Today would have been my mom’s birthday. And somehow, it is also the day I am finally sharing the hardest decision I have made in this business.

When she passed, I believed I was simply trying to recover the recipes I had lost with her. I did not know that every dish, every question, and every conversation with my family would keep opening the work outward until it reached Puerto Rico as a whole. Its food, its history, its politics, and the distance between the island and those of us raised away from it.

For months, I tried to hold on to the version of Endlessly Elated I already knew while making room for the work I could no longer turn away from. But this work has asked for more than a corner of the brand. It has asked for all of me.

So today, I am closing Endlessly Elated as a lifestyle brand. The years that have come before mean more to me than I can express. The design, the shop, the homes, the recipes, and every chapter we built together were part of the path. But this next chapter belongs fully to Puerto Rico and to keeping the thread between its kitchens and the rest of us from thinning.

There is something about sharing this on her birthday that feels like more than a coincidence. I’d like to believe it’s a little wink from heaven.

Happy birthday, Mom. I went looking for your recipes, and somehow they led me here.

I shared the full story in today’s Substack letter. It is linked in my bio. ❤️ ...

Some things are just facts. All of these are not kinda chic, but ultra chic. And of course, pegao is a delicacy. ❤️ ...

The Puerto Rican edition to this trend. I know this list isn’t finished. Any that you’ve heard not listed here?

Oh, just in case - Pegao is not simply burnt rice. It’s the crispy layer formed at the bottom of the caldero, not the “I forgot the stove was on” and it went too far. On that note, a caldero is not interchangeable with any pot. Don’t ask me, just ask every abuelita to ever exist. Recao is not another name for cilantro. They are different herbs. And of course, coquito and pasteles carry their own ingredients and traditions. Equally as delicious as eggnog or tamales, but definitely different. ...