The Daily Julia

The Golden Chariot

jmarenstam — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 22:22:16 +0000

Dearest Golden Chariot,
Over the years I have put up with your extended hood and your loud engine, but no more! I was willing to move past all your faults as long as you took me where I needed to go. Now, you have let me down again. After all the love I have given you, you can’t even drive me home after a long rainy day at work. Shame on you Golden Chariot! Though you may not be dead yet, you will be if you don’t get your act together. Don’t think you can’t be easily replaced, because you can. I have already started looking. Farewell my old car.
Love,
Julia

Day Five

jmarenstam — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 22:13:10 +0000

Today was our last full day of the conference! I am going to be so sad to watch everyone go back to their respective states and never see them again. I have made such good friends here but lets be honest, its most likely were never going to see them again.

After a few boring talks in the morning, we traveled to Union Station and Capital Hill. Naturally my camera died as soon as we got there so I was forced to take pictures with my crappy phone! Union Station was pretty cool. I don’t remember ever going to an actual train station before. The Capital was also pretty cool but our tour got cut short because we had to go take our group picture out on the steps. Then we headed back to Mason to get ready for the Gala tonight. Now I’m procrastinating, of course, by typing this instead. Because I won’t be getting back until midnight, this will be the entire post for today.

Day Four

jmarenstam — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 03:38:07 +0000

Today was just as crazy and packed full as yesterday. I got about five hours of sleep last night and that was no where near enough. The day started at 5:30 a.m. and ended just now around 10:30. Oh lord words cannot express the fatigue I am feeling right now. Anyways, we went to the other Mason campus in Arlington and partipated in a live and a taped C-SPAN TV show. That was, to say the least, boring. It was cool to be on TV and all but the conversation topics were just so dull. With grumbling bellies we made our way to the Smithsonian and ate lunch in the super expensive D.C. food court; it was $15 for my lunch consiting of a piece of pizza, bag of chips, and water. Crazy right?

After we explored the Museum of American History we started heading back to our meeting spot. As soon as we left the building it started to sprinkle. We thought we would be able to make it back before it started raining too hard. We thought wrong. When we were about halfway there it started to pour and by the time we got there we were all soaked to the bone.

Once we got back into dry clothes and had some dinner we were ready to go listen to our afternoon talks (Sari Horwitz, Scott Higham, and Dean Andrew Flagel) which were much more interesting and humorous than C-SPAN.

At last I’m getting ready for bed and I cannot believe that tomorrow is going to be our last full day here! We all got so close so quick and it’s hard to think that we will probably grow apart just as fast… Goodnight everyone!

Mrs. Obama's inaugural ball gown from the museum.

Day Three!

jmarenstam — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 04:16:40 +0000

I am soo exhausted so this is gonna be really quick . The highlight of my day was meeting Hoda Kotb and getting her to sign my book! She is so genuine, I have so much respect for her. Here are some quick pictures from the day.

"Julia- I will bail you out of prision for taking this book- xo Hoda" I'm def. keeping this book now

And cue passing out…

Day Two!

jmarenstam — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 03:49:16 +0000

Today was the second day of our packed Journalism Conference. We woke up bright and early, way to early if you ask me considering starbucks wasn’t open yet, then loaded up on the buses to head down to the Newseum in D.C. The museum was really awesome! I wasn’t expecting it to be like that. I don’t really know how to describe it but just take my word for it that it was awesome!

Then we headed back to campus and finally got our Starbucks that we’d been craving all day! After getting our energy back up we split into our color groups and talked about all the different exhibits at the museum and how journalism is impacted.

Then came dinner, of course! Just your basic cafeteria food, nothing special. After dinner we picked a speaker we wanted to listen to and I heard the photojournalist and the crime reporter. The first one was ok, but the second was pretty boring. Tomorrow is the National Press and Hoda Kotb so I’m really excited for that! Here’s some pictures!

Day One!

jmarenstam — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 03:46:27 +0000

Today was our first day at the conference and I have to say that it definitely was not what I expected. After checking in and putting all my stuff away, my mom and I walked around campus before she left me to get ready for dinner. My roommates are pretty cool. All their names start with K so it’s pretty confusing to say the least.

We split up into our color groups before dinner and went over all the basic stuff, i.e. names, breakfast times, rules, etc. During dinner I felt like I had to use my best cotillion manner and be perfectly polite. Once I got comfortable though it was really great. The fist speaker was Chris Cilliza who writes for “The Fix” in the Washington Post. He was a really great speaker in that he was relatable and very funny.

After Chris, the program director, Caitlin Shear spoke the usual welcoming speech. The of course we eat dessert before breaking off into our color groups once again where we discussed some of the points Chris made in his speech.

Now I’m exhausted and ready for bed. We have to wake up at 6:00 tomorrow before heading off to the Newseum! Lots of pictures to come!

Almost There!

jmarenstam — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 02:40:27 +0000

Just 6 more days until I fly up to D.C.!! Ahhh! I cannot wait! I started packing my suitcase today and that is very unusual for me. Normally I just throw everything and anything I can find into my bag the morning of. So you can tell I’m really excited about this trip if I’m already packed up! I am also really excited because after the conference I’m going to visit with my best friends that still live in Maryland. At the end of the week, they’re going to take the metro to D.C. and we’re going to go see the new Harry Potter movie!! I am so excited! I will probably pee myself on the plane from pure joy. Can’t wait to meet everyone!

Happy Father’s Day!

jmarenstam — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 17:27:43 +0000

Wishing a happy Father’s Day to all the daddies out there. I love you dad! You mean the world to me; you are my superhero, my everything. I don’t know what I would do without you! Enjoy the blueberry pie!

Anxiously Awaiting!

jmarenstam — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 18:49:32 +0000

I am so ready to head on up to Wahington D.C! I will take any opportunity presented to me to flee my suburban town! Just one more month and I will be in one of the most amazing and influential cities in the world. Just thinking about it makes my heart go a flutter. I used to live about 45 minutes outside of the city and I would snatch up any and all opportunities to travel into D.C., especially during the Cherry Blossom Festival. For several years my family would make the journey to the Washington monument and set up camp in preparation for the Fourth of July fireworks. Though the show only lasted about ten minutes, we would be there for three or four hours beforehand, just relaxing in the sun and having a good time. I cannot wait to go back to D.C.; I haven’t been back up since my family moved down here to New Orleans almost four years ago. D.C., here I come!

The Beginning

jmarenstam — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 18:58:11 +0000

Hello everyone! This is the first time I have ever written on a blog and I must say it is quite strange. I’ve read a few blogs in the past; mostly just ones about vintage fashion, of which is the object of my obsession! Ok let’s see. I guess you want to know a little something about me. I was born in Chesapeake, Virginia but after 17 years of moving due to my dad’s job I now live in New Orleans, Louisiana. After spending much of my life on the east coast, moving to New Orleans was very traumatic for an quiet 8th grade girl with her nose constantly stuck in books. Aside from traveling, which I have done much of, I love to read anything I can get my hands on. Naturally, as I have grown older other things such as school and jobs have slowed down the progression of my reading but it will always be my love. A good book on a cold day is the simplest way to make me happy. Alrighty well thats enough for now. Keep checking in to read more about whats going on in my suburban town until I journey on up to Wahington D.C for my journalism conference, July 10-15, I cant wait!