Update Your Readers!

Hey everyone,

I just want to make sure that everyone following this blog has updated their reader to incorporate my new blog on WordPress. The domain is: wearingmascara.com.

Go there and hit the "subscribe" button. Email me with any questions or concerns!

xoxo,

Julie

Woo-Hoo!

Google finally gave up my domain from the hostage situation!

I'm FINALLY switching to WordPress early next week! Here's the email I got from Surpass:

Hello,

I am pleased to inform you that your registration transfer for [wearingmascara.com] has completed. Your domain registration for [wearingmascara.com] will now expire on August 4, 2010 and is fully manageable via your client account at http://client.surpasshosting.com/. When you are ready, you can update your nameservers for [wearingmascara.com] to point to your hosting account with us through your account. If you would like us to do this for you, please reply back with your confirmation. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Thank you,
----------
Josh
Server Analyst II
SurpassHosting.com, Inc.

Dear Joshy-Washy,

You have been so incredibly helpful! Thank you for that email - you MADE my day :-)

Love,

Your-Blogging-Sweetheart Julie

Well folks, I'm finally switching over! I'm SO excited for you to see the new design. In case you missed it, go here for the design teaser.

Okay, now back to work - big project due tomorrow plus an exam I haven't studied for yet. Eeeek!

Julie

A GRAY hair?

Last November, I stupidly decided to dye my hair black. To make a long story short, it was dreadful and I tried so desperately to bring my hair back to its natural color.

More recently, I realized that indeed, I have achieved my pretty brown color yet again au naturale.

Yesterday, I discovered a gray hair.

WHAT?!

I am 24 years old. My mother didn't see her first gray until around late 30's (and is still not noticeably gray) and my dad found his mid-30's.

What is going on?

So I plucked it and examined it closely. From my observations it IS a gray hair but it also could be light blond. Today, I plucked ANOTHER one. I am not liking this vicious cycle.

Now I'm trying to decide what to do next. Do I dye my hair a semi-permanent color? Do I go to the salon? Do I leave it? I'm sure I'm the only one who notices but it does bother me.

Has this happened to anyone else at such a young age?

Julie

*Update: I re-examined my hair and I could be over-reacting. Geez I dunno! Maybe it's because my hair has been one color for so long and now it's back to my natural color which includes highlights? Eek I dunno.*

Have a Drink for Me

Hello fabulous people,

As I sit here, I am in the graduate lounge practically buried in assessments... scoring protocols, etc. I am trying to finish scoring a case (the easy part) so I can then muster up the courage to put it all together in one lovely comprehensive report that anyone will be able to read and understand it without any psycho-babble attached.

It's Friday and I wish I was doing what Nina just said on Twitter:

Time to start the transformation from casual-friday-not-so-chic into a tres-chic-cocktail-party-go'er

I wish that I had a regular job, was in regular clothes and I was trying to figure out what to wear for a night out. Instead, I am in crappy jeans and a bright yellow college t-shirt without any mascara planning to get into pj's the second I get home to do more school work.

Sigh... I couldn't even put on mascara today...

This morning, my classmate (who just so happens to be My Skinny Friend Who Doesn't Get Fat) had to present to the first year students (I presented 3-weeks ago) and I had to show up to their class at 10:30 to help with whatever they needed. Instead, I got a frantic phone call from my SFWDGF (Skinny Friend Who Doesn't Get Fat) telling me that she got in a minor accident and needed me to find a towing company for her.

Oh dear...

Anyways, she ended up being an hour and a half late and in the mist of the confusion I couldn't get properly ready for anything. So I have been discombobulated (wow, I typed that and it didn't need spell check) all day.

The one thing I do have to look forward to is tomorrow night is my friends birthday so we're going out. YAY! Actual socialization aside from blogging/Twitter/and my classmates! I feel like an actual human being :-)

Oh May... where are you? I could use you right now. I can't fricken wait for this semester to be over! It's going to be amazing. My classmates (and some fellow bloggers) and I are thinking that in May we'll plan a FULL DAY of drinking starting with Mamosa's. No, I'm not a drunk - just stressed is all. No need to over-react and call a doctor.

Wow, that was such a ramble of a post! Now I need to think of a proper title...

Enjoy your weekend and if you have plans, please have a drink for me :-)

Later,

Julie

Extremely Frustrated

Hey everyone,

This post will be quick because I'm fuming and I don't want too many negative vibes sent out in blog-world from me.

I am STILL waiting for Google (my current host) to release my domain name to Surpass (the host I'm switching to). I don't understand why it's taking so long and I'm beyond frustrated. Here's part of an email that I got from Google on March 23rd which inspired me to write this post:

Dear Miss Mascara,

Google Apps received notification on 3/22/2009 that you have requested a transfer to another domain name registrar. If you want to proceed with this transfer, you do not need to respond to this message. If you wish to cancel the transfer, you must do so before 26-Mar-09.

*yada, yada*

If we do not hear from you by 26-Mar-09, the transfer will proceed. If you have any questions regarding this issue, please don't hesitate to contact us. We're here 24x7 at: xxx-xxx-xxxx

Regards,
Domain Services
Google Apps

So, one would THINK that on March 26, my website would switch over to Surpass which would mean that my new design/website inspiration would be up and running. Also, you know how at the end it says "we're here 24x7"? B*LL SH*T! I just got back from class, called them, and after several beeps and clicks later they say that their customer service isn't open now.

I hate Google and the fact that they have made this process so damn impossible. Surpass on the other hand has been complete opposite. They have emailed both my designer and I DAILY since we started this. We even asked them for advice and even though they don't know what's going on with Google, they provide support and keep communication open and they will until the switch finally gets accomplished.

Anyways, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to continue to blog here and one day, it will be switched. Maybe I'll get notified by Google before it does (doubtful) but most likely you will just ponder upon a new site whenever it switches.

Thank you all for sticking with me. I appreciate your support and have loved reading your blogs this week! One post that really cheered me up recently was from According to Erin (Prep-E Girl) here. We all need a little silliness right?

Sending hugs to you all,

Julie

My Weekend!

I want to tell you about my weekend with Dan. We typically like to go away for our anniversary. The first year, we went to Williamsburg, VA and enjoyed a wonderful one-night stay in a fabulous suite. The best part of that visit wasn't Colonial Williamsburg (I didn't like it), but instead just being together and having a fun, silly time.

Last year, we visited Philadelphia because it's only 2-hours away and we both hadn't visited it yet. We stayed in a B&B and it was great! The highlight was on that Saturday night we both got SO wasted at a bar together (which we never do because someone always has to drive!). The next day, we couldn't remember ANYthing we talked about except that it was all very deep conversations (religion, philosophy, life in general) and at one point I cried. HA. So funny!

Now that brings me to this past weekend. About a month ago, I came across a deal on Travel Zoo for a cheap stay at a "nice" hotel in Easton, MD (near Eastern Shore). I'd never been there before and I wanted to see the Chesapeak Bay so we thought "why not?".

Here is a tip for you all: Never, ever, EVER visit Easton, MD before April. Just don't do it. Keep reading and I'll explain.

We arrived Friday night and realized our hotel was incredibly small. The shower was so small that I could barely take a decent shower ALONE. Dan even suggested we take one together (ya know, it is our anniversary!) and I looked at him and laughed. Soon, as we got settled, it also became clear that our room was incredibly hot. We tried to open the window and to change the temperature. NOTHING. Now, I don't know about you all but for me, temperature is everything. I need it to be cooler than normal to be comfortable. At least, I'd like to have control over the temperature for crying out loud! At one point, I was so hot that I considered throwing the TV out the window to break the glass. Ugh!

Saturday morning we woke up in a pool of sweat (exageration yes, but it seemed like it) and left to go shop around this small little town (that was all there was to do) and eat lunch. The shops were "eh" but our lunch was FAB-U-LOUS. I think our lunch on Saturday was the highlight of our stay in little Easton, MD. We went to a little pub nearby that was recommended by the hotel staff. The chips were perfect and our pulled pork sandwich was to die for. It was a lovely experience.

Now I want to fast forward to Saturday evening. Dan and I were back in the hotel after a nap getting hungry. Hmm... Some crabs and/or seafood would be nice, right? I mean, we WERE in Easton, MD! I took out my trusty iPhone and start looking for the best seafood restaurant around within our price range. Ah-ha! Found one in Oxford, MD and I called ahead and they said they were open 'till 9. We drove out to Oxford and arrived at this "restaurant". No one was eating, everyone was drinking. We felt incredibly out of place and their menu was terrible so we left. SURELY we'd be able to find another nice, quaint, seafood restaurant right? Uh huh...

I start to call other restaurants and check websites. EVERY RESTAURANT WAS CLOSED FOR THE "SEASON". Maybe I should have known this? That all seafood restaurants were closed until APRIL? Whatever. Dan and I are flexible people so we drove back to Easton, MD to look for a decent restaurant within our price range (think Olive Garden prices). To make a long story short, we attemped to eat at 7 restaurants per the hotel staff's recommendations. They were all either closed for the season, closed already (it was 9 pm by this point), or way too high in prices ($50 for a meal? I don't think so!).

Finally I looked at Dan. His red beard looked more red than normal - like it was on fire - from our frustrations. I suggested Applebees because we saw one on the way in.

After all that, we ended up at Applebees and had a lovely meal.

Then we went to 7-Eleven for large Slurpee's because we knew that once we got back to the room it would be stiffling.

With all our bad luck during the trip, I still had a great time. That's what matters most right? It's nice to know that even in a crappy situation Dan and I could still laugh at ourselves and the fact that we had no where to eat.

FYI: Please don't think that Easton, MD is a bad place. It's not! Just visit after April for some good seafood. :-)

BTW, I think my switch to WordPress will be happening on THURSDAY, MARCH 26th! If this site is down for a little, don't panic! I'll be up and running soon. Also, I will continuously be updating the new site so bear with me!

I will still be at this domain: wearingmascara.com

This may be my last post on Blogger because of all the school work I have up until Thursday. See you soon on WordPress or visit me on Twitter until then! Also, check out my design teaser here!

xoxo,

Julie

P.S. I am an idiot. I thought this was my 300th post but it's not. You know how on Blogger they tell you how many posts you have an they include your drafts? DUH. OMG I need a glass of wine or something.

My New Mantra

As most of you know by now, I'm training for the Cherry Blossom 10 mile run on April 5. That's 2-weeks away and my training is going pretty well! I have had some set-backs but I am honestly quite proud of myself.

So far in my journey, I have realized that I used to sell myself short when it came to running. When I described my running goals and new hobby, I would usually preface it by saying, "Oh but I'm not a runner!" That soon sparked a running question in my head:

What makes someone a runner?

Am I a runner? Can I use that word to define myself when I barely can run a 10-minute/mile pace?

A couple weeks ago, my training required me to complete long runs. Runs that I never thought I could do. Runs that, when looking ahead in my training schedule, I thought "Hmm... that's where I'll struggle." My first long run (from my perspective, this is different for everyone!) was 60-minutes long. The first part of the run, I was thinking "Wow, just think of the blog post you will write when you complete this!" Then I thought, "You probably won't complete this so don't have too high expectations."

I kept saying those things to myself and therefore I didn't have faith in my abilities. I realized right then and there that by talking like that made me not a runner. It was then that I decided:

"I am a runner."

I said that phrase over and over in my head and I successfully finished that long run last weekend in the rain. It was glorious and I cried so many tears of happiness.

That quickly became my new mantra. "I am a runner." There will be no more excuses for myself and even if I don't complete the run the way I want to on any given day, that's fine. As a runner, I will get back out there the next day and try again. I will no longer give up.

A few days later, I completed my second long run: 70-minutes.

"I am a runner."

"I am a runner."

I am a runner!