Thankful
I'm about to head out to West Texas to visit Marfa and Big Bend for the rest of the week, so of course I'm thankful for that. And to have the week off of work which allowed me to sleep until 10:00 the past two days. Praise be.
But this past month for me has been sad! The world is in a strange place, my roommate and dear friend is en route to move to the East Coast, and the person I love more than anything told me he's leaving, too. No one wants to read blog posts about missing friends or hurting hearts. How whiny! How boring! How trite!
And so I think when people ask, "How are you doing?", they expect the standard, "I'm well. How about you?" Or we feel pressured to say, "I'm doing okay", or, "I feel sad, but things will get better". But sometimes we're just plain old sad. And we know things will get better, but then they'll probably be sad again someday, and get better again, and the cycle will continue on and on forever because that's how life goes.
We learn grasp for the good. Like when Eastside Yoga let me rent out a room to give Lainie a proper send off with her closest Austin friends. Or an unexpected adventure to another National Park. Or the fact that friends and strangers will even ask how you're doing at all.
So I hope you find that it's ok to say when you're sad, and then stop there. And instead of wishing it away so quickly, discover that it can be interesting to sit with a feeling, to find out how you respond to it, and what it has to teach you. That way, probably not today or next week or even by 2017, but whenever you're really ready, you might start to see the goodness glittering around its edges.
Sounds on Sounds
Well, this is a little late, but I went to a music festival.
Beach House (hardly pictured) @ Sound on Sound
At first I was skeptical about the Renaissance Faire/music festival combination, because I like both of those things, but thought they might distract from one another when placed in the same spot. However, I quickly found that the Sherwood Forest fairgrounds are quite magical and really cater to an off-the-beaten-path (read: trippy) festival experience! There were trees and surprises everywhere, and the Texas weather was even starting to feel vaguely like fall. I got to be a VIP, hang out with my friend Jessica (an empowered, hot lady who sells port-o-potties and has found a sneaky way to infiltrate the festival circuit), and also re-live OutKast at ACL a la 2014. If there's anything more I should be asking for in a weekend, I do not know it yet.
Big Boi @ Sound on Sound
In Praise of Friendship
Friends are great things to have. They'll invite you to their houses to carve pumpkins when you forget about holidays and don't even buy candy.
They'll send you nice videos when you're feeling sad.
They might even bring you surprise coffee or donuts.
And there are so many out there just waiting to know you. New or old, you can bet it's gonna be good.
The Scene
If y'all are getting tired of these not-so-humble weekly Austin brags, stop reading now! Because we're about to talk about live music in the "Live Music Capital of the World", and there's bound to be some boasting. But in a world where some people can count the number of concerts they've seen on one or two hands, it's really something to get to be around so much music on a daily basis.
Cream Cheese Accident @ One-2-One
In the past month, I've seen old folks jam in a strip mall, friends play their hearts out with free tamales in the background, and newly formed IT rock bands get onstage for the first time at one the biggest venues in Austin.
My friend Chris's new band @ Mohawk
Concrete Robot @ The Gatsby
We've got jam bands, EDM, hip hop, psych rock, synth pop, and whatever other words people are combining to describe sounds these days. There really seems to be something for everyone. Sure, some of our live* music is better than other types, but it's always here and it's usually happening. My ear drums may not make it past 50, but my dancing feet feel happy and my heart feels fresh.
Sometimes A Legend @ CheerUp Charlies (please excuse the terrible-ness of this photo)
*=I am using the terms "our" and "live" pretty loosely here. Shout outs to any kind and patient neighbors who have ever heard me trying to play drums in the garage.
Hidden Gems
In my yoga classes this week, I offered up the intention of looking at various aspects of our lives through the lens of a “Beginner’s Mind”. This Zen Buddhist concept means shifting our attitude about familiar things: poses, hobbies, work, studies, relationships, etc. to view them from a new angle, by imagining that we are taking part in them for the very first time. The practice opens up space for different possibilities and perspectives as our habits and preconceptions are broken down.
This got me thinking about applying a beginner’s mind to the places in which we live. When I first moved to Austin, my newcomer’s senses wanted to see and do everything. And taste everything, too, since I gained about 10 pounds upon moving here. I was a constant consumer of novelty. No adventure was too time-intensive, no distance too far. Heck, I’d sometimes even drive to San Antonio if the day felt right.
Now, as much as I love Austin, my endless explorations have settled into a routine list of favorite activities, restaurants, bars, and spots to spend my time. I guard my non-working hours closely, and if I’m going to drive south of the river or get on Mopac at all ever, there better be a darn good reason. I see the hot new places and excited out-of-towners moving in every day, but I feel happier (and lazier) to exist inside my usual bubble. My 2016 To-Try list doesn’t have nearly as many items crossed off as I was planning by this time in the year.
So I was excited last week when my friend Karina invited me to visit the River Place Nature Trail, a hike that was on my list, but off the beaten-path of nearby Austin trails. The 5-6 mile hike* overlooking the West Austin hills and eventually running alongside a river, helped me feel the same zest I felt when I first moved here, like there was something magical hiding under every rock I turned.
While we accept more comfort in our cities, we give up some of the novelty and the zest for exploring. We settle into routines and responsibilities, and back out of more events if they’re further from our zone of normalcy. Our bodies and minds know this and start to become numb. We get tired more easily and aren’t as ignited by the idea of seeing something new or making a connection with a stranger. When we become experts on a subject, another person, or a city, the only way to counteract closed-mindedness or stagnation is to observe what we know from another side.
For the rest of this year, and hopefully thereafter, I’m trying to embrace the shiny, new or yet unseen parts of this city where I’ve lived for almost 4 years. I promise to say “yes” more times to something that sounds fun, before looking at Google Maps’ distance from my current location. And to my fellow Austin dwellers, I promise that whatever I find, I’ll be sure to share with you.
*The trail is out and back, so you can make it as short or as long as you’d like.
New Yoga Offerings
Hi friends! A stroke of luck has hit me hard and I'm getting the chance to teach two weekly yoga classes in Austin. Last week I started working with Foundation Communities, a local non-profit organization, to offer regular classes at one of their residences. I'm also excited to lead a new class at 24 Hour Fitness on Saturdays.
The Wednesday class is free and open to the public, but space is limited so please do contact me if you'd like to attend. The Saturday class is free to 24 Hour Fitness members and $20 for non-members, so if you've got a membership or are made of money, I'd love to practice with you!
- Wednesdays 6:30-7:30pm Foundation Communities- M Station Apartments
- Saturdays 1-2pm 24 Hour Fitness- Hancock
I'm very grateful to be sharing a practice that is so special to me with more people in the area. Check out the newly added Yoga section of this site for more information.
And if that doesn't get you your yoga fix, I'll also be out here as a participant this weekend.
Thank you / Namaste / See you on the mat soon.
ACL Time! How to: Music Festivals
Regrettably, I did not post this in time for Weekend One of ACL, but there's still plenty of time to prepare for Weekend Two, or any other Fall Festival that might have your palms wet with anticipation. Here are some tips from a 4th timer:
1. Honesty is (almost never) the best policy
Last week, I courageously asked my supervisor to leave early for ACL on Friday and she said no, but told me that she could have said yes if I'd been sick, leaving for a trip, or if my family was visiting. From this I have learned to bend the truth to the exact opposite limits of possibility. Get the flu, invite an imaginary friend to town, let your grandma die for the third time this year. Do what you must to gain a brief glimpse of freedom!
2a. Remember you're a human
In spite of your animal ears or alien attire, you still have to drink water, eat food, and walk/ride/roll yourself out when all the things end. See 2b. for recommendations.
2b. Granola bars
What a world! There are tens, if not twenties, of types of these things available to us at every grocery store. If ACL, save all your food calories for Amy's Oreo Shakes and eat these as meals. Mix it up or you'll end up hating Clif bars for life, until they introduce the new nut butter filled flavors upon which you will rejoice. Variety is the spice of snacks. And don't waste your time with any cereal bars.
3. Treat your feet
If you're over 25 and not cool or hip, consider taking the insoles out of your running shoes and putting them in your posing-ass cool hip flat-bedded shoes. I'm old and this is a real suggestion.
4. Be open
Talk to the people around you. Ask them if you can touch their Zuru air chair because, what? If your friends are all going to a different show, go see the ones you want to see on your own. But don't be too stuck to your pre-planned schedule. Leave time for grass laying, traipsing, and general BS-ing. It'll all be fine.
5. Cancel Monday
I'm writing this after working on a Monday after Weekend One and so, yeah.
Wake-up Call
In college, I knew a friend whose mom was about to take a new job in education after taking several years off from the working world. The week before her first day, she started setting her alarm earlier and earlier so that she could practice waking up on time. Back then, I thought she was being a little dramatic. I wondered, could it really be that hard to adjust to a pre-8 a.m. schedule?
After my first full week of 7:30 a.m. clock-ins, I don't wonder that anymore. Now that the school year is in full swing and we barely have time to get dressed, work, eat, exercise, and take care of all the adult business like laundry/groceries/keeping the roof tied down, just to do it all over again the next day, I find myself wanting to squeeze as much fun into the weekends as humanly possible.
Fortunately, this one contained enough music, friends, tostadas, and new stomps around familiar territories to keep my summer-jonesing heart fulfilled.
Concrete Robot @ The Sahara Lounge
B played one of our favorite venues for the first time. I helped our sweet Nicole warm her adorable new home. Our lady Lacey turned 30 in the midst of house shows, slip-and-sliding, and chicken sh*t bingo (if you didn't know, well, now you know). We even got to flex our cultural sides with the eye-opening Elliott Erwitt photo exhibit at the Harry Ransom Center.
The very smooth Wild Toast @ Trevor's house
Oh, and there were biscuits (unphotographed due to lack of time), pinatas (unphotographed due to lack of sobriety), and turtles (photograph below).
Turtles at the University of Texas Austin
I'm ending Sunday with a happy heart and an inspired soul. I hope you, too, had a weekend to make your long weekdays feel like no big thang at all.
Full Moons & Frisco
This weekend got us into some happening "new-to-me" Texas activities. On Friday night, we went to my first Full Moon Swim at Barton Springs, and on Saturday I hesitantly rode in the band van all the way to Frisco, TX to watch B play a show. The two short days flew right by me, but I had a great time and learned some new, not really very surprising things.
Things I learned about Austin this weekend: Austin is a place where people of all ages will gather monthly to swim in 60 degree water at night, howl at the moon, dance, most likely get naked, and probably do some types of drugs. However, this time there were a lot of supervisors walking around the area so I think the naked dancing and drug-doing was not as much as during full moons of the past. Still, anything at Barton Springs gets a 10/10, would do again.
Things I learned about Frisco this weekend: The Frisco Bar has the nicest bartenders of any bar ever. They are just plain cool and friendly without even a hint of better than you bartender superiority. Also, being in Texas, Frisco has a Whataburger and that Whataburger serves honey butter chicken biscuits and that's really all a Texas town needs to be good enough for me. Thank you Frisco for your hospitality and Fouled Out for an awesome show!
Fouled Out @ The Frisco Bar
First Days
Today was my first day at school and we spent it doing 8 hours of arts & crafts, so I think you could say that I'm on the right path.
But all fun, cheetah borders, and elephant-shaped die-cutters aside, changing jobs is like entering a weird, alternate universe type time warp where you can never feel too sure if you're doing the right thing. No matter how deep your roots have grown, it can be unbalancing to suddenly pick them up and repot yourself someplace else.
The night before my first day of training, I found myself unable to sleep. You might think that after 28 years of being me, I'd confidently have it all in the bag, yet, here I was, inexplicably nervous, wondering where to sit or what to wear. Should I bring my lunch and be a lonely lunch packer, or go out to meet other people? Was I making the right choice for my yet-to-be-determined career goals? Do I really want to wake up before 7am every day? And the pang of uncertainty that always haunts us: what happens next?
You might also think that after 3.5 years of living in Texas, I'd know better than to wear jeans for two days a row in early September, but that's neither here nor there. So I wore the jeans, went out to eat on the first day, and sat in any empty seat I could find. Some of the other questions linger, but the arting and crafting helped ease my mind.
How-to: Labor Day, Austin style
1. Find a lake house
Long, end of summer weekends beg for water. Rent a lake house, make a lake-residing friend, start a relationship with someone who lives on a lake, take over an abandoned dock, etc. Do whatever it takes! It's an investment in your future and you (probably) won't regret it.
2. Let there be music
Concrete Robot @ Hole in the Wall
Few things could be called "Austin style" without live music. I followed in the footsteps of Spoon/St. Vincent/Doug Sahm/Natalie Portman/a bunch of other famous people when I was treated to my first show at Hole in the Wall on Saturday night. Then, on Sunday after the lake, our smelly, lakey selves wound up at a house show to hear our friend, Jimmy Dee's, angelic vocals. It was all super cool and musical and Austin-y. Plus, there were Oreos. Yay!
3. End it with a free day of yoga
I am only half sure that it falls on the same day each year, but this Labor Day happened to coincide with Austin's Free Day of Yoga which brings us tons of different style yoga and meditation classes all over the city. I was happy to help out with my friend David's yoga and meditation in the morning and to enjoy another yoga class in the afternoon. What better way to wrap up your non-laboring weekend than with your choice of stretching, kirtan chants, gong meditations, and/or reiki energy circles?
Bittersweet September
Like a great many good things in this cruel and mysterious world, my summer of complete and total freedom must now come to an end. The past week back at home has shown me that, as eye-opening and horizon-expanding as jumping around can be, life can sometimes be just as rewarding when you stay in one place, especially if that place happens to be Austin, Texas.
Bobal @ Empire Control Room
It's also taught me that real barbecue is worth waiting for and that unemployment is not without its drawbacks, since it is possible to max out your ClassPass 3 class allowance at 5 different studios. Time to get back to the working world.
I am taking a long, glorious moment of disbelief tonight to let my heart expand with gratitude for these past two or three irreplaceable months. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Grassy shoes at Deep Eddy Pool
There's No Place Like...
Thankfully in my summer planning, I saved the most coveted and anticipated destination for last...
New Jersey!
I spent a lovely week beaching, yog-ing, shopping, and eating with my mom, then clicked these heels all the way home to NY to watch my friends get married on top of a mountain. The day was perfect, the ceremony was beautiful, and later on there were sparklers and a bonfire. What (s')more can a girl wish for? Congratulations Cait & Jon!
Thanks to Mom, friends, and my favorite date for an unbeatable week!
7 Parks in 7 Days
On the last two days of our trip, we managed to visit three more National Parks, bringing our total to seven in seven days. What better way to celebrate the centennial of the National Park Service?
Plan your own route here.
Nurtured by Nature
Sometimes when you’re lucky enough to find yourself on a long vacation, you notice that similar things keep happening to you over and over again and, because of them, your vacation tends to take on a certain theme. On our latest road trip adventure, that theme turned out to be the power of Nature to make or break our plans.
We discovered that when we drove along, flying by the seats of our pants, without forcing or timing anything, we would end up seeing unexpected, mesmerizing stuff like this:
Lake Powell, AZ
Beginnings of the Grand Canyon
And whenever we planned, plotted, and Yelped our way into a city, Nature would remind us of her right to step in and throw us a different agenda. We realized this when we were forced to sprint through the second half of our Sedona vortex hike as threatening storm clouds rolled in. And when the list of hip bars and restaurants to visit in Phoenix was cut short when we stepped out the door into the dust storm/thunder/lightning filled night. The next day, flash flooding on the interstate interrupted our quest for the best sopapillas in Albuquerque and kept us pulled over until after the restaurant had closed. And I already told y’all about the forest fires.
Storms in Sedona
During our time in the campgrounds, our bodies learned to adjust to the schedule of the sun. We woke up early, stayed outside all day, started our fire as the sun dipped down, and went to sleep once the cinders settled into ash. We didn’t need much more than the excitement of the changing flames to keep us entertained until bedtime. When we traveled to the bigger cities, we tried to fight this newfound rhythm and go against the flow of things, but Nature had different plans for us. However, she had already let us graciously cool off in our campsite river after a 102 degree day in Zion and given us so many other lovely gifts on the trip, so we weren’t too upset about our updated schedules. Plus we still ate other sopapillas in Albuquerque and our trip to Phoenix was saved by a bomb-a** breakfast at Matt's Big Breakfast. Thanks Matt! (Asterisks because I'm pretty sure my mom and her friends make up 90% of the readers of this blog).
Sunrise outside Albuquerque
So, Nature, we dedicate our trip to You. We are feeling more grateful than ever for the constant reminders of your power and our own efforts to bow to you as we sit back and appreciate the way things are meant to be.
Utah, Part III
Summertime camping at popular national parks means the excitement waking up well before you want to, sometimes driving to multiple campgrounds, circling loops of tents, and asking around to find out who is leaving and when. Arriving at the right place at the right time means you'll be able to secure your spot for the night. Luckily most campers are friendly and they'll let you stake your claim to their site while they pack up, or they are park rangers and will let you know which sites have already opened or are about to. We felt very fortunate to be able to camp where we wanted every night without having to wait in huge lines or battle anyone for a section.
We followed B's family's recommendation to enter Zion from the East, which turned out to be excellent advice since you drive from not-Zion into a tunnel, and when you pop out, you're in Zion. It looks a lot like this:
We seemed to be having even more "right place, right time" success because we soon saw a man pulled over taking pictures of bighorn sheep. B had recovered from my moose/branch and bear/deer confusion in Yellowstone, so he agreed to pull over too. I'd finally found the animal that I'd waited the whole trip to see:
We saw another one about 2 minutes later, but it was so still and so close to the road that I thought it was a statue and didn't take any pictures. Note that if you see a very life-like animal in a national park, it's probably not a statue!
Zion was also the first place that I've ever been afraid of heights. Like paralyzed with fear, turn around, I'm not going levels of afraid. We had decided on a hike to Angel's Landing since we found it in a book of the most beautiful hikes in the world. On the way, there were signs reminding us to bring a lot of water and telling people who are afraid of heights that they should reconsider. It was 102 degrees and we are not afraid of heights, so we were more worried about death from dehydration than any height-related nervousness.
No problem. The majority of the hike was like this:
And B was wearing his "Vacation Dad" outfit so I felt very secure.
We got to what we thought was the last segment and it seemed a little scary, mostly because there were a lot of people on the trail headed in opposite directions, but we didn't think at all of turning around or not going to the top. We even took this photo saying, "Ha! Too bad for all those people who are afraid of heights. They don't know what they're missing."
Thennn we got over that hump and saw the real Angel's Landing summit, which features a 2-foot wide ridge trail with 1,000+ foot drop offs on both sides and looks like this:
So I made us turn around and go back down! (Sorry B!) I don't regret it now since we later read that Angel's Landing is one of the deadliest hikes in the world and fit, reasonable people die there just from stumbling or missing a step. Maybe I'm getting old, but when we hiked another of the deadliest hikes (Huayna Picchu), it did not give me the same feelings of terror that this one did. I only took this one photo of the view in my frenzied fearful state:
We descended, avoiding the feisty rock squirrels, to do some more tourism, and I felt ok about it. But if you are a normal, athletic, confident person who wants to do it, Angel's Landing does look pretty cool and you should do it! Otherwise, Zion is a breathtaking place where you can find many other ways to entertain yourself.
Utah, Part II
Utah's national parks are a world of dreams and magic.
We hiked the Fairyland Loop trail in Bryce Canyon to get a view of the canyons from all angles, and I can't recommend it highly enough. We spent the whole day in a constant state of amazement, and when I walked out of the tent at night to head to the bathroom (squat down at the edge of our campsite), I saw the biggest shooting star of my life. Thank you Utah for your incredible skies and scenery!
Utah, Part I
I didn't have many expectations about visiting Salt Lake City for the first time since I hadn't heard much about it, but the name implied that there would be a lake... probably a salty one, bordering or surrounded by a city. When I dreamt of going there, I imagined taking walks near the lake, watching the sunset over the lake, or maybe even doing a few lake-related activities besides swimming because the stinging of the Dead Sea taught me better than that.
Silly me. We had an Iceland situation on our hands.
From our pre-trip research, which tended to occur in the last hour of driving before reaching any of our destinations, we learned that the lake is 30-60 minutes outside the city and that people don't go there. Allegedly it's hot, smelly, and full of flies. So we changed our plans and instead climbed up to fancy Park City to eat delicious sandwiches, take pictures with animal statues, and watch the sky turn pink.
Then we went back down to take pictures of LDS buildings and sleep, since a city full of Mormons doesn't offer much in the way of nightlife. On to the next!
WOW-oming!
Phase 3 of the trip brought us to a new state for me and a new phenomenon for both of us: forest fires!
As we crossed into Wyoming, we began to notice a lot of smoke in the air and started to hear gas station gossip about nearby towns being evacuated due to wildfires in the area. We had a "wouldn't it be cool if...?" moment* and, about 10 minutes later, the universe provided.
*"Wouldn't it be cool if we could see a wildfire up close while we're conveniently protected by our car and far enough away that it won't impact our lives or our travel plans so we can go to Idaho and eat square-shaped ice cream in peace?" It was pretty sobering to see rows of homes about to be eaten by the flames and the firefighters who were in the air spraying water from helicopters or on the ground trying to push the fire back from the road. We felt guilty taking pictures while so many people's lives were being uprooted, but once-in-a-lifetime experiences sometimes call for photos and so we summoned the war photographers in us and proceeded.
While we were busy looking back at that (^), we didn't notice that these were slowly sneaking up on our right:
The Tetons!
The Tetons gave us shelter and an unbelievable view for the night while we entertained ourselves with long hikes in inappropriate footwear. B showed off his fire-building mastery and I cooked dinner on my brand new Coleman 2-burner camp stove, which I would regrettably end up breaking on the second night of camping, but which would be fine since I'm afraid of gas explosions anyway.
Next, we went to Yellowstone and decided to do everything in one day, a decision that was exhausting but one that we still stand by. The stones were really yellow, Old Faithful erupted while we were in the parking lot, and I learned that branches often look like moose antlers and your driving partner can get upset if you call out too many animal photo opps that are actually not.
The Earth was full of hot springs and gurgling pools and was feeling very alive! WOW-oming certainly lived up to B's nickname for it since I don't think we said any words other than amazing, incredible, beautiful, awesome, and long breathless wowww's for most of this phase of the trip. We would have loved some more time to explore, but Utah (and showers) beckoned.
Colors of Colorado
In case you haven't been paying attention, Colorado has been busy making all the other states jealous by having just about EVERYTHING to offer. The whole time we were there, it felt like nature was performing a personal show for us, and she was certainly pulling out all the stops. Making up for all the hours of flatness and windmills of the Northwest Texas drive, we crossed the NM-CO border during this sunset:
And made our way to Denver to spend a few days with B's sister, Kelsey, who should sign up for AirBnB a.s.a.p. because she is an incredible hostess who makes us feel better than at home every time we visit. Thank you Kelsey! She took us all over the city, and of course, to Red Rocks, the concert venue of all concert venues.
Red Rocks provides enough entertainment in itself that I would see anyone play there, but lucky for us one of the most musical geniuses of all musical geniuses, Sufjan Stevens, came through to knock our socks right off.
Among the red rocks, Father Sky and Mother Earth continued their dazzling dance by giving us this (these) rainbow(s):
After our short stay in the Mile-High City, we headed over to the Higher-Than-Mile City to find out what summer in a ski town is like. I'm sorry to break it to Killington, Mount Snow, Smuggler's Notch, and all of the other East Coast resorts of my youth, but Steamboat Springs is the real deal. Much like the rest of the Colorado, I can really only describe it using superlatives! It was the first time in my life that I wished for summer to immediately turn to winter.
We spent the rest of the week hiking, tubing, eating, and shopping our way around town while enjoying some uninterrupted family time and our 2,000 sq. ft. porch! There were so many more sunsets, more rainbows, and more unforgettable views that we sometimes had to laugh in disbelief.
If you're still not convinced about Colorado's beauty, here is what the backyard of a regular old Chipotle restaurant looks like there:
We were sad to leave on Sunday (and even sadder that our alarms were set for 5 a.m.), but we packed up the car and rolled onwards to see what the rest of the Wild West had waiting for us.