Ch-ch-changes

I thought I'd try out a new look for my blog -- anyone have a preference? I'm trying to add Ads to the page but I haven't been able to figure out HOW... There supposedly is an AdSense tab on my blog dashboard but it seems to have disappeared...Oh well. I'd probably only make 7 cents a month anyway ;) I told Justin that could be my contribution to rent but he didn't seem too keen on the idea. Strange.

Old School

Back of the car with roommates (at the time) Nicole and Lesley - - on my birthday last year!
Ha, this is from a BBQ my coworkers and I threw at my bosses house last Sept. She has a great deck and back yard for these things! (don't worry, our boss knew we had the bbq!)
From Homecoming at IU last fall. I caught up with my 'daughter' Lesley and 'granddaughter' Bree! Ah, sororities...
This is another picture of the (at the time) roommates. Lesley was an aerobics instructer, I was a messy doll and Nicole was the Corpse Bride for Halloween!
I think this was one of my first outtings with the Houston's Crew this past winter!


Lesley just sent me a link to all of her photos on Yahoo-pictures so I thought I'd put a few funny ones up from the past year! Nice of her to do that because my computer has crashed a couple of times and I'd lost everything!
Anyway, back to the present! Last night my Grandma Murphy treated my aunt Kellie, cousins Murphy and Ariel and me to gelato! We met at this little shop on Main St in Santa Monica called Chocolat - -it was delicious! I had never noticed the place before but will from now on ;)
After gelato I went home, unpacked (yeah, I know, I should have earlier but I was being lazy!), and finished reading Naked by David Sedaris. He's hilarious - - his book of short stories was very entertaining - - I'm looking forward to reading his other books on the drive from LA to Chicago!!
xo

Time to go Home

Tash and I pose one last time
Brian, Kate, me and Justin
Ariel and Me
Little Oisin

I had a great/busy time in Iowa- was home for Heather and Jay's wedding. I was a proud bridesmaid, Heather looked gorgeous and no one fell while walking down the aisle ;) I got in Wednesday morning, took my dress in to get altered, had my hair cut and dyed, and then went out with the girls (as mentioned in a previous post). Thursday I got fitted for Tash's bridesmaid dress and then we had champagne and veggie pizza at her house. That night I hung out with my family and then went out to the bars with Megan and our friends, it was a lot of fun. Carriage House has $3/Pitchers Thursday nights so we had to stop in there too! Friday I picked up my dress from Bridal Perfections and then we just hung out til the wedding rehearsal followed by rehearsal dinner at Johnny's Italian Steakhouse in Moline. Very delicious.
Saturday morning started early and ran late for me - - went to The Lodge to help Heather and Co. decorate at 8, then off to get our hair done, get dressed, photos at the church, and then of course THE WEDDING at 4, followed by more pictures, a crazy limo ride back to Jumers, er - The Lodge, dancing and lots of food and then to meet up with Megan and crew, with Brian and Kate in tow! Whew! What a day!
Sunday was a little more calm, we went to Sports Fans for lunch and then Justin took me to the airport. My uncle picked me up and we went over to see Ariel, who's in town from Bend, Oregon. CAN YOU BELIEVE SHE'S 13!? She's so tall and beautiful! I was wearing shoes, that's the only reason she looks shorter than me! And that last photo is of the youngest Murphy cousin - Oisin. He's a cutey, isn't he?
What an eventful few days!
xo

More Iowa Fun

Watch out Justin!
Megan and Jenny match, isn't it cute
Family shot plus Justin!
Justin and I do a reverse Prom pose, ha!

Dark photo of the newlyweds Heather and Jay Johnson!

Wedding fun

Group shot at Stockade
Jenny, Megan, Joy and Amanda are candid at Carriage House
The Blushing Bride
Kate and I ride in style to the church
Blurry photo of Heather and her bridesmaids

Megan and Angela at Stockade after dinner
Angela, Me and Tash
Jenni and Me
Fox working hard...
Michelle, Tash and I get goofy

Here are a few pictures from my Adventures In Iowa last week. This only allows me to post 5 pics at a time so here are the first of the group!
Megan, Angela and I had a v. tasty meal at Exotic Thai and then met up with the rest of the crew at Stockade in the East Village of Davenport. From there we visited Fox, working at Mound St. Bar and then it was back to Stockade! More pictures on the next post

Martinis and Pizza!

Pepperoni and basil - - tasty for the meat eaters
Lesley, Stephanie, Sophie and Sarah
So that's what 5-$14 martinis look like....
Stephanie, Sophie, Me, Sarah
Last night was Lesley's friend Sarah's last night in town - she was here a few days visiting from Chicago. We had big plans of martinis at Lola's and dancing at The Lobby, but ended up being too tired from the long day and instead called it a night after having a martini at Lola's and their very tasty pizza. (Sophie and my veggie pizza was amazing! Lesley and Stephanie's pepperoni looked delicious too if you like that sort of thing, ha) *Let me tell you, it pays to have friends in the food industry- Lesley and Stephanie knew the bartender so he only charged us for the pizzas! Free martinis!! Thank you! I guess the Houston's crew frequents Lola's so the bar staff treats them kindly.
Well I'm off to my 6 mile run....wish me luck, my legs are sore from the Santa Monica Stairs Friday night and my short/fast run yesterday afternoon. Oh well, rest comes tomorrow!
xo

Granville

Just got back from tattooing Sophie! We went to ST Tattoo Parlor in Venice and Sophie got her dad's middle name, Granville, inked on the inside of her left wrist. (he passed away when she was six) The tattoo artist was very nice and patient when we asked a million questions, ha! Sophie was like 'Oo this doesn't hurt much at all' at first..but when he got to the center of her little wrist she was in a bit of pain. But the guy worked very quickly and it was only $60, not too bad! If I were ever inclined to get a tattoo I would def. go there! But I know that's not gonna happen!!
Afterward we went to Urth Cafe on Main St. in Santa Monica, it's very tasty, now I'm going up on the roof to sunbathe and then later it's off to Lula's in WeHo for margaritas. Yum yum!
xo
(oh, apologies for the blurry photo at the end!)

TGIF!

Whew, another week over! I'm counting down the days til the move -- here is my schedule that makes the count-down so sweet:
August 15th - Take the red-eye back to the QC
August 16th - hair cut and dye from Kear at American Hair. My favorite hair stylist in America (well, as tested in Iowa, Indiana and California) Also, possible alterations on my dress for Saturday's events
August 17th - Get fitted for Tash's bridesmaid dress
August 18th - HEATHER'S WEDDING REHEARSAL followed by dinner at Johnny's Italian Steakhouse.
August 19th - HEATHER AND JAY'S WEDDING! I am honored to be a bridesmaid! Followed by the reception at The Lodge (which will always be Jumers to me)
--And I am accompanied to the events on the 18th and 19th by Mr. Johnson who is graciously coming in town from Geneva! Thanks Justin :) (he is the handsome young man in my second post, aka: my boyfriend)
August 20th - back to LA
August 26th - MY 24TH BIRTHDAY!
Aug 31st thru September 4th - My good friend Maggie comes in town!
Sept 8th - My last day at trio films!
Sept 13th - Justin flies into LA
Sept 15th - Justin and I drive cross country (first stopping in Phoenix, going to visit my Grandpa Dave and Grandma Edna - yay!)

K...well it's great to have that schedule up...keeps me in line..?
xo

Angie's Bday

Amy and Sarah Strike a Pose at LAX
Group Shot at LAX: Me, Sarah, Angie, and Amy
Celebrity Shot -- Benji from Good Charlotte DJ's while Amy dances to the beat.
Another group shot: Amy, Sarah, Me and Angie

Last night I went out with Amy, Angie and Sarah for Angie's 24th Birthday! We ate at Empress in Hollywood (not officially opened yet but we were asked to go to the 'soft opening' for some reason! nice) which was DELICIOUS!! and then headed to LAX after a failed attempt to get into SkyBar. --"Reservations Only" they said so we cabbed it to LAX.-- It was a good time after Angie smooth-talked us into the front of the line ;)
When we got into the club we were loving the music so we wanted to check if DJ AM (part owner I believe) was working it! But nope....It was Benji from Good Charlotte. I guess he's their Saturday night DJ - we had no idea - but he did a great job! We danced til closing time! Happy Birthday Angie!

Cabana Club

Group Picture! Sophie, Norton (melissa really, but there are so many of us- it's last names only!), Sam, Stephanie and Lesley!

Lesley, Norton and Sophie

Funny faces from Stephanie and me - - The guy took 7 pictures of us in a row, we weren't ready!!

Let's get together, yea, yea, yea! Sam, Steph, John, Sophie (in front), Lesley, Sara, me


So much fun with Sophie and the Houston's girls last night!
Sophie's my good friend from New Zealand - I met her a couple of summers ago, she was actually my first friend in LA! Then of course she went back to NZ...boo! But she's back for 6 months so we're having lots of fun til I go.
My roommate Lesley and her friends/coworkers at Houston's restaurant in Century City always are a great time, so when they invited Sophie and me to The Cabana Club we were more than willing to accompany them! Stephanie's brother, John, is a promoter there so he hooked us up with free entry - - very kind of him, it can get pricey in Hollywood!
Well I'm going to head to the beach for the rest of the afternoon and then it's off to Amy's for dinner and later- dancing! ( read: more pictures for tomorrow's post I'm sure)
xo

Happy Birthday Mom!

pictured: Kathleen, Kellieann, and my mom Maureen!
Matty J, Nique, Me, Megan
Megan and me earlier that evening!

Today is my mom's 39th Birthday. (...you're not 29 anymore, right Mom?) Or something around there...teehee*. She and my sister Megan were out visiting July 14th-26th so we celebrated a little bit the night before they left - - which was closer to my dad's birthday, actually. They're 8 days apart! - - The first two pictures above were taken Sat. the 15th at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery before we watched The Big Sleep. My mom's with two of her many beautiful sisters. The second is the rest of the group and the third is posted because I know Megan likes that picture..haha. Excellent movie by the way! The cemetery shows movies every Saturday night throughout the summer. Fun place to have an evening picnic! (and it's only a $10 'donation' to the cemetery to attend)
Anyway, happy birthday again, Mom! I love you and I'll see you in a couple weeks! xo

*blogger's note: spoke with my mom, she said it was her '49th' birthday. my mistake ;)