after all that you've been to me

Remember back in the summer when I had strep throat??

WELL, GUESS WHAT?!!?

I have strep throat AGAIN. It's crazy. Like, I think IT IS CRAZY.

Never in my whole life of 25 years do I get strep throat - and then I get it twice in 6 months??!?! Weird, right?!

And this is especially weird because when Kara was little she used to get strep throat alllll the freaking time. Like, at least once a year. And, I NEVER got it. And now, twice. In 6 months. Bam. Strep.

And of course it's during the first year of my life when I don't have health insurance. I've had health insurance for 25 years and then the one time I don't, I need medical attention.

GO FIGURE!

But, what can ya do?

So I got a prescription for amoxicillin. Got it filled at Targs. While I was waiting for it, I did some shopping around. Checked with the cell phone people to see if there were any iPhones just waiting for me to buy them. Nope. Then I started looking at clothes.... and wound up with THESE:::



Yep. That's a pair of neon orange socks, right there. And, I don't know if you can see - but they cost me $.75. Yep. I probably should have bought 7 pairs, because I'm totally wearing these everyday.

I love neon things. And if I see a neon something, there is a good chance I will buy it.

You have full permission to be jealous of those socks. I will probably point them out to you if I am ever wearing them and you are around. Just so ya know..


SO LAST NIGHT was a big night. I saw a scary movie in theaters! To be more specific, I saw Paranormal Activity 3 with Greg. AAAHHHHHH. It was scary. We were jumping all over the place. Everybody was! Over the past three weeks, Greg and I have watched the first two Paranormal Activity movies, knowing that we would then see the third on in theaters. AAAAHHHHHH. Scary!

But - it was totally fun seeing it in a big theater with everyone else who was scared and jumping all over the place. Like - it was definitely the most scary, but also the most funny. Lots o' laughs.


So.. I just woke up from a nap. It was a good nap. Ruby Tuesday napped with me. As soon as I got into bed, she crawled under the covers and stayed there with me for the next two hours. :) It was happy.

I'm feeling happy this week. I've been out every single night of the week with friends. That never happens. But, it's exciting.

So, I took my first dose of amoxicillin this afternoon. The recovery begins! Hopefully!

I also had a fever this morning! I forgot to tell you that! YEP - FEVER.

AND - they were unable to take my blood pressure. They tried like, a hundred times using the machine and not using the machine...trying it in different places on my arm. NOPE. No luck.

Weird, because the last time I had my blood pressure taken in a doctor's office, which was maybe like, a month ago....it took them six tries and two different people to be able to take my blood pressure. Weird, right?

Everyone has been like, "Ok, sooo....we know that you're alive...so why can't we take your blood pressure?" MYSTERY. But, just strange that it's never happened before in my life and now it's happened twice.

Which is the exact same story as the strep. It's crazy, I tell ya.

But, the last time, when they were finally able to get a blood pressure, they were like, "WOW, THAT'S GREAT!!!!" It was kinda perfect.

Anyways, that's the story. Apparently maybe I'm falling apart. Stay tuned.

IN WAYYY BETTER NEWS: My dad is coming to visit tomorrow!!!!! (saturday!) We haven't seen him in the beginning of February, so it's veryyy exciting! And he's staying for a week! I'm super excited!!! YAY!


OK. Gonna go eat something soft. Talk to you all later! Have a GREAT weekend!!


lovelove!

school of hard rocks

Wanna watch me make brownies?!?!?! I thought you did!! That's why I photodocumented the whole process (ok, most of the process) yesterday when I was making brownies for my date last night with Brittany!!!

Now - I don't know if you know this about me - but I am not the baker in my family. And, I am constantly reminded of this. So, IF I am baking, I like to do it alone, or else I'll have everybody all up in my grill the whole time I'm in the kitchen. (Yep, I just really said that.)

It's a good thing that nobody else was home, because it took me like, 45 minutes to finally get all the ingredients mixed, I DIDN'T use the Kitchen Aid mixer (horrible, horrible SIN), and I made a pretty big mess.

Let's enjoy:


JULIE (AND RUBY) MAKES BROWNIES!!!




Ingredients? Check! (there were more than that, obvi, but those were the only ones I took a picture of.)




Helper? Check!




This was literally the scene after STEP ONE. I was like, "oh, I'll measure out the cocoa first because that'll be easy..."

And then this happened.






Ingredients mixed with the vanilla bean paste!!!




Two sticks of unsalted butter!




Melty butter!!! The best kind!





Then I had to mix the butter with the sugar and put it back in the microwave until it looked like melty lemonade concentrate. (Mmm lemonade...)




Eggies! 4 of them! Now, I'm the worst egg cracker ever. Like, seriously probably ever. It's one thing that I've gotten worse at over time. But - no egg shells in this batter. :)




Mix it! By hand!! I'm pretty hardcore.


NOW - then Aliya called me!!! And I couldn't bake brownies, talk on the phone and photodocument at the same time. So, I skipped a few steps photodocumenting.

Basically, I took out the pan, sprayed it with nonsticky stuff, and poured the mix in!!





This was the scene after I finished. Stuff was just everywhere. The bag fell on the floor. Note the cocoa on the floor as well as on the table. Pretty gruesome.




BUT THE BROWNIES CAME OUT PERFECTLY!!!! FOR SERIOUS!!!! Like, they taste amazing. Apparently, I make a damn good brownie.


And I brought them over Brittany's house last night and this is what we turned them into:




That's right. Brownie, pumpkin ice cream, hot fudge, and whipped cream. OMG. No, like, OMG. It was kinda amazing.

And we watched Glee and New Girl!! New Girl is back on TV!!! They were off the air for a little while....

(this was last week)
KARA: Is New Girl on tonight?
JULIE: Not until November 1st... apparently there's some baseball thing on...
KARA: ..You mean like, the World Series?
JULIE: .....Oh yeah....

That's what it was! The World Series.

Anyways! So, lots of fun times were had with Brittany. And her sister Gemma stopped by for a brownie sundae, too!!! SO AWESOME. I'm SO GLAD that Britt and I are hanging out again! So much fun!

Speaking of baseball - I saw the movie, Moneyball! It was great. Co-written by Aaron Sorkin, so, there you have it. It was just really wild to see all the baseball politics like, right in your face. I couldn't believe it, actually. Like, the players really have no say on which team they are playing for. That's so weird. And, they can be traded at ANY POINT. Also, weird. Like, they were trading these PEOPLE just like they were TRADING CARDS. The scene with Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill in the office making all the phone calls was fantastic - but eye opening. I couldn't believe how they were treating these people.

I also really loved the sound in the movie. The volume would randomly fade in and out. Well, not randomly. Around major moments in the plot, mainly. But, it reminded me of when you're watching a baseball game, right after the guy hits the ball, and everyone is kind of silent, watching the ball in the air, trying to figure out where it's gonna land.... and then everyone gets loud again. YEP. That's what it reminded me of.

Great movie! I recommend it! Highly! And the scene at the end between Brad Pitt and the Red Sox owner is great.

Anyways! Great movie. Great night last night. Great week. I'm having a great week! And I expect the rest of the week to be great as well.

I bought new nail polish!




So - I WASN'T going to buy nail polish at Target yesterday. I scanned the nail polish section, and WALKED AWAY.

Then, I was in a completely different section of the store, and saw this nail polish sitting on the shelf, out of place. And, I immediately loved it. It's called, 'School of Hard Rocks.' Kinda like a dark teal, greyish color. LOVE IT. And, it was my very first Essie. So, yay!

YOU ALL SHOULD READ MY ARTICLE ON QR CODES!!!! Yes you scan!

OK!! I have to get back to work. Just wanted to take a minute blogging break.

I hope you all are having as great a week as I am :)

Take care! Enjoy the crisp weather! Be well! Talk soon!!


<3 <3 <3