Life Is Beautiful...

Lyrics to "Everybody is free to wear sunscreen"
    by Baz Luhrman

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '97,

Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term
benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis or
reliable then my own meandering experience.  I will dispense this advice....now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, nevermind, you won't understand the power and
beauty of your youth until they've faded, but trust me in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of
yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous
you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra
equation by chewing bubblegum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind: the kind that blindsides
you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts; don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy.  Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind.  The race is
long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive; forget the insults. (if you succeed in doing this, tell me how).

Keep your old love letters; throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life.  The most interesting people
I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of Calcium.  Be kind to your knees -- you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't.  Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't.  Maybe you'll
divorce at 40; maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either.  Your choices are half
chance, so are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body: use it every way you can.  Don't be afraid of it or what other people think of it; it's the
greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance...even if you have no where to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions (even if you don't follow them).

Do not read beauty magazines; they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents; you never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings: they're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in
the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but what a precious few should hold on.  Work hard to bridge the gaps
and geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you
were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old; and when you
do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children
respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you.  Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse,
but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you are 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it.  Advice is a form of nostalgia;
dispensing it is a way of wishing the past from the disposal--wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and
recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me, I'm the sunscreen.

*I've always loved this song, and it makes more sence to me now then ever before*

I am perfectally imperfect, I cannot read mucis, cook a five course meal that dosn't include easy mac or at least a few things that come out of a box or can, or do long devision. I offten wish I could spell better but quickly give up and just look the word up on google. I am offten a hot mess that's running around like crazy to get to whereever I'm going on time. I'm six months out from college graduation with no solid post-grad plans yet. More offten than not I'm too lazy (or just dont care enough) to wear makeup, straighten my hair, or put on my glasses in an attempt to "represent Wet Seal (my current job) well".....their words not mine when I was asked to try harder with my makeup and "maybe wear high heels more"......are ya kidding me? I'm fed up and frustrated with the responce "we're not hiring a girl"..that is NOT a legitimate answer! I still listen to and love Hanson, and more than likely always will. I'm anal retentive and obsessive, I love to make check lists, to do lists, and maps and WILL get anoyed if they are tampered with. I have "emotional baggage" or whatnot...but what can you expect after being in love for five years and then it just ends? I cry durring sad movies or sad songs....offten. I freak out and hide on my counter from spiders untill someone else comes by to kill it. I sometimes care too much about what other people say to bring me down and too little about what the ones I love and care for say to build me up. *deep breath*

I love to sing in the car and drive like I'm too cool for school (with or without a passenger). I'll listen and honestly care about your bad day, break up,or bad hair cut. I'm VERY persistant and will offten get what I'm going for or at least die trying. I love my family more than the world it's self and am surounded by people that love me back no matter what. I still have friends that I've had since I was a kid and we are still nerdy and fun. I like to sit on my floor in my underwear and paint...usually while eating icing from a can. I day dream offten...then make lists of how to make those dreams come true. I'm not easily embarassed but I can be shy. I LOOOOVE to give thoughtfull gifts for no reason other than the fact that you were on my mind. I still love and resepect him as a friend and cherish the times we spent together, they were amazing. I love to dance like a fool and I dont really care if you're looking. I plan to one day own the COOLEST haunted house ever built and have people from all over the world come to get the crap scared out of them. I like to try new things but sometimes get frustrated when I dont understand what I'm doing. I take long road trips to see bands I seen tons of times before and enjoy it just as much the 12th time as I did the first. I love meeting new people and making new friends.

.....Yup, my mom thinks I'm a catch.....

So last night after work I got to go out with my two sisiters and one girl that works with us at the office (Heather). I guess I've just been so busy and stressed lateley that I haven't really spent much time with my sisters and I kinda forgot how much fun we have together. We started the night at a resturant called "Cena", its like an upscale Mexican resturant and on Friday nights from 5-7 they have three dollar apitizers and two dollar drinks! The food was really great and shockingly I even loved my sangreias (even though I'm not much of a wine person). The best part was giggling with my sisters and Heather at the semi-cute waiters everytime they walked by.

*Cena is so pretty inside!*

*Yummy Tapas*

Next we went to the new outdoor shopping center called The Green. I was the only one that had never been there since I'm not usually around this area. The Green looked exactally like Easton which is a giant shopping center in Columbus that my friends and I love to go to all the time (I guess The Green was designed to look like Easton btw). It's a really neat place that has tons of cool "city walks" and stores and live bands, it looks like it's own little town inside a town. There is even an apartment complex inside it but I guess it's insanly expensive and the waiting list is really long to get a place. I was snapping pictues away like a total torrist (even though I live like half an hour away, lol) and my sisters were just laughing at me. We decided to eat dinner at this resturant called Bar Louie becuase they have great deals and specials. I was suprised becuase when I ordered my drink my waiter didn't even card me! That's deffinantly the first time that's ever happened. We had a blast there (I got a bbq sandwitch that was delish!). And their drinks there are soooo cute, I got a chocolate drink and they even spell "Louis" out in chocolate on the top.

*Adorable apartments inside of The Green*

*"The Pub", I love how this picture flashed back and caught me in the reflection, it almost looks like a double exposure*

*This was really neat!*

After eating and walking around for awhile listening to a man on the street playing saxophone we headed off to a less crowded sports bar to go sing some karaokee (sp??). I LOVE going out to sing with my sisters because they're not scared to get up and sing infront of everyone so they make it really fun. The place wasn't busy at all so there was no waiting list to sing so we took full advantange. I sang Bloodhoud Gang with my sisiter, then she sang I Got You Babe with my other sisiter, then she sang I Will Survive all by herself. lol! We spent about two hours or so just laughing and having fun before we called it a night and all went home. Moral of this story? Enjoy the time you spend with your family!

How about you? What do you like to do with your siblings?

Ok guys, so this is the end of an era, my last warped tour of 2008. BUT it was by FAR the best experience of my life to date! So first off the day started out kinda insane beause me and my friend Becky decided to get up at 5:45 to start making some cookies that we had promised to various people at warped (FTSK, Jac, FF5, etc). Now that in mind you have to realise that we didnt even get home and get to bed untill like 3am the night before becuase we had been at the warped tour after party in Cincinnati. We were kinda dragging behind but we managed to finish all the cookies, shower, and get ready, and get out of the house on time (I think we made like 60 or so!!). HOWEVER all of our rushing didn't really get us much becuase about half an hour away from the venue we got lost in crap-nowhere Indiana and had to spend an extra hour trying to find our way. We ended up having to pull over at a gas station and just ask for help. Well, we finally got to the venu around noon and we were already hot (my car's AC just broke) and just ready to chill out and relax.When I first got there I gave my first set of cookies to the lovely Julie (she works at the guest list) and she was SOO happy about it! She's pretty used to seeing me by now so my names not even on the list anymore, she just has my passes ready, BUT since it was my last date on Warped for the summer she upgraded me and my friends to VIP All Access and told us to have fun. :  )

*nom nom nom!!*
So as soon as we got inside we checked the list to see when everyone was playing and saw that we had some down time to relax from out stressfull drive and chill out in the shade but first we decided walked over to say hello to some of my friends at the Kevin Says stage and drop off their cookies. Then we went over to chill with the guys in Family Force Five and help them blow up ballons and set up. While we were back there I saw Xanadu's "legit" bracelet and was like "I'm totally buying one of those today!" and he just smiled and took his off and said I could have it if I liked it (I havent taken it off yet! lol!). After helping the guys we went onstage to watch them perform and to dance with them durring their songs. As always their show was SUPER high energy and amazing. The band playing after Family Force Five was We The Kings so we decided to stick around and watch them too (we even got to hang backstage with Travis and watch him warm up!). We stuck around for part of We The King's show and then decided to leave but not before we said goodbye to FFF5 and got an invite to hang on their bus durring the after party. After that we set out to find Jac and give her her cookies and give her come company. We had to look for her tent FOREVER becuase somehow we kept missing it. Once we found her tent we gave her her cookies and talked to her for a bit and exchanged phone numbers so we could meet up and go watch FTSK (I still really really need to buy her "ruthless" and "brutal" ones becuase they're like seriously the cutest things I've ever seen).

*X and I are too legit to quit!*
By then we decided that we wanted to go over and visit our friends at the Hurley.com stage and just chill and watch some shows. We spent a good hour watching shows, drinking icees, and sitting in the lounge where it was cold before we head over to see FTSK. When we got there we went to get backstage with Jac and security wouldn't let us back without the bands permission so Caleb had to give them the ok. The show was awesome but I cut out early to go watch my other friends band perform and to wish him a happy birthday. As always his set was INCREDIBLE but I'm still super sad that that's the last time I get to see them for a long time. Then he had to go and take a shower and do a signing for about a hour or two so we took the oportunity to walk around and buy some merch. By that time my friend Chris was free and wanted to hang and so we headed over to their bus to chill with them untill Motion City Soundtracks set (we promised Matt we would make it this time). It was SOOO good to get to see Chris and the guys and catch up with them since I havent' seen them since the take action tour months ago (I got to see Matt's new tattoo of his world of warcraft character! Sooo neat!). While we were back there Becky and I were kinda just grinning to each other because the whole time two busses over Travis McCoy and TAI were chillen. Then it was off to see Motion City Soundtrack play, it was super fun and I'm sure we made fools of ourselves becuase Becky and I were dancing around like nerds just laughing and having a blast (I'm pretty positive people must have thought we were drunk or somthing).

*watching FTSK with the girls*
Motion City Soundtrack was the last band of the day so it was time for the after party and just general awesomeness. First we stoped by FF5 booth while they were tearing down to make sure we had their bus number right and told them we would check up with them later. On the way backstage we stoped and helped them carry some of there merch back to their bus. Once we got to the after party me and my friends kinda split up to hang with different people and I went to hang with Chris and the guys. Sadly they had to leave at 9:30 to go do a thing at Dennys where they have to eat with fans (Chris kept texting me about how bad it was. lol!). When they left I went to hang with my friend Andrew for his bday and chilled on their bus for a few hours talking and listening to music before he decided to go to sleep. When I got off the bus two of the friends that I met up with there had gone home and one was nowhere to be found so I walked over to the FF5 bus and chilled with Xan for an hour or so talking about music and touring and his wife and such before I headed out to walk around and he went in to go to sleep. Well I was just walked around the party for awhile and watched Gabe DJ for awhile and then started looking for someone I recongnized when I saw William Beckett and walked up to him and started talking to him. He was SUPER sweet and remembered me and Sarah (xblanksface) from the day before (he actually said she was super adorable!). So I hung out with him, his cousin, Ryland, and Alex S. for awhile chatting before my friend called and I was ready to leave and they said goodbye and went to play poker. SADLY I dont have pics of the actually after party b/c I didnt' want to look like a total creeper taking pictures of them since I had taken pics of them the day before and in Cleveland *cries*.

*He's pretty much adorable*
So by the time we lef the party it was around 2 am and Becky and I were both super ready to go home and crash out BUT being the people we are we got lost on the way home too! lol! We found our way pretty quickly though and set off. We also pulled over at THREE different exits that had Taco Bell signs to eat and ALL of them were closed, very lame! By the time we actually got home it was about 5:30am and all I could manage to do was take off my shoes and fall into bed. SO, that was PRETTY MUCH my day but I WILL tell you one thing, the COOLEST part of my night isn't in this blog b/c I pinky promised someone (who may or may not be in a band whos name involves some kind of snake and some kind of transportation) that I wouldn't blog about it. BUT, I'm a woman of my word so I will keep quite (other than to Sarah who I've already spilled my guts too of course). LOL! Hope that dosn't leave you in too much suspence. So thus ends my Warped Tour 2008 and I'm SUPER sad to see it go (however it is nice to get some sleep finally and do nothing for awhile).

PEACE OUT WARPED TOUR!!

ps- I also got to hang with my lovey crush for a few hours btw Carrie. :  )