East of Eden.

---

There's something romantic about dust in the wind.

I was raised among the poppies and came into this world swaddled between endless golden hills. I grew up on Steinbeck (“I eat stories like grapes”) and Stinson Beach and the stunning grandeur of the redwoods—and while I continue to enjoy my time getting to know Chicago, boy do I miss that sweet homestead of the Bay! This month, I packed more travel than I ever have into such a short span of time; when not back in San Francisco, I've spent my days in New York City and am writing this to you from DC, where I am visiting for the first time. Thank you for making this Valentine’s month a sweet and sensual one; I’ve felt warm and welcomed wherever I am, and am having the best time!

With all this journeying, I've been thinking a lot about what home means to me. Here's a thing I’ve come to understand about the American West and its folks, especially the ones who have ultimately left home as I have: we’re restless and rootless and always roaming. To me, this need to wander is at once lonely and strangely comforting. I think of the archetype of the lonesome cowboy, forever marching forward through the vast unknown—for me, too, it's hard to rein it in and adjust to stillness. I don't even know that I want to.

Of course, this begs a larger question: marching towards what, exactly? I would argue that personally, home is not much of a physical place these days. The rambling through liminal space is what I know best—of all the mythologies of the West, that's what most defines it to me. And though it can be exhausting and uncertain and woeful at times, this is my covenant with my wilderness and my one strange comfort. I've found myself being pushed East in all my own wanderings as of late; I realize this is ironic, considering how I could obviously wax poetic about California for all of eternity, and that I miss it all the time.

Either way, as my personal projects in my current Chicago home base near the end of their timelines, I'll be once again packing up shop and moving further East this summer. I’m headed to New York City to take on the next steps in my academic journey—I'll be starting graduate school there and am seeking out some exciting new prospects in my chosen field. I have visits to the city planned in the meantime, but expect me there full-time in July! Chicago, this means we have just a few more short months together; reach out to hop on my dance card before I say farewell.

I've been called fickle once or twice, but I think it's just that I'm insatiable—it's my instinct to roam and wrangle my way through this landscape we call life, and I want to meet every nook and cranny of what it has to offer. “There's a capacity for appetite…that a whole heaven and earth of cake can't satisfy” (Steinbeck). While I thought twice about making the official announcement so many months in advance, I feel it important to be honest about where my head and my heart are leading me—plus, now you can't say I didn't warn you fair and square! And maybe it’s the winter blues or these shifting worlds of possibility (or maybe it's just Pisces season), but my tendency for grand and sentimental daydreaming is at an all-time high in the throes of it all. Here’s my soundtrack to the past month—full of some of my favorite moody folk tunes about romance and roving, it's been seeing me through these harsh and chilly few weeks. I'll drop the tracklist as well towards the bottom of this message. Perhaps it will move you in some similar way for this last stretch of winter before warmth returns.

Naturally, it doesn’t stop there: I’m kicking off March by heading back to the Bay Area before returning to NYC mid-month, and will be available in Chicago and the Midwest in between adventures as usual. In the spirit of getting the most out of Chicago before I part ways this summer, March’s date special revolves around sightseeing. Let’s delve deep: we take a museum visit to graze the surface of knowledge before turning to an in-depth study of each other. (3 hours—1,150). I talked in last month's offering about how I've been fully immersed in the practice of learning these days; clearly, that's still the case. Of course, this offering is available in all my touring cities throughout the month as well—reach out to inquire about which experiences I'm most eager to explore!

In the meantime, you can keep up with my meanderings and musings via my Twitter and Instagram as always. See you out there, and catch me if you can.

xoxo, L

twitter | email | wishlist | more

_

UPCOMING SCHEDULE*

{ MARCH }

4-6: san francisco

17-19: new york city

all other dates: Chicago & FMTY

{ APRIL }

8-11: san francisco

12: los angeles

15-18: new york city

all other dates: Chicago & FMTY

{ MAY }

1: my birthday!

(SF and NYC dates TBD)

all other dates: Chicago & FMTY

*Dates subject to change or cancellation based on pre-bookings.

_

TRACKLIST

1. Before Midnight - Gilroy Kane

2. Same - Maria Kasstan

3. Your Sweet Love - Lee Hazlewood

4. Catch The Wind - The Edsels

5. The Resurrection - Washed

6. Five Hundred Miles - René Pronto Laporte

7. Meriah - The Bunch

8. Blues Run The Game - Jackson C. Frank

9. Something On Your Mind - Karen Dalton