The Blanket That Holds a Year of Grief

I know some of you follow me on Instagram for a while now, and witnessed a project I as working on every single day in 2023.…since I’ve just entered said project into an art competition (I hope it gets selected) - it dawned on me that I have NEVER shared the finished blanket! 3 years later, voila!
When people ask me how I’ve made it through the first year after losing Justin to suicide, my answer is always: therapy and tons of yarn. SO HERE IT IS! 11ft by 4.5ft of one of the hardest years of my life.

 

This crocheted blanket is a year-long record of daily temperatures in El Dorado, Arkansas during 2023, translated into color through yarn. Each row represents a single day, creating a visual timeline where shifting hues reflect the natural rhythms of the seasons—subtle transitions, sudden extremes, and the passage of time made tangible.

Beyond its function as a temperature record, this piece is deeply personal. I began this project in the aftermath of losing my partner in 2022, using the steady, repetitive motion of crochet as a way to stay grounded and move forward one day at a time. The structure of the blanket mirrors that process: each row is small on its own, but together they form something whole, resilient, and enduring.

Among the rows is a single black line that breaks the pattern. This marks the day I lost my cat, Coco, who had been by my side for 22 years and lived to the age of 24. That row stands apart as a moment of pause and remembrance—an acknowledgment of love, loss, and the quiet spaces they leave behind.

This piece weaves together data and memory, routine and emotion. It is both a record of a year in temperature and a reflection of a year of healing, where each stitch carries not just time, but meaning.

 

Find some of the materials I've used HERE

Catfishing Is Still on the Rise—And MTV Warned Us Years Ago

I’ll admit it: I was a huge fan of MTV’s Catfish. There was something fascinating, emotional, and sometimes heartbreaking about watching people discover whether the person they had fallen for online was really who they claimed to be. But as entertaining as the show was, it also highlighted a very real problem: catfishing can happen to anyone.

Despite years of warnings from the FTC, high-profile scam cases, and even MTV’s Catfish bringing awareness to fake online relationships, catfishing and romance scams continue to rise.

As someone who was a fan of MTV’s Catfish, I always thought the show was fascinating — watching people uncover the truth behind online relationships felt dramatic but distant. But over time, it became clear that the situations featured on the show were far more common than many people realized. 

Today, the numbers show just how widespread the problem has become.

According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), nearly 18,000 Americans reported romance or confidence scams in 2023, with victims losing more than $650 million. In 2024, reported losses climbed even higher, surpassing $672 million nationwide. These scams remain among the most financially damaging forms of online fraud.

The FBI also reports that internet crime overall continues to surge. In 2024, Americans reported more than $16 billion in losses from online scams and cybercrime — a 33% increase from the previous year. Romance scams continue to rank among the costliest forms of fraud because scammers spend weeks or months building emotional trust before asking for money.

Many victims never report what happened due to embarrassment, meaning the real numbers are likely far higher. Experts say scammers are becoming more sophisticated, using social media, dating apps, stolen photos, fake careers, and even AI-generated messages to appear convincing.So how do you know whether you’re being catfished?

I've missed Lewis Capaldi handing out Flowers

There are a few artists whose music just hits differently for you, and for me that artist has always been Lewis Capaldi. His songs have this way of sneaking into the quiet parts of your life and sitting there with you - heartbreak, hope, all of it. So when I woke up to the news about what happened in New York yesterday, I had two immediate reactions: excitement… and genuine heartbreak that I missed it.

Because apparently, if you were anywhere near Penn Station yesterday afternoon, you might have stumbled into something pretty magical.

Photo Credit: Charlie Sarsfield

Just hours before his massive headlining show at Madison Square Garden, Capaldi casually popped up outside a flower shop in Penn Station and performed a surprise mini set for commuters and fans. Not a ticketed event, not a big announcement - just Lewis, a piano, and a crowd that grew to more than 5,000 people as word spread.

And yes, he was handing out flowers.

He set up in front of Damselfly Flowers and performed three songs, turning a regular weekday rush hour into what sounded like one of the most unexpectedly emotional live moments New York has seen in a while. Fans, commuters, and curious passersby ended up packed into the space, watching him perform and walking away with single-stem flowers he handed out himself.

As a big Capaldi fan, I can’t lie - the idea of randomly running into him performing and leaving with a flower from him personally feels like the kind of story you’d tell forever. The fact that I missed it? Devastating. Truly.