Monthly Archives: October 2012

Making It To The Top (or I’m Happy I Went Hiking)

Posted on October 31, 2012 | 3 comments

Yesterday was another random day off from my day job. I had the “#140Characters” screening that evening (blog post to come soon). And that morning my friend Kate and I decided to go hiking.

Kate moved to LA over the summer, so she’s still discovering places around town. We decided to do the hike behind the Griffith Observatory. It’s a nice place, has great views, and there is convenient free parking.

This hike and I have had an interesting relationship. It’s pretty much all uphill. There’s one spot by the Hollywood sign where I know I can make it to without issues. That’s where I took this picture.

After this view point, there is a steep uphill part that I hate. Kate encouraged me to push on, and I did. I took my time getting up the hill, but I did it.

And then I decided to see how far up the hill I could go. I’ve only made it to one of the top spots once before, and since then, I’ve never made it all the way up there. But with my friend pushing me (and not caring how many rest/water breaks I took), I made it to the top for the second time ever!

It was amazing! I felt like I accomplished so much! And I know that this hike is easy for some people and they can do it all the time, but not me. Imagine trying to hike it with a 100 pound person on your back. That’s what I have to go through with my extra weight.

The downhill part was a little easier, but that part is a bit tough on my hip. After making it down to the parking lot, my legs were a little shaky, but I just couldn’t get over the fact that I made it to my farthest point on that hike.

As we drove back down to West LA, we did encounter this huge coyote!

Seriously, it was a dog sized coyote (I thought it was a lost dog at first). That was pretty cool too.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailHiking And Off-Roading (or Taking Advantage Of Every Moment Of My Vacation) Default ThumbnailHappy Thanksgiving (or My Top 10 Things That I Am Thankful For) Default ThumbnailMy New Favorite Happy Hour Place (or Free Hot Dogs) Default ThumbnailHappy Birthday Kate! (or Yay For My Friend Of 21 Years!) Default ThumbnailMaking Friends As An Adult (or Am I Weird?) Default ThumbnailMaking The Most Of My Last Day In Tahoe (or Tucker Is A Lake Dog!)

3 Comments

Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff

Tagged , ,

Sandy (or I Hope You Are All Safe)

Posted on October 30, 2012 | Comments Off on Sandy (or I Hope You Are All Safe)

The idea of tornadoes and hurricanes freak me out. Part of it is the idea of knowing that something is about to hit (sometimes the surprise element of earthquakes are a blessing). I remember when I was younger and my family was visiting my mom’s friend in Iowa I thought every gust of wind was a tornado about to hit.

So when a tornado or hurricane hits, I become a news junkie and want to know everything. I’ve been trying to get all the news I can about Hurricane Sandy. I have lots of friends and family on the east coast and I want to make sure that they are all safe. The news is great, but twitter and Facebook are better.

All of my friends seem to be able to at least get a tweet or status update saying that they are ok and safe. That’s all I want to hear from everyone. I know that some people might not be able to get home for a few days due to the water, but as long as they are safe, I’m happy.

I’m so glad that everyone is safe. And now that is seems like the worst of the storm is over (and the focus is on cleanup), I’m now trying to figure out which tweets/status updates/news photos are fake. There are some photos that are too crazy to believe. Some of them are real (which is upsetting), but some of the weirdest ones, like the sharks swimming in neighborhoods, are fake.

I hope that if you are reading this on the east coast, you are safe. And I hope that the cleanup is quick.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailSandy Hook (or There Are No Words) Default ThumbnailPutting Myself Out There (or No Time For Fakery) Default ThumbnailShooting In Santa Monica (or A Little Too Close To Home) Default ThumbnailSouthern California Fires (or Some Ways To Help) Default ThumbnailFearing The Worst (or Trying To Hope For The Best) Default ThumbnailA Quick Post (or I Really Hope I’m Not Getting Sick)

Comments Off on Sandy (or I Hope You Are All Safe)

Posted in Tough Stuff

Tagged

New Photo (or It Reminds Me of The Old Me)

Posted on October 29, 2012 | Comments Off on New Photo (or It Reminds Me of The Old Me)

I had my photo shoot with Joanna Brooks on Friday. I haven’t gotten all of my photos in an online proof sheet yet, but I should have that by Wednesday.

We did a lot of the shoot in her studio that she created in her garage (she has a very understanding boyfriend who gave up parking his car in there so she could make a studio), but we did go out to a freeway underpass to shoot one of the looks.

While driving back from the location to her house, Joanna let me look at some of the photos in her camera so I could see how I looked. I was scrolling through the photos when one made me stop and gasp. There was one photo that looked so much like a photo that I look when I was 100 pounds lighter. I was so surprised to see it that it almost felt like I was kicked in the stomach.

I don’t know if anyone else will see the similarity (I think it has a lot to do with my chin and shoulder positioning), but here are the two photos side by side.

 

I think that the new photo (in the green) is way better than the old photo. I look younger and fresher, which is funny since the one in the blue was taken in 2007.

Even looking at them now, I can’t help see the similarities in the photos. It’s weird. It’s almost as if there is a sign that I’m not as far from the old me as I think that I am. Even though I have a lot of weight to lose, that’s all that keeping me from getting back to the old me (although I probably won’t go back to the shorter hair for a while).

This reminder is really helping to motivate me. I haven’t been doing so great with cutting out my favorite drink, Diet Coke. I know that when I’m not drinking soda I seem to eat a bit healthier. I’m making it my goal to seriously limit my soda drinking.

But I will allow my self to possibly have a rum and Diet Coke at the after party for the “#140Characters” screening tomorrow! Tickets are still available if you’d like to come!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailSoda Free (or Maybe I Can Keep This Last Bit of This Vice) Default ThumbnailCutting Out My Favorite Drink (or Goodbye Diet Coke, Diet 7-Up, Fancy Water) Default ThumbnailUpdating Me (or It Never Hurts To Ask) Default ThumbnailTesting Some Water (or Continuing My No Soda Streak) Default ThumbnailMs. In The Biz Anniversary Party (or Having Fun In A Photo Booth) Default ThumbnailA Mini Photo Shoot (or Enjoying A Voter Freebie)

Comments Off on New Photo (or It Reminds Me of The Old Me)

Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff

Tagged , , ,

The World Series (or I Try Not To Be The Dumb Girl Asking Questions About Sports)

Posted on October 26, 2012 | Comments Off on The World Series (or I Try Not To Be The Dumb Girl Asking Questions About Sports)

Growing up, my family was not a big sports watching family. We didn’t follow football. My mom once met Jerry Rice in the waiting area of a car dealership and chatting with him for a bit and didn’t know who he was until someone told her. We didn’t pay attention to basketball, although my first boyfriend was a huge Stanford fan and I did got to a game with him once. We went to a few Sharks games, and my dad was even at a game when they filmed “EdTV”.

But I did go to some baseball games growing up. Being from the Bay Area, we went to both Giants and A’s games. I think I went to more A’s games, but I like both teams equally.

Now that I’m in LA, I support both the Angels and Dodgers, but I like the Dodgers more. I went to one Angels game with my brother once because my roommate had some tickets he couldn’t use. But since college, I’ve tried to go to a Dodgers game each year. And I usually end up going around my birthday.

Last year, a group of friends and I went and sat in the cheap seats.

 

And in 2007, I went with a bunch of people to celebrate my friend’s birthday (whose birthday is only 3 weeks after mine). And on that occasion, my friend wanted to sit in the all you can eat seats and have all the girls wear fake mustaches.

 

I didn’t get to enjoy the all you can eat seats, because I was on the RFO diet then. But I sure did have a great time wearing a mustache all day.

I really enjoy going to baseball games, but I rarely will watch them on tv. It’s just not the same thing. And I feel like I can get away with not knowing what’s going on when I’m at the game because there’s so many distractions. When you watch on tv, your focus is on the game and I seem to not understand as much.

But I am watching now because the Giants are in the World Series. And I really want them to win! Not only because it’s a hometown team for me, but enough people in my life are rooting for the Giants and if they don’t win, I’ll have a lot of cranky people to deal with.

So far, the Giants are kicking butt! 2 wins down, and 2 to go.

And yes, I did just have to google how many games it takes to win a World Series.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailLet’s Go Dodgers (or A Night Out At The Game) Default ThumbnailBeing Socially Anti-Social (or An Observer At Game Night) Default ThumbnailSmall World (or Always Speak Positively) Default ThumbnailHappy Birthday To Me (or Why Social Networking Makes Me Feel Fabulous) Default ThumbnailA Game Filled Party (or Being Competitive With My Friends) Default ThumbnailIt’s a Small World (or No, This Isn’t Another Post About Disneyland)

Comments Off on The World Series (or I Try Not To Be The Dumb Girl Asking Questions About Sports)

Posted in Celebrations, Fun Stuff

Tagged

Another Day Another Audition (or This Is The Life I Love)

Posted on October 25, 2012 | Comments Off on Another Day Another Audition (or This Is The Life I Love)

I’ve got another audition today. This time, it’s for a commercial.

Commercials can be interesting to audition for. Sometimes, all you have to do is walk in, say your name, and they take a photo of you. That’s it. Other times, you do have lines to say. For my audition today, according to the online information, I have no lines to work on. There might be something to read at the audition, so I’ll get there early today.

The audition I had last week went really well. But the day after the audition, the show I auditioned for was cancelled so that episode won’t be filmed. I personally find this funny, but other non-industry people found this weird. They couldn’t understand why there was an audition when they show was getting canceled. I tried to explain that the show might not have known that they were about to end, but this is a weird industry to try to understand if you aren’t in it.

I’ve got today off from my day job today (I was the only person who could work and my supervisor didn’t want me to have to work 8 hours alone), so today is the type of day that I dream about. I have an audition this morning, a headshot shoot tomorrow to prep for today, and I can focus on me. I wish this was my life everyday. As a friend said to me yesterday, my job is getting in the way of my career.

I’m lucky because I know that I can always go to auditions, but it would be nice to not spend 6 days a week at a job and not focusing on my career. There are always more things that I want to do. I’m working on filming some new scenes for my demo reel, I’d like to be able to focus a bit more on taking classes (I’m about to start Porter Kelly’s commercial class on Sundays), and I’d also like to have some more fun in my life.

But for now, I’m just going to enjoy my perfect actor day and try to kick some butt at the audition today.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailFinding A Work/Life Balance (or Preparing to Not Be Unemployed) Default ThumbnailAn Isolation Audition (or Working On My Self-Tape Game) Default ThumbnailAudition Horror Stories (or Sometimes I Like Things To Be Boring) Default ThumbnailAudition Prep (or Taking My Career Seriously) Default ThumbnailGoing From So Much Excitement To Normal In A Few Hours (or Life As An Actor) Default ThumbnailEnjoying Valentine’s Day (or Celebrating The Love I Do Have In My Life)

Comments Off on Another Day Another Audition (or This Is The Life I Love)

Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged , , ,

weSPARK 5K (or Come and Walk with Me!)

Posted on October 24, 2012 | 1 comment

Last year, I participated in the weSPARK 5K walk. I can’t remember how I heard about it, but I was so excited because it was on the Universal Studios backlot. I used to work on the backlot during my 3 years working Halloween Horror Nights, so I wanted to go back and visit my old home.

I like 5Ks. They are a doable distance for me, and I feel accomplished for finishing one. This 5K is a bit more of a challenge than most because the course isn’t flat, so it makes me feel like I’ve actually done a bit of a workout and not just walk on flat streets.

David (from Keep It Up David) was running the 10K last year, and my friend Emily walked with me. This year, I believe both David and Emily are running, so I’m walking solo for now.

Unless some of you fabulous blog readers want to walk with me! It’s a very fun low-key event. You get to walk all around the backlot before the park is open. You get to take fun pictures like this:

You aren’t forced to raise a certain amount of money (which I appreciate). All you have to do is register and pay the registration fee (you can register here).

You get a t-shirt and everyone who completes either the 5K or 10K gets a medal like this:

(please ignore the dumpster behind me)

I’d love to have some walking buddies at the 5K this year. If you decide to join in, make sure to let me know so we can look out of each other.

But even if I’m walking by myself, I’m going to do it no matter what. I’m going to try to do better than I did last year. The final uphill was a bit tough for me, so I had to stop to take a quick break. I’m hoping this year that I can do the entire uphill without stopping this year. I might pay attention to my time, but because I am planning on taking pictures on the course again, the time isn’t my main concern. I just have to focus on finishing no matter how long it takes. That’s the most important thing to me.

And if you don’t want to walk or don’t live in LA and still want to participate, you can donate to weSPARK on my fundraising page here. I have a goal of raising $500 and would love to reach it!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailRevlon Run/Walk (or I Survived 5K #3!) Default Thumbnail5K #8 (or I Conquered The Big Hill) Default ThumbnailAnother 5K Done (or I Did It Again!) Default ThumbnailSigning Up For More Races (or Hoping To Make It To 10) Default Thumbnail26.2 (or No Marathon For Me) Default ThumbnailCulver City 5K (or 5K #2 For The Year)

1 Comment

Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff

Tagged , , ,

Readjusting (or Leaving Vacation Mode)

Posted on October 23, 2012 | Comments Off on Readjusting (or Leaving Vacation Mode)

Even though I was only in Texas for 2 half days and 1 full day, it felt like a vacation. I got away from any stress I have at home and could pretend that I didn’t have to worry about work.

I wasn’t thinking about what food I was eating. My dinner on Friday and Saturday were part of the wedding festivities. I had brunch at my hotel on Saturday, and on  Sunday I had breakfast at the airport. I wanted to enjoy the wedding meals, so I wasn’t thinking calories.

I also got kind of jet-lagged. Even though it’s only a 2 hour time difference, I got affected.

But now I’m back to real life. I had an early day at work yesterday, and I’ve got 3 more 8 hour days in a row ahead (I’m taking Friday off to take new headshots). I live-tweeted the debates again. And I need to go back to monitoring my food.

I gained 3 pounds on my trip. Yes, some of that is due to the food I ate, but I think at least part of it is from the stress of travel. When I weighed myself this morning, I’ve lost 2 of those pounds. I want to be at least at the weight I was last week before my photo shoot.

My next trip is going to be Thanksgiving. I’ve got plenty of time to get back to my old self (or even be better than my old self) by then. This week, I’m just focused on my food and detoxing from all the yummy BBQ I ate this weekend.

I don’t detox with anything weird, I just record everything that I eat and try to eat as few processed foods as possible. And hopefully I’ll be back to me quickly.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailThe New Gig (or Going From Vacation Mode To Work Mode) Default ThumbnailVacation From Meal Planning (or Finding It Hard To Go Back) Default ThumbnailWeight Loss Update (or Why I’m Trying Not To Get Frustrated) Default ThumbnailRecovering From Thanksgiving (or As Always It’s Back To The Grind) Default Thumbnail52 Weeks (or What Can I Do in a Year?) Default ThumbnailReadjusting (or I Guess I Forgot What It Felt Like To Work My Work Schedule)

Comments Off on Readjusting (or Leaving Vacation Mode)

Posted in Food, Weight Loss

Tagged , ,

Best Wedding Ever! (or My Weekend In Texas)

Posted on October 22, 2012 | 7 comments

First of all, a huge congratulations to my friends Marie and Chris on getting married! I am so unbelievably happy for you two!

Second of all, this is going to be a long recap of my weekend and there are a lot of pictures, so I’m sorry if you were hoping for a quick read in today’s post.

So I flew out on Friday to Houston. I was lucky to have a friend who happened to be going on the same flight, so we got to sit next to each other (I have a bad record of getting stuck next to creepers on flights). And when we arrived, another friend had agreed let me share in her rental car for the weekend. So Dawn, who had rented the car, was the driver and I was the navigator.

After a little adventure to get to the hotel, we were off to the rehearsal dinner at Marie’s brother and sister-in-law’s house. I didn’t get too many pictures at the dinner, because I was busy catching up with friends. But I did get a picture of the photo that we were all signing at the dinner.

And as I was leaving the dinner, I managed to snag the bride-to-be for a quick picture as well.

On Saturday, I joined some friends for a quick brunch at the hotel, then we all went to our rooms to get ready. My friend who does my hair gave me some instructions on what to do that would look good but was easy. And I used some of my DJ Tanner lip gloss.

The wedding was held at a really nice cute church. It was the church that Marie went to growing up, and the preacher that married them was the preacher who was there when she was younger.

The ceremony was the most religious one that I’ve ever been to, but it was also totally personalized to Marie and Chris.

When Chris and his groomsmen walked out, it was to a piano version of the theme from “The Muppet Show”. When they walked out, it was to music from “Star Wars”. The preacher also included the Mawwiage part of “The Princess Bride”.

I’ll admit, I had tears in my eyes during the entire wedding. I’m glad I was prepared with tissues (and had some to share with others sitting near me). But how could you not have tears of joy when two people look so happy to be getting married?

After the ceremony was over, a few of us decided to take some pictures while waiting for the bride and groom to make their appearance again. We had to document the moment because most of the times we are all gathered, it’s at some sort of costume party.

Marie and Chris walked out of the church onto a pathway filled with bubbles.

And we were all off to the reception. Once there, there was a clear sign that this was Texas and not California.

The bride and groom shared a dance, then the bride danced with her brothers, and then followed that up with a dance with her dad’s best friend.

After dinner, there were two different cakes. Both were made by friend’s of Marie.

I tried a bit of both (and they were both amazing!).

After the bouquet toss (where I was terrified that I would catch it because it seemed like Marie was aiming at me)

and some photos with friends

and then jokingly having a photobomb intervention

It was time to party! There was a lot of dancing.

(btw, that flower girl outlast everyone on the dance floor)

And the bride and groom had a jam session

And then I had to head back to the hotel to get some rest before leaving for the airport early on Sunday. Plus, some of us were getting a bit tired.

A few more photos (and thank yous) to share of my adventure:

Thanks to Dawn for driving the rental car while I tried to navigate around all the construction going on by our hotel (including when the street our hotel was on got shut down on Friday evening).

Thanks to Marie and Chris for getting married, having such a fabulous party, and inviting me to join in the festivities (Chris, the picture of us came out blurry, so I only have this one of me and Marie).

And my final stop of my trip was at the airport. I went to see what all the fuss was about, but since I don’t drink coffee, I had a bagel (but it was a pretty good bagel).

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailChanging My Perspective (or Maybe I Should Think More About What Other’s Think of Me) Default ThumbnailBeautiful Wedding For A Beautiful Friend (or I’m Glad I Wore Waterproof Mascara) Default ThumbnailCarmageddon 2 (or I’ll Be The Idiot Driving All Over Town This Weekend) Default ThumbnailJet Setter (or My Weekend Away From LA) Default ThumbnailThe Big Event! (or The Reason I’m In Maui) Default ThumbnailWedding Season (or A Bridal Shower For Another Jen)

7 Comments

Posted in Celebrations, Fun Stuff

Tagged , ,

Jet Setter (or My Weekend Away From LA)

Posted on October 19, 2012 | 2 comments

Today I head out of town to attend my friend’s wedding. I’m super excited for the happy couple.

But I’m also really nervous. I’m not the best flyer.

There aren’t too many things in life that scare me. Needles and the dentist do, but flying is a relatively new fear.

I’ve been flying for my whole life. When I was younger, my family would go on vacation in lots of other countries. I’ve been to 5 different continents. And all of those times, I was never scared of flying. I would actually sleep a lot on planes. Here’s a picture of me calm as a cucumber as I flew to Paris with my mom to celebrate me graduating college early.

Some time after graduating college, I started to get very panicky on planes, particularly during takeoff and landing. I’m pretty ok on long flights, but more often I’m taking very short flights. On the flight from LA to San Jose (where I grew up), you pretty much only have takeoff and landing. I never do that well on that flight, and I take that one a lot.

According to my reservation, my flight tomorrow should be about 3 hours long. I’m hoping that that will allow me to have some time to calm down during the flight. I’ll be sitting with a friend also going to the wedding, so at least I don’t have to worry about sitting next to a creeper or someone who thinks I’m crazy if I get a little panicky.

I’m trying to focus on my excitement about the wedding. I’ve been looking forward to this since my friend got engaged! I’ve got a super cute new dress to wear, I’m going to get to hang out with a bunch of friends, and I’m going to a city I’ve never been to before (my only time in Texas previously was when I was driving from LA to Oklahoma).

As long as I focus on the good and exciting parts of the weekend, I’m not going to let my fear of flying get in the way!

I’ll have a recap with hopefully a bunch of photos to share when I get back!

Also, if you want to come to the screening of the documentary that I produced, you only  have about a day left to get your tickets for free! Otherwise, you have to pay $5. You can get tickets here.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailOff On An Adventure (or It’s Hawaii Time!) Default ThumbnailBest Wedding Ever! (or My Weekend In Texas) Default ThumbnailTrying To Stay Calm (or Not Letting Panic Take Over) Default ThumbnailAdventures On The Red-Eye (or Surviving On Almost No Sleep) Default ThumbnailGetting Ready For Next Month (or Broadway Here We Come!) Default ThumbnailMy Last Day By The Bay (or Time To Head Back To Reality)

2 Comments

Posted in Celebrations, Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff

Tagged , , ,

My Preparation Works (or Why I’m Glad I Watch Everything on TV)

Posted on October 18, 2012 | Comments Off on My Preparation Works (or Why I’m Glad I Watch Everything on TV)

I’ve previously blogged about how I watch everything on TV just in case I get an audition for a show that I don’t watch regularly. And yesterday, that came in handy!

On Tuesday afternoon, I got a text message from my agent letting me know that I had an audition the next morning for a network TV show (sorry, but I don’t want to say what show). The show I got an audition for is not one that I watch normally, but I had watched two episodes of it earlier and had my notes to look back on. So I knew who the characters were and the tone of the show pretty quickly. And this was important because the part I was auditioning for has a very specific relationship to one of the regular characters on the show.

It was nice not to have to spend too much time on the research part of preparation because I wanted to watch the debate and then I was going to go to the LA Actors Tweetup afterwards.

The audition yesterday was at one of my favorite studio lots to go to, but I had to rush straight to my day job afterwards so I didn’t have time to wander around.

I have no idea how I did. The part is mainly based on a look, so I don’t have a ton of control over that. I look exactly how I look right now.

But one thing that is a positive and is sometimes hard for non-actors to understand is the fact that I’ve gone in for this same casting director multiple times. I went in for a pilot with her, then a couple of co-stars for that same show, and now this co-star for another show she’s working on. In the audition, it is far more important to book that office then it is to book the job. You want that casting director to like you and want to bring you back. And I feel so lucky that this particular casting director feels that way about me.

So whether or not I book this part isn’t important (well it is, but I’m not focused on that). I’m making sure that this casting director remembers me as a good actress and when there is a part that is exactly right for me, I know I’ll book that one.

But of course, if I do book this job, I’ll totally blog about it. 😉

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailMaking My Acting Bold (or Feeling Great From An Audition) Default ThumbnailThe New TV Season (or Starting My Research Early This Year) Default ThumbnailCraziness Of Auditioning (or How I Spent A Day Getting Ready For A Minute) Default ThumbnailAudition Horror Stories (or Sometimes I Like Things To Be Boring) Default ThumbnailGeneral Meeting (or Hanging Out With A Casting Director For Free) Default ThumbnailThe TV Season (or I Watch TV Like My Job Depends on It)

Comments Off on My Preparation Works (or Why I’m Glad I Watch Everything on TV)

Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged , , ,