About Me

Hello and welcome to The Estella Initiative, a travel and lifestyle blog run by Jessica Anderson, also known as Mary Ruth Anderson, a woman who lives in the Sonoran desert of Arizona. Jessica, also known as Jesse and Essie, is an artist/illustrator and freelance writer.

The Estella Initiative is a sister blog to Jessica’s art blog, Essie of Who, which is dedicated to her art, sewing, and nature photography. Although Jessica’s art blog originally started as an art and lifestyle blog, over the years it became so dominated by her art that it became hard to make lifestyle and travel posts. So, a lifestyle and travel blog, The Estella Initiative, was born!

In addition to daydreaming about places to travel and studying haute couture, her hobbies include sewing, drawing, photography, and hiking the desert.