the sea x love

Fickles? Figckles? Pickled figs????

Sometimes I just get an idea for something and it gets stuck in my head until I execute it. I’ve always been curious about the world, specifically the plants on the planet. I want to know them and their story, but I also want to know what they can do and if they’re edible. If so what do they taste like? I’m kinda on this fermentation kick right now. It’s a timeline you get to eat. It’s dynamic and ever evolving, and I think that’s beautiful. Enter figckles.

There’s a fig tree at my great grandmother’s house. I pass a fig tree every week. I see its changes over time, from flower to fruit. Once you pick figs they stop ripening (if you pick them green) but they don’t all ripen by the end of the season. I got to wondering what happened if you lactofermented the semi ripe figs or even the baby ones? Would they soften? Would they be edible? Would they be tasty??? Lacto-fermenting is easy and low-effort (really low risk, high reward). I decided to try it, I didn’t have much to lose. The figs were free; I already had salt, a scale, and a jar. I could make a little weight to keep them pressed down. So one day I harvested some figs, just enough to fit to this small jar. I picked mostly those that were avocado ripe (firm with a little give), except one that was young and hard. I brought them back and did a quick rinse of them under cool water since these were an urban forage and I wanted to remove the latex. I weighed them to calculate how much salt I needed, only 3 grams but I accidentally added too much (5g). I was going to leave them whole but I was worried that they wouldn’t ferment as well and I was following the instructions in the noma guide to fermentation (I must admit my first attempt to lacto ferment DID NOT go well, but that was in the Boston days IYKYK). So I quartered all of the figs except the small rocky one, because again I was curious but also apprehensive.

After I quarted them I put them back in the bowl, added the salt, and tossed/mixed them together to make sure they were well coated. Then I put them in the jar and added my diy weight. I didn’t have anything really that fit in this and last time I tried using the zip lock bag method in the noma guide my bag burst. Long story short, I was scarred. Instead I used an old spice jar, filled that with water, and placed that in a clean ziplock bag. I stuff it in the jar and pressed down my quarted figs, then made sure it was well sealed by screwing the lid back on. I set it on my new shelving unit (coming soon to the studio apotroes site), and let it sit for a week. I burped (opened it to let the gas escape) the jar every-ish day. I finally shared them with some friends at a pickle picnic! (This is simply a picnic that everyone needed to bring a pickled/fermented thing to share.) I hadn’t tasted these before I brought them but they were a hit! They’re like olives but floral and sweet? I imagine these would be a really interesting sub in a martini or anywhere you normally use olives. Honestly I might chop some up and make some salmon cakes.

This was day one!
This is how they looked in the end, but they were a little greener earlier in the day

i started a furniture company?

a few of you are aware that I started a furniture company in 2021. it’s kind of funny, weird, and unexpected but I’ve always loved furniture and furniture design since a kid. I used to make these drawings and models of things I drew. It was a solid mix of furniture and spaces.

When I moved into my first apartment post-undergrad I literally hated everything on the market. Everything was so boring or simply just not something I felt reflected me. It was also difficult to find furniture that was sustainable and didn’t look it. If you’ve known me for a long time you know I care deeply about the environment. You also know that even though I am extremely passionate about I subvert the aesthetics of sustainability. A friend has that I subvert a lot of aesthetics and they’re right, there are a lot of boxes across a variety of aesthetics and styles that I cross but some very key ones that I always end up vehemently opposing. Personally, I think this is where true style lies and it’s truly a fun (albeit weird) space to exist in. It’s a space of exploration and exists in multiple capacities. That’s what I wanted in furniture and I didn’t see it currently so I decided to design my own.

There were a few other factors and influences that spurred me to start this company when I did in 2021. I was finishing up my stint at a VC firm and supporting numerous entrepreneurs; the lamp I helped design and develop the fabrications for was nearly done, and I couldn’t find a job in furniture design. All of these factors deciding to start studio apotroes (which went through a few name changes) at the time I did. Looking back for marketing reason I definitely wished I had the gall to start this company in 2020 at the start of the pandemic when people were deep into redecorating but c’est la vie. I knew from the start I wanted to the brand to focus on sustainability but in a very different way that’s currently approached in the market. We would be holistically sustainable, similar to the sustainability we practiced in the co-op I lived in during undergrad (hi scoopies!). This sustainability factored in finance and culture in addition to the environment. It is the definition that has impacted me the most but also the one I think is the best, the most sustainable, and the one I use daily (+ in all my writing).

We all know what sustainability is…or at least think we know. Sustainability is often marketed as this expensive complete overhaul of one’s life to be full of natural colors, unpainted wood, glass, bamboo, and sleek metals; or has some high barrier to entry. The marketing perfect aesthetic is highly uniform and similar to the goals of the international style in architecture, intentionally devoid of place, culture, and heritage. While there is technically very little wrong with this aesthetic it is harmful and counterproductive to make it the defacto aesthetic associated with something as vital and common as sustainability. At it’s core sustainability is about reducing, reusing, rethinking, and recycling. You’ve probably already practiced it and didn’t realize it or think about it too deeply. From deciding you don’t actually need another garment or pan or lamp to reusing the glass jar your pasta sauce came in. These ubiquitous ways of practicing sustainability are vital because they are normal and second nature. They highlight the way that sustainability at its core is a practice and set of decisions, not a virtue-signaling aesthetic that can be conveyed through a uniform look. Sustainability truly has no uniform aesthetic and can fit into any style. Currently, we don’t see this, so people are turned off by the practice of sustainability because they feel like they have to lose part of their personal style to fit this marketed idea of sustainability. This is detrimental to actually achieving global sustainability which given our climate crisis is needed but also what many people want to support. (quick aside: That’s actually why I settled on the name apotroes, which is a play on the word apotropaic, the type of magic behind phrases like “knock on wood”. It means to turn away or ward off malintent, because we really need to turn away from the various unsustainable habits and practices in our society that have led us to this climate crisis. It also expresses hope that our efforts will impactful (especially with our experimental efforts). In order for sustainability to really become commonplace it needs to meet people aesthetically where they are currently. The aesthetics at studio apotroes are silly and refined (like our exaggerated pieces like the honeycomb coffee table), they’re culturally inspired (we have chairs inspired by African combs and picks), some are simply just fun (i.e. the bobbi shelf or the chairs we did for cafe mars), and others are just refined in the style of mid-century and Scandinavian design (our luna tabouret and some of our upcoming lamps).

Okay I’ve spent a little too much time on the aesthetics (cultural/heritage) and environmental facets of sustainability. I just get riled up! Financial sustainability happens a few ways. It needs to be financially accessible, which I’ll acknowledge is really difficult to do when you have to pay yourself/employees livable wages and while providing a quality of product that isn’t as common as it once was. We do offer financing to be more accessible and inclusive because we understand that people are really underpaid. We use thick solid wood because everything is built to last multiple generations. We design and build everything to last because that is also part of financial sustainability. We hope that the pieces are able to maintain value based on design and craftsmanship alone but personally, I hope you keep the pieces in your home for generations to come.

So that’s why I started studio apotroes and a little about it. I wanted furniture that was fun, refined, wacky, and culturally inspired. I wanted furniture made out of solid wood or some really funky materials like oysters that diverted waste in the process. Furniture designed to last and be passed down generations. There are some really cool projects coming up that I can’t wait to share so stayed tuned and follow studio apotroes on instagram if you don’t already (oh and sign up the newsletter I put a lot of work into it).

okay so actually the company started as just an instagram account to force me to be comfortable sharing my work and the first thing i design was the honeycomb coffee table which is a few homes and was published almost immediately after i released it which was really nice considering i this whole thing really started with me trying to get comfortable sharing my work.

sustainable living tips: building and maintaining a wardrobe

sustainable living tips: building and maintaining a wardrobe

Confession: even though I do have a notion of post ideas for this blog most of my most recent posts have been spurred by conversations I’ve had IRL. Today’s post was prompted by a conversation + experience I had with my friend Nhia before she moved away from NYC 😞. I went over to help her pack, but our conversations naturally led to her getting rid of a bunch of old clothes. During the process, our conversation threaded a few different things from the natural and thoughtless ways we already practice sustainability to the difficulty of balancing the love of dressing up while also being sustainable and caring for the planet—in short, is a capsule wardrobe compatible with fashionphiles? Now my friends all know that I do love clothes but I also have very few clothes but they’re all of higher quality, and that’s extremely intentional. Years ago (around the last time this was purely a sustainable fashion blog so easily like 10 years ago) I decided to build a wardrobe that I loved (and one full of well-made and mostly natural materials). I maybe buy a max of 12 articles of clothing a year (outside basics like underwear). One that I felt reflected me and worked with my lifestyle. This is an extremely long process. It’s forced me to have more discernment in how I spend my money and what I put on my body. The nice thing about sustainability is there are tons of ways to practice it and you don’t have to do everything all at once you should pick one thing and try to turn it into a habit. The easiest ways are simply buying less and using what you have already. You can trade or borrow things from friends and family, just really reducing those new purchases and retraining your mind to just not feel compelled to always need more stuff and just rework what you already have. Sustainability is truly about mindset and lifestyle changes not necessarily buying new products or looking a specific way. This is truly one of the biggest ways people get turned off from sustainability but I promise sustainability works with pretty much every aesthetic.

Now for some of my tips some that some of my friends already know but I want to share them again because thankfully my community has grown but also not everyone knows my approach. So you want to buy fewer but nicer things but don’t feel like it’s in your budget? Calculate what you’ve spent on whatever category let’s say clothes in the past year. You don’t include things like underwear and socks, basics like this I exclude. The number might shock you but realistically you shouldn’t be buying more than like 10-12 new (to you) garments per year. If you want to spend less money on clothes reduce that budget to a number you’re comfortable with and then divide that yearly total by 10-12 and that’s how much you can spend per item. Obviously, you can divide this number by a number less than 10 but honestly, I would not go greater than 15 I promise you don’t need more than 12 in a year. It’s really a lot of items. The price per item you’ve calculated is maybe higher than you’ve spent on any single item for everyday wear before and that’s good! It will allow you to shop and support brands you thought were too expensive before but maybe had better quality products. I’m pretty sure I bought maybe max 15 items last after buying close to nothing the previous year.

tip 2! Wait. Seriously just think if you actually need or truly love the item(s) you’re considering. Love is a commitment to care and wear. Learning to properly care for your clothes will increase their longevity. Generally:

  • wash in cold water
  • use the right amount of detergent (it’s way less than you think! you generally only need a tablespoon of detergent especially if you’re using a high-efficiency (HE) washer and HE detergent. Any more and your clothes aren’t actually getting clean because by the time the cycle is done all the soap hasn’t washed out.) If you’re worried about disinfecting your clothes you can use vinegar (cleaning is preferred but standard white will work too) or tea tree oil.
  • don’t use things like scent booster, fabric softeners, or dryer sheets they are literally coating your clothes in a film that doesn’t come out and make the clothes less breathable and harder to clean. You can spray your clothes after they’re dry or while they’re airdrying (you should always air dry clothes! the dryer is murder on clothes. it weakens and wears out the fibers so you have to replace them sooner.

Think of the garment as something that has to be cared for (because it does) do you want to commit to that? More importantly, does the item fit into your aesthetic either the one you are trying to maintain or curate? Some things we like even though we think we love them but they’re not really for us. Sometimes we make mistakes and that’s okay, you don’t have to be perfect, just genuinely try. I give my purchases some marinating time. I try really hard not to impulse buy and if I lose out on an item it was not meant to be and that will eventually be okay.

tip 2.5 or 3, really it’s in conversation with the previous tip. Use Pinterest! seriously even if you don’t have one, make one it’s super helpful for staying organized. What you want to do is make a board, it can be public or private (mine is private but I’m sharing a screengrab) . Create sections for different garments (i.e. pants, skirts, dresses, tops, knits, accessories, etc) and catalog everything you own (again outside of underwear unless you really want to it’s your board). I do a ton of online shopping when I buy things so it’s easy to add new items to the board, but sometimes I buy things in stores. Regardless pretty much everything is online so you can find photos of items to save to your board or add your photos if you want. Now when you’re shopping or trying to plan an outfit you have your entire closet at your fingertips. You can add notes and comments to all of your pins to it’s great if you want to be really granular. You can cross reference if the item you’re looking at is similar to something you already own (so you might want to skip it) or even if it will go with things you already own and therefore a smarter purchase because you can mix it with existing items. The other beautiful thing about this is that when you go through the process of adding all the items you can see if you want or need to get rid of anything. Bring a friend over and you could even swap clothes! It’s super chill and can be fun.

The beauty of the board is that it will also allow you to easily visually compare it to a separate Pinterest mood board that you create. The board can also help you create a capsule wardrobe (which is really a separate post that I started writing years ago but never finished 😕 I will though and will share sooooo soon, but quick takeaway capsule wardrobe doesn’t have to consist of any set items or in a singular monochrome color palette is just needs to consist of clothes you will wear and can mix and match to your personal style). I personally use this board as type of closet management, as you can see there are sections where I move or pin things I want to sell or replace, you should customize your board to best serve you! I also save multiple pins of the same item from different views because many of the items I buy are funky or have open backs etc.

These are my big tips. Obviously, support small creators and designers, buy stuff made of natural materials (they last longer and they’re breathable), learn how to care for your clothes, and just buy less. It’s not a race.