"all the little pieces of the world come together so well"

oh hi!! i didn't see you there!

i figured i'd start my first post of 2010 with my favorite greeting. it's just the best greeting. you have to admit.

so, wow. it's a new year. i had a great new year's eve. let me tell you about it!!

i woke up thursday morning and it was snowying. (that's a typo, but i'll keep it. because, it was both snowy AND snowing, so technically it makes sense.) i was bummed about the weather because i really wanted to go home. and i hate when the weather controls my life.

so i decided that this hatred overpowered my common sense to not drive in the snow. and i packed very quickly left.

i met two of my coworkers at the bottom of my stairs. they were very worried about me, since i was driving.

DIANE: I just came in and the roads are very slippery.
SUE: Well, you have snow tires, don't you?
JULIE: Nope. I have 2nd gear and low gear.
DIANE: And a shovel?
SUE: And a scraper?
JULIE: Scraper.
DIANE: Have you called someone to let them know you're leaving?
JULIE: No, but I will.
DIANE: Good. Do you have a hat, mittens and scarf?
JULIE: Yes, and warm socks.
SUE: Do you have a snack?
JULIE: ...Yes.
DIANE: Ok, well, call us when you get there.
JULIE: Yes mom.

funny. and nice. they were worried. i called my mom when i got in the car to let her know i was leaving.

and the drive out of lebanon was TERRIBLE. the roads were super slippery and slushy. but, i got on I-89 south and it was much better. and i was able to go like, 45 mph until Sutton, NH.

and then we stopped. and there was an accident. i think a 2 car and a truck accident. and we were stopped in front of the 89 south rest stop for about 30 minutes. i took this time to update my facebook status.

now, this was the absolute worst possible place for a car accident during a snow storm, and i didn't realize this until we started driving again.

between exits 9 and 10 on 89 is the longest space of miles. meaning, the most distance. why can't i articulate this right? the most space between exits on I-89 is between exits 9 and 10. there?

sometimes i'll be driving north and get to that space and think, 'wait a sec, where am i? did i pass exit 17?' it feels like you're driving nowhere.

so, when there's an accident on a snowy day, there are no cars passing through, meaning the ground gets covered with snow. also, it means that no plows or sanders pass through because there are no on or off ramps.

so when i started driving again, there was a clean coat of snow and slush on the highway. and it was bad. i actually didn't think i would make it. and i kept thinking i was going to die. and my two thoughts were:

1. would it totally ruin my fantastic month if i died on the last day?
OR
2. have i had a fantastic month because i'm going to die on the last day?

and then i kept thinking,

1. oh crap, i haven't made a "funeral playlist" on my new laptop
AND
2. i want all my teal items to go to Kara

there. mini-will. all my teal items go to Kara. why? because everything teal is automatically my favorite thing. because i love teal. and Kara is also my favorite. out of everything. so, naturally, i think it makes sense.

anyways. so, back to my drive.

i had to get to exit 9. i knew that once i passed exit 9, things would get better, because they would have hopefully cleared the main roads.

and i was semi-right. it took about 30 minutes to go the five miles to get to exit 9. but once i did, things got better.

normal time on I-89 = 1 hour
this time on I-89 = 2.5 hours

it was a long time. once i got to concord and on that long road to route 202, things became fine. and it actually went by very quickly.

once i got to rochester, nh, it was like a joke. i was actually laughing to myself because the roads were so fine and clear. and i was angry that these people had no idea the horrible drive i just had.

anyways. i got home.

my mom came home shortly after. i helped her unpack groceries.

then i made plans with Andrew! and around 5:45 left to go meet up with him. so i get in my car, turn on the lights and BAM - a headlight goes out.

JULIE: Son of a gun!!

i say to myself. and then i remember that it is new year's eve and there will be a ton of police out. so, i go inside and get my mom's keys. and i tell her that i'm going to take her car. she says okay.

so now i really leave. and i meet andrew at our normal meeting-up place - Hollywood Video.

and we head to Barrington, NH to go see Sherlock Holmes.

SHERLOCK HOLMES REVIEW:

At first, I wasn't sure about this movie. All the little things about it didn't seem to fit together. Some parts were big, loud, and epic. Others, were in slow-motion and very detail oriented. The main theme of the film was also very quiet, which I thought didn't really fit with anything else. I still think the music didn't really fit, which was the first time I actually noticed that it didn't really make sense. Which is why I decided that it didn't fit.

The rest of the film definitely fell into place as it got more into the story. It definitely had a different feel than other action movies. Slash comedy movies.

And, one thing that immediately jumped out at me was a reference to Alice and Wonderland. They talked about "going down the rabbit hole" and as soon as they said this, I thought to myself, "wait a sec, was that book written yet?" And I thought about it for probably a whole minute. And I looked it up later on, and YES, it was written. So, it made sense. Don't worry.

It was very funny. Jude and Robert went very well together. I REALLY wanted them to make out. Rachel McAdams was kind of weird, both me and Andrew thought that. Her voice sounded weird and high-pitched. What was her purpose? Can't really say. It seems like she would have more of a role in the sequel.

Back to the music. You know how with each of the Harry Potter movies the main theme has gotten bigger, louder, and fuller? Like, if you watch the most recent trailer compared to the first movie trailer, the main theme at the end is very different sounding. It changes with the films. The films get darker and more complex, and so does the theme. Brillz, right? Yep.

Well, even though Sherlock Holmes was only one movie (compared to 6 HP's), it seemed like it covered every aspect on the scale of epic-ness. From the very slowed down, detail oriented scenes, to the huge explosions. There was lots of everything. And I really wanted the main theme to build with the film, but I never felt that it did. There was lots of big music UNDER the main theme. But I was never satisfied.

Now, what I'm about to tell you may shock you. Are you sitting down? Ok. Ready. The movie score was composed by.... Hans Zimmer. I KNOW. I know!!!!!! Hans!! Zimmer!!! One of my favorite, and the best movie composers ever. I have THREE movie scores on my laptop by Hans Zimmer.

1. Black Hawk Down (probably my favorite movie score ever.)
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (um, Davy Jones' theme, HELLO!!?!??!)
3. The Dark Knight (scored with James Newton Howard. GREAT score.)

I mean, the guy can score movies. He also scored Angels and Demons, which I should probably purchase because I LOVED it. But, I regret to admit that I was disappointed with Sherlock Holmes.

But, all in all, I really liked the movie. And I'm giving it FOUR STARS.

Sherlock Holmes - ****

(i also thought the opening and closing credits were strange. more the opening then the closing. it was a few minutes into the movie, which i totally love, but it was weak and quick, which i didn't love. i wanted:

wanted: BAM SHERLOCK HOLMES!!!! YEAH!!!!!! GET EXCITED!!!! BAM!!!!!!

actual: Oh yeah, this is Sherlock Holmes if you haven't figured that out already.

it wasn't very exciting. ok, that's all.)

moving on.

after the movie, we were hungry. it was 9ish pm. andrew asked what i wanted to eat and i told him that all throughout the movie all i could think of was eating a sandwich. which was true. and he said that he wanted a burrito, like always.

we settled on Margaritas, in dover, nh. i had chicken quesadillas and andrew had a chicken burrito. i also had a coconut lime margarita which was DELISH. andrew had some pina coladas, which at first he loved and was raving about, but by the end of the second one, he wasn't feeling it anymore. too creamy, he said.

then it was 10:30ish. we didn't know where to go. so, he started driving. he took us to Rye, NH to his favorite spot. EVER. it's a great spot. i had never been there before. a tiny spot overlooking the ocean. we heard the water, but couldn't really see it because it was dark. only illuminated by the moon, which was full. (and also a blue moon, btw.) we saw a barge, a rather large one. a large barge. (ha!) and decided that we would both like to:

1. go to the moon
and
2. work on a barge

in that order. because then, while we're on the barge staring up at the moon, we can recall all the good times up there. makes sense, right? i think so.

we didn't stay very long because it was totally freezing. so we went to Portsmouth, NH instead.

got a space right on Congress St. they were having a First Night thing, but it was pretty empty. we stayed there for like, a minute and then decided we didn't want to be at First Night. but, it was like, 11:55pm. so we had to do something cool.

so andrew said,

ANDREW: Let's go to the top of the parking garage.
JULIE: ...Okay.

and that's where we went. to the very top, open-air level. overlooking all the building tops. and the church steeple. and THAT'S where we rang in the new year. it was great. really great. we talked about what we want from this year. hopes. dreams. everything in between.

it was a great night. one of the best new year's.

then, he dropped me off and i went home!

(man i wish you could see Ruby Tuesday right now. she's squeezed in the space between the top of my stove and the shelf above my stove. i think she's on some sort of mission, but i'm not totally sure what's going on. before the top of the stove, she was in the cabinet and before that she was on top of the fridge.)

SO.

new year's day was great. it was spent in my pajamas hanging out with kara and my mom. we watched Four Christmases. funny! i was expecting it to be not funny. but it was really good. i liked it a lot more than i thought. Kristen Chenoweth and Reese Witherspoon?!!!? YES.

then kara went out to a friend's house and me and my mom went out to get pizza. Sal's Pizza. a new pizza place next to the new dunkin donuts in somersworth. by wal-mart and targs.

i really liked the pizza. my mom thought it wasn't as good as La Festa, in dover, nh. and that's my pizza review.

we got home and watched episodes of Glee. so good. my mom really likes the show. oh, it's so awesome. we watched 3 episodes.

then my mom went to bed. kara wasn't home yet. so i watched the Rocky marathon on Encore! YEP. ROCKY. MARATHON. i caught it at the end of Rocky 3 and watched about 3/4 of Rocky 4. i really liked the fourth one. i think i liked it better than the first one. it was faster paced, more drama and a really long montage set to a cheesy 80's song.

it makes me want to watch Rocky 2. and the first 3/4 of Rocky 3. the rest of Rocky 4. all of Rocky 5. and then all the rest of all the other Rocky's. i have no idea how many there are.

MAN, though. i was teary in Rocky 4! (when Apollo is killed!) spoiler alert. that was harsh. i also couldn't believe the house they were living in!!!! MAN. Rocky and Adrian moved up in the world. remember his little crap apartment in the first one? YEAH. now they like, live in a huge mansion. and they had a son! i was happy about that.

and Talia Shire still looked totally gorgeous. especially in the end of 3. i think she had on some rockin' blue eyeshadow. and i still think she has gorgeous skin. and that Robert Schwartzman looks sooo much like her. more than Jason does, i think.

anyways. Rocky = real good.

then Kara came home. we started season 1 of Entourage. she immediately liked it. unlike me, who didn't like it at first but then TOTALLY LOVED it.

and then at around 3am we went to bed.

i got up at 9:38am. got dressed. got ready. and then went to have breakfast with MARIA!!!!! yes. my bff. it was super nice. we went to Strafford Farms. classic breakfast place. so awesome seeing her and catching up with her. i always have the best time. we go together like pears and sweet tarts. i think that's what we used to say.

it was starting to snow and slush again when we were leaving. that was a bummer. the roads were fine though, UNTIL we entered Berwick, Maine. of course. it was like all the plows and sanders had the day off. maria said,

MARIA: I think the Berwickians see the plow as a sign of weakness.

i laughed really hard. great quote. one for the books. that's what they should put on the 'welcome to berwick' sign. instead of,

Welcome to Berwick! Home of Prime Tanning.

Prime Tanning closed. it's now a huge empty factory in the center of "town." they should change it to.

Hey, you're in Berwick! Where the snowplow is a sign of weakness.

that'd be more fitting.

anyways. then we got to Maria's house and i got a mini-piano recital given by Maria's little sister Joshie. she opened with the piano classic, Freight Train. and closed with another classic, Can You Feel the Love Tonight? it was awesome. i heart every member of that family. and i hope maria's older brother Dave is reading. he's usually one of my readers. Hi Dave! and Renee! and Maria?!

they're the best.

THEN, i went home. fell asleep on the couch, which i didn't mean to do. and left later than i wanted. as always.

it only took me 3 hours to get back. it's usually 2. the drive home was 3.5. my longest drive was last winter where i clocked in at 4 hours.

i was pretty much slip slidin the whole way. kind of scary. i listened to the Crash Kings cd a couple times through.

OH. and, my headlight is out, right? remember it went out on new year's eve? yeah. I GOT PULLED OVER. yep. right before the big traffic circle with the mcdonald's and wendy's on that road between 202 and 393.

here's what happened:

so, i'm going pretty slow because of the bad roads. and i'm coming to an intersection, and all of a sudden, this big SUV in front of me pulls over to the side of the road. WITHOUT a signal. and i get mad and think, "what is this guy doing? he's just sitting on the side of the road?" and so i go through the intersection and pass him and then he immediately pulls out behind me and puts on the blue lights. i didn't even know it was a police officer. i'm so bad at recognizing authority vehicles.

at first i think, "nah, that's not for me" and then decide that it is. so, i very carefully pull off to the side. where it is more slippery. and turn down the music. it's my fave Crash Kings song, Come Away (which, coincidentally is playing right now).

and then the police officer comes up to the car. i had already decided that i was going to pretend like i didn't know my light was out.

OFFICER: Hi, how are you?
JULIE: Good, how are you doing?
OFFICER: I'm pretty good. You have your license and registration on you?
JULIE: Sure. (take my license and registration out. i always want to remember to ask them what the problem is BEFORE getting these things out. but i never remember.)
OFFICER: It's because you have a headlight out.
JULIE: It's not? (i thought he said, "it's not because you have a headlight out.)
OFFICER: No, you do.
JULIE: Oh! Okay.
OFFICER: I wouldn't have pulled you over if you didn't!!
JULIE: Great!! Thanks for letting me know!
OFFICER: You still live on Abbott Street?
JULIE: Yep. That's where I'm headed right now.
OFFICER: Ok, I'll be right back with this. You sit tight.
JULIE: Great.

now, this guy was so sweet. and super nice. and had a great smile. and cute little glasses. i really liked him. BUT. i was worried that when he ran my license plates and license he would see that i MAY OR MAY NOT have an unpaid parking ticket from august. i'm neither confirming nor denying this. and i was SUPER freaking out the whole time he was gone.

but then he came back to the car, all smily and lovely.

OFFICER: Ok, you're all set!
JULIE: Thanks so much. Hey, do you know how the roads are on 89 north?
OFFICER: 89 north? Hm. Well, when I came to work they weren't so bad, and I would imagine they'd be pretty cleaned off since it's a main road. Not like these back roads.
JULIE: Ok, great. Thanks.
OFFICER: You drive safe!
JULIE: Thank you! You too!!

it was such a pleasant interaction. probably the best time i ever had being pulled over. here are all the times i've been pulled over:

1. license plate light out. wells, maine. weird guy. asked if i had an explosives or bazookas in the car. for realz.
2. headlight out. berwick, maine. young guy. thought i was going to lebanon, maine even after i said lebanon, new hampshire.
3. headlight out. (most recent)

not bad, eh? for having my license since my senior year in high school. anyways. nice police officer. if he's reading this, thanks for being so nice and smiley.


WOW. this is getting long. i've been straight blogging for over an hour. i'm really hungry! it's 12:51am monday morning and i havent' eaten supper yet!!! i should do that now.

i think that's all i have to tell you.

OH OH OH!!!!! i wanted to give you a dream update.

so, remember my dream from last week with Tony from the Crash Kings? and he was wearing that red plaid shirt which i'm now obsessed with? remember we talked about this? yeah. WELL. when Andrew and i were at Margarita's the other night, i was looking at the list of tequila brands and SUDDENLY it came back to me! the dream!!

remember how i said that i knew Tony was there, but that i couldn't remember what we were doing!? WELL.

we were doing tequila shots. YEP. and i saw the list of tequila and had a dream flashback.

i've never:

1. had a dream where i've done tequila shots before
and also
2. i've never had a shot of tequila

weird, right? that it would come in the dream about Tony from the Crash Kings wearing the red plaid shirt.

it was strange. and i explained the whole thing to Andrew, who also thought it was strange. so..yeah.

OK. i came back to work last night after a wonderful weekend at home and a horrible drive back and had to deal with a million things. it was super quiet and then BAM super crazy. and let's just say that i ended up talking to THREE MORE police officers that night. two of them at the house.

yeah. whatever.

and now, i'm done. i think i've blogged myself out. this is long. i apologize. i think it's pretty good though, no?

busy day on monday. going to get my oil changed and my headlight fixed. then heading to see my dad to make a trip to targs. excited about that.

ok! i hope you had a wonderful, safe new years!!! what did you do?!?! have a totes fun night, i hope.

have a great week! it's MONDAY!!!! that means the week is full of possibility. and EVER MORE SO because it's the first full week of a new year. ANYTHING and EVERYTHING could happen. let's hope it's ANY and EVERYTHING good.


"all the broken pieces of the world fit together again
when you're taking me home, you're taking me home."


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