something pretty!

so, here's what i'm thinking. i'm thinking right now that i haven't done a really good blog post in a while. have i? i don't know. i feel like we haven't talked in a while.

have i been busy? why, yes. i kind of have been, actually.

no, i guess we have talked. because i told you about how i had to sweep the pipes on the sprinkler system.

ok. i suppose we should just get right into a post. let's go:


1. FIRST OF ALL: i would like to tell you something awesome. we have a new blog friend. yes. we do. i got the most wonderful email tonight telling me that i had a new blog comment. now, i always get excited for these emails, because they are great. and it means people have been reading this blog.

NOW, this comment was extra special because it was from someone i don't know. and those are some of the best comments because i love making new friends.

i read the comment and it started with, "I love your blog!!!" OMG. i was in the middle of a call with Kerianne and Aliya and i interrupted everything and said,

JULIE: OMG I JUST GOT THE BEST BLOG COMMENT!!!!!!!

it was great. from our new friend, Renata. HI!!!! oh, i'm so happy that we have new friends.

and now i shall address the comment:


Dear Renata!

Oh, I'm so happy to have you here in the blog family!! You asked who sings the song with the lyric that goes, "I'd like to say hello and welcome you good day that is my name." That song, is called, 'Good Day,' and it is sung by Tally Hall. Now, I will do what I do best, and POST A LINK TO THE SONG, so you can listen to it. Enjoy! Tally Hall is a great band.

Also in your comment, you mentioned that you watched The O.C. This makes us friends immediately. I have just started Disc 2 of Season 3 of the show. LOVE IT. I'm worried that Taylor Townsend will try and steal Seth from Summer. I can't believe that Seth would go for it, but hey, it's The O.C. Also, I worry about Kirsten and Julie becoming friends with that creepy lady Charlotte. But, I think that Julie is smarter than Charlotte and more evil, in a good way, if that makes sense. So, ultimately, I think that everyone will be okay.

And that's where I am on The O.C. Okay! Well, again, thanks for stopping by - the blog door is always open :) Your comment made me really, super happy. Hope you are having a great day wherever you are reading from!

Love,
Julie


Wow! what a great time we just had. i hope that Renata reading my blog wasn't just a one-time thing and that she's reading right now. because i just wrote that letter.

isn't it awesome to get your own section of blog? i think it must be.

and this first section is a great segue into our next section.


2. Now, normally, i wouldn't talk about my efforts to find a new job in my blog. that's something that people don't normally talk about online. BUT, i'm breaking the mold here. i'm gonna do it. because i am applying for a new job. and i've been working very closely and very hard with my close friends to perfect everything about this application. and i want to tell you about it.

i am applying to become the Head Blogger for this new website started by Alicia Keys. that link will take you to the main website.

THIS LINK will take you to the job description, which if you read, you will find that i am perfect for.

this perfection works both ways:

1. i am perfect for this job
and
2. this job is perfect for me

it's what they call a 'win win' situation.

here is the GOAL of the website, as taken from the job description page:

The goal of IAAS.com (I Am A Super Woman) is to create an online community connecting, inspiring, and broadcasting important topics related to women. You will be the main voice of the website aiming to motivate and encourage women all over the globe! This is an opportunity to turn your creative writing, blogging, and social media skills into a promising career within the Arts & Entertainment industry.

UM, I KNOW. sounds amazing and awesome, right?? i'm perfect.

it's like the point of the blog is to do what i do in my job already. PLUS, i have this blog. so, i'm good with the empowering women, and i'm good with the blogging.

AND!!! Aliya, Kerianne and i were in the middle of a marathon help-julie-write-her-cover-letter sesh WHEN I GOT THE AWESOME BLOG COMMENT!!!!!!!! that begin with, "I love your blog!!!!"

it just made everything so awesome. because we were talking about my connection with my readers and how people relate to what i have to say.

i think i'm pretty easy to connect to. i think i'm pretty likable. i think people relate to what i have to say.

i don't know if you know this: but i consider us friends. even if i have no idea who you are. you SOMEHOW found this blog and have stayed long enough to read this far. or, maybe not. maybe you stumbled upon this blog and then said, "nope, i don't want to read that."

BUT, you found the blog. and maybe that means we have something in common. and so, in some small way, we're connected on that level. this is a pretty personal blog. i hide nothing. i can't lie. if you're an avid reader, you know this. i can't lie in the blog. but, it's okay, because we're all friends here. it's a great space. i love it here. it's like coming home.

maybe you are reading this blog right now, and then tomorrow i will pass you on the street. or bump into you in the grocery store. and we won't even know it. but then tomorrow night we'll both come back here and be blog friends.

ANYWAYS. i'm getting beside the point. THE POINT IS: i'm applying for that awesome job. i'm super excited about it. and i'd love all your support. <3 href="http://www.gotryiton.com/">GO TRY IT ON. it's like an online dressing room! you upload a picture of yourself wearing something, and then people will tell you what they think.

AT FIRST, i was like, "what?!! this sounds terrible." but then i started reading the comments. and everyone was really supportive and great. and it was like, no worries about how you look in your clothes, people would be honest with you. and i think that's great.


4. also: Crash Kings went on kind of a tweeting spree tonight talking about some contest they are trying to think up where the winners of the contest will HELP THEIR CREW drive Ol' Blue from San Fransisco to Boston over the course of four days.

basically, you will work for them for free.

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY: um, when did these guys become super famous and just get to fly to Boston while their crew and some dedicated fans drive the van cross country?!?!!

i think it's hilarious!!! "oh yeah, we're the Crash Kings and we're just going to fly to our gigs now." yep. "while our crew drives from coast to coast." crazy.

now, it might seem like i'm gearing up to say something like, "yeah right, like i would EVER drive cross country in a blue van with a bunch of Crash Kings roadies. if Crash Kings want their stuff driven from California to Boston, they should do it themselves."

yes. you may think i would say that. but no, instead i will say this:

DEAR CRASH KINGS,

PLEEEEEEEAAAASEEEEE PICK ME!!!!!!! I'll drive the van!!! I'll drive that van all night long!!!! I promise to get all your stuff SAFELY AND WITHOUT DAMAGE to Boston!!!!!! Four days?!?! HA! I'll do it in three!!!! I'll save you money!!! AND - I'll do ya one more: I'll blog and photo document the entire journey and it will be GREAT press!!!!

Love,
Julie

REALLY, what they should do, is pick me and Ryan. i mean, we're SO GOOD at driving to and from Crash Kings shows. we're like, pros. we're so good at driving to and from Crash Kings shows - we could do it in our sleep. BUT WE WOULDN'T, because we'd get Ol' Blue safely from CA to MA. that van would arrive in Massachusetts IN BETTER CONDITION than when we left.

OOHHHHHHHH they should pick us. and then we'll become best friends with the crew. so weird. it's so weird they have a crew.

I'LL BE THE LATE NIGHT DRIVER!!! most people can't stay up and drive all night - BUT I CAN!!!! no prob!

Dear Crash Kings,

Did I ever tell you about the time I woke up at 9:30am in Albany. Drove to NJ for a Crash Kings show that night. Show ended and we left NJ around midnight. And I drove from New Jersey to Maine. Stopping only for gas, food, and to drop Ryan off in Boston. Did I ever tell you about that time?? I arrived in Maine around 7am. Could I sleep? No. I still could not sleep because I was too excited STILL from the show. That's why you should pick me.

Love,
Julie

excitement is a powerful drug. who needs caffeine when there are such things as Crash Kings shows?

ANYWAYS. that would be super fun. like, amazing and awesome. to sit in a van for four days. yep.

folks, i love this band.


ok. moving on.


4. i think we're at #4. um, let's talk about how it's super hott. like, the weather. remember how the other day when it was snowing?? yeah. and then tonight it rained because it was so humid.

WHAT IS THE DEAL?!?!? i'm turning my heat up and down like it's going out of style. last night i opened my bedroom window because it was too hott. the night before it was freezing in there. it's crazy. this weather is crazy. and scary. does anyone else find it scary? i think they need to re-release the Al Gore movie. about global warming. i'd see it again.


5. i saw The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. which is now famously known as, "the movie Heath Ledger was making when he died." i thought it was pretty good. Netflix said that i would rate it 4 stars. but, i rated it 3. i thought the beginning was a tad toooo long. it kind of took a long time to get where it was going, but once it got there, i really liked it.

i LOVED Tom Waits. he played The Devil. and he wore a top hat. and he followed The Imaginarium everywhere and would pop up randomly in scenes. it was great. and he was a likable Devil, which i really liked. it made him even more Evil.

(like, a 'good evil,' which is what i was saying about the character Julie on The O.C.)

i think it was strangely perfect how everything worked out with Heath, Jude, Johnny and Colin. like, the story still flowed. it was like it was supposed to be that way. which was sad and creepy.

um, and the guy who played Anton? hottie! who was that guy!?! can he be in every movie, please? playing that sweet character. aww.

one thing i didn't get was the setting and time period. it felt like it was taking place in like, the 1800's. but, it wasn't. they all had cell phones and talked in modern language. that felt strange.

it was sad though. Tony died in the end. that was Heath's character. i guess i just spoiled the ending. hm. sorry. well, he wasn't a very nice person. and you kind of knew that right from the beginning. something was up with him.

it was also funny that HEATH played a guy named TONY, because on the alternative radio station up here they are always advertising the Heath and Tony show in the afternoons.

the other day they sent a Twitter that was like, "tune in this afternoon to Heath and Tony for the new JET single!" and i was like, "hey! JET!"

but, back to the movie.

i didn't cry until after it was over. at the end it said, "A Film by Heath Ledger and Friends" or something like that. and that just made me sad. and then they had this special feature that was a wardrobe test that he had done. and oh, he's so pretty. and the director, Terry Gilliam did this DVD introduction that was sad too. saying like, "i worked so hard to come up with this new, original script that wasn't based on anything, and it was so exciting to get started with filming, and then the unthinkable happened when we lost Heath."

MAN. it was sad. is anyone else still really sad that he died, or is it just me still??

anyways. it was a good movie. and also very strange how much they made Jude, Colin and Johnny look like Heath. YEAH. that was weird. like, you knew that it wasn't Heath, but all four of them looked soooooo much alike.

also it was sad just knowing that when Heath was onscreen, he was still alive. and when they replaced him with say, Johnny Depp, it was after he had died. but, his character was still there.

it was weird. i guess i'm making it weirder than it should be. i was just thinking of these things while i was watching it.

eh, it's sad.

anyways. maybe i'm just really hott. it's like the air is so stale and gross. and you sweat even when you're not moving. i might have to put the window fan in tonight.

Roobs is sleeping on my green chair. on her back. she just stretched out and i could see her little feet peeking out. OMG she is so cute all the time.

this afternoon i was sitting at my desk on the computer and she jumped up on the desk and sat right next to the laptop and started doing the paw thing. and so i just had to cuddle with her for a minute. that's what she wanted.

(also, 'My Love' by Crash Kings is featured in that video. so really, you can't go wrong.)

OH, i love Ruby Tuesday so much. i don't know what i did without her. i must have been SOOO lonely living here! with no one to talk to.

but then again, there was nobody waking me up at 8:30 every morning with her paw in my face.

now, 8:30 might not seem that early to you. but it is to me. i didn't go to bed until 5am this morning. saturday morning. i don't know why. i was tired, but i just wasn't ready to go to bed. and then finally i had to force myself. and i fell asleep instantly.

BUT THEN, i woke up at 8am because the phone rang!!!!

and it was my WORST FEAR. a double ring. that meant it was coming from inside the house. and it's scary - because i'm the only person in this house at night time now that we have no residents.

and i slowly got out of bed. walked over to the phone. thought,

JULIE: It's coming from inside the house. Meaning, there is something else in here with me.

and then i saw that the light was lit up for the 'RESIDENTIAL STAFF OFFICE' button. which meant that the call was being made from the staff office.

so i answered the call and it was Sue! she had to come into work because there were volunteers coming in today. and she's the volunteer coordinator.

but, i was scared for one minute.

BUT THEN, the volunteers were super loud. and i had a really hard time sleeping while they were here. i honestly have no idea what they were doing. (well, yes i do, they were painting the second floor.) but at one point i thought i heard a chainsaw. and a hammer.

and it was like they were RIGHT in my room with me. i could hear all their conversations on the second floor. like they were YELLING.

THIS is also a downside of living in a business.

and then the guy down the street with the super loud motorcycle decided to go for a nice long drive around the neighborhood a million times. and even when he leaves the neighborhood you can still hear him for like, 5 miles because his motorcycle is so loud.

i swear, it can't be any quieter than Kara's car the night we got pulled over TWICE in the same night because of her muffler. i CAN'T be quieter than that. and i don't know why he's not getting pulled over. normal motorcycles are NOT THIS LOUD.


anyways. i'm feeling like i'm just kind of talking about a lot of stuff right now. and maybe it's because of the heat. but i think i should end this before it gets too crazy.

i downloaded two new lullaby songs yesterday to add to the lullaby mix that i may or may not listen to when i sleep at night.

- 'Resistance' originally by the band Muse
and
- 'Use Somebody' originally by the band Kings of Leon

both songs are really good. especially the Muse one. i'm just waiting for the Twinkle Twinkle Little Rock Star record of Crash Kings songs. i think that most of their songs would be very beautiful in lullaby version.


OKAY, i'm going to end of the BEST POSSIBLE NOTE EVER:::

it's in regards to the Rooney summer tour. which i have mentioned in this blog before. how excited i am about the tour.

and earlier this week they announced who they will be touring with. and at one point, they are doing a co-headlining tour. with who? you ask....


Rooney will be touring Summer 2010 with.......... HANSON.

HANSON!!!! AND ROONEY!!!!!!! i think about these two bands together and i have to remember to keep breathing. who can think about things like breathing with Rooney and Hanson are together?!?!!?!

ALSO: i feel like we're one step closer to making The Bro Tour 2011 a REALITY!!!!!

member The Bro Tour?? that i keep talking about nonstop because it will be so awesome? YEAH.

JONAS BROTHERS
HANSON
CRASH KINGS
KINGS OF LEON
JET
featuring special guests
ROBERT and JASON SCHWARTZMAN

and who is Robert Schwartzman, you ask? the lead singer of ROONEY!!!!!

(Rooney is not appearing on the Bro Tour because there are no sets of brothers in that band.)

IT'S TOTALLY POSSIBLE:

ROONEY has already played with: Crash Kings, Jonas Brothers and Kings of Leon
and will play with : Hanson
CRASH KINGS have played with: JET

all of these bands are best friends with each other, which is why it could work. i should copyright this idea so that no one can steal it.

i don't know why some people think that starting a family band is lame. because obviously it is the best thing ever. so many great family bands!!!!! so many proud parents.

aaannnnnddddd i said i would end this a while ago, and then here i go, making it even more super long. and talking about The Bro Tour 2011.

alright. it's currently 3:45am. sunday morning.

plan for today includes: work around the house. cleaning and getting the house ready for the state inspection on monday. funfunfun.

ok. sleep well. have lovely days. drive safe. be well. !!!!!!



<3, julie

MY SISTER IS FAMOUS.

KARA - MY SISTER - is a famous baker.

a food critic came in and bought some of the tiramisu that Kara makes (which i've had - and it's DELISH), and TURNS OUT, she was on a "tiramisu tour of maine" and THEN WENT ONTO name Kara's tiramisu the BEST IN WELLS. and from the sounds of the article, she ate her fair share of tiramisu.

HERE'S THE ARTICLE. (you'll see i left a comment on the article.)

AND, if you go to the website for the bakery that Kara pretty much runs, she has an awesome bio in the staff section!!!!

oh here, i'll make it easy for you. HERE'S THE LINK. not only is Kara is FIRST bio on the site, but she's the "sweet" one. because she makes all the baked goods from scratch. and she gets there at 4 in the morning.

SOOO EVERYBODY, needs to go there immediately and buy some of the delicious things she makes.

JULIE RECOMMENDS: the white chocolate raspberry scones.

omg, they are soooooo good.

and COMING SOON TO PINE TREE MARKET PLACE BAKERY:::: NANAIMO BARS.

yes, that's right. Kara is taking the famed Canadian dessert and bringing it to the USA!!!! we made a test batch while i was home last weekend and they came out great!!!!!

oh man. i'm so excited for kara. she is so awesome and cool. and she's SO FAMOUS.

I LOVE YOU KARA!!!! you're the best.


♥ ,
Julie

(note to self)

Julie, 'After the Storm' is the song you really like by Mumford and Sons. don't keep forgetting it! learn the song names already!

business lady week

i've been kind of a business lady recently and i wanted to tell you about it.

(also, i'm upset because i posted the previous three entries over the weekend. it's now thursday. and FACEBOOK JUST UPLOADED THEM. this makes me want to cancel the blog upload to facebook and just manually do it.)

anyways. i'm redesigning the Hannah House website. that's my job. do i know how to design a website? nope! but i'm making it up as i go along, and let me tell you - the website looks AWESOME. oh man, it's going to be fantastic once it's done. my favorite part is the new color scheme. nobody gave me ANY guidance on what they wanted or how to do it. so i said, "well, i'll do it the way i want!!!" and that's what i'm doing. and the first order of business was a new color scheme.

the old color scheme was teal and brown. now, normally, i would love this. and normally, these colors are great together. but it was the exact wrong shade of teal and the exact wrong shade of brown together. it did not look good, in my opinion.

oh, it's really awesome. it's hip and trendy, as well as being warm and friendly. fun and fresh. my favorite of those words are:

- warm
- friendly
- fresh

and i think it's perfect for Hannah House because that's what we also strive to be.

- a warm and friendly environment
- a fresh start

yes. i love it. and i am very proud of the website so far. it's a long job though, designing a website. it's like this blog times 100. with all the different pages and sub pages and whatever that means.

anyways. i will post the link once i'm finished. maybe this weekend? i don't know. it's kind of fun when you really sit down and do it.

and then i'll be able to put on my resume that i've designed a website!!!! and from the way it's going, one that i am proud of. GREAT DEAL!!!

also a great deal:

today we went out for lunch because Courtney's last day is tomorrow (friday) :( and we went to this Mexican restaurant in town and i got a lunch special for $5.99. and the total was $6.53! what a great deal!!! for a delicious Mexican lunch. yumm.


also, i downloaded the whole Mumford and Sons record and I LOVE IT. oh man, it's so good. it's very tragic. that's a word i would use to describe it. TRAGIC. and also, train. because sometimes the songs remind me of watching a train go by. i don't know if you know what i mean. or if that makes sense. but, TRAIN. i guess they have a certain 'rolling' feel to them. i think that's better.


YESTERDAY (wednesday) was a great day.

i went to the post office and got THREE MOVIES!!!!! it was Kathy who waited on me at the desk, but as soon as i started talking the Ruggedly Handsome Postal Worker came out from the back and leaned up against the wall:

RUGGEDLY HANDSOME POST MAN: Hey!
JULIE: Hi!
RUGGEDLY HANDSOME POST MAN: What'd ya get for movies?!
JULIE: Umm.......The O.C.....the tv show....
RUGGEDLY HANDSOME POST MAN: Ohhh....The O.C.
JULIE: Yeah, I started watching it. It's super dramatic.
RUGGEDLY HANDSOME POST MAN: I don't watch much TV. I've been thinking about signing up for Netflix, though...

AND THEN - something horrible happened.

OTHER POSTAL CUSTOMER: Hey!! I've got the truck here....
RUGGEDLY HANDSOME POST MAN: Ok, great, you can just pull it up around back.

and then he was distracted by business. BUT OH - it was a lovely little conversation. BUT SO EMBARRASSING that i had to tell him i was watching The O.C. yeah, i felt like i was about to die. and i couldn't even think of ANYTHING else to make up because i was so taken with his ruggedly handsomeness.

would he have come out from the back room if i hadn't started talking?? did he hear my voice and come out?? i don't know. i think so. because, he didn't have any business to do out front. he didn't know that other guy would come in with the truck business. he came out and immediately started talking to me!!

AND he was leaning. which, a boy in high school once explained to me is the number one sign of having a crush. SO. i was pretty excited.


hmmm. yeah. wonderful.


anyways.

THEN, something else very exciting happened last night. DINNER PARTY!!!!! yep. i was at a dinner party. via conference call!!! oh, it was so fun.

it was a Mod 16 Dinner Party. me, Kerianne, Aliya, Elizabeth and Joe all called into this free conference line and had dinner together over the phone!!!!! just like the good ol' times in Mod 16.

i had to buy wine for the occasion. i texted Kerianne in the wine aisle because it was like being lost in a foreign country. she told me which kind to buy. and then i had to buy a wine opener. a corkscrew? AND i was also very proud of myself because i ROCKED IT getting the cork out. one piece! awesome.

and the dinner party got over around 8. and then i did the dishes. and then i worked on the website for 2.5 hours. and then i went downstairs because i knew that my boss had left me a list of some things to do.

BUT - i didn't know she meant for them to be done LAST NIGHT.

so THEN, i spent from 10:30pm until 2:30am doing ALL KINDS of tiring work.

turns out, we had a fire inspection today which we didn't know about until yesterday. i think that was the point. but anyways, people were going crazy trying to get the house in order.

so i had to:

- carry 2 cribs down from the second floor. (note: each crib takes like, 3 trips. and the stairs are very steep.)
- carry 1 crib to the dumpter (another 3 trips), and the other crib to the garage (another 3 trips.) (note: and it's not like the dumpster and the garage are right outside the door. it's like, all the way to the back of the driveway. at like, midnight.)

after that, i wanted to be done. cribs are heavy, man. and awkward to carry because of all the crazy length sides.

then i had to:

- sort through boxes of clothes and bedding upstairs.
- make sure each bedroom had a storage container with bedding in it

then i had to:

- carry vacuums out to the dumpster

then i had to:

- clean all the pipes and sprinklers on the sprinkler system

let me tell you about that one. how does one do this? i don't know. i started out standing on a chair with paper towels. but i couldn't reach because the ceilings are very high. then i got a broom and stood on a chair. and swept the pipes.

THIS is the most lame thing ever. cleaning sprinkler pipes. UGH it was such a pain. of course it didn't help that i didn't start until 1am. i was standing on chairs and tables and entertainment centers trying to reach these pipes. dust and other crap is falling from the pipes onto me. it's so gross. i have no idea what kind of stuff i inhaled last night.

the whole downstairs sucked. because i had to stand on a chair the whole time. which also meant lugging this chair around the house. UGH i hated it. and my back and arms and shoulders were killing me after. and my legs too, from up and down the stairs with the cribs and then up and down on the chairs and tables.

i seriously got into bed last night and CRASHED. like, immediately. i was tired to begin with from the wine and then from all the hard labor.

and then i woke up at 10:45. got in the shower. got out of the shower and immediately my phone rang. i answered it and it was my boss saying that there was about to be a fire drill. i asked if she could wait 10 minutes because i had JUST gotten out of the shower. and she said yes.

so then we had a stupid fire drill.

aaahhhhhh the PERKS of living in a business!

BUT THEN! we got to to out for a lovely lunch for Courtney. and that was fun. and sad. i am going to miss Courtney. we started working here one week apart. we were birthing coaches together for the first time.

ok, so Ruby Tuesday was playing with one of her round pink toys that she loves and she was running all around with it really fast. and then she ran across the kitchen and SLID RIGHT INTO her water bowl. and it tipped over and spilled EVERYWHERE. omg, i saw the whole thing. and i laughed REALLY HARD. it was pretty hilarious. she is so funny.

i've started called her "Roobs." i like it. aw, she's the best. EXCEPT when she wakes me up too early. which she does every single day. and the other day she would NOT leave me alone. i was getting mad because i just wanted to go back to sleep.

anyways. OK! i have to do some more business lady things and then i have a meeting with Aliya online. fun! or, maybe over the telephone. i don't know. all i know is that it's at 9. great!

ok. i hope everyone has a great evening! it's thursday. 8:18pm. just starting to get dark. i can see one star in the sky. i'm sitting at my kitchen table right now, which is right next to the window. i don't know, i think i needed a bit of a change of scenery from my living room.

also, Ruby was sleeping in my desk chair, so i had to find a new place to sit.

OK! have a great night. i'll update you more about exciting things later!!!!

OMG TWO WEEKS AGO TONIGHT was the Crash Kings show in PA! i can't believe it!! 8:19pm...hmm....we were probably in the parking garage about to set off to the venue!!!! only to have JASON RECOGNIZE US ON THE STREET!!!!!!!

poor Jason, he cut up his hand pretty bad the other day. he posted a picture on Twitter. at first it was super gross. but then i couldn't stop looking at it. it was a pretty deep cut.

anyways. alright, i will talk to you later!!!

goodnight!


<3