gracemolteniisnothome

[gracemolteniisnothome]

A Year of Quiet, aka Lessons in Isolation

First and foremost, I want to emphasis staying informed, and taking your health and the health of others seriously. Period.

I have the luxury of working in the news (which, admittedly, can get exhausting), and a science reporter as my sibling, who has been on the coronavirus beat for over 2 months. I trust her and her concerns. I am also lucky to have a handful of friends who work on infectious disease research and response for the CDC—I trust them and their concerns. That access to information doesn’t raise my anxiety so much as make me feel informed and prepared. However, I fully recognize how dire and scary this all feels. Frankly, it feels that way because the reach and reality of this pandemic is indeed scary. 

My office moved quickly last week to setting us up to work from home, and for that I am deeply grateful. I spent most of the weekend indoors, save a few runs and some fresh air, and a quick stop at my local cafe for coffee-to go (support your neighbors and tip well, y’all.) As Americans, it’s been a while since social solidarity was asked, let alone required of us. I can’t remember a moment in my lifetime that felt as dire in regards to personal responsibility.But, we can find a new normal in balancing being isolated and practicing social distancing, while also staying sane and staving off the stir crazy. I think it is possible to be diligent about self-isolating, and vigilant in our social distancing, and still find ways to connect, to support, to find joy, even if that means remotely. 

Strangely, I feel more prepared for self-isolation than I ever have in my life, and I realized this weekend that my year of quiet in rural Japan taught me a lot about how to manage limited social contact and a uniquely singular life. I figured there’s no time like a pandemic to share a few things that kept me sane: 

Remember that internet is the friend of the curious and the enemy of the anxious. 

What a time to be alive! There is more access to real time information than ever before. This is gift, and at times, a trap. Know when to unplug, and definitely know when to stop checking Twitter. Delete some apps off of your phone (Instagram, Facebook, Hinge, etc) for the weekend and enjoy reclaiming some of your mental space. (Plus coronavirus-inspired pick-up lines are eye-roll worthy at best.) When I would find myself deep into Instagram scrolls with no end in sight, that was usually time to delete the app for a week or so to break the habit. 

Set your expectations.

Consider this a marathon, and not a sprint, and adjust your mindset accordingly. We should be thinking of this in months, not weeks. It’s helpful to consider this in the long haul and not just a temporary inconvenience. 

Go for walks, long ones when time allows, particularly if you can avoid crowded areas. 

I usually ended my day with a sunset walk through the rice fields near my apartment and it was a regular time to reset and get some fresh air that now I often miss. I certainly take for granted how nice a short stint in the sun can be. Don’t forget to look up at the sky or take some picture of flowers if it pleases you. Send them to friends who are self-isolating in colder climates (looking at you, Chicago.) 

Create some structure

Outside of being able to live abroad, my teaching schedule allowed me to reclaim many of my daylight hours (something I had little of in my previous job.) I don’t consider myself a particularly disciplined person, but I wanted to make the most of this time. An easy thing I tried to adhere to was doing 3 things every day: something creative, something educational, and something active. The categories were purposefully broad – physical, for example, could be anything from a run to stretching while watching Netflix – and it helped to have daily, achievable goals.

But also, allow yourself some rest

WFH and self isolation are certainly not the same thing as a vacation. However, especially with the world feeling like it’s ending, it’s ok to not need to be productive (after remote-office hours, of course.) Lean into binging tv shows, taking long baths or reading books, diving back into the world of Sims. It’s ok to seek out comfort right now, because… 

Isolation can be painful! 

Loneliness is real. And if you’re the kind of person who needs to share physical space with people, this adjustment may be particularly uncomfortable. But it doesn’t last forever, and in 2020 there are so many ways to stay connect and close to the folks you care about. On that note…

If you’re feeling panicky, anxious, stressed - talk about it! 

Reach out to people you trust and share where you’re at. If you need support, now is as good a time as any to ask for it. For alternatives, consider starting a journal, recording voice memos, making videos, if only for yourself, to talk through those thoughts and stop them from occupying precious brain space. Speaking of videos… 

Send your friends dance videos, or schedule a GoogleHang and have solo dance parties, together.

When I lived in Japan there were some nights that my beloved apartment felt not just sparse, but empty; in those times that I felt particularly distanced from my friends and life back in the US, I started sending these dance videos to select folks on Instagram. It was silly (still is tbh) and yet very much helped to keep me sane and connected to people I love. Dancing around my apartment was a good way to save me from my melancholy self, and now is kind of a necessity during quarantine times, to shake off some of that excess energy and loosen up some of the stir crazy. Another great option is tuning into groups like Dance Church, who have taken their weekly gathering online and available for streaming.

On the topic of GoogleHangouts…

Throw some on your calendar! Make it weekly, make it daily, make them random. I am convinced that my Groupchat of high school pals played a large part in me tolerating the weight of isolation as a foreigner; WhatsApp with and Instagram messenger acted as lifelines when it came to feeling connection with my people back home.

Not sure where to start? Host a quarantine happy hour where everyone calls in at the same time with their beverage of choice! Start a Netflix viewing party! Make a free account on Tabletopia and play board games against your friends remotely! Start an online bookclub! If you’re musically inclined, go live on Instagram and let folks tune in!  It’s no stand-in for IRL social time, but I can say after moving around a number of times, it’s actually pretty incredible how many ways there are to hangout from afar. 

Revisit your internal project list. 

What is something you haven’t been able to get to in your regular life because of daily commitments like work? Reading the stack of books by your bed? Baking the best bread humanly possible? Learning another language? Having a project (or 5) to chip away at during my time abroad helped me to feel productive and take pride in accomplishing something. There’s so many great online (often free) resources for learning new things. I like to rely on Skillshare for prompts, but recently have purchased a few classes through Moment to learn more about mobile filmmaking. That being said, I’d also be careful not to fall into the trap of turning everything into work. Don’t put more pressure on yourself than needed right now. If there’s room to chip away at personal projects, be they anything from self portraits or cross-stitch, take the time to find some pleasure in creating. Oh yeah, and do update your damn website (me, to me.) 

An additional list of thoughts in no particular order: 

Make a collaborative playlists

Check in on your freelance friends (help them out financially if and when you can, promote their work, buy their merch, shoot them a Venmo, a PayPal, a CashApp.) 

Deep clean your place! 

Consume podcasts like it’s your job.  

Finally clear the open tabs on your browser window (wishful thinking) 

Do your taxes! Annoying, but hey, if you’ve got the time.  

StoryCorps! If you’re already cooped up with folks - family or roommates or partners– take the time to get to know them in a way you usually don’t 

Send snail mail! 

Participate in Instagram challenges or prompts 

I’m a fan of #DrawThisInYourStyle for illustration projects, but I really like @rockthatmuseumgirl’s idea of posting art we’ve seen and tagging them #throwbackmuseum since so many art institutions and public spaces are closed right now. 

On a community note…

Donate to food banks! Blood banks! Buy local gift cards to use later or see if your favorite spots are doing pickup or to-go options! Support your neighborhood any way you can, while staying safe, and more than anything, be kind. As a wise art director reminded us on Instagram this week: “everyone is fighting their own battles. be mindful & grateful for what you have”

Ok, enough rambling from me. Till next time, y’all

[gracemolteniisnothome]

Anywhere is better than nowhere.

I didn’t expect it would take me so long to write again. 

And not just about Japan, but about anything.

The margins of my sketchbook at work are filled little thoughts, and the Notes app on my phone is a graveyard of ideas, and yet this blog has sat dormant since before I left Kyushu. It’s been on my mind for the better part of a year to save myself time to write, to process. But life, as it does, kept charging forward, and I with it. I can be so good at moving sometimes that I forget to leave myself reasons to look back, to dive into those memories, and later it often leaves me feeling like I’ve left something behind. 

I spent 2020 New Years in Philadelphia with two of my best friends, one whom I had flown in to (successfully) surprise with my presence. I booked my trip with no plan other than to be with some of the people who mean the most to me and I was not disappointed. I have often claimed that “if you’re with the right people, you can have fun anywhere, even a landfill!” And while Philly is far from that, my trip there confirmed for me the undeniable power that is time spent with the people you love. We spent most of the evening sitting around, all dolled up, sipping whiskey, writing our resolutions, and line dancing to Smooth by Rob Thomas and Carlos Santana (yes, you read that correctly, and yes we queued it up again at midnight.) It was literal perfection. 

One of my resolutions was to make writing a priority again, specifically on this blog, to keep myself honest about that intention.

But habits are hard to break and I’m still working on how to carve out time for every idea that pops into my head. It feels fitting then, that despite my best efforts, this still took me two months to write.

But, anywhere is better than nowhere. So this post exists as 1. A start. And 2. A reason to show off how absolutely silly and charming Philly is. 

A few pics (including Philly’s notorious New Years Day Mummer’s Parade) below. Enjoy - I’ll be back soon.  ✌🏻

[gracemolteniisnothome]

Kyushu Calling: VOL 4

This post is part of a larger series that seeks to explore the island of Kyushu and some lesser known places in Japan.

A Post is Still a Post

A cool thing about going from a busy, and often overbooked schedule to a more solitary lifestyle is that you learn a lot about yourself. Namely a lot about your own bullshit. One of the things I have come to find out about myself this year is I often make up arbitrary rules for the way I do things.

For example, when I started this series project, the intention was to be a writing prompt. But a strange rule I seem to have in my head about this blog is that ALL POSTS MUST BE RESEARCHED, LINKED, AND AT LEAST AN ESSAY IN LENGTH. And while that is a good guiding light, it can also be act as a deterrent, where not having enough time becomes an excuse to put off finishing a post. I’ve try to group this series by geographical location, but this leaves room for day trips, or general thoughts to fall through the cracks when they don’t fit into a category, and frankly misses the crux of the matter. The point of this whole thing is to write, not to write a novel.

Thanks, Instagram

Despite a lot of my general hang-ups about the platform’s practices, Instagram has proven an incredibly useful tool for finding local, regional, or off-the-beaten path spots to check out, both in Kyushu and elsewhere. Geotagged stories and posts in particular (like those by my lovely coworker Gavin) are how I found out there was a cat island within driving distance to where I live.

Fuka Island: Ferries and Felines  

There’s a handful of “cat islands” scattered throughout Japan, Aoshima being one of the most well known locations. Cat islands are usually old fishing villages, where many of the residents have moved on or passed away, and many of the homes or shops are now abandoned. As they have less of a means to leave the islands, felines now outnumber the locals by a significant margin. Their care is often left up to those few who remain, plus the occasional treat from generous tourists. Thanks, to my previously mentioned rigid stance on taking non-toll roads, the drive was long but beautiful, with sweeping views of the Pacific. I arrived in a blink of a port town in the southern Oita prefecture (I doubt I would have found it without a few confirmation texts to Gavin) and headed to the harbor. Following suit of the small group gathered nearby, I boarded the ferry (if you can call a boat fit to carry 20 people a ferry) and soon we were on our way. Half an hour of choppy waves and nodding off later, we arrived.

To call Fuka Island small would be generous. The entire village can be traversed in about 15 minutes.

There’s a single cafe (thankfully I was advised to bring my own snacks and bevvies), a tiny shrine, a single path to the rocky beach, and cats at every turn.  There was every size, shape, color, and age. Most were interested enough in your company, until they realized you didn’t have food, or at least not any you were willing to part with. A few litters had recently been born and I stumbled on a few, startled in the middle of their afternoon feedings.

After a few laps, a few scratches, and a short game of “chase the palm frond” I left the cats and made my way towards the island’s lighthouse. Which was, in a word, wild. The trail was relatively un-kept, with vines and broken branches draped around the path, and massive spider webs every turn.

On top of the damage from a recent typhoon, this hike was more jungle trek than anything.

Half an hour of battling bamboo stalks later, I reached the end. The lighthouse itself was perfectly forgettable, and laughable almost considering what it took to get there. But the blanket of blue ocean stretching out towards the horizon from the cliff’s edge is always a welcome view.

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

You can tell how few foreigners visit a place by how incredulous the locals look when they spot you. Based on the looks I got I should note, these were perfectly friendly looks, just ones of clear surprise. As I sat on the dock catching some of the sun’s last warmth, one of the only young women living on the island approached me to ask where I was from and how I could have possibly found out about this remote place. We chatted as far as her English and my Japanese could take us, and as the ferry pulled in for its last trip of the day, she gifted me a handful of sea glass she’d collected as a souvenir. I used to spend my summers on Lake Michigan doing the same thing as a child, treating sea glass like treasure. When most of your time is spent traversing your day as a stranger, kindness is always a welcome gift.

Till next time (and VOL 5) ✌🏻

[gracemolteniisnothome]

Kyushu Calling: VOL 1

A Few Words:

As a Westerner living in rural Japan, I’m often asked what the outside world thinks of when they think of this country. I explain that most people – most Americans, at least  – picture futuristic Tokyo, or temple-rich Kyoto. Maybe Osaka, maybe Hiroshima. Sites like Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr are full to the brim with Japan’s well-known sights, but for many, the rest of the country remains a mystery. Most people don’t know that you can live on a cow farm and still be a short drive from a beautiful volcano lake, or that surfing is huge on the island’s southeastern coast. They don’t know that 70 percent of Japan is mountainous, which is why the metros are so packed, or that those mountains behold some spectacular views.

I’ve been spending my time in Japan shooting the places most people don’t see -namely, the big island of Kyushu, where I live. I hope to do it some justice in a series of posts. First up: my town, Ebino.

VOLUME I: Ebino

Back in April, after a bit of back and forth with my employer, I received word that I was finally being placed in a school system. Twelve hours later, I was packed up and on a train headed toward a town called Ebino. I knew two things about Ebino: first, that the town hosts a cow-jumping festival every year (yes, you read that right); and second, that my company described it as a nice place, albeit being in the middle of nowhere.

Geographically speaking, they got the middle part right. Nowhere, though? Depends on how you look at it.  

With volcanoes to the south, foothills to the east, and low mountains to the north and west, Ebino lies nestled in a caldera valley. The town itself, with a modest population of 18,000 or so, is actually comprised of four villages - Masaki, Kakuto, Iino, and Uwae- that were combined in 1996 to create Ebino City. As a result, there isn’t much of a centralized town center, with no real main strip to peruse, no castle or Isoteien (Japanese-style garden) to wander, no shopping or entertainment district neatly packaged into one area. Instead, there are small clusters of humanity – coin laundry, udon restaurants, grocery stores, and post offices – separated by rice fields that split the valley into uneven grids. Aside from a handful of overpriced snack bars, there’s not much for a nightlife or even cafes (though we did recently get a rad one that operates out of a converted shipping container, no less). A social life can seem a remote possibility.

Due to its central location between three prefectures (Kagoshima, Kumamoto, and Miyazki), both Kyushu’s expressway, called the IC, and the island’s main non-toll road cut through the heart of Ebino. It would be easy to drive through, stopping only for a bathroom break and some kumquat ice cream, or perhaps not stopping at all. To most travelers, this town is a mere blip on the map. But to those who find themselves spending more time here, there is something about this area that is undeniably captivating.  

A Beautiful Nowhere

Head towards the volcanoes to the south, and you’ll find Ebino Plateau. This area is home to the Kirishima-Kinkowan National Park, which was Japan’s first designated national park. The Kirishima Mountain range crosses through the park and includes Mt. Karakui, Mt. Koshiki, and three gorgeous crater lakes: Rokkannonmiike, Fudo, and Byakushi. On a clear day, which is rare, it’s rumored that you can see South Korea from the top of Mt. Karakui. As a result of their volcanic activity, Ebino Plateau and Kyomachi (a district in Ebino City) are popular enclaves to enjoy hot springs. People come from all over to Kyushu to hike here, marvel at the azalea blooms in early summer, or relax in the onsens. Drive towards the northern and western sides of town and you’ll encounter switchback after switchback, working their way up, over, and through the mountains. You’ll find small hidden waterfalls, and miles of river gorges. The ridges are both high enough to offer sweeping views of the valley (like from the Yatake Plateau), and low enough to catch heavy clouds. On more than one occasion I’ve taken alternate routes home from or to school, tossing my camera in my bag, to chase the fog as it drapes along, clinging to the treeline in wisps.

Seasons are felt in full on Kyushu, and the Japanese seem to mark them in smaller segments – including cherry blossom, wisteria, dragonfly, fall foliage, and, of course, rainy season. Kyushu itself is an incredibly lush part of the country. The forests blanketing the area are mix of bamboo, cedars, and various pines, with canopies so thick that stepping into their shade brings a noticeable temperature drop. After rainy season, the land swells as overgrowth spills out onto sidewalks and roads. The vibrant green of the rice fields seems to have its own frequency.

The whole place vibrates, really, both in sound and color.

Despite assumptions about the stillness of a pastoral life, anyone who has lived in the country knows that nature is anything but quiet. Between the cicadas, the rain gutters, the downpours, and the frogs, every day is its own song.  

Cloud Pornography

Nothing makes me feel more like a Midwesterner than how much I talk about the weather. I’ve learned this is theme with the Japanese as well. With the little bit of language I’ve picked up, I often hear people commenting on the temperature or the storm outside, practically before they have finished greeting each other. Exhibit A: When I mention that Chicago is cold and often snowy, anyone with enough English to communicate it shares the same horror story about a snowstorm three years ago that shut down the city and school. Say what you will about small talk, but weather unites us all.

One of my first introductions to Ebino’s ever-changing skies rings true more and more every day: “If you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes.”  

The mountains surrounding this valley create a cycle of low pressure and high pressure as the temperatures rise and fall. As a result, a strong breeze pulls clouds and storms across the valley in a constant weather parade. Ebino is the kind of place where it can be rainy, sunny, and foggy all at once. I am fortunate enough to have an apartment on the second floor with an unobstructed view of the river and my part of town. You’ll often find me throwing open the windows to shoot a rainbow across the river, or scrambling out onto my makeshift balcony just to gawk at the clouds and the sunsets. Forget big sky; this is timelapse country. (Note to self: learn how to take timelapses.) On any given day, depending on the sun (or lack thereof), Ebino could be mistaken for The Pacific Northwest, the Blue Ridge Mountains of the Carolinas, or, when the volcanoes are feeling feisty, Hawaii.  

A Serving of Pride

The Miyazaki prefecture is also well known for its chicken farming. Often raised on organic feed, these freerange birds offer a leaner, healthier, more succulent meat that is used in dishes like chicken nanban (a breaded favorite), yakitori (skewered and grilled), kara-age (breaded and fried in oil), and can be found at many restaurants, tourist sites, and festivals. Miyazaki chicken can be found on the menu in popular cities across Japan like Tokyo. On top of that, there are egg vending machines all around Ebino where farmers can drop off fresh eggs for purchase at any given time. If you watch my Instagram stories, you know I am a frequent patron of these machines. You’re also bound to stumble upon a Tano Kami or two throughout the region. These stone statues, called Tanokansaa, depict a deity that is believed to to protect the rice fields and bring good fortune to its farmers. While they range in appearance –from adorable, to weathered, to homemade –these pestle-wielding guardians symbolize the pride Ebino takes in its rice. So much pride, in fact, that requesting half-portions for our school lunch required a delicate dance of reassuring my coworkers it was for dietary reasons, so as not to offend their heralded crop. Rice farming is humble, back-breaking work, but it is highly honored by the community. It is served with every lunch in the school district, and is a staple in most households. School children in Ebino are required to spend an afternoon learning from local farmers and planting their own plot of rice as a class.  

Sentiment Addict

I am not here to convince anyone that Ebino should jump to the top of their travel list (unless your travel list involves visiting me, of course) but there is something to be said for time spent in those in-between places. True, there are no awe-inspiring temples, no cascading torii gates, no giant Buddhas. At the end of the day, this is still rural farming community. But, half a world away, it mirrors a landscape familiar to me from my childhood. Strangely, there are moments here where I am reminded of Wisconsin. Like if you drive with your windows down, and the breeze is just right, you’ll know the cows are nearby well before you see them. Whether it be the sweet scent of freshly cut fields, the swallow’s nest outside my apartment, or the universal nod shared between drivers on back country roads, it's funny how these little threads of familiarity weave themselves into somewhere so foreign.

In the way that Americans may only know Tokyo or Kyoto, most Japanese folks’ knowledge of America is limited to Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, or Disney World. To many, Ebino is and will always be the middle of nowhere. But, I grew up in the middle of nowhere. I understand what it’s like to live somewhere no one knows. And, I understand what it’s like to love it all the same.

Till next time ✌🏻

Oh, here's a few gems from the Ebino/Kobayashi area:

Kirishima Geopark: Great for year round hiking, this park offers a handful of trails around the volcanoes and their lakes, and there’s a cafe for refreshments at the end of your jaunt. Bishamon Waterfall and Kuruson Gorge: Small, but lovely waterfall hidden in the hills outside of Ebino, followed by a large bridge overlooking the gorge - which is a 10 KM stretch of the Sendaigawa River. The gorge is frequented by fisherman, but the route isn’t paved and can be precarious at times.

Ebino Outdoor Station: A new cafe in town, housed in refurbished shipping containers and offering solid coffee and tasty lunch options.

Michi No Eki Ebino: Our modest roadside station, offering local goods and omiyage, and delightful kumquat ice cream.  

Daiwa Dairy farms: Real cheese is quite hard to come by, but this small show outside of Kobayashi offers some award winning cheeses as well as homemade ice cream.

Musumi: A adorable coffee shop and co-working space could easily fit in a city like Chicago or San Francisco, offering delicious lunch and dinner courses.

[gracemolteniisnothome]

a portrait in pride

This kind face belongs to Hirayama Masaaki.

He runs the parking lot and information booth at Kirishima Kinkowan National Park, a short drive from my area up on the Ebino Plateau. He spoke in surprisingly decent English (which is something you are less likely to encounter out here in the country.) I ran into him again after my hike around the volcano lakes when he flagged me down to ask how it all went.  We chatted for a bit about where I am from and where he grew up. As it so happens, he graduated from one of the schools I now teach it, many years ago. I complimented him on his English, and his face lit up. Excitedly, he went on to explain that he never had formal training in English conversation while in school. He taught himself what he could but learned most of it from listening to records and watching movies with the subtitles on. He was ecstatic to hear how well that had served him, and it was clear he took a lot of pride in it. He gave me his business card (a practice which is a big deal in Japan) and told me to come visit again sometime. I headed to my car to leave, but turned back at the last second to ask (now practicing my Japanese) if I could take his picture. He happily agreed. 

Afterwards he hurried inside his booth and came out a moment later, handing me a small gift. It was a local delicacy, he explained, a popular cake from the Miyazaki area, often given out as omiyage. (Omiyage a common practice where a gift or souvenir is given to friends, coworkers, and family after returning from a trip.)  

“Be careful, though,” Masaaki-san cautioned, as I thanked him, “for I’ve put poison inside” 

I raised my eyebrows and after a beat he cracked a large grin and laughed. So if you never hear from me again after this post, you’ll know why. 

Oh yeah, here’s some photos of the volcano lakes hike.

Till next time ✌🏻

[gracemolteniisnothome]

first things first

When I studied abroad in college 5 years ago, I felt painfully aware of the stereotypes of an American girl living in Italy. I balked at the idea of selfies with The Duomo, or posting any photo with the caption “La vita e bella.” And while this happened before I had a smart phone, let alone an Instagram account, I kept track of my life there through a lens. I had been gifted a decent camera by my father prior to the trip, and took it upon myself to start a photo journal of sorts (thanks tumblr) during my time in Florence, and travels throughout Europe. This was before the feeds became saturated, and the views expected. Places I traveled to often felt like a surprise vs something I had scrolled past, and I wasn’t shooting just because I had somewhere to post. I took photos, before I really knew how, simply for myself.

At the time I did not feel I had any authority to speak to the experience, nor did I believe anyone cared to hear from yet another 20-something’s exclamations about life overseas. Truth be told, I still don’t believe that. Rather, now I am the one who doesn’t care. I shied away from the idea of writing a ~*blog*~ back then (does the internet REALLY need another one of those?) and even now I have to admit the idea feels trite. But, I will do my best not to be. Consider it a promise: I will try not to be all the things that I hate (at least, as far as blog writing is concerned, no promises otherwise.) 

While I am more than happy to answer any specific questions, the details of how I came to live in Japan are unimportant. The road here can be distilled down to this: Iapplied to teach English as an ALT on a whim, and said I would see it through as far as it went. Seeing as this is as far as it went, I am seeing it through. It’s as simple and as complicated as that. 

Ok, let’s begin. 

[gracemolteniisnothome]

How I spent my night, both in my kitchen and in my sketch pad. Fun fact: beer bread is an amazingly tasty, cheap way to use up leftover shitty party beer. Also if you live in the rural Midwest you can pay your bar tab with it. True story.

[gracemolteniisnothome]

Best lesson from college: cold beer and a hot shower won't solve all your problems... But they sure as shit won't hurt.

[gracemolteniisnothome]

Soon.

[gracemolteniisnothome]

Cookies and cuss word post-break-up care packages. IS THIS HOW I SYMPATHY?!

[gracemolteniisnothome]

Can't stop lusting over motorcycles lately. HALP

[gracemolteniisnothome]

Treat yourself, it's only fucking Tuesday.

[gracemolteniisnothome]

Sometimes you've got to make the weather. 

[gracemolteniisnothome]

Final

[gracemolteniisnothome]

Cotton Candy Fever Dreams

[gracemolteniisnothome]

Wedding things

[gracemolteniisnothome]

Hand lettering in le park.