I'm a lot like you so please, hello, I'm here, I'm waiting.

In less than a week, I will be in JAPAN. I leave next Tuesday, March 2nd!!!!!!!!! I am excited. In Japanese, apparently, that translates to "wakuwaku suru!" I have been saying this to everyone, regardless if they understand.

Jesse is still in Australia, and it's a little tough when he's out of the country. It's harder to coordinate times to talk to each other, and he's not simply a call away, really. We've been doing well, though! The time difference is funny because as I'm getting up to go to the gym and head to work, he's usually just finished a show and heading to bed. When I'm eating dinner, he's waking up. I say "sweet dreams" as he says "have a great day."

With the help of Skype (and specifically the iPhone application!) we can talk on the phone on different halves of the world for free. We e-mail, chat, and video chat whenever he has an internet signal. Just yesterday morning as I got back from the gym, Jesse was online from a venue in Sydney where they had just finished playing (with freakin' Rx Bandits, Glassjaw, Sunny Day Real Estate and Jimmy Eat World!). I got to "hang out" backstage via webcam and catch up with him. He also brought his computer out in some area above/behind the stage and I got to see Jimmy Eat World perform "Bleed American."

As I sat in my bathrobe in New York. Oh, technology!!!

In Japanese - oh, kagaku gijutsu!!!

I'm not sure about much of anything in Japan in terms of internet connections and time available to update, but I'll try to! I'll be traveling with Motion City for their three shows from Tokyo to Nagoya to Osaka. I'll obviously be taking lots of pictures, notes, etc. for a full report upon my return. One other thing's for certain: I won't have to videochat with my husband once I'm there!

Questions 38-42 (That Dude and His Band Edition)

Ah, the questions about Jesse! These were pretty hard to answer. I feel like I could go on and on and on, but I won't!

Were you hesitant to start dating (no less marry) a guy in a band that tours often? How do you deal with his frequent absence from home?

When I first started dating Jesse he was in town recording an album and would be off to Europe for tour within a month. I knew all this but I also knew it was worth a try, given how much I liked him. And there were definitely moments in the beginning that I hesitated diving into it, as he could have been like certain other touring guys out there who aren't particularly great or loyal when they're out of sight. My fears were swiftly squashed as we got to know each other, and I knew that we were on the same page before he left. Since the beginning, we've kept everything very much on the surface - there were no dating games.

Of course, dating and marrying somebody that is on tour is a challenge; but every relationship has challenges and him traveling is pretty routine at this point. I miss him a lot, of course, but I wouldn't change anything about how our relationship has evolved in the past three years. I've developed some pretty good communication skills having moved around all my life and keeping up a lot of long distance friendships and Jesse's the same way. It's almost a non-issue because touring is his job - and I'm obviously supportive of his career, as he would be if I was the one that traveled the world while he worked from an office. We miss each other a lot when he's gone though, that's for sure! And I get the added benefit of visiting him on the road, to cities and places I've never been and we get to explore them together.

Your second question I can answer along with the next one...

How does it feel to be married and have your beau on the road fairly often? How do you cope?

Well, the best thing about the whirlwind that was this year is that I am extremely busy; there's always something going on, some errand to run, some movie I must catch. And my friends are amazing in this city that never sleeps, so I never feel too lonely when he's gone.

Keeping myself busy is key, as well as keeping in touch with him while he's out there. Best thing ever: video chat! Seriously, forget texting, email, and the phone...we have the best conversations when we can see each other while we talk. We make time for each other and put in the effort, because, in case you hadn't noticed, you know, we like each other and we're in love. (Barf.)

That's all I've got: communication is most important, and be clear: it's not a medium in which you can play any guessing games. You've already got tons of white noise going on with the distance and when and how you communicate, it's not wise to waste each other's time dancing around subjects or not telling each other how you feel. And, of course, it's about that word we always hear - trust. Does that make sense? Hope so.

What is the hardest part of having a boyfriend/husband/"other" on tour all the time? How does it feel to be married to one of the members of Motion City Soundtrack? Did you fall in love with his amazing handstand on the moog?

The hardest part, to me, is missing out on something great that he's experiencing, or when I'm having a great time and he can't be right by my side. Like the holiday party - I had a blast, and I only wish Jesse had been there to share it! We have plenty of years and fun times together ahead of us, though.

It feels great to be married! And to a member of one of my favourite bands is cool I guess, but it's weird how I didn't really think about it that much when we started dating. The band stuff kind of all melted away when we began hanging out and getting deep in conversation and having tons of fun. We connected on a personal level that wasn't tied to the band; as much as people are skeptical about guys in bands, some dudes in bands are skeptical on the reason a girl is with him. I don't think Jesse would have proposed if he thought I was in it for free tickets to MCS shows!

His moogstand is quite amazing, but definitely not the reason I fell in love with him!

I have 2 questions! haha

(1) How did you & Jesse meet?

Yay! Easy! I've already written all that out here: PART I & PART II.
(2) Do you ever find it hard to date (and now be married to - congrats btw!) to a guy in a band? I just recently started dating a guy in a band and I'm worried about how it will work when he's on tour and I'm still in school! 

I think I answered this above; I hope it helps a little. Any long distance takes some time to find a rhythm in which you're both comfortable!

Yeah, man. What a jerk that Matt Taylor is! Once I was in the front row and am sure I looked absolutely ridiculous since my life was being completed and all, but that dude had the nerve to actually laugh at me!

And I just wanted to say it makes me REALLY happy that you were a fan of the band before meeting Jesse.

And a question: the other day I was mentioning to a fellow MCS fan how I follow Jesse's wifes's blog and she asked your name. I of course wanted to say Jessica but then I was like, could it really be Jesse and Jessica? And how had I not noticed? Were you called Jessie growing up? Is it ever strange?
 
Ha, great to find this one in my inbox! Yeah, I never hid it, I've always been a fan of the music and the shows. I just wasn't a personal fan of Jesse until much later!

I was not called Jessie growing up by anybody except a relative or two; I don't like the nickname! It's not really "strange" that our names are similar, it's actually just funny. Especially when we're with our parents who have always shortened our names to "Jess" and we both look up. It's been a couple of years but it still happens!

That's what I've got! A couple more question posts are in draft mode right now. And hopefully tonight I'll post my Top Ten Albums of 2009! Got any more questions?

Friday !

But really, this is about last night.

We braved the cold to watch LOST @ Jaime & Rob's. That had to be one of my favorite episodes of LOST ever. Yes, I'm partial to Desmond, but the episode was so well-crafted and intriguing. Then we decided to ride into the city for a party at Fat Baby called Rock It! It was cool, but we were just relaxing. We left before any dance parties started. We're old.

FALSE! We're awesome. Also awesome? Jaime. She's rad. I'm professing my love for her right here. "If Jonah Bayer can't find a group of eighteen-year-old girls interesting, then they are most definitely BO-RING." HAHA

Erica and I got home to find Jesse online from a Soundwave venue in Melbourne. He had a Meet-n-Greet while we were talking, so he just faced the camera towards said meeting so we could "hang." HAHAHA Probably the funniest moment was when Erica and I were just talking and not really paying attention and Tony's head just popped in from the side and slowly backed out. I managed to grab some screencaps (HA!) of funny times.






He's back so soon! Who's stoked???? Guess! Guess!

It is a HAPPY Monday !

Happy Mondays rarely, if ever, happen.

However, this morning I got to video chat with Jesse again before going to work. Last night we video chatted during his soundcheck, and when I woke up he had just finished playing the show. Ha. I also have the most amazing screencap to share - will edit this post at home (and I don't care if you're sick of my screencaps!) Oh, and Tony asking about pantsuits - that is all.

(Said amazing screencap.)

Also, video chat came in handy yesterday whilst talking to Steve, as he hadn't seen our apartment since we built out rooms in it. My tour in front of my roommates was, I'm sure, hilarious as I ascended the stairs backwards and narrated as to what had changed. And then he goes, "Wait, are you on the first floor?" "Dude, I just went up the stairs backwards, did you not see that?!?!" Whatevs. If you'd like a memorable--if somewhat disorienting--tour of our apartment, hit me up on AIM.

Yeah, ps, secret: I like to video chat.

Oh! I heard the acoustic Motion City tracks and I'm in looooooooove. They're all fantastic, but I have a place in my heart for the completely-different-route taken with "Fell in Love Without You." LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! (I've had some coffee today...)

Last night, the Oscars were enjoyable, if not predictable. I will say that I enjoyed Marion C., the La Vie en Rose actress beating out Julie Christie, and totally into Tilda Swinton winning - she was my pick! I'll say it now: There Will Be Blood was my favorite film to come out last year. Do love DDL. And PT. And milkshakes.

Okay, I'm going to take a second to opine on the fashion:

Favorites!
Amy Adams wins, in my book. I loved the color because it was different, and is rarely pulled off quite right. I love her Veronica Lake hair, because it reminds me of old Hollywood glamour. I love that she chose not to wear ANY diamonds (did you see the diamond tapestry dripping off Nicole Kidman?! Blech.), and instead only wore elegant gold earring matching a gold purse. And the dress itself is beautiful - classic, but with a modern twist, given that Proenza Schouler neckline. LOVE IT.

I enjoy textures and Gaultier...aka win.

I love her. And the dress was not just another black evening gown. Texture!

Cate Blanchett looks radiant all the time! How?? I'm seriously into purple. And the woman sitting next to her in the front row with the jet black hair and vibrant purple dress - whoever you are, I adore you.

Do not like!
I LOVE Rebecca Miller as the talented writer and director that she is. And I do love her husband. But...even as eccentrics go, I can't deal with this dress.

Maybe it's because I'm a little jealz, but Sarah Larson (AKA Clooney's girlfriend) looked awful. Okay, even if she wasn't dating Clooney (who was dapper, as always) I'd still hate on this dress. Talk about wallpaper. The color, the fabric texture, the sparkliness of the damn thing in the theater - ugh. Also, her face. (Jk!)

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh lame. The feathers look tacked on as an afterthought. Yawn. (Please check out the pregnant fashions of Cate B. and Gwen S. for future ideas, fanx.)

Maybe it's not even the dress, it's just her. The dress even seems too small for her disappearing frame.

Did you even read all that? Whatever. Who did you like? Hate? Not care because you want this post to be over and you can't believe you're still reading? Okay.

I'm feeling good about this week. It's like countdown week!

YAY!!!

He's backstage in Sydney and I was ecstatic!! Venue = internet! It's crazy how video chat makes such a difference.

Okay, so usually all attention is on Jesse, so I don't realize who else is in the shot or what's going on in the background - I looked at this after: hey blue shirt guy, what's up?




Hahahaha, pigtails. Don't ask. We were cracking up.

Matt said hello...and talked about how warm it is there. Grr.


His smile makes me happy ! (BARF)

If you couldn't tell, I like my boyfs' face a lot. I'm a NERD.

Epic Friday.

It went down like this.

Got to leave work early; and so began my three-day weekend. I arrived home to a box of flowers! Pretty, pretty roses with a note - got on video chat and apparently they were the wrong flowers ("you're more than just simple roses") and a day late. Oh well. They are lovely and so is he.

Dags and I met up with Ashley and Gaby at the Crush offices and headed to a bar around the corner. Kelly and Christy met up and we WERE going to go see Definitely, Maybe but then it was sold out and Kelly and I literally scalped our pre-bought tickets. I sold mine to a dude there wanting to see it alone. Weird, am I right?

So then we went back to the bar, drank some more. We decided to leave because the waitress blew. "I'm going to have the $3.50 Sam Adams." I hand her a 20 and get back seven dollars. "UM." She apologizes, hands me another seven, but I don't realize how much I have now. I have to flag her down for the millionth time and get the rest of my money back: NO TIP.

Quote of the night: "I want a boy with plugs so big i can stick my tongue in them and make out with his neck." To each their own.

Move on to PIZZA. YUM YUM NOM NOM NOM.




We bid adieu to Ashley and Gaby and the rest of us go to the Continental - because why wouldn't we?? We are surprised when we look at our watches and it's only 10:30. After watching people make out for some time, we headed to AK for the Angels and Airwaves afterparty or something and just danced, danced. Saw the regs and said HI.

Christy and I had a long (drunken) debate in the subway about the five big Oscar-nominated films. How we do.

Got in beds together and video chatted with Jesse. Hahaha. Best. Thing. Ever.

Then we woke up and watched Pushing Daisies. Let's just say, she's hooked. My diabolical plan to get everyone into the show is going well; Jesse is downloading all the episodes, too. Mwahahahaha!

And now I sit a bit cloudy in the head, but all worth it because hanging with the best people ever never gets old. Today I shall finish cleaning my room!! And probs video chat, OBVIOUSLY.