✨🌙 One more..

Ooo baby. Excited to share this one.

I got to create with Lara Kaur, one of my favorite photographers, someone I’ve admired and have gotten to know over the years. We shot this in her backyard the month I was due. I was gifted quiet, a moment of stillness.

The past year was a roller coaster - pregnant, being on the go, seesawing between deep stress to deep relief, from everything’s fine to everything’s changing, making deliberate, at times, difficult moves to make way for a new chapter.

The colors represented life & nature - orange for the sun, blue for water, tan for the earth.

The sun set on us, gliding over me, sealing the moment.

Art captures time, and I’m grateful for this time.

Be sure to check out Lara Kaur. She has such a diverse portfolio and supporting the community in tandem. Learn about her, hire her, work with her. Bless!

• Lara Kaur's Website

• Photographing Oakland: One Portrait at a Time (KQED article)

Lara Kaur x Mallory with the Flowers

Lara Kaur x Beauty Native

Lara Kaur's Community Pop-Ups

✨🌙 Creator Spotlight

Build a space that delights you.

It may be your room, your desk, your body—like what you wear.

And when you find pieces for your space & they come together— you know that feeling—chef's kiss.

Build a space that delights you.

The pieces in my space, I love.

I think about the creators—often creatives of color & youth.

Some pieces have a lot of meaning, some not so serious.

Today’s post is about some of those pieces and their creators on my gallery wall, a project I just completed. Enjoy!

"Untitled"

My abba (dad) took this photo of Lake Chabot on one of the rainiest days that kicked off 2024. He definitely doesn’t consider himself a photographer and took it with his phone, but really who can say, who isn’t or is a creative/an artist these days?

"The Weird Type"

Words by Tre Johnson and illustrated by creative leader, founder of Umber, and someone I’m lucky to call a great friend, Mike Nicholls “Remember this first: if you’re Black in America by the country’s dominant standard you’ve always been weird” https://www.thisisumber.com/

Evolve with Mary

This piece was created by Mary Lawrence, an artist and educator. She uses fire to create art, here with alcohol-based ink. She also uses her work to teach the intersection of art and science. I had the joy of meeting Mary while working at an industrial arts school and her pieces absolutely reflect her spirit and energy. https://evolvewithmarycrafts.com/

"Battleship"

This limited print was created by Kim Jung Gi, a South Korean illustrator. I found him and this piece almost 8 years ago. He’d often share his process to the public and draw pieces in front of live audiences. He sadly passed away suddenly at age 47 a few years ago due to health complications. https://www.cartoonbrew.com/artist-of-the-day/kim-jung-gi-137430.html

"Wonder"

This was shot by mE :) I got excited that Juno was enjoying his first shower and had to take the shot - the light, the brightness, the wonder. I held off on doing something on our wall until it made sense - this photo finally inspired the gallery project.

the finished project! k byeeee

✍🏼 One-month

It's been a little over a month since Juno came into this world.

Jun-ho, we named him in Korean, a protector of women in English. He arrived the morning of a full moon, overdue with some surprises like a dang c-section.

In me, and now here. The funny. The awe.

This last month with him has been no short of shits, many giggles, and a whole lot of existential moments - moments between feeling like I’ve completely changed yet seeing parts of me that haven’t and navigating the mind fucketry of it all against the kisses and cries, both his and mine.

It's also been a little over a week since I turned 37.

Looking ahead and looking back on the many lives I’ve lived (“many lives”- might as well say it with a hand on my chin or maybe a monacle) , I’ve been forced to remember this pesky life lesson that doesn’t come naturally, but is more important than ever.

How I experience life, how I show up for others, how I show up for him will critically depend on how I show up for myself.

So while self-care/self-feel-good may not be at the forefront at all times because that pressure can be stressful too, I wish to find moments to thank myself and honor myself in this upcoming year.

And I hope everyone else does the same.

So, I end this entry with gratitude for this village - a village of family, friends, and, to my humbled surprise, people who aren’t in my day to day who have reached out, checked in, offered acts of service, not only for my family, but for me.

And for those doing it on their own whether it’s parenting or other life challenges, I commend you. If there’s a way I can play a small part in your village, let me know.

Alright, that’s it for now. There’s more I'd like to share - how Juno is growing, about my relationship with Ryan, but I have to stop for the sake of my brain and more for your eyes. Thanks all. Write soon, talk soon, and much love.

✍🏼 Insanity

Helpless, paralyzed, watching live as a community is wiped out with no recourse.

Breathless, useless.

I brace to welcome a child into this world, any minute now,

against images of another split, spilled, every minute now.

Yet, I then sit here, contemplating if I have time to go to Target, when will I set up the stroller.

The privilege, the insanity.

Grave injustices occuring on the daily, across the street, across the world,

and yet we go on with our lives on the daily.

The privilege, the insanity.

I cry. I laugh. I mourn.

I cry. I laugh. I mourn.

I cry. I laugh. I mourn.

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Donate: https://baitulmaal.org/

Write: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-ceasefire-now?source=IG_ceasefire

Additional Resources: https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/ ; https://uscpr.org/

✍🏼 Salt & Pepper shakers

I recently thought about the times..

my brother & I would spend at my parents' pizza shop.

Sometimes, we had to fold pizza boxes - my mortal enemy.

Most the time, we just hung out, passing the time away.

And one of my clearest, most beloved memories surrounded these salt & pepper shakers.

Sometimes, they transformed into battle bots, capable of making all kinds of noises…

the PEW’ING, the CLANKS, as we battled across the tables.

Sometimes, they were chess pieces, maneuvering… positioning…. staging to win.

And, SOMETIMES.. the big boys - the parmesan shakers - would come out.. mainly so we can sprinkle cheese into our pizza crusts.

#FatKidJoys

I’ve been thinking about these times..

And, I can’t help but think about the ways we learn to find joys.. our adaptability.. the simplicity, yet, creativity in it all ..

And, how we make do will always be one of the most beautiful, at-times, saddening yet, always humbling aspects of being human.

So, here’s to remembering…

Here’s to those moments…

Here’s to that child.

[April 2018]

👋🏼Welcome to the Liminal

Hello Hello!

Welcome to the Liminal! I gave my blog a mini-face lift, now we got a title & colors 😀.

So, what is the Liminal?

The Liminal is a space for the in-betweeners, a place for everything & anything ✨ .

It’s a space for the topics or the people that don’t really fit..fit.

Because who’s really just about one thing?

So, that might mean, one minute, I’m sharing a written piece ✍️ to another where I’m spotlighting a person 🙌, to literally me talking about my favorite chip 😋 (I really like chips)

This is also my commitment to myself to have a space for my voice, my joys, and to create for self expression versus solely for the other.

That Mental Health Journey, AM I RIGHT?  

Alright, that's it for today. I’m excited to share this space with you, however short or long this journey may last.