why i make ice cream: A story of pleasure

Three summers ago, I was navigating life a few months after my divorce. I had lost 20% of my body weight. I had lost my appetite. I had lost my sense of direction. The anxiety was constant—a hum beneath everything.

I was grieving the end of a relationship, the loss of a family unit, and the dismantling of part of my identity. I felt hollow, disoriented, and, honestly, lost.

One day, my oldest daughter and I went strawberry picking. It was peak season and the fields were bursting. We picked 35 pounds of strawberries—sweet, sun-warmed, and perfect.

Thirty-five pounds is… a lot of berries. We ate as many as we could. I packed the freezer. I made jam, cobbler, anything I could think of. And still, bowls of berries remained.

So, I made ice cream. Then another batch. And another.

Something shifted.

Suddenly, I was tasting joy. Joy in the vibrant color and flavor. Joy in creating something. Joy in sharing it with others. Joy in watching my children’s faces light up.

I made pistachio. Peach. Olive oil with basil. Neapolitan. Brown sugar apricot with bourbon. Saffron rose. Strawberry balsamic.

It was the first thing I truly desired since everything fell apart.

Now, I make ice cream every summer. I play, I experiment, and I share.

What does this have to do with skin, with Ayurveda, or with my work as a holistic esthetician?

Everything.

When we are depleted, we dry out—not just physically, but energetically. We lose curiosity, generosity, sensuality. We lose ojas, the subtle essence that sustains our vitality.

I didn’t want to dry out. As a middle-aged woman suddenly navigating singlehood, I didn’t want to disappear into depletion. I wanted to be juicy. Engaged. Present.

That’s where beauty lives.

Give me smile lines from sharing ice cream with people I love.
Give me a calm nervous system nourished by delight and flavor and color.

Our nervous systems crave not just rest, but pleasure.
Not just calm, but aliveness.

Ice cream helped bring me back to life.

And so I invite you:
Find what brings you joy.
Let yourself enjoy it.
Savor your life.

xo,

Nicole