(pronounced hue-gee)
IN MY DEFENSE--I have started at least 12 different blog posts since my first 2 weeks with Toti (lmao), but either I felt I had too much, or not enough to say. At this point, the blog only knows of Iti's military conquests and love interests, so it was a nice clean slate to change up the vibe.
In an incredibly brief backtrack:
I stayed at Toti as long as legally allowed (with the exception of going home for Christmas--a treat I had not expected) and realized 1)how much I had to learn in regards to riding, 2)how big of a difference a cup of coffee & slice of sourdough bread can make in a morning, and 3)how to truly talk with my spirit. I'll throw some photos & notes app ramblings below of that journey. I can't say I've ever been able to reach such a 'still' place in my spirit, and I'll forever be grateful despite how short it all ended up being.
Here is a beautiful photo album of all of the best moments with Toti & Crew over the winter. I truly won't ever be able to express to them how thankful I am for the experience of living with them & how much they changed my life without even knowing it. I know that was a grammatical nightmare but roll with it plz.
MOVING ON.
March-April I waited dutifully at my parents home, yet again, to hear whether I'd be leasing in Charleston or booking a flight back to Icelandia. As you can tell my the title and overall written direction of this post--lease in CHS it was. Those private few months were spent between books, more grad shoots than I can count, and lots of exercise. What else to do though.
May I moved into my 2-month sublet on Huger St, and that's where this story really starts to pick up--
Talk about the biggest and prettiest downtown room ever, because 380 Huger St was the type of apartment everyone moving to CHS dreams of having. (minus the roaches.). Wood floors, 12ft ceilings, 6ft windows facing west, enough room in the kitchen for an entire family of 6. The list could truly go on and on. The real kicker though--was the PORCH. One thing about someone from the south, we loveeeee a solid porch setup. Wrap around, slightly elevated, coastal breeze situated--the porch is THE place, and boy oh boy did I hibernate on ours. Morning oatmeal, post-boxing smoothies, baby js, Spotify curating, Renzo peeping, and just staring up at the clouds wondering where I'd be next. That porch held the shallowest and the deepest of internal conversations, as well as some funny game nights and cozy rainy coffee sessions. Thunderstorms were particularly heavenly--watching the wind crash through the camellia trees and the patrons of Renzo scurrying into the warm lit corner space. I could sit and breathe for hours. While I won't be going back to 380 (in an effort to learn my lesson of letting go where I try to pretend its a lesson in patience), I will carry with me the meditations of the best porch known to womankind.
With Josi being right around the corner I found myself scampering to Larnes St quite often for the daily walk, speedy wifi, and occasional smoke night. Nothing compares to J nights with Josi, and I could say it changed the entire smoking game for me. I should preface by saying neither Josi nor I smoke often, and Josi does not drink at all (and I have pretty much quit as well), so on the evenings we decide to indulge it's truly the best of times. Movies, munchies, and laughs--we get them all. I usually don't enjoy social smoking, but Josi makes it one of the best times. For the month of June she had chocolate chip pancakes in her freezer that we broke into every single time we indulged, and to this day I still dream about how yummy they were.
In regards to spicy tea, because this blog was started as a tea report spot after all, I don't have much at all. In between (literally) hanging on the chin-up bar in Hampton Park, foraging ("stealing" as Josi likes to say) for flowers and edible plants around the neighborhood, boxing (woohoo), and work (! Berkeley's!) I did only as much schenanigan dabbling as I could. Part of me really just loves being distracted what can I say. Being completely real though, I'm just thankful to have some of them be real buddies at the end of the day, because if we're being super honest everyone knows my heart & hand in marriage belongs to Elisa and we will live out our little wonderful life together. Tea is always just tea, and Charleston has plenty to go around. But none the less, I will not deny the people (hi Iti) from what they want. So--Honorable mentions of the summer are as follows (fully nicknamed in true girlie fashion):
1) Refugee Man -- did my social duty to provide hospitality to our immigrants but I did scamper quicker than a turtle from the nest after. I really need to practice being clingier but it was the "you're going already?" for me. Of course I am.
2) Wide Eyes -- never hung out, but he didn't blink in any of his (many. many.) snapchat video speeches and quite honestly that freaked me out. No, I'm not coming to dinner to watch football with you because my competitive spirit will try to beat you in a no-blinking contest and then we'll just be two pairs of googly eyes having no conversations. That's just foul.
3) Graffiti Maniti -- HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH. You know those 360* viewing options on clothing websites where you can move around the model and see the piece from different angles? Yeah he's basically sent me that of his
4) Museum Man-- I don't have time for this one BUT considering I told Fanney & Thorgunnur that my next mark would be a museum, turtle-neck wearing person, I'd like life points for sticking with the vision because that's extremely rare for me.
But again as we all know, tea remains tea, and it's gone once the kettle is cold.
Now to the reader other than Iti (just in case that even exists), don't think too shallowly of me! I just get a bit bored doing my silly little routine of work, exercise, and ponder, and you can hardly call me a scoundrel when you consider the characters engaging in the tea. I promise they don't give two fucks about me at all--they were just in there for the plot.
Here's a tiny gallery of me being a whore photographically. please skip if you know my mother.
In early June we travelled to my mother's hailing grounds of Chapel Hill, NC for the wedding of my cousin Will. Mary traveled separately (which makes a lot of sense), and I drove Grant, Ethan, and myself there, and then all the way back. On the way I played Harper for the entire 6 hour trip (I was on a adhd fixation idk) and Ethan passenger princessed the entire way, and then I wore a superrrrr green fit for the rehearsal dinner at a DRESSAGE BARN. Of course I spent the time I should have been socializing with humans, socializing with the youngsters, but it was a cutie time. The actual wedding was beautiful--grant and I danced the entire time and then drove home on no sleep the next day in true disheveled fashion.
Last, but certainly not least, photo girl summer has been CRAZY good! The best part about moving back to CHS is I have an entirely new friend group that all are excited to model for photos. I really think I've hit some big creative and visual benchmarks, and I'm excited to keep the momentum and see where it can go!
