoughtfully, one step at a time. She also spoke powerfully about shifting our relationship with debt—about reclaiming agency and moving toward freedom, long before everything is paid off.

Claire’s question is the heart of why The Next Chapter exists.

So many women in midlife find themselves here—feeling the quiet ache of “this can’t be it,” while still carrying very real financial and family responsibilities. In The Next Chapter, we hold both. We look at the numbers and the longing. We create space to think deeply, loosen old patterns, and imagine a life that feels more like your own.

It’s a year-long reinvention lab—a steady, supportive container for women who hear the whisper that something is shifting, and are ready to listen.

I have space for two more women to join me in The Next Chapter.

Maybe one of those spaces is meant for you.

The Next Chapter is a place to gently—and courageously—evolve from the life and career you’re in now into what’s next. Not all at once. Not recklessly. But with intention, support, and care.

This program is for you if you feel called to:

• Explore a new job or direction

• Make space for a creative project that won’t leave you alone

• Begin a side hustle or business that’s been quietly calling

• Shift out of a profession that no longer fits

• Shake things up and bring fresh energy into your work or life

• Or make a change that may look small from the outside—but feels huge on the inside
  

The Next Chapter moves you from thinking about change to living it.
From circling the same questions… to taking real, meaningful steps forward.

Instead of imagining your next chapter, you begin to inhabit it.

A note from a participant:

“I spent much of 2024 in deep grief. During that time, I learned about Ellen’s The Next Chapter program. Within 24 hours, I stopped overthinking and decided to trust myself. I signed up and haven’t looked back.

In my first conversation with Ellen, I felt deeply seen. She understood that I needed a new path forward—and that I was finding my way there while grieving. Working with Ellen has helped me step beyond my comfort zone and meet the future with curiosity instead of fear.

This year hasn’t been easy, but I’ve been supported every step of the way. I’m amazed by how much progress I’ve made. The Next Chapter has been a magical portal—one that’s led me into a life that feels nourishing, expansive, and alive again. Thank you, Ellen.”

— Cathy C.

If something in you is stirring, I invite you to look at the program details.

Take a breath. Notice the flutter of nervous excitement. That often means you’re standing at the edge of something true.

Together, we’ll explore what your next chapter could be and create a thoughtful plan to build it and walk it forward..

One year from now, you can still be exactly where you are today. Or you can be living into a life that feels more like you.

Let’s make 2026 an invigorating, inspiring year and begin creating the future you want.

Sending love-

Heidi and Ellen welcome Capricorn- the sign of structure and discipline. Capricorn is a sign to be relied upon. Capricorn shows up, does what it says it’s going to do, and stands up for the work done. It supports and holds the subtler realm because it knows how important the realm of intuition and feeling actually is. Capricorn season is one of right timing, purpose, and determination. Welcome to the season of getting it done.

What we talked about in this episode:

JANE AUSTEN

We’re celebrating 250 years of Jane Austen. There’s so much great content around this milestone, it’s overwhelming. The NYT has done a big series that I’ve just begun to dig into.

This “Jane Austen in 25 things” is a visual delight to scroll through.

This Jane Austin Trivia Quiz is for true fans!

JANE AUSTEN’S CHART

DIANE KEATON’S CHART

PETE BUTTIGIEG’S CHART (Time Unknown)

POEM

On Closing the Apartment of my Grandparents of Blessed Memory.

By Robyn Sarah

And then I stood for the last time in that room.
The key was in my hand. I held my ground,
and listened to the quiet that was like a sound,
and saw how the long sun of winter afternoon
fell slantwise on the floorboards, making bloom
the grain in the blond wood. (All that they owned
was once contained here.) At the window moaned
a splinter of wind. I would be going soon.

I would be going soon; but first I stood,
hearing the years turn in that emptied place
whose fullness echoed. Whose familiar smell,
of a tranquil life, lived simply, clung like a mood
or a long-loved melody there. A lingering grace.
Then I locked up, and rang the janitor’s bell.

FILM

Hamnet

Wake Up Dead Man- Knives Out

TELEVISION

Loot

The Morning Show

Pluribus

BOOKS

Heart The Lover by Lily King

The Body is Not An Apology by Sonia Renee Taylor

The Power of the Pause by Jillian Pransky

CAPRICORN SEASON TRANSITS

12/21 Sun Enters Capricorn ~Capability~

We enter the sign of structure and discipline. Capricorn is a sign to be relied upon. Capricorn shows up, does what it says it’s going to do, and stands up for the work done. It supports and holds the subtler realm because it knows how important the realm of intuition and feeling actually is. Capricorn season is one of right timing, purpose, and determination. Welcome to the season of getting it done. December Solstice in the

Sun enters Capricorn at 7:03am PT

12/24 Venus enters Capricorn ~New Tires~

Venus says, “I love you.” And Capricorn asks, “What do you need?” Together, they say:

“I love you, and you need new tires. Here are the tires.” It loves in very real, grounded, and practical ways. It is also deeply committed to matters of creativity and love.

Venus enters Capricorn at 8:25 am PT

1/1 Mercury enters Capricorn ~Wise Words~

Let’s start the year with clarity and maturity. In a world where so much of the messaging feels crazy making, let’s each own the power of creating new worlds through our vision and our language. Mercury in Capricorn offers wisdom. It asks us to think carefully and clearly and only then, act!

Good day to make a list or to write a letter to yourself to be read a year from now!

Mercury enters Capricorn at 1:10 pm PT

1/2 Chiron moves Direct ~Get on the Healing Train~

When Chiron is direct, it moves with benevolent momentum in the name of healing. It does not hesitate to come forth when it knows it can be of service and do compassionate, good work. It repairs what has been broken. It tends to what needs tending. It allows us to keep our hearts open and not armor our vulnerability.

Chiron stations direct in Aries at 6:37am PT

1/3 Full Moon in Cancer -Creative Structure-

This is a powerful full moon. There is a Capricorn stellium between Mars, Venus and the Sun. The Moon and Jupiter in Cancer gives structure to creativity. Frayed nerves could get amplified. Give yourself some extra TLC.

The Full Moon in Cancer occurs at 2:03 am PT

1/6 Venus Cazimi ~Love Day~

Let’s take a pause and honor Venus. This is a planet of love and soul satisfaction. This is a planet that asks us to remember the beautiful. It reminds us that we know how to create art and beauty that uplifts people. It reminds us that there are kinder, gentler ways to live.

The sun conjoins Venus (cazimi!!) at 8:38 am PT

1/7 Venus conjunct Mars in Capricorn ~Creativity Marries Productivity~

We’re rolling up our sleeves and getting to juicy, creative work. Mars and Venus love to work together and in Capricorn, they are extra committed. Dream it up. Make a plan. Stick to it!

Venus conjoins Mars at 6:16pm PT

1/9 Mars Cazimi ~Powerful Commitment~

Mars in Capricorn conjunct the Sun makes for deeply powerful and committed work. We channel our frustration into solid action.

Sun conjoins Mars (cazimi!!) at 2:31am PT

1/15 Venus trine Uranus ~Waking Up our Creativity~

Venus is about to move out of Capricorn, and Uranus will soon leave Taurus. What final creative act do we want to make manifest? We wake up and carve out something new.

Venus trines Uranus RX at 7:22 am PT

1/17 Venus enters Aquarius, Sun trine Uranus ~Freedom~

Let’s set ourselves free today. Let’s bust out of our usual routine. Let’s gather in community and collectively make some changes for the good.

Venus enters Aquarius at 4:43 am PT; Sun trines Uranus Rx at 8:58 am PT

1/18 New Moon of Capricorn ~New Moon Fresh Start~

Blessing for the New Moon of friendship, the New Moon of sharing and distribution. Blessings on this New Moon of carving out a new path and solving problems hard to solve. Blessings on this Humanitarian New Moon.

New Moon in Capricorn occurs at 11:52 am PT

Heidi and Ellen share their favorite gifts, books and movies for this holiday season. What started as a simple little list just kept growing! It reminded us how much joy there is in choosing something with someone specific in mind—how a gift can feel like a tiny love letter. It made us appreciate how much happiness there is in finding things that make people feel seen.

We hope this collection sparks inspiration—and maybe helps you think of the people you love and the small things that would brighten their day.

Enjoy—and happy gifting.

Much love,

Heidi and Ellen

WARMTH

Note: these can be gifted alone or as a combo (i.e., PJ’s and slippers)

• Cashmere socks

  The height of luxury

• Slippers

  I got my first pair of slippers last year (I know hard to believe but true) and they were life changing. I am now a slipper fan!!l

• Good PJ’s

• Amazing blanket to watch TV on the couch

• Cashmere scarf

  I got this for my birthday. Amazing

• Quince

  Also amazing. Less pricey

• Sherpa leg warmers

FOOD

• Paru Tea

• Fellow Electric Kettle

• Coffee grinder

• Coffee

• Spices

• Olive oil

• Tinned fish

• Rancho Gordo Beans

COOK BOOKS

• Cool Beans by Joe Yonan

• Good Things by Samin Nosrat

• Dinner In One by Melissa Clark

• The Farm Table by Julius Roberts

MUSIC

• Night People: How to Be a DJ in ‘90s New York City by Mark Ronson

• John and Paul- A Love story in Songs by Ian Leslie

• Bread of Angels- A Memoir by Patti Smith

MUSIC PLATFORMS (no politics, just music!):

• Qobuz: A high-res streaming service with a large selection of hi-res albums, appealing to audiophiles and those concerned with artist compensation. Some sources consider it the most ethically sound choice among major platforms

• Bandcamp: A great platform for supporting smaller artists directly. However, its library may not include major artists like Beyoncé.

FAMILY PHOTOS AND STORIES

• Aura Frame

• Skylight Frame

• Shutterfly gift card

• Storyworth

• NanaGram is a service where you upload some number of photos every month (you can pick your plan) and then they print them and mail them to your recipient who then gets them and puts them in a little album.The website prompts you every month.

CLASSES

Do these together if you live close by or find the best ones in the neighborhood of the person you are gifting. Google to find classes in the location you want.

• Mah Jong lessons

• Tai Chi classes

• Pilates

• (+ Pilates socks)

• Ceramics

Cooking Classes

• Julia Turshen

  She is a gem

• Masterclass- Thomas Keller

• Yes Chef- Nancy Silverton

Live in Los Angeles?

• Try Kickboxing with Kendra Smith - Forge Studio LA

• And check out her Lunar League t-shirts

• Strength Training - Andrew Heffernan

• Pilates and Healing Movement - Gin Gavran

BOARD GAMES

I think we can thank COVID for bringing games back into our lives!!

Here is an amazing list of EVERY game you can imagine.

Some of my favorites:

• Ticket to Ride

• Codenames

• Puzzle rentals

Do one. Send it back and get another!

Don’t forget to watch the movie Puzzle. One of my all time favorites

ACTIVITIES

Things you can do together or if they live far away- buy 2 tickets so they can go with a friend. (I know- maybe some FOMO but it’s a beautiful gesture)

• Women’s basketball!

• Women’s soccer!!!

• Membership to a museum near wherever your gift recipient lives. SFMOMA!

• Art Institute of Chicago! The Broad in LA! The Georgia O’Keefe Museum in Santa Fe! The Tate Modern in London

• Passes for outdoor experiences. Parks, Ski passes

• Tickets to a concert! Here is everyone on tour in 2026!!

• Hiking (Get your women friends together and go to the El Camino Santiago in Spain!!)

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

• Headlamp

• Light up beanie

• For the campers in your life- a great outdoor stove

• For the surfers- an outdoor shower

• For the hikers- trekking poles

TRAVEL

If you know someone that is going away on a trip- here are some fun suggestions:

• Language Learning - Pimsleur, Babbel

• Clutch charger

  (I love this- it is a life saver!)

GIVING

Make a donation in someone’s name to:

• Feeding America

• Or the ACLU

• Or their local Indivisible

• Or World Central Kitchen

MISCELLANEOUS COOL THINGS

• Cherry Pit Therapeutic Heat Pillow

  Heaven after a long day out

• A heating pad shaped like a cat stuffed animal

• A Janie Stick. A useful little old-fashioned stain remover

• Redbubble for all things kitschy

• Self cleaning water bottle Larq

• Nordic comforts seat cushion

  One of the best things I have ever bought

• Happy Socks

FOR A BAKER

• Breadsong- How Baking Changed Our Lives

• Specialty Flour

FOR A KNITTER

• Uraveling: What I Learned About Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool and Making the World’s Ugliest Sweater by Peggy Orenstein

• Knitting kits

ASTROLOGY READINGS

• Heidi Rose Robbins

• Heidi’s Team

  Choose from 6 amazing astrologers

• Luminosity - Online astrology community

• Chart Your Career with Heidi and Ellen - Career + Astrology

CAREER COACHING

• Career Sessions with Ellen

TAROT DECKS

• The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Cards by Kim Krans

• Jeff Hinshaw Lonely Planet Tarot

BOOKS

• Buy and donate a banned book

• Libro.fm audiobook credits

• A Kindle Paperwhite - every book she desires.

• Alternatively, a Kobo E-reader if she prefers to scribble and highlight.

• Midlife and the Great Unknown by David Whyte

  A beautiful streaming audio about the journey through midlife

• Astro Love Letter Collection by Heidi Rose Robbins

• Everyday Radiance by Heidi Rose Robbins

• This great book - 150 Bookstores You Need to Visit Before You Die

• Couple it with a Bookshop.org gift card

ELLEN’S FAVORITE BOOKS FROM THIS YEAR

• The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

• Tilt by Emma Pattee

• Educated by Tara Westover

• Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

• Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks

• A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles

• Heart the Lover by Lily King

• These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

• The Overstory by Richard Powers

• The Work of Art: How Something Comes From Nothing by Adam Moss

• The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jouard

• Couple it with an amazing journal from the best store in all of London: Choosing Keeping

HEIDI’S FAVORITE BOOKS FROM THIS YEAR

• Didion and Babitz by Lili Anolik

• Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, The Flesh, and L.A. by Eve Babitz

• Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How To be Calm In A Busy World by Haemin Sunim

• A Smoke and A Song: A Memoir by Sherri Sidoti

• Diaries of Anais Nin Volumes 1-7

• Unbound- A Women’s Guide To Power by Kasia Urbaniak

• Significant Moments In The Life of My Mother by Margaret Atwood

MOVIES

• Get a Movie Gift Certificate

  Make a movie date every month or every other month!

Some favorites this year

• One Battle After Another

• Train Dreams

• Hamnet

• Springsteen- Deliver Me From Nowhere

• Sentimental Value

• Marty Supreme

• Materialists

• Come See Me in The Good Light

• Sinners

SUBSTACK SUBSCRIPTIONS

One or two Substack Subscriptions are great gifts!

There are so many great people to choose from. Here are just a few:

• Democracy Docket by Mark Elias

• Are You Ok by Dr Lucy McBride

• The Isolation Journals with Suleika Jouard

• Playing With Fire with Shannon Watts

• Clover Stroud On The Way Life Feels

• Emma Straub

• Audacious Women Creative Lives

• Letters From An American by Heather Cox Richardson

• Why Not News by Elizabeth Grace

DO YOU HAVE A FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER WHO WOULD LOVE TO WORK WITH HEIDI OR ELLEN FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR?

Help them make it happen!

• Homecoming

  Astrology, Poetry, Writing

• The Next Chapter

  Career and Life Coaching

Special thanks to:

All the people who inspire us.

Wishing you a beautiful and peaceful holiday!

It’s Thanksgiving week!

When I was growing up my mother used to have huge crowds for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, she was a perfectionist so all the planning and cooking and setting up did not bring her much pleasure. She set the table days in advance and warned us to stay out of the dining room and to keep ourselves and rooms clean. We used to joke that if she had her way we would be showered and dressed on Sunday for the following Thursday! I personally always looked forward to Thanksgiving day because we woke up early and my father took us to breakfast and to a movie. He was ‘helping’ my mother by getting us out of the house, but really we were all just having a great day.

As a result, I love Thanksgiving and I am very laid back about the whole thing.

Every year I spend the weeks before the holiday searching through cooking sites and reading recipes as if this is the first time I have ever made a Thanksgiving meal. Everything looks so delicious- I want to make it all. In the end, I end up cooking all the same things I always make because everyone loves them and tradition goes a long way.

We are not a turkey family, so I make a yummy salmon dish filled with all the things that we avoid like the plague all year (cream, butter). It is delicious. My son Lexy loves sweet potato casserole with melted marshmallows. Everyone pushes back (except Lexy) saying it is too sweet (it is not); and why ruin perfectly good potatoes by adding melted marshmallows. But they protesteth too much! At the end of the meal, there is never any left. This year I found this recipe that made a case for marshmallows’ rightful place on top of the casserole. After years of marshmallow pros and cons- I love the backstory.

I am also making this yummy tried and true vegetarian chili for the people that don’t eat fish. It’s a great recipe for any time in the year, but I think it will be happy at the Thanksgiving table too. I told everyone else to bring their favorite sides or whatever they want to cook. It all works out.

This has been a grueling year in so many ways. I am cautiously hopeful that things are getting a bit better- though we don’t see it yet. A glimmer of light filtering through the dark clouds.

In the spirit of the holiday, I want to share three good news stories that lit me up this past week.

This man followed a whisper :

“Eleven years ago, Paul Lundy was dying a slow, workingman’s death under fluorescent light. ... One Sunday morning in 2014, he opened The Seattle Times and found a feature story about Bob Montgomery, age 92, known to friends, customers and locals simply as Mr. Montgomery. The article read like an obituary for a vanishing trade — fixing typewriters — suggesting that when Mr. Montgomery went, seven decades of expertise would vanish into the digital ether. Lundy read it once, then a second time. He had never given old typewriters much thought, but something stirred in him that he could not quite name.” NYT (Gift Article): How to Fix a Typewriter and Your Life.

I want to be this happy at 101:

In a small town in northern Italy, there’s a barista who has been brewing espressos and serving coffees for more than 80 years. She’s still going strong as she turns 101 this weekend.

And we should all be these women:

In Austria, three nuns, all in their 80s, recently ran away from a nursing home. They broke into their former convent in defiance of church orders, determined to grow old on their own terms. These sisters are now taking Instagram by storm, and they’re being supported by a growing community. Someone said it could be the next Whoppi Goldberg sequel to Sister Act!.

I will be back next week with more about The Next Chapter (you still have all of December to sign up!!!!)

Until then- I am wishing you a peaceful holiday filled with as much joy as you can chase down. I know it is not always easy, but be kind to yourselves and be kind to each other.

I am so grateful for all of you.

Much love,

P.S. I saw this movie on Netflix over the weekend. Oh my god- it is so good. And I read this book in one sitting. I loved it.

Heidi and Ellen welcome the sign of Sagittarius. We now enter the sign of movement, freedom, and momentum. We envision. We aspire. We summon the wind to be at our back, and we believe that we can make things happen. This is a time to remember that progress is possible. There is still tremendous chaos in the world at large, but Sagittarius reminds us that we are planetary citizens and we can act in the name of the true, the good and the beautiful — and in so doing, create a benevolent momentum.

What we talked about in this episode:

WALT DISNEY’S CHART

STEVEN SPIELBERG’S CHART

POEM

The Verge by Annie Lighthart

Reason is a fine thing, but remember there are other ways
to live: by instinct or passion, or even,
maybe, by revelation. Try it. Come around again to the verge –
that place of about-to-open, near where we comprehend
and laugh and see. Why shouldn’t something marvelous
happen to you? Take even an occasion like this:
A man reading at night looked up at the window to find
a moose looking in, interested and unafraid
with quiet dark eyes. He reports he has never been the same;
he finds the ungainly and miraculous everywhere.
He said it started the next night in the empty window
as he watched his reflection looking right back through.
He said he saw his own beauty, how even in his same old face
the quiet eyes were curious and ready to be true.

FILM

Train Dreams

Baltimorons

Being Eddie

John Candy: I Like Me

Come See Me in the Good Light

BOOKS

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

The Things You Can See When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim

107 Days by Kamala Harris

PODCASTS

The Rest Is History

The Telepathy Tapes: Season 2

SAGITTARIUS SEASON TRANSITS

November 21 - Sun moves into Sagittarius - 5:36 pm Pacific time

Benevolent Momentum

We now enter the sign of movement, freedom, and momentum. We envision. We aspire. We summon the wind to be at our back, and we believe that we can make things happen. This is a time to remember that progress is possible. There is still tremendous chaos in the world at large, but Sagittarius reminds us that we are planetary citizens and we can act in the name of the true, the good and the beautiful — and in so doing, create a benevolent momentum.

Sun enters Sagittarius at 5:35 pm PT

November 26 - Venus in Scorpio trine Jupiter in Cancer and Saturn in Pisces

Stand in Big Love

Venus converses harmoniously with the planet authority and the planet of growth. Saturn steadies and empowers Venus’ desire to love and Jupiter magnifies it. Powerful loving acts are required at this time. This transit supports bold, strong, loving gestures.

Venus trines Jupiter Rx at 8:31 am PT

Venus trines Saturn Rx at 3:47 pm PT

November 27 - Saturn moves direct

Direct potent action

At last, the outer planets start to move direct. This will feel relieving. Saturn will now spend the next 75 days moving direct in Pisces and it won’t return to Pisces for 29 years. We’ll deliberately, directly cleaning up and wrapping up and culminating the previous cycle. Soon, the door will be opening to an entirely new chapter. Thanksgiving Day.

Saturn stations direct in Pisces at 7:51 pm PT

November 29 - Mercury moves direct in Scorpio

Strategize, strengthen your message, say what you want to say. Mercury is now direct in Scorpio, and it has power. It also carries the potential for intimacy and truth-telling. Be brave if you have something to say!

Mercury stations direct in Scorpio at 9:38 am PT

November 30 - Venus trine Neptune, Venus enters Sagittarius,

Adventures and Dreamy days

Venus now moves in Sagittarius, and our love of travel, adventure, and freedom want to come alive. We may feel a bit of hope, a spirit of what’s possible. A glimpse of something new may present itself.

Venus trines Neptune Rx at 12:48 am PT

Venus enters Sagittarius at 12:13 pm PT

December 4 - Full Moon of the Sagittarius season

A vision full of feeling

Venus and Mars are loosely conjunct the Sun for this Full Moon. And the Nodes are exactly squaring the Full Moon. Again, a new vision is growing, but we must intuit our way forward. We don’t want to recklessly leap. Love and a recognition of our oneness has to accompany any enterprise.

Full moon in Gemini occurs at 3:14 pm PT

December 8 - Mars in Sagittarius squares Saturn in Pisces

Do not retreat

Mars in Sagittarius boldly blazes and declares its vision with vitality. Today, it may confront resistance or at the very least, an inner caution. Saturn impedes and educates Mars’ forward thrust. Though at first this may feel thwarting, it may ultimately provide the endurance to reach the vision.

Mars squares Saturn at 4:15 pm PT

December 10 - Neptune moves direct

Imagine

We must never lose sight of the power to imagine. We must never let the dreamy, hopeful, artistic, poetic side of our nature be crushed or depressed. Today, as Neptune now moves direct, the dreamer emerges from the shadows and whispers in our ear.

Neptune moves direct in Pisces at 4:23 am PT

December 11 - Mercury enters Sagittarius

We happy Few

In Shakespeare’s Henry V, he gives a rousing speech before battle, encouraging the few in his army to give it all they’ve got. He reminds them that they will tell stories about this day. He says, “We few, We happy few, we band of brothers….” Mercury in Sagittarius knows how to uplift, encourage and rouse. How can we offer our own selves and others this kind of inspiration?

Mercury enters Sagittarius at 2:39 pm PT

December 14 - Mars enters Capricorn

Steady, now, stay the course

Mars works hard in this earthy sign. It climbs, digs in, and faces the challenge, stays the course. The Moon is in Scorpio as Mars enters Capricorn. This combo is determined to succeed. Let’s see where we each apply this potent energy.

Mars enters Capricorn at 11:33 pm PT

December 19 - New Moon of Sagittarius - 5:43 pm Pacific time

The old way or the new?

This New Moon has a joi de vivre. It seeks adventure and freedom. That quest will be slightly challenged by Saturn and Neptune as they square the New Moon. We are SO close to a benevolent momentum. This New Moon may help us release all the vestiges of what is weighing on us. It’s time to go. It’s time to soar. It’s time for a new way.

The New Moon in Sagittarius occurs at 5:43 pm PT