About Ripristinare Retreat

If you had told me a few years ago that I’d be running a full-service day spa retreat on two acres in the Finger Lakes—offering massage, facials, waxing, medical and luxury bodywork, complete with baths, saunas, and vibrational healing—I’d have laughed and said,
“You’ve got the wrong woman.”
But life, as it turns out, has its own sense of humor.

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When my father passed in August of 2019, just before the world shut down for the pandemic, everything shifted. In the middle of grief, paperwork, and peeling wallpaper, my family and I found ourselves caring for the home and property he left behind. What started as keeping things afloat became a full-blown restoration project—complete with broken pipes, paint dust, and the kind of challenges only life and family can deliver.

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After 24 years of running A Touch of Tranquility Wellness Spa in Corning, making the decision to close that chapter was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I poured my heart into that space—every treatment room, every scent, every conversation—and the clients I served there weren’t just clients; they were some of the best humans I’ve ever known. Letting go wasn’t about family pressure or circumstance; it was about listening to that quiet, persistent pull to grow in a new direction. My heart was asking for something different—something that would bring me closer to the land, closer to my roots, and closer to the kind of healing and creativity I was meant to share next.

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I’ll never forget the day it hit me. The ugly cry—the kind where your chest aches, and you realize you’re not just crying over one thing, but over years of effort, exhaustion, and love poured into something you have to release. My business in Corning had been so successful, so full of beautiful people and moments, that walking away felt like tearing out a piece of myself. But beneath the tears, another truth was rising: I was carrying more stress than I had ever admitted, doing it all alone, and my body was showing it. Extra weight, swelling, fatigue, redness—the signs were all there.

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I knew I needed to untangle it all, to unburden, to heal. I began searching for a word that captured that feeling—the desire to untwist the trauma, to restore, to relieve the pressure—and there it was: Ripristinare. The moment I found it, I knew. This wasn’t just a name; it was freedom. It was the next chapter of my life, a promise to rebuild with more grace, honesty, and peace.

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On November 1st, 2024, Ripristinare Retreat officially opened its doors—a dream born from both heartbreak and healing. Now, I get to work from home, surrounded by family and the quiet rhythm of the countryside, creating experiences that restore others the way I once needed to be restored myself.

Every detail of Ripristinare is alive with intention—the soft drape of linen and organic cotton against the skin, the aroma of cold-pressed oils and pure essential botanicals, the subtle pulse of therapeutic vibration that quiets the mind and harmonizes the body. Linen, an ancient healing fabric once reserved for temples and healers, naturally vibrates at a frequency known to support cellular restoration. In my treatment rooms, it becomes more than fabric—it’s part of the medicine.

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Each session is a living creation, guided by intuition and shaped by presence. I craft every oil blend, every ritual, every layer of gentle sound and frequency to meet the guest exactly where they are. Whether through resonance therapy, grounding touch, or customized aromatherapeutic blends, the goal is always the same—to help the body remember its own rhythm, to return to balance, to restore.

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That same devotion extends beyond the treatment room. The spaces I restore hold the same reverence for texture, light, and emotion. To me, healing isn’t just what we do—it’s what we build, breathe, and live in. Every wall, every beam, every linen curtain and flicker of candlelight tells a story of renewal. Ripristinare is more than a name—it’s a way of life, a continual invitation to restore what has been worn, to soften what has been hardened, and to remember that beauty itself is medicine.

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The essence and inspiration for Ripristinare has always been to support my clientele at a deeper, more transformative level. In my previous space, I longed for freedom to create—to bring new treatments to life, to fully express my knowledge, and to craft experiences that went beyond the ordinary. I was often pulled away by operational distractions, while my heart yearned to bring more depth and innovation to each session. Here, surrounded by quiet and nature, I finally have the space and energy to design every ritual, massage, and facial with intention—curated to restore, replenish, and elevate every guest who walks through the door.

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Ripristinare is more than a business—it’s living art, born from restoration, resilience, and a little bit of dust and divine timing. Drawing from years of experience creating spaces and managing projects, I designed Ripristinare as a sanctuary where every detail is intentional and every experience transformative. It embodies the same philosophy that guides all of my ventures: take what is worn or overlooked, and transform it into something beautiful, soulful, and full of life.

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Because sometimes, the most meaningful things we build come from the rubble we never planned for—and those are often the places where restoration feels most profound. Ripristinare is my way of bringing that philosophy to life in every treatment, every ritual, and every guest experience.

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