As I reflect on 2024, I can't help but see it as a year of restoration for me. A year of bringing my life back into a state of equilibrium, a place where I feel like myself again. But this version of me is different, stronger, having weathered the monsoon that was my life, exacerbated by COVID, but now it finally feels like a turning point has happened.
It was the first year without my grandfather, Michael, a year of learning to live with the absence while also embracing the beauty of change and new beginnings. I said goodbye to my sanctuary for the past three years and moved into a space that is even more comforting and comes with the most healing love I've ever experienced. I said goodbye to a job that I felt so comfortable at, but had outgrown. Instead embarking on an entirely new opportunity. And while New York City remains my beloved home away from home, this year, I prioritized discovering new horizons.
And when the insecurity sinks in about all my choices, and it does, I think what I reflect on is this: the future is uncertain. No matter what one may try to convince you no one truly knows where their path will lead. We have some control though to do the best we can with what we know at the time and when things get too comfortable and start to feel stagnant, we can embrace change, pack up our closet, and take the road less travelled. To quote Robert Frost, "I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."
This is the first year in a very long time that I have felt less optimistic about the year ahead. It is also the first year an intention or word hasn't come to me. There is still time. There is always time.
Regaining My Center
December 31, 2024
As I reflect on 2024, I can't help but see it as a year of restoration for me. A year of bringing my life back into a state of equilibrium, a place where I feel like myself again. But this version of me is different, stronger, having weathered the monsoon that was my life, exacerbated by COVID, but now it finally feels like a turning point has happened.
It was the first year without my grandfather, Michael, a year of learning to live with the absence while also embracing the beauty of change and new beginnings. I said goodbye to my sanctuary for the past three years and moved into a space that is even more comforting and comes with the most healing love I've ever experienced. I said goodbye to a job that I felt so comfortable at, but had outgrown. Instead embarking on an entirely new opportunity. And while New York City remains my beloved home away from home, this year, I prioritized discovering new horizons.
And when the insecurity sinks in about all my choices, and it does, I think what I reflect on is this: the future is uncertain. No matter what one may try to convince you no one truly knows where their path will lead. We have some control though to do the best we can with what we know at the time and when things get too comfortable and start to feel stagnant, we can embrace change, pack up our closet, and take the road less travelled. To quote Robert Frost, "I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."
This is the first year in a very long time that I have felt less optimistic about the year ahead. It is also the first year an intention or word hasn't come to me. There is still time. There is always time.
As the year draws to a close, I typically reflect on my purchasing habits during the year. This year, however, I want to focus on the clothes I've worn and repaired, starting with this beautiful 1960s or 1970s Junior Aim skirt suit which was reclaimed by my bonus parents and gifted to me.
Unfortunately, when we took these pictures I busted the dress' zipper! So, it was whisked away to the tailor's shop pretty soon after I received it, but this wasn't the only piece I repaired this year.
I repaired not just clothes, but also shoes, vintage watches, my car, and even a wristlet.
What I repaired:
Clothes
•A trench coat I've had since 2011
•A tried and true blue J. Crew dress that I love
•A pink blanket that my grandmother sent that got eaten by the washing machine. I actually had enough punches in my Alyx Jacobs Repair punch card so it was repaired for free!
•My lucky red dress which I continue to bust
Shoes
•Erdem x H&M crocodile patterned leather kitten heels
•I repaired my Arizona Birkenstocks in LFK at Footprints. They needed new footbeds and heels. It was a wonderful repair experience!
•I repaired the heels on my Gucci Brixton loafers
•Shined and replaced the heels on my favorite Chelsea boot
•Sole guards were put on my SJP Carrie Heels
Accessories
•Three vintage watches were repaired (Two needed new batteries and one needed a new movement)
•A Hunter for Target wristlet which I have wanted to use for years was fixed by my tailor!
•A vintage skirt that I busted during a photoshoot
•A yellow silk maxi dress from J. Crew
•My bonus mom Diana hemmed some St. Roche track pants for me, not once, but twice!
Wearing & Repairing
December 22, 2024
As the year draws to a close, I typically reflect on my purchasing habits during the year. This year, however, I want to focus on the clothes I've worn and repaired, starting with this beautiful 1960s or 1970s Junior Aim skirt suit which was reclaimed by my bonus parents and gifted to me.
Unfortunately, when we took these pictures I busted the dress' zipper! So, it was whisked away to the tailor's shop pretty soon after I received it, but this wasn't the only piece I repaired this year.
I repaired not just clothes, but also shoes, vintage watches, my car, and even a wristlet.
What I repaired:
Clothes
•A trench coat I've had since 2011
•A tried and true blue J. Crew dress that I love
•A pink blanket that my grandmother sent that got eaten by the washing machine. I actually had enough punches in my Alyx Jacobs Repair punch card so it was repaired for free!
•My lucky red dress which I continue to bust
Shoes
•Erdem x H&M crocodile patterned leather kitten heels
•I repaired my Arizona Birkenstocks in LFK at Footprints. They needed new footbeds and heels. It was a wonderful repair experience!
•I repaired the heels on my Gucci Brixton loafers
•Shined and replaced the heels on my favorite Chelsea boot
•Sole guards were put on my SJP Carrie Heels
Accessories
•Three vintage watches were repaired (Two needed new batteries and one needed a new movement)
•A Hunter for Target wristlet which I have wanted to use for years was fixed by my tailor!
•A vintage skirt that I busted during a photoshoot
•A yellow silk maxi dress from J. Crew
•My bonus mom Diana hemmed some St. Roche track pants for me, not once, but twice!
