A year around the sun.

Two years ago, I was living in Brooklyn with two amazing roommates and my sister was back in the Northeast. Just a few months earlier, I had lost my job, gained a news one and started a fresh, independent chapter in my life. I visited my friend in South America, took my first work trip to Austin and went on a solo road trip down the coast of Southern California, where I would live one year later.

It took me a while to sort through all the footage, condense it down, and relive moments that brought brightness (and darkness) to my life. But ultimately, I was able to turn out this 4 minute video that described my life in that year. Even the boring, but artful moments that were rooted in loneliness, or the tired, late New York City nights. This paints a picture of New York, of my friends there that I deeply miss. 

It's interesting looking back on a piece like this when you live in all the way across the country from where it happened. When you realize that some days you want nothing more than to go back to that time and place, but then at the same moment you realize nothing is the same there anymore, and those times have passed forever. 

I think that's called growth or something.

One a days.

When I was living in New York I made the effort to post once a day. But I wasn't always posting in the moment, I was searching through old memories to look back on, all the pictures that I had saved up from adventures.

When I moved to LA I was constantly living in the moment and not recording much, not even my new adventures because I was shy around new groups and taking in everything for the first time. I still want to strive to live in the moment, but I want to make an effort to record more of the moments, because it's always something i've felt passionate about doing. I love to use my DSLR but I still have so much more room to grow as a photographer.

So, i'm using this year as an exercise, to capture the beauty of the mundane if i'm working all day or making the extra effort to make my day a little more special or record the fashion i'm loving. It's a new goal of mine to try my best to expand my creativity outside of work again.

Here's to #1 and my new jacket which I bought to totally copy one of my best friends back in New York.

The Rising Sun.

RAY BAN ROUND FLECK SUNGLASSES IN TORTOISE

OUTDOOR VOICES SWEATEE TANK

RAY BAN ROUND METAL CLASSIC SUNGLASSES

THE DARLING BLACK JUMPSUIT

OUTDOOR VOICES HUDSON SHORT IN PEBBLE ROSE

MADEWELL JUNO LEATHER CIRCLE BAG

THE REFORMATION GABLE TOP IN BLACK

MADEWELL HIGH RISE DENIM BOYSHORTS IN BLACK

On Labor Day weekend, I had the pleasure of seeing one of my dear friends, Cathleen. It's crazy how half a year can pass and when you see one another, it feels like you pick up right where you left off. 

We made plans to spend a short time exploring Joshua Tree, and made sure to stick to them. We took off late Friday night and made it into our adorable little HipCamp RV for the night nestled up near some hills in Joshua Tree town. We immediately went to Pappy + Harriets in Pioneertown to see join the music festival that was going on that weekend. After filling our bellies with chili, hard cider and good live music we tucked in to prepare for an early morning. 

We woke up before dawn, and pointed our chairs east to watch the sun rise. The cold air began to wake us up but we weren't ready to start exploring until we stopped at Joshua Tree Coffee Company for some iced lattes. We drove into the park and continued to catch up from the day before, exchanging stories and filling in the gaps since we last saw one another. We made sure to stop at the Chola cactus fields, rock formations and other scenic areas along our drive before turning around and driving out the 21 Palms exit. We grabbed lunch at the Twenty-nine Palms Inn before we embarked on the long drive back through the traffic to Los Angeles. 

I really enjoyed my solo trip through Joshua Tree last year, but the company this time made it all the better. The landscapes there are incredible, and it's a very epic and relaxing journey to drive from top to bottom and see all the different plants and wildlife that live there. It also brought me back to the trip I made that solidified my desire to make the move to California, which has been the best decision I could have made. I feel so thankful to have this trip that i'll always remember with a close friend.

Under the Silver Lake.

REFORMATION GABLE TOP
REFORMATION VINTAGE MUSTARD PANTS

ARTICLE& THE MOTEL TOP
MADEWELL HIGH RISE DENIM BOYSHORTS
ARTICLE& LINDY DOTTED JUMPSUIT

I love to see myself through someone else's lenses. It's one of the reasons why I get my aura done every once in a while, to have someone read me and my body language and respond to it.

Of course, you can also literally see yourself through another person's lenses too.

That's what happened when my friend Jillian Wheeler took these photos.

I have a specific vision when I work on my artworks, i'm particular about angles and framing and how I want to represent myself, so this time around it was great to see Jill's vision. We spent some time in her local neighborhood, Silverlake and I was able to explore Los Angeles a little deeper as we walked around and played with her new camera. 

I'm obsessed with these photos and the day we had. 

Every day I spend in California, I love it even more.

I feel so strongly that the people and experiences I have here are shaping my being.

Jill and her boyfriend Silas are an incredibly talented team. They just launched their beautiful new line, Crater Made which has modern lighting, decor and kitchen products.

Also, Silas took the photo below. Talk about a dream team.

throwback.

A combination of homesickness and distraction, I stumbled upon old photos from my trip to Guatemala. It was such a special trip for many reasons. I got to see an amazing woman who had been living there as well as old and new friends, and it marked the beginning of my twenty-fifth year. 

So much has happened since then.

But when I look at these photos I can't help but get lost in the beauty of the place and the experiences. That wonderful trip where I explored the unknown and learned about a culture that I never even dreamed of soaking in. Where I made memories and gained understanding of a small and important chunk of my friends life. Where I got sick and sunburnt (twice) and still managed to have a wonderful week and in my downtime became a regular at a coffee shop for a week. I laid in many hammocks, traveled back and forth across a massive lake, hiked to the top of a volcano and ate and drank endless fondue and sangria. 

This place was magical.

coast to coast.

WHERE TO START?

A lot has changed in a small amount of time.

I left my job at Dwell.

Moved out of Brooklyn.

Packed up my Hundai with as much as it could carry.

Drove across the country 3000 miles while bonding with my father.

Moved into my apartment in Los Angeles...

...and on Monday i'll be starting at Entertainment Weekly.

If nothing else, I am so incredibly lucky to have had this experience. But beyond that, I am so humbled by the opportunity I have been given in this new (to me) city. Throughout this process i've been thinking a lot about an idea that was relayed to me a couple years ago, that people (and artists especially), must find comfort in their discomfort. I had been in new york city for around five years and I felt so incredibly comfortable. I had a great life there, incredible friends and roommates, and I enjoyed what I did day in and day out. However, I was missing that challenge that I had once felt. Change is an extremely difficult thing at times and i've prepared myself for that. Because really, if you're not changing how are you growing?

Fool for Love.

Fool for Love. from Erica Bonkowski on Vimeo.

Welcome to 2018, all.
Here are some things I'm focusing on this year...

Creating Beautiful Things.
Letting Go of Unneccessary Material Things.
Love for Friends and Family.
Staying Active, Building a Stronger Body.

What are you up to this year?

tis the season.

ROSEMARY ESSENTIAL OIL

Winter is just a few weeks away and that means I just used Cyber Monday as an excuse to stock up on lots and lots of layers.

It's also a really trying time for my hair with all the dryness that comes around with the season, so i'm making a few changes to my beauty routine as well.

This year, i'll be dropping some of this baby into my shampoo.

Rosemary Essential Oil has a ton of benefits like healing my dry scalp and helping my hair grow Rapunzel long.

At twenty-six, I can also never remember anything so the fact that it improves memory is for sure an added bonus.

Besides smelling absolutely amazing, Maple Holistics creates this product a hundo percent natural and cruelty-free.

The other really amazing thing about this brand though is that they offer a free samples program.
So if there's a product your thinking of buying, but aren't ready to commit (we've all been there) you can try it out for starters!

dear journal.

MALAIKARAISS T-SHIRT LES FLEURS

MADEWELL 9" HIGH RISE SKINNY JEANS

J.CREW REGENT BLAZER

Currently Listening to:
Another Sad Love Song by Khalid

Journal Entry 10.27.2017

It's Friday and I'm tired. I'm lounging in a café in Berlin drinking an awful flat white and wasting away some time until my partner in crime is ready to explore the city again. I've watched the morning go from Sunny to cloudy to Rainy. We've been traveling through Europe together the past two weeks and having a blast and I am nearly ready to go home brought on by the solemn feeling of Berlin and it's history and just the thought of how I want to get bringing my 100-lb seeming backpack through two flights home over with. I'm starting to miss my other friends, my job and most importantly my bed. But I still have two full days left and I'll be damned if I'm going to miss out on Berlin because I can't get out of this headspace. So I'm writing this down so that I can put it out of mind, and enjoy the time I have left in Europe. After all is said and done and I'm set back into the daily routine of Brooklyn, I'll be wishing I was here in a cafe in Berlin waiting for my friend to come down and drag me out into the rain.

el tour.

LONDON, ENGLAND

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

PARIS, FRANCE

BERLIN, GERMANY

I just got back from a trip to Europe and it's taken me a while to get this post up just because it feels so strange that the trip is over. It wasn't one that I planned carefully a year ahead with fine detail and a good idea about how it would go, but rather booked a couple months in advance with a rough outline. I think that's what made it the most enjoyable trip I've been on. Aside from my travel buddy who I will be forever bonded with now.

We started in London and then moved on to Paris, stopped in Amsterdam and ended in Berlin. Each city was so beautiful in its own way, each had its own personality we found even reflected in the photos from place to place. 

I really enjoyed going at a time where there were fewer tourists and more foliage, though we ran into construction because of the fact. We were on the true twenty-something tour since we refused to spend money on museums and instead took it to the stores. We also took planes instead of trains in a roundabout way because it was cheaper and stayed in various different housing situations, all unique in their own way. We spent more time eating dinner than we did looking at art and we stumbled into some problems because of lack of being prepared but I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. 

We went to a concert in London, drank plenty of champagne in Paris (once in front of the Eiffel Tower), rode bikes in Amsterdam and hung out in coffee shops in Berlin. After all is said and done, I truly felt the culture of each city which was really what the whole trip was about. 

And now that I'm back I feel out of order, like my true place in life is galavanting around European streets. 

More on this trip and individual city guides t.k.