It's my last day in Eureka, California. Tomorrow I'll catch a ride down the coast to San Jose for the next portion of my travels. It's been a refreshing and rejuvenating experience up in this small town of the western north country. Crisp cold air & breathtaking natural surroundings have me in an exaggerated state of awe. It's a complete turn around from Austin's grueling summer. As I marvel at the overcast skies and cool breezes, my host has laughed at how insane I sound.

Aspects of the environment feel similar to my childhood in the northeast, but the coast and mountains offer this amazing blend of elements. Evergreens, redwoods & eucalyptus trees tower & fill vast stretches of land that drop off into the ocean. It's no surprise that the two main industries for this area were once lumber and fishing.


We hiked through the trails at Trinidad Bay through thick, overgrown forests. The giant trees block the sun and create dark clearings in their brush. We walked into the eerie darkness feeling as though we'd entered another land, exited, and laid on the massive rocks of the Trinidad Bay poking our heads over the cliff to watch the waves crash in a beautiful, violent display. The ocean is such a massive beast.

Sixty-five degrees & overcast feels incredibly restful and refreshing. Flannel, jeans & boots. North country. I'm into it.

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Less than 48 hours until I arrive in Eureka, California. Getting really excited for warm reunions, cold nights & giant redwoods.

This brutal Austin heat seems to cause everything to slow down, which can be really nice.

I just love this pairing I caught yesterday afternoon in front of Progress Coffee. I hope everyone made it out for some of the East Austin Studio Tour this weekend. The gloomy overcast weather was perfect for art-ing around town, and I was really happy to find myself living in the midst of such a thriving, quirky, little, artist community!

Over the past few weeks I've managed to get involved with a few local projects. I'm contributing to a couple of start-up magazines and interning with a new gallery. It's like I just created my own version of grad school, finally putting my undergrad work in journalism and art to use.

For the most part everything is a crazy whirlwind and I'm just trying to figure it out as I go along. Of course everything happened at once and my daily tasks had me recalling Christina Applegate's role in Don't Tell Mom the Babysitters Dead. You know, I was all, "I'm right on top of that, Rose," frantically figuring out how to be the hub of the communications department.

While deadlines are keeping me crazy, it's the perks that make it all worth while. Soon the rewards will be the whole seeing my name in print thing and getting paid. But for now, there's the joys of working with good friends and networking parties with free drinks & fun photo booths. Local photog, Annie Ray took these at Rare Magazine's grand opening event at Red River Flats last week.

Months ago, when autumn fell upon the great northeast my mother met my request and mailed me a colorful collection of leaves from our front yard. She told me she picked a couple particularly pretty ones and soon found herself a half hour late for work with a bulging bag of deciduous droppings. Sometimes when the wind gusts through my window, the leaves will rustle on my dresser and a couple will dance softly to the floor.


After the longest summer of my life, I've finally put away my summer shorts and am happily reunited with my favorite combination of jeans and t-shirts. I'm excitedly reintroducing boots and scarves into my everyday attire as they become increasingly appropriate accessories. And yes, I know, I live in Texas now, but my reality is still skewed by 24 years of long grueling winters.