This is Now
Last updated – September 10, 2024.
Current location – Portland, Oregon
Welcome to my “Now” page, which I update throughout the year to let friends know what I am up to. It’s a dorky internet thing you can read about here.
If you’re looking for something a little more traditional, here is a link to my creative bio and resume.
Life Update
Happy to be home for the foreseeable future. I’ve been gone for three months and have learned that as much as I love to travel, twelve weeks is far too long to be away from home base. It’s a very good (and surprising) thing to know about yourself. I used to think I could travel perpetually, but it turns out I really like my bed. And stability. And routine. And friends.
There’s no place like home.
Things I am working on
- Advisor for a SAAS startup
- Founder of June Lee, a social impact apparel brand. You can read more about it here.
- Board Member, James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation
- Board Member, Oregon Creative Made Foundation
- Helping plan a wedding
- Fundraising for Kamala Harris
- Learning about social media marketing
Things I completed in this year
- Freelance policy and copywriting (01/24 – 09/24)
- Designed and developed this website (08/24)
- Attended a meditation retreat at Spirit Rock in Woodacre, California (08/24)
- Illustrated my friend Geradene’s wedding invitation (05/24)
- Spent 21 days in South Korea for my 50th birthday with my kid and their partner (03/24)
- Designed Asha Dornfest’s website (02/24)
2024 Travel
- La Paz, Todo Santos & San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico (September)
- Seattle, Washington (August)
- San Francisco, California (June – August)
- Seattle, Washington (May)
- South Korea (March-April)
- San Francisco, California (January)
Quote
“Always go a little further in the water than you feel you’re capable of being in… and when your feet are no longer touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.” David Bowie
Most Recent Instagram Post (@giyen)
PREVIOUS UPDATES
08/20/24 – Just over two weeks more of travel, and I’m almost back home for a good, long spell! I am trying to enjoy this last bit of travel before settling into the fall season.
Being back in Portland this week has been filled with back-to-back socializing and catching up with people I haven’t seen in a few months. I was staying with my friend Geraldene for a few days and she told me I would have made a great #tradwife. Missed opportunity … or maybe a future one!
As a side note, I started a little apparel company to help raise funds for the Kamala Harris and Tim Walz campaign. You can visit it here.
08/11/24 – After five years of capitulating about where I am going to live, I’ve decided to settle down and make Portland my home. Picking a place to grow some roots is a very big deal for me. Huge. But I’ve spent most of this year traveling and have come to realize how much I’ve missed looking at Mount Hood every day. I grew up in Oregon and couldn’t wait to leave it when I was a kid. Now I can’t wait to get back home. I love you, San Francisco, but summers are cold here, and I like it hotter.
Next, I am figuring out permanent work and thinking about buying a house. It’s all very exciting and grown-up. Is this fifty?
