In the true spirit of only updating a portfolio when needed, it appears that 5 years have passed and we made it through the pandemic. Huzzah! Somehow in the height of it all I landed a gig as Lead, Online Content at an adventure travel company. When the whole world wasn't travelling, I was writing and/or editing blogs to inspire its return and leading the copy and content side of a full-scale site redesign. It was my first foray into the travelsphere and my understanding of the world and the beauty found within its varied lands, people, and culture-rich experiences grew a thousand-fold.

On top of the many new things I learned through work, I've been reflecting on how this last five years may be one of the greatest seasons of learning in my life. From marine life to throwing pottery, I feel like a sea sponge that's taken in a ton of cool info and skills. Who knew I'd have an aptitude for shaping pretty modern vases? Who knew I'd spend hours in tidepools chilling with octopuses and tiny sea slugs? Who knew I'd be able to tell you an unreasonable amount of facts about marine mammals and the central coast of California? Suffice it to say that I've surprised myself and plan to stay open to all that life has to teach me in the years ahead.

PS: I'm open to new opportunities as I've happily taken a career pause until I find the next best copy-based thing to set my word nerd heart aflutter. Hit me up!

Well, things are a little sideways in the world right now. Thankfully, the pandemic hasn't stopped the wildflowers from growing or the blue sky beaming overhead. But we're all dealing with rapid change and doing our best to care for ourselves and others. In the midst of all this (and just before the actual lockdown), we moved from Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo. It was a decision we made a while back and we're grateful to be in a setting that suits us better.

Now that our home is unpacked and we've settled into the space, I'm back to looking for new work opportunities. Of course I'm still open to freelance and contract, but my ultimate goal (even with things as they are) is to find a full-time remote copywriting gig. I'm definitely experienced in the remote part and look forward to directing the word side of creative for an awesome brand that I get and/or love. Part of that is polishing up my portfolio, updating my location settings and getting into the job lookery mindset. I'm ready. :)

PS. Enjoy the California poppies that are growing a short walk up the hill from my home. They're nice.

Recent work isn’t shareable as it’s still underway or in NDA-land, but I can show a little more from my notebook and card printmaking project. As for that, what kind of brand person would I be if I didn’t create a little maker’s mark for myself? The whale tail with a lil AB etched into it is about as ‘me’ as it gets. Did you know that the underside of a humpback’s fluke is so unique that it’s used to ID individual whales? It’s true and therefore a fitting mark for my cetacean-loving self.

The spirit behind this side project is to not only get better at linocutting and printmaking but to have something to give to others with no expectations in return. I send notebooks to friends and family on a whim but also to people who’ve been kind to me like my regular barista pals and awesome hairstylist. Each time it takes Herculean strength not to point out all the imperfections before handing it over but that is a valuable exercise in and of itself. The reaction to the gift makes me feel good and inspires me to make more and try again.

Anyway, I like doing it and a couple checks in the bank from freelance work means I’m going to splurge on a better set of linocutting tools before the next round. I’ll share the ‘work work’ too when I can as it’s fun stuff. I think? We’ll seeeeeeeeeeeee!

Just finished a personal project that combines a few of my loves into one. It’s no secret that I spend a lot of time watching the ocean. It’s calming and helps me work on my powers of observation: a good thing for a writer and marine mammal enthusiast. It’s amazing what you can see when you sit quietly and look for signs of life.

I have a few different perches along the LA coast with Catalina Island as my constant backdrop. Even when cloaked in a thick marine layer, I know it’s out there. The waters between us are teeming with life from tiny krill to the biggest of blue whales. I love this view and wanted to capture it in my own way. And thus, these linocut notebooks were born.

All modesty aside, I love them and it feels nice to make something that I think is beautiful. As notebooks they can help capture thoughts, inspirations and adventures which is a great feeling too. Anyway, I made a thing and I already have ideas for the next batch. Toot toot!

A co-attendee of XOXO put out a call for “amazing SaaS copywriters that can do punchy cool copy” and I’m like, hey that’s me. I pitched and won the work to help rebrand Schedugram to Sked Social. Check under Work to enjoy some of my favorite lines from the site re-write like “Our reports are robust. Some say meaty.” It’s pretty fun.

Other than that, we’re well into the new year, the ocean is still my happy place and I’m busy looking for my next great gig. You know where to find me. Yes, it’s sometimes on the couch eating chips. I like them. They’re good.

Hello, how cute is this lil contact card? It is very cute, thank you. I wanted something to hand out at XOXO fest in case chats about writing work came up. As soon as I got them back from MOO, I realized they’d make great circle stickers. Who doesn’t want a smiley freckleface sticker? I’ll do that next time. I hope you have enjoyed this update because it’s over now. Bye!

Hey, guess what? I still spend at least one day a week on the coast watching the ocean. I gotta be me. But I also spent a year of Wednesdays volunteering at Marine Mammal Care Center LA as a docent. I learned a ton about the issues facing our seal and sea lion friends and plan to find even more ways to help moving forward.

Outside of that, I put together a new resume, polished up this here portfolio and am actively looking for new work adventures. Stay tuned!

I realized that yesterday was ONE FULL YEAR since I packed up all my Canadian belongings and moved to Los Angeles to be with my lovely bearded (now) husband. Spending my free time watching the ocean because that is a thing you can do here!

How have I kept busy while waiting for my US work docs to come through? Well, I hunted high and low for new throw pillows and whipped up this poster frame for a favo(u)rite print. Our apartment is looking much homier and I love the touch of Canadiana in with the tropical vibe.

Let’s flash forward a wee bit like they do in the movies! It’s now September 2016 and I live in Los Angeles with my husband Josh. He is very nice and has a great beard. Eventually I’ll be able to work in the US of A so I’m dusting off all of my online thingies. Here is me in a big hat trying to keep the sun from crushing my life force. Cute!

All’s whale that ends whale! I wrapped up another 8 week screen printing course with this homage to my dear ocean friends. I kept the artist proof and made it into an edition of seven. I have no problem telling you that I am very pleased with myself. They turned out beautifully even with a few bumps along the way. Now I guess I’ll start sending them to people!

This is me being a real creepster while hanging out with the Carbonmade dorks in real life. HI MIKE HI!

I like faces on things. Probably will forever. And so, I added a chummy little face to my plant pot. Lookin' good, my friend!

It's not always about wordsmithin'. Sometimes I do other delightful things like reach out to people about featuring the folks at Carbonmade in some fashion. We went from sponsoring the first edition of Offscreen Magazine to pitching a feature to appear within its pages. Not only were we chosen to pull together a "Where The Magic Happens" pictorial for Issue No3, but our shot of Timo pretending to work graced the cover. A solid team effort and genuine source of pride!

I've been spending time polishing up this here portfolio and trying out our swaggy new features. In digging through various archives, I found this great write-up we got from .net magazine in November 2011. The Carbonmade Clubhouse is no longer online but it's nice to have a reminder of one of my favourite projects. I especially love that they used a pull quote from our designer Timo. He's the greatest!

I think I finally found the perfect desk accessory for my goldfish brain. The pen even has a foam eraser built in! It beats wasting notebook after notebook on my To Do lists. And I loooooooooooove making To Do lists. Hello, I am boring. Hi.

Let's just say that the previous tenant in my little glass terrarium has gone off to plant heaven. RIP, succy! And so, I planted some bb ferns this weekend and got out my hot gloo gun to perch some teenie tiny lucky owls on a rock. They are pretty cute. Green makes dreams come true, white brings happiness and yellow brings peace. I like it.

I'm pretty sure I will never take a better photo in my life. This moment was everything and I will think of it forever. Taken in Santa Barbara on my birthday in November, 2014.

I travel a lot because that is a nice thing to do. This is California. There's more to it but these are some of my favourite parts. If I can see the ocean, I'm a very happy gal.