Updation!

So its been a while since I last made a public post (I'm sorry, but I've been resorting to keeping my blogs and LJs private as of lately). I'll try and make updates more often as far as blogs go, though. Annnnd, speaking of updates...do you like the .com makeover??? It's obviously a lot more simple. I decided to tone it down once again. I’ve been feeling more “simple” now-a-days. Maintenance has become very time consuming.

Basically, though, I'm here to tell you I'm still alive!!!!! I'm still out here…in NYC and having fun. A lot has gone on in the past couple months. I decided to give y'all some highlights (if you are one of my LJ friends, this might be slightly repetitive to you...but there a few things I hadn't mentioned). Here you go:

Bamboozle – The girls and I went to boozle for the first time together (you may remember my journal post last year when I went with Jeremy). This is actually where Erica, Jessica, and I met in 2006...well, I had met Jessica once before previously, but now look at us 1 yr later. I can't imagine my life without them. This is like a huge event in the music industry. It's only one weekend long and held once a year in the parking lot of the Giants Stadium in Jersey. Its compared to other festivals like Coachella, SXSW, & CMJ. It has about 8-10 large stages and maybe 60 or so of the top bands you could think of playing from morning until night. You probably already read about my whole review of the weekend in one of my last journals, and if you haven't…you should. With the exception of me being sick this year, we had an awesome time. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Angels & Kings – If you’ve been keeping up with my pictures and my myspace, you’ll notice this is an obvious new favorite of ours. It's new…it’s a bar…and you may have heard about it through the press as being owned by Pete Wentz. False (although partially true)…it has, in fact, 17 owners (yes, I'm serious). It's just a really cool bar we like to go to and hang out, cause our friends DJ there and pretty much any night we want to go, we are sure to see friends (kinda like Cheers!). Actually, it almost reminds me of McCoy's from my college days (my MC crew knows what I’m talking about). It’s small, has two small bathrooms, only two bartenders at work (which I'm not sure it's safe to say they knew us by name and drink by the end of the very first week), and is always packed.

Band In a Bubble – Cartel went into a bubble about a month ago to live the bubble life 24 hours a day with live cameras streaming video straight to the internet. The night they went in, we went Angels & Kings for their "Viewing Party." It was loud, chaotic, and fun. Free drinks all night long…and the highlight for me was an Australian. PS...does anybody have a strange craving for Dr. Pepper, now?

$300 hoodie – Yes, that's right…I bought a $300 hoodie (Billionaire Boys Club to be exact…think Pharrell). It has a white ground with neon pink, blue, & yellow boombox stereos on it. It's a medium, baggy, and bright…just the way I like 'em (ghetto Jiscil’s gotta represent, ya huurd). It looks like I'm wearing my boyfriend’s clothes (well…if I had one). And yea, I've worn it once…so with that said, does anyone want to buy it from me? Lol. It's goes down as one of my top 5 most stupid purchases EVER! This is when I hand over my credit card to my roommate to hide from me.

Monty – The boys were back in town…the boys were back in toooown. They had a show at The Knitting Factory in May and well…I missed their entire set! I totally got lost walking there. Honestly, I've been there more times than I can count on both hands, and I still got lost. One thing my friends know about me…I'm always late, even if I leave early, I always end up being late somehow (such a horrible quality, I know. I’m working on it). I wasn’t the only one that was late, though. Christy got lost, too…er, well, caught in a snow storm. I’m actually not kidding. They were filming a movie a couple blocks over, and I get a phonecall from Christy, “Um, did it snow today?” She was serious…oh how I love this girl. Anyways, so we missed their set, but got to see a new band I think I might like called Melee. They kinda remind me of Jack's Mannequin. They're cool. I might buy their CD…we'll see. We hung out with the Monty boys and whoever else was on the tour at Delancy for all sorts of debauchery. Always a good time when they're in town. Everyone should see them play live.

ELLE Photoshoot – Yep, it’s just like it sounds. I had a photoshoot with ELLE magazine for their August issue. I got pulled aside by one of their photographers working on a fashion assignment (she liked my style), and we did a mini photo shoot for it. It's not guaranteed that I'll be used for the issue, but there's a good chance it could be. Hopefully, it will…and hopefully it won't be an awful shot of me having some sort of lazy eye or some goober face expression like I always do.

Marriage – “Who marries? No really…who marries?” …just a hilarious quote from my friend Mary (you kinda had to be there). But gosh, June has been the month of marriage. Two of my close friends, Holly (& Dave) and Mel (& Rog) have all got married. Can you believe it? My friends are married. I seriously didn’t think these days would ever come. Before you know it…babies will be on the way. Oh boy, let's not go there just yet, but I'm sure it's gonna come faster than we know it. I can’t believe how fast time flies. Both weddings were pretty spectacular, so beautiful, and a ton of fun.

The Dagger is 24 - Gosh, Erica just turned 24 yesterday! You always know when this lady is around because that's always where the fun is. We celebrated Friday at the Stolen Transmission party held at Angels & Kings and DJed by The Tarts of Pleasure. Dance parties were held and we even got our encore for "Discotech" by Young Love. Then yesterday we went birthday style a la BK complete with Wii tennis tournaments, Hpnotiq, cupcakes, and rooftop Scattegories. Holler.

Paramore – Last month I went to the first Paramore show I've been to in a while. It's not even an exaggeration to say I was blown away with their performance. I've obviously seen them countless times, but the amount they've grown and all the passion I saw come from within them was outstanding. Their new album, "RIOT!" came out June 12th which basically means you should already have it in your possession...and if you don't, I seriously don't know what you're waiting for. This album is awesome. Go out and buy it or download it on iTunes. It's worth it, trust me. They've already apparently sold 45,000 albums the first week putting them somewhere in the top 20s on the Billboards...and they guest appeared on TRL last week! Gosh, I am so beyond happy and excited for them. They so deserve this!

Petey Wentz's Birthday – So it wasn't any surprise the birthday bash would be held at any place other than Angels & Kings seeing as Pete and the rest of the bands under crush management have part ownership. Most likely due to the tight guest list they had at the door, the bar about the size of my apartment was only a little more than half-full. As the birthday boy walked in the room with his hot arm candy/girlfriend, Ashlee Simpson, flashbulbs from the paparazzi began to light up the whole room and equally so every time your scene celebrity walked into the room. Members of Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Hereos, The Academy Is… and more were there to celebrate. Even Tila Tequila was there, don't ask why, nobody cared. I met up with a favorite Aussie of mine and was distracted for the rest of the evening leaving this angel on a cloud and the king in the corner on his throne.

Grapefruits – Wow, who writes about grapefruits?...apparently, I do. Anyways, the grapefruit spoons I asked for Christmas have come into great use. I'm addicted. I didn't know one can have an addiction to these, but it's true. I do. I have one, at least, a day. I love them. With some sugar sprinkled on top…mmm, it's delicious. Vitamin C, people…gotta get my vitamin C.

Jesse turned 30 – Seriously sweet 16’s are so 8 years ago…Sweet 30ths are where it’s at! Jesse turned 30 while the rest of us stayed the same age (hahaha, jk). He's actually most likely to be one of the youngest guy I know, though. I mean seriously…he has more toys, sneakers, and fun than most 9 year olds. This also makes him one of the coolest guys I know. Not to mention he plays keyboard for a pretty rockin band you may have heard: Motion City Soundtrack. Also, he's pretty much the honorary 6th Curbside member, so that makes him ahead of the rest already (either that or he’s just got enough dirt on us to keep us close by).

Xander – I really hate to brag, but our newest addition to my family is Xander. He's a silver tabby kitten, and good lord is he gorgeous! You know how there are show dogs…well apparently he comes from a whole family of show cats. He is even related to our older tabby, Maggie. He's so friendly, so lovable, and fits in our family perfectly.

New Job – In the past two months I have moved on to a new job freelancing for American Eagle Outfitters and their higher quality, new line called Martin + Osa. I'm working in design/product development. It's pretty intense and there's a ton more responsibility, but I like it. They treat their employees well, and the atmosphere is so different from what I've been used to. I love the people, too. Then, I have to mention, I just spent $90 at their sample sale (employees only) and got 8 shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of shorts, 9 bags, 4 wallets, 13 pairs of underwear, and 8 pieces of jewlery (some of the stuff being from Barney's, Kitson, and more...easily over $1000 worth of merchandise). Score!

So You Think You Can Dance – No, no...don't get the idea. Everyone always comes up to me and asks why I'm not on this show. Trust me, I would LOVE to be...but I'm happy doing what I'm doing right now, and plus, these people are outstanding...Hello! Lacey Schwimmer!?! I have never really watched a full episode of this show before, mainly due to the fact I was actually at dance while this was on. But lately I've had the chance to peak in on it. No one I know is on the show this time, but let me just say this now...I will be America's Next Top Lacey Schwimmer Fan. She's adorable and soooo talented. Her first piece (contemporary) performed with Kameron took my breath away and could have possibly brought a tear to my eye…ok, I'll admit it...it did! I have to say, I can only remember one televised performance ever doing that to me before, so with that being said…go Lacey!

Cartel Has Left The Bubble – Cartel burst their bubble only a week or two ago, and what better of a time for my fellow curbie Erica to make her official DJ debut at their "Coming Out of the Bubble Party" at where else...Angels & Kings, of course (are you sick of me saying it yet?). Under the superb teachings of Rob Hitt…she can now don the DJ title for real. Again, pretty much your average party at AK47, but the air was so hot and muggy. My bangs were matted to my forehead by sweat and a silver headband (gewww) and the air conditioner was pumping so hard, it spit back at us. There was dancing on the benches, people on top of other's shoulders, and shouting of classic rock lyrics…quite the rowdy crowd. Quite the celebration.

Phewwwwwww...that was long. I almost feel out of breath.

Where I'm at...

I feel like every year I step into, I find out more about myself, who I am, or the person I’m trying to become. I’m even beginning to be more comfortable with it, too, and just learning to accept myself. There comes a lot of criticism from the internet world or from people you’ve lost touch with…you almost get sucked in and start to believe what you hear. People tend to judge by the pictures they see, or misinterpret things you write about without knowing what you really meant to get across (I’m a big culprit of this…I totally say one thing, but it never tends to come out the right way). After a while, it becomes so exhausting to watch what u say and watch what you do. I think I’ve learned to just let loose and have fun, make mistakes, and be myself. I may have changed a lot over the past couple years, but there are some things that will always stay the same (if you know what I mean). I still stand for the things I believe in...for the people that really know who I am, you understand this.

It seems weird at the age of 24, I’m beginning to realize all this just now…and not to mention, I think I feel younger and younger by the day (maybe not look it or act like it…but in my sense of freedom). I’m letting go of ways I always hated to be, but didn’t know how to get away from. Wow, I’m growing up!

I’ve made so many new friends that I can’t even explain how grateful I am for. I truly do love meeting people and even just sharing and having a common connection with anyone. I’ve become so intrigued with people in general. I found friends in the city that I completely adore and hate spending any time away from. They are exactly what I needed in my life. I’ve always been so lucky to have such great friends. I’ve had people to hold me up, accept every part of me, and experience the greatest points in our lives together. I think we all compliment each other’s personalities so well…never leaving a dull moment and always having so much fun no matter what it is we do.

I don’t think I’d ever change a thing.