highlights.

returns

justin came home from LA a few weeks ago, after writing with mcs and meeting with music people for two weeks. i missed that kid, yup. heard some of the demos, they are mostly delicious!

uptown theatre / teenage mutant ninja turtles / farewell continental

the day after justin came home he played a show at the uptown theatre. the uptown theatre has started doing midnight showings of movies where bands open up for the film. i got a hold of justin's sis, richelle, and i won some free tix from twitter.com and was put on the list +1. shel and i waited in the lobby for what seemed like ages with a huge crowd. finally we were let in and sat in the front by shane (justin's friend and producer cohort). shane told us some pretty hilarious stories about cheerleaders, mascots, and other bizarre subjects. farewell continental set up and eventually started playing with a movie screen playing behind them. really fucking trippy and sweet. they played well. then came the movie. hilarious for the following reasons:

1. i had never been to the midnight showings and knew not what to expect.

2. the midnight showings are notorious for bringing in a hipster crowd who just doesn't give a fuck. everyone boos, everyone cheers, and everyone shouts out little quips and everyone laughs.

3. the movie teenage mutant ninja turtles (the real people one) is so awfully cheesy and wondrous it made the cheers and comments so much better and enthusiastic.

it was great. me, shane and justin laughed our asses off.

while the band was packing their stuff up, and shane and i were waiting around for them to be done, three girls who flew from st. louis for the weekend just to see justin play came over. justin felt bad that they had come all that way to see him and they were leaving the next day to go home, so we all piled in my car and went to the uptown diner. of course the diner was packed with crazies at 3:00 AM, but we all made the best of it. hanging out with justin, shane, tommy and jim is hilarious. i don't think i have laughed that much in ages. ugh! the girls were really nice too. and eventually we all parted ways. it is strange to me to see people who are so dedicated to what justin is doing, but it makes me so excited for him and so proud.

whitney

heather's little baby boy is soon to arrive! amy and i have been getting things ready for her shower on the 22nd of march. it is insane to think a real live human being who is half heather is going to be hanging around soon. BIZARRE!!! but so amazing. it is still surreal to me, as i am sure it is more so for her!

benihana

on sunday my family (as it is custom) went to benihana for our annual dinner. delish! we invited justin and katie's friend brittany along. my family was in their prime and made me proud. justin seemed entertained and comfortable, even though he was tired and sick from the previous week of non-stop recording with fc (great stuff!) and video shooting outdoors. we all ate to extremes and left smelling like fried rice and garlic.

dance

ugh! i hate going every wednesday, but once i get there i feel better. i am dancing with all of the people who teach at the studio, which makes me the worst one, but it is good to be challenged, i suppose.

dr. zhivago

finally got around to watching it. if you have not seen it, you must see it. what a brilliant piece of film history. wow. i was amazed throughout the entire thing. please watch it! i love russians. probably because i am party russian, and partly because i want to be tough and scary like they are. haha.

fineline / wannabe hasbeens / the next afternoon @ ugly mug

the triple threat and laura ventured out to the fineline to see the wannabe hasbeens' show. they played well, but the rest of the bands made me want to cry. ugh! some people should not be put behind instruments. eek. dan came out, which was the best part of the whole thing. we spent the entire time bullshitting and trash-talking everyone and every thing we could think of. that is what i miss about dan--the honesty. now, without him around as much, everyone holds their tongues too much. so lame. but that night was like old times. outsiders would walk up to me and him talking, listen for a few seconds, and walk away afraid. amazzziinnngg. also many men were hitting on heather in a disgusting way, we would look at each other and shrug in confusion. she. is. pregnant. people. haha. i mean, flattering that she is obviously still very attractive, but c'mon men!

that night, in a rush to leave the strange night, i left my card at the bar, so i went to the ugly mug to hang out with some of the guys before gremlin went back to the fineline for work at 7:00 PM. lots of drinks, lots of shots (thanks mo), and lots of playing that picture game on the screens on the bar (know what i am talking about?), there was also a strange man on drugs with sunglasses on trying to talk to all of us, who eventually got kicked out. was good to see the guys, but i grabbed my card at 7:30 PM and went home to sleep off my early buzz. eesh. i am not used to drinking anymore (which is a good thing).




those are my highlights for now. i felt i owed them to you.

bring on the major leagues.

so this new years' week has been fantasticwondifericbeautious! where to start...

sunday lydia and i met up with jen, since she was in town from LA for her birthday concert the next day. she brought in tow her new boyfriend, jason, and an old friend of ours, matt (from thrifyhipster.com). i had not seen jen since her going away party months and months ago at the fineline. it was good getting out to see her before she had so many people to hang with at her party. her boyfriend is fabulous and very sweet. i was plenty happy for her. we all drank at the red dragon in uptown, and we forced jason to consume the signature drink there, the wonderous punch. drunk here you come! i had to leave early to wake up for work the next morning, but all in all it was a good choice to say hello to an old friend.

monday was jen's party at the kitty cat klub (i always get confused where the 'k's go in that). anyways. first heather, lyds, and i met up with cherise (who was newly in town from italy) and brittany (who was visiting from portland). we had not seen those girls for a long while, and it was a perfect hang out. things have gotten so good since we parted ways. they were not awful when they left, but you realize how good people are when they are gone. cherise and i had talked a decent amount whilst she was away, and it was a relief to have found such a lovely friend upon her return. after hangs with them at the library, we all ventured down the block to the club. the night had promised to showcase a ton of the local musicians/bands in town in acoustic format. when we arrived it was beautiful chaos (probably because i was not really involved in the chaos part). EVERYONE seemed to be there. of course jen and jason, jen's old co-workers who i had not seen in months, drew (from 50 records), dan rodriguez, roster mccabe, dan, gabers, derek (from the wannabe hasbeens), melissa, steven, gremlin, bailey, sharon, tyler (from readygoes), george (from readygoes), sam (from shoreline), of course mo (from oh crap mo is here, readygoes, and the wannabe hasbeens), the after august guys, the sunshine behavior guys, ari herstand, mike minehart (who set up a wonderous photobooth), and more people that i can not even remember! it was a crazy reunion of the entire scene (it felt like)! there was some craziness because there seemed to be many lovers and ex-lovers triangles and pentagons with so many people, but no outward drama happened as far as i could tell! anyway. a lot of pictures were taken from the night by mike minehart, and i will post below many (and many which seem all like the same picture, but deal with it!).

crush taxi reunites! (me, jen, heather (w/babybump!)
photobooth! (lyds, jen, me)

(jason, lyds, jen, me)

(lyds, jen, me)

(jason, lyds, jen, me)

(crush taxi pt. 2)

team "phat awesome!" (me, heather, cherise, lyds, brittany)

(ditto!)

new years came along and i went to pick up justin from the airport. he had just ventured to alaska to explore and work on writing his band's new album. we then went to white castle (classy bitches we are) and proceeded to order the entire menu. holy crap! we then went back to his place and ate while watching transformers. hoorah! i want a transformer as a pet! aww. when the bell tolled midnight we toasted and stuff to the year with non-alcoholic champagne. we both were sleepy, soon after, though. before the night ended, however, i gained a boyfriend. official and stuff with a token as well. crazy! it is all as it was, just non-confusing. i like it. sigh.

tonight i headed to justin's family's house for dinner. i already love his sisters, and had already met almost everyone there. we laughed and talked and laughed some more. delicious food! quirky and wonderful company! all together splendid!!!

what more can a girl want? not much i tell you. not much. i hope everyone's new years went as well as mine!!! let's make this one better than the last (and make things good before 2012 hits and the world ends. hoorah)!

i don't mind if you want to hide your fangs too.

it is impossible to describe all of the past few weeks. life has been an absolute adventure. my friends and my outings have been ideal. i have gotten to know some people who i already know better who i never thought i would. i have also met people who dazzle me. i am breathing easy. soaking in the summer nights. enjoying myself. i am altogether in a better place now then i was at the beginning of the summer. life unfolds in beautiful ways.

words would not justify. i do have some pictures to illustrate, however. the pictures do not fully capture, just because they are mainly of the girls. but the nights that came along with them, as well as the nights that followed, were brilliant. many friends. many concerts. many drunken nights full of love and chaos. and vampires. beautiful vampires.

i will just say that i doubted my capacity to move beyond and be totally free of the past for any time in the near future. i proved myself wrong. sometimes life offers you the opportunity to see that happiness and old feelings with new names still exist out there.

and i will post more frequently. i apologize.

last weekend's pictures.