The Last Stretch

For the last stretch towards home, I was pretty sick. It was probably one of those 24 hour bugs but because we were traveling, I wasn't allowing it the 24 hours needed to fully filter through my system. (Sorry friends, if I got any of you sick!) We visited Angelica in Virginia which was heavenly as always. She really is my best friend soul mate and I'm so grateful to have met her. This trip was a little more rushed and I feel sad that we couldn't stay longer, but we did have an amazing evening out while the littles stayed with Angelica's gorgeous mumma. I couldn't even believe Odin stayed with someone that was unfamiliar for such a long time (four hours!). Angelica played the most beautiful songs on Ukulele, so beautiful that I cried. 

Leaving Virginia was hard, but we stayed the night in Maryland with an Instagram friend, Jessy. We've talked about meeting for awhile now and I'm so glad we were finally able to. She's so sweet and has the sweetest little family. Her room is adorned with growing green life and we felt very comfortable immediately upon meeting her and her sweet man, Randy. Thank you so much for having us!

Our last stop before home was visiting a very old friend of mine, Manny, who I miss so much. We have so many memories and I spent much of my college life living at his house making art and drinking champagne with frozen fruit. We would go out dancing every week. 

I'm so grateful for new and old friends alike and am so lucky to have you all in my life. 

Mills River, Pisgah

If I weren't so afraid of the black bear population, we would've taken a much longer walk. North Carolina is so lovely. The Asheville area is one of my favorite places alongside Big Sur and a few other spots in Oregon. We even tried to stay here when I was pregnant and lived in a school bus. We searched for work and a place to live for a little over a month before giving up because of the cold and heading back home where we knew work was plenty. Our friend Sonny found work though and stayed behind, which is great because now we have an excuse to visit! I look forward to visiting Sonny and White Box every winter and now Odin does too.

Heading North, Georgia

Leaving Florida, we went to visit a college friend in Atlanta, Georgia. It's so nice to talk to other artists and share work with them. I gave her some Valentines in exchange for letting us sleep in her cute little house. (Thanks Liz!)

After leaving Atlanta, we stopped by the Georgia Guidestones on our way to visit Sonny in Asheville. It's a roadside attraction that Zak had heard about and was interested in stopping to see. I was really happy to be making little stops to see interesting and beautiful things on our way back home. These were particularly interesting. In eight different living languages (and four dead languages), the slabs of granite (some of the most massive single pieces cut at their time) tell those who can read it how to live in harmony with the Earth and one another. They have holes cut into the stone that align with celestial bodies during the solstices and form a rudimentary calendar. The most interesting thing about this modern day stonehenge is that the folks that paid for its construction belong to a mysterious society with the intention of the bettering of mankind and have to this day remained cloaked in anonymity. They're worth checking out if you're ever in Georgia!

Christmas with Nana and Nana T

This was my first year spending Christmas away from my family. It was much harder than I thought it would be but I managed (through way too many tears) and was able to celebrate with them when I arrived in Florida earlier this month. 

We woke up at my mum's house, everyone had stayed there like we usually do on Christmas Eve. We all had coffee, while Odin and Kira sipped on their hot cocoas. They both received the loveliest gifts and spent the entire morning reading and drawing together before we set out to my Nana's. The festivities at my Nana's are always wild and so much fun. This was much more casual, but just as enjoyable! I miss my family so much, I can't wait for my sisters to visit.