freaking Garden State, man

FREAKING GARDEN STATE.

I felt like I needed to watch this movie tonight. Actually, I felt it last night, but didn't get around to it. So, I rainchecked for tonight. Yeah, I rainchecked with myself. Cause I'm cool like that.

Why do I always watch this movie with the thought that I will feel better about my life afterward?!?!! It NEVER happens.

FIRST OF ALL:

The movie ends and I think, "GOD DAMN WHY ISN'T MY LIFE SET TO MUSIC???" Yes, I think that. In real life. I expect awesome indie songs to play wherever I go.

SECOND OF ALL:

Why is everyone so awesome and beautiful in that movie?!?! Why does Natalie Portman talk in such a high pitched voice?!?

THIRD OF ALL:

So, he goes back to New Jersey and everyone still lives at home. This is so true in real life, except WAY LAMER. Like, Nat Port has this crazy family, Peter Sarsgaard has this weird mom. Everyone is like, working crap jobs and going to lame parties. WHY DOES IT SEEM SO COOL??? Am I the only one who's watching this movie thinking, "I want to go to a lame party!"

FOURTH OF ALL:

Running into people from high school. It's been happening a lot since I've moved back home. I kind of appreciate how awkward it is every time you see it happen, both in real life and in Garden State.

FIFTH OF ALL:

Actually I think this was the first time that I watched the movie and felt like I could relate a lot of my life to it. And that's making me sad. It's almost like a feeling of nostalgia for these things, some haven't even happened yet.

I guess I understood the movie in a new way.

I want a lot of things to happen right now. And I want them to happen during a rainstorm, at the bottom of a quarry, while Simon and Garfunkel play in the background.


And that was my Garden State rant.

oh wait,


SIXTH OF ALL:

The tap dance scene in front of the huge fireplace?? COME ON. #vom



freaking Garden State.

Murdock Lake, Berwick, ME (SAD Day)

I think I meant to tell you this earlier, and maybe I did, but Kara and I have these things called, 'SAD Day,' which stands for Sister Adventure Day. Yes, I realize that we're technically using the word 'day' twice in a row (SAD Day), but, we don't mind :)

Anyways, SAD Days are when Kara and I take off for the day, usually with a map, and pick a place to discover. We've had SAD Days to:

1. Northeast Kingdom - creepy northern Vermont area where we accidentally trespassed into someone's house.
2. Lake George, NY
3. Lake Morey and Lake Fairlee, VT
4. Rutland, VT
5. North Conway-ish area, NH
6. Bath, ME
7. Ridlon Road, Berwick, ME

SO. The most recent discovery in my town, which I talked about in the previous entry, was the discovery of a GIANT LAKE in my hometown. Now, the locals call this lake, Hatfield Pond, which I had definitely heard of before. I never realized it was IN my town, though. Kara and I both agreed we thought it was in Lebanon. And, it's on the way to Lebanon, so, it makes sense.

(Lebanon, ME, mind you, not Lebanon, NH, where I used to live up until recently..)

This past Monday, Kara and I ventured out into the town to try and find the lake.

First, we took Long Swamp Road, because we saw a connecting road that went around the lake. We got to the road, and it was closed. Like, there was a gate in front of it. So, this route was a no-go.

Then, we decided we'd take this road called, Lower Guinea Road. Now, we were in Lebanon, ME. I had driven past this road a billion times and never been down it. Turns out, it's kind of the creepiest road in history. Then we took this scary road with run-down houses with lots of junk in the yard and lots of 'No Trespassing' signs. We figured everyone in this area has lots of guns, so we got out of there pretty quickly.

We needed to try the other road to get to the lake. So, we headed to Rt. 202 and turned onto Hubbard Road. I feel like I've been on this road a lot recently, which is funny, because I NEVER used to come out to this part of town.

From Hubbard Road, we took Ridlon Road, which is my new fave road ever. Seriously, I'm obsessed with it. Like, in a weird way. Who is obsessed with a road, anyways? Why am I obsessed with this road? Because it leads to THE LAKE.

Seeing this road in the daytime was pretty awesome. We saw this giant sandpit which is apparently home to a lot of illegal ATVing as well as parties. Sandpit parties? Yep. Vacationland!

We headed down the first path that leads to the lake. Then, we saw that someone had a truck parked down there, and we got scared, so we turned around.

We took the second path, a little ways down the road. It's all dirt, everywhere.

This is where we parked the car:






That's Kara's car, Maci. Morgan's little sister :)


AND NOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I PRESENT TO YOU....


MURDOCK LAKE, BERWICK, ME 12/20/2010







That's an island in the middle of the lake. Because it's a huge lake. I love it.





GIANT FROZEN LAKE!!!!!





Kara by the lake.

GREAT, RIGHT???!! Um, yep. I can't believe that I've lived in this town for like, 24 years and have never been to this lake. It makes me sad almost, because like, what else am I missing???

That night when my mom came home from work she said,

MOM: So, what'd you girls do today?
JULIE AND KARA: Ohhh you know... went to the lake...

"The lake" that's what I've been calling it. Like, we have a house on it or something. Yeah, just going down to the lake. It's my new fave place.

Also, note this beautiful Maine winter day! Haha, it was like the most gray day ever. But, I like how you can see the reflection of the trees on the ice.

These next pictures are leaving the lake and driving down Ridlon Road.





Mini-bridge!! Cutest bridge ever!





I really like this last picture. The road looks so whimsical at the end.

GREAT DAY, right?!!? I seriously could not believe how excited I was this day. Like, this was such a great Sister Adventure.

I actually way more appreciate my town more after discovering this gem. I want to go here all the time. If you ever come to Berwick, ME, I will take you to this place. Murdock Lake or Hatfield Pond, however you prefer. Beautiful place.


ANYWAYS...

Today was a good day. I saw ANDREW! I went over to his house and he made me pancakes and tea and we talked for a long time. It was great. I hadn't really hung out with Andrew since New Year's Eve last year, so a hangout sesh was wayyyy overdue. Lots of life updates. Great.

Then, I needed to get gas for my car. I was on my last bar! I got $15 worth and it brought it up to over half a tank! I was shocked at this. Small tank + great gas mileage = happy Julie.

Then I went to Target because I needed more shampoo and conditioner. I ended up with two extra bottles of hair product. I love buying hair products and then never using them. However, I always convince myself that I will use them when I'm in the store, and that's what happened today.

I got some kind of volume boosting stuff. Extreme level. I also got some kind of super moisture 3 minute hair treatment for really damaged hair stuff. Lovely, right? Hey, the teal hair may be pretty awesome, but it's also pretty hard on your hair. I don't know how Ramona Flowers does it.

ALRIGHT!!! I think I'm done for tonight. Pretty good entry, eh? Yeah, I thought so too.

Hope you enjoyed your trip to Murdock Lake! Have a great rest-of-the-week!!

Talk to you soon :) Take care, friends!


♡

Episode 531: I haven't updated in a long time.

i realized i haven't updated in a long time. i am sorry for this. i got a text message from Kerianne the other day, saying that she needed a blog entry.

it has been a long time.

i don't know. i've been in this kinda weird mood this past week. i would say overall i've been kind of melancholy. i guess it's the holiday season and everything is colorful and cheery, and i've just been feeling kind of weird about something, which i think is emphasized even more this time of year.

anyways. let me tell you about my town.

Berwick, Maine. generally a low-key, nothing is happening town. but recently, i've discovered there is a giant lake kind of near my house, and i plan on discovering it. on Google maps, it's called Murdock Lake, but apparently the locals call it 'Hatfield Pond.' two completely different names. i prefer Murdock Lake, because of the similarity to the character in Titanic, Mr. Murdoch. he's the handsome one who shoots himself near the end.

anyways, Murdock Lake. it's apparently 165 acres wide and 6 feet deep. there's a boat launch too. and, i plan on visiting this lake. like, everyday from now on. i still have yet to see it, but i have a feeling it's going to be awesome. i mean, a LAKE. or, POND. that has been in your town for probably longer than you have, and you never knew it existed UNTIL NOW. this is really exciting to me.

also really exciting to me: i recently discovered that there is 1.5 square miles of my town that is known as a CDP (census designated place) and, if wikipedia is correct, APPARENTLY, the laws of the state do not apply in CDP areas. i could be reading that totally wrong, and interpreting it only as i want to - BUT - if that's true, then my plan is to mark off that area with some kind of tape, and then go inside that area and start a revolution. of some kind.

maybe if we can get the entire town to stand within this 1.5 square mile area, then first we'll take over the whole town, and eventually the entire state of Maine. there's not many people in maine anyways.

anyways - mainly i'm obsessed with this "no-laws apply area." do other people know this? is this even true? probably not.

also, Murdock Lake. i can't wait to go there. i think i'm going there tomorrow. from the satellite google map, it looks like there's a beach or something. i'm super excited. like, super excited.

last weekend, we had a huge hurricane-like rain storm here and kara and i went to the beach at like, midnight and it was AWESOME. it was freezing cold and like, downpouring and SO SUPER WINDY. but, we got out of the car and i walked down to the beach. it was awesome.

i went to the beach again today and just sat for a while by myself until my eyes started watering because it was so cold. i don't think i had ever sat at the beach by myself before. i liked it a lot. it was kind of powerful, in a way.

like, being in the Airport Lounge all by yourself in the middle of the night. THAT kind of power.

let me get back to talking about my town.

so, it's a pretty small town. but, there are some areas that take like, half an hour to get to. like, basically from housing development to housing development. and, some of kara's friends live in this other development that's like, half an hour away, but in the same town. and i always hate going there because it takes so long.

BUT. there is this one secret road that connect the two "sides" of town. it's called Ridlon Road. and TONIGHT was the first time i had EVER been down it. and now - i'm obsessed with it. it's the most awesome creepy road ever. and it runs right next to Murdock Lake, although the lake is partially hidden by trees.

i had never been down this road because it's not paved all the way. like, there's this giant section of road in between the two paved sections that is dirt, and so that's why i've never been down it. but tonight kara and i wanted to go on a mini-sister adventure, and she was like,

KARA: Wanna go down Ridlon Road?
JULIE: UM YES.

there was this awesome tiny bridge that i loved. it was super cute. but, some of the houses down that road are NICE. like, three story nice. and there are a million other tiny housing developments going in down there. it's crazyness. who is buying these giant three-story houses??

i feel like i'm discovering my town in a whole new way. now that i'm living here again, and i'm older. i don't know. it's this new weird sense of appreciation.

maybe i'll write and direct a movie about my town called, 'The Town.' about bank robbers or something..

so, besides the melancholy mood, i'm generally doing okay. been catching up with some old friends this week, which has been cool. today i hung around a lighthouse, which was awesome.

which leads me to be sad that i am not a lighthouse keeper. i was reading through my journal that i kept while i was in Ireland and for some reason i wrote, "when i leave Hannah House, i will become a lighthouse keeper." and that was like, one and a half years ago.

i also really want to go to a River City Extension concert. because there, it is nothing but happy and wonderful. and also rocking.

which leads me to further plug RCE, by telling you to go get a FREE DOWNLOAD of their new Christmas song.

FREE CHRISTMAS SONG DOWNLOAD HERE!!!!!!!

it's awesome and sad. last night, i actually almost cried listening to it for like, the one millionth time. not only is it a Christmas song, but it's also kind of a reflection on death. so, bonus.

also, have i told you about my recent hip hop obsession? i don't think so. Diddy Dirty Money. these guys are performing on every late night show. i've seen it like, 4 times, i think. but, that song, 'I'm Coming Home,' i SWEAR P. Diddy wrote for me. except for all the parts that are clearly about him. MAN i love this song. i blast it like, everywhere.

so, i downloaded the Diddy Dirty Money whole new album, but i haven't listened to it yet.


ummmm. ok. i think that's all for tonight.

the football game is on tonight, so i'm up in my bedroom with Ruby Tuesday.

ok. i'm going to brave the living room. maybe the game is almost over.....?

take care, friends. i'll update more this week after i've gone to Murdock Lake. i'll take pictures for you! that sounds great, actually.

OH! and LUNAR ECLIPSE TOMORROW NIGHT! i'll be there. maybe watching it at Murdock Lake, which will become my new stomping grounds, i'm assuming.

ok! take care! be well!

t6rrrrrrrrry7

Ruby Tuesday just wrote that subject line. I was going to have it be some pretty line from a Taylor Swift song, but then she stepped on the keyboard and wrote that instead. Eh, I'll keep it.

Actually, I should have had the subject of this entry be I LOVE RIVER CITY EXTENSION SO FREAKING MUCH. They might just be the number one best thing about this year.

So, tonight was the big River City Extension show in Boston. They were playing at The Paradise opening for Dashboard Confessional. Big band, big venue. How did I find out about this show? Oh! Because Joe, the lead singer, notified me by posting on my Facebook wall. Yess, he did that. And I was excited for like, a month. Actually, I'm still excited about that. He let me know via Facebook wall post. AWESOME.

UNFORTUNATELY, I was unable to go to the show in Boston tonight because of my grandmother's 98th birthday celebration. Pretty good reason. My awesome family is hanging out together and it's great.

HOWEVER, I was very, very bummed out because the band has been releasing all sorts of tour dates, and none of them are very close to here... so I don't know the next time I'll see them. And I haven't seen them since September. Which, should be illegal. Like, illegal in every state. You must see River City Extension at least once a month. AT LEAST. When I'm president I'm making that a law. The law of RCE. It's gonna happen.

Anyways, so tonight I was still pretty sad about missing the show, so I tweeted this:


(the @rvrctyext is River City Extension's twitter name.)

AND THEN. AND THEN. And then!!!!!! I got a most wonderful response from Joe. He wrote:


Love that man. Love that band. How happy does River City Extension make me??? So incredibly happy. It's ridiculous. Seriously.

The band released a new song the other night at midnight on their Facebook page, and EVERYONE should go listen to it. It's called, 'Golden Tongue (Thanatopsis)' and it's maybe like, the best song ever. I had it stuck in my head all day today. For realz. So sad and so beautiful.

I just think about how awesome and wonderful that band is, and it's almost too much to handle. I listen to Joe's lyrics and I can't believe that he's saying these things in real life. It's just like, "yes. that's how it is." I'm continually amazed with the connection I feel to some of these songs.

If you haven't started listening to River City Extension YOU NEED TO RIGHT NOW. Because, friends, this band is incredible. And, um, did you read that tweet that Joe sent to me above? It was really nice. Best band ever.


gather up my soul and then,
give a piece to all my friends
let them know i tried my best
to keep the love and burn the rest



'keep the love and burn the rest.'
♡

Competitive Mind Sports: Game #2

Ongoing?

I'm undecided to whether I complete this second challenge. These were the outlined goals:

- clean out my closet and bureau
- set up bags of clothes to donate to Planet Aid boxes
- bring my huge suitcase upstairs and unpack it into my closet and bureau
- get ready for a trip to the laundromat

Let's go over them one by one.

- clean out my closet and bureau

Complete. Closet was cleaned out. Bureau was cleaned out of all unwanted clothes.

- set up bags of clothes to donate to Planet Aid boxes

Complete. Giant bag of clothes ready to go.

- bring my huge suitcase upstairs and unpack it into my closet and bureau

Complete. Kara brought up the huge suitcase and I unpacked it! My familiar clothes are once again hanging up in a closet. Some clothes have been unpacked into the bureau. Still deciding on what I want hanging versus what I want folded. I dislike putting clothes into drawers. I'd rather them in the closet.

- get ready for a trip to the laundromat

Complete? I have piles of laundry ready to go. The trip just has to happen. Maybe... tomorrow? If Kara wants to come with me. I don't want to go by myself. Although, I feel like in movies and things, people always meet cute boys in laundromats. Hmm. Not just cute boys, but generally cool people. I bet this is one of those things that doesn't really happen in real life. Only in the movies. Like most of life, I suppose. Bummer.

ANYWAYS. I'd say I successfully completed this edition of Competitive Mind Sports, Game #2. I think I was expecting my bedroom to be a lot cleaner after this event happened. But, it's not at all. So, I think that's why I was confused as to whether or not I had succeeded.

I like these Mind Sports. Since I don't enjoy normal sports, this is a great way to keep active. Kind of. That, plus going to the gym. Which Kara and I have been doing a lot. Last night 'Grease' was on one of the tvs. It was great. Although, we were hoping for Harry Potter, since ABC Family was having a HP marathon ALL DAY.

Kara watched a lot of it. I watched like, the end of the Chamber of Secrets, most of the Prisoner of Azkaban, then we went to the gym and arrived back between the 2nd and 3rd challenge of the Tri-Wizard Tournament in Goblet of Fire, and then watched all of the Order of the Phoenix. I really want to see Half-Blood Prince again. I've only seen that once, and it was in theaters on opening night with Kara and Maria.

The three of us are planning on going to the midnight showing of the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. AND - considering dressing up. Maria wants to be Luna Lovegood, I want Kara to be Mr. Ollivander. I love that guy. When Harry is first picking out his wand in the Sorceror's Stone, that's like, my favorite part of the whole movie. Love Mr. Ollivander.


The other night, I had this weird dream. I guess I've been having weird dreams lately. Perhaps it comes with the transition/crisis period in my life right now.

The dream was, I was married and had this baby. I don't know who I was married to. But, we had a baby boy. He was 7 months old. And, he was very sick, like he had some disease. Also, the entire world was like, going through catastrophe or something. Kind of like at the end of Children of Men during that long tracking shot when they're running away from all the gunfire. Like, things are bad. And, me and my husband are trying to find a way to save our baby. Actually, kind of exactly like Children of Men, haha. Wow, I never picked up on that part until I just said that. Weird.

Anyways, there is this vaccine that will most likely save our baby, who is about to die, but you're not supposed to have the vaccine before you're 9 months old. Baby is 7 months.

So, I'm just sitting on this crate, like, knowing the baby is going to die very soon, and then this old woman comes up behind me, and jabs the vaccination into the baby's leg.

And then I woke up. Weird, huh?


Vaccination

To dream that you are getting vaccinated, suggests that you need to overcome your vulnerabilities. Things that may initially hurt you will be beneficial to you in the long run. You need to take better care of yourself.

To dream that someone is getting vaccinated, indicates that you are being influenced by the beliefs and wishes of others.

Catastrophe

To experience a catastrophe in your dream, represents sudden instability and upheaval in your waking life. You are feeling extremely anxious about the unknown changes that are in store for you.

Sick

To dream that you or others are sick, denotes discordance and trouble in your life. It may signal a part of yourself that needs to be healed, either physically or mentally. Perhaps you are wallowing in your own self pity. you need to quit feeling sorry for yourself.

Baby

To see a baby in your dream, signifies innocence, warmth and new beginnings. Babies symbolize something in your own inner nature that is pure, vulnerable, helpless and/or uncorrupted.

(the whole baby description was really long, so I just picked out that part.)

Yep. That was my dream. Kind of interesting, I guess. My dream life is way more interesting than my awake life. The fact that babies symbolize all that good stuff, but that there was all this horrible stuff happening to the baby in my dream, is kind of sad.

I guess I'm in a sad mood today. For one thing, I keep thinking it's Tuesday. I don't know why this is bothering me so much. I don't know. I guess I just want to do something. But, I don't know what. It feels kind of weird to be in one place all the time. It feels weird that this is December. I'm not sure what's going to happen next year. It's kind of scary, but kind of wonderful.

Today I spray painted things. So, we just had the kitchen re-painted. New hardware is on the cabinets and there's a new stove. So, the paper towel and napkin holder that we had previously, did not match. Luckily, they are metal. And also luckily, I have been really wanted to spray paint something metal.

So I convinced my mom that she shouldn't buy a new paper towel and napkin holder, that she should instead, let me spray paint the old ones. So, we bought spray paint! And TODAY - it happened. I spray painted!!!! It was awesome. I loved it.

Although, it was pretty freezing outside. It was also snowing. So, it was hard. And I couldn't feel my hands for like, 15 minutes after I went back inside. But, it was a lot of fun. I want to spray paint everything now.

Also my day has included:

1. Eating a cinnamon bagel with strawberry cream cheese. I also convinced my mom to buy me strawberry cream cheese at the grocery store the other day. It's pretty much changed my life for the better. Also, I'm pretty good at convincing, I guess. Maybe I should become a lawyer. No, just kidding. Ha. Good joke, Julie.

2. Listening to Taylor Swift. A lot. Very loudly. Especially tracks like, "Mean," and "The Story of Us." I've never heard silence quite this loud. Love that lyric sooooo freaking much.

3. Taking a shower. Singing Taylor Swift in the shower? #yepididthat


That's pretty much been it. Not exciting as always.

I'm sorry. I feel like I'm in a bad mood.

Exactly one year ago my old computer completely died. Remember that saga? I do. My new laptop is about to turn ! That was supposed to be a 1 with a ! after it. But, it just turned into a !. I guess I should have a birthday party or something.

Also, I'll have a celebration coming up for the first time I ever saw Crash Kings. This is going to be an exciting week for parties. Maybe I'll dress up. No, probably not.

Aahhhhhh why am I in a bad/sad mood?? I don't know. Which makes it worse because I'm mad and sad at myself for being in a crappy mood for no reason.

I feel like I don't like my hair. I recently did this huge re-dying project where I dyed the whole thing dark brown. Including the teal parts, which looked pretty because, they didn't all dye completely dark brown, so it was like, dark brown/blue/green streaks. Kinda funky. But then, I rebleached out the sections I wanted teal. It was hard rebleaching them. And then I dyed the bleached sections back to teal.

This process took like, three days. For serious. And, I feel like now, the teal is fading really quickly. I might re-teal...? IDK. Maybe I'll do that and it'll make me feel better. I get a lot of compliments on the teal hair, so I don't want to get rid of it. I also feel like it makes me feel cooler, obviously. I believe the percentage was like, 70% cooler than my previous self, or something.

Also, Tonks from Harry Potter has different colored hair. And Professor Lupin marries her. And I'm in love with him.

Also, Jason Schwartzman is in love with Ramona Flowers and her teal hair in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. And I'm also in love with Jason Schwartzman. As everybody knows. Seriously, I think everyone knows that.

Oookkkkkk. I think I'm gonna call it quits right now. Go downstairs and wait for Kara to come home from work. I'm excited about that, even though I know she is going to abandon me right away to watch the football game. Oh well.

Alright, have a great night. I'll talk to you all laterrrrrr.


Keep warm. Sweet dreams.


♡

'always in this twilight'

I've listened to the Florence and the Machine record like, maybe 10 times today. I never get tired of it.

We had a new stove delivered today. I was in charge of letting the stove people in. Super nice guys. Nick and Tyrone. They will be getting a '10' on the delivery survey. Handsome guys, too. The process of moving stoves (and other large appliances, I would imagine) is nothing like I would have thought. I thought they would move it out on a dolly. BUT NO.

So, they were wearing these large strap things, like a backpack, but then there was a large strap connecting them to each other. I thought it was kind of cute. And then, they came in the house, tipped the stove back, knelt down, put the connecting strap under the stove, and then lifted it. So like, the stove weight was between the two of them. It was awesome. I wanted to just stare at them, but I thought that maybe would be creepy. I kind of did anyways.

And then they brought the new stove in the same way! And once it was on the ground I said,

JULIE: That thing is so awesome.
NICK: Yeah! It's way easier than using a dolly.
JULIE: It's like, super hardcore.

I couldn't believe it. I'm still in amazement. I have a new respect for anyone who moves large appliances.

So, the new stove is in. Tyrone said not to use it until it gets to room temperature, or else it may crack. It's a fancy stove. Like, a flat top one. With a non-broken door!

The reason we had to get a new stove, was because when the kitchen was being painted, the painters moved the stove out from the wall, and they broke the door. Or like, broke the vent thing that's above the door. The door still opened, but you had to do this tricky maneuver that no one except me could figure out. So, anytime for the past week and a half that we were using the oven, I needed to be present to open it up. Perhaps it's because of my small hands? Or willingness to reach into hott ovens with no worry of burning my hands. Because for some reason, I have no sense of hott and cold. Because, in order to open the oven, you needed to semi touch a hott oven surface. There was like, this metal piece that was hanging down too low inside the oven door, which was preventing it from opening.

Normally, it wasn't too hott. But like, on Thanksgiving, when the oven was on all day, it got kind of hott. Like, if an oven mitt would have fit into the small space, I would have used it. But, it didn't. And those glove-oven mitts that are semi-freaky, were like, $15. Not worth it to have a tiny burn on your hand.

ANYWAYS. I hadn't intended to tell you any of this. And now I've been talking for like, 20 minutes about this. Crazy.

The new oven is nice. I guess it's called a "range." Range? Oven? Stove? Do they all mean the same thing?? IDK! That's why I don't work at Home Depot. That's probably like, training day #1.

What I wanted to tell you about, was these dreams I had last week. I had two of them in a row.

I can't exactly remember what was happening in the second dream. I remembered it last week, and I told Kara. But she's at work right now. So I can't ask her.

But both dreams involved a massive power outage. The first dream, I was moving to a new area and applying for a job in this cafe, and then just as I was talking to the lady about working there, this huge storm moved in and the power went out, and myself and all the patrons of the cafe were trapped in the restaurant until the power came back on. Because it was too dangerous to go outside.

And then the second dream, was kind of the same idea, I remember. Like, a big storm which caused the power to go out for like, 7 hours, I think.

I just thought this was weird, having two dreams about power outages right in a row. And, it kind of freaked me out. So, I looked it up...


BLACKOUT:
To dream that there is a blackout, indicates your lack of insight and perspective on a situation. You may be feeling frustrated or experiencing failure in some work that you are attempting. The blackout may also symbolize ignorance, the unconscious, evil, death, or fear of the unknown.

STORM:

To see a storm in your dream, signifies some overwhelming struggle, shock, loss or catastrophe in your waking life. The storm also represents unexpressed fears or emotions, such as anger, rage, turmoil, etc. On a more positive note, the storm symbolizes your rising spirituality. It may signal rapid changes ahead for you.

To dream that you take cover in a storm, foretells that whatever disturbance or problems is occurring in your life will quickly blow over. Consider also the phrase "weather the storm", which refers to your ability and strength to withstand whatever comes.


I guess it kind of seems like these two things are related. Kind of scary, but also kind of comforting in a strange way. Clearly, it means that my trying to get a job is bad news.

I got something in the mail yesterday about retirement and collecting Social Security and everything. It was probably the creepiest piece of mail I've ever gotten. Like, they had a lot of information about me. But also, I was like,

JULIE: I guess I'll just retire!!!

But, it really wasn't about that. It was basically letting me know that I've worked for enough years so that if I for some reason, become disabled and cannot work, I will be allowed to collect Social Security. I think. I think that's what they told me.

So, here's the plan:
1. get married
2. have a baby
3. become emotionally disabled
4. collect social security

great! If you're married and have children, then you get more Social Security money. And that will solve my problem of not knowing what I want to do with my life. Avoidance! Yep. That's my method. It's worked well for 25 years.

Actually, I got something else in the mail a few days ago and it was from the New England Technical Institute. Or, New England Institute of Technology... one of those two. And it said on the outside of the envelope, "important career information!" So I was like, "oh, great!" So, I opened it and read all about their courses and programs.

And NOW, I think I want to become a surgical technician. Cool, right?!?! Either that, or an interior designer. OR, go into aviation science. And become a PILOT. How cool would that be?!?! Except pilots work under pretty bad conditions. Also, I'm not really good at being in airports because I get really mad and rude at people. I've just had bad experiences. So, maybe I shouldn't become a pilot.

Actually, there's probably some warning that comes up when I book an airline ticket because I did so much research on Fidel Castro and Che Guevara my last year of college. That would make sense, since I've had so many problems at airports. Especially going through customs. But actually, this has been going on since I was little. Before Div 3.

ANYWAYS.

Surgical tech seems cool. And ever since I was in 5th grade I've wanted to become a brain surgeon. So, maybe that's step one?? Wouldn't it be funny if I actually ended up a brain surgeon?? Like, after all this indecision about everything in my life. THAT'S what I become. I would love that. I like tedious things like taking things apart, so I think I'd be good at surgery. Haha, that's probably not a great reason to cut open someone's brain.

Oooo but doesn't that just sound cool??? Like, powerful and awesome?? To actually understand something like a brain? And like, there's a problem with the brain, and you will most likely know how to fix it. That sounds great. Like, to KNOW what to do.

I'd take any kind of surgery, actually. Except you probably have to wake up early to be a surgeon.

I'd also like to do something with weather. Like, not be a meteorologist, but be like, the person who reports to the meteorologist. Like, the science person who knows everything about what everything means. Unless there's no science person, and the meteorologist does all the work.

I like science a lot. But, for some reason I always hated it in school. And did pretty bad.

This makes me think that you shouldn't go to school until you're older. Like, start school at age 10, or something. And then you'd finish high school when you're like, 23 and THEN go to college.

Perhaps I'll think about this some more and then work it into my presidential campaign. I wonder if there's ever been a former brain surgeon president. Probably not. Although, maybe.

Although, by the time I would have finally finished medical school and got my brain surgeon license, it'd be time to start the presidential campaign. So, that wouldn't look good. Failed brain surgeon as president? Hm. Or, person with a brain surgical license who doesn't actually use it but instead becomes president? Hm.

I need to stop blogging if I ever want to become president. Although, that'd be cool to have a president who blogs while in office. Like, why not? Why is everything so secret? It'd be like, the most popular blog ever.

Although, I can spend a lot of time blogging. And perhaps the American people would rather have a president who spends more time on important issues, rather than blogging about them. But maybe not! Who am I to speak for the American people?

Anyways. What else can I talk about?

Kara and I have to go to Petco tonight. Chowder needs more cat food. Chowder is Ruby Tuesday's older sister. I'm excited to go to Petco, because last time we were there buying her food, we spent like, an hour staring at these hilarious mice. There was this one mouse that was just awesome. He like, thought he was Spiderman or something. Spiderman mouse. He was like, trying to climb the walls. I'm actually laughing just thinking about it. He was so funny. We were laughing pretty hard in the store that night. Haha..

So, we're into December now. I can't believe it at all. How it's been like, a year since last December. I feel like this year flew by.

It's almost been a year since I FIRST saw Crash Kings. Perhaps on that day, I'll have a Crash Kings madness blog post where I post pictures from all 18 shows I've been to. Wait, 18? Is that right? No, that can't be right. Hold on... let's do a quick recap:

- boston
- boston
- providence
- albany
- sayreville, nj
- boston
- west chester, pa
- portland
- boston
- new york city
- chicago
- portsmouth, nh
- boston
- providence
- burlington, vt
- philadelphia
- new york city
- washington, dc

holy crap, that's 18. That's a lot of times seeing Crash Kings. I think that's also the order of the cities we saw them in. I'm pretty impressed. Oh, I love Crash Kings. They are so cool.

So, my goal for this week was to unpack all my clothes into my room and clear out all the clothes I no longer wear. And it's Thursday. And I haven't started yet. I guess I only have one more day to do this. I MUST complete this personal goal.

OH!!!!

I'll do a blog challenge!!!!!! Wait, what were those called??? Hold on,

COMPETITIVE MIND SPORTS!!!!! Yes. This shall be Competitive Mind Sports, Game #2. The first one was when I had to force myself to clean out my bedroom in my apartment with one full rotation of the River City Extension record.

Hm. Well, I definitely can't do this clothes project with one listen to that record.

Okay, I have this playlist that's like, 4 hours and 15 minutes long. I wonder if I can do it in that time.

Perhaps I'll just set a time limit.

I KNOW. Starting at 6pm TONIGHT, I'll give myself 24 HOURS to complete this project. And by 6pm on Friday - it'll be done.

Okay. Now I'm excited about this. Once I put it in the blog - it's REAL. It's ON. And I have to do it. Why do I think like this? I don't know. But, it gets stuff done.

I'll outline the goals for this challenge:

- clean out my closet and bureau
- set up bags of clothes to donate to Planet Aid boxes
- bring my huge suitcase upstairs and unpack it into my closet and bureau
- get ready for a trip to the laundromat

Perhaps the laundromat trip will be a challenge for next week. My mom is making me go to the laundromat because I have too much laundry. I have no problem with that, because I enjoy laundromats. I think it's because I don't mind waiting. Lines, doctor's offices, grocery store checkout, laundromats... nope. I'll wait. I like this about myself. Perhaps it's the fact that I'm a massive procrastinator. Maybe I'm just lazy to do things quickly? (that's probably it.)

ANYWAYS.

COMPETITIVE MIND SPORTS, GAME #2 - Clothes Project. It's ON.

I'm excited about this one, guys. I like including you in my personal goals. I like to have small goals and projects to work on. Long term goals, what? No thanks.

No Day But Today? Yep. Thanks, Rent.

OK. So now my goal is to take a shower. And then maybe start the clothes project. And then meet Kara at Petco, and then go to the gym. Ugghhhhhhhhhh. THE GYM. I hate working out, but I like having an excuse to listen to dance music really loud in my headphones. So, it balances itself out.

Although lately, before I go to sleep, I put in my headphones and listen to dance music anyways. True story. I don't know why I do this right before bed. Like, I'll literally be in bed, lights out, trying to fall asleep with this dance music blaring in my ears. And then like, an hour later, I'll wake up and the dance music will still be playing. Weird. But for some reason, it helps me sleep.

Ok. I seriously started blogging this afternoon with the intention of only telling you about those dreams. But it got out of control pretty quickly when I started talking about the stoves. Or, ranges. Or, ovens. Whatevs.

So! I hope everyone has a great evening!!! It's Thursday!!!! What a great day, right?! Right!

Take care, friends!!! What are you hott plans for this weekend??? Share them with me!



have a beautiful night ♡

'because none of it was ever worth the risk'

DON'T HATE ME. I know I'm the worst blogger ever. I'M SORRY I didn't do the Thanksgiving Madness post that I promised you. I totally forgot about it until Thanksgiving night just as I was getting into bed, and then I was too tired :/

But, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

I'm so thankful that whenever I come to the blog, I feel a little bit happier. Not as lonely. I know I'm surrounded by friends :)

So on actual Thanksgiving day, I was alone, as I believe I mentioned a few times. My mom and sister had to work. I also had to work, though at not an actual job, and I wasn't getting paid. I was cooking all the delicious things we would be eating on Second Thanksgiving, which was happening on Friday.

I did a lot of cooking. Or, rather, preparing. We did the actual cooking of everything on Friday afternoon before eating. The prep was all pretty easy. This was my third year in a row cooking these recipes, so I'm kind of used to them. It's really the only real cooking I do all year. Thanksgiving Dinner. Funny, right? Kind of. I hate cooking and never do it, except for this huge day where I cook everything.

AND - everything was delicious!!! As always. Really delicious. I do a good job at things when I actually pay attention and care about them.

So, Friday was spent eating all day. Which, I have no problem with. Saturday was pretty good too. Hung around with my mom all day. Kara had to work. My mom and I went to Target and then to the grocery store. Prettttyyyyy exciting stuff happened.

Not really. But I suppose it was a nice day. Although, I was kind of in a sad mood.

Sunday was a great day. I had a great day. I met Jenn for lunch! Great. And it turned into like, a 5.5 hour lunch of us getting caught up with everything in our lives. It was really great. Jenn is like my older sister, so that's awesome. Like, seriously. An older sister to me. And I've known her my entire life, which is PRETTY COOL. (yep... still saying' "pretty cool" in the Miley voice. get used to it.)

After our lunch, I came home and got ready to go over MARIA'S house. I was sleeping over and then babysitting her little sister all day Monday. FUN FUN FUN TO THE MAXXXXXXX.

I went over and they were in the middle of decorating for Christmas!!! Also, the Sarah Palin show was on TV, and I watched like, 3 episodes. It was kind of amazing. All they did was fish. And when they weren't actually fishing, they were either talking about going fishing, setting up the fishing camp, or gutting and cleaning fish. YES. But man, Alaska looks pretty nice. Like, vacation scenery all the time.

Then, Maria and I got bored or something.... so we started playing with these giant dice. Or, di. Like, trying to balance them on our fingers. It sounds super lame and boring - but we did it for like, probably half an hour. And we decided eventually that we should become a dice balancing act, where people would pay to watch us do our tricks. Which includes: balancing dice on our fingers and saying, "whoooaaa whoa whoaaaa" a lot. Our act will be called, 'The Lady's Di.' YEP. Brillz. TOTESbrillz.

I didn't go to sleep until like, 4:30 in the morning.

On Monday! I was spending the whole day babysitting Maria's little sister, Joshie, who is awesome. She's 10. We did a lot of awesome things. First, we had breakfast. Then, she suggested that I take a quiz about puppies. So, I took the quiz. I didn't do too bad for someone who has never owned a dog. Or has never been a dog person. Then we watched the classic film, Dante's Peak, starring Pierce Brosnan. If you have never seen this cinematic gem, you must see it immediately.

In eighth grade, me and Maria were in Mrs. Schwingle's class and it was like, a half day or something. Or, maybe that was one of the week's that we had bomb threats every day and got to go home early. But, there wasn't enough time in the day to do anything productive, so we watched Dante's Peak. BUT - then the time ran out and we couldn't finish it. SO, me and Maria either immediately rented the movie, or immediately bought the movie, I can't remember which one. And ever since that day, Dante's Peak has played a major role in our lives.

We had to stop it like, right after the part where Ruth has to walk through the acid lake in order to keep the boat from sinking. YEAH. THAT'S A PART IN THE MOVIE.

Turns out, Joshie has a crush on Pierce Brosnan. After the movie was over, she drew a heart on this little marker board that said:

I
♡
PB

and she was like,

JOSHIE: That doesn't stand for peanut butter... it stands for PIERCE BROSNAN.

It was awesome. I laughed a lot. We also looked through lots of dog books, did some drawing, Joshie taught me the proper way to howl like a wolf, ate some chicken nuggets, watched some funny YouTube videos, Joshie gave me an alto saxophone, piano, and tenor saxophone concert... it was a time. A great time. I've known Joshie ever since she was a baby, so it was really cool hanging out with her just the two of us. OH - we were also texting. For some reason, texting is WAY more fun when you're in the same room as the other person.

Maria and her mom came home in the evening. We all relaxed on the couch for a while. Then, a bit later in the evening, I departed for my house. The long distance of like, 3 miles away.

Joshie also invited me to sleep over their house for an entire week. Sooo.... that's gonna be a good week. Love that fam.

Monday night was spent hanging out with my family. They are great too. Ruby Tuesday missed me a lot.

Tuesday was an exciting day. My mom had the day off work! Because she needs to use up her vaca time at work!!! Awesome! That never happened with me. I was literally waiting month to month to accrue more vacation time so I could take more time off. Haha.

We all got up early (10am) and went out for breakfast! And then had to go to Target. I needed to exchange a pair of glove/mittens that I had bought. Did I tell you about those? I think I did. Or wait sec... maybe I didn't...? Their like, gloves, with a mitten flap that goes over your fingers? And they're teal and brown? I feel like I remember typing out this.

OH. I think I typed it out to Keith. I don't think it was in the blog. Keith sometimes gets personalized blog entries, and then I get confused. It's a hard life, being an amateur blogger.

Or rather, blogging is confusing when you mix it with general correspondence, because then, like what just happened, I get confused as to where I have said things and who I have told.

Anyways, I bought those glove/mittens. They were from the kids section because everything is cheaper there and I have small hands. BUT, these glove/mittens were TOO small. They were for ages 4-7 and I should have bought 8-16. They fit, but it was a bit tight around the wrist.

So I went to exchange them, BUT THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY 8-16. Sadface. No glove/mittens for Julie. I ended up just returning them. And! The customer service lady was Grace Shaw! Who I went to high school with. Awesome! I feel like I'm back in high school. For real. It's crazy. Like, it's CRAZY. Maybe I'll just start going back to Noble. Maybe nobody would realize that I graduated like, 7 years ago. Weird. Both that I'm seeing all these high school people, and also that I graduated like, 7 years ago. WEIRD.

I also bought exciting items in Target including: allergy medicine and gum. I couldn't wait to open the gum, so I had to have a piece in the store, and then pay for it. I figured that was probably fine. Delicious gum, btw.

Then, we had to go to Home Depot. Since I've moved home, I've been to good ol' HD mayyyyyybe like, 25 times. Ok, that's a lie. It's been like, 5 times, maybe. Actually, maybe only like, 3. Too many to count, that's how many.

THEN, we came home and decorated the house for Christmas. Kara and I worked pretty hard putting up lights on the bushes outside. And putting out Frosty, who is the twinkling snowman that lives in our yard. My mom named him Frosty, but I think he looks more like an Eddie.

Then, we decorated the indoors. Put up the Christmas tree. Kara yelled at me because I was doing it wrong. The house actually looks awesome. I haven't been a part of holiday decorating in a lonnnnggggg time. Like, I can't remember the last time. So, it was kind of nice.

Then, Kara and I made macaroni and cheese and it was delicious. Like, soooo good. And we drank apple cider out of wine glasses. More fun that way. Currently I'm drinking soda out of a wine glass, and it rocks. Like, it's making everything wayyyy more fun.

Like when you drink a cold beverage out of a mug. Best thing ever.

It doesn't take much to make me happy. Like, not much at all.

OMG. omg. Omg. I haven't told you about HARRY POTTER.

I saw Harry Potter with Kara and Maria last week!!!!!!!!! O.M.G. What an amazing movie. Super creepy, super dark, bittersweet, heartbreaking, made you laugh, made you cry, all around GREAT movie. Yes, I cried. TEARS. Like, TEARS WERE STREAMING DOWN MY FACE. At the end.

This was also the first time I really HATED Voldemort. Like, the really first time. I mean, normally you just don't like him. At least, I don't. Because I generally don't hate anybody. Even if that person is Lord Voldemort. But at the end of this movie, when Voldy and Dumbledore are inches from each other.... I felt SO violated. I couldn't believe how angry I was to see that happen. And anger and hate are two emotions I never feel. And these were coming right after the tears happened. It was a lot to handle.

Also, I feel like I appreciated this movie so much. Like, seeing all the characters. Even Kreature. I was like, "awww, it's KREATURE!"

But also, for some reason, I mix up the Harry Potter movies and books SO BAD. Like, I can NEVER remember what has happened and when everything all happened. So, when Harry, Hermione and Ron go into the Black house, I was like, "awww Sirius will be there!" And then I got all excited to see Gary Oldman. And then I was like, "Hmm, when was the last time we saw Gary Oldman?" And then I remembered that it was in the 5th movie when Sirius died....

So, there would be no Gary Oldman here. But, I leaned over and asked Kara, just to make sure:

JULIE: Wait... did Sirius die...?
KARA: (shakes her head at me) Oh my God, I can't believe you're asking me that. YES.

And then afterwards she said to me,

KARA: I was embarrassed for you that the people next to me might hear what you were asking!

Kara is my go-to HP resource. She has read the books like, 5 times. She's like Harry Potter clifnotes. For realz.

ANYWAYS. The movie was amazing. Loved a lot of the camera angles. Like when Harry is trying to destroy the locket for the first time and he's like, trying all these different spells and the locket keeps jumping further and further back, and then he just goes crazy and THEN - it shows a quick shot of the back of his head. LOVED THAT SHOT. I don't know why. But, it was so good.

Also loved the shot when the snatchers were running after Harry, Ron and Hermione and they were running towards the camera, and the camera was like, running towards them. That doesn't make sense. It also doesn't make sense when I explain it in real life. But, I loved that part too.

Also loved the shot of Voldemort in Dumbledore's coffin, even though I hated that part.

Yeah, lots of great cinematography.

That was a great night.

:)

SO. Right now I'm sitting in the living room, enjoying the decorations. And the lights. Sights and sounds of the season, as some would say. Alliteration, much? Actually, there are no seasonal sounds playing currently. I'm listening to Paper Tongues. Their acoustic version of, 'Get Higher,' which is like, the most beautiful song ever.

Oh! But if I were listening to seasonal Paper Tongues, I would listen to their recording of Carol of the Bells. Great version. My mom even loved it!

I had a dream the other night about the whipped cream vodka that me and Kara had. The dream was, we were out of it, and Kara was going out to get more. And, I woke up just as she was leaving to go to the store. Great dream, right? Yep.

ALSO, been rocking out to Ke$ha a lot lately. Reallllyyyyy makes me want to go to a hott dance party. 'We R Who We R' is my jam. Actually, no. Not exactly my jam. But, a great song nonetheless. Kara and I had a dance party to that song while we were stopped at a red light on our way to Wal-Mart last week. YEP. #classy

WELL. It's about 1am. I'm tired. Ruby Tuesday is tired and wants to go to sleep. She's been out and about in the house tonight. We're going through this process of slowly reintroducing the cats to each other. Not going so well. Until tonight! Tonight was the first time they were together that didn't end in a screaming cat fight. So, progress!!! And now Ruby is running around the house playing. Awww. She's the best. Like, aside from Kara, she's probably the person I love most in the world. Notice how I called her a person. yep. She has the best personality of any cat ever. And, she has a better personality than some people I've met. You have to meet Ruby to understand what I'm talking about. And like, live with her.

She also just literally rolled down the stairs because she's chasing a green mouse around the house. It was pretty hilarious. Like, she actually rolled off a stair. Awww and she JUST ran into the living room with the green mouse in her mouth. Looks like she's in control of that situation. Don't want any loose mice in the house. Especially the green ones.

OK. I'm going to bed now. So is Ruby. She woke me up this morning and punched me right in the mouth. That's a true story. With her paw. Twice, this happened, and then I finally got up to feed her. She's awesome.

OK now it's bedtime.

I hope EVERYONE has a great day!! I have no idea what day it is! But, it should be a great one.

HOLY CRAP it's December 1st!!!! That means it's Wednesday, because that's when my storage unit payment is due. Don't worry, I already paid it.

ALSO::: MOST IMPORTANT NEWS YOU'LL HEAR ALL DAY =

My birthday is LESS THAN three months away. yep. Get ready, folks. 25 on the 25. Quarter of a century? Check. I should have a huge, blow out party. On a boat. A black tie, huge blow out party on a boat. That sounds awesome.

Also - Bro Tour 2011 will begin. This is the fake tour that I have made up in my head. With all the brother bands. yep. Awesome.

OK. I'm really going to bed now. I'm tired. Take care, friends. I will try and be better about updating. Life is pretty awesome right now, not gonna lie. Unemployment suits me well. :)


Until next time!


☭♡☼

and that's, PRETTY COOL

I hope EVERYBODY has watched the SNL clips of "The Miley Cyrus Talk Show," because it's kind of becoming a huge part of my life over here. I can't remember the name of the SNL cast member who plays Miley Cyrus, but she's PRETTY COOL. And she does an awesome impression of Miley. Like, screaming when she talks AND STUFF LIKE THAT. Ok, you have to watch those videos. They're maybe not funny at all, but Kara and I now say, "THAT'S PRETTY COOL" all the freaking time. It's super funny when you haven't said it in a long time, and then you're in the grocery store or something and say it really loud and in a Miley impression. And then we both start hysterically laughing.

GOOD TIMES.

Also, Florence and the Machine performed, and you all should watch that too. Lady looks like a red headed Cate Blanchett. Love that record sooooo much. Like, a lot. It's PRETTY COOL.

Sooooo I haven't updated in a while. Why? Well, I haven't been doing anything. Therefore nothing is exciting.

Just kidding. Everything is exciting. (Duh.) Our kitchen was repainted!!! I had to be awake early last week to let the paint guys into the house. Two guys, very nice. Kitchen looks great.

I also went stove shopping for like, three days with my mom. It was awesome. I pretend to hate "home stores" like Home Depot and Loew's, but then I really love them when I get there. I think because I love projects. And those stores are full of different projects to do.

This past Monday I dyed a scarf orange. Came out freaking awesome. I've had this scarf for a while now, and it was white. I bought it as a white scarf with the intent to dye it orange. This has been a work in progress for over a year now. Remember last winter when I set out to KNIT my own perfect orange scarf? But then I got like, halfway through and remembered that I'm a pretty bad knitter. And it just wasn't what I imagined the scarf to look like.

So! I ended up buying a white scarf for $6 at KMart and then dyed it orange on Monday. SO GREAT. I just love dying things! It's like, this fun, semi-suspenseful process where you just have to hope that the color takes to the fabric like you imagine in your head.

I should write a mystery novel about a lady who works in a dye store.

'Death at the Dye Store'
by Julie Evans

nice, right?!?! I just came up with that. It could be like, a Nancy Drew series. Just one book? OH NO!!! SERIES. A series of 'Death at the Dye Store' books. With some character with a sweet, innocent name. Something like, Carolina Blue, or something. I imagine there would need to be a color somewhere in her name, to make it even more cute that she works at a dye store.

What is a dye store, even? I think I also just made that up, because I don't know if they exist. Like, a store where you go if you want something dyed. That's sounds awesome. I want one.

Anna Grey? Violet James? Benjamin Yellow? Ha. Ben Yellow is kind of ridiculous. I've always liked Julie Blue. There's an album by Joe Purdy called Julie Blue.

River girl, she took me in
And I became her new best friend
She would laugh as she filled my glass with wine
She said "well, hold on boy cause we can't stay long
It's bittersweet, this river song",
So toast to you and I hope your journey's kind
Singing "goodbye river, I'll see you next time"

Those are the lyrics to the song, 'Julie Blue' off the record, Julie Blue. I discovered this last year when I discovered a baby name website that said the name "Julie" was totally OUT and old fashioned and LAME. They're like, "updated versions like, Julia and Juliet are a better choice," or some other CRAP.

So then I was feeling pretty down that the baby name website totally hated on my name. SO! I went in search of the best songs about Julie EVER WRITTEN. And I created an iTunes playlist called, "people love julie" and I will now share what is on that playlist.

PEOPLE LOVE JULIE

- Hey Julie :: Fountains of Wayne
- Don't Wake Up, Julie :: The Dreamers
- Julie :: Jared Strock
- Julie :: Jens Lekman
- julie blue :: Joe Purdy
- Julie :: King's X
- Julie :: Mano Solo
- Julie :: Oliver Lukas
- Julie :: Pete Francis
- Julie :: Shane & Shane
- Julie :: We Shot the Moon

After making this playlist, I felt a lot better about myself. I've actually been listening to Julie songs a lot lately too. My faves from that playlist, which I totes recommend you listen to, are:

- Julie, by We Shot the Moon
- Julie, by Jens Lekman
- Julie, by Pete Francis (listen to this one right now.)
- Hey Julie, by Fountains of Wayne

AND THEN, the number one, best Julie song EVER, is of course:

- Don't Wake Up, Julie, by The Dreamers

Written for ME by Andrew :) What's better than a personalized song? Um, pretty much nothing. That's PRETTY COOL.

So, if you're ever in the mood for some great songs about Julie, please check those out. And, if you're ever feeling down about your name, I would recommend making your very own Name Playlist. "People Love (insert your name here.)" Because, it's probably true. People do love you, even if you were dealt a crappy, out of style name.

So THERE! Now go feel better about yourself.

I feel pretty good today. I'm currently freezing in my house. But, it's not really bothering me. Although, now that I'm thinking about it, it will bother me. And I might actually go turn up the heat now. Just don't tell my mom.

Aahhh, the house was a cool 59 degrees. YIKES. Too cool for comfort.

So last night, me and Keith ran into a crazy guy. We were hanging out together, and ran into a crazy guy, like you sometimes do. It was a crazy experience, to say the least.

This guy comes up to us and we're kind of like, "ohhh no." And at first, he asks if either of us have a light. No, we don't. Then he proceeds to tell us about like, all the deaths in his family, how his family owns this huge farm....? And now he's the only one left to take care of it...? Maybe? He was also pretty out of it, so we could barely understand what he was saying. At one point, he was talking about how his wife died 7 years ago from breast cancer, and I thought he was going to start crying. And then I ACTUALLY THOUGHT I was going to start crying. It got really heavy.

And, while he was standing there, rambling to us, I was reminded of all the other crazy guys I've met throughout my life. Including,

- drunk guy on the street in Ireland
- old guy in the store in Greensboro, NC

These are both guys who I have for some reason, started talking to, and didn't get another word in for like, 3 hours.

Drunk Guy on the Street in Ireland was pretty great. That night ended with us being kicked out of a bar, if I remember correctly. Or no! After that happened, we ditched Drunk Guy and me and Aliya ended up eating curry fries with Will and DAVE. Yessss Dave. That night was crazy.

Aliya was with me when we ran into Old Guy in the Store too. That guy told us about his entire family. Like, ENTIRE family.

And now there's Crazy Guy on the Beach to add to the mix. Awesome.

Anyways.

So tomorrow is Thanksgiving! I might do a special Thanksgiving Blog Episode, because I'll be alone for most of the day. Thanksgiving Blog Episode? Hm. I don't think that works. I think it either has to be, Thanksgiving Blog, or Thanksgiving Episode. Ah, what the heck, Thanksgiving Blog Episode sounds pretty awesome.

So yes, I'll be alone most of Thanksgiving. Which...I am thankful for..?? My mom has to work, and my sister has to work. I will be at home COOKING. Yessss, for the third time in my life, I am cooking the entire Thanksgiving dinner. (Except for the mashed potatoes. Because I am anti-mashed potatoes. Kara is making them.) I'm pretty excited to be alone and be cooking all day.

I like cooking if I'm alone. Same with cleaning. Generally, doing most things, I guess. But, those are the main things. I think I'm a pretty good cook if I actually care about it.

Ummmm maybe I should take that back. I'm good at cooking Thanksgiving dinner. And that's pretty much it.

Also!

On the fridge here at home, we've got one of my famous, "I love being awesome" magnets. And every time I see it, I just start laughing. I just think it's so awesome. Has everyone see this magnet?? Or, does everyone know about these magnets?? They actually exist in real life. Because I CREATED them.

Story:

One night I was very bored in college and decided to find all the free samples of things on the internet that I could find. As in, sign up for anything and everything free. I ended up with coffee, a sippy cup, something else that i can't remember, and these magnets.

This like, office supply online store was having these great deals where it was like, $4 shipping that you paid for, and then you could get like, 50 magnets of whatever you wanted, or like, a stamp, or business cards, or whatever. And you could personalize them.

JACKPOT.



That's a picture of the magnet in all it's glory on the fridge. I guess you could say, it's PRETTY COOL. And stuff like that.

It's so true, though. I DO love being awesome. It's so much better than being lame. Haha. I'm kidding. I'm sometimes lame. That's the next magnet.

I got Kara a fancy stamp that says:

Kara Evans: Certified Awesome Person

NO JOKE. She has a stamp that says that. Those personalized office supply online stores are dangerous, I tell ya. Anyways. I love those magnets. I have like, seriously, 50 of them. Never gets old.

Ohhhh. I'm in a great mood right now. Blogging was just what I needed today.

I'm going to admit something. Maybe you'll think it lame. Maybe you'll think it awesome. Maybe you'll agree. Maybe you'll hate me for it. Ok... here goes....

I like Pink. The singer. Her music is great for dancing. And rocking. And singing too. Her new song rocks a lot. 'Raise Your Glass.' Also though, all of her songs sound exactly the same, I think that's why I like them. Like, the progression of every song is the same. Kind of note for note, too. But hey, it works. I'm hooked. I like Pink. There. I said it. It's also really good music to listen to through headphones really loud.

PHEW. I've been holding that in a long time. It feels good to talk about.

TONIGHT!!!! I'm seeing Maria. MARIAAAAAAAA my bessttttttttt friend. We got the "best friends" award in the Senior yearbook. YEP. All you other best friends are just not as BEST as us. True that. Sorry if that was mean. I didn't mean it to be mean.

Anyways, I'm excited. We're going to see HARRY POTTER. I'mmmmm excited a lot. Likeeee a lot.

Today, I was thinking about nothing really, and then all of a sudden I thought, "I would really like to marry Leonardo DiCaprio." I'm not sure why he popped into my head. I mean, besides for the obvious reasons. Like, him being a hottie. I think maybe I was thinking about seeing Maria, and then thought about Titanic, and then that naturally progressed to thoughts of Leo. Mmmm nice thoughts. But yeah, I'd marry him. In like, five minutes.

ALSO WHO I'D MARRY IN FIVE MINUTES: Jesse Eisenberg. The kid from Zombieland and also The Social Network. Ummmmm what a CUTIE he is! Like, seriously adorable. I saw him on Conan last week and totally fell in love. He was so nervous! Talking nonstop about his cats! I'm like, "um, hello SOUL MATE."

Also talking about how he was called a geek all throughout high school and how like, he couldn't wait to leave high school so people wouldn't call him a geek anymore, and then recently Entertainment Weekly named him "Sexiest Geek Alive" or something and he was like, "why did they have to add in the geek part?! why couldn't it have just been, 'sexiest alive?'" It was super funny.

But also - Crash Kings had a song in Zombieland. So, there's that. "It's Only Wednesday," for those of you playing at home.

OKKKKK. Where is this going??? I should start a, 'Marry Him in Five Minutes' series. Like, blog series. Not a book series like, 'Death at the Dye Shop.'

New blog series, new book series, I think I'm good to go.

I think I'm going to go now, actually. My battery power icon just turned red, so that means it's time to plug in. I'm very satisfied with this entry, though. I think we've covered lots of important ground.

Alright! I hope everyone has a lovely night! I'll talk to you tomorrow, with the special Thanksgiving Day Blog Episode Madness. Yep, it turned into madness. Get ready. It probably won't be that mad, actually. Probably just a list of what I'm thankful for. Or something.

What are your plans for Thanksgiving?! Tell me!! I hope you're spending it with friends and family or other loved ones. Again, I will be alone, in the kitchen all day. Haha. Can my family ever have one normal holiday, please? Can my family ever not have jobs that require people to work on every holiday?? I guess not....

It's okay. I'll probably be here, with the cats, blasting the Pink. haha. It'll be PRETTY COOL. (are you sick of that yet?) (I'm not, so get used to it.)

ALRIGHT! Have a wonderful evening. :)



So toast to you and I hope your journey's kind
Singing "goodbye river, I'll see you next time"

color them wonderful

hiiiiii friends. I know you must be very curious as to why I have not updated in so long. I am curious as well.

Here's a quick recap of what's been happening in my life:

** I had my last night of work at Hannah House on thursday, 11 November. It went well. I was sad and almost cried like, 7 times. Especially when the baby would walk over to me and then throw herself in my lap for a hug. Yep.

** All last week I had been sleeping in a sleeping bag on my living room floor. Surprisingly, I slept totally awesome allllll of the nights. Which, I wasn't expecting.

** So, my last night sleeping in my apartment. I was up late and got up early. Still slept great.

** Friday was spent throwing lots of things into final bags and boxes to jam pack my car. Morgan was JAM PACKED. Sometime in the mid afternoon, I brought the final load down to my car (which included Ruby Tuesday), and we left. We left!

** Poor Ruby, she was crying the whole way. She hates being in the car.

** So, not long into our journey, I realized that my MP3 cord had become unplugged and I could not listen to my iPod anymore. This needed to be fixed, because I've started listening to this great band, Florence and the Machine, which you all must listen to, and I needed to listen to their record. Like, immediately.

(Keith told me about this band – and they ROCK. Like, I love their record so, so much. You may recognize 'Dog Days Are Over' from the radio. My fave is 'Drumming.' YESSSSS SOOOO GOOOOD.

** So, due to this situation, and also due to the fact that I hadn't eaten anything all day, I stopped at a Dunkin Donuts.

** I started shifting things in the back so I could open the center car console to re-plug in the MP3 cord. But no, the car was too jam packed and I couldn't get to it. So, the minor shifting project turned into totally unpacking and repacking my car in the Dunkin Donuts parking lot. YEP. That was me, for anyone reading who might have seen me. It probably looked pretty crazy, I'm not gonna lie. Whatevs. THAT'S how much I needed to listen to this record.

** So then we're finally back on the road. I can't see anything out of my car, because it's so packed full. And, my so far only major complaint with the Prius is I find the rear visibility to be bad to begin with. So, it was like blind driving.

** ANYWAYS.

** I finally arrive home! Aannndddd..... there's nobody there. Yep. Empty house. I did receive a lovely text message however.

** So I wait for a few minutes in the driveway, being mad that nobody is home, but also being happy that I AM home. Also being sad that Ruby is so sad to still be in the car. Poor little girl.

** Finally, my mom and Kara arrive home. In Kara's new car. Yessss, Kara was out buying a new, used car all day. Sooo.... now Morgan has a little sister!! Kara named her new car Maci. Morgan and Maci! Perfect car sister names. It's a very nice car. Cute and spunky.

** So then I worked getting Ruby Tuesday all set up in my bedroom. The vet had told Kara to slowly reintroduce the two cats. So, that meant that Ruby needed to stay in my bedroom for a few days. She's still here now. Where I am right now. She's the best.

** Then, my mom had cooked a lovely supper and we allllll sat down and ate together. It was really great.

** I didn't really unpack much that night. Because I was super tired and was feeling all these mixed emotions and also confusing emotions about leaving and being sad, but being happy. And then being really happy. But also feeling guilty.... it was a lot going on.

** SO, on Saturday I still needed to go back to Hannah House to get EVEN MORE STUFF. That wouldn't fit in my car. And also CLEAN. And return my PO Box keys to the post office.

** So, me and my mom headed back up North in the morning. It was a nice drive. We got to Lebanon and just started PACKING and CLEANING. And that was the whole day. Like, the wholeeee day.

** We stopped at the post office before heading to HH. I returned my PO Box keys. AND – I got a $2 key deposit back!!!! TWO DOLLARS!!!! I couldn't believe it! I had not remember that I paid a $2 key deposit so that was super exciting. And it was very sad saying goodbye to that post office. Walter and Sherri were working. Sherri was the lady who signed me up for the PO Box right after I moved, and she was the one signing me out as well. Fitting, I suppose.

Let me just say: that the post office in Lebanon, NH is maybe the greatest post office in the country with the most helpful, nice people ever working there. If you think you're post office could be better – I will gladly challenge you.

Anyways. Then we headed over to Hannah House.

** I always find that I like cleaning when I'm actually doing it. And then I'm like, 'why don't I do this more?!' Same with laundry. I really like doing laundry. I cleaned the bathroom like WHOA. I think I lost about 10 years off my life from all those bathroom chemicals. My mom rocked the kitchen. Thank you, Mom for being such a great help.

** It took us like, AALLLLLLLL day to clean the apartment.

** And then it was totally empty. Nothing of “me” there anymore. It was clean and fresh and ready for the next person. Very weird.

** So then I had to go say the final goodbye to everyone. The four residents living there, along with the two babies. It was sad. The residents were like, “noooo don't go!!! You're the best!!” Again with the mixed emotions of feeling terribly sad to leave them, but also super happy to hear that.

** Almost as soon as I walked out of the house, I started crying. And cried pretty hard for the next 15 miles of driving.

I had to put on 'Today, I Feel Like I'm Evolving' as the driving away song, to try and help me feel better. It's a good song to make you feel better. I highly, highly recommend it.

** It was a weird drive home. Thinking most of the time that it would be the last time driving this drive for a while. The drive that I HATED. Ohhhhh I-89 I will not miss you. Except in the fall when the trees are pretty. BUT NOT in the winter. Ohhhh not in the winter.

** Sooo, we got home. Didn't unpack anything. In fact, Morgan is STILL packed up with stuff. Yeahhh it's been like, 3 days. Ah well. The beginning of a transition period is hard, guys.

** Everyone went to bed kind of early. I of course was tired, but couldn't sleep. So, I decided to do some interneting.

** EXCEPT..... there was no internet. NONE. NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT. Lame, internet, lame.

** Luckily... Keith was still awake so he called and we talked for a while. That was really nice. He was kind of telling me all these thrilling stories, but I ended up laughing a lot, which felt really great. Yeah, it was really great. I was telling him about the hard day I had and said something like, 'I think leaving there was just as hard as working there.' And, I think that's a pretty good way to sum everything up.

Then, we said goodbye and I went up to bed and fell asleep immediately. Like, immediately. That was also really great.

** Sunday was good. My mom and I cleaned the kitchen. Wellll....mainly my mom cleaned the kitchen while I was too busy being distracted. But, I did some cleaning. I helped cook supper. Welll, I started to help cook supper, but then got distracted again. I guess Sunday was a day of me trying to be helpful, but mainly being useless.

** MONDAY – was Sister Adventure Day. Also known as, SAD. Yes, it was a SAD day. We drove north up Rt. 16 until we hit North Conway. Stopped at Silver Lake, which was proclaimed Kara and Julie's Hidden Gem of the Day. What a great lake! Then, coming back south, we took a left and drove over into Maine, made a loop up through Portland and then came south down the Maine Turnpike.

** We decided that we wanted to have a few drinks that night. Since although not officially 'moved in,' I was officially living back at home.

** And it's a great thing that grocery stores in Maine carry hard liquor. Thank you, Maine.

** Kara suggested that we buy WHIPPED CREAM FLAVORED VODKA. Yeah, like, whipped cream flavored. I am generally open to anything, so I didn't put up a fight. Also, it sounded delicious.

We bought some root beer to go with it. Also some rum and ice cream and brown sugar to make hot buttered rum drinks, which apparently my mom and Kara had been talking about making for a while.

** We arrived home – still no internet – and started the drink making. The buttery rum drink was good. BUT THE WHIPPED CREAM VODKA – ohhhhh man. It was like drinking whipped cream. We may or may not have been taking swigs from the bottle.

ANYWAYS.

We decided that while we were drinking, it would be a great time to watch Hot Rod. IT WAS. Yep. I mean, that movie is hilarious when you're drinking water. But it's really hilarious when you're drinking whipped cream vodka and root beer. I looove that movie, actually. It's like, so ridiculous, but seriously funny.

It was a pretty great night. In many ways.

** Tuesday, I woke up to a great text message and started the day of awesome.

Then I remember I had told my mom I would finish cleaning the kitchen before the painters came to paint on Wednesday. This meant washing the walls, scraping off the last of the wallpaper remnants. It wasn't actually all that bad. I just put on some great music and went to town.

And I finished the rest of the whole kitchen! And my mom came home and said that it looked wonderful and she couldn't believe what a great job I did. She also said she didn't actually think I would do it. So, that was great.

Tuesday night, I met Kara at the gym. Then, Kara was like, “will you come with me to get gas?” So, I said yes. And we went to the gas station.

And I pull up behind her and then this other car pulls up on the other side of the gas pump. And I don't even notice these guys. UNTIL – they poke their heads around the corner and it's these three guys I knew in high school!! Sean, Ben and Derek. I was super excited to see them. It was awesome, actually. I feel like I'm totally back in high school, or something. With all these people from high school seeing me and talking to me. It's kind of crazy. But, I love it. And it's like, all guys that I barely knew or barely talked to in high school. But it's super great reconnecting.

So nice.

Then, Kara and I headed home and I talked Kara into making me pancakes. Yumm.

Thennnn we watched an episode of The O.C. And then! Kara talked me into going into the bakery with her. Mainly the deciding factor was that there was free wi-fi there. :)

So, we packed up and left for the bakery around...11:30 or so, maybe. I hadn't helped her there in so long!!! It was really fun. Ohhh I have so much fun with Kara it's crazy. I'm SO HAPPY that we're living together again. Because she's my favorite. Ever.

She let me make the muffins. I made:

• blueberry

• chocolate chip

• coconut lime

• cranberry white chocolate

• bacon cheddar

YEP. I'm like a pro baker, actually. I also made blueberry turnovers. And also used the wi fi.

TO WATCH THE NEW CRASH KINGS VIDEO.

Okk, so the one week that I have no internet is the week that Crash Kings release a new music video. WHO KNEW THIS WAS HAPPENING?!?!! I didn't know. I tried watching it on my phone, but it didn't work. But, I was able to read Twitter updates on my phone, and apparently a lot of the video has footage from the Crash Kings show in Providence, that Kara, Ryan and I attended back in August.

The song is 'Non Believer.' Which, is tied for my top favorite song, I think. (this statistic changes almost daily.)

So, Kara and I watched the new video at the bakery. UMMMM IT'S MAYBE THE GREATEST VIDEO EVER. Like, I'd say definitely their best. BETTER than the original 'Mountain Man' video which included brief Mike nudity. So, that's saying a lot. It's super sweet and just kind of chronicles their life on the road, and also at home – because there's a shot of Mike and Tony's mom.

ALSO – Ryan is featured a lot in the video, as she was standing right next to Tony at the show. Also, SHOTS OF ME AND KARA. Quick ones, but they're there.

So FOLKS – I am officially in a Crash Kings music video. It's my music video debut, thank you very much. It was a very exciting time. Even Kara, who pretends to be sick of Crash Kings, but really loves them, was excited.

So how awesome is that? It's pretty freaking awesome. Like, PRETTY FREAKING AWESOME. I kind of can't believe it. My newfound fame hasn't yet hit. I'm sure it will. And I promise I won't stop talking about it for a while.

ANYWAYS. That brings us up to....

** Wednesday. I went to bed at around 5am. Woke up at 8:30am to let the painters in. They were supposed to come at 9, but didn't get here until around 9:45. So, thanks painters, for making me get up so early. I was kind of annoyed because I was so so super tired, but then I met the guys and they are super nice, so I wasn't annoyed anymore.

I went upstairs and immediately went back to sleep.

Kara woke me up before she left for work. I tried having a conversation with her, but I kept falling asleep mid sentence. For real. Ruby Tuesday is a little scared of all the hectic-ness happening downstairs.

I slept until around 1pm. It was nice. But, I can't really do anything because the whole downstairs is occupied with painting gear and painting men. So, I'm spending the day in my bedroom, with Miss Tuesday. I was gone most of yesterday and the day before, so I feel good spending lots of time with her today.

Although, I brought up a yogurt to eat, and she ended up eating most of it. She's a food stealer. And apparently likes pineapple yogurt. I think she liked it more than me. Then, she brought some toys up onto my bed, so we played for a while. Now, she's taking a nap, and I'm writing this blog.

I'm actually writing this not-online, (non-line?) since there's still no internet. I like it, but it doesn't have the same feel to it. The internet guys won't be here until Saturday. My mom spent a lot of time on the phone with them on Monday, and they can't figure out why it's not working, and none of their suggestions worked. Bummmmmer.

Tonight, I'm going to a place with internet, though. So that's when I'll post this blog. Then, Kara and I are going to the gym again. Yuckkkkkkkk. Ugh I hate being sweaty. But I kind of like listening to dance party music...so it's a trade off. But, I really only like listening to dance party music when I'm doing something. Like, at a dance party. Or at the gym. Not like, on the radio in the car.

I've been really into that song, 'Bruises,' by Chairlift recently. I don't know what it is, because I've never really listened to that song until recently, but it feels like EVERYTHING reminds me of it. And it's weird, kind of. That's the song that was in the iPod shuffle commercial where it was all the colorful iPods and then all the colors started melting off them. And it was like, this really pretty melting rainbow.

The song is about like, being bruised over falling for someone who you like.

And it's funny, because “Chairlift” comes right before “Chamber Singers” in my iTunes, so after the song, it's AGAIN, like a throwback to high school because it's all the music I sang in Chamber Singers. Funny....

OK. I have to take a shower. And then maybe start laundry. I literally searched my room for like, 10 minutes for something to wear to bed last night. Because, I MAY have not gotten dressed yesterday when I was doing all the wall washing and if that was the case, I MAY have gotten wall paper bits and wall dust on the only pair of pajamas that I had with me in my room. And I didn't want to bring all that into bed with me. But, this is all hypothetical.

ANYWAYS. I'm gonna get going. I'll hopefully talk to you all later....? I have to set up phone blogging on my new phone so that this doesn't happen again. Yes, I'll do that. Then at least when I'm lonely I can blog and not feel lonely anymore.

Ok, I hope you all are having a great week. I am, actually. Next week is Thanksgiving, I'm sure everyone is excited about that. I am. A lot. Yeppppp.

I'll try to make sure we don't go this long without talking again. Because, that really should never happen. OK!

Take care, friends!!!

'and I can't keep you off my mind. I have tried, but you come right back in again.'