100 stores

mornin’ merry makers ☀️🧃🛍️🍹⛱️

when i think about summer, i think about malls.

long hot texas summer afternoons wandering from one air-conditioned store to the next. trying on dresses i’d never wear to see what it felt like to be that version of myself. clutching a starbucks frappuccino in one hand & a dream in the other.

summer was when i learned how to explore who i was becoming.

& stores gave me the stage.

they were where i went to discover, to try, to remember, to imagine.

even now, whenever i travel somewhere new, i always carve out time to explore their shopping culture. not the tourist-y spots, but the local gems. the spots that tell you something about a city & the people who live in it.

retail, at its best, still does that for me.

it grounds me. it delights me. it teaches me.

this summer, i want to celebrate the stores that do that for others.

i’m calling the series 100 stores of summer.

you’ve made it to the good part 😎