I found My Senior Track & Field Photo 2006 again, and it hit me the way old places do—quietly at first, then all at once.
In the picture I’m standing at the edge of the track in a school singlet, the infield behind me and the day stretched out like it had nowhere else to be. It’s a simple moment: a posed smile, tired arms, the kind of spring air you can almost feel through the pixels. But the longer I look, the more I can hear it—the distant voices, the hollow announcement over a speaker, the steady rhythm of footsteps that always seemed to be coming from somewhere.
What I remember most about that season isn’t one race or one finish line. It’s the repetition that shaped everything: showing up, warming up, doing the work, and going home a little more worn-in than before. Back then, time felt endless, like laps you could keep adding without consequence. Now it feels more like a loop you return to, surprised by what’s still waiting there.
A photo like this isn’t just proof that it happened. It’s a small artifact of a version of life that kept moving forward without knowing it was already becoming memory.
| A great night out dance to DJs playing the best clubbers of 2007.A Blog Haus Night at Baby’s All Right featuring Alex English, Viking, Flying Horse, Jake B. and more! ~ I had a blast and it was fun to dress up like I did a few years ago. The hangover the next morning was no joke though! HAHA Apologies on the nip-slip. I also thought I should go with surprised face this night… oh silly me.
It is a strange thing when a spur of the moment idea turns into something more. I never intended to make such a production out of making infused water at work, but I no doubt went a bit too far and pushed the idea over the edge into a full-blown activity.
I was in the midst of closing out a credit card and started browsing the rewards portal to spend the last of my points. The rewards portal was never too exciting (one of the reasons I paid off the card), often filled with gimmicky suburban delights like Blade BluRay discs and shake weights. I decided to default to kitchen gadgets when I came across a Yorkshire Glassware Dispenser and Mason Jar Mugs. It was done all too quickly; the glassware was purchased and shipped to my desk at Club Monaco Corporate Offices.
I thought to myself, “I’m going to cut coffee and drink water, that way I will save money and be healthy.”
Day One the dispenser was filled with cucumbers and water. Ten minutes into positioning it next to my desk it was instantly dubbed “Spa Water” by my coworkers, Hannah and Robin. From there a contribution list was started, a cute towel was set down to catch condensation, and the rest is history.
ThymeMandrin OrangesCucumbers
It Takes a Team
If I am the Spirit, Hannah (@hlbiddle) and Robin (@turningpaiges) are the Goddesses of Spa Water. These two are a delight on a normal day, but they have definitely made this an enjoyable activity.
After offering the water to the rest of the eCommerce team at Club Monaco, it was proclaimed a good “moral booster,” but really it just makes me feel like a summer’s breeze ~ relaxed.
Both Hannah and Robin have been very helpful at keeping the contribution list on track, cutting/displaying the fruits & veggies, and keeping the flavors fresh.
Top 10 Infused Water Flavors
Cucumber + Mandarin Orange + Thyme
Tangelo + Lime + Lemon + Grapefruit
Black Raspberry + Lime
Pineapple + Granny Smith Apples + Basil
Ginger + Pear + Grape
Blood Orange + Mango + Kiwi
Grapefruit + Strawberry
Strawberry + Lemon + Mint
Watermelon + Cantaloupe + Honeydew
Classic Cucumber
The Spirit and the Goddesses are always looking for more Spa Water flavor ideas. Please contact me with your suggestions or comment below with them! Keep it fresh everyone!
Some photos hold still the way an old house does—quietly, without asking, until you look back and hear everything again.
This one is from 2008: my little brother, Jared, ready for his senior prom, and me beside him. He’s dressed like the night has somewhere important to go, boutonniere pinned in place, posture straight, smile easy. I’m there in my own version of “formal,” leaning into the moment with that half-serious confidence you only get when you’re young and standing next to someone you’ve known forever.
I can almost feel the air around it: the last-minute checks, the camera coming out, the small pause before the door opens and the evening begins. Prom is supposed to be about the date, the dance, the story you tell later. But what I remember most is this—siblings sharing a frame, the ordinary background of home, and the strange brightness of watching someone you love step into the next part of their life.
Time has a way of changing the colors, softening the edges, and making the simple things feel bigger. A prom suit. A porch. A brother growing up. A snapshot that keeps it all from drifting too far away.
There’s a particular quiet that settles in on a day off—like the apartment is holding its breath for a second before the city starts nudging at the windows. I caught it in the simplest way: a quick selfie, bare shoulders, soft light, and that half-smile you wear when you’re not performing for anyone.
Behind me, the ordinary details do what they always do: a small table, the edge of a bed, a hallway opening into the rest of the place. Nothing dramatic, nothing staged. Just the familiar geometry of home, the kind that becomes a backdrop to your weeks without you noticing.
I like that Fridays can feel like a threshold. One world is still humming—deadlines, commutes, the relentless tug of plans. Another world is waiting right beside it—slower, more private, made of coffee, errands taken at a human pace, and the rare luxury of doing nothing for a few minutes.
So here’s to the small pause. To the moment you look up and realize you’re already inside the weekend, even if only by an inch. Today doesn’t need much. It just needs to be lived.
The Armory Show 2016 ~ the opulence pursuit of an artistic income wrapped in Afrocentric marketing and the allure of a selfie driven experience.
The Armory Green Wall + Alexandra KehayoglouAlba and work by Mika Tajimaby Ross Blechner & Kay Hassan4 bells and mirrors
The Armory Show 2016 Overview
After contemplating, attempting, and never successfully attending, I was finally able to experience The Armory Show, courtesy of Aesop and a contest I won. The experience was pretty overwhelming, and if not for my friend, Alba, it would not have been as fun.
Luckily, we had a pre-purchased ticket and were able to walk directly into Pier 94 and skip the line of 200 people waiting to purchase a ticket. I have attended other events at Pier 94, but this was by far the best setup I have seen. We started by checking our coats (it was warm, this was a must) and having a glass of bubbly at the Pommery Champagne Bar. We worked the show clockwise, which was a pretty solid plan, and about an hour in we stopped at the Mile End Deli for a lunch break.
Eventually, we arrived at the African Perspectives Focus, which sadly, was barely a blip on the radar in relation to the whole show. The most notable and striking Afrocentric mentions were the paintings by Kehinde Wiley sprinkled throughout the building. The Modern section featured sketches by Picasso for sale, and by my internal tally, the average price of work throughout the show was about 250k. All said and done, we took 4-5 selfies (+ derecognized), spent the price of tickets in food, took 3 hours to get through the entire show, and left with a line of 2000 people waiting to get in around 3pm.
People of the Armory Show
As you would expect in this type of event, there was the normal mix of :
old school New Yorkers, strange and pleasant
art students with strange colored hair and dingy appearance
industry professionals dressed in their skinniest black
your favorite middle-aged upstate New York couples
I have to say my favorite group was the upstate crowd, all with the appearance of Michael Douglas and a trophy wife looking like Andie MacDowell. I have also never seen so much leather apparel at an art event—it was like at rodeo robbed of the horses and color.
Behind the Scenes
A saving grace from all the over-production and sticker shock was a beautiful view of the piers and upper west side Manhattan.
