I love the outdoors. I’m not a hunter or fisherwoman or anything like that but I just love being outside and appreciating nature. Especially, of course, in the warmer months because we do definitely get 4 distinct seasons in this area (whereas in some places, it feels as if there are only a couple.) I love the sounds and smells of the outdoors. I love crickets chirping on summer nights, the sound of lawnmowers on Saturday afternoons and the smell of the fresh cut grass. That’s why I love being at any of Louisville’s many beautiful parks. You’ve got all these things, plus the opportunity to get in some exercise and people watch. The only thing that I don’t LOVE about the outdoors is bugs…and worms (as evidenced in this episode). I know you may see me flippin’ out a bit whenever there’s something flying around my head or crawling too close but look… A lot of people say “It’s just a bug, it won’t hurt you, what’s the big deal?” Here’s the thing: everyone doesn’t love everything. Everyone has something they don’t care for. Mine is bugs. No big deal. They CAN too hurt you by the way, depending on what it is. One sting at the age of 7 was enough for me to run anytime something comes flying at me! Emily kept dangling that exaggeratedly fat, nasty worm in my ear…. and of course I didn’t want to play with it (although I dug them up all the time as a kid.) The worm wasn’t as big a deal as it probably comes off on the show. I was kind of playing along since Emily seemed to be getting such a big kick out of messing with me with it. It’s kind of like when you’re playing with a little kid and you act scared when they say “boo”.

By the way I’m guessing that I looked like crrraaaap during this entire scene/trip. I was so exhausted from work and driving out to the lake house… eh, no matter. The lake is not the time or place for glam. It’s time for baseball caps.

I was definitely a tomboy when I was a kid! Playing in the dirt, digging for worms, chasing stray cats under cars, climbing trees, breaking bones, etc. Even so, as my mom phrases it, “Julie was always all girl.” So I was doing it all with a big bow in my hair. Ha! I spent Saturday afternoons making mud pies, then on Sunday going to church, I wanted my hair curled, a perfectly put together outfit with a matching purse, leggings, etc. Then at about age 10, I became very athletic. My Dad taught me to play basketball (and was my coach, which was a double-edged sword), and I eventually added track, volleyball and softball to that line up. Sports were a huge part of my growing up and I think they taught me a lot of discipline. Anyway, the funny thing is — as I got older, I became more and more “girly” and into all things glamorous, yet I liked to consider myself sort of a female “jock” in jr. high and high school as well because it was fun, I was good at it, and you know all the cool kids play sports (Ha!). So again, you kind of had this Jekyl & Hyde thing going on, where I’d be all about it in basketball practice, working my tail off, playing my heart out, sweating, heaving, exhausted, looking a MESS and collecting bruises… and I was totally cool with it because I was competitive and in the moment. Then…after my practice/game was over, I’d be in the locker room with the curling iron plugged in, clouding up the locker room with aerosols of all types (hairspray, body spray, deodorant) and of COURSE some sort of hair accessory (I’ll always love ‘em)!  All so that I could emerge a swan from the locker room ready to cheer the boy’s team on!

(In my defense, I was not the only one that did this. I had partners in crime! I’m callin’ em out too.. Rankin! Steffen! Dishon! Petroze! Snyder! Wetter! Grimes! .. and there are more, hope you’re all seeing this, haha)

This is all still the same today. Yes, I’m a girly girl…I love to glam it up, and am also very athletic still. I’m glad I’ve been able to keep that a part of my life and make time for it, whether it’s at the gym, or finding a league of some sort to play in. I just played in a womens’ basketball league this past winter. It’s been awhile since I’ve played full on, full court basketball. Um, it hurt, I’m not gonna lie, haha! THAT is some intense stuff. I’m in shape and it still felt like an elephant was standing on my lungs!

Back to the lake trip though — I don’t think anyone caught a thing when we went fishing (or did they???) Eh, I think catching a fish would’ve been great but the outing was more of an opportunity to just get out on the water and relax a bit.

Was I the one with the least experience? haha…probably. Hey, I had lots of guppies when I was a kid. I bred fish rather than capturing them. Now  — I did find an old basketball goal on this lake property…that interested me more than the fishing poles (rods? what’s the correct term?) did.

My style is a combination of so many things I think, and so many influences, but all with a common theme of glamour and femininity. I like to look pretty and womanly but strong at the same time. I tend to dress based on my mood and what’s appropriate for where I’m going. It’s easy to see that I love glamour and getting dolled up but at the same time, I don’t have to always be in that package with a perfect little bow. I don’t, for example, spend a lot of money on very expensive, perfectly matched clothes to work out in. I don’t go completely mismatched but I’m also not head to toe in the newest, latest and greatest that Nike, Under Armour and Adidas has to offer. I’m probably in the Nike, Under Armour and Adidas that I found at TJ Maxx! My splurges I’d say would be on jeans and dresses. I just have a thing about jeans. Every woman struggles with the search for the perfect pair and I want them to fit perfectly. They’ve got to make your butt look good! But even then, they have to be appropriate for where you’re going. Maybe the more snug, hip-hugging ones aren’t the ones I’ll wear to meet the boyfriend’s parents or running errands.

And dresses…I mean, what girl doesn’t love a pretty dress. Well, there are lots that don’t, I realize but I for one, can’t resist them. For example, if you notice the dark purple-ish colored mini dress I have on in the commercial for the show where we’re all standing like mannequins, then laugh and walk off…I SHOULD’VE BOUGHT THAT DRESS!!! I’m so mad that I didn’t! It was a BCBG dress…I love just about everything they do, they very much cater to my style. I love love love that dress. Max Azaria…are you out there? Can you hear me? Float me a freebie?

I’m not sure how I developed my style. My Mom has always been a very effortlessly pretty woman, but not as particularly fixated on the glamorous stuff as I am. She’s a no fuss kind of woman. I guess my style came from hours and hours of flipping through fashion magazines. I used to tear out the pages with my favorite outfits…not that I was doing anything with them but I just liked to keep them and look at them. I don’t think my style has changed a lot as I’ve gotten older, it’s pretty constant and identifiable. My friends feel pretty confident they could spot something at the mall and say “Oh that’s so Julie, she’d love it” because I’m consistent with it I suppose. You find out what works and you work it. Sometimes you miss, but that’s okay.

I think it’d be a lot of fun to step out in someone else’s style. That’s like playing dress up. The fun part would be seeing how well you can pull it off, especially if it’s nowhere near your typical style. I’ve always thought it’d be fun to have a Halloween where rather than dress as some character, or thing…a group of friends dressed up as each other and see how dead on you can get it. That’d be a lot of fun.

I wasn’t completely shocked to hear about Kellie’s miscarriage only because I realize that everyone has a story and you just don’t know what a person’s life has been like before you began to be around them. You can often expect that there might be all kinds of surprises that you don’t necessarily know about. I was sad to hear it though. That’s an awful thing for any woman or couple to go through.

I was bummed that I didn’t have the whole weekend to kick back and hang out at the lake but duty and “things to do” called…so I had to answer. The mature side of me says “Be thankful that you have a “duty” and “things to do”, while the kid inside was all bummed out and wanted to keep playing at the lake house, eating s’mores, taking naps and enjoying the sun. This is how I live though, I get it all in — work and play. I think it’s important to keep that balance so that you can be successful but also enjoy and reward yourself for that success. I wondered what kind of debauchery might take place after I left and was bummed that I was missing it long before whatever “it” was even happened. You come away from things like that with all kinds of stories to tell and I was missing it! Hahaha.

Hopefully we’ll have more chances — one of my  favorite quick getaways from Louisville is Cincinnati, OH which is about 1 1/2 hrs north of Lousville. I’m familiar with Cincinnati since I grew up in Northern KY. Cincinnati has a lot to offer: good restaurants, good shopping. Others are Nashville, Chicago and Indianapolis. All within 3 hours, fun things to do in each and without shelling out an arm and a leg to fly yourself there.

So, anyways — while the girls were still at the lake house, I was working. And I don’t know how this scene is going to be played out but that baby I shot with was THE cutest thing I’ve ever seen. He was soooo cute and sweet. When we first started to shoot with him he cried and cried because he’d just woken up for one thing, and he could see his mom who was standing a short distance away. I was talking to him, trying to soothe him which was not working at first but eventually he started responding to my silly little questions, and nodding and giggling. Next thing you know, he’s hamming it up! The best was when I picked him up to change poses toward the end of our shoot, he threw those little arms around my neck and squeezed and buried his little head in my neck. There’s nothing like baby/little kid hugs. The give the best ones…Makes ya feel good. He’d gotten really comfortable and was just being an angel.

And yeah, that was the first time I’d posed with an Iron. Haha. I was eager to add that shot to my book though because if that’s what a client is looking for and they want to pay someone to make running in a hallway with an iron look good, then I want the job! The iron was actually my idea. I thought a really fun themed shoot would be the hot, on-the-go, getting it all done, working mom. So I’d brought the iron, dumbells, a stability ball, my briefcase, a mannequin, etc. It was fun. I wanted the shot to be one that a lot of women would look at and go “That is SO me!!”

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