2018 In Review / Happy 2019!

December 28, 2018

I can’t believe that this is my FOURTH year writing one of these! And I also can’t believe that 2018 is coming to a close… what a freakin’ roller coaster it was. I started the year off strong - felt really confident for a couple months (wrote a 26 page outline for a book I started to write.. reconnected with some old friends), and then lost steam (again). I went on my first creative retreat (in Montana) and it was really expensive (lol). For the months following that, I questioned whether it was “worth it” and tried to digest all of the feedback I had received on my work. Going into it - I think I was already searching for “what was next” in my life / career. I felt like I had hit a wall again - really uncertain just about everything.. I took a leap of faith by applying to the retreat, and when I got accepted - I jumped into it hoping it would give me fresh insight and some direction… but I think I left feeling unsure what to make of it all (although it was a beautiful place to visit).

I spent the second third of this year in pretty much complete (self inflicted) isolation. May thru August, I didn’t hang out with a single person outside of my immediate family. The immediate family I DID see or spend time around - I felt completely withdrawn from. I dreaded being around people of any kind, and was shutting out even my closest friends. I was falling asleep on the couch watching TV shows I didn’t even really like, and generally speaking… lost my desire to get out of bed in the morning. Creatively, I felt really depleted - the desire and motivation just wasn’t there. I spent a lot of time walking miles and miles of beaches by myself (moody, I know 😂). It was a rough few months where I felt really far from being my best self, to say the least…

The final third of this year has been a surprisingly reinvigorating few months. I feel like I’ve found the basis for the thesis project that I wish I had 4.5-5 years ago - the basis for a LIFE’S work (which is a REALLY bold thing to say, I realize) - but I really do feel that way. I started collecting beach trash at the end of August (after walking miles of coastline in the summer… it became impossible to continue to ignore). This then led to organizing / cohosting my first group beach clean up and the launch of some new products for my Etsy shop (beach plastic holiday greeting cards)! I haven’t felt this excited, passionate, and deeply ROOTED about anything I’ve made in well… maybe ever. In 2019, I plan to continue to grow the greeting card line, cohost more beach clean ups, and continue the important conversation about sustainability through my creative work. It’s gonna be a good year - I can feel it! But first, here’s a little recap of 2018:

A Winter Love Letter: 6 Things To Look Forward To

December 21, 2018

Welcome winter! Today is the first *official* day of the coldest season of the four. I feel like most people do not look forward to this season - it’s dreaded by so many. So today - I thought I’d write a short but sweet post offering some fresh perspective - some reasons to LOVE winter. Mostly, I want something positive for myself to refer back to when it’s late stage winter and the holiday magic has long worn off and I’m desperate for it to end and get warmer again (like the rest of you!) 😂I remember last year’s winter feeling particularly long.. I couldn’t wait for it to be over and it felt like it would never end as we kept getting smacked with nor’easter after nor’easter towards the tail end.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the seasons - not just the seasons marked by nature and by the calendar — but seasons of life in general. How seasons come and go, ebb and flow, inevitably changing — and how that has an effect on me and (particularly) my creative process. The natural world is truly wild when you stop and think about! So here are some reasons to love everyone’s seemingly least favorite season:

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My Love / Hate Relationship With Instagram

October 22, 2018

I have been wanting to write this post for quite some time, but it is an overwhelmingly big topic to tackle and unpack. There is so much to say about social media / Instagram that it's hard to know where to even begin?? I’ve actually been working on this post since August! 😂 A couple months ago, I listened to this episode of Jen Gotch's podcast "Jen Gotch Is OK... Sometimes" (if you aren't already a listener of her podcast... I highly recommend). Anyways, this episode focused on social media - specifically addiction to social media (it's a really good listen!) - and it put me in the headspace to finally sit down and start to spew out some of my own thoughts on the subject.

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15 Acts of Self Care That Work For Me

January 29, 2018

Self care is such a hot topic right now... EVERYONE is talking about it! Or rather... who isn't talking about it?! Last year, I really focused on getting back on the self care wagon. I think I had been struggling to get back on since finishing college in 2014, as sad as that is. For most of my life, I've put school / career first.. but as the years go by, I'm finding that prioritizing that above all else really doesn't work and may not be the best for me personally. tbh, is it really the best for anyone??! I feel like if you don't make self care a priority... eventually, you will be forced to. And it's a not-so-pretty rude awakening when that time comes.

I by no means have "mastered" self care. I work hard at checking in with myself regularly to "see how I'm doing" and make adjustments accordingly, lol -- but here are 15 things that I've found work well for me:

Pizza Grease Stained Notes From Milton Glaser

January 20, 2018

This week, I've been cleaning out both my physical space(s) and my digital space(s). It is quite a task, but one that needs to be done to make room for the new. In one box, I came across a little coverless notebook I scrawled some notes on from a Milton Glaser talk I attended in 2013. At the time, I was in the midst of my senior year at design school. Fall semester was winding down, and finals were looming or already in progress. I dragged my sleep deprived exhausted ass out to Manhattan (from Brooklyn) because I wasn't gonna miss this talk for the world (even though all I could think about was my next nap and the golden beacon that was *wInTeR bReAk*).

Now if you have no idea who Milton Glaser is... welp, IDK what to tell you. LOL. He is a graphic design legend... and that is an understatement. You probably are familiar with the "I Love New York" logo. He made that. As well as a LOT of other iconic stuff. I'm not going to give you the long list - but feel free to check his site out for yourself. Anyways, I got a slice of pizza after the talk and thought it'd be a GREAT idea to put that bagged pizza vertical in my backpack... and the grease dripped all over my notes. I was devastated... but clearly still held onto the notebook because one does not throw out notes from a Milton Glaser talk! I'm surprised it's actually still holding up and that there's no mold?? But thought it might be useful (for myself) and maybe for others as well - if I gave the notes a new life. I read through what I could - and it almost reads like poetry. Here are some of my favorite notations:

My Hopes and Dreams for 26 / 2018!

January 11, 2018

I used to hate that my birthday was in January... just a few short weeks after Christmas and New Year's. It always felt like an overwhelming double whammy of self reflection. But I think I've actually grown to love the fact that my birthday happens this time of year! January birthdays are like an extension of the holidays. And I actually enjoy having that extra time to really think about all the things that I want the next year to be.

Here are some of my hopes and dreams for this year:

2017 In Review / Happy 2018!

January 1, 2018

At the end of each year, I like to link all the year's posts in one place (for archival purposes). I used to title this post "best of ____" but "____ in review" seems more fitting. 2017 was certainly a whirlwind.. and I'm not sure I know anyone who is sad to see it go. It was a hard one for our world on multiple fronts, and for me personally it was a hard one as well. I disappeared a bit from social media at times - and largely disappeared from writing in this space. I did a lot more writing for myself - a lot of offline journaling and self reflection. A lot of self doubt crept in. There was a lot of me asking myself "where is my life going?" / "what's next?" and just general uncertainty that I've been battling since graduating in 2014 three and a half years ago. I think it's taken me nearly 4 years to "recover" from the rigor of art school, LOL. (For those of you who also went to an art school... maybe you can relate). This whole "creating for a living" isn't easy, but I also wouldn't trade it in for the world. As we say goodbye to 2017, I am honestly so excited for all the possibility that 2018 has in store. For the first time in many years (maybe ever?), I genuinely feel like this year can be anything I want it to be.

Anyways (without further ado) - here are the handful of posts (some of which I wrote for myself and then never promoted on social media) that I wrote this year:

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5 Sweet Truths You Can Learn From Building A Gingerbread House

December 29, 2017

Building a gingerbread house from scratch has been on my Christmas bucket list for a few years now. I knew it was always a big time / energy commitment, and I think that's largely why I put it off for so long. I also always felt like it was something that only benefitted me, and so therefore - I didn't prioritize getting it done amongst allllll of the other things on my holiday to do list. But this year, after finishing baking my Christmas cookies FOUR DAYS EARLY (!!) - I decided: challenge accepted! It took me longer than I expected (pretty much a full week affair) - but I think it was worth every second. All those hours spent putting it together.. and with the year winding down - I guess that left my brain to wander down an introspective path quite a bit, haha! Here are 5 sweet (slightly cheesy) truths that I learned from building my first gingerbread house from scratch:

Best of 2016 / Happy 2017!

January 1, 2017

Hey there, stranger - HAPPY 2017! I can't believe it's a brand new year already.

I know it's been awhile since I've said anything in this space, but it feels good to be back today. I went on a little bit of a blog break these last few months (mainly so I could focus get my shop launched), and it was super refreshing.

Real Talk: Why You Need to Go On That Solo Trip RN (And Some Tips On How To Do It)

July 22, 2016

Hello... it's me! *cue Adele*

I know it's been quite awhile since you've heard from me on here, but I am BACK!! (and have so much to tell you!)

For the last couple months, I've been in quite a rut - feeling stuck and unsure what my next move should be. I felt uninspired, and lost my motivation / desire to write and generally create. Although for awhile I did stick to publishing one post a week - that trailed off when I felt I wasn't producing valuable content for you guys anymore. Instead of forcing myself to crank stuff out that I wasn't feeling or beating myself up for going off course, I took the time to acknowledge what my body needed - a damn break. I knew I was at the point of really needing to take a leap of faith of some kind. I took it upon myself to do something I've never done before: take a solo trip. It's been something I've been wanting to do since graduating over 2 years ago, and I finally scraped together enough money (and guts) to do it for myself. And I'm SO glad I did - because the experience was LIFE CHANGING.

AMYVENTURES

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