Basement Sessions with City Scout and Inland

Last Friday night I stepped out of my old lady tendencies and went out after dark (note: v proud of myself). I ventured out to Ruhstaller for an event put on by City Scout. This series is called Basement Sessions, and every couple months Ruhstaller and City Scout come together to host local music and a chance to build community. 

I was able to shoot the event and felt all kinds of awkward while doing so. I usually love going out to dinner or coffee shops or road trips by myself. But there's something different about going to an event specifically for socializing yet riding solo. Never mind the fact that my social anxiety is heightened when I go out in Sacramento, where it's possible that I could run into someone I used to know. 

I found myself stepping off to the side to try to hide, and then calling myself out for it and then basically doing laps around the event like a weirdo until Inland came on. (Side note: the worst part of going out to a bar/event like this alone is that suddenly you become a glaring target for strange and/or drunk men to come hit on. It's so frustrating that seemingly every attractive man is either there with an even more attractive woman, or is too chicken to come up and approach me...which could take this on a whole new tangent about how I want the attractive man to approach me but also have a hard time reconciling that with my feminist beliefs...LETS DIGRESS.) Please enjoy these somewhat good quality photos of a phenomenal duo:

Also, holy crap it's a way different ballgame shooting in a dark indoor area. I tried to stay in manual as much as I could, and the editing process was far more nuanced than the shoots I've done outdoors. But this was pretty much the whole reason for me shooting Basement Sessions: to get more practice and work on my craft.

Feels good...

xxo

Things I've Learned This Week

1. It's hard for me to regularly produce these Friday posts (see lack of consistency since introducing this "series" a couple months ago...)

2. The Crocker Art Museum is a lovely way to spend an afternoon here in Sacramento. I've been frustrated about this winter break I'm on since (for the most part) I'm not getting paid. But it has allowed me the time and space to do a little more exploring of downtown and the surrounding areas. 

3. Instaphysique kicks my ass. I've taken three classes now and every time there after my whole body is basically in shock. I took class this past week and a couple days later, as I was coughing, was alerted to muscles in my abs I usually am unaware of...We didn't even do any exercises "specifically" targeting abs. That's just the misery beauty of Instaphysique: you work literally every muscle in your body in an excruciating just 40 minutes of continuous movement. 

xxo

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Towering Over

West Sacramento is definitely up and coming right now. So many great projects and renovations going on just across the downtown area and I'm starting to explore it. The Tower Bridge has always caught my eye with its yellow color. And since it literally bridges the gap between downtown and west sac I'm sure it's going to get a lot more use with all of the expansion.

xxo

Downtown Destinations

I feel like anywhere you live you never truly explore, at least not as a tourist, because it's just your backyard. Today starts three weeks of being off work due to the winter break schedule of the school I'm working at, so I've decided to dedicate some of this vacation to really checking out downtown, midtown, and other surrounding neighborhoods I haven't gotten to know yet. 

Stay tuned for more,

xxo

What Do You Do?

For years now I've hated this question, "So what do you do?" In fact, it's a huge reason for why I started grad school. I graduated with my B.A. in December 2012. At the time I had been nanny to the chickens for about year, and wasn't ready to leave them. I had no dream job in mind either, so it felt foolish to leave the stability and love that I had with the chickens for just another job. So I stayed with them, but always felt like I should be doing more. I dreaded running into parents of old friends, or old friends themselves and having to answer that question, "What are you up to?" because I felt like I wasn't doing something exciting. 

Once I started my masters program I felt like I at least had that to fall back on..."Oh I've been nannying for the same family for three years now, I teach yoga, and I'm getting my masters degree." 

But now when I'm asked that question, I freeze again. The honest truth is that currently I'm substitute teaching, but I cannot speak of it with joy or excitement. I am still teaching yoga, but that's nothing new. And I'm coming to a close on my thesis (side note: YES!!). I want so badly to be passionate when talking about the work that I'm doing. 

My current mantra:

Everything in its own time.

xxo