a great day.

its been a great day.

for a couple reasons.

1. i met ben gibbard (lead singer of death cab for cutie) at work today.

after a double take when he walked by my desk at work, i was sent to go get coffee for my boss. who was waiting at the elevator when i arrived? yep, ben. we talked during the elevator ride, through the building, and for about a block after exiting.

it was one of those times where afterwards you can't help but think a combination of, "that was friggen awesome!" as well as, "did that really just happen?"

it did happen, and it was friggen awesome. so now, i have met both my two favorite artists on the label. SHA WEET!!

2. i made a big, exciting life decision.

i've been a musician for a while now. i've always loved writing music, and it has always been what i consider myself to be the best at. but it wasn't ever what i was interested in pursuing as a career. until now.

it hit me today. for some reason it REALLY hit me. that being a musician, writing music, is what i am meant to do. i think that i have just always been scared. scared of the fact that i may not have constant stream of income, be able to provide for my future family effectively, get burnt out on putting everything i've got into "making" it.

but today it hit me..its what i am supposed to do. riding home on the train after some prayer i asked myself a set of questions..what are you best at? where do your talents lie? what do you enjoying doing the most? when something inspires you what do you do with that inspiration? and the answer was music to all of them. it became so clear to me that it is what i need to do. there is nothing that will make me happier and there is nothing that i will be more successful doing.

so today was a turning point for me. i'm excited. this next school year i am going to perform as much as possible, i am going to write and record, and i am going to pursue getting a manager. i'll finish college with a marketing degree because i know this will still be incredibly valuable.

i am so lucky to have so many people in my life who are so supportive of me and believe in me so much. they all will be a driving force helping me pursue this. thank you to all of you. :)

now...july has been a great month. i am going to do my best to recap (and quickly, since i have been told on more than one occasion that i have been known to drag out my stories). so i will post a load of pics and add brief descriptions.

4th of July was great. we went up to steph's grandmas house, spent time with family, enjoyed the sun, went swimming and saw a great firework show at night. here is a couple pics from the night.

steph and i took a trip to jones beach for the day

went to see a dance performance in the city by steph's favorite dance company Koresh with her parents (a couple pics from dinner beforehand)

steph's mom had a few days of vacation of which we took a trip to Newport, RI..this was an awesome small town with a great beach, a ton of huge mansions along a cliff, and a great downtown with a 1940s-ish feel and cobblestone streets.

a couple disney pics..we had to do it (see aladdin on top and pocahontas below?)

us on the roof of our SWEET hotel, enjoying the fireplace and wrap around couches

some fantastic city date/adventures

had a great picnic with steph's best friend at the Vanderbilt mansion

and lastly (even though i have had to leave a great many things out, since i have already included more than most of you probably care to see) i have officially been a cast member of Mel Brooks' "The Producers."

how and why you ask? well, i would go to rehearsals with steph, and all the other castmembers would joke saying, "just wait, you'll be in the show." sure enough, the director came to me a couple weeks before opening night, telling me how they really needed an extra body and wondered if i was up to it.

i accepted. so now i am a....

fly theater-goer on the opening night of Max Bialystocks latest production

a gay sailor (note stephanie as an old woman on the right)

a nazi stormtrooper

as well as a member of the jury, and a dancing prisoner. pretty sweet right?

so now one more bit of news....i am going to be opening for Jason Reeves! an old friend contacted me asking me if i was up to it, while planning the event at Oregon State University. This could be BIG for me and i really can't wait.

not familiar with jason? check out his myspace...myspace.com/jasonreeves

well wrapping it up, i have continued to have a fantastic summer. i am having the time of my life and continued to be amazed by everything i have been blessed with.

miss you all!

bedtime now.

much love always,

Andrew

a tardy update.

Hello everybody.

Yes, I am aware that this my first post since I moved to NY. Yes, it has been 2 weeks. So, for all those who have been eagerly waiting another entry, I am sorry.

But now, I have lots to share. So lets talk.

I've always been a small town kid with big city dreams.

So you can't imagine the feeling for a kid like me of riding on the train into NYC, right into Manhattan, knowing that you are about to start work at Atlantic Records.

Cloud nine.

Headphones in, listening to the entire 'Passion Pit' album I felt like I was living a movie.

There are certain moments in our lives where it really hits us that a dream of ours is being realized. Most of us have been lucky enough to experience that feeling at least once. Right then for me I felt it. I knew that I was exactly where I was supposed to be at that point in time.

I arrived at Grand Central Station and found my way through the Northwest Passage onto Madison Ave. I walked the 6 blocks to 1290 Avenue of the Americas. My building.

Wanna see it? I'll show you.

So I found my way through the lobby to the security desk outside my elevator, got my pass, and made my way up to the 27th floor.

Coming out of the elevator and seeing these doors only one word could really come to mind...

badass.

I met up with another intern who lead the way through the loud, music filled hallways to the marketing department.

Posters of every artist on the label lined the walls from floor to ceiling. I couldn't stop thinking, "I can't believe I work here."

When Camille, a supervisor of mine, came in guess which band she began to play loudly from her station? Passion Pit.

I couldn't help but laugh and think "This is right where I am supposed to be."

Over the course of the day I was given a tour of the entire office, an introduction to almost everything I would be involved with over the next few months, and instructions on exactly how Dane Venable likes his coffee and lunch.

at around 3 something really cool happened. Let me tell you about it.

a co-worker comes over to our cubicle and says casually, "Jason Mraz is downstairs right now finishing up an interview."

WHAT??

I told Camille, "I HAVE to meet him. This guy is one of my biggest influences in songwriting."

Soon after Camille told me that she had to run some stuff to him and said I could come with.

I didn't hesitate to say yes.

So as we walked down the hallway here came Jason Mraz.

Oh what's up dude.

I walked with him as Camille held a casual conversation following which I was introduced and shook hands.

I felt pretty good about life.

And something else pretty cool: Camille came back later with the posters and vinyls he had autographed for the company and told me to take my pick. So I now have a autographed record.

"Stay Fresh -Jason Mraz"

The day wound down and I had no doubt in my mind that it was the best first day of work any human being has ever experienced.

I now have a couple weeks of work with Atlantic under my belt and I'm in love. I could go on for a very long while, but I will save some for future posts.

Wanna hear where else I work? Yes, you do.

Andrew Seistrup: Victoria's Secret em-ploy-ee.

Once a week I handle hundreds of bras.

Steph's mom is a manager at Vicki's and has been nice enough to let me come in and earn a little dough.

On that note, let me tell you how utterly amazed I am at the size of 40DDs.

Let me show you.

I mean, I could cut that thing in half and wear it as a helmet.

Moving on I have one last thing I would like to share with you today.

Steph's Aunt is a third grade teacher and for a while has been playing my music for the kids in her class. A while back she sent me a video of them all singing me one of my songs. Probably one of the cutest things I have ever seen. She told me how they all think I am famous and how she would really like me to come into her classroom and sing for them. I told her I'd love to and about a week ago I did.

A young girl Heaven greeted us at the door, shaking with tears in her eyes, and said, "I'll take you to the classroom."

Walking in the entire class started cheering.

I don't really know what to say to do this experience justice, so pictures will just have to do.

They knew the words and sang along to every song.

Princess Stephanie joined for a song.

Heaven and I.

Well thats it for tonight.

Things are off to a great start. Living with the Petruccio's has been awesome and getting to see my girl everyday has been fantastic.

Life is good.

Andrew Seistrup signing off.

the apple beckons.

in a few hours i will be getting on a plane heading out to NY for the entire summer.

no, my plane will not take the entire summer to arrive, rather i will be i will be in NY for the entire summer (sorry for any momentary confusion)....why you ask? well, because i've landed an internship with atlantic records.

radical..i know.

i'll be working right in the middle of manhattan..surrounded by radio city music hall, the rockefeller center, times square, and thousands upon thousands of i heart NY tshirts.

needless to say..i am excited.

stephanie and the lovely petruccio family have been kind enough to open up their home to me; providing warm smiles, a warm bed, and italian cooking i will most assuredly be taking advantage of.

this summer will most certainly provide lots of interesting stories and adventures. i plan on keeping this updated as often as possible, so make sure and stay tuned in.

happy summer and much love

andrew.