Canyon Home
Canyon Home
Where have I been for 4 years?!
Canyon Home Podcast
Season 3 Episode 1 | Where have I been for 4 years?!
“Hello, and welcome to the Canyon Home Podcast.”
These are words I haven’t said in over four years—and today, I’m saying them again with a full heart and a brand new perspective.
This isn’t just a return—it’s a renewal. In this episode, I’m catching you up on everything: where I’ve been, what I’ve learned, and why I’ve come back to share it all with you. From my time as a private chef and estate manager to the quiet moments that shaped my spirit, I’ve collected a treasure trove of life lessons, home wisdom, and soulful inspiration—and I’m finally ready to give it away.
This is a conversation for anyone who's ever wanted to make their everyday feel like a special occasion—no staff required. Whether you’re folding laundry, planning a dinner party, or simply lighting a candle on a Tuesday, this is your space to feel empowered, inspired, and seen.
We’re building something beautiful here, together—one story, one meal, one perfectly folded towel at a time. Welcome (back) home.
Our theme song is Friendly Fire by the incredible Brian Buckley Band: https://music.apple.com/us/album/friendly-fire/929786228?i=929786239
Miss us? Leave a voicemail on the Homemaker Hotline. (312) 465-HOME (312-465-4663).
For our International listeners, send us an email: theodore@theodoreleaf.com , we can’t wait to hear from you.
Stay tuned for more episodes of the Canyon Home Podcast.
Like this episode?
Check out Season 1 of the Canyon Home Podcast, or find future episodes here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/canyon-home
If you are liking what you are hearing, please consider rating our podcast, sharing with your friends and family, leaving a review, and subscribing.
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/canyonhome/
Follow Theodore on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theodoreleaf/
Subscribe to Theodore’s Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/theodoreleaf
Check Out Theodore’s Blog: www.theodoreleaf.com
Thank you so much for listening to Season 3 Episode 1 of the Canyon Home Podcast!
Hello and welcome back to the Canyon Home Podcast. It has been four years since I have said those words, and I am so grateful that you decided to press play and come check in with me. To say that I have missed this podcast and this community that we were building in 2021 would be an understatement. I have missed all of you so much, and I've missed sharing so much, and I'm finally ready to reconnect with everyone. I have filled my cup back up and is now ready to overflow for all of you. In preparation for this first episode in four years, I similarly to watching the Downton Abbey movie that just came out, thought it would be a good idea to listen to the last one. And it blew my socks off. The last episode that I did was in September of 2021, and it was called The Pivot. And it was in response to my friend Jen, who didn't really know my background story. And so I wanted to share that with all of you. And I've gotten so much feedback from that particular episode, a lot of people in my life, uh, comments, Instagram DMs, etc. And for that reason, I'm gonna have to call this one the pivot 2.0. I was just on the phone with my Aunt Ellen, and she said, Do you think you should call it the Pivot 8.0? Because you've been through a lot. And uh we can call it whatever. But this podcast community that developed was such an incredible space for me to really dig down and connect with where we are headed, which is the feeling of home. And that's my invitation for all of you. We are going to spend the time and create community around being the beacons of light that create that feeling of home. And don't worry, I will tell you where I've been. And I think that's really where this needs to start. So if you haven't listened to the pivot, listen to the pivot because then this episode's gonna really be interesting for you. Uh at the end of the pivot, I was talking about where I was now running the podcast, culinary producing, doing YouTube videos, making recipes, etc. And boy oh boy, did I have no idea that those words pivot were going to re reverberate and resonate through my entire being. Right after, right after I posted that podcast, I was invited to work with a chef as a sous chef for a very special dinner. And this is still COVID time, and you know, it was a very strange time period, of course, we all remember that. And uh, I might have her on and we'll we'll chat about it, which would be fun if she's open to it. Uh, but it was really fun because it was very interesting because I was usually her culinary producer, which if you're not familiar with this world, that world, it means that I kind of do everything ahead of time and then walk her through what's gonna happen on camera. And in this experience, you know, she was the chef. We were running our own little restaurant for the night. And so I was in support of her. And oh my gosh, we just we rocked it out. We really just nailed this dinner, and it was scary, and it was fun, and it was exhilarating, and it was oh god, I'm just goosebumps just remembering like the joy that we put into that food and the the teamwork and the feeling of this is what it's all about. It really felt so personal. And the dinner was a hit, and we were kind of catching up, and I was not personal with this chef, so it was funny. We kind of shifted gears and became pals really fast. And then right afterwards, she reached out to me and said, This client's looking for a chef. Would you be interested in moving to Santa Barbara? And I said, Let me talk to my husband. And I talked to Matt, and he said, Go get that job. So I proceeded to do a couple of what's known as a trial with with a client. And needless to say, pivot, pivot, pivot, pivot, I got the job. And before you knew it, uh, so this podcast episode came out in September, and by end of October, Matt and I had moved out of the cottage, put it on Airbnb, and set up shop in a rental home and hit the ground running. I became the full-time chef for this client. I did five days a week of lunch and dinner, and then had to do food for the weekend as well. And if you re-listen to the pivot, it talks about me using all my cookbooks and like doing all this stuff and da-da-da-da-da. I had no idea what I was in for. Talk about cookbooks. I made new menus every week, and it was challenging because you have different dietary restrictions and things like that. And I'm just a one-man machine, just pumping out food. And if you're new to me, I don't do anything small. So, of course, for my trial, I like to set the table and did flowers and did candles and did all this stuff. So I find myself not only cooking, but setting the table and doing flowers and creating these special moments. And it was incredible. It was a really, really incredible opportunity. I have never worked harder in my life. If you have a chef in your life, please give them a hug and maybe like, I don't know, a box of chocolate chip cookies because they probably need it. Working in food service is just a different animal. It's so different than what we do in our home kitchens. And it really, really taught me that I had fully, you know, I fully made it as a chef in that like I feel confident in my clogs to stand here and say, I am a being a chef is part of, you know, what I do. I do identify there with that after this experience. And I have never cooked that much in my entire life. And I'm like you guys, like I love like a gorgeous roast chicken and like maybe like I don't know, like a beef bourguignon or like a homemade pesto, and like I love all that. And I like doing fun baking things in this, but I was cooking everything under the sun. And then I was also uh something that I learned or did while I was well, it was COVID time is I became a certified master food preserver. So I also was doing some of that, and it was just wild. And what was really fun or interesting that kind of layers in is throughout that, my husband and I had a complete role reversal. And if you've been listening to the podcast or you're new here, my husband and I had these roles of, you know, I'm the home, the home person, that's what I do, and he works a full-time job, and that's what he does. And, you know, he books the travel and I make sure all the laundry's done and pressed. And like we we had sort of settled into like what works for us. And I think I even did an episode of just really I think the one where I said, Am I a trad wife? I kind of explained that like I find joy in owning my side of the street when it comes to that. Well, in this experience, I was working so much that my husband had to learn how to cook because I didn't have time to do it. And Santa Barbara is not known for, you know, endless DoorDash and all of that. And that's just not how we, you know, you know how we all do. That's not how we do. So there Matt was, you know, New York Times was basically teaching him how to cook, and he was getting a front row seat of what it takes to run a home. The vacuuming, the candles, the buying, the the maintenance, the, you know, all the stuff, the dog stuff. Like my poor husband had to do everything because my time was 100% devoted to this job. And it was really incredible because we got to sort of really understand how the other half lives. I had never worked a job professionally as an adult that required so many hours. And, you know, on call in your phone, and you're just checking in. Like, I am the queen of Do Not Disturb on my phone. And so anyone who's a friend of mine that's listening knows that. Like, I just I try to protect my peace with that. So there I am, chefing away, and all of a sudden, a couple of things happened where I was able to sort of showcase my other skills around the home and the property, and really lean into my homemaking experience. And what's really fun about that, you guys, is Gingham Cottage, which was our house. We still own it. It's 900 square feet. We bought that house when I was 26 years old. Knew nothing about a home. And in that time, I'm 41 now. In that time, we've replaced and changed and upgraded pretty much all the pieces and parts of this house: plumbing, sewer, electrical things, maintenance, redecorating, ripping walls out, floors, you know, painting the outside, redoing parts of the deck, having a hot tub install, building a garden, rebuilding a garden. You know, we had kind of been through it. Tiny, small, small, very small house, probably compared to a lot of you listening. However, you know, if a house has a bathroom and a kitchen and a living room and a bedroom and a roof and walls and windows and H VAC, they're all the same. They all have the same things. When your house is larger, you just have more of those things. And so when I was doing this role, which is actually called an estate manager, so I shifted from chefing to running the entire estate. So I was helping, you know, kind of with redecorating rooms and what we call activations, which is, you know, when we're doing like a beautiful lunch on the terrace or or doing um, you know, something in the spa or movie night or, you know, travel. Um, I worked as a flight attendant. I I did everything. Basically, everything inside the gates was my responsibility. And what an opportunity to play in a very large sandbox. Um, it was the opportunity of a lifetime, no question. And I really, really loved it. I had so much fun, you know, just leaning into all of the things that we love and getting to do it at a scale and level that I didn't even know existed. You know, hosting overnight guests and, you know, helping out with gift things and just, you know, like working with the landscaping and just tweaking and turning. And I would always say I'm softening the edges of, you know, everyday life. And it was really, really incredible. It was, it was a super special opportunity. And throughout that, I mean, I learned so much. I also worked my library, which I'll put on my Instagram my library, which is like at least over 1,500 books on cooking, homemaking, sewing, everything. I mean, I sewed curtains at the property. I did like little like fixes, like anything you needed, I'm on it. And you could probably see where this is heading because I sound exhausted just talking about it. I was exhausted. I had to have a sip of this tea. And oh, there's my little coaster, of course. So I got to the point where I was just exhausted. And also to my husband and I, we missed each other, and I missed my dogs. And I was doing everything that we talk about: homemaking, homekeeping, cooking, setting up, flower arranging, you know, maintenance, organizing, all the stuff that we love. I was doing as a job for a client. And I am not Superman. I did not have the capacity to then do that for myself. The one thing I would do is I would drink champagne on Sundays and I would iron all my shirts for the week. And that was sort of my like meditation homemaking click-in. But we had to hire housekeepers, and you know, my husband was cooking, which thank God, or we would have starved. And it just got to the point where I had no more fuel. I have put everything I have into this project, and I miss my life. I miss my husband. I live, I miss traveling, I miss my friends. I I I I didn't send a birthday card for two years. I could not do my life live as as I do, and do a role like that. It's it's either or. And that's just how that works. That's just what you're signing up for, and that's that's the role of being in domestic service. And listening to the pivot 1.0, we'll call it. It's so funny how I'm talking about, you know, cleaning floors and you know, my ego kind of taking going out the window. I mean, I did everything. I did everything. The dog poos while there's a guest, you're picking it up. You know, you're any, it's all there's no job too small, too big. You just handle it. So I got sort of put through that, those paces all over again. Oh, what's so interesting is I actually wrote a book proposal before any of this happened. Kind of about homekeeping, and you know, of course, you can imagine an extension of what we talk about here. And that job ended two years ago around now. So after I was done with that, literally the same day that this sort of all wrapped up, I found out or was confirmed that our other rental house had mold. So the job is ending. The house has mold. I now have to kick it into high gear, pack up the house, have everything cleaned. I'm talking every item of clothing, dry cleaned or thrown away. Everything. Everything. And Matt and I weren't really sure where to go. And so we had looked at this place, this house in Palm Springs, um, to buy just we always look at real estate, and it was available for rent, and it was available. So we decided to rent this place, pack up all of our stuff, and move to Palm Springs because our other house, our house in LA was rented by this lovely, lovely tenant. And we didn't want to like upset the apple cart. We also had a whole house full of stuff again, and it was just sort of like, okay, what are we gonna do? So we go to Palm Springs, our best friends live there, we're really just wrapped in community, and I really needed that because you know, I had been just non-stop on this, you know, wild ride and completely disconnected from anything that was my life or or what I personally do. And it was a very, very, very challenging time for me to sort of go from like a thousand to what's next. And I would kind of like cook for clients here and there. And then my friend, um, my friend and I did a little bit of like what I would call like rental management for a few properties. And that just wasn't for me. I just wasn't, I was not figuring that was just not not clicking for me. Um, and throughout that, Matt and I actually found a property in Palm Springs, and we decided over lunch to buy it. So, yes, your friend Theodore has been on a journey with hus with my husband Matt, and it has brought us to where we are now, which is um in Palm Springs. We're in this Spanish-style home, and we bought it because it doesn't feel like mid-century modern, it feels way more like Santa Barbara, which we loved, and it didn't have a pool, and every, you know, everybody's dream in Palm Springs is house pool. So we bought a home without a pool, and that's our goal is to design and install a beautiful pool, and you know, it'll be a a really nice um investment. And regardless, we're loving our home and we have more space, and it has three bedrooms, and you know, I'll I'm showing little bits. I'll be showing more on Instagram, YouTube, I'm not sure. Um there's a lot of things up in the air about how I'm gonna move forward and sharing, but my point is we are back on this podcast because I'm now ready to share and feeling it and excited, and I know that the abundance of things that I want to share with you to give you the tools that you're looking for to create that feeling of home. I know that by sharing that abundantly, I will have abundance from that. And I'm really, really looking forward to launching something soon which will look like a community where it would be, you know, something that you would pay into, and I would offer much more in detail courses and things like that, because there's a lot of people out there that are doing wonderful, beautiful content that stops me in my tracks all the time. I really want to be the voice for you and show you the very practical side of home so that when you walk in your home, you feel like you know what's happening. Because trust me, I have had a lot of experience doing that. And to that point, I want to say this as a former professional in the world of domestic service, something that I've really learned, and oh my gosh, I worked with some of the most amazing people. Oh my God, some of the most amazing housekeeping people, some of the most amazing landscape botanists. Oh, I worked with just gorgeous humans who are so passionate about what they do and they do it so well. Oh my god. I just I mean, even the gentleman that like takes care of the pool and the pond and all that, just you know, chef's kiss. Just if you're listening, I love you. I just I loved the people that I got to work with. And I bring that up because I have really not had that feeling of home that I'm talking about until recently. When we left Gingham Cottage, I knew where every paper clip, every battery, and every whisk was in that home. Every sheet was folded, every t-shirt was stacked. I had everything sorted. I really did. I knew where all the garland was for Christmas, all of that. And since we left, our lives have grown and gotten more complicated. And, you know, my husband works from home full-time now, and it's just different. It's just different. And also, you know, we just we had a really rough time of landing. It was kind of like a crash landing here in Palm Springs. And it was, I'm not gonna lie, it was not roses and moonbeams. It wasn't, it really wasn't, and it was so challenging for us. And listen, I know so many people out there have way bigger challenges than anything I'm talking about. But this is my journey. And only recently do I finally feel like when I walk into this space, I feel home. It's it's a warm cashmere blanket. It's a desert, so sometimes it's really warm. It's a warm cashmere blanket that says, come on in. It's good here. There's sourdough starter bubbling on the stove, and there's chicken stock in the freezer, and there's good music on. And when the weather's right, when the weather is right, there's a fire crackling. So, you guys, we did it, we did it. I so that's why I haven't been sharing and posting because I realized that I kind of what I did is I got to a point. I was really excited. I was sharing with you guys. We had this happening, and then kind of broke it all down, started over, and had to build back up to really feel like I have my footing again. And what a gift for me to be able to do that sort of fresh, because in 2021, you know, you couldn't tell me nothing. I'm I've I've got it, right? However, I've been through so many things and also run different homes and different properties and experience so many different things that I feel you guys. We are all on this journey together, and I feel that fresh start energy because we've started fresh. You know, I mean, my we don't even have beds. We have mattresses and box springs, got some cute throw pillows from home goods, but we don't have like bed frames, headboards, you know. I I don't even have a dresser in my guest room. So talk about fresh. Like, I'm with you guys. So I I kind of feel like it was very essential as I peel back the layers and look. I'm like, this was an essential piece of the puzzle because I feel what you feel. I feel the freshness, and I can speak to sort of when you're established, and I can be there for you when you're starting out because they're both kind of fresh for me. And I'm kind of in the arena with you. I'm not like in some tower, like I I know how to make holiday sauce, so you know, listen to me. I am I'm not there. I'm not there. We are we are building a community, again, rebuilding, reconnecting. And if you've been listening for the past 25 minutes, just know that I'm thanking you so much. I would love to hear from you in a DM, or if you want to leave a fresh comment on the podcast, or more importantly, share it. Say, hey, my friend Theodore is back. Check him out, the pivot 2.0. And we've got a lot of things to discuss moving forward for sure. But I'm just I'm so grateful. The comments, the questions, the engagement, that's my oxygen. That's what keeps me sharing. And I want to share a lot, and I want to share abundantly with all of you. And I'm just so excited to share with you what I've learned. I have worked the muscle so hard for all of you since we've been together. I feel like I have so much more to share, so much more to offer. And the invitation that I'm presenting to you is an invitation of really looking at all of these things we love: home, food, life, style. We're gonna look at them through the lens of feeling first. Because trust me, I have seen and witnessed and experienced what it is to create something that's so gorgeous, that's so inspired and visually stunning. And if you don't feel it, if you're not connected to the joy that's in front of you, it doesn't matter. It's a waste of time. If you don't feel anything when you fold a basket of clothes and it looks gorgeous, or you set a beautiful table with the things you've collected over the years, and light the candles and play music that reminds you of when you were dating. If you don't feel it, don't bother. And that's the offering that I have for you guys. Is you can tell I'm hard on my sleeve. I know it in my heart, I've s and I've done it, and I've redone it. I've rebuilt it, and that's that's why we're here. That's why we're restarting this conversation because I have realized with my real eyes what's possible when you put your whole heart into your home and into your partner and into your friends and family and your pets. I am more present now than I have ever been. I'm more connected to just the absolute gratefulness that I have in my heart for my life and the people in it, and the experiences that I've been so blessed to be a witness to. I feel very called to share a lot of that with you all because I I know that it can help. And I know that I have the gifts that I have to share them. That's that's the work. That's what I'm here for. And I want to share them abundantly, and I want to share them with my whole heart. And I'm not just here for a pretty Instagram picture, which, you know, I love a pretty Instagram picture. Who doesn't? I am doing this because I'm on a mission. I want every every single one of you that aren't really sure where to start and didn't have someone holding your hand saying this is how you get the stain out of this or the fork goes on the left and the knife goes on the right with the blade facing inside. If you didn't grow up with that I'm here for you. And I'm gonna hold your hand and you're gonna be great. And you're gonna step You're gonna step into your home and you're gonna know your home. You're gonna know your home with every fiber of your being. You will feel it because you created it from your heart. You didn't create it from your interest feed exclusively. You said to yourself, How do I wanna feel here? How do I want others to feel here? But you started with you. How do I want to feel here? How do I want to drink my coffee in the morning? Or eat my lunch? Or cuddle my puppies. Do I want a little throw? Do I want a nice candle? Do I want soft music? Do I want to look at them now? I'm thinking about the pet puppies. Like, are they are they drinking out of a beautiful pole? Like that was my job. My job was to anticipate and think about all the different pieces and parts of life and figure out how can I enhance this to blossom a feeling. And now what I'm offering to you is let's figure out how we want to feel first. And then we can create the physical world to support that feeling. We're not gonna create a physical world that pushes the feeling. We're gonna reverse engineer it. And you know, a silly thing like I've become a plant crazy person. When those plants are looking amazing and happy, it brings me a huge smile on my face. So the reverse engineering of of that is if you want to smile every day, get some green in your house and keep it watered. And I'm here to show you anything and everything that I know and have learned to make that possible. Without a staff. Matt and I used to have housekeepers forever. Wonderful. Wonderful. And trust me, I can't wait till I can have it again. I'm the housekeeper here. And I know how to polish the chrome and steam clean the toilet and this and that, and I'm so grateful that I have these things to take care of. And you might be listening to this podcast and say, oh my goodness, this guy's gone off the rails. I'm just telling you the truth. Any of us who have a home who have a place to call home are so blessed. And connecting with that feeling, it makes it so much more joyful and easy to take care of the space that we're blessed with. Whether you have a little college refrigerator or a big old sub-zero, be grateful your food is cold. Whether you have a convection wolf oven or you have you know the the white special electric. You can cook. You can make things. And I can tell you this. I was connected with that and happened my whole life. My little studio apartment, I was grateful for every single inch of that space. I was grateful for my little kitchen, grateful for my little bathtub. And that joy and connection is what I want to share and perpetuate. And I want you to share it. I'm only one person. I can't do it all. When I share how to fold a towel with you, and you open your linen closet, and your friend says, Oh my gosh, that's so beautiful, and you show them how to fold the towel. You see where I'm going? That's community. That's the mission. That's what's getting me up every day is sharing this with you. I want you to connect with yourself more than you've ever connected. And from that connection, from that honesty, from asking those really interesting questions like what do I want my morning routine to look like? And really, really getting quiet. Really getting quiet and listening. Not to maybe the first thought, but just getting quiet. Maybe there's something there that you never thought possible. Right now I get to wake up every morning with two puppies that are the light of my life. Since we connected, I uh we had to put down our beloved Baxter and Brighton, my angels. Oh my gosh. It was the hardest thing. And I know that so many of you have been through that, and it is It is the hardest thing, I will say. I don't want to be too much of a downer, but it just is. And uh through that, we've we're now on our next chapter of wonderful puppies, dogs. We have Branson and Grady. They're two Bernie Doodle puppy half-brothers that I'm obsessed with, and so is Matt. And when I wake up every morning, I'm getting kisses from one and cuddles from the other. And I am so there. I'm not somewhere else. I am right there with them. Grateful for every second that this is how I get to wake up. And then I usually go and have my coffee or my tea, and I sit in my new favorite chair. I read a little bit. Listen to the fountains. Have my music on, light a candle, light music. We do this like jazz that we do. I can link it. Um Our lives have the pace has slowed so much since we've moved into a resort community. Palm Springs. And something that I'm grateful for every day here is when I walk the dogs, everyone says good morning. And most people are smiling. And I love surrounding myself with happy people. It's just it's a great thing. And that's kind of where I'm at, you guys. That's where we are. I will absolutely share many more tips and ideas and a little bit more concrete things that you can take away in future episodes. I intend to interview really cool people that I know and love that are, you know, chefs and laundry experts and entertaining experts and people that have written cool books or have TV shows. I'm gonna pop in some interviews as well. However, the next few episodes will be these one-to-one conversations. That I'm so grateful that you all are giving me your time. We're at about 39 minutes. And I'm truly grateful for you listening to every single minute of the I'm here for you. We are on this mission together. And I look forward to you feeling at home. Until next time.
SPEAKER_00:Kings and queens and love machines. Don't throw your dreams down rushing streams. Oh no no. Whoa no. We write our songs to write our wrongs and feel the most beneath our bones. Oh no no.