welcome to the dino trail.

i'm going to miss this good looking man, but i hope you enjoy him in all his quirky glory in the meantime! check out motioncitysoundtrack.com for details about justin's solo gigs and events around the U.S. this month. commence the insanity!

my hands are overfull of things i'd like to give.

most of my worries have ceased.

after this weekend i feel like a fully charged battery. or if i were a video game character, my life/health meter would be in the extreme green.

friday i went to justin's parent's house to visit with his mother's side of the family. they are hilarious people. i can tell where justin gets his cutting and clever wit from. constant banter. all very kind people, though.

saturday i had to work during the day (meh), but justin dropped me off and took my car for a bit, and then picked me up (almost killing people in the parking lot with his race car speeds). then we got ready for the jenny owen youngs concert. yummy! we met heather and lydia there, and so therefore the triple threat reunited for a night after a long separation. hoorah! i was nervous to see jenny again, as she is extremely quick-witted and naturally funny (i always get stuck on replies), but she was a doll. big hugs all around all night long. her show was incredible, of course. that woman opens her mouth and out comes perfectly pitched, beautiful songs. disgustingly good. her set was fun, but was short--so i was left wanting more. mae followed her--and they were surprisingly great. i had remembered them as more mellow, but they were actually pretty catchy. oh yeah, the show was also in 3D (i know, right?). in between all of this, us girls went to the bar-side and had some drinks and chats with pete and each other. i missed my ladies.

sunday was a sleep-in day. i watched a lot of jp playing video games. at noon we travelled to hell's kitchen with jenny and her band for lunch. i had never been there before, but i definitely recommend it. the wait was long, but they have the "red hall" for a quiet waiting room with leather couches and free coffee (score!). the food was delicious (i, of course, had a BLT). the company was fantastic. jenny is far less intimidating than i initially thought her to be. i have a girl crush now! and her two bandmates were absolute gems. we were laughing constantly. what lovely people, truly. after lunch we parted ways and jp and i were lazy for the rest of the day. he showed me the glory of rushmore, which i had never seen before. i watched him play more video games (i actually really get into it). and we wore our pajamas (he was sporting a nice footsie-fleece-one-piece number).

what a perfect weekend. i feel like i can breathe again.

swirling clouds of discontent.

things i am worried about:

• not being able to go to the MCS halloween show
• not going to the MCS chicago shows (more sad than worried)
• being all left out and stuff for the above things b/c of work
• tony's arm (christina--is he okay???)
• CREDIT CARD! what is APR? will i EVER pay this thing off???
• studio apartments--why are they $500??? ugh!!!
• finding a roommate by summer
• not having enough time this weekend to hang with jp before tours hit
• getting my hair the same color tonight
• getting my bangs trimmed nicely (instead of my hack job)
  
• CREDIT CARD! (yes again)
• being amazing at my job
• not being able to write as much as i want to
• not having any brilliant story ideas

things i am excited about:

• vacation with jp in dec/jan for nine days. heaven!!!
• seeing jp this weekend & meeting his mother's side of the family
  
• getting my hair done tonight
• MCS touring with weezer and jack's mannequin
• having cleaned all of my living spaces
• having throw out TONS of old things (pictures, makeup, notebooks, etc...)
• finally watched trainspotting--how haunting!
• say hi this coming wednesday @ triple rock (eee!)
• jenny owen youngs this saturday and tour guiding her on sunday
  

edit: halloween show/costume.

i may go to the show. justin just tried to quell my fears about it finishing before i could get there. the costume theme for the show is dinosaurs (for their album). i think i will be an asteriod. get it??? they destroyed the dinosaurs.

i am thinking: black sweatshirt with arms cut off & spray painting it with metallic/silver spraypaint. silver/glitter tights. crazy hair with specs of tin foil in it. glittered face. perhaps some padding.

ugh.

would this work?

shovel through my skin.

first, go below and download/listen to the new motion city soundtrack song.

i am all moody today. i cannot go to the MCS halloween show on the 30th at the triple rock. this makes me really upset... i feel like i am missing out--and right before he leaves for touring and traveling too. it is hard enough wanting to be everywhere he is playing in the world, let alone in the same state. ugh.

so i guess i am not going to dress up for halloween. i always do it for heather, but i haven't heard about any halloween plans thus far--and have decided to not do it, so that i do not have to worry about what i will be. i like the holiday, just not all of the "to-do" about it.

this weekend is going to be a bit nuts. justin comes home friday (after his video shoot in new york--stay tuned for that video. holy crap! it sounds like it is going to be crazy!), and i am going to try to make it to his family thing after work. then saturday i work all day (bleh). saturday night jenny owen youngs comes to town--so we will be seeing that show. sunday justin wants me to help tour guide her around with him. busy, busy.

i feel ugly. i think once my hair is re-colored i will feel better about life. i am just in the "transition to winter" phase.

(purposefully scary)

i need new gloves, mittens, and hat.

i need new cute pajamas for vacation.

this apparently has turned into my venting post.

hanging out with amy, dan, and baby jojo was wonderful the other night. i really am grateful to have such down-to-earth and intelligent, caring friends. we talked about 2012 (eek!) and all of these nutsy end-of-the-world scenarios. we made tentative plans for what to do if the world IS starting to end. that made me feel better. we discussed our favorite books (mostly extremely loud and incredibly close). and just laughed a whole lot. god, i love that family so much. jojo is SO big. talking. almost walking. whew. kids. insane. i cannot wait to see them again. really, really soon, i hope. they make me remember what it used to be like to hang out.

who is going to hang out with me, huh? let's get these balls rolling. otherwise--i am coming for you in november.

i surrender to the storm.

people i plan to ambush and hang out with one day soon:

• lydia
• heather & whit
• dan & amy (again)
• brittany n.
• sarah s.
• tommy
• kari g.

good things in life:

• full week=no smoking
• december/january nine day vacation with justin <3
  
• say hi on the 28th
• hair done again on thursday
• really spectacular hangs with dan, amy, and jojo
  
• just life in general

more details soon.

let the wild rumpus start!

this guy was my favorite.

more about it later (when i am not on break from work).

i may have super TB.

okay, so i lied. i probably don't have super TB... but it feels like i have it. and i feel like i am dying by cough. ugh.

this weekend was spectacular (i apologize in advance for poor sentence structure, as i am hopped up on cough meds).

friday i got to see my little critter whitney clarke and miss heather dagger for coffee. i had not seen them for weeks (it feels like). whit is looking around (with no neck support), talking, laughing, grabbing things and putting them right in his mouth, making noise with toys on purpose. it is the little things that baffle me. he is growing up bit by bit. astonishing to watch.

saturday afternoon i traveled to justin's. we ordered foods and planned to go see a movie, but we got too comfortable and ended up lounging all night long.

sunday was pretty much the same way. we hung out in pjs for a while, and eventually made our way over to my parent's house for dinner (with my parents, my sister, and her boyfriend). my mom is one host! she bought a case of diet coke (she knows my justin), chocolate cake, and she made mashed potatoes and gravy and roast beef--accompanied by caesar salad and fresh bread. YUM. it could not have been more perfect. it was a really, really good time hanging out and talking around the table. my family is the best.

after dinner we drove back to justin's and crashed, even though it was only 8 o'clockish. unfortunately i was up all night coughing. despite that night, i had the absolute best weekend. so much smiling, and laughing, and giggling.

also i am excited for the new possibility of a vacation to celebrate the one year mark before he goes back out on the road this coming year. he thought of the idea. i like that man.

currently i have been lying in bed since 7:30am this morning. i took off work to die slowly. i feel like when i was a little kid and my mom made me stay in bed all day. it was kind of awesome, but not awesome because i feel like poo stomped on.

new things, oh my!

new site! new picture! new video!

yumyumyum.

so excited for them!





new site (click)

wishbones.

i'm a big fan of them. lately i have been winning the larger halves, a.k.a. winning the wish.

one has come true.this one has not officially come true, but i count it as technically completed. i am still holding on to it for good measure. however, if it never fulfills its duties, i will still be alright.

a new favorite site.

fuck yeah motion city soundtrack (click)

"yep. i guess that's how i look."

it's your birthday (na na na na na na na na).

this weekend was miss shel pierre's 30th birthday extravaganza. abby (justin's sister-in-law) and ben (shel's boyfriend) put together a surprise party for her a few weeks ago--and i had been looking forward to it until it arrived on saturday night. we all arrived at the reserved location at the local (bar) and waited. there must have been around thirty+ people. shel and ben showed up and BAM. she was stunned. completely awkwardly stunned. it was very "shel-esque" and perfect. she deserved such a great celebration. she is such a generous and lovely human. i was so excited for her all night. meanwhile, justin was the only one sporting his party hat all night (typical), and we talked to the pierre parents for awhile. i have said it, and i will say it again--i LOVE his family. they make me smile and laugh so much.

afterward, i stole justin away for the rest of the night and hugged on him awhile (since it had felt like i had not seen him in ages).

in the morning i craved the chocolate chip pancakes. justin googled to no avail. we settled for non-chocolate chip pancakes at a local uptown diner. yummers. we had some good mid-morning conversations.

then we went to urban to shop for shel's presents. we are the worst shoppers together, and the best shoppers. we picked the most random, funny collection of gifts possible for her.

justin had a phone interview so we stopped at the beat for some caffeine and parted ways for a half hour. he paced side streets. i tried to find a coat to buy (because i was cold). fail.

we met back up and went back to his house, grabbed sweatshirts, blah, blah, blah, and we went to see the movie a serious man. since it was the coen brothers, i expected bizarre--but this movie was ridiculous! i did enjoy it, and there were several undercover minnesota references. while we were leaving, there was this adorable old man waiting outside the doors who stopped us to ask if we liked the movie. we affirmed. he told us he was one of the rabbis in the movie. aw. he was so proud. so sweet.

we left to eat (at a place i will not name, because if jenna phillips found out she would murder) and justin and i immortalized our togetherness on a march of dimes pumpkin for all of the world to see. how romantic. right? we went back to his place, watched an episode of pushing daisies, and i left later that night.

monday was shel's official birthday--so the whole pierre family met at justin and shel's place and we went to see david cross's comedy show. hilarioouuss. i was sitting behind a broad shouldered man, though, and my neck hurt to look around him. ouch. after the show we all went back to their place to watch the end of the vikings/packers game. none of us really understand sports--but it was fun to make fun of the whole spectacle. it was a really good night.

so, happy birthday shels! you are a wonderful woman.

and i adore my boyfriend. he makes me smile so much... it is sick! my life would be so gray without him and his strange ways. good thing he leaves a lot for tours and such, or else i would gladly spend all of my waking time with him.

i also miss all of my girls. let us hang soon, please? girl time only?

"risk taking because life is too short" mission?

complete.

i'm so much better than i used to be.

geez, it takes me years to update these days with my hectic work schedule and lazy, rainy days. here it goes.

• went to coffee with lyds a week or more ago. was having a long week, and i needed some vent time. yay for vent time!
• friday was delicious. went to the weakerthans show at the triple rock. i had been waiting for this band to come through for a while, and i knew there was no way it could have been bad. it was a sold out show, and i was going alone. i happened to run into gabe and ali g. when the doors opened. they invited me to walk down the block with them to the sold out owl city show. duh. it was packed with 14yos and their parents. the show was pretty decent, though. it was a good "opening band" for my night, and i saw a lot of friends like daniel (former drummer for spirit of '76 and now merch guy for owl city), pat brown (sing it loud) and his girlfriend, dude whose house i went to two weekends ago (with justin, tommy, and brittany), and tam (jackie and justin's friend). unfortunately i had sent a text message to my friend austin about being at his show, little did i know that he is not playing guitar for owl city anymore. oops. embarrassing. after the show we walked back to the weakerthans (who were just getting ready to play) and gabe walked us straight up to the front and center. WHAT!? unreal. i was right below the singer's mic. i was so very excited, and they delivered. the singer smiles the entire time--like he absolutely loves doing what he does. everyone was singing along and in love. it was perfection. ugh. best show i have maybe ever been to. legends. ali invited me to the mug after the show, but i didn't want to peak out my perfect night--so i left with love in my heart.
• saturday i think i went to jennifer's body with justin. it could have been sunday... in fact, it was sunday. SUNDAY i forced him to go with me, but he made us go to the matinee, which was fine by me. i hate megan fox. i think she is an idiotic air-head, but she was actually good in this. it was a really good satire. i laughed out loud a lot. dare i tell you that justin did too? he did. what i loved, was that the movie was set in minnesota and there was motion city soundtrack merchandise EVERYWHERE--above megan fox's bed, a huge poster in the boyfriend's room, the boyfriend's shirt in one scene. it was distracting for me, because i could see justin in merch form during a lot of the intense scenes--and of course i paid more attention to that and how freakin awesome it was than i did to the movie. but i recommend the movie if you are down for a fun, sarcastic movie.
  
• the rest of this week has been very low key. it has been cold and rainy, and it has given me good excuse to nap.
  
• justin has been out of town the past week for family things and college shows. i get to see him tomorrow. eee! i cannot wait. le sigh.