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.
DIY Natural Lip Balm (Simple Recipe!)
I’m really enjoying concocting my own homemade products and working towards a more low impact/high quality lifestyle.
It just feels right. It contains clean, honest-to-earth ingredients. And it works!
In case you’re new here, I made my own deodorant a little while ago but what I didn’t share was that I also made my own lip balm. It’s so so so easy. So in case you’re feeling crafty and want to give it a go, here’s what you need to know!
Clean out and reuse old lip balm containers
I’ve had this EOS lip balm since right after college which was (omg) 7 years ago! It was a spare one I carried around in my various bags and miraculously didn’t lose. It started to get stale after so long and I didn’t have the heart to throw it away.
Then I came across this idea to make my own lip balm, and found a whole plethora of ways to reuse the EOS container. Here’s how to empty and clean out your EOS container to be reused.
1. Open EOS lip balm. Notice the removable cartridge holding the balm.
2. Remove the balm cartridge using a sharp utensil (I used a butter knife)
3. It might take a bit of prying, but will come out with a bit of leverage
4. Scrape out the old balm from the top and bottom of the cartridge
5. Then clean it all off under warm soapy water
6. Let dry. And you’re ready to reuse!
DIY Lip Balm & What You’ll Need
Ingredients:
1 tsp Cold pressed extra virgin Coconut oil
1 tsp Shea butter
1 tsp Beeswax
5 drops of preferred essential oil (optional – I used lavender for its soothing effect)
½ tsp Cinnamon (optional – add to naturally exfoliate your lips!)
Directions for Making the DIY Lip Balm
Mix all the ingredients in a double broiler (the exact same way I made the deodorant here).
While it’s still warm, pour into your lip balm container!
Place the cap back on upside down and let cool at room temperature.
Or you can put it in the fridge for a few minutes.
Once it’s dry – voila!
That it! That’s how easy it is!
I poured the ingredients into both the EOS lip balm container and a regular lip balm container – both of which I cleaned and disinfected before reusing.
So I hope you clean up those old cute lip balm containers, play around with these natural ingredients and and DIY your own sustainable lip balm!
xo, Nerelle
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
Making Siapo with Fa’aSamoa Arts
What is Siapo?
Siapo is an ancient Samoan art form, similar to painting, but instead the canvas is called tapa (made by pounding barkcloth stripped from the mulberry tree), the paintbrush is a paogo (pandanus seed), and the inks are made from nature. The lama (black ink) is made from soot, and the o’a (brown ink) is made from the bark of the o’a tree.
Siapo art is a very tedious and painstaking process from start to finish. It isn’t a widely practiced art form in American Samoa these days. That’s why local Samoan artist Reggie Meredith Fitiao (and her husband Su’a Uilisone Fitiao) share their knowledge to keep the tradition alive.
Enter — Fa’aSamoa Arts
This local non-profit, run by Reggie and Su’a, was established to rekindle a passion for Samoan traditional arts by sharing the power of knowledge, hosting siapo making workshops for youth, and hopefully soon, they will open their studio shop too. Their studio is based in Leone, where Reggie was raised and where siapo made a comeback in the the 1960s and 1970s, thanks to her mentor, the infamous Mary J. Pritchard, who was also from Leone. You can read more Mary Pritchard, and about Fa’aSamoa Arts on their beautiful new website created by Mary Anne Bordanaro.
I’m a member of the Rotaract Club of Pago Pago, and in our recent meetings, Reggie was invited as a guest speaker because she was a previous Rotaractor also. She shared her experience with Rotaract, and her journey as an artist. And invited our club to a workshop at the Fa’aSamoa Arts studio. I wish I’d brought my camera with me, but ah whale, here’s a smattering of iPhone photos 🙂
Making Siapo
At the studio, we sat on long benches lined up in two rows of trestle tables. We were handed glass jars with the labels removed, and instructed to roll the jar over sheets of prepared tapa to smooth out our canvas.
Reggie welcomed us warmly and shared an overview of tapa and the varieties of tapa made throughout the Pacific (ie. kapa in Hawaii, ngatu in Tonga, etc). She and Mary held up examples of barkcloth with beautiful designs and passed it around the room so we could feel and observe the differences and unique qualities of each art form from other Pacific islands. I learned that Samoan tapa is two ply, overlapped together with a natural starch to strengthen the canvas and reduce stretch. We asked questions
Reggie proceeded to the floor where a large carved wooden log made of ifilele sat on top of a woven mat. She held out two wooden mallets (I forget their names). One with smooth ridges around the square head, and another that had a smooth rounded head. She explained that the one with the soft ridges was used to pound the bark into cloth. For Reggie, she said it takes her about 15 minutes of pounding just to make one sheet. She showed us first, pounding in a rhythm of three beats – thump… thump thump… thump… thump thump…
We got a chance to pound the tapa too, and I was the first to to give it a go. I could definitely see how this could be a meditative practice, and also how it could be an arm workout! I went on for just a couple minutes, but I think after 5 minutes I would’ve gotten tired. We took turns pounding and the bark flattened to about 16 x 24 inches. We didn’t have enough time that evening to all pound tapa, so Reggie was kind enough to share tapa she had already prepared for us to take our art home.
Once our tapa was smooth from rolling the glass jars over the surface, we picked out paogo to use as brushes. The tips of the seeds were trimmed to reveal the hair like brush. Reggie explained several traditional motifs used in siapo art and what each meant and how they were used. She encouraged us to be creative within these motifs and ideas to incorporate them onto our siapo.
We each sketched our designs lightly with a pencil first. Reggie showed us how to hold the paogo properly: angled with three fingers only (thumb, index, and middle finger). And learned that the trick is to always paint away from ourselves, never toward us. We shared little cups filled with lama, which is much more viscous and a very rich black. Most of us painted over our sketch lines, others opted to use the black to fill in their drawings. And then we painted with the o’a, which is more watery and very subtle at first but would darken over time.
We spent the next couple hours painting. I was happily entranced in the process. The vibes were really good all around, and our Rotaract team asked questions and complimented each others’ work. At the end of the workshop, we took a group photo (with Reggie’s cat and dog too!) and our siapo art.
For most, if not all of us, this was our first time making Siapo. So I am extremely grateful to have had the privilege to learn from such a renowned artist as Reggie. And many thanks to my Rotaract Club board for organizing this workshop!
Freedom
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!
Dolphins + Evidence of Climate Change
I have so much love and respect and stoke for the ocean and those that call it home —
Shot these a couple weeks ago during an outreach boat trip on assignment with National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa (where I work as a communications and outreach coordinator), and I was really hoping to see humpback whales, but we were met by this playful pod of dolphins instead, so I was a very a happy gal.
Who doesn’t get giddy when they see dolphins playing in the wild?! Nobody!! These charismatic marine mammals are always so fun to watch. They look like they’re dancing, so free in mother nature. They inspire me to live the same way.
These are spinner dolphins, and they approached our charter boat while we were filming at Fagatele Bay. I couldn’t quite get them jumping fully out of the water because they’re so fast.
But also, how striking are these landscapes/seascapes of Fagatele, Fagalua/Fogma’a, and the far side of Aunu’u?!
This is Fogama’a cove, as seen from the ocean.
And this is the back side of Aunu’u, where you can see the crater mouth of this volcanic island. This specific area is associated with the local Legend of Sina and Tigilau.
You can really see the effects of climate change on the island of Aunu’u in the photo below, where the road on the west coast has completely eroded, and you can see tree roots exposed to waves from rising sea levels and subsidence.
It makes me sad to recall hiking along that path just a few years ago and now it’s basically gone and the shrubbery is just hanging on by their roots.
While I’m very happy to see dolphins, I really hope I can see the whales soon! It’s their season for migrating from Antarctica and as they pass through, they usually mate or give birth in these tropical waters. A colleague shared that the ocean temperature has risen a couple degrees (!!) and that’s not a good sign for whales. So keeping my fingers crossed and my eyes peeled on the ocean for whale sightings! I’ve already asked my husband if we could spend some time on the cliffs out west to watch for whales. Maybe we’ll make a picnic date out of it… I’ll report back if I get to see them!
Sending lots of love and warmth and sunshine to wherever you are.
xo, Nerelle
Life Lately: A Roundup Reel + Get In My Headspace
Hi hello how are ya —
I shared this round up reel on instagram which pretty much highlights my entire month of July in half second snippets… and shared in the caption how I’d been feeling.
And with that… here are a few updates of my life lately that I thought would be worth posting on here to look back on… please don’t mind my rambling… I feel like I haven’t written for myself in a long time so I just want to write without thinking too much.
My hard drive went kaput
My primary external hard drive stopped working suddenly last month, and I’m devastated because it contains the last three years of my life in photos, videos, and other random computerized parts of my life. It’s been a few weeks since, and I’m hoping that my new hard drive comes in so the Pago Tech guy can clone all the contents of my drive into this new one, but he’s indicated he’s not sure if it’ll work because the partition that my files are on are encrypted and who knows if it’ll clone over properly or come out as jumbled nonsense. Pray for me ya’ll!
Work was nonstop last month
I am finally getting used to not working anytime I’m in front of my computer, because I was constantly uploading, editing, emailing, and researching for work, for all odd hours of the day so much so that my eyes were starting to go cross eyed. So I’ve been avoiding my screens and resetting my computer habits. On the plus side, it wasn’t actually too bad because I enjoyed the type of work — filming a video for our annual Get Into Your Sanctuary summer program. You can find the completed video here if you want to watch it!
A few home projects
The hubba and I upcycled our sun-beaten leaf dining table and DIY’d a tile mosaic with epoxy resin to seal it up. It looks pretty cool, if I do say so myself! We’ve also just added curtains to our south/west facing living room windows because the sun comes in directly for a few hours in the late afternoon and it makes our house so hot and has affected our furniture (clearly, I mean if you’d seen our sun-beaten dining table, you’d know). I have always been a bit anti-curtains for some reason, but after way too many an uncomfortable sun-drenched late arvo in the house, I caved and we bought white curtain panels and wood rod dowels, and I sewed up some canvas to make loops to hold the rod dowels. I can’t tell if I like it or hate it, but I certainly don’t love the curtains, it’s really just there for function. The nice thing is we can always stow it away too.
My island fever is acting up
I feel like I always complain about this on here, but the last few weeks have been like salt on the wound, because we missed my husband’s family reunion that was postponed to this year from last year, and I’m also missing one of my besties’ weddings in a couple of weeks, and I’m one of her bridesmaids so I just feel crap for not being there to help and to celebrate with her. Of course, I also miss my brother and sister, and her little family. I don’t get to video chat with them enough as it is but every time I do, they seem to grow an inch or suddenly know division and have the most hilarious chats.
Online shop update
I have temporarily shut down my sticker shop on my website so that I can work on a photo prints shop. It’s been one of the biggest goals on my list for this year, so I am going to do my best to make it a reality! I’ve been wanting to sell prints of my photos for absolute years now, and I’ve gotten a few requests from people too, which has been super encouraging. I don’t know exactly how just yet, but I’ll figure it out, and I would love any advice or tips if you have any ideas to share with me!
Back to blogging
I really want to get back to my blog, because especially after losing the contents of my hard drive, which is essentially my life’s work, from the last few years, I want to still hold on to the highlights and little bits of memories that mean the most to me. I still am a pretty private person (for a person who overshares on the Internet), so those parts I tend to keep vague but they’re still there. I am learning to just have fun with it, and even if I misspell something, or make grammatical mistakes — I’ve made plentyyyy — that’s okay. This is truly my safe space on the Internet, a place to call my own.
If you’ve read all the way through to here… wow thank you for joining me in my headspace. I hope you have a beautiful day or evening, wherever you are!
xo, Nerelle
Moonrise Over the Ocean
The neighborhood dogs are howling into the night, echoing each other without a pause, as I walk over the freshly cut grass of the lawn, past the paved road, and climb up the wooden steps to the treehouse. My husband and several of our friends are sitting on the pier, listening to island jams, sipping on beers, and nibbling on chips being passed around to share. I set my camera up on my mini tripod, attaching it to my massive Sigma 105mm f/1.4 fixed lens. I look down at my watch and it’s a little past 9pm. The moon would be rising soon. I rest the tripod on the thick teak wood rail of the treehouse and fiddle with the camera’s manual mode when I see a razor thin orange outline in the horizon. The moon slowly peeked out from the imaginary line in the sky and I snap away silently while the muffled conversation dims. Everyone gazed at this wondrous muted yellow orange orb grow bright and high in the sky, interrupted by the occasional cloud rolling through. The cool ocean breeze gives me goosebumps and I wrap my linen button-up a little tighter for warmth.
