Juice Gets Glimpse of the Imminent Future and It Is Grim, Very Grim

At 8:15 Saturday morning, I joined a few hundred earnest young people in an enormous gymnasium in St. Paul and we spent the next two days undergoing a simulated bar examination. Obviously I don't have the results from the essay portion back yet, but I did peek at the model answers and I think I can fairly say that I performed abysmally at best. Ditto for the multiple-choice portion, in which I got--ahem--97 out of 200 answers correct. So, I have decided to um, start studying. I have about three weeks to cram some serious knowledge in my brain. I'm not panicking. Really. I'M! NOT! P-P-P-PANICKING! (But just in case, I am going to pick up some employment applications at a few local restaurants.)

To take my mind off the bleakness of the next few weeks, in which I will be studying approximately all day every day, Shad and I are flying to New York City early Wednesday, and are going to spent the next five days driving around New England. It has been a long time since we took a vacation together and we're both pretty psyched to get away for awhile.

Friday night Summ, jL, Abby, and I saw Barack Obama speak in Minneapolis. I have been formulating my reasons for supporting him ever since I slapped that Obama sticker on my Kia last week and here's what I've got: I think I agree with him on most issues, particularly health care, I like that he is not carrying the political baggage that Hillary is, he's charismatic and smart and driven, and frankly, I am just really taken by his message of hope. If that is not enough, jL says it is acceptable to vote on good looks alone. Last week I was listening to "The Audacity of Hope" while sewing. Obama narrates the book, and after a few hours, I felt like he was sitting on the couch right there in the Sky Lounge hanging out with me. I almost asked his advice on whether I should put in a waistband, cut on the bias, is the skirt too short?, etc.

The dress in question, below, was for Dan & Kelly's wedding, which took place last Saturday. I was going for a sort of a flirty vintage cocktail dress look. The second picture (unfortunately not very good) shows the rhinestone pin I used on the bodice--it was a gift from Shad's grandma.







(And...here's the latest picture of my adorable niece with her brother Dawson.)