Hello February!

I know, I know - where have I been?! With the new year came a heap of obstacles that snowballed and left me unable to keep Mermaidens updated - boo! I've finally sorted everything out and am able to share new posts with you guys - and thank goodness because I have missed you all so much ;___;

After such an long hiatus, a post catching you up whats been going on in my life would be apropos, right?!:

• One of my new years resolutions was to start drawing more, and my first instinct was to draw cute fruit patterned backgrounds (and isn't my strawberry iPhone case the cutest?)!
  
• I interviewed Miss Marlena for MissRobin's newest issue and much to my surprise, I spotted an illustrated version of my face with Marlena alongside the article! You will be seeing more of this issue in a future post so stay tuned :3
  
• Finally found my dream Forever 21 shirt that had been sold out for months and organized my makeup in a pretty way - okay I guess this really wasn't newsworthy but the picture is pretty!?
• On January 19th, my cat Fi passed away. We found her on our doorstep in 1998 and she has followed me from ages 5 to 20 through several moves, new animals, and helped me cope with some of the hardest moments of my life. It was all very sudden and it's been very difficult to wrap my head around - but thanks to the outpouring of love and support I received from readers via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, email, etc - I feel like I am coming to accept it. I can't thank you enough if you sent me a note - it helped me more then I could ever articulate.

The highlight of the January was, without a doubt, eating donuts with photographer Hana Haley in Portland on the 23rd! When Hana approached me to model for her, I was a bit afraid it was too good to be true. In the back of my mind I have secretly wished I could model once or twice - but to be honest I never thought anybody would consider me particularly special enough to photograph and I worried my shyness would interfere if I DID get a chance, somehow.

So imagine my absolute bewilderment and glee when I found myself posing for one of my favorite photographers! I had the most wonderful time - Hana not only immediately put me at ease and helped me forget to be nervous posing in front of strangers, but proved to be extremely funny and it was a pleasure to watch her set up a shot. Saying I feel extremely blessed and lucky to work with such a talented lady is an understatement and I will forever be grateful for such a wonderful opportunity! Hana has updated a few pictures from the shoot here and I will be making a post with the full series when it is released! <3

Please please let me know you have been and I hope you have a beautiful week!