💗 Happy Humanimals – Sustainability
Dearest Humanimals,
💗 We are coming up on our third anniversary in September! As we reflect on the journey so far, we wanted to share some updates about where we’re headed.
Anna Joy and I had our annual Happy Humanimals work retreat a few weeks ago, where we dream and prioritize the next year of Happy Humanimals, and the big theme this year was sustainability.
Putting our events on is hard work — work that we absolutely love, but we are running into some of our limits. The biggest challenge we have is that the squish needs to be moved to and from the venue for every event. Sometimes we have help from community members (thank you so much to Dave and Mark, who championed a truly incredible amount of squish movement over the years, and thank you to Jon for the use of his truck), and it’s extra hard for us when we do not have that help.
Whatever happened with the venue search? Last winter, we put out feelers for possible alternative venues where we could store everything and eliminate this transportation challenge. We looked at a bunch of options, but nothing fit our needs and budget. Then, Roger, owner of blosm studio, reached out and shared that he was planning to purchase and move to a new building in Wedgwood, with two studios and on-site storage. Amazing! Perfect! The only catch is that the new studio requires renovation and will be ready at the soonest later in 2025. So, we have stopped searching and are looking forward to landing at the new studio when it opens.
In the meantime, we are slightly abbreviating our event schedule. We typically reduce event frequency during the summer, and this reduction may continue until we are able to host in the new studio in the fall. This summer, we are planning to have two outdoor Extended Plays at the Emerald Forest for our beloved community. If you’d like to support us during this transition, please come to one of our events!
If you would like to help even more, we would graciously accept volunteers to transport squish. Having volunteers could enable us to host more events during this transition period. This work involves:
A large vehicle, like a van or truck. A cargo area of 5x8x5 can move everything in one trip, though smaller vehicles can make the 10 minute drive multiple times.
Physical ability to lift and carry mats and bags.
Delivering squish a few hours before events (typically by 4p for 6p events).
Returning squish to storage after the event (same night or next morning).
If you’d like to volunteer to do this, reply to this email and we’ll connect to discuss details.
Thanks for all the support over the years, and we look forward to seeing you soon!
🗓️ Upcoming Happy Humanimals events:
Jun 30 - Jul 5 – Dance Camp Northwest – Happy Humanimals returns to dance camp this year
Sat, Aug 23 – Snugs & Connection @ San Francisco Cuddle Party™ – We’re guest facilitating in San Francisco! Tell your Bay Area friends
Sat, Aug 30 – Outdoor Extended Play at the Emerald Forest (tentative) – Likely to happen, but we’ll confirm in a few weeks pending venue details
Mid-Sep – Outdoor Extended Play at the Emerald Forest – We’re planning a second outdoor event, too!
👚 Interested in fun cuddle clothes? Cuddlist has some cuddly t-shirts and blankets for sale.
🤗 Interested in one-on-one attention or practice? Ian and Anna Joy are available for Cuddlist sessions. For more information and to request a session visit
We look forward to seeing you soon. 💖
Warmly,
Ian & Anna Joy