______I promise I haven't been whisked away by aliens to another planet far, far away, nor captured by a ferocious band of jellybeans and converted into a new JellyBelly flavor. But if I was converted into a JellyBelly flavor, I would hope it to be something akin to week-old fish turd-flavored so that nobody would dare consume JellyBelly Ali.
______I digress. The first week I was away, I was in North Carolina at the John C. Campbell Folk school taking a workshop for my third time there. This time around, it was a dyeing workshop. Our instructor was from Nigeria (but has been living in New Mexico for the past twenty years) and brought the techniques of the Yoruba Tribe with him as well as many samples of his own work.
______He also brought natural indigo for us to dye our fabrics in after preparing them with patterns through methods such as batik, using a cassava paste as a resist that was "painted" on to the fabric, and tie-dyeing.
______This top was one of the pieces he made. It's silk, lightweight and delicate, and dyed a deep indigo. Deeper than the deep blue sea. Deeper than a sinking sand pit. Deeper than a black and white Instagram photo with an inspirational quote. That deep.
______Immediately after returning home from the workshop, dad and I packed our things for our North Dakota and Montana trip to see family members. I hadn't seen any of them for nearly seven years due to summers being filled with work or classes, so being able to see everyone in person was quite the treat. More than worth the 50+ hours on the road.
______If you were a JellyBelly flavor, what flavor would you be?
Top: made by Gasali Adeyemo
Heels: ASOS
Earrings: Charming Charlie
Necklace: Charming Charlie
Starfish fish: c/o BornPretty