Graphic of spring flowers with text reading "Emerging: March 2026" and a URL to a Mailchimp newsletter for Val in Real Life.
The March newsletter has emerged—just like all the plants and flowers beginning to show themselves again.
At Val in Real Life HQ, we're emerging too after a big push on a deadline last month. 😰
Read it here 👇
🔗https://mailchi.mp/valinreallife/2026-march
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure
Happy Saturday, #BlueskyArtShow!
This week's #Flowing theme has me a little bit giddy. In a former lifetime, fluvial geomorphology was my jam. 🤩
📸 Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN (2016)
The rest of the story 👇
valinreallife.com/postcards-fr...
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure
Woman in motorcycling gear standing next to an orange BMW F700GS motorcycle on the side of the road above frozen Caples Lake in California.
Somehow we're already halfway through Feb. and I've neglected to wish you all a Happy #NationalCherryMonth.
Here's the time we rode 300 miles for cherries. Like we *needed* an excuse 😅
🔗valinreallife.com/three-hundred-mile-cherr...
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure
Man spraying motorcycle with hose in driveway surrounded by other motorcycles and vehicles.
Man in motorcycling gear attempting to jump start a motorcycle in a driveway
A person on a motorcycle riding on a desert road under a blue sky and a few wispy clouds.
I raced into 2026 with my hair on fire in all areas of my life. Except motorcycling. And apparently it was too much to ask that our first ride of the year go smoothly.
valinreallife.com/my-inauspici...
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure
So I've come sliding into 2026 with my pants on fire. Here's the skinny to start the year.
mailchi.mp/valinreallif...
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #Newsletter #NewYear
[2/2] One area of my life I'm hell-bent on fixing is my photographic rut. I have a plan. And you can play along, too.
Check it out. valinreallife.com/battling-my-...
🎉 Happy 2026 to you all. See you on the flip side.
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #Photography
Graphic asking "What kind of road trip car cleaner are you?" with anger options of before the trip, after the trip, before and after, and "clean the car?"
My beloved Forester doesn't get much road trip time in her old age. But we're heading out for an El Paso turn-and-burn and I have some sensibilities about car cleanliness for road trips.
How do you roll on car cleaning for trips?
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #RoadTrip
Happy Saturday, #BlueskyArtShow!
I surprised myself with my submission this week. I definitely ended up in a much different place from where I started thinking about my #FavoriteThings. Go fig.
The rest of the story 👇
valinreallife.com/postcards-fr...
#ValWestonNM #ValinRealLife
Check out this month's newsletter for more of the gritty details and backstory. Help me stick it to the powers-that-be and show them women business owners got game. And they deserve an equitable place at the table.
mailchi.mp/valinreallif...
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #WhyIFundWomen
Close up of wet yellow trillium flower petals
Well, here we are again. Another loop around the sun is in the books. And what a year it's been. I also can't believe I've been doing these birthday posts for 15 years.
valinreallife.com/fifty-four-u...
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure
#Birthday #SouthwestArtTowns
Graphic reading "Happy National Brand Day" with a spaceship with multiple logos underneath it.
🤗 I'm giving all my digital babies a virtual hug for National Brand Day.
😏 Our running joke around here that the OG blog is the mother ship of all our other projects so here's me being cheeky with it.
😁 Happy National Brand Day!
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #NationalBrandDay
📰The November newsletter is out.
🤩And yes, we've officially added another website to the Val in Real Life family.
🤯Our biggest one ever, in fact.
Check it out👇
🔗https://mailchi.mp/valinreallife/2025-november
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #Newsletter #LaborOfLove
Woman kneeling next to a BMW R1200GS motorcycle on a sunny day.
A motorcycle on a rural desert road with mountains in the distance on a sunny day.
I *finally* hit 40K on the Adventure Beast. But it took a 💩ton of time to get there. Saddle time has not been abundant.
More on the blog.
🔗 valinreallife.com/maintenance-...
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #R1200GS #MakeLifeARide #WomenWhoRide
The Axle Contemporary truck parked in Silver City's Main Street Plaza during the 2024 Southwest Print Fiesta.
The story of the E Pluribus Unum: Mogollon project by Axle Contemporary displayed on a museum wall.
A section of the Silver City portraits in the E Pluribus Unum: Mogollon exhibit at New Mexico State University.
Val Weston and J. Brandon posing by their portraits in the E Pluribus Unum: Mogollon exhibit at New Mexico State University.
From the softer side of Val, some thoughts on the E Pluribus Unum: Mogollon project. The exhibit truly did stop me in my tracks, friends.
📖 Have a read on the blog
🔗 valinreallife.com/e-pluribus-u...
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #AxleContemporary #EPluribusUnumMogollon #PortraitArt
Hey, y'all! I've got a question for you in the September newsletter to help us settle a long-standing debate at Val in Real Life HQ. And I mean looooong-standing.
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #Newsletter #LandOfEnchiliment
[1/2]
mailchi.mp/valinreallif...
Peeked out our sliding door this AM to see a sweet mule deer doe grazing under the apple tree. (Not unusual.) Except she's got her ass pointed my direction and is having a giant 💩. I really hope that's not a sign of the day ahead for me.
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure
Val Weston standing beside her 2010 Subaru Forester with sand dunes and mountains in the background at Great Sand Dunes National Park.
This Forester has taken my abuse for 15 years! Fun Fact: I've been driving this car for 28% of my life. So it turns out I have a lot of emotional investment this beat-to-shit little adventure-mobile.
valinreallife.com/little-fores...
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #SubaruForester #Subaru
Val Weston waving from car-themed selfie station with graphics and text that reads August Newsletter: Battling Enshittification and a link – mailchi.mp/valinreallife/2025-august
Did you see the Aug. newsletter? Have a read & answer the mini survey. I'm getting some interesting responses about what socal platforms are working (or not working) for folks. I'd love to get your thoughts too.
mailchi.mp/valinreallif...
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #Enshittification
Stick in the shape of a dancing man with a monocle made of moss.
Meet my new moss-monacled friend who may go down as the best stick in history.
He reminds you to dance like no one is watching.
He also needs a name. Any suggestions?
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #Paredoilia #Stickman
Val Weston standing on rocky trail in Great Sand Dunes National Park with the dunes in the distance.
To say my little blog has changed a lot over its many years is a massive understatement.
Join me for a trip down memory lane while I stand on the edge of the next transformation.
valinreallife.com/evolution/
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #BloggerLife
Woman sitting on sand dunes with hiking poles by her side and snow-capped mountains in the background with text that reads "Digital Sanctuary: Why you need to start your personal blog."
Let's talk about alternatives to the social media hellscape and a simple thing we can do to make the internet a better place.
Hint's in the blog post title. 😉
Read it here
🔗valinreallife.com/digital-sanctuary-start-...
#ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #ValinRealLife #BloggerLife
Happy #NationalPollinatorMonth!
Each year our little #NativeGarden gets more and more established. We'll soon have lots of yummies for our pollinators to do their good work like this big girl did last year. 😃 #ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #PlantForPollinators
👩💼 When you just happen to be in the "big city" for work stuff and you say to each other, "you know, Plants of the Southwest is right here." so you come home with a new tree.
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #UnlawnAmerica #HomegrownNationalPark
Woman standing on BMW R1200GS in front of digital marquis reading "Val Weston Art Visitor Center April1-June 1
Artwork displayed in alcove with #VisitSilverCity banner overhanging.
Poster announcing Val Weston art show at visitor center in Silver City New Mexico
⏰ Less than 2 weeks left to catch my Art in the Alcove show at the Silver City visitor center.
👍 Come check it out. 📍201 N Hudson St.
#ValWestonNM #VisitSilverCity #SilverCityMainstreet #SilverCityNewMexico #ValinRealLife @valinreallife.bsky.social
Group of motorcyclists on a mountain road in a curve with Text that reads: What Motorcyclists Want You To Know Part 1
It's #MotorcycleSafetyAwarenessMonth.
Here's the first part of a series I wrote awhile back. I still believe creating understanding between riders and non-riders is not only possible but imperative.
🔗 valinreallife.com/what-motorcy...
#ValinRealLife #MotorcyclesAreEverywhere #LookTwice
Graphic reading: May Newsletter with url, image of a bee on pink flowers, and a variety of images in polaroid style frames
👣 I've been making some adjustments. It's that life cha-cha thing. (Although, I have no idea how to cha-cha for real TBH.)
👓 Catch up in the May newsletter.
🔗https://mailchi.mp/valinreallife/eval-2025-may
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure
Woman in sunglasses and gardening gloves posed next to small tree.
Small cholla cactus
Man wearing ball cap and gardening gloves standing beside tree cage in front of house.
Large tree cage with small tree inside and shovel stuck in the ground behind it.
🌎 Happy Earth Day, y'all!
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #NativeGardening #UnlawnAmerica #HomegrownNationalPark
BMW motorcycle in U-Haul trailer being prepared for towing.
😠 From the unhappy camper department. I'm not stoked about BMW's "solution" to the driveshaft recall. "Health check" every 12K miles and replacement every 36K?
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #WomenWhoRide #BMWMotorrad #R1200GS #NotAHappyCamper #MakeLifeARide
🐶 A little bit about Bingo. 🥺
valinreallife.com/farewell-dis...
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #DisapprovingBeagle
Graphic with funny phrases from a blog search query report.
It's time for another round of weird search queries for the blog. And by weird I mean also possibly disturbing.
#ValinRealLife #ThisWasNotInTheBrochure #BloggerLife
