Friday, December 17, 2010

Fill in the Blank Friday!

1.   Giving is       Sometimes stressful.  I always want to find just the perfect thing, and it never quite works out right.  That's why I end up baking mostly.

2.  Receiving is   very sweet, but makes me feel awkward sometimes.  Especially if the gift is expensive or you didn't reciprocate in the appropriate amount.

3.  The best gift I ever received was       probably my engagement ring.  A nice sparkly rock and a lifetime with the love of my life?  Yes, please.  I think Quatchi might be a close second.

4.  The best gift I ever gave was   umm... I don't know if I've ever given a really good gift before.  We'll see how this Christmas goes, then I'll get back to you.

5.  Something intangible that I wish I could receive is       a brighter outlook/sunny disposition.  I wish I could go back to college.  Lying in the grass reading a book in the sun really makes me so happy. 

6.  Something intangible that I wish I could give is        a happy ending for my sister and her fiance.  They've been dealt a real shitty hand this year.  A clean and organized house that magically stayed that way for my parents.  A healthy pregnancy and delivery for Jaclyn and Andy.


7.  The one gift I always wanted as a child, but never got was       an Easy Bake oven.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Fill in the Blank Friday!

1.   I wish       I could find some more fun things to do around here and make some friends.  And stop worrying so goddamn much.  Also that my sister would move here and stay with me forever in sisterly happiness.

2.  Yesterday I   Had sushi with Chris and Cynthia, beat my stupid Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Gamecube game, and watched some TV.  Chris after insisting that we watch Twilight Eclipse, fell asleep during it and then begged me to turn it off.

3.  Today I will      work till 5, possibly return some things via UPS, bake something for tomorrow, and have a few drinks with my manfriend.

4.  Tomorrow I will   go to trivia finals and compete for $1000.  Not that we're really going to win, but it would be a pretty awesome after party if it were to randomly happen.  Then meet up with the trivia people at Jon & Sara's house.  Yay for being invited to a party!  I thought we'd never make any friends!

5.  Maybe      I got some Christmas gifts in the mail that I can wrap this evening.  Wrapping presents is easily one of my favorite activities ever. 

6.  Someday        We will get a puppy.  And redecorate and re-floor our condo. 

7.  I love       lamp.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Fill in the Blank Friday!

1.   Holiday spirit       makes me happy.

2.  The holidays are incomplete without   Bing Crosby, White Christmas, a family member saying something inappropriate when mom is reading a bible passage at dinner, and dad sitting on the floor and handing out presents.

3.  My favorite things to do around the holidays is      baking and singing and drinking wine with Elise!

4.  A holiday tradition my family and I have is   complaining about whatever mom has cooked for Christmas dinner.  Getting into a fight about vacuuming the house.  Complimenting the green wreath that Jaclyn and David colored when they were little.

5.  Holiday music is      Pretty freeking awesome.  I love the Christmas CDs that my mom puts in every year and singing at Church.  Also Handel's Messiah sing in is always fun.  I'm not a huge fan of radio Christmas music, they seem to always play the same five songs.  Sleigh Ride, Baby It's Cold Outside, The Christmas Song, Silver Bells, and It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.

6.  This year, I'll be spending the holidays        at my house with my parents.  This year is the first time Chris and I will actually be spending the holiday together.  We'll have fake Christmas with his parents at some point afterward.

7.  Holiday wish list       My renewed sanity.  A decent night's sleep.  A non anxious day and night with my man friend.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Interesting Revelation

I think I just noticed who Chris' parents remind me of.  It's the Dursleys.  Or at least if the Dursleys were about 20% more relaxed and really liked red wine.

Happy Thanksgiving!  and a Happy Birthday to my lovely best friend Morgan <3

Monday, November 22, 2010

Pre-Thanksgiving Post

I do not have much to report here this week.

This weekend, Chris and I went to his parent's to put up their Christmas tree, do some decorating, and some holiday baking.  We played pool for a bit, drove all the way home to bring back the correct type of walnuts (I wasn't aware there was a wrong type of walnut), and went out to dinner.  I like going out to dinner with the in-laws.  It's usually at a really nice place and we eat and have some wine and usually have a very serious conversation about whatever, which ultimately boils down to a hilarious relaxed conversation, but always only after we've paid the bill.  I don't understand why his parents suddenly get hilarious at the end of a meal, and we start having a good time, then it's time to go home.  Very odd.

I'm doing really good on the calorie counting this week.  I'm down a whole 3 pounds in one week.  Not too bad if I do say so myself.  The goal is around 2 pounds per week or at least 5 pounds a month, which would put me at 50 pounds lost by the time our wedding rolls around in one year.  That leaves me with eating about 1500 calories a day, which is really not very much.  Granted, we were eating a ridiculous amount of calories before, but I'm in a bit of a cranky-hungry mood this week.  I'm thinking it will start to get better and pass altogether once I get my body used to it.  Also, I'm planning on joining a gym after Thanksgiving, so if I do any exercising I can up my calorie intake a bit that day and still reach my weight goal for the week.  I started this journey at 220 pounds.  I'm at 214 right now, and hopefully will continue to drop steadily from now on. 

Elise and Jason are coming for Thanksgiving!  I am so very excited to do all of our holiday baking.  I have so much fun when my sister comes to visit and we have a lot of wine and dance around the kitchen.  Our baking list for Thanksgiving is as follows:

  • Apple Pie
  • Pumpkin Pie
  • Pecan-Caramel Cheesecake
  • Chocolate Mousse Cake
  • Cinnabons for Friday morning breakfast
It should be majorly delicious.  Jason is planning on moving in with us when his lease is up at the end of the year, so we will be planning a trip down to Virginia to help him get his stuff and put most of it in storage.

I'm really feeling the Christmas spirit and have started listening to Christmas music already.  I know it's early, but I was in the mood. I'm dragging Chris with me to Target later so we can buy a tree and put up the ornaments that I brought from home. 

I checked out one of the local Roman Catholic churches on Sunday.  I need to become a parishioner somewhere around here so we would be eligible to sign up for our pre-cana or pre-marriage classes that are required for us to get married at my church back home.  It was epic and modern and so strange.  Much different from things at St. Raymond's.  There was preachy music played by a guy that sounded like John Denver, 2 jumbo trons and video cameras everywhere showing slide shows of the readings and whoever was talking at the time, inspirational videos shown before mass and as part of the homily.  There's a cafe that looks like a Starbucks in the lobby and a lounge with a fireplace, and they had so much staff.  There was a person like every 10 feet with a little ID badge on.   There was a street entrance that looked like the big stone facade thing of a country club.  You could tell that they had a lot of money to blow on updating and maintaining the place.  I e-mailed the info address to find out about becoming a parishioner and they said they already responded to me.  They have a program set up for you to hear about the church and have dinner before filling out your registration.  Seriously, it's intense.  I'm going to take Elise with me to mass on Sunday for moral support while I sign up for the program thingy.  It should be pretty interesting. 

Can it be Wednesday yet?  I miss my sister.

Julibean <3

Friday, November 19, 2010

Fill in the Blank Friday!

As always, questions complements of  The Little Things We Do
1.   My Thanksgiving plans this year will include       Baking a hell of a lot!  So excited about that.  Having dinner with the in-laws, the fiance's grandparents, my parents, my sister, and her fiance.  Then epic Black Friday of awesomeness.  Seeing Harry Potter in IMAX at the Science Center and then going to the Baltimore Aquarium and seeing the dolphin show!

2.  My favorite Thanksgiving was   Probably the one where Sebastian punched David in the balls under the table.  No other Thanksgiving really sticks out to me except the worst one.

3.  My signature Thanksgiving dish is      I don't have one yet, but maybe I'll start a tradition this year.

4.  My favorite Thanksgiving food is   The Mashed potatoes and the cranberry sauce from the can.  I don't think I really eat much else except the dessert.  Oh and my aunt's barley soup.  SO GOOD!
5.  Thanksgiving free association!      pie, movies, family, pictures, photoshopping said pictures, epic Sebastian debacles.

6.  Thansgiving is        Delicious!  And we always watch the parade and the dog show afterwards!

7.  I am thankful fo  being so fortunate this holiday season when I know a lot of other people are much worse off.  Fuck unemployment.
Happy Holidays Everyone!

Friday, October 29, 2010

Fill in the Blank Friday!

1.   My Halloween plans this year will include      going wedding dress shopping at Kleinfeld's on Saturday, then on Sunday going to church and driving home back to Maryland.
 
2.  My most memorable Halloween costume was   me dressed up as button candy.  I was wearing white felt with half Styrofoam circles spray painted different colors and one on my head like a hat.  Also, in the 5th grade we did a Halloween Biography project and I was Krista McAuliffe, my dad made me an astronaut suit out of a xxxl hasmat suit from work.  It was "fitted" to me with duct tape and had some mission badges on it.  I looked crazy ridiculous.

3.  For Halloween this year I'm going to be      umm... drunk perhaps?  We were going to go as Nattie Boh and the Utz Girl, but we're actually not going out this Halloween.  Next year I will make sure we have a drunken ridiculous time though.

4.  I've always wanted to dress up as  Sailor Moon... but then I was sailor moon.  I'd really like to get a legit sailor moon costume off eBay and just wear it every year for old time's sake.

5.  Halloween free association!  crash dummies, jasmine, unicorn... I guess I'm just recalling more Halloween costumes of years past.

6.  The worst thing about Halloween is   people think you're too old to go trick-or-treating and you just sit in your house and eat candy. 

7.  The best thing about Halloween is      Watching the little kids and their ridiculous costumes.  My favorite was one year when a kid came to our house dressed as Harry Potter and he had a broom.  Then he jumped off our porch and tried to fly.  Priceless.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

You Out There

Dear Becky Johnson,

If you still/have ever read this, which I have absolutely no proof of either, I'd like to inform you that I was so bored at work that I read your entire published works.  That would include all 3 (4?) of your blogs in their entirety and I just wanted to let you know that I think we are secretly the same person.  You and I rant about the exact same things, hate the exact same things and have freakishly similar taste in music and quotes.  So, yea, I guess that's all,

Love Julie

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

So Much Talk

While perusing news headlines today I came across an article that is being debated all over the internet.  You can find this article from women's magazine Marie Clair,e here.  The link calls it "Overweight Couples on Television" whereas the actual title of the article is "Should Fatties Get a Room (Even on TV?)"  The author states how she finds overweight people disgusting and how they should not be displayed as having intimate relationships on television because they make her uncomfortable.  Now being an overweight woman myself who has clearly struggled with maintaining her weight her entire life, my opinion will be largely biased, but if we look beyond that simple fact, I really do have a few points to make. 

Yes, being overweight is unhealthy but it is extremely difficult on physical, emotional, and mental levels to come to grips with it, discover the underlying reasons behind it, and make any small sense of headway on the road to weight loss.  I do not believe that showing heavy people on popular television in any way promotes an unhealthy lifestyle.  We of course see all other sorts of unhealthy things being portrayed on television; eating disorders, drinking, drug use, violence, unsafe sex, etc.; and no one would ever say that they want people to go out and start shooting heroine just because someone on tv was doing it.  That being said, obesity is a hard and cold reality.  The majority of Americans are overweight.  The thin and beautiful ideal we see on television all the time is not real.  There are ridiculous standards set on young people in America to be perfect, and it is simply impossible.  No on is perfect.  No one is beautiful, and thin, and sweet, and funny, and polite all at once.  There should be overweight people on television.  I like that some shows are okay with showing characters that are real, that have real problems, and real relationships.  You think people who are overweight never have sex?  Please.  Just because it may not be pretty and you don't want to see it happening doesn't mean that it does not exist. I would be relieved to see some real life women like myself getting some ass on TV, just sayin.

What really bothers me about the whole debate is that there are so few overweight celebrities and people shown on television that when they are on television, the show must be centered around their weight.  Like the tv show Huge for example.  The actors were overweight, but we can't just have a show where the characters are overweight and just go on about their daily lives and don't discuss it 24/7.  Yes of course, when you're overweight things like food and exercise and weight to come up in conversation, but you also work, have relationships, families, hobbies, life drama, and everything else.  Why does the entire series have to revolve around the fact that you're overweight?  Can we not just cast a normal show, like let's take Friends for instance, and make half of the actors overweight?  That's how it would be in real life.  We all have overweight and thin friends, all mixed in together, that's how life works.  But television never shows us that.  I suppose we are to believe that people just don't want to think about it when they are turning their minds off and watching television, they just want things to be pretty and perfect.  I can appreciate the fact that watching a skinny and beautiful person on a sitcom would probably be more pleasant for most people than seeing the same scenes portrayed by fat people, especially considering what skimpy things they usually have the actors wearing, but I would honestly find it refreshing to see overweight people on television just living their lives and dealing with all of the issues that they would deal with on a normal television show if everyone were thin and attractive. 

For another thing.  What is the fucking obsession with Christina Hendricks' curves.  She's hot, she's beautiful, I love her, I would do her in a heartbeat and let her have my babies, but why do we have to discuss her body to death.  There are plenty of beautiful, curvy women out there who are just living their lives and are also good at their jobs, and have families.  We are completely incapable of leaving them alone.  Why is that all I hear about her is how banging her hips are.  Yes, they are pretty awesome, and I love to look at them as much as the next girl.  I am also, in fact, empowered by the way she is portrayed on television, using her curves, being proud of her body.  I'm proud of her, and every other woman who is not a size 2 that gets up on stage or on television and rocks men's socks off, but discussing it all day long is just unnecessary.  Eventually we are going to talk about it so much that even if she may have loved herself and been proud of her body, she'll hear so much talk about it that she will start to doubt herself, and look at herself only as her outward appearance, only as a sex icon or object.  This is just plain unacceptable.  She also acts.  Have you noticed?  She's a damn good actress, but all I ever hear or see on the news or tv is how she dresses and flaunts her curves.  Who gives a fuck.  I don't even know anything else about her, all anyone will ask her about or interview her about is her ass... That's really not helping me. 

So to make a long story short, fat people make up the majority in this country, so why do they not even get a quarter of the air time as ridiculously stupid people, ignorant people, or model thin elite idolized people, and regular people, let's not forget the all around regular people.  When you see two fat people kiss (ex: our wedding), say "aw isn't it sweet, they love each other", not "omg she looks so fat in that dress I'm going to vomit".  Embrace plus sized celebrities, but if you're going to say "Damnnnn gurl look at that ass", please follow it with, "did you see that awesome movie she was in? (with that fine ass)". 

Thank you and goodnight.

Julibean <3

p.s. you can also view a pretty awesome retort/response to the Marie Claire article here.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Moments You Wish You Could Do-Over...

For this week's fill in the blank Friday we're going to play a different kind of game.  Sometimes everyone gets a little pang of regret.  I've tried to live my life honestly so I would never have many regrets, but as always, a few slip through the cracks.  Here they are in chronological order:

1.  I wish I tried out for the stage musicals in high school.  I think I had a good enough voice but never really gave it all I had because of nerves.  Maybe acting would have been good for me.

2.  I wish I had done a better job of keeping a balance of boyfriend to girlfriends in high school.  I had some pretty great girlfriends in high school that I let slip away way too easily.  It is way too easy to choose sex over bitchy girl drama when you're 16.

3.  I am a huge over analyzer.  I've been trying to work on it lately, but I think if I just relaxed a bit more and let my relationships and feelings go with the flow, I'd have been a much happier lady.  It's times like these that I wish I had Morgan's ease of life.

4.  I wish I had the balls to break up with my first boyfriend when things started going downhill so I might have had a chance to date someone else who I really wanted to give a try.  But I've got to say, only one missed love opportunity for an entire lifetime is really not that bad of a record.

5.  I wish maybe Chris and I had taken things a little slower at first.  I'm really happy with how things have turned out for us, but I think there may have been more fun and less family drama and confusion if I had let things slow down a bit.  But you know me, full steam ahead or don't even bother.

6.  I wish I had played a sport or stayed more fit in college.  Period.

7.  I wish I didn't even attempt law school.  I could have had a much more badass Senior year at RPI and would have severely limited the stress-ors in my life that sent me "over the edge" so to speak.  Maybe I would have tried for a different master's program or maybe I would have gone in a completely different direction.  But we all take forever to really find out what we want to do with our lives, I don't think anyone ever really knows.

8.  I wish we hadn't pained the condo such ridiculous colors, or had at least maybe thought a little bit better about it or taken our time painting it.  Damn we suck at painting.  I'm definately considering getting professional painters the next time we have to attempt it.

What about you guys?  Anything you wish you could rewind and get a do-over?

Julibean <3

Friday, October 15, 2010

Where Are All the Freekin Girlscouts

I just want some goddamn samoas.  They are the perfect delicious cookie.  I do not like thin mints, don't even go there. I want some samoas and there are no Girl Scouts in site, and you can't even order the cookies off their website.  Do I have to get all stalker creep and start following little girls around and asking them for cookies?  It's like the reverse "get in my van".

In short....COOOOOOOOKIESSS!

Julibean <3

Fill in the Blank Friday


1.  If I didn't have to work anymore I would  travel and bake a lot of delicious things.

2.  My favorite thing about a vacation is  not having to cook or clean, breaking out of your routine, drinking in new places.
 
3.  When packing for a trip I  pack far too much underwear and usually end up having to put some of my stuff in Chris' bag, or have a separate bag just for shoes and toiletries.
 
4.  My top 3 absolute travel essentials are   pain killers, head and shoulders, and a cardigan.

5.  Vacations are  the shit.

7.  On vacation you must always  actually relax and sleep.  

Julibean <3

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Food for Thought

I thought about Jaclyn's little nudger today and then thought about some baby names.  Here's some that I like...

For Boys:
Ethan
Owen
Jude
David
Riley
Oliver

For Girls:
Andrea
Evelyn
Olivia
Leigh
Ainsley
Julia
Audrey
Morgan
Adrian

that is all

Julibean <3

Songs I Really Like Today (and always)

Breakable
By Ingrid Michaelson

Sway
By Michael Buble

Julibean <3

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

101 in 1001

So yes, I had one of these lists on my old blog, but seeing as very little of it was pertinent anymore, I figured I'd start some more goals for myself.  Many of them are recycled from the old list or from friends' lists, and a small few I have already accomplished because I wanted to give myself a little pat on the back for some important ones from the old list.  Here it is:

  1. Make sushi again
  2. Make tempura
  3. Learn a few songs on the guitar
  4. Find a Church in Maryland (12/10)
  5. Go to Church wedding classes with Chris (9/11)
  6. Write toast for Elise's wedding (7/3/10)
  7. Go to CALI graduation (11/8/10)
  8. Make a wedding cake for someone
  9. Have a stranger pay me to bake something for them
  10. Visit Morgan in California
  11. Find a wedding dress (bought on 3/5/11)
  12. Grow another vegetable/plant (6/20/11)
  13. See Muse in concert
  14. See any other concert (Regina Spektor - 10/12)
  15. Go crabbing
  16. Get married (1/8/12)
  17. Cook a full Thanksgiving dinner
  18. Learn to drive stick
  19. Throw a New Year's party (1/1/13)
  20. Throw Chris a kickass 25th birthday party
  21. Go to a drive in
  22. Make an ice cream cake
  23. Ride in a hot air balloon
  24. Go hiking (1/12)
  25. Go horseback riding
  26. Swim in the Pacific (1/12)
  27. Play the endless set list
  28. Play poker
  29. Play paintball
  30. Go skiing
  31. Go jet skiing ( Naples 7/12 (saw so many fucking dolphins))
  32. Go on a roller coaster I've never been on (Universal Studios 11/12)
  33. Go sledding
  34. Learn a first dance with Chris (learn may have been an overstatement 1/8/12)
  35. Go ice skating at Rockerfeller Plaza
  36. Mail out Christmas cards and cookies
  37. Start a sand collection
  38. Have a pen pal (Exchanged letters with Morgan 10/12/10)
  39. Read the Bible
  40. Save $5,000 (savings is up to 10k 3/11)
  41. Hang out on a roof
  42. Go to Harry Potter world (11/12)
  43. Get 20 followers on my blog
  44. Go apple picking
  45. Go pumpkin picking
  46. Carve a pumpkin like a badass
  47. Make crepes
  48. Get a dog
  49. Buy size 12 jeans for myself
  50. Lose 10 pounds (1/15/11)
  51. Lose 20 pounds
  52. Lose 30 pounds
  53. Lose 40 pounds
  54. Take a fitness class
  55. Run for 20 minutes without stopping
  56. Go skinny dipping
  57. Go on a vacation with friends (11/12)
  58. Go to Las Vegas
  59. Go on a wine tour
  60. Go to Toronto
  61. Go to New Orleans (4/11)
  62. Go to the German Alps Festival
  63. Get engagement photos taken (7/20/110)
  64. Go to the ballet or opera
  65. Have a bonfire
  66. Brush up on my Spanish
  67. Write a bucket list
  68. Visit 5 states I've never been to before (Louisiana, Hawaii, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina 11/12)
  69. Read 10 books
  70. Brew my own beer
  71. Paint a painting
  72. Set up office/craft room/guest bedroom (completed 3/11)
  73. Go camping
  74. Sing karaoke
  75. Join/start a new music group
  76. Make flyers/business cards/website for new business
  77. Make bread pudding
  78. Visit Dan in Seattle again
  79. Hold a baby (5/11)
  80. Babysit someone's kid(s)
  81. See next Twilight movie with my sister (actually saw it with Chris)
  82. Re-floor the condo
  83. Re-paint the condo
  84. Redo the condo kitchen
  85. Add my DNA to Be the Match
  86. Buy new bras (10/20/10)
  87. Buy new underwear (2/11)
  88. Go to the zoo (8/26/10)
  89. Go to the aquarium (11/26/10)
  90. Take a trip to visit a friend by myself
  91. Chat over coffee with Jim again
  92. Drink around the world at Epcot
  93. Act in a play/musical, or at least preform on stage
  94. Reconnect with one old friend (2/2/11)
  95. Help Elise move in with Jason (7.11)
  96. Send out wedding invites (10/11)
  97. Sew baby blanket for Jaclyn & Andy's baby (12/15/10)
  98. Go to a reniassance fair
  99. Have an awesome drunken time on Halloween
  100. Go out to a bar with my girlfriends
  101. Meet said girlfriends
a few bonus ones that I just thought of...

102. Go on a double date
103. Host a dinner party
104. Celebrate something with a champagne toast (1/1/13)
105. Win a trivia match (8/12)
106. Witness an engagement
107. Clean out closet (3/2011)
108. Meet a friend of Chris' from work
109. See a Broadway show
110. Participate in a bar crawl
111. Throw a kegger

I think a lot of those are do-able in the next 1001 days

A Day in the Life of Chris & Julie - Engaged Couple #3

Chris and I are sitting on the couch last night waiting for dinner to be ready and planning a trip to go see Jim in Philadelphia next weekend.  (I can't wait!!!) 

Chris is, of course, spoiling his dinner by eating some pretzels. 

I tell him to put them away because dinner is almost ready. 

He rolls up the bag with such force that the air pops the bottom open and covers him and the couch in bits of pretzels. 

I can't stop laughing at him. 

He looks at me and just says "help."

I try to pick up a few pieces before realizing just how many pretzel bits are covering the grandma couch.

I say, "You're like five years old.  Good luck, get the vacuum."

<3 Julibean

I am anticipating my first letter from pen pal Morgan this afternoon.  I was so excited that I wrote her a seven page letter.  I probably should have waited to read hers first.  I may have defeated the purpose here.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Fill in the Blank Friday

I'm playing Fill in the Blank Friday from Lauren's blog The Little Things We Do


1.   The first thing I do in the morning to start my day is  kiss my fiance on the cheek and try to get him to turn on the shower.

2.  Today I wish I was feeling a little bit better.  I'm home sick.  I'd also like to be eating GS cookies and hanging out with my sister and Jaclyn.

3.  If I had an extra $100 in my bank account today I'd probably do nothing differently.

4.  Tomorrow I will sleep in while Chris goes to work, then probably bake something.  I'm thinking cinnamon rolls.

5.  Two things that don't go together are  lemon and chocolate!  A tip from culinary school.

6.  Something I can never pass up at the grocery store is  umm I usually don't impulse buy things at the grocery store, but at a CVS I'm terrible.  I'll usually get a cookies and cream chocolate bar or some beef jerkey or something.

7.  The last time I tried something new was I tried a bite of Chris crab imperial at dinner the other day.  I didn't really like it too much, too much mayonnaise.
Have a good weekend!
Julibean <3

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Song I Liked Today

Today I listened to this song about five times:

Here You Me
Jimmy Eat World

Julibean <3

Monday, October 4, 2010

I Should Really Bake More

I feel like I'm probably a worse baker than the rest of my classmates at this point because I haven't really been practicing.  The only problem is, Chris and I are trying to lose weight.  It really doesn't help for me to make a cake or something and then eat the whole thing because there's only the 3 of us in the house.  I'm thinking more about the wedding cake situation.  I might be making my sister's wedding cake, and I might be asking one or two of my friends from class to make mine.  We're interested in some sort of brown piping detailed cake.  I have a bunch of pictures at home, but this one is really unique.  I like the Indian influences, I'm really digging it.






Who doesn't like peacocks right?

Julibean <3

Saturday, October 2, 2010

I Don't Like Mexican Food

There is only one kind of food that I can honestly say I don't like.  I do not like Mexican food.  With the exception of fake Mexican food like nachos and taco bell.  I think a large part of this is that I simply hate beans.  Any kind of beans, I don't like them.  When they're in chili or some other kind of dish I can deal with them.  I'm not the kind of girl that picks something out of anything; with the exception of ripping the crust off of my sandwiches.  I do not like black beans, I do not like re-fried beans.  I can deal with the occasional fajita because I like grilled vegetables, but that's about it.

Chris' parents own a beach house in Ocean City, MD.  I swear to God they only go there to eat Mexican food.  Sure, they go to the beach or whatever.  Bruce will go around to hit golf balls and leave his wife sitting around doing nothing, but really, I think they only go for the Mexican food.  Every other weekend, if Bruce doesn't have to work Saturday, they drive down to the beach.  Mind you, even though both of their houses are in Maryland, the two of them are about three hours apart because you have to go around the Bay.  Anywho... Every Friday they head down to the beach and go to their favorite Mexican spot, La Hacienda, affectionately known as LaHa's.

As is every other restaurant I have ever been to with the in-laws, LaHa's is rather expensive.  Most of the entrees are over $20, the nachos are probably $15, and a side of guacamole is about $7.  The real kicker is the margaritas.  If you order a margarita on the rocks at LaHa's it costs a whopping $8.50.  But that's not all folks. 
Papa B usually drinks manhattans, but he makes the exception to have margaritas at LaHa's.  That being said, they don't just have one or two.  I've seen each of them drink up to four of these $8.50 margaritas.  This alone would be pretty ridiculous, but Bruce likes to get a little carafe of Grand Marnier on the side.  He probably adds about two shots of orange liquor to each of these margaritas.  I have no idea what that costs, but it's probably quite a bit.

The other thing is... if you know you're going to have upwards of 10 margaritas in one sitting.  Why not order the pitcher?  Wouldn't that make sense?  Hmm I think not.  The in-laws never order pitchers of anything, nor do they order bottles of wine even if all four of us are drinking the same kind of wine and have upwards of two glasses each.  I'm not quite sure what the rationale behind any of this is, but there you have it.

So a few months ago we went over to the in-laws for dinner.  What were they having?  Mexican!  They made chicken fajitas.  Not my favorite, but okay, whatever.  Also, they do not just make a bunch of everything and have a couple little fajitas each.  They make at least one chicken breast per person and you are supposed to fit it into one monster fajita and eat it all at once.  Also, I think why we are always having Mexican is that B&N just plain really like tequila and don't have any other outlet for it.  They are far to classy to just announce that we are having margarita night for no goddamn reason and you're gonna like it.

Now I'm not going to begrudge any girl her day with tequila.  But why not mix it up a little?  Have margaritas with pizza, have them with veal parm, hell, just have them just because you fucking feel like having a little tequila.  It really doesn't matter to me, you never need a reason.  In fact, just the other day my mom drives into a massive puddle and basically totals her car.  Her response?  Calling my sister to ask if we have any margarita mix in the house.  That's my mama.  I guess it runs in the family.

We had some fajitas.  No biggie, I filled mine mostly with vegetables and fed most of the blackened chicken to the dog.  The next time we go over for dinner we're told to bring Cynthia along.  So we arrive, and what is sitting on the table for us?   MARGARITAS!  In none other than the famed cactus margarita glasses.



I love those fucking things.  So we have a few drinks and I start to forget that we're going to have fajitas.  The next time we go over to the in-laws for dinner?  It's fajita time!  I mean come on.  They had chicken going bad in the fridge.  Obviously there is nothing else you could possibly do with chicken that might allow you to drink tequila out of cacti so we have to make fajitas out of it.

Fast forward to today.  Here I sit at the kitchen table of the in-laws.  We got a call from Mama N at around 10:30 a.m.  We are still in bed, not dressed, it is a Saturday.  Not only is it a Saturday but it is the first Saturday I have ever had after a week of working a full time job.  On top of that, Chris is having a minor apocalypse at work and did not get home on Friday night until about 8:40 p.m.  So I'm like oh crap, it's time to go to the in-laws and put together their new desktop computer.

Easy right?  Hmm no.  It is 5 p.m. and I am still sitting at said kitchen table and said computer is still not working properly.  At this point N has been on the phone basically the entire afternoon trying to sell her parents' house.  They've been back and forth with the grandparents, her two brothers, and the Realtor and there is still really no deal in sight.  She suggests that we stay for dinner since the computer still needs a few hours and guess what they want to have for dinner?  Oh yes, the infamous chicken fajitas...

Currently we are striking a compromise for Italian instead.  Maybe I can get them to have some margaritas too.

Julibean <3

Wedding Touches I Love

I really love this new take on the traditional guest book.  Maybe we will use it at our wedding.  Also, usually the trees are a dark color and you use a colored ink for the fingerprints, but this one is in negative and I think it makes it so much more interesting.




I also really love this idea for a save the date!  I think we might be going a bit more traditional when it comes to our wedding paper products.  But I guess only time will tell.  Plus.. I love board games!!



Also I got all the addresses for our wedding guest list for Chris' side of the family, so we're getting somewhere!

loveeee Julibean <3

Friday, October 1, 2010

New Weekly Posts

If you have any ideas for other weekly posts.  Please let me know in the comments section!

Julibean<3

A Day in the Life of Chris & Julie - An Engaged Couple #2

Alarm goes off

Julie:  It's time to get up
Chris:  One more snooze
Julie:  Okay

ten minutes later..

Chris:  I have to get up, I need to shave.
Julie: (touching Chris' face)  You shaved yesterday morning.
Chris: No I didn't.
Julie:  Yes you did.  You don't remember this conversation that we had about how you were out of shaving cream and how maybe we should get a Sam's Club membership because then it would be cheaper? 
Chris:  I just woke up.  You can't expect me to remember anything you say.

A Day in the Life of Chris & Julie - Engaged Couple

I'm trying to think of interesting posts I could do once a week, kind of like news segments.  Elise already has the monopoly over Manjoyment Mondays, Wedding Wednesdays, and Dance Party Fridays, so I'll have to try to come up with some of my own.  So here is the beginnings of a post series called...

"A Day in the Life of Chris & Julie"

...in which I am going to re-enact a scene from this week in which we did something insane, funny, so mundane that it hurts, or just plain drunkenly ridiculous. 

So here we go:

Setting - The condo
The Scene - Thursday is our big TV night in which we try to watch everything on DVR including; Jeopardy!, The Big Bang Theory, Grey's Anatomy, Project Runway, and The Jersey Shore.  I am falling asleep in Chris' lap on the couch.

Chris:  Are you sleeping?
Julie:   No

ten minutes later...

Chris:  Are you sleeping?
Julie:   No
Chris:  You're totally sleeping!
Julie:  No I'm not!
Chris: Why don't you just go to bed?
Julie:  What time is it?
Chris:  It's only 9:30.
Julie:  Okay I'm getting into bed, I didn't even see any of what just happened.
Chris:  You said you weren't sleeping
Julie:  No I didn't
Chris:  Yes you did
Julie:  I don't remember saying that
Chris:  You just said you weren't sleeping and then got offened that I would even ask
Julie:  Well I was lying, obviously.  I'm going to bed.  I have period week fatigue.
Chris:  Fine.
Julie:  I want some chocolate.
Chris:  I don't have any chocolate here
Julie:  Why?  Do you have some at work?
Chris:  Yes but you wouldn't like it.  It's butterfingers and reese's
Julie:  But...why wouldn't I like those?  I love peanut butter.
Chris:  Oh, well I don't have any here.
Julie:  You have candy in your desk?
Chris:  I couldn't stop myself.  Halloween candy was $2.50 a bag.
Julie:  Okay fine, goodnight.

ten minutes later...
Julie:  You want to go to the store and get me some chocolate? 

Chris walks into the bedroom and hands me a bag of chocolate chips from the pantry.

Chris:  Goodnight snugglemuffin.

I Can Haz Job?

I am employed! I am now working as an administrative assistant for LBC Solutions, LLC, which is a government contractor that comes up with ways to implement new initiatives of CMS which is the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The work is dull. I spend most of my time sitting around proofreading extremely boring and seemingly insignificant articles on the Medicare Learning Network website. However, I will be getting a paycheck next week if the payroll goes through, so I can't really complain. The pay is decent, the working environment is nice. It's quiet, I sit alone for the most part and can play music on my new computer. No one calls and no one really comes into the office either. The upstairs office is new and we spent most of this week putting together furniture and hanging walmart pictures on the walls. Those would be pictures bought at walmart, not actual pictures of a walmart building, for those of you who were wondering.

I'm finishing up my first week here and so far so good. LBC Solutions is owned and operated by Cynthia's grandparents. They have fewer than 10 employees and the owners mostly work from home so there's not really anyone in the office except Cynthia and me on any given day. Hopefully this isn't the end all be all job for me, but it has benefits and pays really well for my first full time job, so I will be sticking it out here for at least until after Chris and my wedding.

Speaking of which... our wedding has officially changed dates to Sunday, January 8th, 2012. It still sounds really far away, but I suppose it will creep up on us ever so slowly. Since Chris was baptized in a Christian religion we were required to be married in a Christian church. We were thinking that my church would not be an option because it was almost an hour from the wedding reception area and I had given up on it being there anyway since we agreed to have the ceremony in the reception hall. Once we realized that getting married in the Thatched Cottage wasn't going to be a legit Catholic wedding (which is required by my mother), I put my foot down and said that if we had to get married in a church anyway, I wasn't going to get married in just any church just because it happened to be closer to the north shore. That just seemed silly to me. I have a really great connection to my church, I have been going there since my mother had me baptized there, I'm a well known parishioner, and I wanted to be able to include my Folk Group buddies. Also, did I mention that it's beautiful? Here's a picture.


This is what the alter looks like on Christmas.  I'm hoping there might not be quite that many poinsettias, but the trees and lights are really beautiful that time of year.  


Here's one of the outside.  It's actually quite a large church.  If you ignore the red traffic light, it's rather nice.  So our ceremony is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. then we'll take pictures and everyone will be able to return to their hotel for an hour or so.  We will be chartering a nice bus to pick everyone up from the hotel and take them to the reception hall.  This way, no one gets lost or hurt driving if it happens to be snowing, and then whoever has been drinking will have a sober right back to their room.  The reception starts at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour, and then a 4 hour party ending around 11 p.m. 

I'm pretty excited in the first place that the wedding isn't going to be in the afternoon.  I want my college friends to be able to get completely drunk and have an awesome time and I don't really expect that to be happening at noon.  Well I'm sure some of them would hit it pretty hard at 10 a.m., but not everyone. 

The next thing on the wedding planning agenda is to look for a photographer.  There are a few in the area that we could definitely take a look at if we ever actually took the time to sit down and decide on a few.  Word on the street is that Chris' parents will be paying for the photographer and we're going to try to keep it around $2,500.  That sounds like a lot of money, but when it comes to wedding photography, it really isn't.  Both my sister and Jaclyn's wedding photographers were in the ballpark of $5,000, but Chris and I didn't feel the need to go that crazy with it. 

Today is the first day of October and later this month Elise and I have an appointment to go look at wedding dresses at Kleinfeld's in the City.  I think it is going to be a lot of fun.  Elise is losing a lot of weight and looks great, I am not really.  They say that they have a really great selection of plus sized dresses, so hopefully we will be able to find something that I feel good in, nothing has really been fitting or looking that good lately.  It's really discouraging to try to fit in a wedding dress sample that is clearly like 3 sizes too small for you and then try to make a decision based on how you think it will look if it was the right size. 

Elise is hitting the job applications pretty hard and will hopefully have a few things to look at in the next couple of months.  She is really needing to get her stuff together and move down to Virginia to start helping Jason out.  Chris and I are really happy in the condo.  We could use a little more space, but in a few months or however long Cynthia will be staying with us we will not have use of one of our bedrooms and half of our living space.  Once we have that taken care of we may decide to get a puppy, which would be really exciting. 

Our tasks for this weekend are to install the Ensor's new family computer, pick a few photographers to make appointments with, and get the addresses filled out on our wedding guest list.  If we can get all of that done it would be great.  I am really loving all of the fall air around here and hope it starts to get cold soon.

Until then

Julibean <3

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Funemployment?

My two months at the bakery was finally up a few weeks ago so there will be no more waking up at 2 in the morning for me anymore. Although when I gave up that job I also gave up any income that it might have been giving me, which was not much because they were mis-paying me, a problem which is still unresolved.

Now I've been job searching every day for something/anything that will pay me a decent amount and be worth my time. I've been on a few interviews, but nothing that has really gotten me anywhere because all they really wanted was for me to try to sell people Direct TV at a Best Buy and that just so isn't happening. I had a really good interview for a job at Chris' company, but they didn't end up giving it to me.

I spend most of my days looking for jobs on the internet. I'm all over monster, careerbuilder, and the corporate websites, including the government agency websites, and no luck yet. I have a lot of temp agencies call me and they say they will be looking for jobs for me, which is nice, but even so they will probably only be temp positions and do not pay as well as what I was hoping to get.

The rest of the time i am doing housework and watching tv and playing solitaire on my laptop, it is seriously thrilling. So if any of you know of any jobs in the Baltimore area, please hit me up.

In other news, I ordered a new iphone so I should be getting that in a few weeks. My 22nd birthday passed without much incident. Chris came home with a chocolate cake, 2 bottles of red wine, and flowers for me. Then we went out to a simple dinner with Patrick and watched High School Musical.

There was something strange clanging around on the bottom of my car. We took it over to the Midas and they basically just pulled it off and sent us on our way. Needless to say I am seriously bored and getting rather depressed just sitting around applying for jobs with really no end in sight and no discernible self worth or measurable income.

The Maryland State Fair is in town, and by in town I mean down the block, because we live right next to the fairgrounds. Elise is coming to visit on Thursday on her way down to VA to see Jason. I am missing my New York friends and don't think I'm going to be able to see Morgan before she moves out to California. Sad face.

kbye <3

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

So Yeah...

So remember how I was supposed to post pictures of everything I was baking and keep everyone posted about pastry school... yeah well that ended a while ago. Class was great, I ended up making a lot of friends and having a lot of fun. After traveling way too much going down to Maryland to see the fiance, I ultimately decided to move right after classes were over and do my internship in "the MD" as we like to call it.

I started working an internship at a French bakery for a few days and it was pretty terrible. So I decided against that and went with the supermarket bakery job that I had received the week prior. It is quite torturous. About 70% of the things they sell come shipped to them frozen and they just proof and bake, top it off, or decorate it in some way. I've learned about mass production at least, and how to adhere to company rules a lot, but I'd say that's about it. The real kicker is the hours. My shift is typically 3-8 a.m., 5 days a week. It is killing me. I'm trying to force myself to go to bed by 8 p.m. Chris hung a sheet over our window to block out the sunlight that is still coming in at that time. I anticipate the time and anxiously wake myself up several times a night, and my alarm goes off at 2:15 a.m. so I can get to work by 2:50.

The man keeps telling me to suck it up and get through it, but I've got to admit that it's got me feeling fairly miserable. The only slight consolation is that I only have about 100 hours of my internship left to complete, and the two hours that I work before 5 p.m. I get time and a half, which was an unexpected surprise on my first paycheck. They pay once a week which is nice, but they have my hourly rate $2 lower than it's supposed to be so far, so I'm still looking for my retroactive pay that I've lost.

The condo Chris and I bought is great. We have a lot of space and a really nice and big master bedroom. I'm loving having my own space and getting to see my man every day. Our friend Cynthia moved into our guest room and will be staying there for a bit while she looks for a job in the Boston area. We have a happy little family dynamic going so far; watching Gossip Girl on the couch and playing Mario on Wii when everyone gets home from work and I wake up from my afternoon nap.

The job search for me isn't going all that well. I've had one phone interview and one group interview so far. I've been looking for administrative assistant and admissions representative jobs at the local colleges. Hopefully I will be able to find something soon so I can quit my job. The man of the house says I'm not allowed to quit my bakery job until I have another one lined up.

Wedding plans will probably pick up again in a bit. Mom and Dad refinanced and started moving some money around,(something Elise and I begged them not to do), and would like to help us start paying for some other things. I'm extremely grateful and looking forward to some of the fun parts like dress shopping. The future MIL calls and stops by a lot. I'm hoping it will ebb with time, but I haven't seen any evidence of that yet. Chris' uncle from Texas is in this week so we're going to be having our second crab feast of the week tonight. I love free dinner, it's basically one of my favorite things. And with that... it is 9:30 a.m. time for a nap I think.

Until next time,

Julibean <3

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Sick in Maryland

After my stunning digestive pyrotechnics on the Meadowbrook, I was still not feeling very well at all. I should really learn to just stay home one extra day before venturing back into my daily routine. I always push myself a little too hard and end up sick for twice as long because I didn't take the time to heal properly. Anyway...

We spent the next two days making apple pies and fruit tarts. They were delicious and looked absolutely amazing.


I really enjoyed making the fruit tart.  I like the very meticulous and creative projects the best.  Also I just like using knives.  For some reason I really enjoy the manual labor parts of baking.  Whenever we have something annoying to do I like to ask Brooke things like "can I chop the nuts?" or "I want to grate the carrots!"  I guess I'm just weird like that.

I was still feeling really shitty but I hadn't seen Chris for a few weeks so I was determined to make it down there somehow.  I contemplated taking the bus, but trekking into the city with my bags is pretty exhausting and I tend to get sick from all the random people and germs, so I was really not feeling like adding to my sickness.  Fortunately, Casey needed to go down to Maryland to visit her Uncle and cousins, so she offered to travel with me and drive my car down so I could rest.  In return I gave her family 3/4 of my cheesecake (I let Chris eat the rest).  Chef Katie was nice enough to bake and un-mold the cheesecake that I had made before I left for Seattle so I was able to get it out of the freezer and bring it home.  I got rave reviews from K's family about the cheesecake.  Apparently it was better than Junior's bakery cheesecake, which means a lot if you're from Brooklyn!


Casey dropped me off at Chris' parents where we would be spending the weekend dog-sitting for Abby while his parents were away in Phoenix for the week.  I lent her my car for the rest of the weekend since hers had recently been totaled in that stupid car accident.  I felt like such crap that I basically moped around in sweatpants for the majority of the weekend whining about how much my throat and stomach hurt.

Andy and Becky came up for dinner and a movie Friday night.  We had some pizza and watched The Proposal, which was surprisingly amusing, and then went to bed.  They left early in the morning because Andy had to be back in D.C. for a robotics competition.  Saturday I was determined to try one of the recipes that I had missed while I was absent.  I didn't want to get too far behind so I decided to make eclairs which included three elements that I had missed that week; pate a choux, pastry cream, and ganache. 

Even though I had asked Brook and Chef Katie about the recipes, copied Brooke's notes and basically made her act the process out for me like charades, I still could not manage to get it right.  I attempted pastry cream 3 times before I decided to call it quits for the day.  I felt so terrible that I was not concentrating at all.  I called the emergency number for my doctor's office and left a message.  I really needed to know if there was anything I could take for my upset stomach because all of the drugs I had picked up at the pharmacy told me not to mix with antibiotics.  Thankfully, my doctor got back to me and wrote me a new prescription for a different antibiotic which he called into the local CVS.  At this point all I was thinking about was how long I could stay on my feet before I needed to lie down.  So instead of baking anymore we went downstairs and watched Crank.

Chris' parents got home and we went out to dinner at Red Lobster.  I had never been to a Red Lobster and honestly, now having been there once, I think I'm all set for the rest of my life.  Granted, I was ridiculously sick and weak and feverish, but the food really sucked, and the waitstaff was not that great.  On the way to dinner we realized that the local CVS that was located in Sketchville, MD had closed early.  So I had to wait another day to get new drugs.

Casey showed up at Chris' on Sunday morning after breakfast while I was completing my eclairs.  I had finally gotten the stupid pastry cream right (apparently I had it right all along but I kept thinking there was something wrong with it.  Go figure.) and was filling my eclairs.  Since K is an amazing sisterfriend, she went to the sketch CVS and picked up my drugs while I finished the eclairs (which were delicious).  I packed up my stuff and the three of us had lunch before Casey and I left for home.

More to come... Julibean <3

 
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