Oasis

Just about two years ago (to the date), I woke up one morning with a vivid dream of creating an oasis for a community. At the time, our family was freshly relocated to Asheville for (what we hoped for) a climate-safe, more affordable, and slower-moving life. So when I dreamt the oasis vision, I wondered if it was something that was meant to unfold in Asheville. Well. If you’ve been a part of our journey for the past two years, you know that we ended up leaving Asheville shortly after Hurricane Helene and returned to the canyon. So our stay in North Carolina was very short and sweet (and also challenging in many ways). But the vision I had in my dream stuck with me.

Since we returned to Southern California after a three-month stay in Asheville, our lives have been full between multiple relocations for our family, a studio move from Altadena to Eagle Rock, and the wildfires our community faced in early 2025 (...and is still experiencing the impact from). Driving multiple times each week between Topanga and Eagle Rock has also been incredibly consuming for me both physically and psychologically. I recently came to a humbling realization that if I kept going at this pace, I would probably not be able to flourish from within.

So I decided to call unapologetic leaves of absence this summer on a few things in my life. Now with a little more breathing space, it seems that the oasis vision is starting to unfold... slowly. There have been more conversations about planning near-future in-person activities for our BK community at our Eagle Rock studio. Once my autumn schedule is sorted out, I can't wait to pin more concrete dates & ideas to gather small groups of analogue enthusiasts, one meeting at a time. At home too, an intimate gathering of family and friends is finally starting to happen, including last weekend's indigo dye community bath we hosted in our garden. The get-together all happened very casually. Caitlin, our textile artist friend, introduced me to the idea of dying with indigo at home using an available indigo dye kit (I purchased this one from Botanical Colors in Seattle). 

I reached out to a few friends to bring something to dye and something to share at a potluck. The result was an afternoon full of collaborative and supportive laughter & conversations, centered around the metaphorical campfire of our indigo vat (a bucket full of beautiful indigo that kept us going with more and more to dye!). We took turns dipping our shirts, dresses, pants, kitchen linens, and even a few pieces of bedding. The hands-on, creative atmosphere filled the garden, and we were awed by each other's projects when fabric came out of the bucket wearing just the perfect shade of blue. 

Sure. The indigo colors probably came out much darker on my dresses if I’d done this alone without sharing the vat, since I would have had more chance to dip my clothes... but then again, why would I? The afternoon was perfect as it was, and my newly-indigo-dyed dresses will always hold the special memory from the afternoon.

I am going into this weekend with the same spirit and energy as we take part in Stationery Store Day stamp rally, organized by another local stationery store, Shorthand. It will be fun, it will be exciting, and it will be very full (both literally and metaphorically)! We will be hosting the stamp rally both August 1st (today) and August 2nd (tomorrow) between 12-5 pm at our Eagle Rock location. If you are in the neighborhood, I hope you will swing by to collect your stamp! 

Even though I imagine our in-house BK community engagements, which I will be planning for near-future calendar dates, will be much quieter and more intimate compared to this weekend's event, I hope that today and tomorrow will be an opportunity to kickstart the oasis vision for BK and share our collective passion for all things analogue!  

-wakako,

always a metamorphosis in progress...

Topanga // August 1st, 2026

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