julie!

So the whole point of going to MA was to surprise Julie. She curated an exhibit called "What is Love: Selections from the Permanent Collection at the UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center - University Gallery. On Thursday May 3, she hosted a Gallery Talk where she got to talk all about the exhibit. I was very excited to go and learn all about art especially since I am an "art-tard." And of course I was super excited to see Julie! I have a big mouth and am not very good at surprises but this one worked out very well. Julie was happy to see me! It was really cool to hear her speak in her professional voice about the exhibit.

Here is Julie... I hope she doesn't care if I post photos!

And here is Julie and some other people...

Another cool part about showing up at this little gallery talk was hearing all the wonderful things Julie's professors and colleagues and classmates had to say about Julie. Of course we in Michigan know how fabulous she is but it was nice to know that those in Massachusetts know it too!

After we left the gallery we went to see Michael Penn at a cool little venue. And because I am not cool, I only knew one song. But Julie is cool and the show was cool and I was so glad I was able to get a last minute ticket!

And then after that we went to Ye Ol' Watering Hole and Beer Can Museum and drank yummy screwdrivers with fresh squeezed orange juice. Way more yummy than screwdrivers with fresh mixed Tang.

And then I went back to my hotel room and tried to sleep but didn't. And then I took Jesse's car to the Volkswagen dealership in Northampton and then the dealership shuttle took me back to my hotel and didn't come pick me up until 2PM. It sucked a lot. But the car was a little better when they were done with it.

And then after that Julie and I went diner hopping! Some of you may know that Julie really enjoys diners. I enjoy them too so she took me to a couple cool ones in the area. She already posted photos on her blog but I'll post some more.

Photos from Blue Bonnet Diner

I love me a good quote of the day!

We sat at the counter and I took photos of random people also sitting at the counter.

Appetizers!

And then we went to the Miss Florence Diner!

Julie tried to get me to order the "Miss Flo's Talking Dixie" but I didn't do it.

Instead I got the diner-fabulous hot roast beef sandwich. And then only ate a few bites because I was full from appetizers. Oops.

Me! And you can see the cool jukebox at the table.

It was a really short and fun trip. I was glad Julie wasn't pissed that I showed up and that she had some time to hang out with me. I hadn't planned on hanging out with her since she is really busy finishing up with school so the Michael Penn show and the diner-hopping was super nice.

Whew. I'm finally feeling a little caught up. Birthday posts to come!