Monthly Archives: July 2013

SAG-AFTRA Conservatory (or Feeling Like I’m Back In College)

This weekend was the SAG-AFTRA Conservatory intensive weekend. Throughout the year, the Conservatory hold various events. But during the intensive weekend, you can attend up to 9 events in a weekend.

This was my first year being part of the Conservatory. And due to my crazy schedule, the intensive weekend was the first thing I had been able to attend.

Out of 9 available class times, I went to 3 (1 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday).

Saturday was a panel of casting directors. This class was very reminiscent of events that I used to go to at The Actors’ Network. First, the moderator asked the panel some questions, then it was a Q&A open to the audience. Most of the questions were goo. There were a couple of beginner questions, but nothing too amateur (all attendees were members of the union after all). The only part of the panel I didn’t really like was when the casting directors said that to get seen for some of the smaller parts (like the 1 or 2 line parts), you have to do one of the paid workshops that they do. I’ve already mentioned my opinion on workshops, so I won’t repeat that.

First for me on Sunday was a class to help us find our “type”. For you non-actors reading this, it means what type of characters that others (preferably strangers) can imagine us playing by just looking at us. There were 12 people who took notes on my type. When I got my notes back, most of them said similar things. People see me playing a working class or middle class character. Possibly the funny best friend of the lead. And I look friendly, fun, and kind. These were things I already knew about my type, but it’s always good to hear what new people have to think about my look.

My last class was a panel of showrunners. I got to sit with a bunch of my friends in this class (which always makes things more fun for me). I loved hearing from these producers/writers about what their life is like working for their shows. This is not something I get to hear about very often, and it was a nice lesson on what their jobs are on set.

All in all, it was a pretty full weekend for me. I took a lot of notes (and still need to go and organize them!) and learned many new things. I still need to reapply for the Conservatory for the upcoming year, but I really am going to try to make it to more of the regular classes. I pay for it, so I should take advantage of it!

Hit and Run (or I Don’t Want Car Accidents To Be An Annual Thing)

Again, not a post I was planning on writing today, but things happen and I wanted to vent on here.

You may remember that last year, I was in a car accident the week of my birthday. That sucked, and my car actually had to be towed away.

And yesterday, I got in another car accident. But this time, it was pretty different.

I had work in Santa Monica yesterday. I actually made pretty good time getting there, so I decided to run a quick errand before heading into work. As I was leaving the parking lot, another car decided to back out at that time and they backed into me.

As soon as I felt the impact (and it felt pretty big for a very low-speed accident), I put my car back into a parking space and ran out to talk with the other driver. Well, that driver decided that they didn’t want to talk to me.

I went over to their car and said, “Excuse me but you just hit my car”, but either she didn’t hear me or chose to ignore me (I think it was the second one). She drove away, but fortunately someone who was walking out of the store was able to get the license plate for me.

I got back into my car and called the non-emergency police line. Since I had to be at work, the police agreed to come to my work to get my statement (it was actually a fun distraction at work having a police officer in our trailer).

The police officer was actually pretty awesome. He was nice and was willing to hear all of the crazy details I remembered from the accident (like how the license plate frame said, “Warning, My Mother Is Driving”).

Part of the accident report was getting photos of the damage.

IMG_2001

As you can see, it’s super minor damage. If the driver had stopped to talk to me, I probably wouldn’t have done anything. But since they technically fled after an accident, I wanted to report it.

Long story short (or shorter at least), when the officer went to interview the other driver (who was very easy to find since I got so much information about her car), she denied everything. She said that I wasn’t there when she backed out and that I made everything up. And when the officer went to look at her car, there was no damage (but there was an area where the dirt was wiped off that most likely occurred when she hit me). Since the accident took place on private property, there isn’t too much the police can do for me.

So what do I do now? Besides cursing at my bad car luck, the next step is to wait for the police report. It should be available for me in 10 days, and in it is the officer’s statement that although the other driver denied  anything happened, he believes that I’m the one telling the truth. I can use this report in case I chose to go to the other driver’s insurance to collect damages (the report will have the other driver’s info since I didn’t get it when the accident occurred).

So that was my Monday. Pretty exciting, huh? If nothing else, I got to freak out my co-workers when a police officer came to our work trailer asking for me. I don’t know if I’ll try to get my car fixed (since the other driver is denying everything, I will most likely have to civil sue her to get the money). So my car will have to show its battle scars for a while.

And hopefully, I will not have another incident in my car for a very very long time.

Wine and Mustaches (or Drinking Reckless Love)

Last week, I was invited to attend a wine launch party for Rebel Coast Winery. I had tried their sparkling wine at the LA Wine Fest I went to earlier this year, but this party was for a wine that they didn’t have at the other event.

The party was held at Bodega Wine Bar, which is one of my favorite happy hour spots. I invited a bunch of my friends to come with me, but Kate was the only one who had that evening free. After checking in, we took a picture in front of the step-and-repeat.

DSCN0248

The wine that the party was for is called Reckless Love.

DSCN0250

It is a blend wine with a mix of Cabernet and Syrah. I typically don’t drink red wine (I like to stick to sparkling wines most of the time), but I have to say that I really enjoyed this one! It was nice and refreshing and not nearly as heavy as I expected it to be. And the bottle was pretty cute too (the label is even glow-in-the-dark!).

Since the wine bottle has a mustache on it, a lot of the party had mustaches. One of the sponsors was Lyft (whose drivers mark their cars with giant pink fuzzy mustaches). There were also mustache temporary tattoos (I grabbed a bunch and brought them to work the next day for my co-workers) and mustache trims available at the party.

And the wine glasses for the event were Mason jars with mustaches on them!

DSCN0253

(I really tried to line up the mustache on the glass to my face)

After drinking our drinks and checking out the event a bit, Bodega started to get really crowded. Kate and I wanted to let other people have a chance to take our seats so they could enjoy their drinks, so we headed out.

I had such a fun time that night! It was actually right after the failed beach attempt, so it was nice to have something fun in the day that didn’t get rained out. Thank you to Rebel Coast Winery and LA Wonders for inviting me to check out Reckless Love. I’ll totally be on the lookout for the wine the next time I go wine shopping!

Rain In July (or Sometimes Things Just Don’t Go How You Planned Them To)

After the amazing beach day on Saturday, I knew I had to get to the beach more this summer. And yesterday, I happened to have the day off (I had somewhere I had to be during most of my shift), so I figured why not go to the beach?

The morning was a bit gray, but that’s pretty typical for summers here. But when I went outside to get something from my car, I realized that it had been raining all night and it was still drizzling! I don’t ever remember it raining in LA in July since I moved here!

Still, I figured it couldn’t be as bad at the beach. So I picked up a friend, and we headed up the coast to the same beach as last time. The whole drive it was pretty gray and drizzly, but we convinced ourselves that it was looking a bit clearer up ahead.

We finally arrived at the beach, and it looked like this.

DSCN0245

While it’s still nice to be at the ocean, it was windy and cold. We tried to wait it out a bit in the car, but it never seemed to look like it was getting better.

After waiting it out about 20 minutes, we decided to cancel the beach day. There’s no reason to be miserable and cold. And there will be plenty of other chances to go to the beach (probably not on a weekday, but that’s ok).

It did kind of suck to drive all the way out there and just turn around, but I wanted to take the chance that maybe the weather was a bit better there.

Oh well. I ended up going home and doing some reading that I’ve been excited about (I recently downloaded several of the book series recommended on this list to my e-reader).

While I didn’t get to enjoy the beach and sunshine, I did have a nice quiet day off. Which is good because this weekend I have a lot going on! I’ll be writing about it next week on here, so be on the lookout for those posts!

Hitting Writer’s Block (or This Is Going To Be Me Rambling)

Since I’ve started this blog, I’ve had people ask me how I come up with things to write about every day.

Sometimes it’s easy. I do something cool, go to an awesome event, or learn something new about myself.

Sometimes I push myself to write about things that I’d rather not admit to the public (let alone myself).

And then there are days like today where honestly I have nothing to write about. I’ve been trying to come up with something for a few hours, and I’ve got nothing. I’m in a good routine in my life right now. I’ve been eating more meals that I cook myself, going to spin class, and been busy working.

I know that I’ll have some fun things to write about tomorrow and for a few days after that because I’ve got some really awesome things coming up. But for now, I’m pretty boring.

So I’m turning to all of you who read this and want to know something. What would you like me to write about? Do you want me to write more things about beauty (I’m hoping to do some more of that soon)? Do you like hearing about my struggles with my weight loss journey? Or do you just like reading whatever crazy things I have to say that day?

While I’m doing this blog partially for me (I’m in a much happier and better place since I’ve started writing), I want to make this blog educational (and maybe inspirational) for others as well.

So I’m open to your feedback! Try to keep it to positives. Like saying what you like or what you’d like to see more of instead of saying what you don’t like.

And I’m going to end this rambling post here. I have a couple of adventures planned for later today and I can’t wait to share them with you all soon!

Trying To Cook (or Eating Something Different From Day To Day)

I’ve really been trying to be better with my food. I feel so much better when my food is something nutritious (and not just something that stays under my calorie goal for the day).

On the mornings that I go to spin class, I have a specific breakfast plan. I have a chai tea protein shake that I get from the grocery store that I’ll drink before class. I usually drink half of the shake before class and the other half when I get home. This way, I’m not working out on an empty stomach or feeling too full in my workout (both make me feel very nauseous). I usually have a second breakfast closer to when I go to work at noon (since my lunch break isn’t until 4:30pm). It’s been working well for me.

On the non-spin class mornings, I have been in a bit of a breakfast rut. I like to eat eggs because they keep me full and are good for me, but most days I do scrambled eggs (2 egg whites and 2 whole eggs). But I’ve been working on being creative. The other day, I made this awesome breakfast.

IMG_0007

Toast with mashed avocado on it topped with a sunny side up egg (with a drippy yolk). It was so simple, yet so delicious! And it was very very filling!

I’m also getting better with bringing my lunch to work with me. I’ve discovered these really amazing containers that I love to use for my lunches.

IMG_1962

It’s a 3 compartment container, and it fits perfectly in my lunch bag. For this particular lunch I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, sliced strawberries, and a piece of flattened banana. I’ve also brought salads in this container with fruit or protein in the smaller compartments.

It’s funny how the simplest thing can help me on my goal to bringing my lunch with me to work!

And speaking of simple things that help make big changes, I’ve been working on drinking more water at work as well. For some reason, I do fine at home, but not at work. And then it hit me. The straw in my cup at work is significantly bigger than the straw in my cup at home (I always try to drink water with a straw). Once I switched out my cup, my water intake at work got much better. It’s such a stupid little change, but whatever works! Right?

Playing Beach Chicken (or How To Fully Enjoy Only Having To Work A Half Day On Saturdays)

I’m making an effort to fully enjoy the time that I have on Saturdays after I work my half shift at work (my shift then is from 10-2). So this past Saturday, my friend Kate and I made a plan to hang out for the afternoon.

First stop was Monte Alban for lunch. I got fajitas (which were delicious).

DSCN0184

But I did notice that on the menu, they had a pretty odd option for a meat.

IMG_1993

After lunch, we drove up PCH to go find a fun beach to hang out at. We ended up at Thornhill Broome Beach because the beach was super close to the road (unlike in Santa Monica where it’s 1/4 mile or so from where to park to the water).

It was such a gorgeous day out.

DSCN0207

We got our feet in the water a bit.

DSCN0201

And then we played beach chicken. Beach chicken is essentially playing chicken with the waves. You go out into the water and only run away when the wave is going to be too big (or for me, when the wave was going to get my clothes wet).

Honestly, it was a lot of fun.

DSCN0214 DSCN0215

At least until a bigger wave came and was higher than my knees.

DSCN0199

I really don’t take advantage of living near the water as often as I should. I don’t think I went to the beach at all last summer. And the last time I had my feet in the water was probably 2 or 3 years ago (I’m not a huge fan of the ocean).

But running in and out of the waves really was an awesome way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

DSCN0212

Eventually, we had to head back to our part of town. I needed to run errands and Kate had a super early day at work the next day and wanted to go to bed early. On the drive back, we saw a lot of people surfing, and even a kite surfer (who seemed to be going very fast).

DSCN0231

It really was a great way to spend a free afternoon. I’m going to make an effort to make it to the beach a few more times this summer. Maybe I’ll start to like the ocean more (which would be helpful before I go to Hawaii).

7 Years (or Time Really Does Fly By)

Yesterday marked an anniversary for me. It had been 7 years since my hip surgery. I can’t believe it’s been that long!

The hip surgery had marked the end of a pretty long ordeal for me. Things started in September of 2005. I had collapsed in the Portland airport and had trouble walking. After that, I was misdiagnosed for several months. Finally, I got my proper diagnosis and had my surgery.

I can remember that day like it was yesterday. The nurse in pre-op hated me because I wanted my mom to be in pre-op with me with they put the IV in (I knew I had a high probability of fainting). I also remember having to sign my leg in pre-op to show that they had the correct leg to operate on. And I remember joking to a friend afterwards how I thought it was funny that I had to take a pre-surgery pregnancy test (it was negative, of course).

This had been my first surgery as an adult, so I was worried how I would react to the anesthesia. Turns out, I wake up very quickly and very lucid after surgery. In my surgery, they put my right foot in a boot to keep things stable. When I woke up, my foot was still in the boot and I asked my surgeon if they had screwed up my pedicure in the surgery (they didn’t).

Recovery was not as horrible as I thought it would be. I had been in so much pain before that I was so happy with the minimal pain I felt after. I’ve since discovered that I have a new type of pain, but again, it is significantly less than what I felt before.

I remember in one of my post-op appointments (after my surgeon discovered that I have the same defect in my left hip), that it was expected that my other hip would have to be corrected within 5 years. I’m pretty damn proud of myself that I’ve made it this long without needing surgery.

Even though my surgery wasn’t necessarily fun, I look back at it with happy memories. Both my mom and dad came to LA to take care of me (my dad took some of the only sick days he ever used in his 30+ years at his job to help me). While I was recovering, my mom and I went to Warner Bros. to take a tour (I used to be a tour guide there). And we took some fun pictures that I still love to look at.

File0031 IMGP0211_1

I still am in shock how many years ago the surgery was. It really feels like it was only maybe a year ago. And hopefully it will still be many more years before I have my other hip done.

IMGP0195

4th Of July Recap (or It Was All About Vine Videos and Fireworks)

I had a pretty amazing day yesterday. And considering that 48 hours before I had no idea what I would be doing, I’d say I made some awesome plans.

My day started in spin class. I ended up going much earlier than I wanted to, but in all the later classes the bike I wanted was already reserved. It was an instructor that I hadn’t had before. His class was tough, but it wasn’t totally my style. I think I might try to stick with some of my favorites if I can.

After I got home from class, I had some free time so I just relaxed at home. I did some cleaning, I watched some tv, and I read a book. Then it was time for me to head over to Studio City for the 4th of July event there.

DSCN0182

It was held at the CBS Radford lot, which I’ve been to before for a couple of auditions. But I’ve never really spent a ton of time on the lot wandering around. So this was my chance to do so.

I met up with my friend Robert there. The first thing we did was walk all around the lot. Most of the lot are soundstages, but there is one New York style street there.

DSCN0168 DSCN0167

IMG_1965

I’ll come back to our adventure on that street in a minute.

A few soundstages had events going on inside. We sat down at one stage that had a bunch of model airplanes to check out the program for the day (and we wanted to enjoy the air conditioning). We realized that there was a magic show being done by The Magic Castle! So we headed over there and got front row seats for the show. It was a pretty great show! There were two magicians performing and they had some fun tricks (they kept it family friendly since there were so many kids there).

Next, Robert and I got some dinner. There was a huge line at the food court area, so we headed to the back of the lot where there was BBQ.

DSCN0169

You ordered your food and then waited for your name to be called by a very entertaining guy (he kept cheering and high fiving people when they picked up their food).

DSCN0170

After enjoying a nice tri-tip sandwich, we headed back over to the New York street. We wanted to shoot some video back there, and Robert decided (or maybe I convinced him) to download the Vine app. If you don’t know what Vine is, it is a like a video tweet. You get to make a 6 second video on your phone. You hold your finger to the screen when you want to film, and take it away when you don’t (so you edit your video inside the app). We took some pretty funny videos of us being crazy actors on a backlot.

After our video fun, it was time to claim our spot for the fireworks. For those of us who didn’t get $100 tickets (mine was $20), we had to claim a spot on the ground near the parking structure. Those who had expensive tickets had seats on the roof of the parking structure.

DSCN0173

While we waited for the fireworks to start, Robert and I decided to take some fun photos (since there wasn’t enough lighting to do another Vine video).

DSCN0175 DSCN0176

(I feel like I look like I only have one front tooth in that bottom picture. As you can see from all my other photos, I have all my teeth.)

Finally, the fireworks started and we had an amazing viewpoint!

IMG_1992

After the fireworks ended, Robert and I waited about 20 minutes for the crowd to clear out of the parking structure before we headed back to our cars. And since we waited, I had almost no trouble getting out of there and getting home!

All in all, I had a pretty amazing day. It’s so nice to get to go out and enjoy a holiday with a friend (and on a backlot which is one of my favorite places to be). I hope that you all had as great of a day yesterday as I did! Now it’s time to go back to reality.

Happy 4th Of July (or Feeling Like A Lady Of Leisure)

Happy 4th of July readers!

I know a lot of my friends are working today (hazards of working day jobs that are convenient for leaving for auditions), but I’m lucky enough to get today off. It’s not really a great day to try to make sales over the phone.

Normally on my days off, I’m pretty heavily scheduled. I have a lot to get done and only one day to do them. But since this is a bonus day off, I’m planning on enjoying it.

As of right now, all I have planned is to go to CBS Radford in Studio City to see the fireworks. I’m also planning on going to spin class, but I haven’t reserved my bike for one yet (still figuring out when I want to go).

It’s nice to have the day off (and I’m trying to keep in mind the reason we are so lucky to have a day like today). And somehow now, I’m able to appreciate the time off much more than I was when I was unemployed. Maybe I’m more grateful for something that I don’t get to do as often?

This is going to be a short post today because I hope you all get to go out and do something fun today (like see some fireworks!). Besides working out and seeing fireworks today, I’m not planning anything else. I’m going to enjoy my time and perhaps watch some bad tv. That sounds like the perfect day off to me!