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.

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 quickly turned into a full-blown restoration project—complete with broken pipes,

paint dust, and the kind of unexpected challenges only life and family can deliver.

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What I imagined in my mind, my sweet husband Eric somehow managed to bring to life with his hands.

From the beginning he stood beside me—supporting every vision, every design idea, every moment when I wondered if any of it would actually work.

I would imagine the space, and he would quietly start figuring out how to build it.

Working close to home in this space was actually his idea.

I remember looking at him and saying, “Are you crazy? That’s a terrible idea.”

 

Two years later I had to admit… it was a great idea.

He saw the possibility before I did.

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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.

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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.

 

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 now have to release.

 

My business in Corning had been so successful, so full of beautiful people and meaningful 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, managing it all alone, and my body was showing it.

Extra weight.
Swelling.
Fatigue.
Redness.

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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 pressure, to restore, to relieve what had built up over time.

And there it was.

Ripristinare.

The moment it found me, I knew.

This wasn’t just a name.

It was freedom.

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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 close to home, surrounded by family, supported by Eric’s steady presence,

and held by the quiet rhythm of the countryside.

 

Together we’ve created a space where restoration isn’t just something I offer others—it’s something we live every day.

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.

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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 becomes 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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It was within this slower rhythm of work that something else began to take clearer shape.

For over 2 decades I had been observing how the face, fascia, breath, and nervous system communicate with one another during sessions.

What began as curiosity gradually evolved into a distinct body of work—the facial somatic practices and

perceptual framework that would eventually become Embodied Restorative Orientation (ERO).

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In many ways, Ripristinare became the environment where that work could finally breathe.

The quiet.
The land.
The space to listen more deeply.

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All of it allowed the patterns I had been noticing for decades to become something more defined—a practice rooted in

observation, presence, and the intelligence of the body itself.

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Today, Somatic Facial Therapy and Embodied Restorative Orientation

have become a central expression of my life’s work—a way of helping the body soften long-held patterns and remember its own capacity for restoration.

 

That same devotion extends beyond the treatment room.

The spaces we restore hold the same reverence for texture, light, and emotion.

Every wall, every beam, every linen curtain and flicker of candlelight carries the quiet story of transformation.

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Ripristinare is more than a name—it’s a way of life.

A continual invitation to restore what has been worn, soften what has hardened, and 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 the freedom to create—to bring new treatments to life, to fully express my knowledge, and to craft experiences that went beyond the ordinary.

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.

 

Over the years, I’ve come to understand something else about this work.

Healing is never a one-way exchange.

My beloved guests have taught me just as much as I have offered them.

Each person who lies on my table brings their own story, their own nervous system, their own way of meeting the world.

In learning how to listen to their bodies, I’ve learned to listen more deeply to my own.

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Eric has been a quiet teacher in this as well. His steady support, his patience with my ideas, and his constant reminders to slow down and care for myself have shaped Ripristinare in ways that go far beyond the physical space.

What began as a dream in my mind became something real through his hands, his creativity, his belief in me, and the partnership we share.

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Through the years I’ve realized that the restoration I help facilitate for others often mirrors something unfolding within me as well.

As I guide others back toward balance, I’m continually reminded to return there myself.

In that way, this work has never been about fixing anyone.

It has always been about remembering — together.

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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.

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Drawing from years of experience creating spaces and managing projects,

we designed Ripristinare as a sanctuary where every detail is intentional and every experience transformative.

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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.

 

Because sometimes the most meaningful things we build come from the rubble we never planned for.

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And those are often the places where restoration feels most profound.

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Ripristinare is my way of bringing that philosophy to life—in every treatment, every ritual, and every guest experience.