July 31

Ok. I might've just randomly bought a tix to this show in chicago. BUT it's worth it.

Art Brut
We Are Scientists
Spinto Band

@ Metro, Chicago - Thursday, October 12

GO TO TICKET MASTER AND BUY YOUR TIX NOW.

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Anyway, today I worked downtown 'till almost 5. Yeah, but I need the money for next year i guess.

After work I kinda just chilled all evening. Took pics, listened to new tunes, made a video which sorta made me sad. I mean all this is changing and people are moving away...I look back at high school and it went so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting in band, chatting with the drummers..laughing at Mr. Jones, whishing so much to get out of school. Idk, I just wish I could have another day or two of that. Not only that, the summer has gone by so fast...the last summer. Man.

Here's the video I made if you're interested. YouTube sucks and made it grainy, but you get the picture

July 30

I slept in till almost noon. I was sooo tired and needed to catch up on sleep/rest.

I layed down and watched tv for a bit and had a cinnamon roll. Yum.

Talked to Ryan, he wanted to go out on the lake. So I forced him to take us out on his boat, I called Erik and Lesley. Michelle was there when we got there. We piled onto the boat with Ryan's parents, stopped off at my house to get my tube then had some fun. Tubing was awesome, hadn't done that in a while. Then we got the jet skiis going and road them around. Stopped by Carolyn's house later and we all swam it up and had some yummy brownies. At almost 5 I had to head home, said our goodbyes and road home.

Erik stayed for dinner. Hamburgers with gparents.

Afterward, Kelsey came about desert time then we hung out. Later decided to chill and take pics so we drove to Eriks house. We ended up staying there and watching youtube and myspace vids, Oh and this crazy 911 conspiracy things. Weeiirrd.

Tomorrow it's back to work downtown...wooottt...>>

July 29

This morning I was still in Nyc, now I'm in IL. boo

So we all slept in alot - we were all really tired. Got cleaned up and found this breakfast cafe up Madison by the hotel and had food there. Then got back to the hotel in time to pack things up, get a cab, and take our last look at Manhattan the driver took us to the airport.

The fly back was good/short. Ate food, listened to the new Metric album I got...good stuff, I also go to sleep a bit. Took some pics. Landed in St. Louis, got the bags while my Dad went to get the car. We had to idea of checking UrbanOutfitters at the galleria for my shoes since I liked these ones at uo in ny. But..they didn't have my size there either. Boo.

Slept in the car ride home. Rested, got to get online!!, and took a shower. OH and got this blog up to date. Check it out!

Tonight I hung with Erin, Whit, and Dan. We drove downotwn to find bands but didn't have any luck. Ending up at Coldstone then to the fairgrounds to see the Rodeo but left. Dropped dan off, then Erin and Whit went home.

Tomorrow I have nothing planned. No work either. yay

July 28

Today was the last day of NY. I might miss it a bit. NY is really cool.

This morning we did the Empire State Build tour. I was a bit annoyed with the tour, only because it was so commercialized and so crowded. I was expecting to go into the awesome lobby of the building, go in the elevator and click floor 86 or 102 and go there, say hello to the guard at the top and go out onto the landing. THINK AGAIN. Include checkpoints, entering and exiting 3 different elevators, hundreds of people, no AC, and ugly rooms the tourists were forced to be in.

Anyway, at the top is was neat to see the city. Got some cool pics. I was ready to go tho. Had some burgers for lunch.

We hopped in a cab and road down to Soho. Soho is freakin' sweet. It's alot less crowded and the buildings are smaller, and there is actually greenery (trees) every once and a while. I found an Urban Outfitters..woot. Soho is bustling with energy and you can feel the "youthfulness" of that part of the city.

After Soho, took a cab back to Rockefeller Center. Found the Nintendo World store - I was impressed. 2 stores with nintendo games, toys, and shirts galore. I was hoping to find a demo of the new Zelda game, but...*sigh* I didn't lol.

My sister wanted to go to the MTV store in Times Square so we did that. I really don't like TS that much, it's so dirty and crowded. I mean, don't get me wrong it's an awesome spot to see at night...just not to spend lots of time there. I hit up the Virgin records megastore opossite the MTV building and found Metric's new CD for 10 bucks. Woot. My sister got a shirt at the mtv place.

I desperately wanted to go to the MoMa (Museum of Modern Art) up on 53 street. So we took a little hike there, stopping at this cute little french book store. Salut! The musuem was like 20 bucks a piece to go in, so yeah, it wasn't worth that..but we got to go to the design stores across the street. Lots of books on art, architecture, and decorating. Very cool.

Back to the hotel to rest, everyone was dead.

Yankee game! This is a definite thing everyone needs to try to do when in NY. I was actually really entertained at the game, it was packed and you got to see the real people of NY. This old 80 year old guy that's been announcing the games forever kept everyone entertained. All the food was crazily expensive but I guess it goes along with the experience. Oh, and we got free Yankee hats. woo

Took the subway back to Grandcentral and then walked to this little pizza place we've been before. Had a slice of pizza, then super tired, retreated to back to the hotel where I am now. I am laying in this soft cool bed and it feels so good lol.

Tomorrow we leave this epicenter of craziness and city life and head back to the more quiet, less polluted and corn based towns of the midwest.

G'night.

July 27

This morning me, Mom and sister went and had pancakes at this little cafe on 5th, it was really good. All these crazy cool business ladies came in and got their bagels and coffee, then they'd truck out of their with their big glasses and ipods.

Ok so after breakfast we took a walk down towards Grand Central station. It's really impressive, the inside and the outside. I could see where they filmed a scene in Eternal sunshine! Oh, and I got up on the 2nd floor and took lots of pics and tried some time exposures. They all came out really good i think.

Hmm..so then we stopped at some stores on the way back to the hotel. I took some city shots that turned out really cool when I bumped up the contrast and lighting, they look almost like a drawing. Check it out!

At the hotel I found my Dad in the room. He had just got out his little meeting things. We rested up, then headed to our "guided tour of southern Manhattan". This crazy ass lady with huge sunglasses and 80's sandals gave us the most detailed tour of these old buildings down by City Hall. She took us to the court houses and old old parts of New York. She took us into this old church where everyone posted their missing person things and flowers for the victims of 911. Then we walked to ground zero. It's a pretty big hole in the ground.

My parents had enough of the tour and I guess it was over, so we left. Headed back down to the subway, only got turned around once. Headed up town on the 4-5. Got off at the second stop, grand central, and walked to 45th where our hotel is.

The subways are pretty cool. Not toooo dirty, but def a fast way to get around.

Uhm, so yeah we were really hot. And we need to rest and get cleaned up for the dinner cruise we had at 6. All took showers and got dressed up. All the judges and families took buses to the east end of Manhattan on the Hudson. On the way we passed through Times square at rush hour..HOLY shit. It's so crazy. OH! But me and my Mom swear we saw/definitely saw Horaldo (sp?) - that news reporter on Fox. Yeah it was him.

The boat/dinner cruise was the best thing so far of the trip. We got to have this really nice dinner, on a boat, cruising down the Hudson, see Manhattan and Jersey at night, drive right up close to the statue of liberty. The city is so pretty at night. I really really like NY at night. We passed under the Brooklyn bridge. Yeah..NY's def stylin' at night.

Back to the hotel on the bus. The hotel elevators were acting dumb again. These damn elevators at this hotel SUCK. There's like 20 people waiting in the lobby to go up and the elevators take forever, sometimes you tell them to go up..and they'll go down and stop on floors that no one is on. So I was like, screw this. Me and my sister snuck into the Staff room and road the Staff elevator up to the 16th floor.

The rest of the night was spent laying in bed, editing pics and writing this. Tomorrow is our last day. Gonna try to do a lot..Empire State, SoHo, Art Museum, Ccentral Park.

G'night.

July 26

Today was pretty cool. Got to sleep in, then headed out with my Mom and sister. We walked south on 5th ave. instead of north toward Central Park. I found a BestBuy and bought the DFA1979 album (which is totally kickass). Walked all the way to the Empire State Building and got some awesome pics. Turned west and walked toward Broadway street.

On Broadway we checked out another H&M and did Macys, which is MASSIVE. So much stuff in there.

Hmm..We headed back to the hotel and got some McDonalds for lunch (lol). Ate it in the room with Dad who just got out of his meeting. He had some left over pizza from the night before.

We needed a bit to rest, but Dad wanted to go back out so we did. We headed towards the garmet district, passing though Times Square again. Side note: TS if fucking crazy. You can't fucking BREATHE. SO much is going on there. That intersection of streets is like the epitome of man's destruction. I mean, the MTV and the Virgin stores/locales are all awesome...just the cramming together of it all is horrible. And the sidewalks there are so crowded, I mean..ew.

Anyway, we found some little fabric shops and also hit the Old Navy (4 levels). Finally walked back to the hotel, stopping for a fruit smoothie which was totally yummy.

Back at the hotel I rested and listened to the album. We all started to get cleaned up, showered and ready for the cocktail and dinner party. The before-party took place at the NYC Bar Association building. It was on 43th W? I think, yeah. Old Building. During that time...I took an adventure to the upper levels only to discover the most kickass library ever. AND there were computers with internet, so I jumped online and surfed for a bit, before rejoining the crowd downstairs.

The dinner was at this "pricey" chinese restaurant on 40th. There were 7 courses! The food was crazy. Some was good, and other food wasn't lol. I mean I'm sure it was all very expensive well-made authentic chinese food, I just didn't like most of it. I totally had an awesome time at dinner tho. We got to sit with these judges from IL and Ohio, on and this lady for Oregon. Side Note: Woman judges are fucking amazing. They're brilliantly smart and so sharp..omg. Oh, and we didn't get fourtune cookies?!

The walk back to the hotel made NY feel so cool. At night it's not so crowded and the buildings are all lit up. Very very cool.

Tonight caught the episode of PR. Im in love with the young blonde girl from LA. Oh, and for the upcoming "scandal"...Im betting someone is using patterns or stealing other people/designers looks, but that's only a guess. I wonder if that cocky SoB will get booted.

Tomorrow is nothing 'till 2 when we take a tour of southern manhattan.Go to ground zero, i think Wall Street...and idk what else. Hopefully we can check out Soho too! Omgz and in the morning I want to walk to Grand Central, which is just next door..or we can walk north to Central Park and do the art museums..yay.

NY is def really cool. Lets see how the rest of the week unfolds. G'night.

July 25

Yeah, it sucks...there's no internet at our hotel. It costs 15 bucks a day...Wtf? I mean, you'd think a hotel in Manhattan would have free wifi, but I guess not.

So here's how the day went.

Got up early, drove to St. Louis and boarded the plane. I got the window seat, Yay! The flight went fast and our pilot was cool. He drove us right over the city and did a circle back to the airport. We landed at LaGuardia, then jumped in a cab and rode it to Midtown.

Our hotel "The Roosevelt" is really nice on the outside...but is pretty lame. Maybe I'm just tiffed about the wifi lol.

After we got settled in, we went out. We walked towards 5th avenue. Ok downtown NY is pretty crazy. So totally different than anything I've experience before. The hustle and bustle, the smells, the sounds. In the beginning I found it annoying, but now..i really like it. There's so much to do and see.

5th Avenue has some pretty expensive shops like Armani, Tiffanys, and a bunch of others that have like 15 things inside and the door is guarded by a large black man that I guess only lets "worthy" looking people in.

We walked all the way down to central park and there I found the apple store! It's beautiful! So many people were down inside that thing. I think there is free internet too, so maybe I'll hit that tomorrow. We turned around and walked back on the other side of 5th avenue. H&M is one of my new favorite stores. The clothes are kickass, and def not too expensive. I got jeans and a shirt. Journeys had the same Asics as the Springfield shop does.

We took a detour down to Rockaffeller Plaza(sp?) Saw the today's show and the NBS stuff, the GE building, oh and that little place where you can ice skate in the winter. I FUCKIng trounced everywhere looking for the damn Nintendo store and couldn't find it. I think we're gonna go back tomorrow and i'll look again, it's on 47th. Oh, and there's this cute little french bookstore that I fell in love with, and I need to go back.

A couple streets to the west we ran into Times Square. Holy shit that place is crazy. Especially because some rapper was signing CDs at the Virgin record super store. I'm gonna go back to Times Square tho, Im finding DFA1979's CD. Hmm, so now it was like 7-8 and we were super tired and hungry. We found this little pizza place and got a pizza and lots of drinks and sat. It felt so good and the food was awesome.

I def got under the covers by 9 tonight.

Oh how I wish I could lay in bed and IM everyone...sigh.

G'night, miss you all.

Holyyy shiterz

OK. We're at this fucking OLD building for the NYC Bar association and all of a sudden I start roaming around...and I freaking find this MASSIVE old library with like millions of old books. AND I find some computers. Now, I'm sort of dressed up so I guess they think I am allowed to be here? Lol, so I just like walked in the front door and came here. Holy shiters this is amazing.

Ok, AND i have Rita with me and there's wifi...but you need a password. I'm contemplating going up to the lady at the desk and asking what the password is. If I do that, you'll probably see my posts.

Ok..and as for the daily posts. I'm taking lots of pics and keeping an entry for each day, so I'll be able to post them all once I get some internet access. Ok. I'm STILL fucking ticked there is no internet in my hotel.

OMG and as for NY. IT's freaking CRAZY. Times Square is so noisy and crowded - that part of new york bothers me. BUT the part that's like less crowded, the backstreets, the shops - that I really like. OH..and I like all the stylin' people, especially the business men.

Wow, ok. So i'm typing really fast and I should head back down to the party. After this little "cocktail hour" all the judges are having dinner at this supposed facny chinese place...and we get like 5-6 courses? HELLZ yes I'm so hungry.

Kelsey you'd love this library.

Im out!

July 24

Downtown went fast today. I finshed up the brochure, cleaned out my iTunes library, had a good lunch.

About 2.30 I met my Dad at his office and he drove me home. We hit like a standstill on I55, which was never happened lol - being this is central Illinois. There was construction, but I'm starting to notice more people and tourists around here. mhmm.

Hmm, worked the pool 4-8. Everyone was gone by 6 but then these people started showing up with food and tableclothes, so I could tell there was a pool party. They suck because Barb schedules them during your shift, so you don't get extra pay for the party. Oh, and it sucks cause they stay 'till 8. Well it got overwith and I came home.

The night was been spent packing, saying goodbyes, seeing Dan and charging ipods and camera batteries for tomorrw.

NYC HERE I COME!

July 23

Woke up today to my eyes hurting because I guess I had forgotten the night before to take out my contacts. I had some sort of soup for breakfast, I think it was potato.

I worked at the pool from 12-4. It was a bit crowded, but I had the radio turned up and took my breaks in the AC every hour, so it was cool.

Had dinner with gparents at our house - chicken wings. After dinner I took a shower, then Kelsey came over. We went in search for the DFA1979 album but had no luck. We took a detour on the way home and road by the girl scout camp, parked, and then walked to this abandonned summer home on the lake. We couldn't get in, so we walked back. At the camp we tried to walk into the woods toward the buildings, but saw a group of people with flashlights and got scared and ran away.

At my house we walked Signs. GOD that movie is genious. So much better than Lady in the Water. After the movie we attempted to take a walk in the corn, but i got freaked.

Tomorrow is eye appointment around 9. Then work. 1 day 'till NYC! Woot.

July 22

Today started off pretty slow, late breakfast...haircut at noon.

Around 2 I went on a little bike ride with Kelsey. I wonder if that'll be the last bike ride we have for a while...

After dinner at grandparents, met up with Clayton and Dan to go to this girl's house in Chatham. All these crazy crunk preppy people were there. Drew was there and when I came back later with just Dan, he was soooo out of it. He def had way to much to drink. Even tho it was annoying, I found it quite amusing lol. Picked up Erin. We drove around and then went to see Adam after dropping Dan off at 11.30.

Took Erin home, then came home about 12. It's nice to lay in bed and write things down like this. The pics today I was happy with. Kelsey's shot of me I like.

Tomorrow...I work at 12 i think, Idk. I need to call Austen. G'night

July 21

Downtown till the afternoon. Just hung out and worked on the brochure. It's actually coming along now! :D

After work I thought I'd have to go down to Auburn, but Barb called and said nope! I was happy. I lounged around for an hour or so. Ryan came over and we headed to some stores. We hit up Best Buy and the mall. He bought more clothes than me. Sonic for food.

Saw Lady in the Water at 7.20. It wasn't amazing or jaw dropping like Signs. It was more comical, his camera angles/movements were different too. I'd give it a B-/C+

Steak and Shake after with everyone. Erik came with his friend maggie. It was fun, went downtown and hung out, met up with his mom, laughed at drunk people. lol

Tomorrow is no work, just haircut around noon.

July 20

Downtown today. Met Mallory for lunch. We went to this cool little grocery store/restaurant. We had little sandwhiches, it was fun. Normally for lunch I'm alone or go see my dad so it was nice to meet with someone! I should do it more often :]

Hmm..I went home around 2. Got an hour of relaxing before Auburn lifeguarding at 4. It was crowded all the way 'till 8 - sucked. Towards the end I heard the slightest bit of thunder and I was like, "OK POOLS CLOSED!" Hahah.

Home after work and just stayed in and took it easy. Fixed some of the pics for my dad. I don't like how they turned out. Half of the people just look retarted, no one could smile. I'll show my dad the proofs in the morning or tomorrow - see what he says.

I def need to start bookin' it on this brochure at work. I just don't know where to start! Once I get started I'll be fine..I just..can't lol.

Tomorrow is the same work schedule. Blegh.

Saturday I'm off tho!! ;D

July 19

Worked downtown 'till about 2.30. Hung out with Kelsey and Allison for a bit at the Farmer's Market then did a shoot for my Dad at the courthouse. It was a bit intimidating, but super cool. I'll work on the shots tomorrow at work - then post them.

Hmm..after work I chilled at home for a bit then did the lifeguard thing in Auburn. Kelsey showed up at 5 to do a swimming lesson. Then the storms started rolling in. I got a call from Clayton telling me him and Drew were trapped in B&N haha. Me and kelsey rushed to clear out the pool then raced down to the clubhouse. We hid in the women's bathroom and lit a candle. There were alot of drunk people there and it annoyed me. They were just fucking standing outside.

Anyway the storm passed, then Erin, Becca, and Jo came to chill and watch PR. WTF JUST LEAVE VINCENT! Anywho. Then we watched the ending of KB V.1 then V.2. Jeeeze there's so much dialogue. It's tought to watch with a crowd, especially at 1am lol.

Hmmmm..I might come in late to work tomorrow so i can sleep a bit :]

Mallory @ 12 for lunch!!

July 18

Downtown work today took forevverrrrr. This computer would NOT cooperate. We must've been in the basement of this office for four hours, waiting for the computer to update itself, and having to listen to these two lame ass girls talk about nothing for 4 hourss...UGHz.

After work I rested, ate food, download Adobe InDesign for work. I've been trying to redesign this brochure work a week and it hasn't happened. I want it to look good damnit.

After dinner, met up with clayton. We went to the mall and got some pics, I got a sweet hat. Saw people there. Then headed downtown to check out the MF show, didn't go in. Walked around for bit and took shots. Back to Lesley's to hang out and eat some food. Her sister was watching this crazy ass movie, it was almost-basically a porno. Haha!

Tomorrow I was NOT supposed to work, but because my dad talked to my boss..I am. WTF. Ya

July 17

Downtown 'till around 3.

Hung out and relaxed at home 'till dinner. Went out for my neighbors birthday. She's the one with the glass in yesterday pic. My gparents came too. The food was good. Afterward I tried to get the shoes I wanted from the mall, but I'm so undecisive. Size? Color? Make? Yeahh..

Left there and found Erik's house. I like it, it's homey. We drove downtown and messed around, took some pictures and walked around. Then went to the theater to see a movie, but my parents were dumb and said I couldn't go. I said g'byes and went home.

Erin called me on my way home and said she was bored, I said she could come hang for a while. We watched half of Kill Bill V1.

Tomorrow is just downtown, then idk.