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Don’t tell us you haven’t wondered what it’s like to be Kathleen Kelly from You’ve Got Mail because we know you have! We’ve wondered the same thing which is why we decided to get answers from the co-owner of our very favorite book store: Fabled Bookshop and Cafe in Waco, Texas. If you attended our Raspberry Cordial Gathering in 2019 you know that we had our first night of the event there. It’s a magical place and we talked with co-owner Alison Frenzel to learn all about the ins and outs of owning a bookshop.

While working in marketing and photography, Alison Frenzel did not think that she’d ever see her dream of owning a bookstore come true. But when she met her business partner, Kimberly Batson, the pair realized that they shared a vision for a bookshop that champions reading and the impact it can have on a community. Together they started Fabled which offers new books in a myriad of categories, a cafe that features literary drinks, and a wardrobe you can enter through to the children’s section. Alison is married to Brandon, a First Methodist pastor, and has two children, Ava and Asher. Her favorite books to read usually feature time travel, unrequited love, western themes, and meticulously researched historical fiction.

In this episode we asked Alison all about how Fabled was born, the inner workings of a bookstore, how to choose what to stock, how to create a space where people love to gather, the gift of bookshops to communities and how to encourage kids to read. It’s a cozy and delightful conversation, so grab a glass of Raspberry Cordial and enjoy!

Sponsor: The Little Catholic Box

The Little Catholic Box is a quarterly subscription box for Catholic women.  Each quarter, the owner Erica curates a bunch of fun, unique Catholic items around a spiritual theme.  It’s a delight for subscribers, and a blessing to the artists, creators and small businesses whose items get featured.

They only offer a limited number of subscriptions each quarter, and the signup window closes at the end of September.

If you’d like to try them out, visit thelittlecatholicbox.com/FOC by the end of September and get an exclusive free bonus only available to Fountains of Carrots listeners.

Sign up now for the next box that ships the first week of November!

We are also sponsored by Homeschool Connections

HomeschoolConnections.com is an authentically Catholic resource for home educating families. Their mission is educating the heart, mind, and soul in the Catholic tradition with online classes for 3rd grade and above. They offer live interactive classes as well as unlimited access to recorded courses that are available 24/7/365 with top quality teachers.

If you’re a brand new homeschooler or a seasoned homeschooler, head over to HomeschoolConnections.com to see the great resource they can be for your student!

Connect with Alison:

• Fabled web site
• Instagram

England Trip!

WE ARE GOING TO ENGLAND next summer and we want you to come with us! Check out our previous episode or view the travel details here.

Patreon!

Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you!

Head on over to support the podcast as a patron and get access to special episodes available exclusively to patrons as well as to the FoC Slack community! You’ll also have access to our patron book clubs and receive a cute sticker in the mail from us. We’re reading Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi next and we’d love for you to participate so join today.

Come hang out with us!

Haven’t joined in on the fun with 4,900+ other FoC listeners in our facebook group? It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books, and whatever our current masterpiece theatre craze might be! Join in with the link below.

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The saints are one of the best things about being Catholic. But often, we think of the saints as cardboard cutouts and not real people who were very human, often messy, and struggling just like us. What if we all had friends in heaven that we found completely relatable because of their situation in life, personality, or ethnicity? If you had a friend in heaven like that, don’t you think you could imagine yourself becoming a saint? That’s just what today’s guest, Meg Hunter-Kilmer wants to help you do!

You might remember Meg from previous episodes on the podcast or as a speaker at our Raspberry Cordial Gathering in 2019. She’s one of our favorite people, a fellow Anne of Green Gables fan, and one of the most fascinating folks we know. Meg lives out of her car and travels the globe as a missionary, sharing about God’s love and the saints. She’s a highly sought after speaker, a longtime podcaster, and now, a published author. This year her children’s book illustrated by Lindsay Sanders, Saints Around the World was released and her book about the saints for grown-ups, Pray for Us: 75 Saints who Sinned, Suffered, and Struggled on Their Way to Holiness is available for pre-order.

In this episode Meg talks about the importance of finding saints we connect with–be it because they are like us or because they reach out to us in some way. She shares about what it means to have relationships with the saints, what exactly it looks like to befriend them, how they find us, and how they help our spiritual lives. You’re going to love this episode!

Sponsor: The Little Catholic Box

The Little Catholic Box is a quarterly subscription box for Catholic women.  Each quarter, the owner Erica curates a bunch of fun, unique Catholic items around a spiritual theme.  It’s a delight for subscribers, and a blessing to the artists, creators and small businesses whose items get featured.

They only offer a limited number of subscriptions each quarter, and the signup window closes at the end of September.

If you’d like to try them out, visit thelittlecatholicbox.com/FOC by the end of September and get an exclusive free bonus only available to Fountains of Carrots listeners.

Sign up now for the next box that ships the first week of November!

We are also sponsored by Walking with Purpose

Walking with Purpose has just released a new Bible study titled “Reclaiming Friendship”–a 6 week dive into God’s purpose and plan for our friendships and we think that this is the perfect time to offer women a study like this.

Finding out what God has to say about friendship will help women to not only rebuild their friendships but do so in a way that will help them to make Jesus the center of their relationships and their lives.

For those of you not familiar with Walking with Purpose, it is a ministry seeking to bring every Catholic woman and girl to Jesus through their amazing Bible studies. Walking with Purpose is currently at over 400 parishes around the nation and reaches about 40,000 women a year.

Use the code CARROTS15 at checkout for 15% off your order of Reclaiming Friendship: shop.walkingwithpurpose.com

Offer expires October 31, 2021!

Connect with Meg:

• podcast
• website
• Instagram
• Facebook

England Trip!

WE ARE GOING TO ENGLAND next summer and we want you to come with us! Check out our previous episode or view the travel details here.

Patreon!

Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you!

Head on over to support the podcast as a patron and get access to special episodes available exclusively to patrons as well as to the FoC Slack community! You’ll also have access to our patron book clubs and receive a cute sticker in the mail from us. We’re reading Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi next and we’d love for you to participate so join today.

Come hang out with us!

Haven’t joined in on the fun with 4,900+ other FoC listeners in our facebook group? It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books, and whatever our current masterpiece theatre craze might be! Join in with the link below.

• The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)
• Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog
• Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.