He gets fed.

Just in case you were wondering, Mark gets enough food to eat for lunch. :) Who knew I would actually love packing lunches so much?

Jobby Job

Hi everyone! I wanted to let you guys know that I found a part time job at Pier 1 right around the corner. It's nice because I can walk, and I will still have time to do all my writing jobs. :)

More to come later! Going to work tonight for a floor set. Fun fun, right Chels?

Mark's an Uncle!

Today Carl and Stephanie, Mark's oldest brother and his wife, brought Jack into the world! Here are two pictures of Jack Rutledge Freeman, 7 lbs, 3 oz.

Welcome to the outside world, Jack!

video time!

More like a Living Room from hey jessica on Vimeo.

Foot Travels

I've been doing a lot of walking around Santa Monica, and I've found that it's orienting me as well as clearing my mind. Along the way, I've taken several pictures of my surroundings, so I thought I'd share them with you all. Enjoy!

There are lots of interesting plants here. I love stopping to look at them. Most of the pictures here are of plants that I like. This one is like a flower with waxy leaves as petals.

This is a flower from a tree, and it looks like a pine cone is growing from the top of it! It's beautiful. 

I saw this on a walk, and of course I thought of my lovely sister, Chelsea. I love Chelsea, but it wasn't me that etched it into the sidewalk. So many lovable Chelseas, it seems. 

My camera just doesn't do justice to the amazing color of these tiny sidewalk flowers. 

The palm trees on the west coast are MUCH bigger than the ones in Florida. They make me want to stand up taller. 

Mark and I met for lunch last week, and as he turned to go back to work, I stopped to snap a picture of this cool cactus plant. A lady was pushing her baby in a stroller, and I was almost on the ground I was down so low for the picture. She gave me a weird look. Just taking a picture, lady! Gimme a break!

Perks of the job: VIPs at Janelle Monae's private concert

Last night Mark and I enjoyed some perks of his job. There was a concert at Apogee (the company where Mark works), and we were invited for free. This is the studio before the show started. We got VIP access complete with sparkly wristbands and an open bar with beer and wine. 

Here's Mark with Devin, the other intern at Apogee. What a handsome team.

This is the control room at the Apogee studio. Notice the lovely color scheme going on here. All purples, reds and pinks. 

Ready for the show! We got to Janelle Monae perform, and she was amazing. I hadn't heard of her before, but now Mark has bought two of her albums, and we're jamming out to her now! 

Janelle had SO much energy. It was so fun seeing her perform. I asked her at the end if she needed another dancer for her team. She said she'd call me. And then I realized she didn't have my number. Dang! For those of you that know child-Jessica's aspiration to become a Fly Girl, you know how much I'd love to be dancing on stage. Maybe she'll find my number somewhere and call...

This is the after-concert interview. The concert was sponsored by KCRW radio, Santa Monica's local NPR station. I also asked this guy if he needed an assistant. He gave me his card. It's all about connections.

Here's another shot of Mark. I gave him a hair cut yesterday, which we're calling a "bob". It's hard to see because he has a hat on, but I think I did an okay job for my first hair cut. 

And now, two videos! The first is much better and less shaky. The second video is the last song she did, the encore. They were throwing balloons around, too. It was a fun time! I was trying to tap a balloon back into the crowd, and I accidentally hit (very lightly hit) the lady in front of me. I immediately apologized, but she was not happy. I don't think she was really vibing with the show as much as the rest of the crowd, anyway. Geez, lighten up!

Janelle Monae Live 1 from hey jessica on Vimeo.

Janelle Monae Live 2 from hey jessica on Vimeo.

And we're cooking!

    

As I'm sure you can imagine, Mark and I are thrilled to have our cookware with us. Mark cooked for me Wednesday night. Isn't he sweet? He cooked turkey kielbasa with bell pepper, onion, tomato and garlic. We also had a side of black beans. Here's the master at work in our homey kitchen.

We're cooking with fire here! Here's the finished meal, complete with a tasty Heineken Light. Now I'm off to meet Mark for lunch at La Petite Cafe.

Fried update: Last night Mark and I went to eat sushi at Kaido, our favorite spot a few blocks away. A familiar person entered with two friends, and we quickly realized she was a waitress from a cafe we've eaten at a few times. She was very friendly while serving us the other times, and we knew from chatting that she's an artist. We talked with her and her friends before leaving the restaurant last night and exchanged information. Her boyfriend lives here, too, and he's a recording engineer, so it sounds like he and Mark have similar interests. We're going to get together with them soon, if all goes well. Yay, friendships in the making! :)