Sunrise Sistas
Me and Gabs snapped some pics real quick before breakfast a couple weekends ago.
DDW Breakfast with Gabs
[August 27, 2021]
After the beach gathering in honor of Gabs’ film mentor, Gabby and I went over to DDW to grab an early breakfast. It was still very early, 20 minutes before they opened, so we hung out on the relatively new seawall and let our minds wander over the turbulent water for a while. At 7am, we helped ourselves in through the unlocked doors, grabbed a menu, put a dollar by the cash register to purchase a newspaper, and seated ourselves. We contemplated our orders and sipped on hot tea and chatted away f
In Loving Memory of Leanne Ferrer
On Friday, August 27, 2021, an intimate gathering was held at Fatu Ma Futi beach in loving memory of Leanne Ferrer. She was an impactful individual who encouraged and gave voice to pasefika peoples through media and film.
I’m glad I got a chance to work with her through my office, but even more than that, I’m glad I got to know of her through the eyes of my best friend Gabby, who was mentored by Leanne in Hawaii. I showed up this morning in support of Gabby, who considered Leanne a sister-aunty. She credits Leanne with propelling her film work since she was 18 years old.
Leanne was cherished by many in Hawai’i, here in American Samoa, and all throughout the Pacific.
Sending love, warmth, and deep condolences to the Ferrer family.
Photo Journal: Couples Camping Trip
Found this in my drafts folder… a photo journal of camping with my husband and our friends, Traci and Ano, back in May 2021. I think we timed this camp trip right on time for me and Ian’s anniversary weekend.
Many thanks to the Gurr family for always being so warm and allowing us to camp at your beach.
The fresh water stream that leads to the ocean.
Sabrina also came for the day to hang out with us.
We were looking for freshwater eel in the stream, and set up some traps, but we didn’t catch any this time around.
We spent a few hours in the morning snorkeling and spearfishing at the beach. I tested out my new pole spear and didn’t get so lucky, but everyone else caught something for lunch. Here’s Ian de-scaling a malau (red snapper) he caught.
With no cell service out here, we spent our weekend offline hanging out, snorkeling, fishing, playing suipi, eating good food, reading, and hanging around the fire we set up on the beach.
I love waking up early on camp trips — right before the sun rises — and soaking up the serenity of the moving water, birds chirping in the distance, and wind rustling through the trees.
Happy sleepy faces. I wake Ian up whenever the sunrise starts so he can watch it with me. Then he’ll usually knock out right after for another nap haha.
Me and this cutie puppers.
Traci and Ano spearfishing.
Our tents. Traci and Ano’s tent is the red and white one; they’re fully set up with an air bed! Ian and I keep it pretty basic with our yellow and black tent; using camping mats, and stuffing our clothes into pillowcases haha.
Ultimate relaxation.
Going back to the stream the next morning to check on the eel traps and take a cold dip.
Homeward bound in the back of Ano’s truck. I was getting car sick in the truck so I jumped in the back in case I needed to barf lol, but the fresh air in my face was just what I needed.
Looking back at these have me wanting to go on another camp trip real soon!
Plus, here’s an instagram reel I put together from this trip!
xo, Nerelle
A Sunny Home Tour
The morning sun is up in the sky, streaming through the windows at home.
I am always inspired by the way the light hits—sunbeams dancing with the shadows of tall coconut trees.
I felt compelled to pick up my camera on this particular morning and take photos in and around my home, to capture my feelings and freeze these seemingly mundane but sentimental vignettes of light and space.
Welcome to my home!
Please take off your shoes, and enjoy this little home tour.
The view outside my door looking up at the mountains. Can’t find a more appropriate way to describe this other than that it’s majestic.
Morning light streaming in through the kitchen windows. When it’s super clean (not in this pic), I always feel extra happy to make my homemade iced matcha turmeric lattes.
From the hallway to the studio/home office. I am so grateful for this space. I’ve always dreamt of having a studio dedicated to my crafts and creative pursuits. I especially love working on this workbench table that my husband and I made several years ago.
The large paogo (pandanus) tree outside my kitchen. It’s in the neighbors yard actually, but it’s so tall that I feel I really get the most benefit of its lush crowning glory.
The coconut tree outside the back door balcony that I always spot bats and birds in. It’s like having the music of nature living right here.
Ian’s surf rack in the studio/office that is also home to our snorkeling gear. It makes a great backdrop for my work video conferences. And this map I always reference for little known spots around the island.
A recent addition is this wooden stool I picked up at a neighbor’s going away sale. It houses my wifi routers on the bottom, Echo dot (on top behind the terra cotta planter), and it’s a great little propagation spot.
A realistic, not-so-tidy spot on my workbench in the studio/office. I love this limited art print by Ohkii Studio because she painted it out of inspiration of American Samoa in the 1940s, and the fact that the two brown women in the va’a (outrigger canoe) are wearing red tropical print dresses very similar to one that I made for myself (DIY Upcycled Tahiti-Inspired 2 Piece Outfit) some time ago. It felt very “me”!
Samoan fish motif art by Warren King. Photo of me and my hubba hubba on the day that he proposed to me at the top of Mt. Alava. Betwixt the new curtain panels to shade us from the heat of the afternoon sun.
One of my favorite views is the view outside my living room overlooking the Pala Lagoon and the Nu’uuli mountains. This view is my daily source of gratitude and honestly I feel like a house plant thriving whenever I look out these windows.
Same view, I just opened the window to take this photo of the lagoon and mountains. It truly brings me so much joy.
A diy beaded tassel that I made earlier in the summer hanging here on the screen door that leads to our porch balcony.
We left the screen of the sliding door open so that Yodi and Officer Scruffles can go in and out of the balcony and take long afternoon naps.
This bookshelf where we keep some of our favorite books, books to read, random shells, and our small collection of classic games like chess, cards, dice, dominoes, and bananagrams.
Officer Scruffles lounging outside by the front door balcony. He likes to roll around on the cement and lay in the sun.
Outside the back door balcony, looking towards the beach in the front of our apartment. I go out the back door pretty much every day to check the tide, or see if our friends are in the treehouse to hang out.
Downstairs below the back balcony where we share a compost with our neighbors. It’s great for us too because we can just open our back door and chuck our food scraps into the pile, and on weekends the guys will turn the soil. Also, the main source for my rich garden soil.
Shadows cast onto the tin roof of the house downstairs of our front door balcony, with a net I don’t think anyone realizes is lost except us.
Me, blurry, because I need to clean the dust off this mirror we placed in our entry so we can check ourselves before we head out, and pick up reusable tote bags, our keys, or a mask if we need one from the hanging rack.
The pantry shelf above the mirror. We have a small space, but we try to make each space as functional and beautiful as we can. This houses most of our snacks, canned foods, extra milk, and jars.
And a portrait of sweet Yodi girl, who was born and raised here at Coconut Point for as long as I’ve lived here.
Yodi spends many afternoons on either this side of our gated balcony, or on the porch balcony because she and our neighbor’s dog do not get along, so we have them outside on a rotational schedule.
She actually recently got into a pretty nasty fight with the other dog, and she’s almost fully recovered from her big scars. She went swimming with us the other night too.
Well I hope you enjoyed this little home tour—my personal slice of paradise!
Hope you’re staying well, healthy, and getting sunshine wherever you can.
xo, Nerelle
LONG HAIR DON’T CARE: Getting My Hair done
In my last life lately update, I totally forgot to mention another lil update I wanted to log for future me to look back on…
I got my hair done for the first time since like Christmas of 2019! It’s grown very long… from my shoulders, now down to my waist. I still haven’t cut it, though I’ve gone back and forth with myself on whether I should chop it all off and go short again, but I was really digging the balayage look and had a leftover gift card for a local spa/salon (Le Fofo Salon and Spa) from my lovely coworkers that was set to expire. I called the salon and set up a booking, and I was good to go!
I was only slightly worried about my hair not turning out because I knew I could just cut my hair if I absolutely hated it. The guy who did my hair was super sweet — his name is Allen — and we got along well even though we had a bit of a language barrier. I showed him photos from my phone of what I was envisioning, and he pulled out a book full of colored hair samples with color codes, and asked me to help him pick the color.
These were the photos I had as examples for what I wanted my hair to look like. The first photo was more of the color I was thinking, since my hair is naturally black and I felt the warm light tones better complemented my skin complexion. The second photo was the lightest I was willing to go. I also showed these two pictures because he didn’t know what balayage was, just ombre… so I tried my best to explain using the photos.
The look of cheerful trepidation whilst in the wash basin, and the look of doubt as my hair was getting curled. I was very uncertain about the whole thing, but hey it’s something new.
I sat in the chair reading (hot tip* always go to the salon prepared with a book!) for a couple of hours, and Gabby also came by to see how it was turning out. She got there right on time after the dye was washed out and he was drying and curling my hair. I think the last time I bothered to curl my hair was like back in 2014, after I returned home from college and was “readjusting” to island life and standards of hair routines. My hair is very fine but I have lots of it, so curling my hair is always a short lived endeavor.
Anyway, I’m blabbing…
The point of the story is that I got my hair done, and I actually really liked it!
The Final Look
What I Asked For Vs. What I Got
After getting my hair didddd, I was really feeling myself. My hair was cayuuuute! I took some selfies on my iPhone and then grabbed my camera and tripod, set it on self timer and draped myself in my coral print lavalava. I didn’t much like my closet curtains as the background so played around with it on Photoshop, adding a photo I took here at Coconut Point a few months ago. Haven’t done something artsy fartsy like this in a real long time!
The funny thing is, looking back at this a few months later… I’m looking at myself, and I think I looked the same; my hair is just a little lighter and a little wavier. And yes, maybe a little nicer too because I honestly hadn’t really brushed my hair in a long time I’m sure before getting my hair done.
But I felt like a brand new person. When my hubbe got home, I showed off my hair and excitedly asked him to go out on a date with me. Of course, he said yes. How could he deny this hottie with the long luscious locks? We got a table at Manuia Restaurant, where the lovely lady who takes our order calls us her regulars and she always treats us so well when we go for date nights. Ian grabbed my phone and snapped a bunch of photos of me, and we sipped on our gin and tonics (the lady always makes it strong for us haha), and we were in such good spirits.
So about getting my hair done? It was a great experience, all in all. 10 out of 10, would do it again!
