Unedited, #001: Life As Of Late & What's In My Stack

Coffee talk and chit chat re: recent stories and ideas worth sharing.

Hi, friends — it’s been a minute.

I don’t know if anyone else shares a sigh of relief when summer nears its end, but as the first day of September arrives, I feel myself coming to life and fully into my senses again. This happens to me every year, and I usually end up writing about it. There’s just something about the arrival of (pre) fall that centers me into focus with freshness and vigor as we enter the last quarter (and my favorite time) of year.

Hello from my thrifted WFH desk and chair! (It is not anything CLOSE to sweater weather here in San Antonio…but a girl can attempt to summon a cool breeze, can’t she? *brb, manifesting autumn’s arrival*)

Life As Of Late

It’s been several months since I’ve written here, but there has been a lot going on. We bought a home in San Antonio and moved in at the start of summer, took a family vacation (well, a trip*, because we have a toddler) in July, and I adventured solo for work (this was really my vacation) to New York in August to direct a content production for Music at Co-Cath, a performing arts organization in Brooklyn that I recently started consulting with as a creative director / brand editor for their marketing efforts.

There were a zillion details in between, both highs and lows, that I’ll omit for the sake of resisting my innate instinct to overshare (I can hear my husband sighing with relief as he reads this sentence—he has always saved me from myself 😂) but suffice it to say, the summer was by no means slow or restful (what is rest anyway? I’m a mom now), but I look forward to upcoming relief from the heat and additional projects on our Morrison Creative slate this fall.

Something I am noticing the more I progress in my creative and professional journey is that, as time passes, I feel more and more inspired by discovering, curating and amplifying the work of others rather than hyper-focusing on creating my own art in solitude. I feel called to leadership and collaboration in this chapter of growth, and I feel my voice beginning to strengthen again as I observe the world around me and work to sharpen my instincts as an editor—connecting research dots and distilling the essence of cultural messages into universal stories, more than specializing in writing pieces myself, if that makes sense.

I’ve been quietly working on a deeply personal and meaningful project for the past several months that will likely launch at the beginning of 2025. I’m one of three founders of this storytelling platform, but I will assume the chief editor role. I can’t share much more about it yet, but after several years of feeling like I’ve been floating between projects that, while extremely valuable for learning and growth, were not quite in my zone of truth and power, I feel that with each passing week as we work to lift this new platform off the ground, my storytelling style will finally have a home again, and my love of championing the talents and skills of others will be front and center with this work. I can’t wait.

Because of this new project, I’ve gained clarity on what my personal substack will be: unedited. I have learned from past experience as an editor that I still need a space of my own where I can express my inner monologue and be a little less polished, a little more stream-of-consciousness, and a lot conversational.

Meme thread credit

I hope for these dispatches to be frequent, blog-like letters that feel like reading an email from a friend rather than an editorial article. Though sometimes I still might write those, who knows. But I want to share the things I love and am inspired by in the moment. Things I’m learning and observing in my work travels and creative adventures — the ‘behind-the-curtain’ curation of what fuels my “life is art” mantra and what the sometimes messy process of building that world and career really looks like.

It’s what I used to blog about in the early days, but what I don’t share as much of anymore. *By the way, if you’ve made it this far already, you must either be an OG subscriber or a very good friend, because I am really rambling at this point…feel free throw tomatoes at me from the rafters and unsubscribe if you think this is all too much. It won’t hurt my feelings (it will-jk, but I’ve really been working on strengthening this muscle lately, so…I am what I am! Take it or leave it!)

What's In My Stack

My new tote bag from The Met that I carry with me everywhere - for the sake of this story, imagine the (sub)stacks I’m about to recommend you are carried around in here IRL (because of my nostalgia for print mags - yes, I still read printed newspaper and books)

I figured, as part of this unedited letter, I would share a list of curated thought leaders worth following whose substacks I’m devouring these days, and whose ideas have influenced my work and elevated my state of being. If you’re into this sort of thing, subscribe and support these independent creators.

1. A TINY APT by

   Christene Barberich

   If you know me IRL or follow along on social media, you know that one of the things I talk about with great passion is my personal thrill of hunting upcycled and thrifted decor and fashion for my home and wardrobe. Christine (founding editor of Refinery29) is the queen of this and she is building such a wonderful personal newsletter rooted in a philosophy that oozes “life is art”. A must-read:

   On Being Your Own Center

2. JENNY SAIS QUOIS by

   Jenny Walton
   
   I’ve been following Jenny for years and I’m sure many of you have too. She recently landed a column in Vogue sharing her expertise and POV on vintage dressing— she’s an icon in her own right, and watching her new life unfold as an artist and tastemaker in Milan is ever-inspiring. A must-read:

   10,000 Hours of Style

3. In, Out and Around by

   Jessica Thompson

   Jess is a friend of mine — from San Antonio originally, now living in LA, working all around the world as a creative director for brands. I’ll never forget the first night I met her at an event at Hotel Emma when it first opened several years ago. She was the most fashionably risky person I had ever seen here, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her — so I walked up to introduce myself and I’ve been captivated by her global woman of mystery persona ever since. If you want to learn how to take more risks with your wardrobe and be more inventive, imaginative, and artistically provocative with dressing, she is it. A must-read:

   The New Oriental Style

4. Fashionably Late Takes by

   Megan Gafford

   Megan happens to be married to my cousin, so I suppose that makes her my cousin in-law. She is brilliant (I am not using this word lightly), and her pieces are a welcome academic diversion from my usual fahsion/lifestyle content, because I learn so much from and am challenged by each one. I don’t know how she writes this publication AND illustrates it, all while caring for a toddler and an infant in her apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. A true woman with conviction. A must-read:

   The Religious Instinct in a Godless World

I had a third section planned for this letter, but I’m nearing my length limit, so it will have to wait until the next dispatch. I’ve always been a woman of too many words—sigh. To be continued. 😉

Thanks for reading! Here’s the outfit I was wearing when I first started writing this - felt cute, then my son projectile vomited all over it later (had already taken the sweater off by then, no precious articles of clothing perished in the incident). Parenting…really keeps you humble.