It’s a case study in institutional failure, systemic abuse, corruption, collusion, cover-ups, and personal resilience. It’s about a woman who followed every rule, built something out of nothing, and had it drowned, erased, and ignored — by the very people who were supposed to protect her.
My livelihood and purpose were taken from me by a corrupt, bias judge and a reckless nonprofit whose mission statement and actions are completely misaligned.
My story is not just a story.
That is why Meraki meant something . Not just because of the brands. Not just because of the visuals. But because it made women feel seen. It made them feel like they belonged to something bigger, softer, cooler, kinder. It gave us a moment to remember who we wanted to be. And that's sacred.
I wasn’t just running a boutique. I was creating a portal. A safe space for women to land anytime they needed it - whether they bought something or not. I was building my own non-profit for women and their pets who are victims of dv. i had spent 2 years putting a fashion show together as my first event.
I wanted Meraki to be a place that somebody walked into and felt like they knew me - even if they never met me.
READ ABOUT MY NON-PROFIT, WOMAN ALONE →
Ever since I was robbed of my livelihood by my nonprofit housing organization landlords called RUPCO (after they caused two catastrophic floods in my store within 10 months, during the pandemic, 19 days into my tenancy — a timeline you’ll see me repeat — a lot) I’ve had a hard time connecting to or believing in anything. I trust no one. Good intentions have a hidden agenda. People are not safe. Nothing but that dark road in the middle of the night is safe…I look forward to it all day. It's the only thing I've had to look forward to in as long as I can remember.
I don’t go anywhere during the day. I can’t be at my apartment without feeling like I’m crawling out of my skin, so I’m always in my car. I have fallen asleep in my car in every parking lot within a 50 mile radius. I have fallen asleep driving and ended up in a ditch off the thruway at 3:30 in the morning. I have fallen asleep in the parking lot where I park when I’m home because I don’t want to go inside and I don’t have the energy to deal with navigating the maze I’ve created to avoid seeing my store.
I realized when walking at 2:00 in the morning, in the middle of nowhere, with coyotes howling and the sounds of animals moving in the woods, that most people would think I was completely insane — and would never do it. I don’t jump when I hear a sound in the woods. I don’t get scared when I hear coyotes, or when an owl lets out a screech that sounds like someone screaming in the distance. The darkness doesn’t make me afraid. That hour or two is actually the only time I feel safe. On a dark road in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere.
Vanessa
intro
Because nature and everything in it has never betrayed me, never hurt me, never lied to me, never gaslit me into wanting to run my car into a tree, never taken from me; if I wanted to leave, nature wouldn’t hold me hostage. It always listens to me. Hears me. Nature has been the one constant in my life that I can always rely on, no matter what. When nothing makes sense and my mind won’t stop racing it has been the only thing that grounds me. When I need to feel a connection to something bigger than me I head into the woods.
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"If you start thinking about being likeable,
you're not going to tell your story honestly."
meraki
(boutik)
a sm buses
It wasn’t just a store. It was a love song to who I am and what women like me have always needed: beauty, freedom, and grounding all in one place.
It was independence after a lifetime of instability and survival mode, a sanctuary where I finally felt rooted, proud, and safe in my own body, an emotional, financial, and spiritual lifeline after years of abuse and chaos, and a place where I was fully in control of my life for the first time
eraki was a visual love letter to fashion, independence, and identity. It was the LA canyon soul with Brooklyn grit, wrapped in an earthy-boho editorial dream. There was intention in every single detail.
M
with big potential
Soufflé tootsie roll tart lemon drops brownie macaroon. Gingerbread cotton candy powder toffee chocolate cake gummies chocolate candy. Gingerbread halvah caramels oat cake. Brownie tiramisu chocolate jelly beans bear claw chocolate cake sesame snaps sweet cupcake. Chocolate bar macaroon cookie chocolate sweet danish cookie. Fruitcake cotton candy topping ice cream sweet roll dessert bear claw. Candy cotton candy croissant chocolate muffin.
Bonbon biscuit lemon drops dessert chupa chups toffee. Gingerbread tiramisu icing jujubes cookie pie.
Tart lemon drops brownie macaroon. Gingerbread cotton candy powder toffee chocolate cake gummies chocolate candy.
< back
A party seeking equitable relief (such as eviction)
must come with clean hands.
— National Distillers v. Seyopp Corp., 17 N.Y.2d 12 (1966)
I’ve spent the last 16 months gathering evidence, studying law, writing demands, filing reports, crying, raging, talking to myself, talking to my dogs, scaring my dogs when arguing with myself, trying to find a “why” for all the horrors I’ve been through since I opened the store, turning to nature, turning to god, turning to ice cream, and putting together a dossier that could be turned into a Netflix documentary called “Landlords Gone Wild: Profits Over People.”
it was nothing
but a dream
I shuttled back and forth between Red Hook and Rhinebeck; my Mom's house in Red Hook, my Dad's in Rhinebeck. I attended Red Hook Central School District from kindergarten through 12th grade, and we never moved. "The House That Built Me" is where my Mom and Stepdad still reside part time, and my Dad lives in South Carolina. My Mom and Dad built our house themselves, and my stepfather added an addition after he and my Mom got married when I was 8 years old.
I grew up riding my bike around Rhinebeck with my best friends; waking up at the crack of dawn, going to the Rhinebeck Deli, getting a "Bacon egg and cheese salt pepper no ketchup", and a Sunny D. We didn't go home until it started to get dark out, our parents weren't home after school waiting to present us with organic apples and almond butter - and we're still alive today to tell the stories.
was born and raised in the Hudson Valley. My journey began at Northern Dutchess Hospital on April 12th, 1980 at 10:10 AM.
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