‘The Sturgeon Moon’

Happy full moon & welcome to the 13th issue of the Luna De Sangre Newsletter… ⊹

August is here, and soon after will come September, the final month of summer. My summer has whizzed by in such a blur, but luckily I have so many fond memories to look back on. For instance, last month I went on my very first international road trip! I drove with my partner from New York to Maine, then all the way up to Quebec City, Canada.

In tonights newsletter, I’d like to take you along with me on this very road trip. Drive with me through the beautiful sights of Maine and Quebec, hear the music I played along the way, and take a peek at the new jewelry collection I designed based on my travels.

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But, before we begin, let me first give meaning to the title of tonights newsletter… ‘The Sturgeon Moon’ is the name of the August full moon, in accordance with the Old Farmers Almanac, because historically the month of August saw an abundance of sturgeon fish in the Great Lakes.

Bar Harbor, Maine

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆟 𓆝

Day 1

The first stop on our road trip was Bar Harbor, Maine. We arrived in the city around dusk, driving into a misty overcast day.

We soon settled into our Airbnb, a quaint little cabin in the woods, and planned our next day…

Day 2

We started Day 2 of our trip with breakfast at a local diner and a stroll along Sand Beach.

Sand Beach

To simply say Sand Beach was beautiful would be such a disservice. Before traveling to Maine I had never seen anything quite like this before. Baby pink flowers grew in mass along the edge of the water, the mountains of Acadia were a blur in the distance, and all you could hear was the rustling of leaves in the wind and a gentle hum of bullfrogs enjoying their little paradise. It truly felt as if I stepped into a painting.

After fully taking in such a view, we found a trail overlooking Sand Beach and headed deeper into Acadia National Park.

Acadia National Park ☁︎

This view of the beach was incredibly difficult to walk away from. My partner and I spent hours sitting upon these rocks, looking out at all of the various shades of blue. We of course took many reference photos for future watercolor studies before we left.

To the Lighthouse… ⚓︎

Next, we made a quick stop at the Bass Harbor Lighthouse. Admittedly, I expected her to be far larger in size, although if I’m being fair, this was my first time seeing a lighthouse in person so I could hardly be the judge of that.

What I was most excited about were the two photos we captured (shown below)! I plan to take the color scheme of these two shots and incorporate them into a future jewelry piece or a watercolor painting! ★

Echo Lake Beach ‪‪𓊝

Our final stop of the day was Echo Lake Beach, and what a perfect end to the day it was. We packed our paints and our swimsuits and found a perfectly secluded area to enjoy a swim and paint the view.

Day 3

We spent the next morning (Day 3 of the trip) packing up the Airbnb, grabbing a quick bite to eat, then stopping by a handful of antique stores before we had to be back on the road again. Next stop, Quebec City!

Saying goodbye to Maine was tough, I still feel as though I had so much more to see, but thankfully I already have plans to go back this upcoming September for my birthday! I plan to once again take in the breathtaking views of Sand Beach, sit back down on the sienna-toned rocks of Acadia, and revisit the cool waters of Echo Lake.

I’ll see you soon Maine.

‘High Floods & Low Waters’… 𝄞

To further immerse you into this little summer road trip, I compiled a 50 minute playlist featuring all of the songs I had on repeat during the drive. This playlist contains ballads from artists like Judy Henske, Wayne Hancock & Vashti Bunyan, just to name a few.

I hope you enjoy.

Click the image below to listen to the playlist on Spotify.

Day 3, Continued…

During the drive up to Canada, I continued to spot these bright orange wildflowers growing along the roadside.

I soon found out that these orange beauties were Tiger Lilies! There were so many of them and they were so beautiful, I just couldn’t fight the urge to bring one home with me. Of course I first checked to make sure that they were okay to cut before I gathered my little memento.

⊹ Quebec, Canada ⊹

It was dusk once again when we finally arrived in Quebec. We decided to spend our first night in a hotel in the quiet countryside…

Day 4

The next morning it was time to head to our final destination, Old Quebec, and little did i know how amazing my day would soon become.

By that evening, we had arrived at our Airbnb located in the heart of Old Quebec.

After settling into our Airbnb, we took to the cobblestoned streets to explore the historic city.

It’s always such a joy to roam a city for the very first time. I discovered my new favorite dress shop, a jewelry store filled with handmade treasures, and scaled the Ramparts of Quebec City, until finally it was time to make our way to our dinner reservation where we shared an amazing meal at the Chez Boulay.

By the end of our shared dinner, night had fallen over Old Quebec, yet the streets were still so lively. We decided to continue roaming the city, stopping to see street performers along the way, hearing live music, doing a little more shopping, and finally stumbling into the open courtyard of the Seminary of Quebec before it was time to head back to our Airbnb and call it a night. It was a perfect end to our trip.

The Red Rooster Antique Market ☁️

Day 5

It’s now the final day of our trip, Day 5, and it’s time to make our way back home, but not before we make one last stop…

While making our way back to Brooklyn, we drove through the small town of Beekmantown to visit the Red Rooster Antique Market.

Once inside, we were greeted by two shop keepers, one of whom lived on that very property and informed us that this antique market used to be a cattle barn run by her Father.

It was incredibly sweet to get to know these two ladies and hear their stories while browsing through their vast selection of antiques. After a few hours of rummaging, we were finally ready to check out when suddenly I spotted the most precious little trio of ceramic swans. I knew I had to take these little guys home with me, they were even wearing little polka dot bandanas, I simply couldn’t pass these babies up. When we tried to add this trio to our pile, one of the shop keepers insisted that we have it, she heard how excited I was and told me that the set of swans had actually belonged to her dear Mother Hilda, and that no one had stopped to look at them in quite awhile. I was incredibly touched and still insisted on paying but she wanted the two of us to have them, as a gift.

I’m still searching for the best spot to put this precious gift, they live in front of my bedroom window for now, but one thing I do know is that the mama swans name is Hilda.

After saying goodbye to the two lovely & generous shopkeepers, we packed up the truck with our new trinkets and got back on the road to continue our drive back home…

Thank you for coming along with me on my ride, I cannot recommend visiting Maine or Quebec City enough, I truly had the most amazing time.

The Sea Mist Collection ‪ 𓂃⊹ ࣪ ˖

As soon as I arrived back home I started designing a line of jewelry that I would later call, ‘The Sea Mist Collection’. A collection of jewelry pieces inspired by the many beautiful sights I came across during my travels.

This is a small peek at two necklaces from the collection.

I’m hoping to release the entire collection by mid August so stay tuned. ٠࣪⭑

 Before I Say Goodbye…

I’d love to leave you with a poem, from ‘The Beautiful World’, a book of poetry I was gifted at the very beginning of summer. The title of the poem is ‘River Music’ and the poem goes like this…

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