Chang'e, the spirit of the moon, or the moon goddess, is based off a chinese myth of love, loss, and sacrifice. Hou Yi, husband to Chang'e, who saved the world from burning when he shot down 9 of the 10 suns in the sky was awarded two elixirs of immortality for his efforts. Together, Chang'e and Hou Yi planned to take these elixirs to spend eternity together but fate would change their direction. One night, an[...]
Have you ever found an old journal from when you were a kid and cringed as you read through it? The grammar, the handwriting, the whining (or was that just me?), that couldn’t have been you. And yet, it was. You were young. You were learning. You didn’t know what you know now or have these years of experience to know any better. It’s funny when we get the chance to look back at something like that we can[...]
I saw it come to life as I listened to the Highwomen’s self-titled song for the 100th time. The stories of these women, unnamed and unknown, highlighting what they sacrificed for the world. How their lives made the lives of women to come better. It’s a story as old as time. What the marginalized have sacrificed in hopes of a better future. What women sacrifice in hopes of honoring themselves. To me, this song, t[...]
The number one thing I notice in a home is what's on their walls. Whether it's wallpaper, art or photographs, I'm seeing how a home owner designs their walls and shares who they are with what they display. As someone coming into their home it's rare that I would be able to tell you which art are prints and which art originals but that doesn't mean that there aren't certain pros and cons to you as the buyer. What[...]
Thursday is the Sturgeon Supermoon. This simply means, it’s a full moon that will be as close to earth as it will be all year making it appear, super. The Sturgeon moon on the other hand means something a little bit more. Throughout history Native Americans and other indigenous people named the moons based on what was happening at that time of year. It became their own lunar clock. In the northern part of the U[...]
She left me message on my phone telling me about the dream she had. A dream about my niece, Leila, getting glasses and learning how to see herself as beautiful even with her new accessory. She walked through the idea of how Leila didn't want to wear glasses, how she complained to everyone, and then in the end the whole family wore glasses to show her, it was no big deal. Then she said to me, we have to make this in[...]
I could have cried when I opened his email. He share with me a wedding celebration he was planning for his wife to celebrate 50 years of marriage, and it was all a surprise. He wanted something special to commemorate the day. A man I've never met, was asking for a commissioned illustration from his favorite wedding photo to give to his bride after 50-years of marriage. How on earth could you refuse that one? I we[...]
Wedding seasons has a certain magic about it. There's a feeling in the air that you can't escape. Maybe it's spring and you can feel the world combing back to life, or in the fall when everything is changing and the colors dance around you like your friends on the wedding dance floor. Whatever it is, magic seems to build when many are gathered to celebrate love. The thing we're all looking for and hopefully are luck[...]
In recent years I've become a plant lady. I love having potted plants throughout my home to make me feel closer to nature as well as clean our air. But it wasn't always this way. For the longest time, my entire family was known for having black thumbs. Any plant we bought, we killed. My parent's garden is made of fake plants for the combined reason of elk that eat everything, a dry climate, and their inability to ke[...]
On the outskirts of San Jose, in Alajuela, we stayed in a garage apartment surrounded by a sweet garden. Our time in this Airbnb was only to get us closer to the airport on our way in and out of the country. It was there that we discovered Entre Nous, a French cafe, and creperie just down the street from our Airbnb, a short little walk through a gated community and along the main road. The European design of the[...]