Building a visual library

In his artbook The Hobbit Sketchbook, wonder | wander | women favourite Alan Lee talks about the way he collects visual references by drawing them into his sketchbook.

Historical costume studies for our book project

mindful mending

Valuing our clothes and the cost of fast fashion present countless environmental impacts of the clothing industry around the world. 

wonder | wander | women love our clothes both old and new - this is how we do our bit to enjoy them guilt free. So what's our sustainable clothing action plan? 

jeans #1 - laid out & worn

Through the years we've created our own opportunities to reduce the resource impacts of the clothing we own and wear - gaining benefits as we do. We'd like to share them here with you! 

busy bees: sewing project

wonder | wander | women often collaborate on projects, and our latest is the most fun one so far: an embroidery project! We got some beautiful linen shirts and are designing them together.

I'v only recently started learning how to sew again - I can hem sleeves and jeans, and sew on a button, but I have no idea how to embroider. Mom, on the other hand, can sew super fast and loves embroidery, but she likes working from a pattern instead of drawing one herself.

visionary work

If the public knew what is already possible, then they would have every reason to be optimistic about the future that can be built.

Dystopian anxiety is dominating discussions about the future, leaving younger generations paralyzed by despair. 

But research scientist and philosopher Samuel McKee argues we are being too pessimistic, placing too much blame on technology. 

Futurism: science & technology optimism

Greenwich: maritime monuments

Summer is ending before wonder | wander | women are ready, so we're looking back on sunny memories instead. We visited a friend at Greenwich and had a lovely stroll around the riverfront.

dreamer of dreams

When we explore the great names of the Golden Age of Illustration in Europe - especially in England - a prominent stand out is Edmund Dulac. He was one of the great illustrators of the early twentieth century. 

Edmund Dulac painted many wonderful pieces for a variety of stories - The Little Mermaid, Arabian Nights, Beauty and the Beast, Dreamer of Dreams, Daughters of the Stars, Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, The Garden of Paradise, Gods and Mortals in Love, Kingdom of the Pearl, Le Papillon Rouge, The Raven and Other Poems, The Rubaiyat, Stealers of Light, The Snow Queen, Tanglewood Tales, The Tempest. 

a prized English edition,1925 

wonder | wander | women were raised on his gorgeously intricate Orientalist illustrations. Fables and fairy tales that ignited our young lives and active imagination - immediately and for all time. 

sketchbook practice

Art is a muscle and you have to exercise it. wonder | wander | women have gone through a lot of sketchbooks over the years. 

from our Techo Kaigi post

Drawing is also an exercise - you don't have to do it every day, but keep it up at least three times a week or it will get harder to do. A week will go by, then two or three, then a month or two, and before you know it you've forgotten how to start again.

when women retell the classics

wonder | wander | women enjoy compiling and sharing our summer reading and holiday book lists as we read, read, read all throughout the year. 

Greek tales are having a recent renaissance with feminist retellings that are not just reclaiming women in mythology but are also turning patriarchal folklore on its head. 

There’s something about our oldest stories that never gets old. Rereading classical mythology can be an exercise in surprise and recognition mixed together. 

The Iliad & The Odyssey by Homer - Emily Wilson’s translations

There are things missed in a myth from previous tellings that can be utterly vital to understanding its meaning. Myths hit us somewhere below the brain, at some irrational, dreamlike level that somehow feels truer than regular stories. 

Space Invader street art

Since wonder | wander | women first moved to London, we found and loved the cheeky street art of French guerrilla artist Invader. His tile artworks imitating 8-bit pixel art are dotted around this city, as well as several European cities we happened to visit.

a sweet & wondrous adventure

O sweet child, I can't imagine it's been four and more decades since I first held you in my arms - time sure flies! 

You are my wild child. A truly free spirit. A divine gift. Miracle baby of mine. 

Every single child is a gift. But you, my wild one, have rocked my world. 

illustration of Max from "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak 

You taught me how to be a mom. To embrace the joys of motherhood. 

London scorcher

wonder | wander | women will remember this summer forever. We have seen solar eclipses before, and Mom was lucky enough to see a total eclipse, but this was the first time I was able to see one where the sun was almost fully covered.

Watching the solar eclipse at Wanstead Flats

stitch therapy

After years of hand sewn personal projects, wonder | wander | women now advocate openly to stitch away our troubles and sorrows, thoughts and dreams, fun and schemes! 

Whether a newbie or a seasoned crafter - there's much to dive into and bring out those creative vibes through a world of colorful threads and mindful therapy. 

Want to join a sewing bee? Stitch and bitch circle of connectedness? Form a tribe of Tiny Pricks followers? 

DMC crafts white on white embroidery kit

There are countless ways to apply ourselves in whatever interest drive or skill level we have at hand. Driven and inspired to use and reuse, recycle and upcycle, reveal and rejoice. 

rebinding: giving notebooks a second life

wonder | wander | women love collecting and using up stationery, and between working at a paper store in New York and a bookstore in London we have amassed a library of beautiful journals and sketchbooks. But sometimes the notebooks fill up far too fast and we want to carry around that gorgeous cover a bit longer.

Journals from Moleskine, Paperblanks and Insight Editions

building a lasting living legacy

wonder | wander | women are happy to crow about Angelica Urra Berrie - our sister and aunt, who has spent her lifetime spreading much good in many working communities worldwide. 

Her husband, Russell Berrie created the Making a Difference Award in 1997 to recognize changemakers and unsung heroes who make New Jersey a better place. They worked together until his death in 2002, when Angelica took on the work that continued and expanded to what it now is in 2026, 

2026 Making a Difference honorees 

Since that time, the Making a Difference Award - in partnership and under the management of Ramapo College - has celebrated more than 450 honorees and awarded $4.4 million to advance innovative, community-centered solutions. 

the magic of collage

wonder | wander | women are paper people. We love notebooks, watercolour pads, stickers, and all sorts of stationery (we even know how to spell it properly). And like so many stationery lovers, we especially love to stick pieces of paper to other pieces of paper.

Journal spread inspired by Joseph Cornell

decade grand design

As we posted last week, birthday retreats are an annual treat wonder | wander | women prioritize. More so this year - to mark a new decade in a rich long life of promise. 

cosmic meditation

This retreat was a three-day weekend intensive spent in forested mountain mists and wild stormy weather. Ideal to have the outside environment reflect the interior work we had committed to - Healing Ancestral Trauma and Family Dynamics. 

Happy Birthday Mom!

Every July 12 wonder | wonder | women's Bhakti goes on a retreat for her birthday, to reflect and replenish for the coming year. This year is a big deal because she celebrates her 70th!

Matching Marimekko for London summers

Happy birthday Mom!! We've had so many fun adventures together, I wanted to post some pictures of us around the world. Like my memories, the pictures aren't chronological, but they paint a picture of our life together even when we live in separate countries.

250 to 250 USA

From the time of our country’s founding 250 years ago, the story of America has been one of the constant effort of Americans - from all races, ethnicities, genders, and abilities - to make real the belief that we are all created equal and have a right to have a say in our democracy. 

We will be telling their stories over the next several weeks because now, as ever, “We Are America.” ~ Heather Cox Richardson

On this 250th anniversary of the birth of a nation, we wrestle with the complexity of America and how we feel about it. It is a timely reminder of the good stuff while not sugarcoating or shying away from the hard stuff. 

4th of July, Edgewater NJ

We are reclaiming American democracy and taking strength from it to combat those who would destroy it in our era. The Trump administration is really complicating a lot of people's relationship with patriotism and America at the moment. 

post-travel journal

What happens when wonder | wander | women put together the perfect sketchbook kit for travelling... and then leave it behind? 

There we were in Paris, the jewel of the continent, beauty in every direction, and we were empty of sketchbook, watercolours, pens or pencils.

sunset at Pont Alexandre III

On other trips we brought the notebook, journal, pens...everything ready but us. There was no time to sketch because we were busy seeing everything, keeping company with friends or family, or moving to the next location. What to do? 

writing & drawing by hand

A lasting benefit our Benedictine education (ora et labora) brought wonder | wander | women were penmanship classes. Before that we watched our parents writing longhand - admiring their beautiful handwriting and eagerly awaiting our turn to put thought to paper so beautifully. 

"Bayan Ko" chorus in baybayin by Mahala Urra

Long before studies showed the importance of hand writing and how among other things it engages the whole human being - we were encouraged to write legibly and well. 

Being creative ignited our love for cursive early on. Eventually this art form spread into other calligraphic options. Including writing in our own regional native alphabet, badlit - the Visayan version of the better known baybayin, Philippine script of Luzon islands. 

wonder | wander | women creative collaboration

Baybayin is a pre-Spanish 14th to 18th century writing system used in the Philippines to write Tagalog and other Philippine languages and dialects. Baybayin is an abugida, which combines a consonant and vowel into a single symbol that represents a syllable. The name comes from the Tagalog word baybay, which means "to spell".

paris la vie

wonder | wander | women are lucky to have been to some of the world's iconic cities: Rome, New York, London, Paris. These are cities we have seen in art and media, read about it in books, and otherwise have heard about our whole life. 

The Eiffel Tower over the Seine

midyear visions & vistas

Another month has come and gone in this year, 2026 - what and where has it brought us so far? 

Challenged as we are to look past all the noise and drama that has been parked right up our face - wonder | wander | women are opting for the long view, beyond the currents of chaos and strife. Towards the BIG picture - to where we can find succor, support and sustenance. 

nature & wildlife images, National Geographic

In the language of numbers, 6 carries the vibration of Venus - the force of unconditional love, harmony, beauty, and healing. On 6/6, this energy doubles, creating one of the most open portals of the year for heart activation, releasing old wounds, and aligning with abundance. This energy is available to us for six whole days. 

The Lady and the Unicorn

wonder | wander | women don't often speak of going on a pilgrimage. Many of our family have been on the Camino di Santiago, and in 2001 we celebrated the Maha Kumbh Mela with our community in India. A trip to a museum doesn't seem comparable at first, but in the days of modern travel more people embark on a cultural pilgrimage, to see Charles Dickens' house or Karl Marx's grave or the Museé du Louvre.

wild wonders & noble beasts

Last week, we joined the world to celebrate International Museum Day under the theme Museums Uniting a Divided World. 

We proudly posted our hometown island's museum with a majestic artwork of a three-ton carabao at its entrance. The water buffalo is the national mammal of the Philippines. The shockingly sad reality today is the carabao is slowly disappearing from our country's agricultural landscape. 

BAO: the unbowed carabao at The Negros Museum

A new exhibition at the Philippine National Museum of Natural History located in a niche at the landing on the fifth level is a family of carabaos from Nueva Ecija that was especially prepared by the museum’s taxidermists and scientists. 

museums | time portals | bridging divides

On 18 May 2026, museums worldwide will mark International Museum Day under the theme “Museums Uniting a Divided World”. The theme highlights the potential of museums to act as bridges across cultural, social, and geopolitical divides, fostering dialogue, understanding, inclusion and peace within and between communities worldwide. 

popular museums around the world

Every year on May 18th, International Museum Day provides an opportunity for museum professionals to alert the general public about the importance of museums and the challenges they face. 

Mother's Day: say it with flowers

wonder | wander | women celebrate Mother's Day twice a year: first in the UK for Mothering Sunday in March, and then in the US and Philippines for the more familiar Mothers' Day. And like many people around the world, we celebrate with flowers.

Rose in watercolour

honoring nature's blue expanse & green vistas

wander | wander | women recently explored the concept of blue mind - the neuroscience of water associated peace that creates a sense of general happiness and satisfaction with life in the moment. 

In contrast to red mind - which neuroscientist Catherine Franssen, PhD, describes as "an edgy high characterized by stress, anxiety, fear, and maybe even a little of anger and despair" - blue mind induces a mildly meditative state characterized by calm, peace, unity. 

our island paradise

The difference between red mind and blue mind is that a red mind is one that has been impacted by the velocity of today’s society as compared with a blue mind that has been calmed by the soothing effects of water.

Bern, Switzerland

For wonder | wander | women's adventures in Switzerland last year, we were invited to stay with friends who live in one of the most fascinating medieval towns in the world. Bern is a UNESCO World Heritage site, founded in 1191 on a peninsula formed by the meandering Aare River.

View of Bern from the Rose Garden

saints, sinners, lovers, fools

April is here - bringing with it sunshine and warmth, fun and play outdoors, spring and allergies, upheavals and challenges. 

“The figure of the fool walked off the margins of medieval manuscripts into the unholy courts of the Renaissance, then returned to the page as Hamlet’s Yorick. Later, in the age of reason and democracy, the parodist of royal dignity became a mirror of the universal condition: Dostoevsky’s ‘holy fool’ and Picasso’s grubby clowns; Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.” ~ Dominic Green, The Wall Street Journal 

lousy world leaders - Firuz Kutal cartoon

Tough times call for more care and compassion. 

spring on the water

This season has really been a rollercoaster! wonder | wander | women are dressing in layers and making sure that the cotton shirts and the fleece pants are available, because we never know how the weather will change from one day to the next. 

Postman's Park by the Postal Museum

holy week - shaping perceptions, beliefs, relationships

Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday is the last week of Lent. An opportune time to retreat from regular bustling busy business. Taking a few days of quiet and reflection for ourselves. 

Starting on Palm Sunday, wonder | wander | women gathered together to visit and pray with our parents who had passed away last year. 

Palm Sunday sunset

We arrived in time to catch the sun setting past the distant row of palms that bordered the property. Spending some time with siblings to offer prayers and chat around their urns. Filling them in on some updates we chose to share together. 

Gruyéres - the misty mountains of Switzerland

When wonder | wander | women touched down in Switzerland for the very first time, it was the wettest, gloomiest day of the summer. Sometimes even storybook wishes can be granted in mysterious ways.

advancing its young artists locally in Dumangas, Iloilo

Home to a thriving new crop of artists, Magnet Gallery is an immersive experience in the local art, entertainment and environment of Dumangas. 

Magnet Gallery, Library & Cafe' - Dumangas, Iloilo

Located on Salas Street, Municipality of Dumangas, Province of Iloilo, in the Philippines — it is a home grown collaborative where art, nature, and wellbeing are actively supported and sustained in advocacy and community.

lift your head

The world that wonder | wander | women live in has been growing dark. There are times when a bone-deep weariness threatens to consume us, taking up all thought and energy. A thousand griefs come from all over the world, overwhelming us with our own close and personal grief.

View of St Paul and the Shard in London

feed our thirst & fill us up with heART

On a recent lakwatcha adventure to Iloilo wonder | wander | women spent our days exploring art studios, galleries and museums. Viewing the displays and exhibits fed our thirst for wonder and filled is with insight and inspiration - enough to tide us over until another visit. 

We were missing this sorely the past year - collections of art purposely displayed to enhance its beauty so it spills over to us - its viewers and appreciative audience. 

March 2026 line up at IloMOCA

Crammed into only a few days spared, all the visual overload and creative overstimulation overcame us in a fevered frenzy. Images flying by our flickering lids left us gasping and breathless. Filling our senses to overflowing - our proverbial cups running over in generous waves of delight and awe. 

signs of life

After months of darkness and rain, wonder | wander | women were relieved to finally see the sun out for a whole day! We've had weeks of false alarms and hints of spring, little signs that warmer days were coming.

Gardenias blooming early

solo travel | seeking sanctuary in solitude

It's great to be able to surprise yourself every so often - keeps you young and on your toes, in the best of ways. Since the mid 1990s it's been our practice to carve out time to go on regular retreats. 

In a past life, while fully immersed in a spiritual community, this was easy to attain. Back on home ground on our own, it's become a bit more challenging to achieve. 

they have carabaos here too

After a year in our island home, wonder wander women carved out some me-time and took a trip away from it all. We needed some time to recover and recoup after a long hard year of uncertainty and loss. 

waiting for spring

wonder | wander | women's word for the year so far is "deluge". Between grey or freezing weather, natural disasters, and the man-made disasters of our collective governments, the year has barely started and it already feels like we're being swept away.

Kalachuchi (Frangipani) in ballpoint and watercolour

Imbolc. Full Leo Snow Moon. Brigid.

For the Triple Goddess - Maiden, Mother, Crone - alive in every cycle of becoming. 

A celebration of returning light, Imbolc is a Gaelic festival that marks the beginning of spring. Also called Candlemas (Christian), New Year (Tibetan, Chinese, Iroquois), Tu Bi-Shevat (Jewish). 

maiden, mother, crone painting by Beryl Noyce

Goddess festival of Brigit, Brighid, Brigid (Celtic). It is our mid-winter celebration, prophecy, purification, initiation. Imbolc reminds us that even in the coldest season, the fire has already begun.

a season of regrowth

wonder | wander | women are oceans apart once again, but for the first time in years we were able to spend the holiday season together. This year was intensely emotional for both of us. We were so happy to be able to see out 2025 and greet 2026 together.

Twinning for Christmas!

new orbit, new outlook

The New Moon in Capricorn (18 January 2026) brings the first powerful reset of the year, inviting us to set grounded intentions, create a steady foundation, and commit to our long-term visions. 

This Capricorn New Moon is a time to redefine success, cut distractions, and build a life that feels aligned, meaningful, and sustainable. 

the human circadian rhythm ("biological clock")

If you’ve been feeling called to take yourself and your dreams more seriously, this New Moon is your sign to begin. One steady step at a time. 

2025 recap

This past holiday season has been the first time in over a decade that wonder | wander | women have spent together, back in our island home in the Philippines. 

Unfortunately, it was not a happy case of time flies when you're having fun. But more of an overload of challenging circumstances - both personal and global. 

holiday wreath

Same time last year, while our US half spent the holidays with our Spanish cousins in New York City, our UK half spent it with longtime friends turned family - amid the bright Christmas lights in Regent Street and holiday cheer of Piccadilly in London.