At Noon: Alden Lopez
She flies drones over the Gulf at sunrise looking for sea turtles and ray migrations. Her camera roll is half dog, half ocean. Her suitcase is basically a second home.
At noon, Alden Lopez is usually mid-lunch-break, phone somewhere out of reach.
A content creator and co-founder of JAW Creative — the social media agency she runs with her sister Jordan and their team — Alden has spent 15 years building a career out of noticing things.
She's also a commercially licensed drone photographer, which means her workdays sometimes start with a beach at sunrise and a bird's-eye view of the water. When she's not traveling, home is Seaside, FL, with her husband Max and their two rescue dogs, Cheerio and Jack.
What we'd find her doing at noon
Lunch, if she can get to it. Right now that means Fishwife spicy tuna with Wickles pickles, a Japanese dipping sauce, and celery, paired with nut thins.
After lunch, she takes fifteen minutes outside. A walk, or just sitting. Any excuse to get outside, she takes it.
Her midday reset
Fifteen minutes, no phone. She plans ahead by nature, so she's built in the moments that pull her back to where she actually is — a walk, a beach, a camera pointed at something interesting instead of a screen.
What she's romanticizing right now
Morning coffee, and the solo hour she gets on the beach around 6am before the day asks anything of her.
If her camera roll had a "Noon" folder
Dogs and ocean, mostly. Hundreds of photos of Cheerio and Jack. Water from every angle her drone can find. It's the most honest record of what her life actually looks like.
Her Casa
An espresso maker she starts every morning with. Her Lola blankets. A Kinto cup that goes everywhere with her.
What's in her bag around noon
Casa Noon Sabbatical Serum, a camera, lip gloss, and no fewer than three pairs of sunglasses.
On becoming
She's already a positive person — the work now is in the details. A daily walk. Phone down at the end of the day so she's present with Max. Mornings that start with a routine, so she has something left to give the people in her life by the time noon rolls around.
Where she feels most herself
On the beach at sunrise, drone in hand, looking for whatever the ocean decided to show up with that day.
What her noon self would tell her 9 AM self
"Did you take time to do your skincare routine before you checked your email?"
Alden's days move fast — new cities, new shoots, a business she's building alongside her sister. But noon is where she slows down enough to eat something good, step outside, and remember what she's working toward. Discipline in the mornings, softness by midday. A life lived mostly out of a suitcase, anchored by a few things that stay the same wherever she is.