THE TABLE:

Welcome back to It Happened Over Lunch!  I am tuning on from my downstairs living area. Nestled on my green couch and cozy to share some of my favorite travel things. 

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL:

Last week, in episode eight, I shared some of my thoughts on travel and how to do it well. This week I am sharing with you all of my favorite travel things- including apps, hotels, and items to take with you.

Here are some of the apps I love for making dinner reservations: The Fork, Open Table, Resy. I also love The Michelin Guide for recommendations- especially in Europe. 

We have been big Hilton fans the last couple of years, and often find ourselves in Curio Collection hotels. But, we stayed at a gorgeous Marriott property in Seville (The Hotel Alfonso XIII) and we have also stayed in some lovely boutique hotels partnered with Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott. The Michelin Guide is also good for boutique hotel recommendations.

I created a list of my favorite travel supplies for you! I am an Amazon affiliate, so if you buy something through the list I will receive a small compensation back. You can check out all of my favorite things here: Katherine's Travel Edit.

SOMETHING TRUE:

A happy traveler is the best traveler.

THE THOUGHT I AM CARRYING:

Where will we go next? Where will we stay? And, what will we bring?

THE CHECK:

I am off to do some work on my advising offers and then dinner and baseball pickup.

THE TABLE:

Welcome back to  It Happened Over Lunch!  It's a lazy Saturday and everyone is out of the house. Neffie and I have been lounging and tinkering with projects all day. 

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL:

I truly believe that traveling is the ultimate self development. Where else can you learn how to manage stress about things beyond your control, or be exposed to different ways of thinking, or be in the vibration of a new city? 

In today's episode I am sharing with you some of my hard earned lessons on traveling well. From traveling with little kids (and funny, embarrassing toilet water stories), to budget travel in today's era, I share with you some of favorite travel secrets. 

SOMETHING TRUE:

I was not made for budget travel.

THE THOUGHT I AM CARRYING:

Where will we go next? And, where will we stay?

THE CHECK:

Next week I will share Part Two of The Art of Traveling Well, which will include some of my favorite ways to navigate cities, my favorite apps to make dinner reservations, where I love to stay, what I love to bring and also how I pack. Also, I mention a fun sweatshirt in the episode today- it's not ready for purchase yet!

THE TABLE:

Welcome back to  It Happened Over Lunch!  Today I am tuning in from my bedroom. The sun is shining, there isn't a cloud in the sky and the buzz in the air is all about the St. Alfio Fest coming up in early May. Everyone is in a good mood and you can feel the energy shifting. 

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL:

I live in a small mountain town on the slopes of Mt. Etna called Trecastagni. "Trecastagni" in Italian means "the three chestnuts." This is a nod to the fact that Trecastagni has three patron saints, and not just one like the usual Italian town has. Each year, Trecastagni holds a very impressive, three day fest (actually it lasts all of May) to honor St. Alfio and his two brothers. People come from all over the world to celebrate, and to honor the saints, who have at a time or two provided miracles for those who pray to them. In fact, if someone has been healed, or had family member healed after praying to St. Alfio and his brothers, they will pay their respects on one of the fest days by walking from sea all the way up the mountain carrying a very large candle on their shoulders.

With the buzz of the town getting ready for the Fest this year, I started to think about how Sicilians are connected to their Saints. St. Alfio and his brothers for our town, St. Agata for Catania. People pray when hard things are happening. And they say thank you by honoring the saint on a predetermined fest day. 

I didn't grow up Catholic, but my dad did. And I remember my grandmother praying to saints every so often. For me though, I have a deep relationship with my Spirit Guides. In today's episode I dive in deeper to what that means for me, and how we communicate. 

SOMETHING TRUE:

I am fully available for any guidance and support from the Universe. 

THE THOUGHT I AM CARRYING:

What would my spirit guides say about my decisions lately? 

THE CHECK:

As we close for the day, I am off for my own lunch, a turkey wrap. If you have anything you'd love for me to discuss in It Happened Over Lunch please let me know!

THE TABLE:

Welcome back to a new episode It Happened Over Lunch. Today I am tuning in from my downstairs living space. Our house is skinny and tall, and on this level we have a kitchen and a hang out area. It's a bit chilly on Mt. Etna today and there is a steady rain falling. 

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL:

The other day I was driving down to the Navy Base to meet up with my Sicilian friend. We often meet on the base and then go explore from there. She works on the base, which makes it an easy place to park and meet up. On the drive down to meet her, a guy kind of cut me off in traffic and I thought "the audacity"... the whole experience made me think about what "audacity" even means. 

SOMETHING TRUE:

Maybe being audacious is just being bold?

THE THOUGHT I AM CARRYING:

What would it look like to allow myself some audacity? 

THE CHECK:

I am working on some new things inside my work, I can't wait to share them with you. 

Welcome back to It Happened Over Lunch! We took a short two week break while my family and I toured Italy (you can catch the highlights on my Instagram Highlights under “Italy.” (@katherinephifer)

It was a lovely trip. We met my parents in Milan and then toured our way down the country. We ate well, saw some beautiful art, and nudged our way through Rome on Good Friday.

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL:

I heard about The Mapparium in a course I was taking in my undergraduate program. The professor said “whenever you go to Boston, you have to go here.”

So, five months after I moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, after a long winter of being very cold, I found myself on an early May day taking an artist date to the Christian Science Plaza and The Mapparium. It was a magical day.

The concept of artist dates comes from Julia Cameron’s The Artist Way. That winter I spent every morning writing morning pages. I was in the beginning stages of my Master’s degree and would take the occasional artist date scheduled around my classes. And I spent a lot of time reading books and listening to music.

SOMETHING TRUE:

I love the idea of scheduling a date with myself to wander an exhibit or a museum by myself. I haven’t done it in a long time. 

THE THOUGHT I AM CARRYING:

There’s something simple and magical about tapping into your thoughts and feelings every single day.

THE CHECK:

Inside today's episode I mention my Daily Three- a three part grounding practice to bring you back to your magic. You can get it here:

https://katherinephifer.myflodesk.com/thedailythree2026

She's well educated. Loves to talk about art and oracle cards. And on day she invokes power, wears red lipstick.

THE TABLE:

Welcome back to It Happened Over Lunch! Again today I am tuning in from my living room, waiting for storms to roll in and my children to return home. I had plans to go IKEA shopping with a Sicilian girlfriend of mine, but the weather thought differently.

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL:

I am in Gala Darling’s Planifesting Course for 2026 and in one of her recent YouTube videos she talked about creating an alter ego. I thought, what a great idea. Prior to this I had been feeling not fully myself, and an alter ego felt like the energy I needed to get out of my funk.

And, Serafina Laurent was born.

SOMETHING TRUE:

Serafina Laurent is a clear woman.

A cultivated woman.

A woman of appetite for life.

A woman who knows inspiration is found in books, kitchens, paintings, gardens, long conversations, sleep, sunlight, beauty, devotion, and being fully inside her own life.

A woman who does not beg the algorithm for belonging.

A woman who becomes more herself with time.

THE THOUGHT I AM CARRYING:

What if my alter ego is just an elevated, more turned on and more tuned up version of me?  What would it be like to get dressed in her energy everyday? 

THE CHECK:

After recording this podcast, I have a few housekeeping things to do and then later I will go up to the town square to pick Liam up from his ride home from baseball practice. A typical weekday evening in the Phifer household.

If you'd love to receive these podcast shows directly to your inbox, subscribe to my SUBSTACK Channel.

THE TABLE: 

Welcome back to It Happened Over Lunch! Today I am tuning in from the living room of my houe in Sicily. Spring is creeping in. The weather is unpredicatble. Sicilans call March "Marzo pazzo"- "Crazy March."

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL:

I have been in a twenty plus year relationship with Frida Kahlo, and she knows nothing about it. After I graduated from college with a BFA, I went on to work at an art gallery in downtown Houston, Texas for about a year. During that time I did some internal work and discovered the pull to further my education, and careeer in art therapy. To be accepted into a Master's degree program I needed about a semester of psychology credits. I found myself in a Fall semester of a full line up of psychology classes, including a course called Psychology and Art. It was in that class that I began my relationship with the artist.

But, it wasn't until quite recently that her art really got under my skin. Tony and I were in New York City for a quick getaway and we decided to spend an afternoon at the MOMA. Neither of us had been there, and we had always wanted to go. 

Pollocks and Rothkos hung on the walls. Dorthea Lange's Migrant Mother. And, on a small column, a small two piece interactive work by Frida Kahlo, Fulang-Chang and I, 1939.

See Fulang-Chang and I, 1939.

SOMETHING TRUE:

Frida had this beautiful ability to use her art to share her perspective of life and of the world. There's something brave about that.

THE THOUGHT I AM CARRYING: 

What if we all showed up more? Not online, but in life? Messy, raw, unfinished?

THE CHECK:

After recording this podcast, I have a few housekeeping things to do and then later I will go up to the town square to pick Liam up from his ride home from baseball practice. A typical weekday evening in the Phifer household.

If you'd love to receive these podcast shows directly to your inbox, subscribe to my SUBSTACK Channel.

THE TABLE: 

Welcome back to It Happened Over Lunch! Today I am tuning in from my bedroom in Trecastagni, Sicily. It's early March, the sun is shining and I am craving Spring.

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL:

Over the past decade I have been to Paris three times and I have fallen in love with it more every time we visit. There is something sparkly about it. There is something magnetic about it. I find myself coming alive inside art museums and bistros. I sleep with the window open and listen to the hum of the city.

During the past two visits, we took about a week each and wandered the city. And, one thing I kept noticing during both trips... mid morning, in the crisp coolness of the weather, multiple French women, red lipstick, small espresso and smoking a cigarette. There was something alluring about it, even though I have never smoked, nor never intend to.

SOMETHING TRUE:

Often by early March, I find myself at odds with winter. The cold has become off putting. Soups are getting boring. And the chill in the air makes my bones hurt. I know there's a lesson I meet every winter about slowing down, allowing for rest, and being inside the fertile void... but I don't love it. 

THE THOUGHT I AM CARRYING: 

With a nod to the French Woman, there is something beautiful about taking a moment to just breathe during the day. Or multiple times a day.

THE CHECK:

After recording this episode I am working on the podcast, getting dinner together and picking the boys up at the town square after they have a long day of school and baseball practice. 

If you'd love to receive these podcast shows directly to your inbox, subscribe to my SUBSTACK Channel.

THE TABLE: 

Today I am tuning in from a small town on the slopes of Mt. Etna, Trecastagni, Sicily. Trecastagni is rich in history. Called The Three Chestnuts, Trecastagni's patron saints are St. Alfio and his two brothers. The mountain town looks more like a scene from Switzerland than Italy, however Sicilians are proud of the town's heritage and yearly festival that honors the three patron saints. People have received healing miracles from St. Alfio and to honor him and his brothers, carry large candle sticks from the ocean all the way up the mountain to the square on the fest days. 

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL:

Ruth Bernhard was an iconic photographer who is known predominately for her nude, black and white images of women. Born in 1905 in Berlin, Germany, she moved to the United States in her early twenties and began a detailed artist career in New York City. She spent most of her life in San Francisco, however she was well connected in the artist world. She spent the later part of her career teaching. She died in 2006.

I was introduced to Ruth's work in my college years where I studied Studio Art and Photography. In each photography class we were assigned to do a slide show presentation of a well known photographer, and after finding her book in the TCU library, my first presentation was of Ruth Bernhard. Her work is absolutely stunning, but it is was the story of The Doorknob, 1975 that stuck with me. Listen to today's show to hear about the story and here is a link to view the image:

Princeton Art Museum

SOMETHING TRUE:

Lately I have been receiving the nudge to "hold on loosely." Whether that's to plans or ideas or even parenting, holding on loosely is challenging. 

THE THOUGHT I AM CARRYING: 

It's in the waiting that you create the piece, have the realization, learn something new.

THE CHECK:

This afternoon I am doing a little cleaning to get ready for a coffee date at my house tomorrow with a girlfriend. We are going to chat and play with Oracle cards. 

Hosted by Katherine Phifer, this show gathers stories of art, encounter, and everyday revelation… the kind that happen not in grand gestures, but in the middle of ordinary days.

The book mentioned in the show today: Circe by Madeline Miller 

Stay connected on Substack at The Rosearium Papers with Katherine Phifer: https://substack.com/@katherinephifer