When I think of green jays, I think of home. The little lime green and cobalt blue tropical birds can only be found in the U.S. along the border in the Rio Grande Valley. They reside in the region’s acacia, ebony, and hackberry brush year-round and can easily be seen fluttering about the thornscrub forest at Quinta Mazatlan, a converted Spanish Colonial Revival-style estate where I had my wedding in April. For months I’d been searching for what to gift my parents to commemorate the big day. That’s when I noticed the green jay-themed silk scarf and tie on display in the gift shop. These were the birds of all our childhoods painted by Mexican fashion house Pineda Covalin—“the Gucci of Mexico,” the shop clerk said—in striking yellows, greens, and blues. On the day before the wedding, I presented my parents with their gifts, a symbol of gratitude for our lives’ special moments in the RGV.
From the September 2026 issue
