Last night was fun… and interesting.
I had plans to meet up with my best friend and former college roommate (and bridesmaid!), Laurel, between our two homes in Tavares, Florida for dinner.
We met up around 7 p.m. and had a great time catching up and chatting away as always. There’s just something so fabulous about friends you’ve had for years!
Though we finished eating within an hour, we ended up hanging out and talking until around 10 p.m. when we said our goodbyes and I hopped in my car for the hour-long drive home.
The towns between Tavares and Ocala are quite small (Tavares and Ocala are quite small themselves) and the drive had me on a lot of very dark, rural roads which was kind of creepy. My mind started to think about what I would do if I got a flat tire and had to pull over which naturally freaked me out.
When I was about 20 minutes from home, a car drove up really fast behind me. I naturally changed lanes to let the car pass, but it changed lanes, too, staying right behind me. I switched lanes again and it switched lanes along with me.
And then it put on its lights.
It was a cop!
Duh.
A cop who looked exactly like James Marsden.
For real.
I pulled over and the officer asked for my driver’s license as I blurted out that he totally freaked me out! I told him that he had me convinced he was a drunk driver harassing me on the road!
Apparently I was going 15 miles an hour over the speed limit, but the friendly officer let me go with a warning, at which point I said, “You’re really not giving me a ticket?” (Gosh, shut up, Julie.)
“No. Just remember to keep an eye on your speed.”
“Okay. Thank you so much,” I said.
And then, in true over-sharing fashion, I asked him whether or not anyone has ever told him that he looks exactly like the guy from the movie 27 Dresses, which surely he has seen, right?
Someone put a muzzle on me, please.
For the record, the officer said he gets the James Marsden thing all the time. Just probably not from people he pulls over after 11 p.m. on a random Wednesday night.
So, we learned two things from my experience last night:
- Drive slow and obey the speed limit
- If you’re single and looking for a James Marsden look-alike boyfriend, speed through Ocala at 11 p.m. on a Wednesday night
Breakfast
Breakfast this morning is quickly becoming a new favorite.
I enjoyed a plate of two toasted whole wheat waffles topped with a mixture of ricotta cheese and cottage cheese, a chopped nectarine and cinnamon.
I’ve never been a huge syrup lover, so I am a big fan of topping my waffles with something a little different – something packed with protein!
I’ve also noticed that eating waffles topped with ricotta cheese, Greek yogurt or cottage cheese really helps me feel satisfied for much longer than eating waffles simply topped with syrup. The extra protein punch really helps with satiety.
Time to finish up one freelance project and brainstorm article ideas for my next contribution to What’s Up Ocala magazine. I have a few pitches in my mind and need to type them up and send them out for approval.
Wishing you a day free of run-ins with the law! 
Question of the Morning
- Do you have any interesting stories that involve being pulled over by a police officer?
Perhaps my most interesting incident happened in college when I got pulled over for rolling a stop sign on the UCF campus. The officer pulled me over in the parking lot of my sorority house, at which point another cop joined him with his lights flashing and parked me in, drawing an excessive amount of attention to the incident.
When I went to get the officer my driver’s license, I realized I didn’t have it on me (I left it in a different purse) and instead gave him my student ID. The officer then lectured me about the importance of having my driver’s license in the car with me at all times as my sorority sisters all gathered at the window to catch a glimpse of the convict in the driveway.
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My favorite actor is James Marsden! That’s lucky for you.
Ahhh Julie, this made me laugh! 🙂
The first time I got pulled over was my sophomore year in college (before I was 21) , and my friend and I were trying to find the 18 and over dance club (classy, right?!) It was in a pretty sketch part of San Diego, where two girls wearing Abercrombie capris and tank tops probably shouldn’t have been, but we still wanted to go. We missed the turn and had to make a u-turn in the (ironically) police station parking lot. Somehow I ended up on the wrong side of the street and found myself staring into headlights on the wrong side of a massive intersection! EEEEK! We were so freaked out and didn’t know what to do, so I decided to drive diagonally through the intersection to get on the right side of the street. Immediately there were red and blue lights behind us!
So I roll the window down (after my friend had to tell me what side of the street to pull over on), and a cutie cop (not as cute as James Marsden though!) said “Whadda ya doing?!?” and I had to admit where we were trying to go, and tell him that, no, I hadn’t been drinking (truth!) He takes my info and comes back after a few minutes and says (and I quote):
“So, Lisa, next time you’re in a new area make sure you know where you’re going. This isn’t a neighborhood for nice girls like you. There’s been a few hijackings lately and I wouldn’t want to have to call your dad and tell him what happened. Also, make sure you stay on the correct side of the street. If you had hit someone and killed them you’d be charged with vehicular manslaughter. And…”
and he hands me what looks like a citation, but on the back side he’d drawn directions to the club!! And told us turn for turn how to get there.
He let us go on good faith I wouldn’t make any more wrong turns. After that, we decided to just go back and get In-n-Out and go home! Probably for the best!
I had never had ricotta cheese but after reading your blog, I tried it on top of my waffles and YUM!! I try to avoid syrup for the sugar and HFCS and I LOVE the ricotta cheese. I also agree that it keeps me full longer!
That story is GREAT! I am the same way! I chat when I get nervous! 🙂
HOWEVER, with my husband being from that area, I would say you couldnt pay me to pull over at night that late in that area! LOL! No telling who your going to get!
This story reminds me of my dad telling me in HS that if I ever get pulled over at night to barely roll my window down and ask the cop to follow me to a well lit populated area….lol.
I’ve only been pulled over once! It was in college, i went through a light and as soon as I did, a cop pulled me over. Turned out, I didn’t have my headlights on…oh and I had a car full of people. It was embarrassing!
You’re story is awesome! I love it 🙂
Hahahah. I LOVE that you told him he looks like James Marsden. I’m surprised that’s not what made him let you off with no ticket.
Have you ever heard of that scary story where the car behind keeps flashing its headlights at the car in front of it, because it turns out that he’s trying to save the person in front of him from being stabbed by a murderer who keeps rising up behind them to stab them in the back?
So I pretty much think I’m about to be murdered every time someone turns on their headlights. I’m not paranoid at all.
A few years ago I was totally looking for a James Marsden Look-a-like BF. Unfortunatly for him I’m now married and off the market.. darn poor guy 😉
I got pulled over and given a ticket by the same very round police officer who came to my house a few months earlier. I was home alone @ night I was convinced someone was trying to break in to my house.. The officers ruled it “A bird/bat flying itself into my doorwall” I’m such a chicken.
As he was handing me my ticket he asked “did you ever figure out what all that noise was at your house that night?”
thanks dude..
That story was hilarious!!
I don’t have any crazy story about being pulled over, but that’s because I’m too paranoid about being stopped. I work with police officers and would totally get made fun of at work if someone did pull me over, and then I would never hear the end of it:) lol
I gasp-laughed in my cube! Then I told my coworker I just choked on lunch and sent her the link. I have two embarrassing cop stories.
One was in highschool where three cops pulled me over and pulle their guns on me because my car apparently fit the ID of a robbery getaway vehicle. Awesome.
The other was in UCF. I had great neighbors at our apartment and one week while they were out of town, I saw a guy crawl their balcony and jimmy their porch door open. Obviously, I thought they were being robbed so I called 911. Turned out it was a friend they said could stay at their place but forgot to give a key to (naturally, right?).
The cops pointed at me and told the guy I had called about him and then rolled their eyes at me (!) and the next morning my tires had been slashed. Lesson: dudley do-rights never win.
Julie this made me laugh out loud. I have the word vomit problem too. I’m so glad you didn’t get a ticket and made it home safe & sound!!
When I was in college, I was home visiting my boyfriend who lived a couple of towns over. I was coming back from his house around midnight and was driving through a wide-open area of pastures and fields, and I could see a car coming down a crossroad and stop where I knew there was no stop sign. I passed the road, and after a while, saw the car pull out behind me, and speed up right behind me. He had his brights on and I thought the same thing you did… that it was a drunk driver messing with me. I was only going 55, so I sped up to about 70 to get away from him and to be able to see, since his lights were blinding me, then slowed back down to 55, and he sped up behind me again. This happened a couple of times, and by that point I was totally freaked out.
Then he flipped his flashing lights on and I instantly turned from scared to livid.
When the cop got to my window and asked me if I knew how fast I was going, I said, “Actually, no, since I couldn’t see anything since your lights were blinding me!” He sheepishly said, “Oh, they were pretty bright, were they?” and I proceeded to yell at him, telling him that I thought he was a drunk driver, etc… I literally scolded him.
He never even got a chance to ask my name, for my license, anything. He just let me go and hung his head all the way back to his car. 🙂