Hi! It's (finally) very hot here. My car and my bike are both in the shop. I’ve been walking everywhere for the last two weeks and beta testing our newest Backpack. I’ve been working insanely long hours for sixty three straight days. In tandem with trying to get this new space fully operational, I’ve also designed a bunch of new things, am taking pre-orders on the new backpack, am working on several large projects in the background and am filled with happiness when friends have dinner parties on the studio roof with me, reminding me how important breaks from working are. I still do not have the storefront open but, I (finally) took one whole day off to hang with my friends, who drove across the entire country to pull me away from my overwhelming work load. We sat on the beach, cooked in my kitchen, ate pastries, discussed the merits of raised glazed vs cake donuts (one is better), we grilled on the rooftop, put sketchbooks and binoculars in a Wayfinder in Fruitsnack and hoped we'd see whales. I learned how to play Euchre and all five of us slept in my tiny 413 sq/ft apartment. It was the highlight of the last few months. I’ve been missing my friends these days.
Moving to a new place is often full of a series of starts and stops as you get to know people and communities, learn who you can trust, who makes you smile, find systems that work with your lifestyle and search out which grocery store has the cheapest blueberries.
I’m listening to Mac Miller's, Love Lost on repeat, my iced coffee is sweating through my thickest coffee mug, I rephotographed the entire collection ten days ago with Charlotte who flew in from Denver and I hired Maia, a new assistant, to work alongside me on a 12 hour shoot day - all very good life decisions made in recent weeks, also ranking as highlight moments from the last few months. I’ve spent all the days since editing every photo, rebuilding the website and shipping out orders, except for Tuesday, when those favorite people mentioned above came thru to hug me and remind me that communities and chosen families are built over time and raising kids and businesses and personalities and careers and lifestyles create arcs of relationship that have a lasting impact on the way we move through the world.
Being the new person in a place can leave gaps in how you are understood and how you understand others, but also sometimes leads to the kind of magic that you can’t get if you stay in one place too long so, forward always. But bring the important significant positive history parts with you because they are very grounding when you are taking on a lifestyle of so much change as you build that pathway. Also, go swimming when it’s really hot, even if the water is really cold.
The new website is up and I’m really proud of it. I hope you like it as much as I do!
All through the weekend I edited so many photos my eyes turned into 😵💫 and my elbows were bruised from too much desk work and then I took a break and walked right out of my studio door and danced with a bunch of college kids to Manila Killa just before Diplo played on a huge stage on the street by my shop and I didn’t feel weird about it because Diplo and I are basically the same age and it was my birthday.
What a life y’all. Forward always. Even when it gets overwhelmingly challenging, because enduring those hill climbs almost always leads to equally as fulfilling teeth smiles.
We’re almost there.
Meet you at the top,
Wendy✌️🌞🧜♀️😁
p/s/ We're having a sale!
Use the code: SUMMERSHIP for 15% off orders over $100 because we need to test out our new shipping systems and this will help us do that. And if it all works as planned, I'll (finally) be able to take an official vacation. How exciting!!
