Hello! It’s been awhile. How are you all doing? Good I hope and somewhat cheery this holiday season. We’re doing fine here and have settled into Hawaii life. I’m actually really liking it here and it has gotten me into thinking about moving back, but we’ll see. My husband still has a job in Cali and wants to live there. Plus our whole life is there too. It’d be a huge undertaking to uproot our lives and settle back here. For now I’ll just enjoy being back in my hometown during the holidays and then some.

I find myself doing a lot more here and taking Emi around a lot more. I still stick to mostly outdoor things (like shopping at the garden center of Lowe’s and Home Depot or wandering around Ala Moana—an outdoor mall, and most recently to this sunflower field 15 minutes from our house). But Emi has gone to Costco for the first time. I was reluctant to bring her shopping with me in Cali, but now that she can wear a mask for long periods of time (I’m really training her for the long flight back to Cali), I feel more comfortable taking her around. Plus Hawaii has a relatively low rate of infection (a 10% decrease this week, yippee), so I feel safer still. But I’m still careful not to take her during peak hours of shopping when there might be a lot of people.

I found this post on Fashionista about brands being moral leaders (or rather not) to be an interesting one and timely since I’ve started easing back into Everlane. And by “easing back” I mean using the store credit I had left to purchase some new things and also tagging them in my Instagram whenever I wear their items. I did see that they are working on their inclusivity/diversity/racism issues (they released an Insta story press thing here). But like the article said, I don’t need brands to be a moral leader for me. I of course want brands to be ethical, treat their workers fairly, and not harm the environment (excessively, because all new clothes in some way harm the environment). Fast fashion is still out for me, but I’m willing to give Everlane a second chance since I don’t believe in cancel culture. But once my credit runs out, whether or not I actually give Everlane my money remains to be seen. I also won’t be cranking out the Everlane reviews like I used to. I was a real Everlane addict back then, and I’m glad I’ve taken this break to step back and try new brands. And I’m especially glad to have found brands like Two Days Off, Ichi Antiquities, Hei nui, Kemi Telford, and various other small shops to not only diversify my wardrobe but diversify this blog. So what did I purchase for my first order from Everlane in eight months? I repurchased the slim leg crops in a larger size (hello pandemic weight gain lol). These pants were coincidentally the last thing I reviewed from Everlane back in April. I really love these pants and could not find something similar from an ethical brand in a price point I was comfortable with (because these days I don’t want to spend a lot on a pants with a waistband since it’s not my go-to). I also got the Everlane leather sling since I wanted a minimal purse I could carry separately from Emi’s stuff. I’ll let you know how that goes. Anyway I hope you don’t think of me too harshly for giving Everlane another chance.

In case I don’t write another weekend post until after the holidays, I just want to say I wish you all a safe, healthy and happy holiday season! May you find multiple things to be grateful for even during these tough times!