I wanted to officially thank everyone from the first half of my current adventure and from the Portugal Shootfest. Obviously my Blackheart Burlesque sisterhood (including @liryc, who couldn't be there but of whom I was reminded every morning I got up before the sun to drink coffee and smoke lonely cigarettes, and who was there in spirit the entire time), I love you all dearly even though I fail to express it properly. @shay @peneloppe @sunny and @lucerne each one of you has been such an important part of this past year. You're inspiring as fuck, as women, creatives, individuals, and as friends, and not a day goes by that I don't ask myself "okay what would (insert one of you here) do?" I am lucky to know you. Also, new friends like @jessicalou who was completely unexpected in the best way, @sophoulla who I knew for five minutes that felt like years, @cartoon who touched my butt a whole lot... and others.
Thank you to the photographers who took time and creative energy and the same degree of passion and care they invest in each and every girl, to make art with me. @aeterna - I'm so glad we FINALLY made this happen and I'm obsessed with what we created. I also really like your butt. It's a nice butt. @waikiki - you don't know that you were on my Dream Photographers list since I was a hopeful, and actually having the opportunity to shoot with you felt surreal. Thank you. @darryldarko - who I also never thought I'd actually have the opportunity to work with and who put up with my neurosis like a fucking champ. Thank you for your patience and your vision and your time. @gossip - who I still owe €25 (I haven't forgotten! My PayPal is on the fritz 😭😫)! You saw what I couldn't see, you put my back to the light and made real magic. I don't know if I have ever loved a set straight off the camera as much as I loved the one we shot. Your leadership in the SG Portugal community is an example to SG communities all over the fucking world, and you and the girls there have created a beautiful thing. You are everything SG represents, you are beautiful inside and out and you made each and every one of us feel the same. And @saria - you are a dream in every possible way. You are SO talented and every single set you give us on this site is so clearly produced with so much individual attention, love, and care. I am so glad I had the opportunity to work with you, talk with you, and learn from you. Thank you 💕
I don't know how this never ending adventure has become my life. Every night I fall asleep truly believing that tomorrow I will wake up back in Buffalo, NY. Unsure of who I am, following the steps I think I'm meant to in life... and wondering when it gets better. But every morning I wake up, again and again, still here in this life. In Los Angeles, or London, or Portugal, or Spain... on a bus surrounded by strangers turned sisters, or in a house supported by the peace and strength of the feminine energy this community fosters. Every day I wake up and somehow it's happened; it IS BETTER. So thank you, all of the aforementioned women. You have pushed me every day to live up to this life. @liryc again, and @sean for seeing a potential in me I NEVER saw and still endevour to see. @missy and @rambo for trusting me with the hearts of our girls, and to each and every human I have encountered since I began this journey. SG has not changed my life - I think this is exactly where I was always supposed to end up - but it has rerouted it. SG was the fork in the road on a day I decided to take the road less traveled and I have never been more grateful for another decision, in my life.
Thank you.