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I arrived in NYC yesterday and have had a fun and exciting time thus far.

We'll begin with Jack Randol's BBQ the night before I left.




Backyard blanket and Apples to Apples.



Fake eyeballz provided by Willie



I told my man Joey I wanted a picture of him with one of his Mint Juleps he was making for people. And he looked so sad, I made him do it again.





Next morning/day two flights.. both with screaming children directly behind me. Single serving friends: Marketing man for LifeTouch (whom I told his product is super cheesy but that that was what I loved about it.) and then a music producer named Earl. He was nice and we flirted a bit.
Then finally I was in the city! My first thought was why did I ever leave?

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For the first weekend I stayed with my friend Katie P and her roommate Maureen at their lovely apartment in Williamsburg.




This is the view from their porch. It's a perfect place to see the sunset too.



The most amazing bamboo



Katie and I went into Manhattan to the Moma and walked by this store on the way. Seriously the most amazing dress I may have ever seen.



The Moma allows people to take photos of the artwork.. Wow.






These crystal pieces were awesome. The shadows and all.



Out side of their restaurant, The Modern, there was this awesome fiber and neon piece.







More to come, much much more.

Holiday

I leave for New York in a few hours and am very excited. Unsure of what is to come and anxious to see how it all goes.

But before I hit the skies I'd like to share some great images found on my guilty pleasure website:
http://www.fuzzysquid.com/LJ.php

Los Angeleses & JC's 24th year

My roomie Natalie and I have been into Botany this summer.
It feels good to help something grow. Good Karma.



I also found this gum at Lyndale Grocery, which I believe has some shady undercover business. I mean who sells 2-4-5 cents gum? But I had to buy it because the logo design had about a dozen variations. This is a bad photo of the best ones.





July 8th was my sis Jocelyn's 24th birthday! To celebrate we first went and saw Gonzo, the biography of Hunter S. Thompson. Which is a good thing to watch if you have plans to go have drinks afterwards. Hunter was a wild one.








After, we went to Martini Blu to see Ross and have a drink, which turned into three and sushi complimentary of Mr. Stangler. It was amazing and Ross is a very generous man. We were then ready to go meet up with many a friend at the Triple Rock.



Dancin'










The following night I went to see my friend Michael perform as Ice Rod. He is back in Minneapolis from L.A. and was great fun to see perform again! Don't let the spandex confuse you, this man is very talented.






He threw in this 80s metal-esque guitar part in his rapping and it was amazing. I'm a sucker for guitar shredding.








After the show, I was off to the C. C. Club to say farewell to my good friend Joe Gillette who is on his way to Los Angeles for a great job opportunity! Here we celebrate with hand signs.









After getting others to do it, I apparently turned it around.






GOOD LUCK JOE!!

Now I have even more reasons to visit Los Angeles.

Monday Countryday/ American Means Freedom

SO.. some friendlies from work and I got to talking about shooting guns, and how none of us have ever shot a gun, except for maybe once a rifle, and thats because we all grew up in the midwest where hunting is popular. A group of my friends had recently gone to Bill's Guns and Range to shoot for Ross Stangler's birthday, and I was not able to go because of work, so we decided that we should go try it out. A few things to know is that none of us support owning a gun, or do we condone shooting at anything living.



But this .357 Magnum Smith and Wesson pistol was very fun. I felt like I should be in some Quentin Tarantino movie. Power like this should be guarded very closely. Once the apocalypse comes though, this baby will be mine.




We also got a 9mm.



It wasn't quite as fun to shoot as the magnum, and I accidentally referred to it as an 8mm to the range master, or whatever the title for the guy running things at the range is. Art school has made my millimeter talk go to evens. Damn you film students.




Ali locks and loads. Check out that target.. beautiful.









There was this hilarious (ill-tasting) target of two hijackers and a stewardess that my friend Evan got. So rediculous.




Andrew had his Metallica shirt, police mustache, ripped up jeans and boots on. He was the most fitting character for our journey. I tried to get him to give me a hard face pose, but got this half-assed fists-in-air picture. its funnier this way though.



And since the best shooting picture is of Evan, its only fair for me to add this next one to even things out..



Evan found this police helmet in my car en transit. Now he is much closer to reaching his dream of being a soldier for the law.

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Fouth of July

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I hit the highway to make it to the best beach I know in the area with some of the bestest people I know in the area. This is the way we celebrate our independence: Go to an unsanctioned beach fondly known as "Naked Beach" and drink some beers.























After beaching it up, Jenny, Jack and I grilled Kabobs on my back porch, and ate fresh cherries jack brought over.









Happy friends make a happy fourth. Summer has commenced.