The Romantic

I was the lucky recipient of a personal invitation to the Philadelphia pre-screening of the sensational new animated film, "The Romantic". It was pretty exclusive, but I had an "in" with one of the crew members. Not just any crew member. Yeah, believe it or not, I had an "in" with THE composer of the entire soundtrack, Nathan Terry. Despite the fact that the cold I developed on Monday (which I thought was gone by Thursday) decided to come back on Friday like some kind of campground killer and slaughter my voice, Jamie and I went up to Philly to take part in this once in a lifetime opportunity. Somehow we braved the rain and wind and arrived at the Circle of Hope theatre with time to spare. The movie was really awesome. The animation was twisted and the storyline was even more so. But I definitely enjoyed what I saw. I might not have comprehended it all accurately, but it entertained me and held my interest throughout. Moreover, the music was phenomenal. I don't think I'm bias in saying that either. Somehow Nathan continues to impress me more and more. I didn't think it was possible! He's an amazing musician/composer/person and I definitely feel honored to know him and to even have had the chance to work and collaborate with him. So, what I'm really trying to say is...




I fucking hate the fucking jerk.

You'll be sweet til you get to your car

Today I stopped by the Lollipop Tree and picked up my tips, my Cokes, and my CD's. I'm officially done. I'll get my last check next week, but that will be terribly, terribly small as it will only have a relatively small amount of hours on there. Major bummerz, ya'll! No more cakin' for me! Boo hiss hiss

Remember the 5th of November

Another day in paradise. Midterms done. Six weeks in this quarter to go! By the time it's over, it'll be Christmas already. That's really not good considering the news I received when I got home. Due to some changes and financial difficulties, I've been let go from my job at the Lollipop Tree (or the Lollipop Forest, if you will). It sucks to be perfectly honest. But I understand that tough situation my boss was in and I don't hold it against her in anyway. I just have no idea what I'm going to do for money now. It's pretty hard for me to find a place that would give me one day a week with such a potential for hours. Especially a job that I enjoyed as much as I enjoyed that one. Sometimes it wasn't easy, but I did really enjoy it. I learned a lot of techniques that I'll definitely continue to use when I bake on my own from now on. I'm a little bummed. Really the perfect end to a perfect week. LE sigh.

Your face is driving me nuts

This picture is basically used for symbolism too. Again, it's pretty buried, but eh. This day sucked. I'm not going to go into it. It was actually bad enough that that's all I'm going to say about it. But, I like this picture so I'm going to post it and call it a day.

I hope you all had a much better Hump Day than I did.

Trust me when I say the water is still rising

I didn't take any pictures from this particular day so this picture will due, I guess. Just a random stock photo, I guess. And in some ways I feel it's symbolic. But the symbolism is pretty buried so I won't go into that.

Symbolism aside, I had a pretty alright day. My computer science class got done unexpectedly early. Despite that, I had to hang around a while afterward. I used the time wisely and started my 3 page paper on, believe it or not, Blogger! Anyway, I was expecting a ride to pick me up to go to the Fire to see Vince play a show in support of his new EP. I had a very special cab number that I called. I got the number from this guy, John. I'm really glad he passed it onto me. Great service. Apparently this guy is available for bachlorette parties too! I'm holding onto this number! So, I thought I was going to be late to the Fire and possibly miss Vince's set, but I wound up getting there before him and not missing anything. Didn't miss a single thing. Good set, though. And, about the EP, you should check it out. It is very lovely. So good I bought two.

Make Yourself Naked EP for sale on iTunes. It's only $4.95, folks! Get it! It's really good! I kid you not! And if you're unfamiliar with Army of Me, you should check out their album "Citizen". It rocks. And it rolls.
Ok, I'm done trying to make the hard sell now!

I don't wanna work

Another day of work. All these projects were for my midterms due so I was pretty swamped. This was my still life. I worked on this all day on and off. I would switch back and forth between revising my English papers, writing my cover memo, and this.

Spoiler Alert: I got a good grade on this still life. Yippee!

Scarlett Johannson Portrait Complete

My Saturday was sort of a bust. I went to Staples in order to get a jump on my design class project, but unfortunately they were no help at all. So defeated, we went home and I worked on other work. The next day my mother and I researched the closest Kinkos (my instructor said that Kinkos is better than Staples) and the nearest one that we could find, that was open late enough on a Sunday, was in Mt. Laurel. So, we went all the way up there and the copies cost me $17. Ridiculous! Then we hit up the mall briefly so I could look for a book bag (got one! yay!) and then my crazy mother couldn't resist the urge to partake in a little Bahama Breeze for dinner. We wound up getting home sometime around 8 wherein I got started on my project right away. A little after 2 I finally finished. This is the finished product. I better have gotten a decent grade considering how frustrating this was to make!

Pride's not power

I had a short day at work, just 10 to 4. I didn't take a break because of my short day and just tried to get done as much as I could. I would have gotten more done if I hadn't put the wrong name on the above Snow White cake. If you look at these cakes closely, you'll see that the same thing is written on both. I did the Snow White cake first and when it got to the point of writing, I some how mixed up the cake tickets. Luckily, I realized this when I got back to the Dora cake and realized I couldn't find the ticket because I had stuck it on Snow White AND that I had put the complete wrong thing. Four year old Jessica would have been pretty upset. But I easily fixed it and all was right in the world. But I had to get goin quick cause I had a special show to get to...


What show? The Halloween Spooktacular at the Bus Stop Cafe! It wasn't just special because it was a Halloween party, though. It was also the last show that we, J&TY, are going to be playing for a while. Due to my incredibly busy school schedule, I barely have time to do anything. If we didn't take this hiatus, I wouldn't have any time to write NEW music nor could we ever be able to record anything for the next album. So, reluctantly, I made the decision to stop booking shows for a while. It really added to my stress level the days prior. I know this break is a good thing, but it's still hard on me. As stressful as planning and playing shows can be, I still love it. I love the performing parts. Be that as it may, it was a really good show. Good friends came out to support and the audience was actually pretty full. Stupidly, I forgot the CD's. Pretty stupid thing to do at a last show.

But I digress, it was a really fun show. I wish they were all Halloween shows. I love dressing up crazy like. Lady Gaga has the right idea!

Now that is all wrecked

From Sunday afternoon til Friday night, my week sucked, so I'll just sum things up quickly. I was home alone with my grandmother as my parents were both out of town and despite doing everything and taking care of her, she still treated me like a child, and did absolutely nothing helpful. I would not count staying up til I got home on Tuesday night so the dogs would know what to do and where to sleep as helpful. Just stupid and annoying. I was super stressed at school. The weather sucked. The commute is killing me. And I was a lot more upset about Friday being our last show than I thought I would be. I had a mini meltdown Wednesday night. Just been a tough week. But, I hung in there. I came out the other side. Even this story has a happy ending. At least I hope it does.

Men do cry, sir

Worked from 10am to 1:30am and then I took my mother to the airport at 5am.
I think that about says it all.


Surprisingly I'm still here to tell the tale!








ps. if I didn't hate the Louis Vitton pattern before, I really hate it now!

I don't even know if I can rock no more

Speaking of Ai wasting my time, I went to my 12:30 class and it was, surprise surprise, CANCELED. This sucked a great, great deal more than my Comp Science class being canceled. Now I was up in Philly with no where to go and no one to hang out with from 12:30 til my 6pm class. This is my life lately. It's really annoying. I called around to a few people, but everyone was either at work or busy so I went to Rittenhouse Park and did some school work and people watched. As I was sitting there, two girls came up and asked if they could take my picture for the local Philly magazine, Two.One.Five for their style section. I agreed so I guess keep checking for me in there if you're a subscriber. haha Then I happened up the Dodgers leaving their hotel. I didn't have a clue who any of them were, but I stood to watch because I thought there might be a fight or something. I thought maybe some Phillies' fans would throw rotten tomatoes at them or something. No such luck. Afterward, Jamie was nice enough to come up and have dinner with me. I got a little human contact! woo hoo! So, maybe I haven't had the best luck with classes, but I did luck out with the weather. It was a seriously nice day. Nice enough to sit on a bench and feed peanuts to squirrels. Squirrels that come over and wag their tails at you when they want more! One of the cutest things I've ever seen!

What a waste

After design class, I have a few hours to chill before Computer Science. Often I can be found in the mall in the food court chilling. Instead of reading my English book I'm eating and playing with my camera. Way to buckle down, self. After lots of procrastinating, I went to go to class and it was canceled so my procrastination break was a big ol' waste. Ai wastes my time a lot. I hope that's not a bad omen.

Masterpieces take time

I'd like to introduce you to some bottles. I hope you like them. You may see them a lot.

What do you think, George Harrison of the Beatles?

Despite the crappy weather, the show had to go on! And we did. Despite the crappy weather, John made it up to see it! It wasn't local at all for him, but he came anyway! Not to say that our more local friends didn't attend. We had a few attendees that we haven't had in the past! It was a good turn out! It would be since this was our second to last show before the hiatus.

We need more blankets

Due to my lingering vertigo, I was 25 minutes late for work. Because of this I was given the annoying task of making this Transformers cake. Surprisingly, the hardest part about it was transforming the car into the robot. I couldn't believe that I couldn't do it until I looked at the box and it said it was the most difficult level of transformation. I messed with that thing for SO long. It was such a triumph when I finally got it to work! I don't know how I did it, but I didn't not transform it back into a car just in case I couldn't figure it out again! I think the little cake dude came out alright. It wasn't easy. Hopefully that kid liked it. I wasn't too pleased with the final product. OH WELL.


After the show, I rushed home and got changed and set out to Philly to catch Dead Men's Bones. We thought we were late, but apparently the band was four hours late and they hadn't even let anyone inside by the time we got there. It was packed and we stood leaning against the wall through most of the talent show acts before DMB came out. I couldn't stand anymore and I went and sat down near the front. Couldn't see the whole stage, but I could see enough that I was happy. It was a sweet show. A theme show for sure. I wasn't going to take many pictures, and I really didn't, but I was trying to get some decent shots of that Ryan Gosling dude. Such a stand out act from the Mickey Mouse Club. Sings JUST like he did back then. Crazy. Hardly any difference at all. You wouldn't believe it if you saw it.

You have failed conclusively

If you've never had vertigo, consider yourself lucky.
Never underestimate the importance of sleep.

The sun will melt the candy

Had a full day of craziness at school. In Portfolio class, we went on walk about around the city. It was pretty pointless as everything seems to be in that class. I kept getting left behind with a few people and wasn't able to hear what the teacher was even saying so it was absolutely stupid. After class, I made a flip book for my animation class the following day before Composition I. After that class, I rushed home in hopes of getting my other animation device finished in a timely manner. Unfortunately, it took a bit longer than I thought it would and I didn't wind up getting to bed til after 1am. This was bad since I had to be up at 5:30am the next day...

I <3 Kylie

I've really gotten behind updating this due to my hectic schedule. My schedule hasn't gotten any less hectic, but I want to update so I'm going to! It'll be a shock if I can remember anything to update WITH!

But I definitely remember THIS day! :D

Due to it being only my 2nd week in quarter, I decided to pack my car with everything I would need to go up to NYC after my design class. I was running pretty late and practically flew to Philly and hiked up the five flights to get to my design class just to find that it had been canceled. The amount of anger I was faced with at that moment is impossible for me to describe. After some calls, I decided to go home and meet up with Jamie there instead of at the Hamilton Station.The trip up to NYC was a lot less frustrating and rushed. Even got the VIP train! woot woot! Had a nice, yet overly priced dinner at TGIFriday's and then got in the long, long line at the Hammerstein Ballroom. I won't mention how I sneaked my camera in, but it was pretty uncomfortable. ;) Without sounding mean, I have never been to a show where the ratio of men to women was like 6 to 1. It was a brodeo. These dudes have good taste, though. This was Kylie's first American tour and it was worth the wait! The venue was a little frustrating. The stage was so high and the floor was so flat. It was standing room only, basically, and it was pretty much impossible for me to see despite how close to the front we were. After she de-skulled, I couldn't see her at all so we ventured further and further back. All the way to the steps that you descend to from the entrance doors. Luckily, I squeezed in next to the rail and was able to see! We were pretty far back, but I still got some nice, though lower quality shots. (two of those pictures are from when we were closer up)I became a Kylie fan way back. When I first met Louise, she had a shirt that said, "I <3 Kylie". At that time, Kylie hadn't even released, "Can't Get You Outta My Head" here in the States so I had no idea and I said, "who is Kylie?" The rest, as they say, is history. Ironically, the girl standing behind me on the steps was not only blond, but was also Scottish! I felt like Louise was there with me in spirit!! Such a great night! The only thing that would have made it better would have been if I didn't have class the next morning and I could have stayed and seen some NY friends! boooo

Everybody love everybody

My cake making schedule has been severely diminished due to my new school schedule, but since I don't have classes on Fridays I'm free to work from 10 til we're done. I personally did five myself. And as I sit here typing this I realize that we never did any confetti cakes. Whoooops..... Oh well.

I woke up this morning with a killer headache. That's just not right. That's a crime against nature. You go to sleep to get rid of a headache. You should not be able to wake up WITH a headache. It's not like I was out drinking last night. So lame. I proceeded to have that headache all stupid day long and still have it now. That brings my tally of headaches per day this week to four days. I've had a headache everyday since Tuesday. So lame. I think my brain is broken.

In other news, today would have been John Lennon's 69th Birthday. I don't normally word it that way. Normally I just say, "It's John Lennon's birthday today!" but on the radio the DJ worded it that way and it made me really sad. My wording leaves room for denial! Clearly I'm not in denial about the fact that he's not with us, but it's not really something I enjoy thinking about nonetheless! No matter if I was alive when he was alive or not, it still bums me out. Nobody knows what he'd be going if he were alive. Maybe he'd done more music, maybe he'd just be a hermit, the world will never know and that's probably what's the saddest thing about it. He's undoubtedly one of the most influential artists in the English speaking world and it's so lame that he's dead and Yoko is alive. Sorry Yoko, but I think people would trade you in for a few more years with John! Sucks to be her! haha But I digress, perhaps I've said too much...

Point is...

Happy Birthday, John! <3

Thank you, Boo Radley

Welcome to my new loft in Philadelphia!

Drop by any time between the hours of 10am to 9pm Monday thru Saturday and 11am to 8pm on Sunday!

Why was she your best wife?

I drive by this church everyday on my way to the train station. I love the sign. It's not a shock to me that God loves U2. After all, they're a humanitarian, God-loving band. Plus, they're awesome. And bonus, now I can rest assured that Bono did NOT sell his soul to the devil.

Suck in the guts, guys, we're the Ghostbusters.

Started classes today. Also took my first trip on the high speed line. Neither were too taxing on me. The only problem was the parking situation at the train station. It's free parking so it fills up quick with all the people working standard work hours and by the time I arrived, I was forced to park way down this one road some 4 or 5 blocks away. It wasn't a problem in the morning (despite the gusting wind), but considering my last class gets out after dark, I wasn't stoked to be walking that by myself. The other hiccup I faced was the first day laze; that is the fact that the first day is essentially just a "this is what we'll be going for the next few weeks" and all the professors let us out early. So, I had a lot of hours to kill between my classes. I spent a lot of time at Borders. This picture is from the 3rd story window of the Borders. Why is the fountain water pink? For Breast Cancer? All I think of when I see is the evil pink slime in Ghostbusters II.

More like bor-ientation

Orientation day. On one hand I was happy it finally was here, but on the other I was a little nervous. And the fact that October arrived so quickly didn't help. September slipped by in no time flat. Be that as it may, I got up at 6am, left a little late, hit a ton of rush hour traffic, but managed to arrive on time. This was no orientation led by Michael Scott. This was a bor-ientation. I nearly got some digits from this boy, Dom, who thought since I graduated in 2002 that I was about 30. I can't imagine why when he said, "Do you want my number?" I said, "No.. I'm not going to call you.." Anyway, good things did happen. I made a friend! At lunch, I sat down on a couch near this girl that looked like she was unlikely to bother me. I was wrong. BUT I'm glad that she did because we hit it off and wound up hanging out after orientation was over. Her name is Mollie and she's a pastry culinary major. The day was a lot better after lunch. Come to think of it, after lunch, everyone seemed a lot more friendly and awake. The magic of free food! Anyway, I got my classes and I'll be pretty much lost to the world on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for the next 11 weeks. Stressful, but hopefully it'll be a good thing for me and lead to better things!

Happy, happy cake, cake!

A few highlights from my day. Laura deemed the smiley cake her favorite of the week! Yay! It's a pretty cheerful cake. I was all about doing it. But I'd be all about eating that chocolate bar cake! YUM!!

Chump day

Some days are annoying; today was one of those. Despite that, Kristin and I were kicking ass and getting a lot done. With another huge stack of cakes for the week, we managed to get a good head start by pulling and icing as many cakes as possible.

The top one I did was actually ordered and requested for 3:00, but the customer arrived to pick it up at 2:20. That annoyed me. People must think that we have nothing else to do. She probably didn't tip me either. Lame.

Either my work sucks or I happen to do the cakes of cheap bastards. I get shitty tips. I'm in college people! I need some money!