Kids & Pets Issue
Winning Season: Athletes, Furry Friends, and Back-toSchool Favorites
There is a moment every August that stops you in your tracks. You are standing in the school supply aisle, or maybe you are looking at a new schedule at the kitchen table, and it hits you all at once. They grew again. Somehow, while you were making lunches and driving to practice and answering the same question, they grew.
There's a certain energy that comes with late summer in Woodstock, equal parts celebration and preparation. This issue captures both, spotlighting local winners making headlines, animals ready for adoption, and the practical tips every busy family needs as the school year kicks back into gear.
We start on the green, where a young golfer has been turning heads with a game well beyond their years. From early morning practice sessions to competition-day nerves, this rising star's journey is a lesson in discipline, patience, and the quiet confidence that comes from doing the work. Their recent win is proof that big dreams start small — often on a local course, with a lot of grit behind every swing.
From fairways to open water, we're also celebrating local rowing team, whose recent championship title has the whole community buzzing. Rowing demands a rare kind of teamwork — every stroke has to be in sync, every athlete pulling their weight, literally and figuratively. This team's success is a testament to what happens when talent meets trust.
Of course, no issue would be complete without some love for the animals still waiting for their people. We're highlighting local pet adoption opportunities, introducing readers to dogs and cats hoping for a second chance and a soft couch to call their own. If you've been thinking about adding a furry member to your family, this is your sign.
And as backpacks come out of storage and alarm clocks get reset, we're serving up quick, kid-approved breakfast and lunch recipes designed to make school mornings a little less chaotic. Think grab-and-go options that are fast, nutritious and actually get eaten.
This issue is all about Woodstock's wins, big and small. Turn the page, and dig in.
Our kids are not just the future of Woodstock. They are the heartbeat of it right now.
LISA THIBAULT, PUBLISHER
CHICKA ELLOY, CO-PUBLISHER
@WOODSTOCKCITYLIFESTYLE
August 2026
PUBLISHER
Lisa Thibault | lisa.thibault@citylifestyle.com
CO-PUBLISHER
Chicka Elloy | chicka.elloy@citylifestyle.com
PUBLICATION DIRECTOR
Tran Bui | tran.smith@citylifestyle.com
ACCOUNT MANAGERS
Karyn Slovin | karyn.slovin@citylifestyle.com
Jeff Fischer | jeff.fischer@citylifestyle.com
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Albright Photography julie.albrightphotography@gmail.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Valerie Shepherd, Mark O'Donnell, Glenn Lazarus
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Jeremy Estroff, Katie Nielson, Sarah Burris
Corporate Team
CEO Steven Schowengerdt
President Matthew Perry
COO David Stetler
CRO Jamie Pentz
CoS Janeane Thompson
AD DESIGNER Mary Albers
LAYOUT DESIGNER Kathy Nguyen
QUALITY CONTROL SPECIALIST Brandy Thomas Learn
Proverbs 3:5-6
There is something powerful about a community moving together for a cause.
The GOCA Teal Trot 5K Run/Walk is more than a signature event. It is a day of purpose, remembrance, celebration, and action. Survivors, caregivers, families, and advocates gather side by side, united in the fight against ovarian cancer.
Hosted by Georgia Ovarian Cancer Alliance, Teal Trot raises critical funds and awareness to support education, advocacy, and programs serving those impacted across Georgia.
Whether you run for someone you love, walk in honor of a survivor, or show up to support the cause, every stride carries meaning.
“Every mile tells a story. Every step fuels hope.”
1: Congratulations to the Garcia Family. Catalina Cucina is open! 2: Who nose what is good in Woodstock this Aug? 3: FBW Represented in July
John Flint Financial Advisor
business monthly
Woodstock Is Changing to Red Oak Sanitation
City of Woodstock has transitioned to a new residential sanitation and recycling provider, all residents must create an account and enroll directly with Red Oak. Visit the website to create your account and choose your service level. Red Oak offers weekly curbside garbage collection and recycling services. Standard service includes a 95-gallon trash cart with optional upgrades and add-ons such as additional carts or back-door service Service does not automatically carry over from the previous provider. https://redoaksanitation.com/woodstock-residents/
Celebrating 35 years strong in Woodstock
Happy 35 year anniversary to Salon and Spa Venessa, turning Venessa's vision into a reality. A month long celebration has started. To show appreciation for the community that has supported us for three and a half decades. Every single guest who visits us this month will receive **THREE gifts**: A retail discount on your purchase Coupons for August & September. An entry to win an incredible raffle basket worth over $300 in Aveda products!
Southbound Swing is launching first East Coast Swing class series
The first East Coast Swing class series at Gathering on Main in historic downtown Woodstock! Southbound Swing is a local community effort by people who love dancing, Woodstock, and want to create something fun, welcoming, and joyful right here. Classes designed for total beginners, couples, singles, friends, and anyone who ever said, “I wish I knew how to dance!” Our instructors, Matt & Bonnie, are professional dance teachers who make learning fun, easy, and welcoming.
We combine cutting-edge science with holistic care to optimize how you look, feel, and move.
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Restore energy, lean muscle, and youthful vitality.
Regenerative Medicine
Advanced cellular therapies to heal from within.
CO2 Laser Resurfacing
Erase fine lines, scars, and sun damage for flawless skin.
Chiropractic Care
HELPING Children
“Hugo’s Brave Bite” launched to Support Families at the Table
ARTICLE BY CITY LIFESTYLE
For many families, mealtimes are meant to be moments of connection. But for parents of children with feeding challenges, they can be filled with stress, worry, and uncertainty. Local pediatric feeding therapist Charlene Kurkjian, OTR/L, knows this reality well — and she's bringing hope to the table in a new way with the launch of her children's book, Hugo's Brave Bite.
Charlene is the founder of Happy Hungry Hippos Feeding Clinic, a pediatric practice dedicated exclusively to helping children who struggle with eating, whether due to extreme picky eating, sensory sensitivities, anxiety around food, or more complex feeding disorders. After 20 years serving families in East Cobb, she relocated her practice to Marietta just off the Square, where she has continued her work for the past four years.
"Parents often come to me exhausted and overwhelmed," she shares. "They've tried everything, and nothing feels like it's helping. My role is to help them understand why their child is struggling and how to move forward in a supportive, evidence-based way."
That philosophy is at the heart of Hugo's Brave Bite. The idea grew directly from therapy sessions, where Charlene noticed the same fears appearing in children again and again — anxiety around new foods, fear of gagging, fear of doing something wrong. The book follows Hugo, a thoughtful hippo who feels unsure when faced with new foods. Rather than pushing him to "just take a bite," the story gently introduces curiosity, sensory exploration, and small steps — approaches foundational to feeding therapy.
Parents often recognize familiar moments in the pages: hesitation at the table, big emotions around food, and the quiet courage it takes to try something new.
"Bravery at the table doesn't have to be big," Charlene says. "It just has to begin."
Hugo's Brave Bite is now available on Amazon and is recommended for preschool and early elementary-aged children.
Charlene Kurkjian
Inside the renovation redefining what a Cherokee County library means for your family.
PAGES, PEOPLE, AND POSSIBILITY
ARTICLE BY MARK O’DONNELL | PHOTOGRAPHY BY KATIE NIELSON
It started in 1922 with a borrowed room behind a jewelry store on Canton's Main Street and a collection of donated books tended by a volunteer two days a week. More than a century later, the Sequoyah Regional Library System has grown into one of North Georgia's most quietly essential institutions: eight locations, more than 1 million checkouts, and nearly 500,000 in-person visitors every year.
BEYOND THE BOOK STACKS
That growth has been deliberate. Cherokee County is one of the fastest-growing communities in Georgia, and the library system has worked hard to keep pace, evolving from a reading room into something far more expansive. The Hickory Flat Public Library recently completed a full renovation, a transformation shaped entirely by what local residents said they actually needed. Community surveys guided every decision, from the layout of the rooms to the kinds of spaces available. The result feels less like what people remember a library being and more like what a library can genuinely become. You notice it immediately upon walking in. To the right of the entrance sits what the staff calls the third space: a community lounge complete with a kitchenette, booth seating, and gathering spots that invite you to stay a while. Conference rooms and private meeting rooms are available to reserve at no cost. There are quiet corners for concentration and open areas for collaboration. It is a space that works equally well for a ten-year-old finishing a book report, a high schooler prepping for exams, a parent running a small business between school pickups, and a retired neighbor tackling a lifelong passion project.
THE LIBRARY BUILT IT FOR ALL OF THEM.
"The Hickory Flat Public Library was designed with the future in mind, serving as a flexible, dynamic hub that will enrich the lives of everyone in our community for years to come. The library brings people together by offering collaborative workspaces and a welcoming environment." - Lisa Fowler, Branch Manager, Hickory Flat Public Library
The renovation also answered something practical and urgent. In a county where growth continues to outpace resources, the library remains one of the few places where every family, regardless of income or circumstance, walks in on equal footing. Chromebooks and Wi-Fi hotspots are available for checkout at no cost, meaning a student without
reliable internet at home is never left behind. Across the different SRLS locations, services such as 3D printers, computer stations, and various seating areas ensure access to creativity and learning for all.
"A library card with Sequoyah Regional Library System is available at no cost for community members in Cherokee, Pickens, and Gilmer counties. We have so many wonderful items and services available to our community at no cost. There truly is something for every age and every stage at the library." Sarah Childers, Marketing Manager, Sequoyah Regional Library System
The Sequoyah Regional Library System runs more than 1,100 programs annually, attended by over 32,000 people. Story times, STEM workshops, digital literacy classes, tutoring spaces, and hands-on creative programs fill the calendar year-round. For students across Cherokee County, the library is not a supplement to their education. It is a cornerstone of it.
STILL RELEVANT. MORE THAN EVER.
One of the system's most practical tools is the EZ Student Access program, a partnership with the Cherokee County School District that makes library access nearly automatic. When parents and caregivers register their child for school each year, they can opt in to have their child's lunch number serve as their library card, allowing the child to check out up to 5 items, fine-free. No barriers between a curious kid and the resources waiting for them.
For early learners, the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program has become a beloved community milestone. The library's seasonal reading initiatives keep momentum going at every grade level, with Summer Discovery wrapping up each July and additional reading initiatives available yearround to effectively engage the community.
"Whether a child is six years old, discovering their first chapter book, or sixteen, preparing college applications, everything they need is right here, and it costs them nothing." - Sarah Childers, Marketing Manager, Sequoyah Regional Library System
It is the question that comes up at every dinner table where technology dominates the conversation: Do libraries still matter in an age of artificial intelligence, instant search, and on-demand everything? The answer, at least in Cherokee County, is not just yes. It is a resounding and well-funded yes. The Sequoyah Regional Library System logged more than 490,000 in-person visits in its 2025 fiscal year. Its digital catalog includes over 46,000 ebooks available around the clock. Public Wi-Fi sessions at its eight locations topped 134,000 in the most recent survey period. These are not the numbers of an institution fading into irrelevance. They are the numbers of a community leaning in.
What AI cannot replicate is physical space, human connection, and equitable access. A family without a home computer cannot search Google from their living room. A student without broadband cannot stream a tutoring session. A small business owner without a printer cannot submit a proposal. The library solves all three, quietly, every single day, without a subscription fee or a data plan required. The Library of Things takes this idea even further. Beyond books and digital titles, the system lends items that expand what learning and living
look like: Chromebooks, Wi-Fi hotspots, and 3D Printers that reflect the real and evolving needs of a modern community. Experience Passes open doors to cultural destinations across the region, ensuring that a child's education is not limited to what a family budget can stretch to cover.
"Our libraries today are more community-focused than ever. We are here to connect with people exactly where they are, with the tools, spaces, and support they need to move forward. That mission has new significance as things rapidly change and evolve." - Angela Cortellino, Executive Director, Sequoyah Regional Library System
The renovation at Hickory Flat is one chapter in a longer story of a library system that has refused to stand still. From that first borrowed room on Main Street in 1922 to a thriving network of eight locations serving hundreds of thousands of neighbors across Cherokee, Pickens, and Gilmer counties, the Sequoyah Regional Library System has always been something more than a place to check out books. It has been the place where this community comes to grow.
Your library card is free. Your next chapter is waiting.
Books Born From Love
Local author Brittany Petish writes for kids but reaches everyone
She spends most of her weekends at a table full of books, with a golden doodle named Tate working the crowd beside her. There is usually a story time somewhere on the calendar, a new partnership in the works, and at least one moment that stops her in her tracks and reminds her exactly why she started.
Brittany Petish has called Cherokee County home for a decade. In the last twelve months, she became something else entirely: an award-winning children's author and illustrator with nineteen books, nine national and
international honors, and a growing network of wildlife partners, nonprofit organizations, and community relationships stretching from Atlanta to Ellijay and beyond.
None of it started with a plan to write books.It started with a dog.
We sat down with Brittany to talk about what drives her, why animals make the best teachers, and what it feels like when a perfect stranger walks up to your table, completely in tears, and buys eight copies of the same title.
YOU HAVE NINETEEN BOOKS AND NINE AWARDS IN ONE YEAR. WHERE DOES SOMEONE EVEN START?
It started with losing my soul dog, Annabelle. She had special needs and was the best thing that ever happened to me. There was just this hole in my heart and I wanted to do something beautiful in her memory. Writing is how I process. And then I started illustrating, because I have done fine art my entire life. These are digital watercolors. It grew beyond whatever I could have expected.
THE BOOKS ARE CLEARLY FOR KIDS. BUT THEY SEEM TO REACH MANY ADULTS, TOO.
Each book has a social, emotional learning lesson: bravery, friendship, patience, things kids need. But animals are a beautiful teacher of that for anyone. At one of my very first events, a woman came up and bought eight copies of Goodbye Blue. She was going to a wake the next morning and wanted everyone there to have one. She was crying. I was crying. That moment is why I do this.
SO, SELLING BOOKS IS NOT ACTUALLY THE GOAL?
Selling books is a benefit. It allows me to keep going. But the goal is to meet kids, parents, adults, whoever, where they are, with the story they need to hear, so they don't feel so alone. If I can do that for one person, that gives me purpose.
YOU PARTNER WITH SOME INCREDIBLE LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS. TELL US ABOUT THOSE RELATIONSHIPS.
Lucky's Place is right here in our community, run by a woman named Jackie who rehabilitates injured and orphaned wildlife from her home and works to release them back into the wild. I have written two books with her, about a skunk and a squirrel she rehabbed. I also partner with the Chattahoochee Nature Center as an official story time reader, and they carry my books in their gift shop. I have been doing story times at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and we are working toward making that an official partnership. I get to go where kids need it most.
Brittany Petish, author and illustrator. Cherokee County, Georgia. All books available in American Sign Language online. Spanish is out and available now. TrueHeartTails.com
A Canton ten-year-old wins one of junior golf's most storied titles
FOR GLORY Putting
ARTICLE BY GLENN LAZARUS
PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY
SARAH BURRIS
The crowd surged toward the eighth green before the ball even stopped rolling. Cole Burris, ten years old and standing in the middle of his biggest golf moment, had just made the putt that mattered most. Not a practice round. Not a warm-up. The championship putt, on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff, at one of the most storied junior golf tournaments in the world.
Cole is a Woodstock native, a rising fifth grader at Timothy Ministry Homeschool, and the kind of kid who has been chasing something specific for a long time. He picked up his first club at age six through Georgia Golf Performance at Bridgemill Golf Club in Canton, where the coaches spotted something early. By 2024 he was their 8-10 year old player of the year. At nine, he added dedicated swing coach Chad Phillips of Summit Golf Training in Kennesaw. He plays on the JPGA All-Star team out of Towne Lake Hills Golf Club and calls Cartersville Country Club his home course, partly because he loves walkable layouts with fast greens. Speed and agility training at Fury Performance in Woodstock has helped him drive the ball over 200 yards. He weighs 72 pounds. The kid is serious.
This past June, all of that work led him to Dothan, Alabama, and the 77th Press Thornton Future Masters, where the best junior golfers in the country and the world converge each summer on Dothan Country Club. The tournament has been running since 1950. Its alumni list reads like a who's who of professional golf: Scottie Scheffler, Bubba Watson, Trevor Immelman, Harris English, Stewart Cink. Cole had been here before. He tied for 24th in the 10-Under division in 2025, went home with unfinished business, and spent a year putting in the work to come back and do something about it.
After three days of stroke play on Dothan's newly redesigned course, Cole found himself in a tie with Sean Wilding, a ten-year-old who had traveled from Thailand with his family, the farthest-traveling competitor in the entire field. What followed was only the second playoff in the history of the 10-Under division across the tournament's 77 years. Three holes of sudden death. Neither boy gave an inch.
On the par-4 eighth hole, Wilding's par putt stopped just outside the cup. Cole stood over an uphill putt with a championship on the line. "I was just thinking, I need to make this," he said afterward. "And, I did, so. And, it was uphill, and his was downhill." He rolled it in. The crowd erupted.
Watching from the scorer's table was Jake Creel, the 1996 10-Under Future Masters champion and one of only two players in history to win that division in a playoff before Cole. Nearly thirty years after his own dramatic finish on this same course, Creel had a front-row seat to history repeating itself. "It's nostalgic," he said. "That kid will remember that story. I will remember that story."
Cole dreams of playing on the PGA Tour one day and designing golf courses the way Jack Nicklaus did. He has his eye on the University of Georgia and Clemson. For now, he is ten years old, he is the Future Masters 10-Under champion, and he has a putt he will never forget.
ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT
The Press Thornton Future Masters has been held at Dothan Country Club in Dothan, Alabama, since 1950. Now in its 77th year, the tournament draws nearly 1,000 applicants annually from 37 states and 8 countries. Alumni include world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Masters champions Bubba Watson and Trevor Immelman, and British Open winner Ben Curtis. Winners of the prestigious 15-18 division earn a coveted blue jacket.
Saving Lives One Home at a Time
Rescue, Repeat: Woodstock organization does things differently and the animals are better for it
There is no building with kennels. No rows of cages. No shelter in the traditional sense at all. What Cherokee Humane Society has instead is something far more powerful: a community of people who open their homes, their hearts, and their lives to animals in need and have been doing so for nearly 50 years.
Founded in 1975 and based right here in Woodstock, Cherokee Humane Society has quietly built one of the most community-driven animal rescue operations in North Georgia. Their model is simple and remarkably effective: every animal in their care lives in a foster home, not a facility. Real families. Real couches. Real backyards. It is the kind of environment where a dog or cat can truly begin to heal — and where children learn, almost without realizing it, some of the most important lessons life has to offer.
"Caring for animals teaches children kindness, patience, and the importance of understanding the needs of others," the organization notes, "values that form the foundation of everything Cherokee Humane does."
The numbers behind that mission are impressive. In one year alone, Cherokee Humane Society rescued, adopted, altered, and aided more than 1,000 animals, while also supporting over 500 pet owners in the community who needed help keeping their pets healthy and at home. Every single animal that leaves their care has been vaccinated, dewormed, tested for disease, spayed or neutered, flea treated, and microchipped. No exceptions.
ARTICLE BY WOODSTOCK CITY LIFESTYLE
The animals come primarily from overcrowded shelters across Georgia, pulled before they run out of time, placed into vetted foster homes, and matched carefully with families ready to give them a forever home. For Woodstock families thinking about adopting, the process is refreshingly personal. Rather than walking through a shelter, prospective adopters can browse available dogs and cats online, submit an application, and meet their potential new family member in a home setting.
For families not ready to adopt, fostering is where help is needed most. Once animals are in their care, Cherokee Humane provides veterinary care, vaccinations, spay and neuter procedures, and loving foster homes, but they cannot do it without community support. Fostering is also one of the most meaningful ways to introduce children to pet care before making a long-term commitment. A few weeks with a foster dog or cat teaches empathy, responsibility, and routine in ways no classroom can replicate.
Beyond fostering and adoption, Cherokee Humane's Thrift Store is a hidden gem for Woodstock families looking to support the mission in an everyday way. Every purchase directly funds the rescue, vetting, and placement of animals in need. Shopping there with your kids on a Saturday morning is, quite literally, saving lives.
The organization also supports low-cost spay and neuter clinics in the community through mobile units and partnerships with local providers working proactively to keep the number of animals entering shelters as low as possible.
“Caring for animals teaches children kindness, patience, and the importance of understanding the needs of others.”
At its core, Cherokee Humane Society is not just an animal rescue. It is a reflection of Woodstock, a community that looks out for its most vulnerable, teaches its children compassion, and believes that every life, no matter how small, is worth saving.
To adopt, foster, or volunteer, visit: cherokeehumanesociety.org
Thrift Store: 12156 Highway 92, Woodstock.
Adoptions: Saturdays at Woodstock PetSmart, 142 Woodstock Square Ave
YOUR FAMILY FRIENDLY FLORAL BOUTIQUE IN DOWNTOWN WOODSTOCK & ACWORTH!
Bring the kids, bring the pup! Every child gets a free flower, and we have locally crafted gifts for the whole family including our furry friends!
Check out our website to see options for beautiful and unique floral arrangements for pick up or delivery and to see our current workshop offerings!
ARTICLE BY PAULI REEP
PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED
There is little more satisfying to your sweet tooth than ooey-gooey cinnamon rolls. Here is an easy and fun way to make this tearable, shareable treat!
CINNAMON MONKEY BREAD IS A FUN DESSERT FOR CHILDREN TO MAKE AND SHARE!
AROUND
INGREDIENTS
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 3 (12 oz.) cans of buttermilk biscuits
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously coat the inside of a bundt pan with cooking spray or butter. Melt the butter in a pot or bowl. Mix the sugars and cinnamon in a separate bowl.
Open one can of biscuits, separate, and cut each into four sections. Next, roll each quarter into a ball and then put each one into the sugar mixture to coat. Place the balls in the bundt pan in a single layer and drizzle a little melted butter evenly over the top. Repeat with the other two cans of biscuits. Sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture over the top and bake for 30-35 minutes.
Be sure to let cool for a minute or two before turning the bread onto a plate and carefully remov ing the pan. If you leave the monkey bread in the pan much longer, it will stick and be hard to remove.
I sometimes make icing, a few tablespoons of milk, to about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar with a splash of vanilla.
Drizzle over the top while warm and enjoy!
Atlanta’s newest Powerhouse Sport
How a local youth rowing club quietly became one of the best!
For years, Atlanta has built a reputation as a powerhouse sports city. Friday night football lights up fields across Woodstock, baseball diamonds stay busy all spring, and soccer, basketball, and lacrosse continue producing incredible athletes. But now there’s another sport making waves… and quite literally doing it on the Chattahoochee River.
Atlanta is officially on the rowing map.
Based in across the river, the Atlanta Junior Rowing Association (AJRA) has quietly been building something remarkable. Training more than 150 athletes from middle school through high school, the program has grown into one of the nation’s premier youth rowing clubs. This season, they reached a milestone: a Top 10 national finish and qualifying five boats to compete at the USRowing Youth National Championships in Sarasota.
Against some of the fastest youth crews in the nation—and athletes who will eventually compete on the world stage—AJRA delivered one of the strongest performances in program history. Highlights included the Men's Varsity
8+ finishing 7th nationally, Women's Second Varsity 8+ earning another Top 5 finish, Men's U17 Four+ placing 8th, Men's Second Varsity A 8+ earning a Top 10 finish, Men's Second Varsity B 8+ (racing up a class!) and Women's Varsity 8+ delivering Top 25 finishes.
But ask AJRA families or Men's Head Coach Zach Smarr, and they'll tell you the medals aren't the whole story. “What AJRA has built is a culture,” he says.
Athletes often begin in middle school and progress through developmental and novice squads before earning a varsity seat. Success is visible, and so is the work behind it.
“ Rowing may be the ultimate team sport. Every seat is earned. Every stroke matters. Every athlete depends on the people beside them,” says Women's Head Coach Maddux Castle.
Atlanta may not traditionally be known for rowing, but AJRA has quickly changed that.
Proving greatness doesn't always happen under stadium lights; it's happening on the Chattahoochee River, one stroke at a time.
“
“We’ve
put high expectations on these kids. And they’ve put higher expectations on themselves.”
BERRY BANANA SUNSHINE SMOOTHIE
A QUICK, NATURALLY SWEET SMOOTHIE KIDS LOVE — PACKED WITH FRUIT, NO ADDED SUGAR, READY IN 5 MINUTES.
Between school drop-offs, snack negotiations, and the never-ending laundry pile, breakfast doesn't always get the love it deserves. This smoothie is built for that chaos — five minutes, one blender, and a glass full of fruit your kids will actually drink without a fight (yes, even with the spinach hiding in there). Because some mornings, "healthy and fast" beats "perfect" every single time.
BANANA BERRY SUNSHINE SMOOTHIE
INGREDIENTS
• 1 cup frozen mixed berries
• 1 ripe banana
• 0.5 cups plain or vanilla yogurt
• 0.8 cups milk (dairy or plant-based)
• 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup (optional)
• 0.5 cups baby spinach (optional, sneaky greens)
STEPS:
Add ingredients: Add 1 cu frozen mixed berries, 1 ripe banana, 0.5 cups plain or vanilla yogurt, 0.8 cups milk (dairy or plant-based), 1 teaspoons honey or maple syrup (optional), and 0.5 cups baby spinach (optional, sneaky greens) (if using) to a blender.
Blend: Blend on high for 1 minute 01:00 until smooth and creamy. Serve: Pour into fun cups, add a striped straw, fresh fruit garnish and serve immediately.
Tip: The spinach disappears completely thanks to the berries' deep color — great for sneaking in extra nutrients. Swap berries for mango + pineapple for a tropical version.
Banana Berry Smoothie
YOUR SMILE STARTS HERE
REICH DENTAL CENTER NOW OPEN IN WOODSTOCK!
At Reich Dental Center, we’re all about making every smile feel confident, healthy, and cared for! Your comfort comes first — always. With personalized care, cutting-edge technology, and a team that feels more like family, we’re here to make your dental visits something to smile about! All in a space that’s modern, welcoming, and designed with you in mind.
Providing same day crown services! Go home with your permanent tooth that dayNo waiting with a temporary tooth!
TREY & KATIE KENNEDY
ON MARRIAGE, KIDS, AND THE COMEDY OF REAL LIFE
Trey Kennedy makes a living finding comedy in regular life. Marriage. Toddlers. Yoga pants. The Thursday-night scramble between school dropoffs, soccer practice, and whatever has to be done by morning. Twelve years in, it shows: millions of followers across every platform, three stand-up specials, a sold-out Relatable Tour, and a style of humor fans send each other captioned, “Are you watching me?” He delivers the kind of comedy that travels because everyone’s living some version of it.
Katie, his wife of six years, is a former biomedical engineer who also built a modeling career. She’s now raising their kids and co-hosting Correct Opinions alongside Trey — the show where the two of them swap takes on marriage, parenting, and whatever came up that week.
Trey has been at this longer than people realize. An Edmond, Oklahoma kid who grew up playing basketball described himself as a “shy kid who never thought he’d be an entertainer.” He started making videos while attending Oklahoma State University. After building millions of followers on Vine before the platform shut down, he gave himself six months on Instagram and Facebook to see whether he could rebuild from zero. He did. Stand-up soon followed. His first special, Are You For Real?, streams on YouTube; the second, Grow Up, on Amazon Prime; the third, built around the Relatable Tour, wrapped earlier this year. “I’ve been trying to be funny every week for like twelve years now,” he says. A slow climb, made one bit at a time.
ARTICLE BY KALI KASPRZYK
“I’ve been trying to be funny every week for like twelve years now.”
Most of what Trey writes lately starts in his own kitchen. Thomas is three and a half, and he is, in his father’s words, “a movie.” He narrates his own life from the moment his eyes open and mispronounces words in ways his parents now repeat to each other because no one else would believe them. His younger sister, Eva, is what Katie calls “the calm one.” With a third now in the mix, the Kennedys are officially outnumbered.
After six years of marriage, Trey and Katie have learned that the partnership runs best when it gets its own time on the calendar. So once a week, they leave the kids with a sitter and go out for coffee. “You need a system,” Katie says. “It’s about taking time to look each other in the eye. Not the kids. Not the cameras. Just each other.”
The same instinct shapes the work. Most of Trey’s trial and error happens onstage or on Instagram, but the first read is always Katie’s. “There’s only been one time ever I’ve had to be like, ‘you’re not doing that,’” she says. The rest of the time, she just laughs first.
FEATURING TREY & KATIE KENNEDY
Trey and Katie talk about marriage, parenting, and the moments that don’t make the Instagram feed.
Watch or listen to the full conversation wherever you get your podcasts.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JANIE JONES HAIR & MAKEUP BY MIKAYLA CRANE
HAPPY BACK TO SCHOOL from Cherokee Smiles Dental
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Dr. Kendra Ousley Your trusted dentist in Woodstock! All ages WELCOME at Cherokee Smiles!
www.cherokeesmiles.com 770-591-8446 9020 Hwy 92 St 102 Woodstock, GA 30189
