Rock Star Life on a Rock Bottom Budget

I sit at Riptide bar and music venue in the Sunset, kick my feet up and warm my toes by the fire as I watch the main stage at Woodstock being built, the Ramones play in LA, fans go nuts over The Beatles and have a laugh at the "Knowing Me, Knowing You" music video by ABBA, all projected onto a big screen. This place is called "San Francisco's Tahoe by the Sea" by the locals.

It is free hot dog and $2 PBR/Bud night while the bartender plays his favorite clips from the 60's and 70's. I think to myself, more people need to know about warm places (and good people) like this. Enter, Ashlear, my new zine and accompaning blog.

Starting May 18, I will attend a FREE live music event for seven consecutive days and write a review (or, an Ashlear, if you will) for each one. After the weeklong quest, I will publish to my own zine and hand out to anyone who likes free music/free food/new spots in The City.

Follow me to the shows: twitter.com/atayla
Listen on Facebook

Ashlear Motto
Live the Rock and Roll lifestyle on a rock bottom budget.

For the readers:
I want to hear what you think of this idea and what your ears crave to hear. Leave comments on the Ashlear wall and/or reply to my Tweets to let me know!

*A Big Thank You to GoodwillGucci! Your site is an inspiration!*

Surviving unemployment - San Francisco style

As of last Monday, I am looking for work again here in the city. Every day since then I have been slapping the craigslist.org and monster.com racks.

If you are looking for work, like so many of us who have been laid off in this rainstorm of an economic climate, below are some job databases where I have found some awesome job opportunities in California and all over the world!



www.malakye.com
Action Sports Industry Career Opportunities

www.suntrek.com/_us/jobs_trekleader.php
Lead cross-country adventure camping tours for small international groups of travelers

www.bearvalley.com/employment/openings.asp
Train snowboarders in SoCal at Big Bear Mountain

www.coolworks.com
Cool Works® is about finding an outdoorsy job in some of the greatest places on Earth

iMeem & updates

Kings of Leon is the flava of the week here on my laptop. Found this video of theirs on iMeem.com. On Call is a great one; as I write, I am listening to my other fav Revelry off the new one they released last week.

iMeem.com is a music site my co-worker introduced me to. It is the "facebook of the music world" except it's streight focused on music, not the tons of other crapola the book likes to keep adding.



Quick Ashley update: starting my 1st full-time, career-focused, hip, fun, exciting job tomorrow at BLASToutdoors. A PR firm that focuses on outdoor-centered products. Currently I work on the iStik account - a new iPod accessory that uses magnets to hold on to you instead of an armband! Look out PR - here I come! Check out our site/blog: http://blastoutdoors.com/blastmedia.html

A glimpse of my new job/co-workers at BLAST...


Upcoming Adventures:
December 19 - 29, 08: Columbus, Ohio for Christmas
February 09: VEGAS for Katie's Bachelorette party
March 09: Chicago for Katie's wedding

Stay tuned...
"If you loose it, you don't use it."

Fluidity

A lot is changing. Over the past six months; new neighborhood, new jobs, new friends, new city, new food...wow! I haven't experienced this much change over the 22 years I have been alive. It's awesome! Always keeping me on my toes- something new around the corner at all times. From laying out reading my favorite new author David Sedaris while watching the dogs play at Alamo Square to making new friends through new roommates, San Francisco is finally feeling like it is mine...all mine! A map of my new hood (look how close it is to Golden Gate!):

View Larger Map

I'm coming home to Ohio in a week. This time it will be a lot different than the first time I went home over Christmas. I have grown up a bit more. I feel more at home in this city now, but know that when I get back to Columbus, I will love the time with my friends and family just as much. My dad and I are stoked to go to a Clippers game- $1 dogs and beers (only in Ohio). All the girlfriends at home are planning outings- from bars to birthday dinners! The rest of them are graduating this spring! (Luckily I already got that out of the way.) We will definitely be discussing life's obstacles and a lot of the "next steps" at our favorite campus bars. Maybe I will be able to provide some insight about life after college (the dreaded "real world"). I'm trying to entice them to move to the best coast, like myself. That would just be the icing on the cake :)


What is weird is that now that I'm in a new city and no longer in school, I have no concerns about what is going to happen next. I was more stressed out before graduation about what I was going to do for a "real job." In San Francisco, your passion can be made into any type of career you can think of. The pressure I was feeling while in college about having to find a 9-5 M-F high paying salaried job is gone. Now I'm focused on turning my passion into making a living. From serving coffee to walking dogs to starting my first job in public relations, it's all because I want to- not because I feel I have to. That was one of my goals after graduation: to work hard at something I am passionate about and enjoy.

My world is always changing, can't beat it. Best to join it!

It's been a while

Hi!

It has been a while since I've updated this thing. Nothing much has changed- still loving life out here in California, yet still rely a lot on my friends and family back home- phone calls and AIM video chats have been a great way of keeping in contact (I gave Kelley a complete tour of my new house, she didn't have to step a foot in my front door). Whenever I start to feel even a little bit homesick I call up a buddy from home and they help me stay positive about the move out here and all the challenges/transitions I've had to make since I left. Love you guys :)

I started hip hop classes a couple weeks ago- my friend Taylor and I love it- we have learned and mastered a dance routine to the song Umbrella by Rhianna- so much fun!! Picking up a new hobby was one of my New Year's resolutions...reading more was the 2nd- I've been reading "3rd Degree" by James Patterson. It helps me pass the time when it's slow at the coffee shop!

Work is still good- going to interview with Ketchum soon! They want to keep me around but no spots open just yet- I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Northern Cali got some crazy storms the last couple weeks- flooding, trees falling over- public transportation was put to a halt! Made it a little tougher to get to the bars... The past few days have dried up and have been mostly sunny!

New Year's Eve was amazing- went to a friends house in Half Moon Bay/Woodside!! **The picture is my friends and I at our friend's house New Years day!**
Watched the Buckeye game...I'm still getting over the loss to LSU :'(
Have an idea for a web site- going to work on how to program/crate web sites...we'll see how that goes- I'll keep you updated

That's all for now, going to pot some photos from Christmas/last couple weeks on facebook. Send me a note or give me a call, would love to hear from all of you :)

A s h l e y

The holiday season across the country

Good afternoon from the coffee shop (things are a little slow here at the shop, so I have some time to write!):

Living across the country during the holiday season definitely makes me start to feel a little homesick. But, the new friends I have made out here are helping me feel more at home :) It will be so great to head home for Christmas to see everyone!! The first thing I want to do is play with my 2 pups- Riley and Jack. Then I'm hoping to see some Christmas lights and drink lots of "egg nog" with some friends from high school/college. I'm excited to see how the old college campus has changed over the past couple months and how the friends are dealing with college life- most of them only have a few more months til they graduate too!

What's new?...Still working here at the coffee shop and downtown twice a week at Ketchum PR. We had our holiday party for Ketchum last Thursday- they reserved the whole bar- open bar and free appetisers at a swanky bar called Sugar. I also met some colleagues that are a lot of fun!

My 22nd Birthday!:
First birthday away from family and friends at home, and it turned out just fine! For my birthday Spears took me to Muir woods- beautiful redwood trees! They gave us a tiny map at the entrance and let us loose to hike miles of their trails through the forest.

Sports:
Yeah Bucks! I love me some Buckeyes and I am so stoked about the game in January. O-H

The 49ers are not the best football team, but they're my home team now so I've been keeping up with them a bit.One of my favorite past times out here is watching football and having a drink at an Irish pub called Kells in the Financial district every Monday!

I will be home in Ohio Dec. 10-26. Hope to see you soon!
-Ashley

Wine and Coffee

Hi!

Just got my laptop back! I was laptop and internet-less for about 2 months. Best Buy Geek Squad isn't everything they're cracked up to be. It was quite a struggle getting a replacement computer.

Let's talk about wine- last Sunday Spears and I went with the OSU alumni club on a vineyard tour in Sonoma county. It was my first experience going wine tasting- it was amazing! There were acres upon acres of fields for the wineries. My favorite was called Trentadue winery. I found a port that I loved and bought myself a bottle. We visited four wineries and tasted all types of chardonnays, sirahs, zins....so many kinds. The alumni group was a great crowd, we had a lot of fun. I would love to go back sometime and visit more wineries. It was also really fun to hang with some Buckeyes!

I tell the customers about Columbus whenever I get the chance, they seemed pretty amazed when I tell them I came all the way from the mid-west. They say "oh wow! Isn't San Francisco a lot different than Ohio?!" haha

I'm out for now, a little worn out from the first day on my own at the coffee shop this afternoon.

Miss you Ohio friends! Let me know when you are coming out this way and I will show you the town :)