Colombian Mamacita ☀️

📍Los Angeles, California Today is my birthday. 💋🎂🎞️🥳📸🎞️ And somehow, it’s also the anniversary of my first book, Bonjour Baby. A deep thank you to everyone who has welcomed my words, my photographs, my stories, and my love into their homes over the years. It still feels slightly unreal. This year gave me grief, growth, marriage, new beginnings, creative crises, and a renewed sense of purpose. For as long as I can remember, I’ve existed somewhere between light and darkness. Fascinated by beauty, obsessed with mystery, endlessly drawn to the things that live in the shadows, 💋 while somehow remaining attached to God, always hoping He would turn me into a flower. For years, I thought suffering was part of the job description. I thought pain made people interesting. I thought the struggle was where the art lived. Now I’m not so sure.Some of the most beautiful things in my life arrived when I finally allowed myself to be loved. When I stopped running. When I stopped trying to earn joy. This year I got married to my best friend, found purpose in unexpected places, and slowly began trusting happiness again. Maybe joy is the bigger plot twist. 33 feels less like a new chapter and more like coming home to myself. Still romantic. Still curious. Still a little melancholic. Still making art. Thank you for being here. 🤍 Love, Melissa