// the mood & vibes this week
— hi, friends :) writing this to you from my desk at the silver laurel-finally back and getting settled after a few weeks of blissful travels. i was back home in northern california & road-tripped up to oregon with a few of my close LA homies. it was absolutely mystical.
— i try to have at least one trip each summer of this crunchy variety. i have for the last four summers, each i've written about in our newsletters. august 2023 held a blissful family camping trip to the russian river. summer 2024 had quite a few:
salmon creek farm &
northern california in june,
crestline &
the russian river again in july, and
tahoe in august. summer 2025 similarly also held
similar excursions, and
an oregon trip. idk y'all, there's just something about being in the wilderness and in granola locales during the hot months that just absolutely sends me into the zenith of my aliveness.
— on july 2nd, i flew up to marin for a few days with family. among many things, i brought a film camera that had been sitting untouched in a dusty corner of my trader joe's tote. i got into shooting film two years ago, and developed a few rolls in 2024. however, the camera i got - the olympus mju ii - is notoriously fragile/finicky. the first one easily broke, and i bought another that also promptly broke towards the end of that year. whenever i shut the built-in cover to the camera, the lens would think it was still open and try to emerge, smashing against the plastic endlessly. however, prior to heading out to oregon, i figured out a loophole-taking out the battery after each shot and putting it back in. i know, i know, insane! what can i say, it takes really f*cking good shots.
— it was a joy re-learning how to use it, and remembering that i actually love to shoot analog, + i'm kind of getting good at it. photography has definitely been my newest love in the last three years, and there's no sweeter place to shoot than our wild west coast. so i spent those few days at home traipsing around the redwoods with my sister sadie + camera in tow, and hanging out with our cat, before my LA friends drove up on july 5th. they'd spend the night before we headed out for oregon early on the 6th.
— and man oh man was it a drive up north! we left at like 5 am, and journeyed all day to oregon. our plan was to dispersed camp outside of bend, but as we were driving a literal hailstorm with gumball sized hail started up and we kind of freaked. so, we ended up staying in a teeny motel in town, and had just enough time to explore a restaurant (active culture), some bars + a local natural foods store (market of choice we love you so!!).
— the next day, we hiked the infamous blue pools near sisters, oregon. it's a body of water in the forest that's fed by an underground aquifer. because this water is filtered so much and comes from so deep, it's brilliantly blue and scary-cold - 37 degrees. there have been multiple fatalities here due to hypothermia alone, so we exercised real caution- i didn't even go in past my legs because it was that darn freezing. it was a stunning hike + lots of great photo ops (and let's be real, future photos for my hinge/raya. what's a girl to do!!)
— that night, we camped in mount hood at a riverfront campsite. it was so fabulous. i finally got a nice sleeping pad and actually slept pretty well, probably the best sleep i've had on a camping trip. after a breakfast at some adorable wooden building off the main road, we journeyed onto a magical swimming locale-dougan falls. i hate to blow up the spot but oh my gawwwwwwd it was beyond. picture a bridge over giant green/blue natural pools with a mountainous waterfall feeding it all. i went full mermaid here and just spent a few blissful hours diving in and sunbathing. as joyous as i felt, it was definitely exposure therapy of some sort. i'm new to girl bathing suits, TBH.
— it was only a year and a half ago that i got bottom surgery, and was finally able to wear whatever swimsuits i wanted-one pieces, bikinis, etc. while this was exceptionally liberating in some ways, it presented challenges in others. mainly: how the heck was i going to feel good about myself in a swimsuit, with so little fabric to work with?
— from conversations with many of my feminine-presenting friends, i know this is not a unique worry. we all know mainstream body standards in the big 26 are absolutely ridiculous. and i've done a lot of work to not aspire to bodies that are extremely skinny-that's not anything i'm talking about here. i really do love my curves! having a grecian-goddess-like, aphrodite-but-real-human form has always been the vision in my gender journey. but the reality is, i'm relatively early on in my transition, and there are absolutely still parts of my body that don't feel like me yet. in my day to day life, my wardrobe has evolved as part self expression and part defense mechanism - concealing what gives me gender dypshoria and highlighting what's affirming. yet in swimsuits, with so little to work with, it's tough. i had many moments on this trip when i found myself in comparison mode - longing for how (seemingly) easy it was for my friends to wear bathing suits. looking stunningly themselves and at ease.
— i know i'll get there, to a place of comfort and ease and alignment in my form. i've already come so far, and am closer than i've ever been. it's an and/both kind of situation, i'm finding. yes, this thing i'm dealing with hurts, but also yes, there is so much beauty here right at the same time.
— after dougan falls, we mainlined it for portland-one of my soul cities. i visited for the first time last summer with sister sadie, and we had an absolute ball. i was in town that year for the release party of field mag's inaugural print issue. my first published written work for one of the cover stories. i immediately fell in love with the city's green spaces, endless queer vibes, and stunning scenery.
— that first night in portland, we hung out at a restaurant attached to an 1800s victorian (foxtrot!) & went to the OG salt & straw location on alberta street. after some gallivanting the next day, my homies headed for the airport. this first leg of the trip had come to a close, and now i was going into the second - staying with my incredible friend
lauren goché. she's a badass portland realtor whom i've been internet friends with for the better part of five years, and we met last summer for the first time. (if you need an agent in portland, i'm happy to make the intro!!). she has a blissful midcentury ranch in an adorable part of town. you guys it's truly just the most perfect freaking house. original woodwork, a brick fireplace, epic backyard, perfect bathroom. the kind of house that just gives mystical goddess witchy energy - exactly the kind of vibe i hope to channel in my later 20s, 30s and beyond. i actually just said something similar on stories, but i feel so grateful to be surrounded by so many badass women/queer folks who are building radical and joyous lives. i feel that exceptionally when it comes to lauren, so to share her space was awesome.
— our first night in PDX after my friends departed, i was lauren's date to a portland fire WNBA game-COURTSIDE! y'all, i might actually like sports now. women's sports are just so much more interesting to me than men's sports, sorry not sorry! like the whole hullaballoo with the world cup has just been…kinda whatever to me. yet at the portland fire game lauren and i were literally so locked in watching these badass girlies do their THANG! now we just need a sports league that's just the gays and they's, and then i can REALLY be locked in ;)
— the days that followed were bliss like none other. river swims, evening barbecues, puppy yoga with my other incredible realtor friend
chandra, a pool party thrown by
lauren's brokerage, and adorable wine bars in little black dresses. it was actually physically painful to drag myself away from the sandy river (i went for a dip on my very last day!) and high tail it to the airport, sand spilling out of my pockets, trinkets from the journey scattered inside my suitcase.
— i am returning feeling exceptionally restored, and already diving back into work. been seeing some really cool houses with my buyers lately. i'm having a bunch more folks this year that are interested in buying income properties, similar to what i did with my triplex. it's so exciting for me to be involved in helping people achieve these milestones - watching them build wealth and stability and their next chapter in real time.
— our LA market in the summertime is often a great opportunity for buyers, with many out of town in europe, as evidenced by literally my entire instagram feed. fall and spring are generally when rushes of inventory and activity resume. i'm always advising my folks to begin looking in an inactive season, so by the time things start heating up, you'll have a better idea of what you're looking for and what the competition is like. also, lately, i've had quite a few trade-up clients - who are looking to move from their first purchases into larger, more architectural dwellings. it's always an interesting game of tetris to figure out the financials behind the scenes - i'm so lucky to partner with incredible lenders who help me navigate this. there's really so much you can do with existing equity. in a strong market like LA - and really, california as a whole - moving up to a larger, more desirable asset is often an incredibly smart move from an appreciation standpoint. i like to say that a larger snowball rolls much faster down a hill. as in, a $2M house is going to gain more value over a 10-year period than a $1M condo. anyways, that's enough math for today, lol.
— in terms of what’s coming up … continually on the hunt with my slew of buyers. prepping houses to launch. always searching for the best houses in CA. below you’ll find a collection of listings i love on the market.
— if you’re considering buying or selling in LA or NorCal in 2026, message me here.
— if you’re looking to buy a wood house elsewhere in CA + the US, there’s a good chance i can refer you to an agent in your city. referrals are a great way to support me. whenever i send a client to one of my cool out-of-area agent friends, i actually receive a portion of that commission! and like most things in life, a recommendation from a friend is the way to go. if that’s you, respond to this email and i’d be happy to connect you.
— talk to you soon, and sending love.
xx,
sam
