The current Herbal-Roots (2025) winter collection, Illuminated Juxtapositions & Enlightening Travel, didn’t begin this year or in this season. Like all my herbal artistry, it was born from transformation, and this collection began taking shape long ago, when my global travel started at age 11. Wanderings that carried me through Nicaragua, Israel, Italy, Greece, Ecuador, Mexico, China, Vietnam, Berlin — places that imprinted themselves on how I cook, taste, move, observe, and understand herbs, and on how I understand those who love herbs the way I do. These herbal mixtures come from the same lived learning that built My Herbal Roots: a life shaped by wandering, carrying myself through different cultures and kitchens, watching how flavor behaves in the world, how people behave around food and otherwise, and by letting those impressions settle deeper into my natural instinct.

My herbal artistry has always been tied to my wanderings. Travel sharpened what herbs already asked of me — attention, simplicity, curiosity, humility. Being young inside unfamiliar rhythms, learning the taste of the unknown, being stretched by contrast and softened by generosity — all of it carved my foundation.

The following illuminati offers a more intimate look at place, for each of my winter 2025 offerings— a set of short place-stories that trace the noticing behind each mixture, offering context, nostalgia, and the small relearning’s that make this collection feel especially alive.

If you’re here reading this, know I’m working on getting it posted soon. I’ve overextended myself in the most serious holiday way.