Monthly Archives: November 2012

Can I Cut The Cord? (or Trying To Change How I Research TV)

Posted on November 16, 2012 | 1 comment

As I’ve written previously, I have to watch everything on tv in order to be prepared for any auditions I might get. I love having my DVR for this. There is no way that I could watch my shows on the time that they actually air with the work schedule that I keep.

For my birthday this year, my brother got me an Apple TV. I love it. I mainly use it for Netflix streaming, but I did start using it for Hulu Plus recently. I started using Hulu Plus because my DVR can record 2 shows at a time, but on Tuesdays, there are 3 shows that air at the same time that I enjoy watching. So I record 2 and watch 1 later on Hulu Plus. I tried using Hulu on my computer, but I’d really rather watch on my tv where I can relax on my couch.

Between Netflix and Hulu Plus, I spend about $16 a month. And then I still pay for cable. Part of my cable bill is my internet, so I’m not going to give that up completely. But I’ve been toying with the idea of cutting back on what I pay for with the cable company and starting to switch over to watching more on streaming.

I really want to do this, but I’m a little unsure on how it would work. I would have to keep some of tv on cable because there are some shows that I can’t get online. And I don’t know how to watch premium channels (like HBO and Showtime) online without having a paid subscription or waiting for the DVDs to be released.

I’d really appreciate any advice any of you might have for getting rid of cable. Not watching tv isn’t an option, but I’d love to not be spending as much as I do right now. Anything that I could save could go to paying down my credit card debit and helping me meet my goal of paying it off completely soon.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff, Saving

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Finding Soul Mates (or Why I’m Having A Tough Time Finding An Improv Class)

Posted on November 15, 2012 | 1 comment

I know that some people don’t believe in soul mates. I do. But I don’t believe that you just have one soulmate that you are supposed to marry and live happily ever after with. I feel like you have soul mate for all different parts of your life.

I know that I have friend soul mates. I have a friend that I’ve known for 20 years. She and I have stuck it out throughout the years, and I know that she will always be there for me. I have another friend soul mate who I think of as my nerdy friend soul mate. They just get all the weird stuff about me.

I have soul mates in acting too. I truly believe that the agents that I am with now are my agent soul mates. They get me, care about me, and work so hard to get me amazing auditions.

There is one acting related soul mate who has passed away and I’m still not totally over it. My acting coach soul mate, Kip King. I studied with Kip for about 8 years until he passed away in 2010. He was such an amazing teacher. I felt like all of my performances got so much better under his guidance.

Kip was a founding member of The Groundlings so his classes were very improv based. And since he passed away, I really couldn’t see myself going to another improv class.

Why am I thinking about this now? Last night, I went to a show at The Groundlings. Kip’s funeral was held there (the day of his funeral happened to be my birthday). This was only the second time I’ve gone back to the theater since the funeral, and I can’t sit where I sat then. It’s too hard. But the show was absolutely amazing (thanks Amir for the tickets). And it made me miss improv so much.

I don’t know if I could take classes at The Groundlings. At Kip’s funeral, they dedicated a classroom there to him. I think taking classes in the Kip King Classroom would be far too difficult for me. But I am finally starting to think more seriously about going back to improv. I know that Kip would want me to. Right now with my day job schedule, it’s a bit tough to add in another class, so I’m looking at taking some classes when the season ends for work. Hopefully then I’ll have made a decision on where to go.

And just because, here’s one of my favorite pictures with Kip. This photo was taken at Kip’s birthday in class.

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Work Lunches (or Prepping for The Week)

Posted on November 14, 2012 | 1 comment

I’ve set a mini-goal for myself this week: I’m going to remember to bring my lunch to work all week this week. There have been too many days where I make a lunch and then it ends up getting left on my kitchen counter to spoil while I’m at work. And then I either have to not eat anything until after I’m out of work at 9pm or I have to spend my 30 minute lunch running around finding something to eat.

Part of remembering my lunch involves cutting down my lunch prep time. For some reason, the longer I spend getting my lunch ready in the morning, the more likely I am to forget it (I don’t know why, it just is). So I wanted to make something on Monday (when I had the day off) that would last me throughout the week and would taste yummy.

I decided on making a pasta salad, and while doing a search, I found Greek Pasta Salad from EatingWell (you can click on the link for the recipe). I’ve had one of the 4 servings already, and this is a delicious pasta salad! And I’m sure the longer it sits in the fridge, the better it’s going to get!

So now, my fridge looks like this:

 

I’m ready for my week, and hopefully I’ll meet my mini-goal!

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Yoga Again (or Take Two)

Posted on November 13, 2012 | 1 comment

After my first yoga class with my Living Social deal, I was a little hesitant to try another class. But I knew that I couldn’t judge the entire studio by one bad class.

So yesterday, my friend and I went to another class to see if we would like it. It was one of their signature yoga classes. And it was a level 1/2 class.

I’ve taken yoga in the past and use my Wii Fit for yoga, so I’m not a total beginner. And at other studios, I’ve taken the level 1 class and it was more like a lecture about yoga poses then a workout class. So we figured that if it was too tough, we’d do our best and try a level 1 class next.

We got there early enough to get a decent space, and good thing because the class was crowded! Even after the class started, people were coming in late and the teacher was asking people to move their mats to make room for the later comers.

The class was good, but it was a little too hard for me. I’m flexible and able to do most poses. But the problem was that when the teacher was instructing us, sometimes she would only say the name of the pose and not what to do with your body. So I had to look around the room to see what everyone else was doing.

What I did love about the class was the teacher. I’ve had issues with group workout classes where the teachers are nervous to have an overweight student. They don’t know if they should ignore you or focus on you and trying to adjust the class to your ability. This teacher was amazing! She didn’t focus on me more than any other student, but she did give me some great pointers with using yoga blocks for many of the poses. And she did mention that I might always need to use the yoga blocks because my arms are a bit short for my body. I’ve always known this because when I was in middle school and did the fingertip test for skirts, my skirts could always be shorter than everyone else’s.

I’m probably going to go and try the level 1 class next. I enjoyed being pushed, but I didn’t like the confusion I felt in class. And I don’t know if I’ll continue with this studio after the Living Social deal is done (it’s an expensive studio and parking kind of stinks), but I’m fully taking advantage of this month.

 

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Pamper Me Fabulous (or At Least The View Was Pretty)

Posted on November 12, 2012 | Comments Off on Pamper Me Fabulous (or At Least The View Was Pretty)

A few weeks ago, I saw that tickets for Pamper Me Fabulous were on Living Social for half price. I remembered that some blogger friends of mine had gone to the event earlier this year, so I thought I’d check it out. Plus, since I had a credit on Living Social from the laser hair removal place that refused to honor my deal, technically the event was free for me.

So yesterday, I headed down to Palos Verdes Peninsula to Terranea Resort. As soon as I pulled into the property, there was a huge line of cars trying to park. So I enjoyed the view while I wasn’t moving.

After finally parking my car, I got into the line to check in for the event. The line was long, but it moved quickly, and I was inside the event.

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this event was not it. It was so crowded and had a trade show vibe to me. Everywhere I turned, people were selling something. The event had promoted online that there were free and cheap spa treatments available. The mini-facials that were available were $39 (the same price I pay for a real facial). A manicure was $18 (at the nail salon I go to, it’s only $10). And even if I wanted to get something, the appointments were filled up until almost 5pm.

The only “treatment” I got was at a booth that was trying to sell curling and flat irons. I’m actually in the market for a clamp-less curling iron, but I didn’t want to spend $150 on it. The sales woman did do my hair and teach me some tricks.

After an hour of trying to get around all the people in the event, I decided to go outside, and some lunch, and then call it a day. The lunch was nice, but the view was spectacular.

The last thing I did there was pick up my gift bag. This gift bag was supposedly highly coveted and worth more than the cost of my ticket. It was filled with some pretty great (and full-sized) products.

Overall, I didn’t have a great experience at Pamper Me Fabulous. It was beyond crowded in there. Maybe by putting tickets on Living Social they got more attendees than they expected. And maybe I would have had more fun if I had gone with some friends. I’m not sure if I’ll check it out again in the future. Maybe if it’s a bit closer I will, but I don’t think that it was worth the hour drive each way.

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Making Ends Meet (or Needing a Side Job to My Side Job)

Posted on November 9, 2012 | Comments Off on Making Ends Meet (or Needing a Side Job to My Side Job)

Most of the money I make at my day job are commissions. This was great when it was the high season and I was making in a day what it would take a week at my old day job to make. But now it’s the low season and I’m making much much less.

If I wasn’t worried about paying off credit card debt, this wouldn’t be a big deal. I would have saved up the “extra” money that I earned over the summer to cover me for the lean times now.

But I put all money above and beyond my living expenses to my credit card (I’m pretty sure you’ll all agree that that is the smart way to do it). So I’m back to trying to make my budget as tight as I can. This month, I’m only going to be able to pay a little bit over the minimum on my credit card. It’s still going to make a dent in my debt, but I wish I could make a bigger dent.

This day job will most likely be ending in January (although that is up in the air too). I’m not going to look for another full-time day job for a few reasons. I like this job and plan on returning next season in May. Also, I’ve found it so tough to find a day job that works with my acting. I’ll go back to my old day job of substitute teaching, but because I work for a small district, I know it won’t pay for all my bills.

So while it’s the slow time right now at my day job, I’m looking for something to do on the side. I already babysit for a friend’s kids, but most of the time I do it for free as a favor because my friend will do my hair sometimes for free because I can’t afford to pay her. I might look into adding some more babysitting clients, but since that isn’t guaranteed income, I need to look for more.

I’m not really sure what I’m going to do. I’ve been given a writing job on another blog (when I can tell you which one I will), but that job doesn’t pay. Maybe I could use it as a reference for a paid writing job, but to be honest, I never thought of myself as a writer. Maybe I should.

If anyone out there has ideas of what I could do as a side job, I’d really appreciate it. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I know somehow it will turn out ok.

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Posted in Saving, Tough Stuff, Work

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Having an Attitude of Gratitude (or What I’m Thankful For)

Posted on November 8, 2012 | Comments Off on Having an Attitude of Gratitude (or What I’m Thankful For)

On Facebook and twitter this month, people are posting one thing every day that they are grateful or thankful for. As much as I would love to put something online every day for 30 days, it’s already the 8th and I’ve never remembered to do it until after the day was over.

So instead, here’s a bunch of things that I’m grateful/thankful for in one lump post.

I’m grateful to have such an amazing family. We have 4 generations on my mom’s side and I’ll get to see almost everyone at Thanksgiving this year (this picture is from last year).

I’m grateful for having such amazing friends who love me no matter what size I am. And they are all so supportive of me in all of my endeavors.

I’m thankful that I’m able to do these things.

I’m thankful that my meals don’t look like this anymore.

I’m super thankful that I can find shoes that don’t hurt my body (these are from Easy Spirit).

I’m thankful that I’ve been able to share a passion project of mine with the world.

I’m so grateful that I have amazing agents who literally have stuck with me thick and thin and get me fun auditions and jobs (this was a PSA I did last year).

And I’m unbelievably grateful and thankful that I live somewhere so beautiful and can enjoy moments in life like this.

What are you thankful and grateful for?

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Food, Fun Stuff, Shopping

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Yoga Fail (or I’m Trying Not To Judge Based on One Class)

Posted on November 7, 2012 | 3 comments

Earlier this summer, there was a Living Social deal for a month of unlimited yoga at a studio in Santa Monica for $50. A friend and I both bought it hoping that we could go to a couple of yoga classes together.

The deal was going to expire next month and we hadn’t started to use it. Yesterday, I had the day off (nobody wants to make sales calls while election results are coming in), so we decided to take our first class.

There was a class on Tuesdays for people who are recovering from injuries, and since I have my bad hips and my friend had knee surgery a few years ago, we thought we’d try that class. Plus, we didn’t know what the levels would be like, so we decided to start with the easiest class we could find.

Turns out, that was a big mistake.

In the beginning of class, the teacher asked us all about our injuries. I liked that part. I mentioned my bad hips and how it’s tough for me to stay still. For some reason, constant movement causes the least amount of pain.

The class was 90 minutes long, and in those 90 minutes, we did a total of 2 yoga poses. Yup, 2. I guess technically it could be called 3 because one pose was done on both the left and right side. We held each pose for something like 20 minutes. I was in so much pain that I started to shake. And when I would take a break to try to make my hips feel better, the instructor would come and get me back into the correct pose.

I’m not entirely comfortable in group workout classes. I’m usually the biggest person there and I feel like people are looking at me. The only workout class that hasn’t made me feel uncomfortable is when I’ve gone to Richard Simmons, but my work schedule doesn’t allow me to go to any of his classes.

I was almost limping when we left the class. My friend didn’t have a great time either. It was not a workout. It didn’t seem like yoga. I mentioned it was like meditation, but my friend did say how meditation should be relaxing and after that class we both hurt the same or worse than we did before.

Needless to say, I won’t be returning to that particular yoga class again. We do have 30 more days, and we are going to go to a level 1/2 class on Thursday. Hopefully that class will be more my speed and will make me enjoy the next month of yoga classes.

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Dirty Shirley (or My Signature Drink)

Posted on November 6, 2012 | 3 comments

I’m not a big drinker. I used to be, but the first time I went on the RFO diet I wasn’t able to drink anything with calories, and my tolerance for alcohol went down. Now, I never have more than 2 drinks, but more often, I only will have 1 when I go out.

I’ve never been a beer drinker. The only time I tolerated beer was when my family was in Africa and the beer was safer to drink than water (I’m sure I spent a lot of that trip dehydrated). I’m not a wine lover. If I drink wine, it tends to be a sweeter one like a Riesling.

My go to drink is any type of sparkling wine. Champagne, Cava, Prosecco, I love them all. And at most bars or restaurants, that’s what I’ll order.

But there are plenty of bars or restaurants where they don’t have a sparkling wine (or you don’t want to drink a weird cheap one), so I’ve been working on finding a signature mixed drink. I really like martinis, but I only like them with blue cheese filled olives so I won’t get them most places. I do enjoy a vodka cranberry, but that seemed to cliché and typically girly for me.

I was googling signature drinks a while back and found a recipe for a Dirty Shirley. It’s pretty much a Shirley Temple with vodka. I loved Shirley Temples as a kid (and now) so I figured that this would be the perfect drink for me.

When I order it most of the time, they have no idea what a Dirty Shirley is, so I have to order a Shirley Temple with vodka. But it is yummy, and it looks pretty.

 

And if you need the recipe, here it is:

  • 4-6 ounces carbonated lemon-lime soda (I like Diet 7-Up)
  • 2 ounces of vodka
  • 1 ounce grenadine
  • 1-2 maraschino cherry (for the garnish)

 

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff

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Another 5K Done (or I Did It Again!)

Posted on November 5, 2012 | 9 comments

Yesterday was the weSPARK 5K at Universal Studios. Even though I had done 10 or so 5Ks in the past (and this one last year), I was so nervous. I was going to do this one by myself. I’ve always had a buddy or two to talk to and distract me or push me to keep on going. This time, I had to push myself, and that’s not something that I’m great at.

On Saturday, I went to the bib pickup location to get my race stuff. The swag bag actually had some great things (anyone want my coupon for a free haircut?), and I got my number.

I’m the sort of person who looks for signs of things, and I felt that this number was a good sign. My favorite number is 9, and this number had a 9 in it. And the other 3 numbers added up to 9. I might be reaching for something positive, but I needed it to calm my nerves.

I also made myself a playlist to listen to. I have some music that I listen to when I workout, but I wanted something special. Since I worked at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios for 3 years, and the race began and ended very close to the area I worked in, I made an HHN mix of music. It was a collection of music from the Bill and Ted show that goes on during HHN and the music that the musical trolley would play when it would take us from where we got ready to our work area.

On race day, I got up early (but it didn’t feel too bad due to Daylight Saving Time), and headed to Universal. As soon as I got there, I ran into my friend David, who was running the 10K and was also going to give out the medals during the awards ceremony. David is awesome, BTW. He’s maintaining a weight loss of over 165 pounds!

Then it was time to get into our corrals. It was organized by 10K runners, 5K runners, and 5K walkers. We had to wait for all the runners to start first, so I got a before picture.

Finally, my group started and I started up my playlist. The hardest thing about this course is that the first mile and last mile are on hills. So you go downhill for most of the first mile, and uphill for most of the last mile. It’s tough, I hate it, but I knew I could do it. My big problem are my hips. My hip that has been operated on hurts going downhill and the hip that hasn’t been fixed yet hurts going uphill.

After the first mile was over, we got to go to one of the most restricted areas of Universal.

To get down there normally, not only do you have to make it through security at the normal gate to get on the lot, you have to make it through the security at the gate to get to this section. I also got this picture (please ignore the sweaty face).

Finally, it was time to go up the horrible hill. It is broken up a bit by the area that was Wisteria Lane for “Desperate Housewives”. My goal was to only take a breather once on the first half of the hill and once on the second half. And I did. I also got a bit of a boost because on Wisteria Lane, I saw David go by. He was running strong and gave me a high-five as we passed.

After conquering the killer hill (where I whispered choice words under my breath), we made it to Bates Motel/Bates House where I worked during HHN. I tried to get a picture of my old workplace.

And what I loved was when I was rounding the corner to Bates Motel, my playlist started playing the theme from “Psycho”. Loved it!

Finally, I crossed the finish line. My time was 1:03:18. Not my best, but considering my photo ops and the killer hill, I’m happy.

Of course, I got a victory picture with my medal.

I’m crazy proud of myself. I did something that scared me, and I did it pretty well. I’m totally going to do this 5K again next year. It’s a fun one and I think that I might have some family members trying to come to LA around that time so they can participate too!

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