February 28, 2012 41

Prairie House, Cemeteries, Food Trucks and Waterfall Grottos

So, while I have been admittedly quite woefully inattentive to my blog most recently, I am pleased as punch to say that’s not for want of inspired adventure nor for want of a plethora of photos to share. I have had ample of both, but this is in addition to a rather hefty workload as of late.

Well, I am utterly compelled to share some of my adventuring . I’m so enthusiastic about it that I find it rather daunting to imagine editing any other photographs out of my post. The unreasonable amount of photographs that I intend to share means that I’ll be breaking this post into two. This week will be all-Austin, baby!

Austin is, as everyone knows, delightfully eccentric. Keep Austin Weird is a motto I can get behind. But I’m not sure that we had a concrete sense of what to expect based on that. As such, we were quite surprised by some of our findings. For example, we have always pictured Texas as a bit of a tumbleweed wasteland. Turns out, Austin is incredibly lush. Moreso than San Diego, certainly. So below, you will find elements of our excursion to Hamilton pool, a spectacular swimming hole fed by a waterfall that’s just 45 minutes outside of the city. We also had our first Airbnb experience, and it was a truly wonderful one. We stayed with a woman named Robin who has a marvelous old historic prairie home that’s just blocks from the hipsterfest that is the South Congress area. She also has two rescue dogs that proved to be an absolute delight, and she fed us a lovely breakfast daily. All for half the price it would have cost us to stay in a nearby motel. No kidding, Airbnb is where it’s at! Her property was so enchanting that half of the images below were probably taken around it.

Because Scott knew I’d had a difficult week at work, that charming husband of mine surprised me with a trip to the spa for a massage, so a couple of these photos feature there. And what else could we follow a trip to the spa with other than a trek through Texas’ oldest cemetery. Forgive me if you feel it’s morbid, but as a graphic designer, I was enthralled with all the beautiful stonework from the 19th century.

Oh, another wildly intriguing aspect of Austin is the food truck culture. We thought it to be not bad here in San Diego and pretty intense in Portland, but Austin blows ‘em all out of the water—every three or four blocks is another parking lot filled with permanent food trucks doling out every manner of delight you can think of. We also went out for live music and lindyhop (our swing dance of choice) one evening, and if you notice there’s a dude in a pink bunny suit at one of the spots we bar-hopped through… well, that’s just classic Austin.

Yep, our first couple of days out there were utterly charming. We are officially both Austin fans. To come later this week? A natural swiming pool in the center of the city, truly retro bowling, the awesomeness that is a cinema and drafthouse in one, exploring the South Congress shops, cocktails galore and more.

Tags: Adventure, Austin, Getaway, Grotto, Hamilton Pool, Swimming Hole, Texas, Waterfall

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February 27, 2012 6

The Dawn Fishermen // Local Frolic Sneak Peak

By Jas in Personal, Sneak Peak

I swear, I haven’t disappeared under a rock, my friends. I’m back from Austin and after a truly nutty week, I’m prepping some seriously great stories to share. For now, here’s a smidge of rural fun from the weekend. Much more to come—both a San Diego Lakeside excursion and our trek to Austin. Woohoo! Expect a plentiful Austin post tomorrow morning!

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February 13, 2012 13

The Rocky Wilds // Desert Camping in Joshua Tree

By Jas in Adventures, Personal, Travel

This is from ALLLLL the way back to May, but I am truly excited to finally share it. This was part of the lead-up to our wedding, which you may remember seeing here and also here (it was a two-day bonanza!). Instead of throwing ourselves bachelor or bachelorette parties, we opted to go desert camping with some of our dearest friends in the week before our wedding. Granted, we were kinda going nuts trying to wrap everything up, so we really only went for barely two days. However, they were two seriously fulfilling days that quite seriously helped to put all that nutty wedding stuff into perspective. Somehow, I’ve managed never to share these photographs until now. So, please indulge in a bit of a camping adventure. We’re off to Austin, TX for an adventure this coming weekend, and so I am amping myself up with discovery energy today! What’s your next adventure, be it a short day hike, or a week-long tour of a faraway land…?

Day One: The fields of Wind Turbines, Climbing Rocks, and a magic dusk hike

Day Two: Dance Hike at Dawn, Campfire Eggs and Tea, and a stop at The Jelly Donut

Tags: Boulders, camping, Dancing, Desert, Desert Camping, Jpshua Tree National Park

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February 10, 2012 27

Dancing With Reckless Abandon // Susan Among the Trees

By Jas in Adventures, Personal, Portraits

This little peek at me introduces a delightful local adventure I experienced this summer. My talented and oh-so lovely friend and frequent cohort, Susan is a person of many creative pursuits. You’ve seen her appear here before, but never like this. Susan is a photographer with whom I frequently work, but far fewer people know she is also a dancer. Dance is an incredibly significant part of her life, and she recently began a project that funnels her dance passion through her photography—A Dancer’s Soul: Photographing what it feels like to dance.

For Susan, dance is something that defines her. Even her business name references a ballet goal she finally achieved this year (going en pointe means to work in pointe shoes). I don’t think I have all the words to accurately describe the amount of fulfillment I get, hearing her talk about this personal project—doing something you are truly passionate about is such an inspiration. And you can truly see in the work how personal, emotional and meaningful this is for her, and for all the dancers she’s worked with.

I had the pleasure of going on a frolic with Susan to a little pioneeresque village in San Diego county. We had no firm plans, but Susan had her dance shoes, and I was privileged to gain some insight into her project—what it feels like to attempt to photograph what it feels like to dance. Having never photographed this sort of thing before, I didn’t know what to expect. It was certainly difficult to keep up with someone in constant motion, and capture that feeling. Initially, it was playful, a bit silly, even a bit awkward—Susan is all too self-aware, as a photographer. But there was a glorious turning point where she truly let go and let dance just shine through her. It was indeed a soulful experience. And here it is. I highly recommend you go take a look at Susan’s dance project. You will feel inspired.

Tags: Ballet, chalk art, Dance, En Pointe, Forest, Jazz Dance, Pioneer Village, rural, Susan Yee, Trees

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February 8, 2012 10

The Thirst for Adventure

By Jas in Adventures, Personal, Typography

Today, I’m thirsting for an adventure, something brimming with discovery and unfamiliarity and possibility. This is actually ’round the bend for me, happily—we’re going to Austin, TX in a week for a weekend adventure. With an even more major adventure in the works for the spring. Stay tuned, and go seek out adventure!

Tags: Adventure, inspiration, Type, Typography

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February 7, 2012 12

The Snowy Hills Rushing By // Eastern Canada by Train

By Jas in Adventures, Personal

I’ve been saving this one for a rainy day, and literality has caught up to me. Today, the skies have welcome cloud cover and precipitation and, thus, I get to share this with you, because no matter your weather today, it feels right.

We live in San Diego. We fly back to Canada once or twice a year for visits. Scott’s parents live a couple of hours from Toronto. Mine live outside of Montreal. They’re about five or six hours apart. Every visit, we’re cramming a road trip in to get to each family. This year, we opted for a train adventure instead of a road trip. While it didn’t prevent me from being horrifically ill on the return ride, it did offer me the opportunity to gaze for a long stretch at the country from which I’m now an ex-pat. That country has become utterly foreign—my own homeland is now bizarrely unfamiliar at this time of year.

I know the difference is significant in transitioning to a city that features an almost total lack of winter yearly, but, I wonder—when you guys have moved to new cities, upon return visits, did the landscape become to appear positively extra-terrestrialesque? I can’t help but feel that now, after four years in this place (the longest I have spent as an adult in any one place since leaving home), it has become so deeply etched into me as home that my previous home feels utterly unfamiliar. Amusingly, the landscape became increasingly alien to me as we closed in on Montreal—note how the initial absence of snow progresses to quite the presence of it.

These are admittedly not my norm—I would characterize them as a little bit melancholic, obscure, moody and brooding. You probably know that’s about a million miles from standard Jasmine. But something about January in Canada did always seem to have that affect on me. There is, nonetheless, some magic and mystery in this landscape that had me glued to the train window for the entire trek. So, for a change of pace—I give you Canadian winter by train, through the eyes of a near-pseudo-foreigner.