"All the little pieces of the world come together SO WELL."

Um, so I just had the best weekend ever. Like, the best, most exciting days ever. From Thursday to Monday morning. That's a lot of excitement to tell you about.

How long has it been?!?! IT'S BEEN TOO LONG since Crash Kings excitement graced this blog.

If, however, you'd like to re-live that last time, please enjoy that here. That was another 3-shows-in-three-days adventure that we love so much.


THIS TIME - was epic. GET READY for awesome. Because there's going to be a lot of it.


THURSDAY:

I drove to Malden in the mid-afternoon, thinking that it would take me like, four hours due to traffic. UM, NOPE. There was no traffic. Why? Because of the power of Crash Kings. There SHOULD have been tons of traffic, but the Universe knew I needed to get to Boston - and it got me to Boston.

I parked at Ryan's house and had to wait for her for a minute, because she was at the grocery store down the street. I didn't mind, because she was buying ingredients to make DELICIOUS cookies.

She came back and it was so great to see her! I had seen her back in September for the night when I went to her totally awesome gig.

I left again after about 15 minutes or so of brief relaxing, before walking down to the T station. I kind of rock the T.

Got off at Central Square, much like the last time I met up with Emily and David.

SO GREAT to see them. Like, unbelievably awesome. We walked into Harvard Square and over to this great Mexican restaurant, Border Cafe. We had a bit of a wait, but it was fun catching up and chatting.

The restaurant was super crowded! And our waitress kind of wanted to be our best friends. We were talking about past Halloween costumes at Hampshire Halloween and the waitress comes over and is like,

WAITRESS: OMG are you guys talking about Halloween??
EMILY: Yeah..
WAITRESS: I'm dressing up as a slice of watermelon! It was actually my costume from when I was little, but it still fits me!

Then she described the whole costume. Yeah, it sounded kind of adorable. Then she was like,

WAITRESS: ... And I'm wearing it to work on Saturday!!

Yep, great. Although, I would think it would be awkward being a waitress and wearing a giant slice of watermelon. Well not actual watermelon, but a watermelon slice shaped costume. And trying to waitress in between tables. Whatever, I don't really care about this, yet I've talked about it for like, 20 minutes.

ANYWAYS. We had a great dinner.

Then, Emily suggested we walk over and get some of the best hot chocolate ever invented. Um, how could I say no??? So, we did. And it was like, "Polar Express" hot chocolate. Tasted like melted chocolate bars. It was kind of crazy.

Then we walked over to this wall-structure, sat on the wall, and continued to talk.

It was a seriously great time and it really made me realize how much I miss my friends. And also being in college. But mainly my friends. And also Jan Term.

Sadly, we both needed to be on our way, as Emily had to wake up at like, 5am for work.

BUT WEIRDLY - They were going to be in DC this weekend for the Jon Stewart rally! So, we would be in the same city again on Sunday!

Anyways, then we parted ways. And then I was crossing the street to get to the T station and this guy approached me and asked,

GUY: Hey, is the Middle East this way? (pointing in the wrong direction)
JULIE: Um, no, actually! It's this way. (pointing in the right direction.) Maybe like, three blocks down, on this side of the street.
GUY: Thanks so much!
JULIE: Who's playing tonight?
GUY: (names some guy)
JULIE: Cool! Have fun.
GUY: Thanks!

Yeah, I felt pretty great. Because when he approached me and said, "hey...is the..." and I could tell it was a directions question, I was instantly bummed that I would probably have to say, "sorry, I'm not from around here." BUT NO!!! It was the Middle East, which is one of the best places, because it was the first place I saw Crash Kings.

Then, I continued back to Malden on the T. Rocked it again.

Excited to see Ryan again when I got back. Her roommate, Tony, was there too, and it was nice to see him.

Then, Ryan and I hung out in her room. Mainly discussing very important business things like Crash Kings and boys. It was very fun. Then, I blogged and she finished her CK transcription of 'My Love!' YES. #WIN.

(again with using the hashtags out of Twitter. it kind of makes me excited.)

THEN, I went downstairs to my domain - the couch - and set up shop. Did some FB chatting, because I'm so popular and awesome. Then, went to bed. Even though it was hard to calm down enough to sleep, because I was SO FREAKING EXCITED for the Weekend of Awesome.

Slept great.

Woke up the next morning, took a great shower. When I was getting dressed, I realized I had forgotten A CARDIGAN. Now, if you know me at all, you know that I love cardigans. So when I realized I had forgotten one - HORROR. UPSET. DEVASTATION. I had planned two outfits around a cardigan, and then had forgotten said cardi.

And, it was getting late.

SUDDENLY, I remembered that last night while on the T, I saw the reflection of a Target symbol in the window of the T. Seriously. So, I went on to the Target website and got directions to the nearest one. Not that one, but an even closer one! Like, 1.8 miles away!

I plugged the address into the GPS and was on my way. With my duffle, back pack, bag of cookies, container of water and Ryan's yellow raincoat. READY TO ROCK.

Except that I got lost on my way to the Targs. Even though it was a pretty straight shot - the GPS lady didn't tell me to turn left. I went straight instead and then realized I was in some parking lot for a T station.

I sat and thought for a minute, trying to remember what the Google map looked like.

And then I saw a guy walking, so I jumped out of the car and briskly walked over to him to ask for directions. He wasn't from around here, so he had no idea.

Then I got back in the car and thought about how to get out of here. THEN, I looked through the trees on the other side of the parking lot, and THOUGHT I saw the red Target symbol. GLIMMER OF HOPE.

So, I got on the Mystic River Parkway and sure enough - it was the right direction. It turned out to be an Office Depot, or something, not a Target, but it was in the same plaza at Targs! RIGHT ON.

Went into Targs, found a great silver cardigan with sequins that would work with both the outfits I had planned. Also bought a water.

THEN, ran back to the car and changed. Yep. In the car. In the daylight. Ashamed? Nope. Why? Because we were seeing Crash Kings tonight and there was nothing that could bring me down.

UNTIL I got to the traffic circle on the Mystic River Parkway. Um, what's the deal with that thing??? GET RID OF IT. Normally, roundabouts do not make me nervous. Let me try and explain this one.

Two lanes, in a circle. Four stoplights in the circle. Highway running above the circle. Another two lane road going through the center of the circle. MADNESS. Like, the worst traffic pattern ever invented. It was insane.

(Actually, no. The worst and most confusing traffic pattern would be on that road that me and Ryan tried to navigate post-Crash Kings show in Albany. Or, just outside Albany. The road that was like, 8 lanes and completely covered in orange cones. And it was kind of blind-driving through the cones to figure out the way. That was crazy times.)

ANYWAYS. I feel like this is taking me FOREVER. But, I guess there were lots of fun times even before we saw Crash Kings. I guess that's why it's taking me so long to come down off the 'high.'

Then, there was a traffic detour in Malden and I had no idea where I was going. There were no detour signs. Lame. So, I had to pull over and GPS it into Boston.

Then, I get off the exit after the tunnel, (I picked Ryan up at school), and there's a huge traffic jam. And it's not moving. And then, an ambulance decides to come through. And then, two police cars and another ambulance decide to come through. And then a huge bus gets behind me. And then - MORE MADNESS.

Eventually, after some very stressful driving, I made it to Columbus Ave, which was where I was picking up Ryan, and where she used to live, so I was kind of familiar with it.

And then we were FINALLY off!!!!!


TO PHILADELPHIA!!!!!!!! The City of Brotherly Love, as I learned from Elizabeth, who posted in my Facebook blog after I didn't know the nickname.

SO - TOTES PERF - because Crash Kings is made up of 2/3 brothers. And they love each other. And we love them. So, great.

I can't remember how long it took us to get to Philadelphia. We left Boston around 12:45pm. Got into Philly around.... 7:45, maybe? I can't actually remember. We hit traffic a lot on the way down, through NJ, south of NYC, and trying to go over the George Washington Bridge.

BUT WE MADE IT IN TIME!!!!!!

We parked, and navigated our way to the venue, the Theater of Living Arts. Nice place.

Immediately walked in and found spots in the crowd, which was pretty big.

The line up for all three shows we saw was this:

- Civil Twilight
- Crash Kings
- Anberlin

Civil Twilight went on soon after we got there...






I think the lead singer, Steven, looks like Robert Pattinson. I told this to Kara, when I was showing her pictures and she said,

KARA: Robert Pattinson mixed with Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl.

YES. That's exactly it. If you didn't know, Kara is the queen of figuring out which celebrities people look like. True story.

So then, I pushed my way through the crowd to be closer to Ryan and also closer to other Crash Kings fans. YES - there were others!!!!!

OMG. These moments before they came out were so exciting and horrible at the same time. It had been SO LONG since I had last seen them and I just couldn't wait any longer.


AND FINALLY....




Hey IT'S JASON!!!!! How great is it to see Jason in the blog again?!!? Yeah, it's pretty great, I know.




TONY. Yep, there he is. In all his piano glory. Actually, he's claving there. I like this picture. Because it's sexy.






Did you miss these guys?? Come on, admit it. You were kind of looking forward to this weekend so YOU could get to look at the candy results. I know, I know. You guys are in love with this band just as much as I am. :)





OH! When the CK crew was setting up their stuff, there was one notable thing missing = JOSH. There was Jimmy, but there was no Josh. It was a mystery. This guy seemed to be with them, and kept having to come out to fix Jason's drum mic, which kept falling over.





Jason was just KILLING it on the drums. He had all these great solos in 'War Pigs,' which they covered, and played as their final song. Before they played it, he got up and went to the mic and said,

JASON: I just want to dedicate this show to my grandmother... she's here tonight and this is the first time she's seeing me play, seeing this band play. I'm so excited she's here!





During, 'Raincoat' when they have the big, super intense, way awesome, hardcore jam sesh at the end, Mike went over to the piano and Tony reached up and was playing Mike's bass! It happened for like, 5 seconds, but it was totally awesome. I've never seen that happen before. Aww, they're brothers.




And THERE'S Mike. Due to my position in the crowd, pictures of Mike were rare. Which was a bummer, because DUH, it's Mike. And he's really great to watch. (Because he's usually sweating.)




Tony was wearing this hat. I liked it more seeing him in person, than when I had seen other pictures of it.




MIKE.





Someone taking a picture of Tony on her iPhone, while I take the same picture of Tony.


THEY PLAYED A GREAT SET. And surprise - there was a clavinet solo during '1985!' I KNOW. No, I KNOW. You're thinking, "WHAT? Clav solo in '1985?'" TRUE STORY. It was shocking.

The sound was great. Like, everything was perfectly balanced. And it felt SO GREAT to be out there, rocking and dancing and singing at the top of my lungs. Like no time had passed. EXCEPT THAT SO MUCH TIME HAD PASSED AND OMG WHY DID IT TAKE THEM SO LONG TO COME BACK TO THE EAST COAST?!??!?!!

After their set, Ryan and I jetted towards the back to try and catch them at merch. We waited. And waited. And waited.

Jason walked by really quick, saw us, said hello and we quickly exchanged "great show!" "great to see you!" sentiments. Jason is so sweet.

Then Anberlin started playing. I got no pictures of them after "attending" three of their concerts, so this is what they look like:




(haha.) Like, why is that guy putting on his jacket? And why is he wearing that huge watch?? It's like a spy watch. We weren't crazy about their music. But their LIGHT SHOW was cool. We decided it was a "smoke and mirrors" effect. To distract from their "eh" sound.

I texted this to Keith, while we were waiting for Crash Kings to come out, and THEN, Tony walked by.

TONY: Hey hey, guys, I'll be right back, I just have to go see some people!!
RYAN AND JULIE: UMM OKAY, WE'LL WAIT.

yep. We would wait there someday. (Non Believer, anyone??)

So, we waited in excitement for Tony to come back. Because, ya know, he said he would.

AND HE DID. Oohhhhh, he did.

I had decided during this waiting time that I wanted a Tony Hug. So, he walked back over, I outstretched my arms, and went in for the goods. Mmmmm.

He seemed seriously happy to see us. Like, seriously. And I don't know if you've ever seen Tony smile up close - but it's one of the greatest things on the planet.

Ryan asked about Josh, and Tony said that Josh left, and was working on his film and photography, which is really his passion. He said it was totally good for him and there were, of course, no hard feelings. CRAIG, their new tech, is much more experienced and knows much more about "tech things," so it's awesome. And, his name is Craig. And Tony said something like,

TONY: Craig's a big guy (making "big guy pose") so he can handle my set up by himself, which is awesome.

AND HE DOES. Craig sets up the folding piano by himself. I was really impressed by that. Because, dude, it's a piano.


So, when Tony was walking off stage after they finished playing, he grabbed the set list and handed it in Ryan's direction. Then, this random girl who totally hadn't been standing in the very front and rocking, reached across like, five people and grabbed it away, like, screaming at the top of her lungs.. (Ok, maybe I'm making it seem more dramatic than it was. But, it was a bummer.)

So then Tony says,

TONY: Did you end up with the set list?
RYAN: NO! This screaming girl reached over me and grabbed it.
JULIE: It was crazy, she like, totally LUNGED for it.
TONY: (laughs) Wow, sounds like things got pretty aggressive.
RYAN AND JULIE: Yes! She was lame.
TONY: (laughs) (and smiles)


Then Ryan gave Tony her transcription of 'My Love,' which he was very happy to get. She asked him about the chords, and they discussed that it was a suss. Then they discussed how much Tony loves susses. And he PLAYED AIR PIANO and shaped his hand in the way you would play the chord on the piano,

TONY: It looks like this.

And then we all stared at his hands, which are beautiful, by the way. I was standing across from Tony, so he kept looking up at me while he was talking. It's a great thing. This was the reason I was staring at his hands, because he was standing across from me, holding the sheet music. And, I just love looking at the heart on his hand.

Then we discussed how Ryan only has three more transcriptions to do before she's got the whole record down.

- Raincoat
- You Got Me
- 14 Arms

(I also pointed out that they didn't play '14 Arms' tonight. Which I was bummed about.)

Then Tony said,

TONY: It'll be interesting to see how '14 Arms' looks on paper.

Or something like that. Then Ryan mentioned that she would do that one next, as he had mentioned that before. (I think at the Portland, ME show, when he wasn't being groped by drunk girl on the couch.)

Then Jason came over, was super happy to see us, and gave us great hugs. Jason is a great hugger and he loves giving them out. I have no problems with this.

We then discussed the clav solo in '1985.' We were excited to tell Tony how surprised we were. He said it was new, they added it for this tour. Then! He proceeded to tell us all the new things for this tour:

1. Clav solo in '1985.' He said,

TONY: Ya know, we're trying to make it more 'Queen.'
RYAN AND JULIE: (laughs) YES!!!
RYAN: Everything should be more Queen.
TONY: (laughs) 'Everything should be more Queen,' that's the quote of the night. That's awesome.

2. Tony's hat. He said he's trying to wear it as a new thing, and his goal is to wear it at every show. I think this is awesome. It's a great personal tour goal.

3. Position of the piano on stage. They turned the piano slightly, so the crowd is more able to see Tony's hands. Hence, the reason why most of the shots are of his back. (Which... I have no problem watching...)

TONY: I know that my back is kind of to the audience, but I really want people to be able to say, "wow, that guy is rocking on the piano!'
RYAN AND JULIE: YES. Awesome.

His hands are a blur when you're watching him. It's incredible. For example, please watch this video Ryan took from the Portland, ME show of Crash Kings covering, 'Hey Bulldog.' Note: piano solo at the end when Tony is playing so fast he can't even sit down. That's the best, when he's just rocking so hard, and he's jumping, and standing, and sitting, and standing, and kicking over the piano stool. And I love when he gets is leg stomping.

BTW - I just showed Ruby Tuesday that video, and she was purring the whole time. And, she never looked away. So basically, cats love Crash Kings. (and you should watch that video)

In talking about this rocking, Tony then said that from now on, when he does radio interviews he's going to say that Crash Kings are the only piano rock trio in the world. Because, until someone comes forward with a hard piano rock trio, they are. And then he gave us an example:

TONY: Like, 'You're listening to 92.9 WBOS and this is Tony from Crash Kings, the only piano rock trio in the world.'
RYAN AND JULIE: That's awesome.

And, I love that he used the Boston radio station as example. Not like, some famous one in LA. That whole thing was awesome. When he pretended he was doing a radio interview. Because, we were talking to someone who does radio interviews. WHAT?!

I can't remember how we got into this next part, I think just because Tony was excited about it and wanted to tell us.

He told us that he had bought this keyboard on eBay and it was THE keyboard used in the recording of the Radiohead song, 'Kid A.' We were all very excited about this. So, a friend was picking it up for him, and he was getting it tomorrow. He stressed that it wasn't just the same type of keyboard, it was THE ACTUAL KEYBOARD used in the recording. Me and Ryan were super impressed and got really excited, because he was so excited about it.

Then, a slightly drunk guy came over and said how awesome Crash Kings were and introduced himself to Tony, they shook hands, etc. He was like,

GUY: Do you guys have Facebook?
TONY: Um, yeah. You can just Google Crash Kings and you should find it.

It was funny. And then there was like, an awkward silence between Tony and this drunk guy. Then drunk guy was talking about how he could hardly hear now because they were rocking so hard and Tony was like,

TONY: Earplugs!

And then we discussed the importance of earplugs during rock shows. I mentioned that I've never worn earplugs and Tony disapproved.

TONY: Aww, you gotta wear earplugs. I got mine from Northeastern University, they were like, a hundred bucks, but totally worth it, because they special make them to form in your ear, and the sound is great. Nothing is muffled or cut out, everything is just at a lower volume.

Basically, Tony cares about my ears. :) I wore earplugs the next two nights, per Tony's recommendation.

And then drunk guy left.

We talked about the sound on stage, and Tony says that he can't hear anything that's happening in the audience, except a little through Jason's drum speakers. We all remarked on how weird this is.

Then, Tony included two other girls in the conversation who were standing by, waiting to say hi to him. They basically just wanted to gush to him and then have their picture taken with him. I took the photo, and assured them it came out really nice.

The girls left, and Tony turned back to us. He like, just wanted to hang out with us the whole time. We talked a little more... both him and Jason were SUPER excited to hear we'd be at the next two shows. It's really cool when you're presence at these shows makes the band happy. It was definitely like a mutual appreciation.

Then, Tony and Jason had to leave, them being rockstars and all. Jason gave us hugs goodbye and we all said we'd see each other tomorrow.

Me and Ryan were UNSTOPPABLE walking out of that place. (we left right after the chat, as we weren't crazy about Anberlin.) Like, NOTHING could bring us down. It was a pretty great feeling. Like, yeah, just hanging out with Tony and Jason. They love us. He could have cut the chat short and went off to do other things, but NO, he just wanted to talk and tell us about the new keyboard he was getting tomorrow.

It was the first post-show chat that seemed more "friendly" than "fan." We were just like friends, standing around, talking. We were all interacting with each other, laughing, chatting, hugging.

It was so amazingly awesome, I can't believe we found our way to Stephan's apartment.

We were staying with Ryan's best friend, Stephan. He lives in this super nice apartment with a totally black cat sometimes named Benjamin, sometimes names Kitty, sometimes nameless. He made us tea and we sat around talking, listening to great music, recounting our awesome night with Crash Kings.

Hard to calm down enough for sleep that night.

I slept on this great couch!! Really comfy.

We woke up the next morning and brunched at this place down the street called, Ants Pants. I had a cheddar, apple and bacon scramble. DELISH! Came with these potato homefries chips. And I got coffee, also. Great breakfast. Great conversation. Great place! The lady at the cash register told me she loved the blue in my hair.

We walked back to Stephan's apartment, hung out for a little while, and then Ryan and I left for NYC! We were driving back to Philly that night to sleep there again, so we didn't need to bring much. Nice.

So, I only had about 30 miles left on this tank of gas. So, we get out of the city and figure we'd get gas on the highway. So, we're driving, driving, driving, and there are no gas stations. Like, no signs for gas stations off of 95 north.

Then, I get down to 10 miles. 8 miles.

JULIE: Ok, I'm getting nervous.
RYAN: Me too...

No gas stations. 7 miles. No gas stations. 5 miles.

THEN - sign comes up - TWO GAS STATIONS to choose from. 2 miles away.

3 miles left on the gas tank, we pull into the Shell station. THREE MILES. It was scary times. And it cost $27 to fill the tank, which was the most it's ever cost. (small tank, great gas mileage.)

So that was a scary time with Morgan. (Remember that's my car's name?) But, she pulled through and got us there. And thanks, Ryan, for buying me gas :)

Super easy drive into the city. Except for the bummer $8 toll to go through the Lincoln Tunnel. It's a nice tunnel, I guess.

We thought we were going to get lost when we left the tunnel because you exit it and then suddenly it's like, "HOLY CRAP WE'RE IN MANHATTAN....NOW WHAT!?!!" And there are very limited directional signs.

Luckily, it's pretty easy to get back on track in NYC, and we didn't end up getting lost or needed to turn around at all. Why? Because we're made of awesome.

I had thought I had forgotten to print out directions to the parking garage, and instead printed directions to just the venue. But, we followed the directions and it led us to the parking garage I had in mind, so it was great. The Sleepy Hollow Garage. Super short walk to Irving Plaza, where the show was that night.

Now, we had arrived like, four hours before doors opened. Let me make that clear: FOUR HOURS. 4 HOURS!!! Before they were even letting anyone into the place. And there were already Anberlin fans lined up. CRAZY.

I called Joe and told him I was here!

JULIE: I'm here!
JOE: You're here? Like, here, here?!
JULIE: Yes! I'm on 17th street!!!

It was very exciting. Ryan and I walked around a lot while waiting for Joe. We made tons of block circles in every direction. We walked past the Crash Kings van, The White Knight. Then, we decided to stand in line, too.

We saw Merch Guy, who was running the merch booth last night. The merch is in this giant blue truck that says, 'Florida Moving Company' or something like that. We also saw all the members of Civil Twilight. Either their tech guy, or one of the actual members, had the same shoes as me. My Clarks. That I love.

JULIE: That guy has the same shoes as me.
RYAN: Oh yeah! I guess you really do have a talent.

(Referencing my recent blog entry where I talk about how I notice people's clothes and reference them back to where I've seen them before. Amazing ability.)

Then we saw Jason walk over to the truck,

JULIE: Jason!
JASON: (turns around) Hey guys!
RYAN AND JULIE: Hi!!

Then around 4:30, JOE SHOWED UP!!!! He just walked right over!!!! REUNION!!!!!! EXCITED HUGGING!!!!! Soooo great to see him!!! Like, it was awesome.

Ryan stayed in line reading her book, and Joe and I walked over to Union Square and sat on a bench and caught up. For two hours!!! Talking about everything! Jobs, houses, cars, boys, girls, Hampshire... it was lovely and awesome.

We people watched a lot. There were two guys playing frisbee across the path from us. People trying to give me free sneakers worth $20. Lots of film students walking by with cameras, which made Joe excited, because he is a filmmaker. Um, a FAMOUS ONE. He was assistant editor for a recent Nickelodeon documentary about Dora the Explorer. I think this is amazing.

At 6:30, we headed back to Irving Plaza. The line for the show was around the corner and down the street. HUGE LINE, guys. Anberlin seriously brings the people out. (???)

Now, it was dark and freezing and it was very hard waiting in the line. Also, they had opened this VIP/Fast pass line, or something, so even though the people ahead of us in line, plus Ryan, had been waiting like, 3 hours, the VIP fast lane people got to go in first. LAME. Lame, Irving Plaza.

Finally, we got in and BOOKED IT to the normal spot. Anberlin fans are aggressive, too. This bunch of 12 year olds pushed their way right next to me and were being super annoying.


Civil Twilight took the stage FINALLY!!!











There's this very confusing part of their set where the lead singer hands his bass over to this random guy who runs on stage. Then, he grabs the mic and does a little dancing at the front of the stage, as evidenced in this next photo:




That's the random bass player guy.

Then, the lead singer comes up to the crowd and lets the ladies fawn over him. He's leaning into the crowd, hands all over him, he's loving it, I'm just kind of annoyed at how he seems really into himself.





I hope that person wanted a close-up picture of him.






Then he came right in front of me, stood there, leaned in, and sang.

Then, he puts the mic down, and begins running through the crowd. He did this the night before, so it was no surprise to us. But, he runs right behind me and rubs up against me, not once, but TWICE. I don't know how I felt about this. (Later in the night, I noticed he was kind of staring at me from the merch booth. At one point, I actually thought he was getting ready to come over to me... but he didn't. Maybe he recognized me from the night before.)

So, the people love Civil Twilight. I was more bored during their set this night than I was the night before. And also, just annoyed with the guy. But, I did get a video of their single, 'Letters from the Sky,' which came out dark, but you can hear it.


THEN THEN THEN THEN THEN, Crash Kings came out.





"Wow, look at that guy rocking on the piano!"





Like that one.





Annoying 12 year old girls next to me went crazy. Like, I think they ACTUALLY went crazy. During '14 Arms' I can't tell you how many times I was 'hair-slapped' by the girl next to me. She was rocking and twirling and jumping with MAJOR hairography. I was kind of ready to punch her in the face, but I managed to remember that I was at a Crash Kings show, and I turned the bad energy into good energy.

Also, they changed up their set! They played 'Carry On' and '14 Arms.' I like to think they played '14 Arms' because I was bummed they didn't play it the previous night. Yep, for me. :)






Mike was very hard to photograph these two nights. I was just never at the right angle. Which distressed me, because I love taking Mike photos. He's usually rocking the bass and is all sweaty. Being sweaty should be a prerequisite for playing the bass.





Like that one, too. I did a good job taking photos of Tony, bathed in gorgeous light.







Check my vids:

- Carry On. Including super hott clav solo intro.
- 1985. Including the new clav solo. Towards the end, right after the lyric, "While quietly delivering the sound..."
- You Got Me (end jam). Including the always hott end jam of You Got Me, where Tony never fails to turn into a jazz musician. That video is a little blurry, but I think it adds to the sexy alluring nature of the song, and the man.


Before they played their last song, Tony said,

TONY: I just want to shout out to my family, who's here tonight! My cousin, who I haven't seen in five years!!

I looked up in the balcony, and there were his parents! Tony and Mike's parents, who I'm BFF with.

(If you want to read the recap of the Portsmouth, NH show where I became BFF with Tony and Mike's parents, please click here. And here, for pictures of the show.)

So now, I was thinking, "aw man, I really hope I get to say hi to their parents."

Um, show rocked. Not as hard as the night before, but COME ON. They were still the best.

After, Ryan and I headed towards the lobby-merch-area. Merch Guy was at the merch booth. Civil Twilight was at their merch booth (this was when the lead singer was making eyes at me). Lots of fans taking pictures and going crazy.

Another guy walked by me and did a triple-take. Like, looked at me, looked at me again, and then looked at me again. Why? I don't know. Maybe because of my teal hair? Maybe because I was radiating awesome? Or maybe just because I'm super hott... ha. haha.

So THEN, Tony and Mike's mom and dad come into the lobby area and immediately recognize me and get really excited that I'm there. I told them I had seen the show the night before, and was seeing them again the next night, and they were both super thrilled. We talked for a few minutes. They asked if the boys had been out yet, and me and Ryan said no, they hadn't, we were waiting for them.

Remember their cousin who Tony hadn't seen in five years? Yeah. She's this totally beautiful woman with a handsome husband. Their mom told the story of how we all met in Portsmouth at the show, and she even said my name, Julie, even though I don't remember saying it again. Did she really remember my name all the way back from the summer?? Maybe?! Or maybe I did reintroduce myself, and just have no memory, because the moment was full of awesome.

Anyways, then their dad yells,

DAD: There he is!!!!

And Tony runs in for a dad hug. Then, he exclaims,

TONY: MOM!

And hugs and kisses her. Then, him and his long-lost cousin have this big, slow-motion reunion hug. Much like Joe and I a few hours earlier. They hug for a while. Then, she introduces him to her husband. At first they shake hands and then Tony says something like,

TONY: Aw, we're family now!

And then goes in for the hug. Yep, they're just a normal family. Then, Tony starts telling his parents this story that starts with...

TONY: You'll never believe who I just saw in the dressing room....

But, I couldn't hear who he said it was. Lame, right? Yeah, I got really excited too. But, he like, leaned in and lowered his voice, like maybe it was a famous person, or something. He was totally, totally excited to see his family and it was so great.

Then, he saw us standing there too, and turned to us, with a kind of "oh wow, you guys are really here, i can't believe you come to all these shows" face. Actually, I could sum that up in one word and say it was a 'gracious' expression.

And then he made a joke, ya know, because we're close like that:

TONY: I just saw you guys last night, I never get to see these guys! .... NO, I'm totally kidding!! Thank you guys so much for coming, we love you! You guys are the best Crash Kings fans ever. Really, thank you for coming.

He always thanks us profusely.

We only talked for a short while.... Ryan asked him how the new keyboard was, Tony said it was cool, although not as exciting as he thought it would be, but that it might end up on the new record. How bummed was I about this keyboard disappointment? SO BUMMED! He had been so excited about it the night before! And now it wasn't as great as he expected it to be. Awww man. Me and Ryan were really disappointed.

Then, we asked if they were planning on dressing up for the Halloween show... Tony said he wasn't sure, as it was so last minute and they didn't have anything planned. He said that maybe the hat and the beard were enough. (He's kind of growing out a beard.) (LIKE.)

He asked us if we had seen the new Crash Kings shirt, one with their faces on it. Yes, we had seen it.

RYAN: I bought it last night!
TONY: Great! Now go do your signature thing to it!

UMMMMMMM yeah. Ryan takes Crash Kings shirts and makes them beautiful with beads. Like, beautiful. And the boys love it. Remember at the Mercury Lounge back in May when Ryan told Jason she was wearing a new shirt, and he pulls out his iPhone and uses the light to inspect it?? Yeah. That was awesome.

So, Tony knows that Ryan has a "signature thing." Awesome. So awesome.

Then I wish Tony a good night with his family, he (again graciously) thanks me. We say goodbyes, and again, all say we'd see each other tomorrow.

(I then imagine their parents talked about me all night.)

Ryan and I walked out of there AGAIN, like rockstars. It's like the feeling when you're out in public on your birthday and you're so excited that it's your birthday, but nobody else around you knows. Like, if you're in a store or something. You know? Does anyone else get this "I'm just a little bit cooler than you today" feeling? Anyone?

Well, it was LIKE THAT walking out of the theater. Like, all these normal people on the sidewalk have no idea that we were just hanging out with a totally amazing rockstar who may have turned into our friend.

Again, talking with Tony was super natural and easy. Also, he was standing to my right, and like, 6 inches away, because Anberlin had started to play and he needed to shout. In my face. That we were the best fans. I was fine with this.

We make our way to the car. Pay. $38 to the Sleepy Hollow Garage. Then, we realize that I have forgotten to print out directions from the garage back to Philadelphia. We could just retrace our tracks, but that would mean paying $8 for the Lincoln Tunnel again.

So, we turn on the GPS and wing it. It takes the GPS FOREVER to decide on the route and also get the signal. So, we just went straight for a while.

Amazingly enough, these post-show Crash Kings chats are getting more normal, therefore it is easier to focus on directions afterwards. Whereas, remember the time in New Jersey that we got TOTALLY lost because I couldn't focus on anything except Crash Kings??

Also, it's very hard to drive when 'You Got Me' is playing in the car.

ANYWAYS, we drive past The Magnolia Bakery which is very exciting to me. And we go through the Holland Tunnel - WHICH - is free. :) I had never been through that tunnel before. It's nice. It's long, like 2 miles. Crazy. And then we made our way back to Philadelphia. Actually, we got pretty lost in Philadelphia. It was weird, actually. It took us probably a half hour longer than it should have.

I think I mentioned that we got lost in the parking lot of the train station for like, 10 minutes. No, I'm actually not exaggerating. It was a very confusing parking lot and we couldn't figure out how to get out of it.

Finally - we made it back to Stephan's house. Took us a while to find a big-enough parking space, as the parking sitch in Philly is pretty ridic. Like, crazy hard to find street parking at night.

Fun night again. Hung around. Did internet things. Went to sleep early.

Woke up early. Well, at 11am. My 'Saving Grace' alarm tone went off, but I couldn't find my phone, because the cat had pushed it way under the couch. So, I had to get up, move the couch, and get the phone. Silly.

I showered and we got ready to leave. We wanted to make sure that we were there EARLY to get a good spot. And the drive to DC was a little further than the drive to NYC.

But, a pretty easy drive. We went though Delaware and Maryland. Both fine states.

Then we're in DC!!!! Now, I was NOT looking forward to driving in DC, because of what happened the last time I was there with Aliya. That link takes you to the whole blog post of our roadtrip from Florida to Western Massachusetts. The DC part is kind of in the middle. But the whole thing is pretty great, duh.

So, we find a great parking space right on the street like, 2 minutes away from the club.

AND THERE'S ALREADY A LINE.

I mean, OK, it's great that these Anberlin fans are so dedicated. Will this be me when Crash Kings turn into a super huge, famous band? Um, DUH. But, Ryan and I were talking about this, and we decided that we don't like Anberlin because we're used to such high-quality rock music, that anything less than Crash Kings is no good. It actually makes sense.

So, lots of people are dressed up in costume. Lookin' pretty crazy. I'm standing next to a person dressed as a wolf.

THEN, Civil Twilight comes out! For the third time this weekend.




Guy was like,

STEVEN: We're from South Africa so we don't have Halloween, but it seems like a really great holiday! You all look amazing. We actually sent out tech guy out to buy some costume-y things for us to wear tonight.... but he hasn't come back yet. Haha.

It was a funny story.






Part where he hands the bass over and does his own little thing. Tonight he chose to kneel.




Love that pic of the drummer.




Yep. Then, he took a sip of his water bottle, and then splashed it all over the audience. So, thanks guy, for getting water all over my face.

Tonight I was mainly bored with Civil Twilight. I think because it was hearing the same exact songs for the third time. Same show. And, it's pretty good music, but it's not really.... driving. Ya know? I think they sound A LOT like Coldplay.

So then, they start to set up things for Crash Kings.

AND THIS HAPPENS:


Craig and Jimmy come out wearing dresses and very elaborate eye make up. Craig in the lovely black and white pattern, while Jimmy chose a lovely peach colored number.

(That other guy just had a sign on his back that said, 'Jack the Rippa.' Um, lame.)




Also, please notice how high the slits on Jimmy's dress go. YEAH. yeah. YES. He looked goooood.




Setting up Jason's IHOP mat that he plays on.





Craig setting up the piano BY HIMSELF. Rocked it.

The kid next to me was like,

KID: What's going on here?
JULIE: That's a piano.

Then, when Craig set up the clavinet this kid was like,

KID: Don't tell me they're going to put that keyboard on top of the piano.... OH! Whoa. How many people are in this band?
JULIE: Three.
(then Craig soundchecked the clavinet)
KID: HOLY CRAP WHAT IS THAT THING? It sounds like a guitar!
JULIE: Um, it's a clavinet... it's basically a keyboard with guitars strings on the inside. This version that he has is modified with a whammy bar. There are only 12 in the entire world.
KID: (stares at me in awe.) (for serious.)

Then we randomly started talking about how many times these other people had seen Anberlin. One girl was like, "I've seen them twice!" So I was like,

JULIE: This is my 18th Crash Kings show!
KID: I'm sorry... what?
JULIE: This is my 18th Crash Kings show.
KID: Whoa. That takes some dedication.
GIRL NEXT TO KID: Crash Kings are so good. I'm really excited for them.
JULIE: They'll blow you away. They're amazing.


AND THEN - Jimmy came out and hung up a sign behind Jason's drum set:




They were not Crash Kings tonight - OH NO - they were Crash Queens. (ALSO - Evans! Brand of drum heads. BUT ALSO MY LAST NAME. On the Crash Queens sign. Basically means I'm soul mates with the whole band.)

If you DON'T know, there was a group of fans called Crash Queens started almost a year ago by Christina and (West Coast) Julie - super fans in California. Crash Kings know about this group, and kind of love it. Or, at least they pretend to love it. Christina made this awesome amazing bedazzled shirt for Crash Queens and the boys love it.

SO - the fact that they were "Crash Queens" on this night - was sooooo freaking perfect.

PLEASE ENJOY these next photos....




Dear Mike. He's seen here wearing a love bright red frock. He's got his chest stuffed with balloons or something. And, he's wearing a ridiculous bright red afro wig. Also he has the brightest red lipstick EVER. It's like, 'recital red.'




Oh Tony. The first show where we have a great view of his face, because his hair is pulled back into pigtails. He had on a lovely black dress with ruffles at the bottom. He was also wearing this sheer black sparkly long sleeved thing over the dress. He looked amazing.

And when they first announced, 'CRASH QUEENS,' he was totally strutting on stage holding a martini glass. He looked pretty classy. With his studded belt over his dress and black nailpolish - he was pretty fashion forward.




Jason, oh Jason. Pictures of him were a bit tricky, because he was behind the drums. He had on a trashy leopard print dress that had chains for straps. He also sported this disgusting mullet-wig. Add in his mustache and bright pink lipstick - he looked like a cheap hooker. GREAT. Ohhhh Jason looked so great.

They opened with '1985' and Tony could barely get through it because he was giggling so much. It was adorable.





NOTE: person dressed as a wolf next to me.




Tried to get a good shot of Tony's black nail polish. I was so happy he was wearing it. This photo turned out a lot sexier than I had intended. Yep, that skirt is above the knee.





Amazingly enough, it was still super sexy watching him on the clavinet.







And, he was wearing a lovely string of pearls, completing his ensemble.







During 'Raincoat,' he looked right at me while he sang the lyric, "I never thought I'd live my life without you." And it was happening and I was just thinking,

JULIE: OMG THIS IS NOT HAPPENING.

But it was. I wanted to shout back, "SAME TO YOU, BABY!" But I thought that'd be kind of a weird mood killer.

And then, as is usual, me and Ryan were the only ones to "hold out our hands" when Tony sings, "hold out your hands," and he saw us and said,

TONY: YEAHHH!! Everybody get 'em up!!

As he usually says when nobody but us does this. Everything just seemed better because he was wearing a sparkly dress and makeup at the time.








UM YES. Mike, please make that face all the time. He was totally hamming it up.




And Jason was just killing it. During 'War Pigs,' a drum stick FLEW out of his hands. He picked up another, missed like, one beat, and was RIGHT back on track. Ohhhh I love that man.




Nip slip. NIP SLIP. Yep, that happened. Tony even said,

TONY: Jason has a nipple out!





I love this picture of Tony. The skirt, the slightly puffy sleeves, the pigtails. THE LEGS.





MIKE. YES. MIKE. Yep, he made that face also. This picture half scares me, and half turns me on.




This was during 'War Pigs.' Tony was, of course, jumping whilst claving, which he normally does. Only tonight, he was wearing a dress. He had to hold his mic pack down to his butt while he was jumping. AND - Ryan got a video of this song. Which includes many upskirt shots of Tony. haha. Because, again, he was in drag.

You should really watch that video. It's a great performance. I'd say one of their best. I know this because I remember standing there, watching Tony playing the clav solo at the end (or, I should say, 'guitar solo,' I guess) and I couldn't barely rock out, because it was so mesmorizing. This happens quite frequently to me. It's like, you can't do anything else, because you have to watch him play.

Also, I'm finding I'm like a cat when watching him. Mainly on the clav. Like, my head just moves in the direction he's moving. Like, I'll lean back, head up, head down. It's very sexual.




Also, the hair came down for full rocking potential.




Aaanndddd..... I love that last picture. Click on it to make it bigger, and you'll see a better shot of the tattooed hand on Tony's heart. I mean, wait. No, the tattooed heart on Tony's hand. Haha. If he had anyone's hand tattooed on his heart - IT WOULD BE MINE.

The whole experience was amazing. What a GREAT SHOW to end the weekend. They killed it. The whole thing. Everything. Best band ever invented.

SO. Tony had said they'd be around back for pictures and to say hello. So, after grabbing some water from the bar - PITCHERS OF WATER - YES. Smart, smart thing, we headed back to wait. First we waited in this tiny hallway that led to the merch, but then heard someone say that Crash Kings were on the other side, taking pictures.

So, we followed this kid and hung around, watching them take pictures with people. Mike and Jason were TOTALLY hamming it up for everyone. It was great. They're super funny. Especially Jason.

Finally, there was a lull, and me and Ryan walked over. Seriously - they're faces LIT UP when they saw us. Tony and I immediately hugged each other, and Ryan and Jason immediately hugged.

(feel free to go back and read that line again.... 'Tony and I immediately hugged each other.')

AND IT WAS THE BEST TONY HUG I'VE EVER GOTTEN. Usually, Jason gives the best hugs. Mike never wants to hug anyone and Tony always is like, a one arm hug, or just not very into it either.

NOT TONIGHT. Nope, I got a great, two arm, wrap around, nice and tight, Tony Hug. It was great. Then we stood around telling them how great they looked.

JULIE: (to Tony) I love your pearls!
TONY: (makes 'why thank you, I know' face)
JULIE: (touching Tony's arm) Very classy...

Um, then we just had a dance party with them. Ya know, like you do. No, but seriously - they just wanted to dance with us. ESPECIALLY Jason, who was the King of air drumming and air punching. It was awesome.

Anberlin had just started playing, and we were standing in a circle, dancing together. Like you do at school dances, or something. It was, Me, to my right was Tony, then Mike, Jason, and Ryan. GREAT. YEP. SO GREAT. We danced and jumped and air drummed together. Most fun time ever.



Ryan snapped this photo gem of Jason. Yes, that's what he looked like. It was amazing.

Then, they actually turned to watch Anberlin for a sec, so me and Ryan did too. Anberlin like, wasn't really dressed up. It looked like some of them were wearing bags over their heads. Like, to maybe look creepy. After a few seconds, Tony turned around to us with an unimpressed face and yelled,

TONY: Um, we totally won the costume contest! I mean, look at us. I'M HOTT. I look hott!

Me and Ryan assured Tony that there was really never any contest, and YES, he looked hott.

Then, the bartender gave the guys each a plastic cup with a shot of something in it. Tony again, turned to us and half smiled, half made a "omg look how much alcohol is in this cup right now" face.

AND I am like, freaking out, because of all those dreams I have where I'm doing tequila shots with Tony. Well, not "all" those dreams. But, there's been two. And that's kind of weird. So, here is Tony, doing a shot right in front of me. It rocked.

Then, Tony screamed,

TONY: Actually, we were pretty drunk on stage... hope it wasn't too obvious!
ME AND RYAN: Nooo! Not at all!
TONY: Ok, good! (we all laugh)

Ohhh drunk Tony wearing a dress.

THEN. Tony gestures to my hott-pink dyed Crash Kings shirt and says,

TONY: I love this, by the way.

I take that to mean, he was staring at it all night. This was the same shirt he remarked on in Burlington, VT in August as being awesome and said he wanted to do a line of them.

Then, he moved back a little, but continued to talk to me, and I couldn't hear anything, so I moved up real close to him...

JULIE: What??
TONY: Did you see we've got a new version of this shirt? It's in black now!

Yep. He screamed all that into my ear as I was standing very close to him. Like, I don't know, 2 inches away.

Then, Tony said that he needed to go change out of these clothes. Ryan told him we were driving back to Boston tonight, and he suddenly became very serious, very sweet, and pleaded with us to have a safe trip. He loves us like that. He's always very concerned about our traveling.

Then we said goodbyes. He thanked us again and again for coming. We thanked them for being awesome. And then he was off!

In the lobby however, as we were headed out the door, we met up with Jason, who gave one of the best hugs EVER. Not just Jason Hugs, but EVER hugs. He's one of the most sincere people ever. Even when he's dressed as a trashy hooker.

Then, in our triumphant post-Crash Kings show chats, we headed out.

What an amazing weekend.

I think we had the "real life" discussion in the car that night. Like, "holy crap I can't believe this all happened in real life." It wasn't dream life, or fake life. REAL LIFE. We hung out with Tony all weekend. It was for sure the most Tony time I've ever gotten. So good.

So then we drove from Washington, DC to Boston, MA. It was a fine drive. We went over the George Washington Bridge around 12:20am, and dropped Ryan off at her house just after 3:30am. Great time.

Then, I was feeling pretty awesome, so I continued to MAINE!! Yep. Drove to Maine. Arrived home around 5:30am. Just in time to spend some time with my mom before she went to work. So great. I still couldn't sleep. Too excited. I looked at all my pictures, watched some videos, sat in amazement that earlier in the night we were in DC, dancing with Crash Kings.

It was awesome. I can't even say anything else, because there are no words.

What great guys. Great musicians. Great music. Ohhhhhhh it was so good.

Can't wait for the next Crash Kings Adventure Weekend. CAN'T WAIT.

AAAHHHHH SUCH A GREAT BAND.


SO. That was my weekend. How was your weekend? I hope everyone experienced the same type of excitement, only probably it took a different form. It was Halloween! Did you dress up? Trick or Treat? Go to a party? Carve a pumpkin? Tell me about it! Sometimes I forget that there are other people in the world besides me and Crash Kings, so I'd love to hear all your stories.

Monday, I slept from about 7am to 12:30pm. I woke up wide awake and still so freaking excited. So, I got up. Nobody was home. So, I hung around by myself. I was like, "um, where are all the rock stars??" They weren't there.

In all my rocking this weekend, I had ripped my jeans. And I don't own many pairs of jeans. And now this one had a rip. So, I got my act together and went to the mall to buy two new pairs.

I've never come off a Crash Kings Adventure Weekend with any physical damage (unless you count the fact my car died after the first one...), until now! I woke up with:

1. 3 scratches on my left hand
2. heart shaped bruise on my right arm
3. rip in my jeans

HARDCORE. I assume the heart shaped bruise is from wrapping my arms around Tony too much. Or, too tightly. His heart on his hand rubbed off onto my arm. I like that one.

Kara thought I should go to a tattoo parlor and get a tattoo of the bruise. Ha.

So, I bought some new jeans. Hung out with Kara at work. Saw Meg! Who was working that night! We gave each other big, big hugs, as I hadn't seen her in a LONG TIME. Much too long.

The rest of the night was spent hanging out with Kara and my mom. It was great. I was still really amped from the weekend. All the Crash Kings tough love.

AND NOW, I'm back at work. In Lebanon. Ruby Tuesday was sooooo happy to see me. She hasn't gotten off my lap once since I've been back. Except when she was on the floor eating crackers.

AND, something amazing just happened. I got a text message saying that River City Extension had a Twitter update! They were announcing a show in Boston with Dashboard Confessional!!! So, I immediately went to Twitter to read the whole update. They're at THE PARADISE!!!! How great is that?!?! I super freaked out for a minute.

THEN, I got a text message saying I had a Facebook update. So, I went to my Facebook page and JOE, the lead singer of River City Extension had posted a link on my wall about the show! He just wanted to let me know personally, ya know.

HOW GREAT? So great. Musicians love me. It's true. Awww, that made me really happy. That Joe posted on my wall. :) He's so great. Like, for real.

We listened to River City Extension A LOT while driving through New Jersey, because we were in NJ a lot. We also listened to them while not in NJ, but it wasn't the same effect.

That car ride from DC to MA was really fun. Me and Ryan had some good times. As always, really.


OK. So, this was a pretty epic update, no? YES! I'm really excited that I get to share all this with you. I'm still super excited about it all. And I still have a slight touch of that, "I'm just a little bit cooler than you" feeling. Because, nobody around me knows that I was hanging out with Crash Kings this weekend. But I know. And that's pretty freaking cool.

So, I'll talk to you all later, dear friends. I've got some pretty big things happening in the next couple weeks. With moving and all.

Have a great evening! I have to go out to the grocery store, because I have nothing to eat here. For serious, actually. It's like, I don't have enough of anything to make a complete meal.

We'll talk again later :) Love you all.


♡♡♡,
Julie


Also, I feel like I should mention this real quick... So, after all my semi-hating on Civil Twilight... I woke up Monday morning with one of their songs stuck in my head. And then I missed them. And so I downloaded four of the songs they played:

- Next to Me
- Soldier
- Trouble
- Letters from the Sky

and I like them all a lot. When he was singing 'Trouble' live, I couldn't figure out what he was saying, but it sounded like, "everybody's got a sunburn." This confused me. However, in listening to the song, it's quite clear that he says, "everybody's got a trouble." Makes more sense.

So, Civil Twilight, maybe not that bad after all. I appreciate them more now that they're not rubbing up against me and splashing water in my face. :)


OK! CONTINUE HAVING A GREAT DAY!!!!

NEW YORK CITY, HELLO!!

Um, yeah, tonight happened. WOW. Tonight happened.

1. We had no problems getting into Manhattan. I kind of rule driving in New York City.
2. I SAW JOE. Joe who I lived with at Hampshire! And who I went to Ireland with! We sat in Union Square tonight for like, 2 hours and caught up with each others lives. SOFREAKINGGREAT. #imissmyfriends

3. CRASH KINGS. Crash. freaking. Kings. Um, they ruled the night. Jason has been KILLING on the drums these past two nights. Tonight, Tony and Mike's parents and one of their cousins and her husband was there. And this got me really excited, because we all know how much their parents love me. Aanndd - they still do. I went up to them after the show and they were happy to see me. Their mom told the cousin about how we all met in Portsmouth and talked for a while after the show. With my mom.

And then Tony came over and was SO HAPPY to see his parents. It was kind of the most adorable thing happening in the world at that moment. And then he saw us and smiled and said,

TONY: Look, I saw you guys last night, I NEVER get to see these guys...... NO - I'M TOTALLY KIDDING!!! You guys are the BEST!! We love you! You guys are the best Crash Kings fans ever!

And then he totally gushed about us for a minute or two. All while screaming in our faces, because Anberlin had already started to play, so it was loud. He was like, half a foot away from me, screaming in my face that I was the best. UUUMMMMMMM YEAH.

We didn't want to keep him very long though, because his parents and cousin that he hadn't seen in 5 years (and who had gotten married in that time, because Tony was just meeting her husband) were there, so we kept it short, being the awesome, nice people that we are.

But he said he would see us tomorrow in DC and that he wasn't sure if they would dress up, because it was last minute, "like everything we do," I think he said.

UM, did I mention that he was screaming in my face that I was the best? Because yeah, he was. Um, yeah.

AAANNNNDDDDD now I'm exhausted. I feel like we've driven the whole length of New Jersey like, three times in two days. Oh wait, we kind of have. Almost the length.


THINGS I STILL WANT ON THIS TRIP:

1. Mike hug

OR:

1. Some interaction with Mike

So far, he's been MIA from the post-show hangouts. Maybe he knows it will take too much effort to resist our amazing charm. I guess that makes sense. There's still DC, which is where we will be tomorrow.

Um, I'm going to Washington, DC today! I think that's pretty cool. I like DC. Although we won't be spending much time there, we will be spending our time the best way possible and THAT is at a Crash Kings show.

OK. I'm exhausted now from getting lost in Philadelphia tonight while 'You Got Me' was playing. We blame the raunchy, sweaty song because it's very hard to focus on directions when it's playing. Seriously, we got lost in the train station parking lot for like, 10 minutes.

And also: The parking situation in Philadelphia needs to be amended in some way.

Anyways - I'm going to bed now. Tomorrow night we're driving home after the DC show, so I probs won't be blogging until..... Monday or Tuesday. Monday night I'm off, but spending it in Maine. #excited

I've been using hashtags a lot in my real life which I'm kind of worried about.

Anyways, I'll talk to you all later. Have a lovely Halloween! Be safe! Check your candy! Don't eat any razors. Have fun :)

Love you guys.


::really::good::night::

PHILADELPHIA, HELLO!

I'm in Philadelphia right now. (here's where I would say the city's nickname if I knew it. Like, "the windy city." or, "the big apple." I don't Philadelphia's.)

So far - I like it here. I'm staying in this super nice apartment with Ryan's best friend, Stephan. He's got a black cat that is sometimes named Benjamin, sometimes named Kitty. We've been listening to great music, such as the remastered Beatles tracks, which will kind of blow your mind. Like, for real, guys.


UMMMMM......OH YEAH. WE SAW CRASH KINGS TONIGHT. For the first time in ALMOST 3 months. Which is the longest it's ever been. And folks, you don't know how GOOD it felt to be out there, rocking, tonight. Like, standing in a huge, sweaty crowd elbow to elbow with strangers, singing at the top of my lungs and watching our boys in amazement.

This was my Sweet 16th show. If I had planned it better, I probably could have gotten MTV to cover it. This band still amazes me in their ability to MESMERIZE YOU. It's an incredible feeling, being at one of their shows.

After they played, we headed towards the back waiting to chat with them. We waited a while.

Finally, Tony walked by, saw us, smiled kind of big and said,

TONY: Heeyyy! I'll be right back, I got to go say hi to some people...

And me and Ryan were like,

ME AND RYAN: UMMM OKAY.

He said he was coming back. Night was already made.

Then he comes back a little while later. I had decided during this waiting period that I wanted a Tony Hug tonight. After all, it was my Sweet 16th show. So he comes back, I outstretch my arms and go in for the hug. Mmmm.

AND THEN HE PROCEEDED TO HANG OUT WITH US FOR LIKE, 15 MINUTES.

Um, he loves us. It was super fun. And, he played air piano, which is the greatest thing EVER to watch Tony do. Ryan and Tony were talking about 'My Love' and the chords in the... pre-chorus? The last chord in the pre-chorus, I think. And he was trying to figure out what it was, so obviously he needed to play air piano to do that.

Yeah, it was a great hangout sesh with Tony. And then Jason came over, gave us hugs and hung out too. They're SO GREAT. And like, they seemed SERIOUSLY happy to see us.

OMG I kind of can't believe that happened. Like, I can't believe how much of my life this past year has been spent hanging out with Crash Kings.

Tony asked us if we were coming to any of the other shows, and we told him we'd see him in NYC and in DC and seriously, his face lit up. Him and Jason were so happy. :) They love us.

Um, duh, how could they not love us - WE ROCK. And we felt like total rockstars walking out of that place. Jason actually gave us goodbye hugs too. Yeahhhh.

GREAT SHOW. Tony said that today (saturday) he was going to pick up this keyboard he bought on eBay that was used in the playing of a Radiohead song. He was super excited about it and totally geeked out telling us about it. He's so great. Like, for real.

OKAY. I have to go to bed. We have to move my car at 10am and then I think we're going to brunch. Ya know, brunch in Philadelphia.

And then head North to NYC where...... I'M MEETING UP WITH JOE!!!!!! Joe who I used to live with!!!!!! Joe who I haven't seen since..... Dublin? Seriously? No, that can't be right. I haven't seen Joe since we parted ways in the Dublin airport?? OMG. So, that should be super fun.

AND THEN MORE CRASH KINGS.

I'll do a full update when I get back home because Thursday was just THE BEST DAY. I had the absolute best time with Emily and David it was INSANE. I just love them. LOVE. THEM.

OK. Hope everyone is having a great weekend! A safe but exciting Halloween! I'll probably update again after tomorrow's show. Hopefully.


OHHHHH THIS WEEKEND IS SO GREAT.



(I'm just really happy.) ♥♥

♥♥♥

I have this weird talent, I guess...

... Where I can remember random things. That's not describing it right. But like, I remember weird things, and then if I see them again, I'll remember it. Or, I notice weird things.

This is not making sense.

Remember when I saw the feather necklace on Kate Winslet and noticed it again on Bar Rafaeli? Remember when I noticed that Nick Jonas was wearing the same shirt that Tony of Crash Kings was wearing when I saw them in NYC? And then the other time where The Situation and Vinny, of Jersey Shore, were also wearing the same shirt as Tony when I saw CK in Providence? Remember? Or when Steve Martin in Baby Mama was wearing the same shirt as Stellan Skarsgard in Mamma Mia?

I guess it usually involves clothing.

I don't know how I can pick these things out. It's probably because all this useless information is crowding up my brain so no useful, important information can get in.

THIS TIME - it's pretty exciting. Haha. If you can call any of this exciting. Yes, it's exciting.

REMEMBER a few months ago when I was obsessed with turning a closet into an office after I read this article??? Seriously - read that article. It will blow your mind. I think about that article a lot. Because I want to do it so badly but have no closet!!!

Anyways, here's a screencap from the article. If THIS doesn't intrigue you - then, I don't know what's wrong with you.





AMAZING OMG!!!!! It's a CLOSET, that with a few simple steps, was turned into an OFFICE. Also, I want EVERYTHING in my life to be that color. ALSO, those file cabinets are spray painted with metal spray paint. This blew my mind. I HAVE to remember that metal spray paint exists. Not that I have many metal things I want to spray paint. But usually important things like file cabinets, come in such boring colors. Who wants boring?! NOT ME! I want TEAL. (Actually, that color is called 'Catalina Mist.')

So - I can't tell you how many times I read this article. And I showed it to everybody that came near me and a computer. Seriously.

(YOU JUST CLOSE THE DOORS, AND THE OFFICE GOES AWAY! AND IT LOOKS LIKE A REGULAR CLOSET!! BUT IT'S NOTTTTTT!!!!! IT'S AN OFFICE ON THE INSIDE!!!!!)

That article is like the ultimate brillz.

Something I am also obsessed with: GLEE. Yep. GLEE. Love it. Love the showtunes. I frequently wish I was on Glee. Either that, or that my life was a musical. I don't know which is less-likely.

So, I was watching it a few weeks ago (It might have been the Britney Spears episode) and they took us into Brittany's bedroom. Brittany the character on Glee. Brittany S. Pierce. AND LO AND BEHOLD..... someone in the set decoration crew must have also been obsessed with that article!!!!!




WALLPAPER!!!! It's the same wallpaper they use in the closet/office!!!! I saw this and immediately was like, "OMG. TURN YOUR CLOSET INTO AN OFFICE YESSSSSSSSS."

Isn't that great?! I was really excited. Enough so, that I watched an "inside look" into Brittany's bedroom on Youtube to see more of the wallpaper in all it's glory. Loooovvveeeee it.

Also, that poster to Brittany's right is of the movie, 'Charlie St. Cloud,' starring Mr. Zac Efron. NICE. I never saw it, but Zac Efron is a total dreamboat.

This is great, right? This is a great one. I don't know what to call these things that I notice. Besides weird and random. And, generally useless, but definitely entertaining.

GENERALLY USELESS, BUT DEFINITELY ENTERTAINING.

New blog title? Haha.

Obviously I'm kidding, because this blog is totes useful. To the max. I use it a lot when I'm trying to remember something that happened a while ago. I'll just look up around the time when it happened, and then read what I posted. Because generally, as I'm sure you've noticed, I reveal everything. Reveal everything, sensor nothing. I like it.

Ok. This is all the exciting stuff. The rest is semi-boring.

I worked from 9pm on Monday until 9am on Wednesday! Straight through!! It was awesome. No, that's a lie. I was very happy when it was over. And then I got a phone call around noontime from my boss asking if I could work again 3:30 until I leave tomorrow. And I said, "sorry, but no." I know I have all this time off coming up, but I couldn't do any more. I needed to leave the house. And also spend time with Ruby Tuesday, since I'll be gone for 5 days. :( She's going to be sad.

And last night (Tuesday) I was so freaking tired that I went to bed at - wait for it - 11PM. ELEVEN O'CLOCK AT NIGHT. I had it all planned out. I fell asleep by like, 11:15. I haven't fallen asleep that quickly in a while. I actually thought it took me longer, but I got a text message at 11:29pm and didn't get it until 4am when I woke up. So I thought, "wow, I must have been REALLY asleep when I got this."

And then I was awake from 4am to about 5am. And then slept until my alarm went off at 7:30am! I actually slept THROUGH THE NIGHT. I couldn't believe it. Night time sleeping. It felt really good, actually.

Then I worked from 8-9am. Then came upstairs and to celebrate my non-work status..... I took a nap! haha. Yep. From 10-12. It was great.

Then kind of hung around. Did some errands. Got a coffee. Came home. Watched Rocky Horror Glee, which was awesome. Sorted some laundry that I have to do tonight. Ugh. Then took a bath. And now I'm updating! Great day!

My neck has been hurting, which is weird. The left side of my neck. Like, back, left side. And then last night I got this bad headache on the left side of my head, like behind my eye. And no medicine was helping it. So, I figured when I woke up today it would be gone. But it wasn't! It was still there!! So I was like, "this headache better be gone when I wake up from my celebratory nap." And it was!

But my neck still hurts. Lame, I say. LAME! Today I also thought I smelled gas in my house. Like, you know how sometimes I get worried that my house will explode because I can randomly smell gas? Yeah, one of those times. It was only for like, 5 minutes.

So, because of this headache, neck ache and phantom smell issue - I'm self-diagnosing myself with a brain ailment.

Anyways! What's with this heat?! Right?!? It's so hott outside! And last week it was freezing! I hate it! It's horrible! It's supposed to be COOLER at the end of October. I turned off my heat yesterday and opened a window! And took a blanket off my bed. AND - had to switch into a lighter pajama option during the night because I was too hott in my flannel pants! True story! THAT'S how hott it is up here. Curse of the 3rd floor attic apartment, I tell ya.

Alright. I think that's all. For now.

ARE YOU READY FOR SUPER TOTALLY EXCITING UPDATES OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS?!?!?! Because....

CRASH KINGS ADVENTURE (almost) BEGIN!!!!!!! But it's great because the adventure starts out with an EMILY AND DAVID ADVENTURE!!!!!!! Sooooooo excited to see them :)

Holy crap I'm so excited for this weekend. The last time I saw Crash Kings was AUGUST! The beginning of August! Soooo lonngg aaggoooooo.

I'm gonna take so many pictures. Oh, which reminds me I need to charge my camera battery. Don't let me forget to do that.

So, hopefully I'll have some downtime at night to update. I usually do, since I'm always too excited to sleep. Mike! Tony! Jason! Back in the blog - coming soon! I bet you can't wait to see their shining faces. (I know I can't.)

OK. Here's my plan for tonight: laundry. Jersey Shore season finale. Pack. Be in bed by 1am. Sleep until 10am. Get up. BE PRODUCTIVE. Go to the post office. ATM. Other last minute things like, packing. Which realistically, I probably won't do tonight.

Hopefully leave here mid-afternoon-ish. Like...2? I don't know, really.

Also - thank you everybody for all the nice words on my last entry :) You all make me so happy, it's crazy. Both blogger readers and Facebook readers. Local readers and overseas readers. I consider us all BFF. :)

Alright! I THINK that's all.

OH WAIT. NO. ONE MORE THING. Um, what's this about Taylor Swift and JAKE GYLLENHALL?!?!? Geeze. I can't believe it! Brunching together? Holding hands together? Going to SNL tapings together??? WHAT?!

Alright. NOW, that's it. I hope everyone has a green end to their week! Actually, I meant to write 'great,' but 'green' works too! Let's work together to save the environment! Carpool! Take the bus! Recycle! Plant a tree! Give someone a hug!!!

I don't know that hugs can save the environment, but it never hurts to try.

Ok! Take care, be well.

lovelove!

'please forgive me, i want to go home.'

So, for the record, I've been at my job like, exactly two years. TODAY. TWO YEARS. I first came on a Tuesday for staff meeting. And it was the Tuesday before Halloween. Which is today.

And I looked super cute that day, and I also look super cute today. Not intentional, but still worth mentioning. I had a bit of a time getting my hair right this morning, but eventually in the last minute, it all came together.

And not only do I have a super cute outfit - but I have nail stickers on my teal nails. YEP. A white flower, a pink flower, a silver heart and a lime green star. I know, you're totally jealous.

Anyways, back to the job. I've been here two years. Wow. That seems kind of crazy. Almost every night. Almost every day. HERE. Upstairs in my apartment, by 10pm. Some nights 9pm. And sometimes like right now, where I'm working for 36 hours straight. 9pm on Monday until 9:30am on Wednesday.

In other work news:

After being here for two years, I have decided that it's time for me to move on. Onto what? Good question! If you have any suggestions, please send them my way. So, yes, I will be leaving Hannah House. My last day is 11 November. I gave my notice back in the beginning of October, but until everyone here was properly informed, I did not want to talk about it in the blog.

I'm really excited and also relieved that I'm leaving here. These last few months have been a challenge to keep focused, motivated and engaged, and I had really been struggling to hold on a bit longer, a little bit longer, just a little bit longer.... until I simply decided that I really wasn't happy and needed to get happy.

NOW. As for the plan post-HH. Hey, good question! The immediate plan after is to move back to Maine and live with my mom and Kara for a while. I'm okay with this. I'm excited about this. At some point in the future, Kara wants to go back to school in Providence, and I will move down with here. This point seems to be moving further and further away... which was not the case when I made my decision to leave.... but I'm okay with that.

What I'm focused on right now is making the best out of the last 2.5 weeks I have here. I will miss my coworkers. In any of my future jobs, whatever they may be, I don't ever expect to find such nice, warm, incredible people to work with. I'm so thankful to have worked with them.

So. That's what's been going on. Immediately after telling my boss that I would be leaving, it was this huge relief. Like, this giant weight had been lifted. I felt so much better. Which made me realize that it was the right decision.

AND. I've been feeling a lot like I need to somehow justify this decision so people won't judge me for leaving my job during a job/economic crisis. Maybe it seems crazy. It probably is. And, if I lived somewhere else then where I worked, it would be a totally different story. But I can't live here and work here anymore, and although I feel that nobody really gets that unless you've lived here too, I still feel like I don't want to justify it.

And it's days like today where I can't wait to leave, haha. Yeahhhh, the day started off super quiet then gradually got louder and louder until now it just seems like constant screaming.

And I'm super tired. I wasn't very tired when I went to bed, but I took some Tylenol PM, which has Benedryl in it to make you sleepy. But - did it work? Ummm, IDK. It still took me like, almost an hour and a half to get to sleep. Fell asleep around 1:30ish, woke up at 6:20am to feed Ruby, went back to sleep for like, 5 minutes and then woke up at like, 7am for work. YUCK.

TONIGHT, I'll go to bed early and then TOMORROW I'm working again at 8am. Only until 9-9:30am. BUT - I'm gonna try and stay awake the whole day so that I can get stuff done and then go to bed early again tomorrow night so I can get up early on THURSDAY so I can get to Boston to have as much hang out time in the afternoon with Emily and David as possible.

And then Friday starts the big adventure. BIG ADVENTURE. And wanna know what my horoscope said for today? You do?! It said this:

"Set some time aside today for planning your next big adventure. Be extravagant."

YEP! Basically in Julie language that says,

"OMG have a super fun time on your awesome Crash Kings roadtrip weekend! You deserve this!!!"

And then, another horoscope for today said:

"More often than not, emotional situations don't work out the way they should -- like they do in the movies, that is -- but now, thanks to something that happened recently under highly unusual circumstances, a magical ending could actually be on the agenda. Do your part. Dreams do come true."

DREAMS. DO. COME. TRUE. Either that's referring to the Disney World vaca I'm planning, or something else AWESOME is going to happen.

Ohhhh man, I'm so tired.

Anyways, I really wanted this post to be about my job and the transition that's going to be happening in my life. So, I'll be back in Maine for a while... if ANY OF YOU ARE THERE, make sure you hit me up so we can hang. Yep, I just said that.

SOOOOoooo, I hope everyone is having a great day. And also a great week. Keep me updated on your lives, as I am always interested.

I'm only working like, 19 more hours. COUNTDOWN BEGINS!!!

Ok, take care. Be well, dear readers.


LOVE!
Julie

READERS IN NEW JERSEY:::

I know this great band and THEY NEED YOUR HELP!!!

If you - or anyone you know - will be in New Jersey SUNDAY, 24 OCTOBER 2010, please help support RIVER CITY EXTENSION! They are having a garage sale to raise money for van repairs!

This is important stuff, folks. They need their van so they can travel to shows! So they can rock the country!! Perhaps they'll be coming to a city near you?!

I'm sure you've heard me speak very highly of this band and all the people in it. Not only are they great musicians, but they are great people. Please support.


WHO: River City Extension
WHAT: Garage sale to raise money for van repairs
WHERE: 526 Batchelor St, Toms River, NJ
WHY: Duh, because they rock

love them :)

"And this is the rooster shaped umbrella holder that will hold all of George's umbrellas!"

We watched '27 Dresses' today at work and THAT IS MY FAVORITE LINE. When they're in the bridal registry registering Jane's sister for stuff, and Kevin says that about the rooster umbrella holder. MAN, we were laughing it up today. HA. Good movie. I've seen it like, probably 75 times.

Also today at work, I was looking through an American Girl Doll catalog and saw this:::




UMMM..... Julie Albright. "Julie doesn't want to move away to a new neighborhood, but with optimism and creativity, she learns to make it a positive change." Sounds like something I would do!!

And as I'm looking at the pictures of the Julie doll I'm like, "ummmm why don't I wear my hair like that ever?!!?!" The braid down one side? Super cute!! And, I'm also totally jealous of some of her outfits.

Basically, since we're both named Julie, I would assume that we would be as cool as each other. But no - she totally out ranks me. And, quite frankly, I'm a little jealous.

Yep, that's right. I'm jealous of the American Girl Doll with the same name as me.

Also, I think I want to work for American Girl as a catalog designer. Like, set up all the scenes with the dolls and accessories and outfits and different poses. I think it sounds fun. Either fun, or totally creepy.

Annddd... I kind of feel crazy after this entry. But - maybe you're used to it.

OK. I'm just gonna end this before things get out of hand.

TALK TO YOU LATER!!!!!

have a great, exciting night. anything you do will be more exciting than what i'm doing. which is nothing except being lame.

love!

love!

love!


Julie

welcome to the rollercoaster ride

SO!! I know technically it's Saturday, seeing as it's after midnight - buuttttt seeing as Friday was such an important day, let's pretend it's still Friday.

What's so exciting about Friday, you ask? Well, let me tell you...

It's Zac Hanson's birthday, duhh!!!!!! He turned 25 today! How could you forget?? This is a birthday I have been celebrating for like, 12 years.

Zac Hanson, of course of the popular brother band, Hanson. Love them :) And tonight, I watched a live stream of Taylor smashing a birthday cake in Zac's face. That's right - LIVE STREAM. I couldn't miss any minute of the action. It was worth it.

This is only the second time I've tuned into a Hanson live stream. The first was a few weeks ago when there were rumors that the band was breaking up. And they were going to address the rumors in a live stream.

RESULT? Um, FALSE, duh! Hanson is still going strong. It was worth staying up until like, 3:30am with a horrible cold. I wouldn't have been able to sleep otherwise.


I'm fairly certain that all I've done so far with this entry is embarrass myself. So, let's move on.


So, I've been having a hard time sleeping. Allll day Thursday I was tired, because I didn't get to sleep until like, after 5am the previous night. So, I was super excited to get into bed. And even more excited that I was all ready to go to bed at like, 12:45am. SUPER early.

So, I get into bed. Get comfy. And I try to go to sleep for like, 2 hours. It just wasn't happening.

I got up. I read that something good to eat when you're trying to fall asleep is french bread! Which I had! I also had tomatoes all mixed together with herbs, so I made bruschetta! YUMMM. One of my faves. And I drank some chamomile tea, also good for sleeping.

And, I had been wanting to watch the movie 'Lords of Dogtown,' so I put that in. Technology is not good when you're trying to sleep. But hey, Emile Hirsch and Heath Ledger. Also, I really like that movie. A lot more than I ever thought I would. I just really wish I could skateboard like that! Or, at all. It just looks like so much fun! Even when I pass the skate park here, I always slow down and watch the kids. Yeah, like a creep, but whatevs.

Anyways, while the movie was playing, I sorted through this huge bag of loose change that I've had since college. And I counted all of it. I had like, $45. Seriously!!! Nice, right? See - all you people who think I don't know what it means to save money - I do know!!! I just would rather spend my money on Crash Kings concerts. (WHICH IS HAPPENING NEXT WEEK OMG.)

So finally, around 5am, I thought I would be tired enough to go to sleep. And I was. And I slept from 5am until 11am! That almost never happens. And then from 11:45am to 2pm.

Also, I was nervous last night because Ruby Tuesday kept going crazy around the house and she kept running in to the bathroom to look at something. Or, play with something. And I kept thinking, "OMG THERE'S ANOTHER BAT IN THE HOUSE." Because remember the last bat came in the week before the Crash Kings shows in August? And I was like, "if this bat gives me rabies and I can't go see Crash Kings - I'm gonna be so mad."

And I started thinking the same things last night! Like, "why do these bats want to keep me away from Crash Kings?!?!" Maybe they're being sent by my mother and my sister.

But, there was no bat. And I was happy about that. Also I mean, it's around Halloween. That's like prime bat season.

The rest of today was spent dyeing my hair. I needed to re-bleach the teal streaks because my roots were pretty bad. And I bought this cheaper version of SUPER BLONDE called BORN BLONDE. It was a dollar cheaper, AND - I think it worked better. My hair was streaked with bleach blonde. Ooooo I really liked it. I thought about just blondeing my whole head. But, then decided no.

So, my hair is now re-tealed. And it looks hotttttt.

Tomorrow, the plan is working. Lame. It should be super quiet. I mean, that's what I'm anticipating. It could really change on a dime. Is that the right expression? Change on a dime? Or is it, 'drop of a dime?' Or is that, 'drop of a hat?' No, I think it's 'change on a dime.' Maybe not. Whatevs.

I turned on my heat today. Yep... I gave in. I thought I was gonna have to last night, but I resisted. Today was the day. It was pretty freezing in here, even in a sweatshirt and fleece socks. And so the whole day it smelled like gas in here. Gross. It's pretty much gone now. Or, maybe I'm getting so intoxicated by it, I'm just getting used to it. Ohhhh I hate that heater. It makes me so nervous.

The heat in this apartment, for those of you who don't know, is basically like a fire place. It's one big unit of fire in the kitchen and the heat just travels through the rooms. No baseboards or whatever. Yep. I'm living like a pioneer. In the old country.

I might take my hot water bottle to bed with me tonight.

Hmmm. What else was I going to talk about? I feel like I had a list.

So! I can't wait for next weekend. It's going to be awesome. Starting on Thursday! I'm meeting up with Emily and David for dinner!!! Yaayyyyy!! I guess I'll just take the T into Central Square like I did the last time I saw them! So funn!!

And I'll stay at Ryan's house Thursday night. Friday afternoon we'll leave for Philadelphia! Show Friday night. Stay in Philadelphia Friday night. Leave Saturday for NYC! Show at Irving Plaza Saturday night! Then, we're driving back to Philadelphia to stay with Ryan's friend (who we're staying with Friday night too). Sunday, we have to get up early to get to Washington, DC!! Doors are at 4:30pm. Apparently it's an early show.... ??? Strange. But good! Because we're driving from DC to Boston after, so it'll be good to get a semi-early store. I mean, start. Early stores are good though, too. Then I'll sleep for a bit at Ryan's house, probs, and then I think spend Monday night in Maine, since Kara has Mondays off. YESSSSS.

I feel this trip will be epic. It reminds me of the first trip Ryan and I took together, to Albany, then to NJ, then to Boston. And I'm excited to spend time in Philadelphia. Even if it's just sleeping time and eating time.

Okkkk. I think I'm gonna make some tea and watch Grey's Anatomy from last night.

Everyone have a great week??? Tell me about it!!!!! Tell me about your awesome plans for this weekend!!!!! I really want to hear about them.

Ok, great. Take care! Have a great night :)


love,
J.

lay your halo down

I KNOW, I KNOW. I go and promise that I'm going to update more, and then I don't update for like, a year. I'm sorry.

I think it is simply because my life is not exciting. Yes, some exciting things happen. But overall - I'm fairly dull.

Here's what I did today:

- watched the live 30 Rock west coast show. (I had already seen the East Coast, but can't get enough of Tina Fey.

- went to the post office

- went to Wal-Mart. I bought a Miley Cyrus red plaid tunic for $3. NICE. Ohhhh I'm way more excited than I should be. I also bought something else.... Oh! A belt.

- went to K-Mart because I had seen a scarf online that I liked. I "checked my store" and saw that it was available there. Simple white, cable-knit scarf. 30% off. $6.99.

- went to JoAnn Fabrics to buy some orange dye to dye the white scarf. I also bought some teal dye to dye a white tank top that I just bought from OldNavy.com. At first I was going to dye it navy blue, but at the last minute, the teal power took over and I had a change of heart. Turns out when I got to the register the dye was on sale!!!! I was excited about this.

- came home. Fashion show with the red plaid tunic.

- and then I Facebook chatted with cool people for like, 4 hours. It was fun. I'm glad I decided to embrace the Facebook chatting.

- then came the disappointment of the evening. I sat down to watch last night's episode of Glee - the Rocky Horror episode - and discovered that it hasn't aired yet. I thought it aired last night, because they released the music from the Rocky Horror episode yesterday on iTunes.

So, I then decided to watch my downloaded episode of this past week's Bored to Death. I was very excited. But - turns out the download didn't work, and I am unable to watch the episode. I'll have to try again.

So then, I tried to watch my downloaded episode of last week's Jersey Shore. Highly anticipated due to all the Mike drama. BUT - again - unsupported file. LAME. So, I'll have to try that one again as well.

SO THEN, I was like, 'well, I haven't watched the season finale of Jonas L.A. yet, so I'll do that.' And I did that. Lots of drama because Stella had enough of Joe breaking her heart, so she decided to leave L.A. early and go back to New Jersey. And Joe tries to chase after her with Kevin in his grease car - but his car runs out of cooking oil! It happens to break down in front of a burger truck - but the burger guy is ALL OUT of oil!! So, Joe has to run a mile to LAX to catch Stella before she gets on the plane. Yeah - it was pretty tense. And then it turned into one of those slow-motion in the airport things where they shout 'I love you!' and the whole airport hears, then they kiss, and everyone claps. :) Yep.


And that's what I did today. Exciting as always.

The other night I made some earrings. When I was in Chicago this summer, Kerianne and I were walking to Wrigley Field and I saw something on the sidewalk. It was these two connected metal feather like things with a pretty sea-green bead in the center. It looked like they were part of something larger, but I have no idea what. So, I said:

JULIE: Hey! These will make great earrings!
KERIANNE: Chicago loves Julie!!

And then I put them in my purse.

Last week I was cleaning out my purse and found them! I had totally forgotten. It was a nice memory when I saw them again. So, I got out my jewelry pliers, unattached the two metal things and put earring on them. Success!!! They're so pretty! I love them and I've been wearing them all week. And I think of how much fun it was in Chicago.

Yep!

Kara came to visit the other night. She didn't get here until around 11pm. It was very spontaneous. We stayed up until 7am having fun sister time. She's.the.best.sister.ever. Although, I'm not sure how this happens, but every time Kara and I are together she always manages to talk me into looking at Taylor Swift pictures online. Or, reading Taylor Swift articles. Or, everything else Taylor Swift.

This morning at like, 7:30 I got a text from my mom that read:

"ben and jen??"

I immediately knew she was talking about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner and how they're supposedly having marriage troubles.

Since this was an urgent matter, I texted back:

"all i've heard is that their marriage is on the rocks. what have you heard?"

Mom texted back,

"about the same. j did not go to fenway for the town premiere. hope matt can help."

(she's referring to Matt Damon.)

And then I thought about it and thought, "I love that my mom and I are texting about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner."

They're my fave because they have the most beautiful daughters. If they split - I will be sad. But apparently, Ben is spending too much time away from the family and doesn't involve himself enough with the girls.

So, yeah.

I've been getting a lot of stomach aches lately. It's a bummer.

I'm kind of tired. I slept for 12 hours last night. But ya know, I had a hard, busy day. That Facebook chatting really takes a lot out of you.

I bought all my Crash Kings tickets online today!!!! Philadelphia, New York City, Washington, D.C. baby YEAHHHH!!!!

Any suggestions for Halloween costumes?? Seriously. Please post them below, or send them to me via email. Needs to be something easy, something cheap.

Ok, rather than 'easy' and 'cheap' I shall say, 'simple' and 'inexpensive.' I don't want any inappropriate suggestions.

I wonder if there's a Crash Kings related Halloween costume. I mean, not like, at the store, but in general that I could do. Or, that me and Ryan could do. Because she'll be there. Duh!

We could be mountain men. Or 1985 hipsters. Or, Mary and Jenny. HA. (last suggestion from the song 'You Got Me.')

Ok I just sent those ideas to Ryan via Twitter. She has a yellow raincoat for an awesome default costume... but I don't have one. For some reason I'm suddenly really into the idea of coordinating our costumes. Like the year me and Maria were "two trippin' peas in a far out pod."




BFF.

Yep, we were pretty adorable. And I felt the need to wear a green cowboy hat. Sometimes it's necessary, and this was one of those times.

I think this was the time right after Maria joined Facebook and she was trying to get me to join. Because Hampshire had just been added as a school, or something. And Facebook was only a few months old. Ahhh yes... Baby Facebook. Seems like so long ago. And it makes me feel old.

Alright. I'm getting tired. And my stomach hurts. So - I think I'm going to sign off. And go to bed.

Hope everyone is having a great week. Can you believe October is almost over?? Yikes.

One of our residents turns 18 today. Big one.

Okay, take care. I'll talk to you all later!!


luvvvvvvv yaaaaaaaaa.


☃

(snowman.)

the surface

Dear Friends,

Just a few things to talk about today.


#1: I talk about Bored to Death a lot. Mainly because Jason Schwartzman is the star, and I will love him forever. Like, forever. And I guess I talk about it like it's the best thing ever. Well, because it is. And that was not just a poll of me, it's a nationally recognized FACT.




This is a photo I took of the "Must List," featured every issue of Entertainment Weekly. It's a list of things you MUST watch, read, listen to, go to, whatever. And what is number one? Oh yeah - BORED TO DEATH. NUMBER ONE.

HOW GREAT is that?! Um, sooooo great. So, now you must watch.



2: If you are ANYWHERE in Connecticut tonight, you must drive to Hamden to The Space and see Breakthrough Frequencies, my friend Holden's band. I wish I could have gone, but I have no extra time off work. If you can't make it out, however, you can at least watch their pretty awesome music video for their song, 'Blood=Water.'



3. Last night I slept for 13 hours.



4. Last night while sleeping for 13 hours, I had a dream that I was at the three Crash Kings shows that I'll be at (PA, NY, DC) and my mom was there too, as well as our neighbors, the Demers family. And also, my CK friends, Ryan, Jo and Anna. We were in DC and Crash Kings were about to go on. And they were playing in this train station. Kara wasn't there because she was catering a party for the Demers family, except they weren't there. But then there was a problem and they needed to leave, so they asked my mom if she needed a ride back, and she said, "no, I think I'll stay." BECAUSE, my mom secretly wants to see Crash Kings very badly. But they keep not playing in Boston on days when she can go.

Great dream, right?! I can't wait for the day when my mom comes to a Crash Kings show with me. Portsmouth didn't count, because Tony was in a bad mood the whole time and there was hardly any music.



5.



If you look very close, you can see a little Ruby Tuesday face under those blankets. This was the scene when we woke up this afternoon. Early in the morning, or sometimes late in the morning, Ruby Tuesday always crawls under the blankets and sleeps right up next to me. It's official: she's the cutest thing in the world.



6. Jim's Pancakes. I love this guy and I wish he was my husband. Kind of. Actually, I wish he was my personal chef. Yes, that's what I wish. He is a pancake artist. Well, technically he's just a normal dad, but he creates beautiful pancake art!!! My favorite is the Pancake Carousel, the Pancake Airplane, the Pancake Ferris Wheel and the Spaceship Pancake. Seriously - CHECK THIS OUT. You will be amazed, as I am. And, this guy, Jim, has maybe the cutest little daughter ever.



7. Children love Crash Kings. I think Tony would be very happy about this, since he's always talking about making Crash Kings music accessible for kids to learn. But it's true - children love Crash Kings.

Please view these children covering, 'Mountain Man.' They're really quite good. And adorable.

And then, please view this child making the next "official music video" for 'Mountain Man.' This one's pretty funny. And also adorable.



8. My friend Keith and I have been exchanging music recommendations, and he recommended that I start listening to this band called Blitzen Trapper. I'm pretty sure I have heard of this band before - but I REALLY like them. You should start listening to them too. I get kind of a 'Bob Dylan' vibe from the guy's voice.



9. I made cookies tonight.



10. I think that's all! It's been raining a lot. It down poured all last night and all day today. I like it.


Anyways. Any cool plans for the weekend? I'm doing nothing special. Just working. And, that's probably it. Lame, right? Right. Alright, well, I hope everyone had a great week and is having a fun, exciting Friday night. I'm not. I'm actually working right now. I was planning on grocery shopping a bit today, but, was called into work instead. So, that's that.

I'll talk to you all later! Take care.


loveLOVE!

"Wake up you sleepy head, put on some clothes, shake up your bed"

SLEEP? HA! yeah right. no, julie, not tonight.

So, remember how like, ALL through the previous entry I was like, "OMG I CAN'T WAIT TO GO TO BED???" Yeah - that didn't happen.

Semi-emergency at work and whatta ya know, I'm staying up until 6am.

Everyone remember the last time work surprised me and I had to stay up all night? (This is not including times where I've had to stay awake and monitor newborns.) (This is like, 'hey, I can't wait to sleep - oh wait - actually there's an emergency and you have to be awake all night.)

IT WAS THIS TIME. Last January. It was the night where I realized how sexy and gorgeous I found Tony. Staying up all night will do that to a girl. Or, staying up all day. Actually, it's very easy to think of Tony as sexy and gorgeous at any time of day.

SO. Here's what I've done so far:

- learned about Taylor Swift's procedure for writing songs about former boyfriends (thanks, Glamour!)
- took a quiz to find out 'which type of perfume is best for me.' (Romantic type. Because I'm a romantic.) (Thanks, Glamour!)
- texted Kara a lot and planned our sister tattoos.
- emailed my friend Oscar in Sweden. Who recently started a blog. Which everyone should now read.
- facebook messaged my friend Keith, from high school who i hadn't talked to since high school but it turns out we have a lot in common.
- heard a train go by
- heard a baby laughing and for a minute thought, "i wonder if that's a ghost baby, or a real baby?" It turned out to be a real baby. It's kind of creepy when babies suddenly start laughing in the middle of the night. Add a super old creaky house and you've got yourself a scary movie!
- drank some coffee

That's it! That's not really a lot of things. I've been here for 3.5 hours. All that took me 3.5 hours. I still have 2 hours to go until I can go to sleep.

Ok. I just got really tired. I can hear Ruby Tuesday running around upstairs. It sounds like a team of Gorilla Juiceheads running. She's so loud. (Gorilla Juiceheads - Jersey Shore reference, anyone?)

I started listening to music. I didn't have any music playing, because I needed to be alert. But then I started to be less-alert and more-sleepy. So, I put on some music.

Actually, after using that subject line again, I wanted to listen to the Crash Kings cover of that song. David Bowie, 'Oh, You Pretty Things!'

So, I'll be awake until 6am. Work until 8am. Then be not-working until 3:30pm. Then be working again until 8am. I'm guessing that in the not-working time, I will be sleeping hardcore. No, not just normal sleeping - HARDCORE sleeping.

I was in the middle of watching Glee when I was interrupted to stay awake all night. I think perhaps I'll finish watching it. Ohhhh I love Glee.

Also, these headphones make my ears itch really bad. I don't like it, but they're good headphones.

Ok. ONE MORE HOUR. And then I can sleep. WIN. I can totally pull this off. Poor Ruby Tuesday upstairs all by herself! She's hates being alone!

OK! I'm heading out now. Meaning, head out of the blog.

OMG. YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT JUST HAPPENED!! Kara is FACEBOOK CHATTING with me!!! She's at work right now. On break. (She's a baker, so she goes into work super early.)

Tonight was the first night I EVER signed into Facebook chat, and I was expecting everyone to be messaging me. Because apparently I think I'm a lot more popular than I actually am... But, nobody was chatting with me, so I was sad. But then she started chatting with me!!

I should really IM people more. But, I never think to sign into AIM. Weird that I ALWAYS used to be signed in to talk to everyone.

Maybe I'll sign into Facebook chat more often. If you are on Facebook and ever want to talk to me, you can. I'll allow it.

And if you ever want to IM me, my AIM screen name is: totesbrillz If I am ever signed on, again, please feel free to say hi.

ALRIGHT! I hope everyone has a nice day! I'll be sleeping through it. Until I have to be awake again.

I'll talk to everyone later! Take care!


lovelove.

james cotton superharp

hi guys.

at work now. bored. really tired. sniffly, too. i'm worried that i'm getting 'part 2' of the cold i had last week.

James Cotton Superharp is this musician coming to a local theater. actually, he already came. last weekend. but, i like his name. and i saw it on the brochure, and made it my subject.

i feel like this is going to be boring. especially as i don't have very much to say.


i'm really tired. it took me forever to get out of bed this morning.

so, we went out to wal-mart this afternoon. i had to pick up a 2 year old from daycare. he came with us. i was watching him because his mom was away for the day. he was good. he kind of screamed at me when it was time to eat dinner, but eventually he calmed down.

but now he's asleep.

i wanted to take a bath tonight, but it turns out i'll be working all night. eh, that's okay.

i bought my first Crash Kings ticket online today! I'll buy the rest when I get paid next week. SO EXCITED. This time we're doing:

- Philadelphia on 10/29
- NYC on 10/30
- Washington, DC on 10/31

SO EXCITED. a lot of my Crash Queen friends have been going to see them recently, since they're doing their big tour and it's getting me REALLY PSYCHED.

love.that.band.so.freaking.much.

OH OH OH OH OH!!!!!!! I KNOW WHAT I'VE BEEN MEANING TO TELL YOU FOR LIKE, TWO WEEKS!!!!!

You know my friend David? I went to Hampshire with him. Currently he lives in Cambridge, MA with Emily. WELL, he's like, a totally famous font designer! And he just released this awesome font called, 'Trilby' and it got a SUPER GOOD review!!!!

YOU SHOULD READ IT!!!!

I've had that tab opened in my browser for seriously like, 2 weeks. And I kept forgetting to share it with you!!! GREAT!

'Hot Rod' is playing in the living room right now. SOOOOOO good. Like, seriously, hilarious movie. See it.

Hmmm what else?

Wow, I seriously can't wait to go to sleep tonight. I also can't wait to see Ruby Tuesday.

This morning I was eating cereal and she was trying to get it, as usual, and then she just stuck her paw right in the milk and pulled out a piece of oat. She liked it. She likes all food.

Anyways. I have to go do some work so I can go home at 9. CAN'T WAIT.

Ok, hope you're having a good night! Sorry this was kind of lame - except for the David link. I'll talk to you later!!


love!