// the mood & vibes this week
— hi, friends :) i am writing this to you from northern california. i'm driving down to los angeles this sunday after over two months up here. i'm definitely returning a different person than the one i was before, in more ways than one, and am feeling quite reflective. it seems that so much of my life has changed, so many major events crammed into one season. sometimes it's like that. i have been leaning on the saying, when it rains it pours, because DANG!
— every area of my life has been touched. my work + my living situation after the fires, my mental state, and physical being after surgery. i wonder what it will feel like to be in LA after all these changes. to see all my people again after what feels like a long time. to really plug back into everything. i'm daunted, to be sure, at what seems like a lot of rebuilding after these fires. i am very grateful to have not lost my home, but i came awfully close. and as you know, an epic $2M midcentury i offered on in december for clients was consumed by the flames. it's pretty crazy stuff. i have to leave my beloved canyon, and am helping a new cohort of folks who really lost everything find their new next place. i'm adjusting to this new body as well, but physical change is something i've become well used to.
— every 3 to 6 month chunk in my transition has brought something new - a new way i've walked this earth - inching closer to that state of being when the venn diagrams are overlapped, when inside finally matches outside. each chunk has brought me closer, brought new changes. part of why i love our newsletter so much is i can
go back to the archive and see myself changing; see the era of identity i was in. like, the
golden surfer ocean goddess energy of summer newsletters.
the soft quietude of topanga spring, dark curls, steam baths. the
going-blonde-and-listing-an-epic-craftsman fall vibes. and this most recent surgery, bottom surgery, my reason for being in norcal in the first place, has been the biggest chunk by far.
— when everything went down in early december, i feel like i really saw who my true friends were. in the people that reached out, the people that were there for me. i was honestly so overjoyed at those who walked out of the distant, farthest corners of my life to show up. in what was undoubtedly one of the biggest, scariest moments thus far. and i was equally surprised at those who didn't. turns out a great litmus test for who your true friends are is to go through a major life event and see who sends soup, lol. i'm 1000% serious.
— and now that this is behind me, i'm soon to be off. back to LA. back to rebuilding my life again. i'm grateful that i get to come back in a body that just feels oh so much closer to RIGHT; in a body where daily life will be less stressful by like a solid 20-30%. THAT IS PRETTY COOL! i'm excited to do all of the things - run, show houses, close deals, take pretty pictures, with a little less cognitive load. pretty sick if you ask me.
— i'm nowhere near done becoming that truest version of me, done with shifting, transitioning, into a new form. but maybe that is my life's work. all of our work. to ebb and flow into the versions of us that feel right, to mod the outside as well as the inside, and honestly? f*ck anyone who tries to stop us from becoming, well, more ourselves. that is a not-so-subtle nod to the BATSHIT INSANITY coming out of the american government in the last few weeks @ trans people. it's been bonkers. check on your queer friends, please; a text goes a loonnnnngggg way.
— if you are reading this and are displaced from the fires / know someone who is, please reach out if you need help finding a great rental. i'm helping a great group of fire displacees (is that a word??) find rentals at no commission. feels really good to plug into the community and do my part.
— and here are some fire resources:
— if you are otherwise thinking about buying / selling in LA this year (or even elsewhere on the california coast!) hit me up and let's chat. a link to send a message & contact me
can be found here. as always, with the houses i feature below, if you're interested in more details, respond to this email.
— wonder what you're feeling this week. maybe respond and tell me!
— talk to you soon, and sending love.
xx,
sam
