BAY WEEKEND REWIND

Another one of these weekends and living on a boat, plz.

LOVE LIKE THERE’S NO TOMORROW

“Commit to searching yourself and finding a new love from within. Visit a place you’ve never been before. Meet new people on purpose, not by accident. Open yourself up to the idea that we are all one and the same.”

The liner notes alone on The War and Treaty’s last album were gold; don’t even get me started on the music itself. I suppose this is fan art. Can’t wait to see them in Charleston next month.

THE CITRUS HOUSE

Adios to the Citrus House. Our time here didn’t last especially long, but man, it’ll have been pretty memorable. Maybe one day a backyard will be back in play.

Also, I am so ready to not be moving anymore. At the very least, I can’t wait to answer people’s “what did you do this weekend?” questions with something other than moving.

THE MARLBOROUGH HOUSE

Here’s a fun update: we bought a condo!!

I honestly thought owning a home in San Diego wouldn’t be feasible with the cost of living and all. But this year’s theme seems to be surprising myself. This house turned out to be the right decision at the right time.

Pics to come eventually, but if you can imagine a room filled with a bunch of snowmen made out of cardboard boxes, that’s sort of what it looks like right now. Instead, enjoy the courtyard and the handmade logo concept I made. Yeah, I’m enough of a branding nerd to give our house a logo, and it’s based on the banana leaves that peek in our windows.

TRAVEL PLANS SET

It’s no secret I love travel, and I’ve had a habit of saying yes to every good flight deal and trying to fit in as many destinations as possible on to one ticket.

These days, I’m trying to be more selective as intentional. I want to prioritize places where I have friends or at least a chance of making new ones through personal connections. I want experiences that don’t just stimulate or entertain me, but that actually teach me something. I’d still want to see how long I can keep my streak of visiting a new country each year. And any excuse to get together with people I don’t see enough of is a good one.

I figured this would be a slower year, starting the year without much on the calendar. Then, after a quiet past six months, I’ve had several opportunities come up. I feel confident about the journeys I’ve said yes to. Look out, Charleston, West Virginia, Dominican Republic, Wyoming, & Colombia!

HIGH WATER LINEUP

My birthday present came a little bit early this year. I’m thrilled and ridiculously grateful. This lineup is packed!

WHEN NOBODY/EVERYBODY WANTS TO HELP

Here’s a little observation I’ve been making about chasing after a creative goal or a big, meaningful project.

There are these seasons where it’ll feel like you’re doing the work all on your own and it’ll be isolating. It’ll feel like other people haven’t bought into your vision the way you’re invested, and that makes it hard to get the results you want. It’ll feel like you don’t have those magical connections everyone else seems to have and it’ll feel like that makes your work ten times harder.

Then there are these other seasons where it seems like helping hands pop up just about everywhere. You find opportunities to collaborate with people in totally different industries but you discover that you simply mesh. Tweets lead to coffee that lead to surprising amounts of open doors.

I’ve been back and forth between these two spaces enough to believe they’re both true in some way. You need to be invested in your vision to such a high degree because nobody will take your mission as seriously as you do. BUT your own enthusiasm can be surprisingly contagious and people will often surprise you with their willingness to help. Don’t let a few creative frustrations alter your view of people- there are a lot of helpers out there!