Shelby Sees The States!: "Dubuque" Is Not Pronounced "Do-Boo-Quey"

Hello friendly friends!

The time has come again that I've traveled to another city- Dubuque, Iowa! As the title of this post suggests, I was completely clueless as for how to pronounce the name of this city (seriously, if I had a dollar for every city with a difficult name we've visited so far on tour...I'd have a lot of dollars!). However you say it, my time in Dubuque was short and sweet, and I was able to find some fun things along the way!

My week started with a super spectacular, totally awesome, eleven hour bus ride to the city of Dubuque (no sarcasm was used here whatsoever). Even though the ride was long and I closed my eyes most of the way, I was awake for the gorgeous sunrise!

Our show schedule here was also easier than usual- we only had two evening shows on Tuesday and Wednesday, which meant I had the entire days off to explore! I took advantage of being able to sleep in, and got my day (rather, early afternoon) started with some yoga classes.

Yoga is one of those things that I've always enjoyed, but found myself never really sticking with. In Manhattan, I was in a better routine of taking class, and then life happened, and I was drawn away from it. I wish I wasn't that way; every time I come back to class, I'm reminded of some things that I should keep with me more often. For example- touring has been amazing and difficult in so many ways. I feel like my roller coaster of experiences and emotions whirl by fast fast as we do traveling from city to city. I've been able to discover so much about our nation, and about myself- heck, I'm still learning more about myself everyday! It's one of those experiences that puts everything into perspective, and has allowed me to find who am I and the person I want to be. I'm realizing what is truly important, and my goals and dreams are becoming more definite every day. Yoga brings up so many wonderful mantras and quotes, and I wish I could remember every specific one the instructor shared with us. But overall, they emphasized on change and growth into the new year- hellooooo light bulb going off! I've jokingly dubbed this as the year of my quarter life crisis (I turn 25 in June...), and I don't want to view change as such a negative thing. Change is vital, change is GOOD- everyone needs to experience change in order for life to happen. I shouldn't be afraid to venture out of my comfort zone, or have confidence in my dreams. I know it sounds so cliche. I'm so thankful for everything I've been able to see and hear and do so far, and I guess coming back to class was one of those "right place at the right time" moments. I need these reminders in my life more than I'd like to admit- so who knows, hopefully I can incorporate yoga into my life more often this year!

In addition to classes, I was able to dine at a delicious cupcake shop which was conveniently located right next to the yoga studio (I'm sensing another trend this year...eating cupcakes...), check out a thrift store (where I managed to snag a Taylor Swift shirt for TWO DOLLARS), and visit the city's art museum! It was small but very inviting, and it was neat to check out the local history and reputable area artists. All in all, this was a charming little city to spend a couple of days, had some cute places to explore, and a good city to stay inside and read (shocking! Another cold city in January!).

And if winter wasn't cold enough so far, I get to head even more north for our next city- Milwaukee, Wisconsin! Here's to staying warm, and staying open-mind-and-hearted to whatever change and opportunities come my way! Peace and Namaste :)

Signing off from the Street,
Shelby

City #33- Dubuque, Iowa

#shelbyseesthestates