p@lo @lto
the magical moment when you drive out of the

city fog and SUNSHINE permeates your world.

my new goal is to make things whenever i can.

starbucks, i don't need you anymore,

i made my own drink using this + organic milk + sugar

p e s c a d e r o
s t a t e    b e a c h

 i love spending my days off at misty beach
shorelines that go on for miles and miles.

 I took a daytrip down to santa cruz & played with
crab legs at a beautiful beach off highway 1.

then, i alternated between listening to
static and horribly redundant radio music
while cruising up the coast back to the city.

100% banana slug
an alumni amongst the redwoods

my secret star strikes again!

she (Camille) is wonderful,

talented and magically creative.

my room is now filled with little cardboard

houses, paper lilies, rainbow candles & a little

astronaut man gliding through the solar system

"i had a lot of fun at your storytime,

you're really good at this. thank you."

-what a mom said to me today after my

storytime program for ~35 people

^___________^
thank YOU.

i wasn't planning on it, but i ended up teaching a 5 year old all about Communism in the art studio.

he was really interested in pennies and fairness,

and started asking super relevant + hypothetical
questions, which really led me no choice but to educate
him in child-friendly metaphorical language.

today, i opened my locker at work &

these paper lilies burst and overflowed out.

i stood there, shocked.

it was one of the beautiful, surprising

and poetic things i've ever experienced,

like something out of a GG Marquez novel.

thank you my "secret star", whoever you are.

i will always make time to lounge in the sun.

gotta prioritize some things in life :)

a cross country flight and

some strategic planning later,

my sister and i successfully surprised

our mom for her birthday!

i've always wanted to show up at home

unannounced and it finally happened!

a mini 3.5 day vacation back home :)
it's such fun being a tourist in your own hometown!

DIANA VISITS THE BAY
even though i got heat exhaustion/stroke
earlier at work and she was recovering from the flu,

we decided we still needed to go hiking

along the california coast at sunset.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think there was

more sunshine in Seattle than in San Francisco.

That's why days like today are absolute perfection.

I lounged amongst fluttering dragonflies,

watched puppies and kids play,

read my library book and got happier

with each passing moment.

i hadn't planned on eating an entire

pasta entree by myself while a wedding was going on. 

the original plan was just to
sit in a coffee shop and read.

this is happening more and more, but
sometimes, when I look at a kid,

i feel this overwhelming burst in my heart.

i see this smiling wild bundle of energy & untapped

potential and i want to do everything to

nurture the bundle and prevent it from

being trampled on, thrown in a cage

and told they are an animal.

then the song "i can show you the world"
plays in my head and i unleash
paint, glitter, needles,
literacy + numeracy foundations, and some lens for
developing compassionate critical thinking
at them and we dance in the woods with our new tools,
and together, diverge from the System
and set each other free.

#whatifantasizeabout
~
Cathy said I am going to shift the world,
 so let's shift on.

woohoo!

i successfully ran my own toddler program
for the first time today!

thank you parents + babies for acting entertained

by my singing, wiggling & storytelling

and participating in active engagement.

my last minute lesson-planning + improvisation
skills from working with kindergartners
really came in handy; phew.

now i feel like i can do anything
 ~ * ~ * ~ *

breezing across bridges
My commute will never get old.

it's STUNNING every single day.

-sunshine, rain, or fog.

just cruising through sleepy towns

"if you have come to help me

you are wasting your time.

but if you have come because

your liberation is bound up with mine,

then let us work together."

- Lila Watson (Australian aboriginal activist)

^one of my top 3 favorite quotes.