Unravel

The last time I wrote was over five months ago. I was reminiscing on full circle moments and gearing up to start my role in the Governor’s Office. I started on Monday, March 10, 2025. It was the last two weeks of the 57th Legislative Session. Everyone was kind and welcoming, but also so incredibly busy trying to push the Governor’s agenda. I felt bad starting when I did, but I got to work right away on my assigned duties, even presenting to Boys and Girls Club state leadership about the Governor’s beautification and anti-littering campaign (you may have seen that commercial where Bryan Cranston reprised his role) in my second week. I laughed because I thought I was free from working weekends in my new job…not true during the Legislative Session.

I started my daily commute on the edge of winter. Spring hadn’t sprung forward just yet, so when I left at 6:45am it was still dark out, but I was washed with sunlight by the time I got to the State Capital. Luckily, the evening commute was filled with light until I got home. Over the past five months, through my commute, I have watched the seasons change: light spring snow, wind storms, seasonal rains and summer sunshine. I’ve watched the hollyhocks and sunflowers bloom under the sunshine and watched the hills turn green like New Mexico golf courses (an image shared with me from an intern who took the train in and out for 8 weeks) then become dotted with chartreuse shrubs and sage colored grass. I began to understand why Georgia O’Keeffe was enchanted with the landscape. During my morning commute, I listen to Brooke and Jeffrey in the Morning because it’s lighthearted and at moments makes me laugh. During the evening commute, I listen to Daily Reflections on the Hallow app and listen to the radio to keep me occupied while I drive like I’m in a Formula 1 race. The commute, while beautiful, can be rough because it makes for long days. I leave the house by 7:00am and come home, if it’s not deadlocked on Paseo, by 6:15pm. So because of these long days, I’m really no fun until the weekend, but my time in the car gives me the opportunity to decompress and enjoy the beautiful landscape.

On the rarity when I work in Albuquerque, I work out of the National Hispanic Cultural Center. It’s a beautiful campus, and our office area is pretty quiet unless there’s a conference or event in the main education conference center. The nice thing about working in the NHCC is that I have a beautiful view of the bosque (in the Roundhouse I have a view of the interior terrace but the doors are locked so I can’t even go out to see what’s happening in the rotunda). During the summer time, the NHCC was host to a children’s program, so it was fun to hear the laughter and excitement of the children. Currently, I walk outside to the incredible smell of green chile roasting nearby at Bueno Foods.

People have asked, “how’s it going?” and “what are you doing?” I can honestly say, “I’m a newb” when it comes to government with its protocol, own set of acronyms and every day I am learning something new. I can tell you it’s been checking all the boxes: I am challenged, I am making an impact and there are moments of pure joy (helping to bring joy to foster kids at a spring fling, working with interns, and meeting Emilio Estevez, just to name a few things). I didn’t have the desire to work in government because of the layers of bureaucracy that I heard about from family members, but working in the Governor’s office is so fast-paced that sometimes I feel like we are building the airplane while it takes off and if you know me you know I thrive in those moments. It’s also about fixing issues, which is another thing I love, but some of the work I do really challenges that outcome because of the complexity. I work on Special Projects primarily on quality of life issues and community engagement. Because I love my community, I have brought them into this work in many different ways from the children’s events, to the councils I am the Governor’s liaison to.

This summer I had the pleasure of having 11 interns report to me. They were a mixture high school and college students. I enjoy working with youth and this group was great and really engaged. It was the first time I had students with me for more than one day at a time (the the past I’ve hosted day events for youth through Junior Achievement and Bring Your Child to Work). I feel like most really enjoyed their time in the office–so much so that 4 asked for extended time. Because I supervised them, I had the opportunity to learn more about different agencies, from economic development, to department of Health, to the Supreme Court, to Children Youth and Families. All were impactful in learning about all the work the state does, but CYFD stayed close to me. It was good to see how those young leaders interacted with the children staying at the receiving center. One of the college students talked about the impact her time as an intern had on her. She stated that she felt that her connection to her home, Santa Fe, was weakened when she went away to college but her time in the internship really rebuilt that connection. She took the lead on one of the clean-up events and even made a statement during public comment at a SF City Council meeting.

I stepped into a lead role on the Governor’s anti-litter and beautification initiatives because of it I was invited to the filming of the next commercial and was able to meet Vince Gilligan the brilliant mind Breaking Bad. It was also so interesting to be on the flip side of some of the work I had done over the past five years at Macy’s when I worked with the costume shoppers. At one point, I noticed a Bar III (Macy’s private label tag) hanging off one of the cast member’s shirts. I saw one of my favorite costume designers, Katie, and MUA, Ashlynne. It was interesting to see all that goes into a 30 second commercial.

I have had the privilege to attend a few events at the Residence, yet haven’t really traveled the state, except a day trip to Roswell (it was my first visit and I was excited to see how the town embraces extraterrestrials). It’s interesting as an independent voter, people think because I work for a democratic governor that I’m a democrat. But the thing is she is probably closer to republicans when it comes to economic development and public safety and is more progressive when it comes to education, energy and women’s rights, but really moderate most of the time. And I think that is where we have the problem. We have become so polarized and it’s easier to put beliefs into silos and have stopped listening for understanding but instead listen to find out if the person is friend or foe. I am truly scared in the direction this country is going in, so the more I can learn and work to make build community the more I am grateful for this job, but no joke there are moments that keep me up at night.

I started watching The New Look again on AppleTv. This limited series chronicles the lives of Christian Dior and Coco Chanel during and after World War II. While there is a focus on the breakout of Christian Dior’s The New Look from 1947, what really has struck me about this story is the what directions ordinary or extraordinary people took during Nazi occupied France during WWII. What does desperation do to us? How do we resist? And without going down the rabbit hole, I think about the current state of our country and how those in power are painting the picture that people who don’t look like you are the enemy even creating massive sign up bonuses if they choose a job to round up this demographic. I can’t help to think we are on the wrong path, so how as a country do we say enough is enough? And how do we connect with our neighbor with empathy and not apathy? You can say there are moments I am on the struggle bus and feel a little like Atlas, but then I think there are small things I can do. I may unravel a bit but then I sit back and look at the situation from a different view and approach.

Being in Santa Fe, means I have to make a concentrated effort to see people, although, the invitation is always open to anyone who wants to come up to see me. lol. When I have time to spend catching up with loved ones, I jump at it. Thank you to everyone who really came through for my birthday month (believe it I celebrate all month). Some I hadn’t seen for months.

With that being said, I haven’t had time to focus on my passion project. I had to bow out of the Meow Wolf show and a friend was trying to connect me to a group that was putting on a fashion panel during a creatives event. I wasn’t able to commit to it. I had one commissioned dress this spring. You never know what you’ve got until it’s gone. I didn’t think Joann’s closing would be so impactful but the only other SUPER limited choices for local fashion fabric are Michael’s and Hobby Lobby and they weren’t very helpful in what I needed. It was difficult carve out time needed create the dress so I was down to crunch time when I was working on the final alterations and as I was cutting a thread, cut through the bust. I wanted to cry because I knew there we no returning from it. I returned the patron’s money. I still have the dress on the form….looking at me like a big fat failure. To top it all off, Hopeless + Cause Atelier just turned 10 on August 25th. At the beginning of the year, I thought I’d plain a big show to celebrate and plan for Tokyo Fashion Week, but I’m not in the right headspace so instead I shared a few of my fashion photos and cherished all the moments. I get asked about what I’m doing with Hopeless + Cause Atelier and I wish I could say more, but this role has consumed my life. I know my time here is limited and I have fun with it with my instagram clock down calendar, each week I have a photo montage of what is happening.

I hope to create soon, but in the meantime I am gaining all I can from this role and giving all I can to the people in our state. I don’t have a lot of leave built up and I’m saving it for a special trip with my bestie, so I’ve been taking short weekend trips where I can. I’ve been chronicling my life one week at a time or “All in a week”. I have decided to live it one week at a time because I know my time in the Governor’s office is limited. There are 15 months left in her administration and she’s not stopping or taking the lame duck approach. She is moving full speed ahead which inspires me to think what is next.

If you want to take a trip to the City Different, take the train and meet me for lunch or dinner (I can drive you back to the train station). I’d love to see you. I am still setting my sights on Tokyo for 2026.

With light and love,
Dara Sophia Romero