THE assistant

THE assistant knows best!

2008-08-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

During tour preparations at THE Freedom house, DJ and I started making a list of everything that we needed to pack up for the tour. Okay, I started making the list while DJ dictated. You see I'm a list maker, a planner. DJ... well, he's more like a... well, he's.... Oh heck, he isn't a planner at all! Me, I make a packing list two weeks before a trip. DJ doesn't even think to make a list and packs an hour before departure. That would stress me out! So while I was making my lists and checking them twice, I reminded DJ to grab another tub of his texture paste while he was at the salon. As soon as it came out of my mouth I thought, "you know I will just go grab one to pack in my luggage because I know he will loose the one he has." DJ replied, "I think the one will be okay, I will just leave it on the bus. So I shouldn't loose it."

Now, this would normally just go over my head and I would go buy another anyway because I know that he'll use it and I was pretty sure he'd loose it somehow. But I didn't. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and see how he did.

Well, if you have read his blog, you now know why I am THE assistant. I know him better than he knows himself. THE assistant really does know best!

***I have to give a shout out to my male counterpart JD... our safety net! I owe you JD!!! Thank you for saving the day.***

Surgery

2008-07-31T20:09:00.000-07:00

Surgery Day! So at 5:00pm today, I will be having surgery to repair my Achilles. And God willing, I will be joining the Free to Succeed Tour bus for the remainder of the tour, starting in New York City tour date.

Thanks to all of you for the emails, thoughts and prayers. They are much appreciated. I am sad that I haven't been able to meet so many of you. But I hope to in the near future.

Please take care of my team while they are on the road. I know they are enjoying this tour so much and that is because of you all.

It may be a few days until my next post but I promise to keep you informed on me and the fabulously, original David Jay.

The details of David Jay

2008-07-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

As most of you are aware, I was injured in a seriously competitive game of tennis a couple of weeks ago. Which has resulted in the need for surgery and the loss of my pass on the Free to Succeed Tour bus. (Although, my goal is to be on it before the NYC show.) You can imagine my frustration and sadness. Incredibly enough, I was able to pass the baton to the amazing Shyla Darlirfar, a photographer from Boston.

In the process of getting her up to date on all the details for the bu

s and tour locations, I had to make a list for her on the Likes and Dislikes of David Jay.

I had to laugh...why do I know him so well! LOL!!

Example:

-Saltine Crackers

-String Cheese

-He really covets quiet time in the morning until around noon.

-He doesn't like luxury wash clothes...give him the paper thin cheap ones..he's in heaven.

-He likes to protect his skin for aging by using Dove body wash WITH a loofa.

-Trivento Malbec

-At 3pm every day he likes to have his feet rubbed.

-He likes all white bed sheets and comforters.

-Splenda only

-and breakfast in bed at 9am.

..okay... so maybe some of those are made up. Overall, he is really a pretty easy to please person. I can just imagine Shyla reading this right now and thinking, crap! I don't want to rub his feet!!! LOL!!! Don't worry Shyla.... when there are things like that the come up I always say, "that was not in my contract"!

So while Shyla is hanging out with my wonderfully amazing and gorgeous show it team! I will hopefully be enjoying the anesthetically induced dreams of my own Dr. McDreamy!

If I came out of surgery to see that face. It will be totally worth it! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To everyone out there that will be attending the Free to Succeed Tour, I am sad that I will miss meeting you. I so wish I was able to be there. I would be so greatful for any support that you could give my dear Shyla and the entire crew. And I hope that you enjoy the show!!!

2008-05-13T22:56:00.000-07:00

Does this picture look familiar to anyone?

Remember, in the Sixth Sense, when the mom walked out of the, perfectly straightened, kitchen into the laundry room? When she returned to the kitchen, almost every cabinet door and drawer was open. But she didn't hear a thing.

Occasionally, I feel like DJ is practicing his set design for a role in Part II of this film. And let me just say that he is going to give M. Night a run for his money. It takes him less than 30 seconds to create this masterpiece you see here.

SERIOUSLY!! I will have just finish cleaning the kitchen, washing dishes, putting away the clean dishes and walk out to grab more paper towels, only to return to a kitchen where 2-3 cabinets are open and a coffee stain on the counter. And I didn't even hear him move from his catatonic position in front of his computer. Which is not located in the kitchen but two rooms away. HOW!!??!! How is it possible, in 30 seconds, to do all of that with no sound? And how hard is it to close a cabinet door? I mean, it's not like picking up a table or moving furniture ... just a flick of the wrist and Voila!

After 10 months of pointing this out to him, I have decided to look at it as a talent rather than an annoyance. (Not really!) I am sure that his mother will get some of the credit or blame.

THE natural look

2008-05-04T16:58:00.000-07:00

I am sure that all of you at one time or another have seen pictures of DJ or have even been lucky enough to have a personal interaction with him. And as a result of these moments, I have no doubt that you have been plagued with same questions I have .... How does he do it? How does he stay so ripped!? I mean, is he just naturally fit or does he spend hours upon hours in the gym?

As always, I am here to answer your questions. And in a way this will help DJ also, as I am sure he is constantly bombarded with emails requesting this information.

The long awaited reveal of DJ's nutrition,exercise and lifting routine can be explained in three words and a picture.

1.) CAFFEINE

2.) SALTINES

3.) CHEESE

...... and the picture:

Yes! You've got it! I could have added a fourth word: electricity.

Now, he tells me that this was a gift from his brother ..... RIGHT!!!

CRAZINESS!!!

2008-04-26T22:58:00.000-07:00

No! I haven't forgotten about all of you out there that are waiting for your next good laugh at DJ's expense. We have been super busy this past week, traveling, promoting ShowitSites , visiting with friends, decorating and cleaning THE Freedom House,planning travel arrangements, updating invitations for the Sites Preview Parties and planning the details for a summer tour. Whoooo! That is a mouth full!

But next week, I promise to entertain you to the best of my ability. Much love!

Oh, and while I am at it....send DJ some love. He's been traveling a lot and as we all know, that can get old after awhile. And thanks to all of you that have come out to the Preview Parties..it been so rewarding and such a huge help for us..... YOU ROCK!!!! Thank you!!

In my defense...

2008-04-18T23:12:00.000-07:00

So I think I may need to defend myself on an accusation that was made by you-know-who. He stated that he wasn't quite sure that I had been bathing since I arrived at THE Freedom House. I assure you all that I take good hygiene seriously! Yes! I have taken many baths since arriving here, which as most of you know, takes much longer than a shower. So I would have to wake up extra early to make sure that I was completely ready to go when DJ would beckon.

Now, usually when you would have people stay at your house, you would give them a tour, show them where they will be staying and then show them how to use anything that may be slightly complicated........ like a shower!!!! There was no nob to pull up, no plug to push down, no lever, nothing saying ... "push me and the shower will work." And every time I would prepare to meet up with DJ, it would be on my list... but he seems to monopolize every conversation we have and by the end...I am lucky to remember if I put deodorant on!

So THANK GOD, Jessica Claire decided to come visit. Without her assistance in helping me to focus on ...me, I would be still taking baths every morning. Jess you are the best!

How many glasses does it take?

2008-04-15T01:19:00.001-07:00

Have you seen this movie? I loved it...I really did! M. Night is such a gifted writer and director. In this movie, Mel Gibson has two children, one of which is an adorable 4 year old girl. For some reason, she never finishes a glass of water and she leaves the glasses and the remaining water sitting throughout the house. Now in the movie, (sorry to ruin anything if you haven't seen it) this plays a huge part in the outcome of the film. There ends up being a deeper reason why she does this. But this is a movie!

Rewind the tape to THE Freedom House about 4 months after I arrived.

I kept noticing glasses all over the house. I mean, anyone can use two glasses a day...that's a given. One for coffee and one for water and whatever else they may want to drink. Even three could be ok...a new one for dinner. Perfect!

But for some reason, DJ seems to need a new glass for every sip of water, every gulp of orange juice and every refill of coffee. Now, I don't mean to pick on him....(*wink), but isn't that a little excessive? Almost, any given day, I can walk into THE Freedom House (that I just cleaned the night before, including...loading the dishwasher.) at 10AM and there be at least ten cups sitting around the house. Two in the living room with remnants of wine still in them, two coffee cups in the library, two glasses in the kitchen, one next to DJ's bed, one on his desk and two in his bathroom....oh and I forgot my favorite...the one coffee cup in the shower! LOL!!! ( A shower and coffee...he's getting good at the multi-tasking. :-> )

How is it possible for one person to use so many glasses in such a short amount of time? Maybe you all can help me...... is this normal? I don't think so, but maybe I am just to harsh. I am starting to think that it's an OCD disorder or something...or maybe worse...what if he's hiding glasses that I don't know about? OH NO!!! We may need an Intervention at THE Freedom House stat!

Street smarts....hmmmm?

2008-04-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

Sometime in March last year, before I was even offered my job here in Santa Barbara, I was relaxing at home in Ohio catching up on everyone's blogs. When I came across a post that David Jay made on his blog with a picture of his bed.

Now to the normal, naked eye this may look great...even impressive. He actually makes his bed! WOW!!! But something is off. So I thought to myself...maybe he was in a hurry...

but no... doesn't it just make sense that the pattern would stop where you would put the pillows, so that the pillows would fill that void? (This guys needs more help than he knows.)

I don't know...maybe I'm abnormal but this just made sense to me. Did I say anything to him?

Nope! Why would I do that..I mean he has how many people reading his blog, I am sure someone would do the honors.

............ Six months later..............

I arrived at THE Freedom House in September and was greeted by David, Bob Davis and Sarah Barlow who helped with my luggage as David started the tour of THE guest house (my new home). David started to show me around when I almost immediately congratulated him on making his bed correctly. I said "Who finally told you?" Which he replied, "What? Told me what?" LOL!!!

I told him the story and he lost it! The only reason it was done correctly, this time, was because Sarah had made it. HILARIOUS!!!

So need-less-to-say, my first experience at THE Freedom House was confirming....that he desperately needs help... and I was going to have my work cut out for me.

Introductions

2008-04-10T01:06:00.000-07:00

Buon giorno! My name is Crystal and I am a personal assistant to one of THE worlds top wedding photographers and software/education entrepreneur. I met THE boss about two years ago while visiting friend in Los Angeles and we continued to stay in touch even though he was traveling the world and I was stuck in a tiny city in Ohio.

About 11 months ago, he offered me a job to come work with him as his personal assistant. I was flattered that he would offer me such a great position without ever seeing me in a comparable role. I obviously accepted with little hesitation and started my adventure across the US to settle into THE guest house on THE Santa Barbara Riviera.

Little did I know that my new adventure would not yield a destination but an ongoing journey of creativity, refining, freedom and endless laughter at my bosses expense. In days to come, I hope bring a smile to your face as I reminisce about the quirkiness of this incredibly normal man. :)

So to the days to come: May we laugh together, share in frustrations and forever be confused by the logic of United Airlines!

Cheers*

~Crystal