It’s the final episode of the year and we’re going out sparkly, chaotic, and very on brand ✨ This week, we’re joined by the incredible Melanie Eaton (Helms), Richmond-based luxury fashion, boudoir, and branding photographer, plus ME Program member Hannah, for a conversation about confidence, creativity, community, and taking bold artistic risks.

We talk disposable cameras, Barbie shoots, Vikings, mermaids, snakes (yes, real ones), and why overthinking is the hardest thing to photograph. PLUS—Big Daddy brings us some truly unhinged Bad Santa crimes, and we round things out with high-key and low-key New Year’s Eve plans around Richmond.

💖 This Episode Includes:

• ✨ Main Character vs. Delulu Era energy check for 2025
• 📸 Melanie Eaton’s journey from disposable cameras to high-end editorial photography
• 👑 What confidence really looks like—and how to fake it until it sticks
• 🤍 Inside The ME Program: empowerment, community, and hype-girl energy
• 💄 Barbie shoots, Secret Gardens, Vikings, Sirens, Marie Antoinette, and creative chaos
• 🐍 A photoshoot featuring a REAL snake (and facing fears)
• 🎥 Why community matters more than perfection
• 🏗️ Melanie’s upcoming studio glow-up
• 🎅 Big Daddy’s Bad Santa Crimes (marijuana Santa, chimney Santa, Santa brawls)
• 🥂 New Year’s Eve in RVA: high-key parties and soft-life options

🎉 New Year’s Eve Events We Cover:

High-Key

• Midnight in Manhattan at Harry’s at the Hofheimer (Follow us on instagram for 1/2 off ticket prices on this one!!!)
• Y2K NYE Bash at Ember Music Hall
• Royal Masquerade Ball at The Foundation

Low-Key / Soft Life

• Carytown dinner + stroll
• Wine flights at Brambly Park
• Artsy NYE at the VMFA

🌸 Guest Info:

Instagram: @melanieeatonphoto

Facebook: @melanieeatonphoto

Website: https://melanieeatonphotography.com/

Bookings for 2025 are OPEN 👀✨

As always—thank you for listening, laughing, and being part of our corner of RVA 💕 See you next year, besties 🥂✨ and be sure to follow us!

Richmond’s favorite caricature artist, Eric Vineyard, joins O Lala! in RVA to spill all the messy, hilarious, and surprisingly heartfelt details of life as a traveling caricature artist. From sketching drunk wedding guests to the day he accidentally gave a ride to someone picking up crack, Eric keeps it brutally honest and painfully funny.

Eric opens up about getting fired (a lot), learning the ropes at Busch Gardens, getting banned for “Irish coffee mishaps,” and eventually becoming RVA’s go-to caricature artist on his own terms. He talks about his love-hate relationship with weddings, his wildest fairground moments, and why he’ll always draw you better if you just look up from your phone.

We also play “Would You Draw This?”, where Eric tells us which requests he’d sketch sober, skip entirely, or only do if drunk — from toddlers mid-tantrum to couples with questionable poses.

Follow Eric:

https://www.instagram.com/ericscaricatures

https://ericscaricatures.com

Plus:

• 🐒 Big Daddy’s Drop It On Us: The escaped monkey saga in Mississippi (herpes, COVID rumors, and all)
• 🎄 Upcoming RVA events — from GardenFest of Lights to Thanksgiving dinner spots and River City Roll & Rave
• 🎁 Business of the Week: The Shops at 5807 — your one-stop, last-minute gift haven
• 🎸 Band of the Week: Richmond’s own What’s Our Age Again
• 🍸 Shoutouts to local icons, cake artists, new restaurants, and all the Christmas pop-up bars lighting up RVA

Grab a gobbler from Wawa, pour a little whiskey (but maybe don’t draw after), and enjoy this sweet, sketch-filled episode with RVA’s funniest grump and most talented doodler.

O Lala! (In RVA) gets spooky with a special Halloween edition featuring author and journalist Catherine Baab — whose book Poe for Your Problems turned Edgar Allan Poe into an unlikely self-help icon. Now she’s back at it with her upcoming project, Gothic Glow-Up: Mary Shelley’s Guide to Stitching Yourself Back Together.

We talk Frankenstein, free love, grief, genius, and the surprisingly messy (and sexy?) lives of 19th-century writers. It’s brains, bangers, and a whole lot of gothic gossip — perfect for a cozy October listen.

Then, Big Voodoo Daddy drops his “Big Daddy Topic” — the eerie origins of trick-or-treating and the world’s weirdest Halloween traditions (yes, some countries hide their knives 👀). We also highlight a spooky Richmond band, a bold new Carytown boutique, and all the Halloween happenings you don’t wanna miss.

🧠 Topics We Cover

• Cat’s upcoming book Gothic Glow-Up and her deep dive into Mary Shelley’s life
• Why Shelley’s husband Percy was the ultimate gothic f-boy
• How grief, trauma, and genius collide in Frankenstein
• Gothic trivia showdown (Olivia vs. Big Daddy — who wins?)
• The eerie history of trick-or-treating and Halloween across the globe
• Local RVA shoutouts: from the Broadberry’s Halloween Bash to the return of the Gunhole (yes, that Gunhole)
• Our Band of the Week: Windhand
• Our Business of the Week: Hiss Off, a Harajuku-inspired boutique in Carytown

💀 Guest Spotlight: Cat Baab

🖤 Author of Poe for Your Problems 📖 Working on Gothic Glow-Up (coming soon!) 💬 Find her at @authorcatherinebaab 👻 Follow her on Facebook for gothic humor and literary musings.

🍸 Local Shoutouts

• Windhand — Doom metal darlings of RVA
• Hiss Off — Vintage goth-meets-Y2K boutique by Sophie Smith (behind Can Can)
• Reveler at Carytown — Hosting The Embalmers & Crack Fox this Halloween
• Red Vein Haunted House — Our favorite haunted hangout (VIP tickets = worth it)
• The Gunhole at The Valentine Museum — She’s back, baby!