Solo Day Trip to Seaside Heights

March 31, 2025

This Saturday, we got our first 75 degree sunny day of the year - and the only place I wanted to be was down the shore. I woke up early, gathered my things (camera, water, you know… the essentials 😉) and was on my way as soon as possible to maximize the day’s fun in the sun. Nothing like some good weather to channel that ✨carpe diem✨ energy!

I grew up going to Point Pleasant as a kid, and over the years have visited multiple other points along the New Jersey coastline (Cape May, Asbury Park, Long Branch, Atlantic City, Stone Harbor, Wildwood, and of course my most frequented… Sandy Hook). I’ve also spent time exploring Coney Island, the Rockaways, and a handful of beaches on Long Island. Somehow, I’ve never made it to Seaside Heights, though (until now). It had been on my list, but always got back-burned (and it doesn’t help that they aren’t a dog friendly beach community, either). So when the opportunity presented itself this weekend to go - and go solo (without the dogs) - I took it (even though it’s always so hard to leave them behind). 😅

Reframing a "Mundane Chore" as an Adventure: Visiting a New Grocery Store

March 23, 2025

A couple weeks ago, I stopped by this new Korean supermarket called Kasia on my way home from the shibori food scrap dye workshop I attended. I had seen a post about it on Instagram, and saw that it was only 15 minutes away from where the workshop was being held - so decided to check it out afterwards.

It was huge, and I think I spent over an hour (probably closer to an hour and a half) exploring everything. Right when you walk in, you get to see how they grow their own hydroponic lettuce - which I thought was so cool because I don’t think I’ve ever seen another grocery store do this. They also sell locally grown mushrooms, and I was impressed with how well they labeled their vegan options. Sometimes the experience of being in an unfamiliar grocery store can be overwhelming - so I really appreciated the bright green “vegan” labels they implemented. I feel like most specialty markets don’t do this. I scored a bottle of (vegan) oyster sauce, which I was very excited about!

A Sunny Sunday for the Soul in NYC

March 2, 2025

Lately, I’ve been quietly reviving a regular blogging / writing ritual over on Substack. I feel like I’m finally finding my stride again, and want to bring some of that writing back over here, too. I’ve made a bit of Sunday ritual out of it - where I write the post the morning / day of (while listening to a cozy jazz playlist on Spotify). While the goal is to write every Sunday - sometimes my schedule doesn’t allow for it, and I’m giving myself grace on those days. Last Sunday, for example, I skipped writing because I was in the city.

Anyways, today’s post is all about the fun that was had on that day! It’s probably one of my favorite days in a long time, coming off of a very long and cold winter. If you’ve been following along over on Instagram this week, none of this is new - but it’s everything in one place. 🙂

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Sandy Hook Beach Clean Up

April 16, 2019

It’s been a little while since I’ve popped in here to write anything. March was a whirlwind, and somehow we are already midway through April - how did that happen?! On Saturday I attended the biggest beach clean up (that I’ve ever participated in) at Sandy Hook — one of my favorite NJ shore points. The “Beach Sweeps” event was hosted by Clean Ocean Action and was held at over 60 different locations that day. At Sandy Hook alone, there were approximately 600 volunteers! 😱It was insane, and incredibly inspiring to be a part of.

📸: Surfrider Foundation Jersey Shore — 📸: *Surfrider Foundation Jersey Shore*

Asbury Park Beach Clean Up

February 24, 2019

Yesterday, I joined my first ever larger group beach clean up effort down in Asbury Park (hosted by the Surfrider Foundation’s Jersey Shore chapter). When I first started paying more attention to all the trash and plastic last summer, I remember thinking how I wanted to look into joining a community clean up (in addition to organizing one myself). There’s something so invigorating and rewarding about being a part of something so much bigger than yourself. Truly an inspiring experience - and if you get the chance to be a part of a big clean up in your area - I highly recommend giving it a go! 🙌🏼

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:

Coney Island Beach Clean Up

October 16, 2018

At the end of August, I wrote about my first experience consciously picking up litter on the beach by myself. If you haven’t read that post yet, you can check it out here! Towards the end, I mentioned my interest in joining a future group community clean up or maybe even starting one myself. Two months later, here I am hosting my own! 🙌🏼

The day I picked up straws and bottle caps by myself, I posted this photo to Instagram and received a ton of really nice comments - one of which was from Fiona, a born and raised Coney Island local and fellow creative. She casually suggested starting a clean up crew, and I agreed that we should make it happen!

Beach Clean Up Challenge

August 19, 2018

This summer, I've been heading to the beach every chance I get (no surprise there - haha!) I usually go to hunt for treasures like seashells, sea glass, rocks, etc. - but yesterday at Coney Island I decided to switch from beach combing mode to beach clean up mode. While I'm beach combing, I'm pretty selective about what I pick up... but when I'm in clean up mode I want to pick up EVERYTHING in sight. The two modes are pretty different in that way, but strangely enough I think there is beauty to be found in both processes. Although it isn't the same feeling of excitement per say as finding a giant finished piece of sea glass or a large whole empty conch shell... it was really cool to find that one unique teal bottle cap (in the photo above) and a sole purple straw in a sea of more common colors (clear, red, green, orange). As gross and horrifying of a task as clean ups are - there is nothing that compares to the feeling of knowing that you are leaving a place better than you found it.

Montana

April 10, 2018

At the end of last month, I had the opportunity to visit Montana for Collective Quarterly's 2018 Portfolio Showcase. It was SO beautiful up there and I miss it terribly already. The showcase was my first ever creative retreat, and I'm glad I applied for it. It was kinda scary (terrifying) because it was my first time putting my work out there for direct judgement / criticism in a formal setting since graduating from college a few years ago. The environment reminded me a lot of being back in school -- having "teachers" (industry professionals) look at my work and give feedback, attending lectures and panel discussions (and taking notes, lol), eating meals together, and "living" just down the hall or the next building over from other peers for a few days. As intimidating as it was, I'm so glad I took the leap of faith to be a part of it!

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