Category Archives: Celebrations

Another Blog Anniversary (or When Will This Stop Surprising Me)

Posted on July 16, 2019 | Comments Off on Another Blog Anniversary (or When Will This Stop Surprising Me)

It’s the anniversary of Finding My Inner Bombshell! 7 years ago I posted my first post on here and I haven’t stopped since. I know I sound like a broken record because I say this every year, but I still can’t believe that I have been able to keep this up. I have blogged 5 days a week since I started. I have written over 1800 posts which is insane to me. I don’t know if this will ever seem easy or normal to me, but maybe it’s good that it doesn’t. Having this feel special and hard makes me work to make it better and I don’t go easy on myself with writing posts. There are plenty of times I have nothing to write about, but I have learned to be honest when that happens and I think that is much better than making up something to write about.

The benefits I have gotten from writing on here are more than I can count. I have become a much better person because of this blog. I have become more honest with myself and with others, which I think has made my relationships with my friends and family stronger. I feel like I am more of myself than ever before and that allows me to bring people into my life that add to it and end friendships with those that take away. I didn’t have the confidence to do that before and I know I kept toxic people in my life much longer than I should have because I was scared of losing people in my life. But as I have written about myself on here, I have become so much clearer in what I want out of life and the type of people I want in it.

And some of the amazing people that I have added to my life have been because of this blog. There are things I have written about that made an acquaintance of mine become a friend because we connected on something that we both kept hidden before. And I’ve been introduced to others because a mutual friend saw a post about something and knew someone else who would love to read the post and talk to me more about it. I’ve pushed myself to meet new people more and go to more events because I wanted to be able to have things to write about. And going to those events has led me to some of the most incredible people that I have ever met.

And yes, I have gotten to have some great opportunities because of this blog that I wouldn’t have had without it. My introduction to Orangetheory was because I was in a blogger group that was hosting the preview class I went to. Maybe I would have discovered Orangetheory on my own, but I don’t know because I never went to Brentwood much before. I probably would have found it when they opened the Culver City studio last year, but that was several years after I started. But I am forever grateful for that first class I went to over 5 years ago and the progress I’ve been able to make in my physical and mental health. And I’ve been invited to other random and fun events that I know is a privilege and I am so grateful for each and every one that I get an invitation to. I do want to start getting invited to a few higher-level events because I would love to be able to review and share them with you all. But even if I never get to that level, I still am so lucky with what I do get to do.

7 years ago, as much as I wanted to believe that I could keep this up I was also having doubts how long I could blog. I was scared to be open and honest and I didn’t know how long I could keep going without oversharing. Now, I think oversharing is the least of my worries (and I probably do overshare, I just don’t care about it). Even in my wildest dreams, I never thought I’d be doing this still 7 years later. But now, I can’t imagine my life without this blog and having this outlet. So I guess here’s to the next 7 years and seeing what it brings for me!

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Default Thumbnail4 Years (or Reflections On The Past) Default Thumbnail1500 Posts (or This Really Is Just A Part Of My Life) Default Thumbnail8 Years In (or Another Blog Anniversary) Default Thumbnail6 Years In (or Being Ok With Where I Am) Default ThumbnailMs. in The Biz (or I’m Cheating On This Blog With Another Blog) Default Thumbnail5 Years Old (or My Blog Is A Kindergartner)

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Happy 4th (or Taking The Day To Be Grateful For What I Have)

Posted on July 4, 2019 | Comments Off on Happy 4th (or Taking The Day To Be Grateful For What I Have)

For those of you in the US, Happy 4th of July (Happy Thursday for anyone outside of the US)! I’m very lucky that I have today off of work so I’m spending the day relaxing and enjoying a nice day off. I’ll be sharing more about what I do today next week, but I wanted to have a quick post today about being grateful for today and this holiday.

I know that I am very lucky to live in this country. I can enjoy freedoms that not everyone has and I know that I am privileged compared to many others even if I feel like I struggle. I have a wonderful house, a job, food in my fridge, running water, electricity, and many other things that so many of us forget are not standards for everyone around the world. I do have to remind myself about how lucky I am sometimes because I forget that when I’m in a low moment. But most of the time, I do appreciate everything that I have.

It does feel like some of the freedoms we have are under attack right now, but I’m grateful that so many people continue to fight for them. I am trying to be an advocate for others to have the right to choose what they feel is best for their health or their political representation. Even if someone disagrees with what I think is best for me, they have the right to make that choice for themselves and I want them to have every opportunity to make that choice. And I am grateful that we live in a country where we can have these political differences and for the most part live in peace.

I’m so grateful for the community that I surround myself with. I have the most amazing friends in my life and they do make so much about my life better. Even if I’m not always the most social person, they make my life awesome. Just the text messages I get from my friends make me smile and always help to turn around any bad moments I’m having. I know that sometimes I’m not the best friend when I’m having a tough time, but they are still there for me when I need them. And I try to return the favor to any of them when they need a boost or some cheering up.

Hopefully, all of you have some things to be grateful for as well. Even if you don’t have today off or are having a rough time in life, there should still be something good happening. And it’s nice to have holidays and moments like this to be able to reflect on those and remember how lucky we all are.

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Default ThumbnailWhat I’m Thankful For (or Happy Thanksgiving!) Default ThumbnailHappy Thanksgiving! (or Time To Be Grateful) Default Thumbnail4th Of July On The 1st (or Another Awesome Party With Friends) Default ThumbnailNot My Typically 4th Of July (or Taking Advantage Of A Day Off) Default ThumbnailHappy 4th Of July (or Feeling Like A Lady Of Leisure) Default ThumbnailHappy Birthday To FMIB! (or 2 Years And Finally Taking Myself Seriously As A Writer)

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A Night Of Oscars (or Last Minute Costumes and Enjoying The Show)

Posted on February 27, 2019 | Comments Off on A Night Of Oscars (or Last Minute Costumes and Enjoying The Show)

This past Sunday was the Oscars and as always I went to the party that my friends Marie and Chris have. It’s one of their parties that I look forward to every year and it’s one of the best ones that I think they do. I love seeing people in costume and I love being around amazing people as we watch the awards. The party is the perfect mix of both of those things and that’s what makes it so special to me.

There are some years that I think of my costume for the party way in advance and there are some times that it comes together the week of the party. It just depends if something inspires me. And as soon as I saw “Incredibles 2”, I thought I’d go to the party as Edna. I did that the year the first “Incredibles” came out and I got second place in the costume contest! It was the only time I placed in the costume contest so I thought it would be the perfect repeat costume.

But someone went as Edna to the Halloween party and I decided that I wanted to do something different. I wasn’t sure what I’d do, but I figured I’d think of something. But time flew by and it was the night before the party and I still had no idea on what I wanted to go as. I had an easy idea that night and figured I could easily do it (it mainly involved wearing stickers) and I knew it wouldn’t be anything spectacular.

Then, on Oscar Sunday morning, I was doing my laundry and saw my Disney dog leggings I got a few months ago in my dresser. I remembered that “Isle of Dogs” came out in 2018 (which is the only rule for the costumes) and thought that would be so much better than my original idea. So I was going to wear the leggings and make stickers of pet store aisles to wear on my shirt. The stickers didn’t want to stick on my shirt, so I only put one on and used the others as backups for when that one fell off. It wasn’t my best costume, but it was comfortable and fun and that’s the best combination.

The decorations for the party were all about Mr. Rogers Neighborhood and they had an amazing puppet backdrop to use and they made puppets to go along with it!

There are a couple of different spaces to watch the Oscars, but I always sit in the quiet room. We talk during the commercials, but during the show we are quiet. There is sometimes something said quickly while someone is walking up to the stage, but the point of the quiet room is to be able to watch (the other spaces to watch has people talking throughout the show and the focus is being more social). We usually have the same people each year in the quiet room and we are all good at following the quiet room rules. But we also know each other well enough to be ok with the little whispers and talk that may happen.

And one thing we kept discussing was the show. There was so much in the press about how this show was the first one without a host in a long time and there were people wondering how it was going to go. And we all kept saying how much we were enjoying it without a host. I feel like the presenters had more opportunities to be funny and have little bits and the show still seemed to move quickly. It only ended about 15 minutes late, which isn’t bad compared to other years.

And we also were discussing how happy we were that they didn’t give any of the Oscars during the commercial breaks. Originally, 4 of the awards were going to be done during the commercials so we wouldn’t be seeing them while watching the show. They were going to have them online, but that’s not the same. The Academy reversed their decision and I’m so glad that they did it. I thought it was a bad decision to not air all the awards because everyone equally deserves to be honored the same way when they win.

And honestly, I felt more inspired watching the speeches for some of the awards that were going to be during the commercials than I did for some of the bigger awards. I love seeing people who are truly passionate about what they do be recognized for their hard work. I especially love seeing the winners of the short animated film, short live action, short documentary, and feature length documentary because I know that many times those films are passion projects. They don’t necessarily create these films to try to win an award. They do it because they had a story they wanted to tell and they went out and did it. And when they win you can see the pure joy and excitement on their faces. It’s really amazing to watch and I’m so glad I didn’t have to watch it online later to experience that.

Overall, I felt like the show was a really good one. Going without a host worked well, the winners for the most part were who I wanted and the speeches they gave were good, and I had a great time with my friends. I did get a few votes in the costume contest, but I knew I wasn’t going to win. The winners had really incredible costumes and I can’t compete with those. I was in the top 5 for guessing the winners of all the awards which was better than I expected to do. So many of my guesses were random so it was just lucky I did that well.

I realized while watching the Oscars that there have been a lot of films I missed. I’m trying to find ways to catch up on some of them now, and I’ve already been able to watch the winner of the short documentary on Netflix. There’s no rush for me to catch up on them, but I do want to make an effort to try just so I can see what made all of those projects awesome. It will be some good entertainment between customers when it gets slower at my job later this year.

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Default ThumbnailOscar Party Time (or Feeling Inspired) Default ThumbnailMaking Some Good Guesses (or I Am Not A Cat) Default ThumbnailBeing “Wild” (or Not Guessing A Lot Of Winners Right This Year) Default ThumbnailEnjoying Movie Nights (or Watching My Screeners) Default ThumbnailWatching The Oscars (or Costumes and Twitter) Default ThumbnailOscars Time! (or Inside Out vs. Star Wars)

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Celebrating My Friendship Love (or I Don’t Hate Valentine’s Day)

Posted on February 14, 2019 | Comments Off on Celebrating My Friendship Love (or I Don’t Hate Valentine’s Day)

I know that there are many single people who hate Valentine’s Day. I completely understand why people might feel that way. It’s a weird holiday that doesn’t mean a lot to people who are in relationships. But when you are single, you are bombarded with the idea that you should be coupled up and you are somehow missing out on something by being single.

I’ve never been in a relationship on Valentine’s Day. Last year, I actually ended up having a date that night, but it wasn’t until later we realized it was Valentine’s Day. We only planned something because we both happened to be free that evening. So it was more of a date on Valentine’s Day and not a Valentine’s Day date. But it didn’t mean more to me than a date on any other night.

And this year, as always, I’m single. I’m dealing with being betrayed by someone who I thought cared about me which isn’t that fun, but I’m getting so much support from my friends and that is what matters more to me than any guy that I have dated.

So this year on Valentine’s Day, I want to celebrate the love I have from my friends. I am so incredibly grateful and lucky to have the friends that I have in my life. They are amazing and so supportive and I don’t know what I would do without them. When I’m upset about anything, even if it’s something really stupid, I know I can call someone and they will be able to talk me down.

With this recent betrayal by a guy, I’ve had friends remind me that I am lovable and worthy of so much more than what I was getting. They also helped me realize that a lot of the hurt that I am feeling is not about what this guy did to me, but the fact that I will never get answers or the closure that I would like. I am the type of person who will research something until I understand it completely. I will never understand why this person decided to hurt me or what made them see me as not worthy of being treated how I deserve to be treated. And letting go of the idea of wanting the answers is tough and I’m working through that.

But my friends also support me in the silly problems I have. When I was stressed out about my procedure with my dermatologist, I was going down a bit of a spiral thinking I was about to ruin my face. A friend reminded me that there are so many plastic surgery options for me if the scar was horrible and if it did create a divot in my face that I could always get fillers done. That’s not something I could do for a while, but just having someone remind me that this does not have to be the end of the road if I’m not happy with the results was enough to calm me down and help me remember that I was making the right decision.

And of course, I try to be there as much for my friends (if not more) than they are there for me. But I still feel like I don’t do enough considering how much they help me out and how often they remind me of things that I need to be reminded about. I know that I have mental health issues that make me think I’m not worthy and I can go to a dark place. It’s never that horrible, but it’s not a good place to be. And my friends never hesitate to help me out when I have those moments. They are never annoyed that it happened again or that they have to tell me something they have told me multiple times before.

While I have had a great example of what a successful relationship looks like from my parents, I also feel like I have been given examples of that as well through my friends. I know that being with someone romantically is different from being platonic, but I have learned how I should be treated by how my friends treat me. I have learned how to have a supportive and balanced relationship through those friendships. And I am hopeful that when I do find the guy that I want to spend the rest of my life with, I will be able to remember the relationships with my friends and use those as guidelines for how that relationship should be.

I’m writing this early enough that there is still potential for me to have a date tonight (although I don’t know if I want to go out with stitches in my face), but that doesn’t matter. If I’m spending tonight alone at home watching tv, that’s fine. While Valentine’s Day doesn’t really matter to me as a holiday, I am using it as a good excuse to be grateful for the love I do have in my life and remembering how lucky I am.

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Default ThumbnailEnjoying Valentine’s Day (or Celebrating The Love I Do Have In My Life) Default ThumbnailI Do Enjoy Valentine’s Day (or Celebrating All Love In My Life) Default ThumbnailWorking On Some Second Chances (or Trying To Stay Open Minded) Default ThumbnailSometimes I Miss Not Caring (or The Grass Is Always Greener) Default ThumbnailDoing Some More Dating Reflection (or It’s Been An Interesting Year) Default ThumbnailBaby Shower Fun (or I Love Celebrating My Friends)

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4 Years Of My Mentoring Circle (or Celebrating With Brunch)

Posted on February 12, 2019 | Comments Off on 4 Years Of My Mentoring Circle (or Celebrating With Brunch)

It’s so crazy to believe, but my current mentoring circle from Women In Film has been meeting for 4 years now! I knew that this group of women was special when we were actually able to meet between our meetings with our mentors, but I had no clue that we’d be able to continue the group after that first year ended. But it turned out that we bonded together as a group a bit more than we bonded with our mentors so it makes sense that we have kept things up.

While we have been meeting for 4 years, things have changed a few times. When we started, we technically met every month since we met with our mentors every other month and then on our own for the alternate months. And when we started meeting on our own after that first year, we continued to meet every other month since that was the routine that we got used to. But as time has gone one, most of us have gotten busier (which is a good thing) and it’s been harder to meet up. So at the end of last year, we decided to change things up so that we now meet every 3 months so we see each other 4 times a year.

Our first meeting of 2019 was this past weekend and we had our traditional brunch at Rush St. which has been our brunch place for a while now. We almost always get one of the booths, and that works perfectly for our group to feel like we have our own little meeting space and not in the middle of a busy restaurant.

When our mentoring group started, we had a few more members than we currently have. But I understand that continuing with the group wasn’t for everyone and that’s pretty much what happened with my first group that never met outside of our few meetings with our mentors. But we still have almost everyone in the group and we work hard to try to make the meetings we have. This time, we were missing 2 people, but I know they tried hard to make it and there were just circumstances that prevented them from being able to be there.

I’ve said in the past few recaps of my brunches with my group that I haven’t had a ton of news to share but I loved hearing what everyone else has been up to. This brunch was the same. My biggest news was about how it is going to be election season soon for SAG-AFTRA and that I’m more involved in my slate than I have in the past. Nothing about that is too exciting, but I know they are important things and something that not everyone is doing. I wish I could tell them amazing news about booking jobs or amazing auditions, but those just aren’t happening for me right now. I’ve had auditions, but they are nothing spectacular or unusual so I don’t really feel like sharing about those.

But as always, everyone else had amazing updates and hearing about them was the highlight of brunch for me. I’ve never really been the type of person to compare my journey to someone else’s, so I can just get joy out of seeing the steps that everyone else has been taking. And they have been doing some really amazing things that have been getting closer to reality. And one of the benefits of being a part of this group for so long is that I have been able to see the long game with everyone’s journey. One member of our group is getting close to the play she has written being on Broadway. And when we started as a group she had just produced a reading in LA and we have been getting updates about readings in NY, finding a producer and director, and now finding investors. It’s so amazing and I couldn’t be happier for her.

Because this play has been in the works for so long and the finish line seems so close, I think everyone in the group can’t wait to find out that it will be premiering on Broadway. We’ve been joking that we will all have to have a meeting in NY when that happens because of course we all want to be there. And maybe if it happens in a year we can celebrate the start of our 5th year together as a group by seeing the show premiere. But even if that doesn’t happen, it’s so fun to dream about doing that together.

While I would love to have more and better updates when the group meets again in May, I’m not going to worry about it too much. I just have to keep working hard and I know the results will happen eventually. And when they do happen, I don’t doubt that the group will be just as happy for me as I have always been for them with their amazing news!

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Default ThumbnailA Casual Brunch (or More Hangout And Less Catchup) Default ThumbnailAnother Business Brunch (or A Delayed Mentoring Circle Meeting) Default ThumbnailFinally Seeing My Mentoring Group Again (or Our First Brunch Of 2020) Default ThumbnailMentoring Circle (or Women Who Support Each Other) Default ThumbnailLast Mentoring Group Brunch For The Year (or Switching Things Up For Next Year) Default ThumbnailMeeting My Mentoring Circle (or Being In The Minority)

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New Year’s Eve In PJs (or I Think This Is Finally My Last NYE Post)

Posted on January 8, 2019 | Comments Off on New Year’s Eve In PJs (or I Think This Is Finally My Last NYE Post)

I’ve been writing about the new year for forever now! I’ve had a lot that I wanted to cover and I didn’t want to cram things into a single post. I like having the time to allow myself to reflect on the past year and be excited about the year to come. But I think I’m finally at my last post about the new year.

For the past few years, I’ve spent New Year’s Eve with my friends at a party. It was driving home from that party 2 years ago that my car died and I ended up getting a new (used) car. I love going to that party for so many reasons. Of course, I love getting to spend time with my friends. Any opportunities I get to hang out with amazing people is something I want to do. I also love the party because it’s very low-key and casual. I don’t have to dress up or be super social. I just get to hang out with my friends and it’s perfect.

This year, that party wasn’t going to happen. My friends do so many parties all the time, so we all understood they couldn’t host one. Plus, they have a puppy and the dog isn’t really used to be crowds yet. So if they had a party they would have had to board their dog at a dog hotel and they wanted to ring in the new year with their puppy. All completely understandable things.

I had been invited to a few other parties, but I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to go out. I had been feeling a bit lazy and I knew any of the other parties I was invited to would be much less casual than what I was hoping to do. I did message a couple of friends to see if anyone wanted to come over and watch movies and order pizza, but I think everyone was feeling the same as I was. Nobody was really the motivated to leave their house and be social. It was kind of funny that we all felt the same, but it also made it easier when we all decided not to really do much.

So I spent my New Year’s Eve alone at my house. I ordered some food and watched movies on tv. I had been dressed in workout clothes earlier that day for my workout, but after I showered and got dressed I spent the rest of the day in my pjs. I did stay up until midnight, but I was in bed ready to go to sleep when the clock stuck midnight. And pretty soon after that I was asleep.

I know that in the past I probably would have been upset about spending the night alone, especially after asking friends if they wanted to come over. But I was actually very happy and excited about how I spent my night. I could have made an effort and gone to a party, but I really didn’t want to and I wasn’t going to force myself to do that. And I didn’t feel bad that my friends didn’t want to come over because I was doing the same thing to them. This wasn’t anything against me or a reason to think my friends are against me. It was just what it was and there are no feelings about it.

I feel like that is a huge sign of growth. I didn’t overthink things or stress out about why it happened. I knew what I wanted to do with my evening and I didn’t let anyone make me feel like I should do any different. And I didn’t make my friends feel like they should do something different from what they wanted to do.  Of course I would have loved to have been with my friends to celebrate 2019, but that’s not what was meant to be.

Of course, just because I enjoyed spending my New Year’s Eve alone doesn’t mean that I won’t be planning a lot of adventures with my friends this year. I hope that the year will be filled with so much fun with as many friends as possible and I can’t wait to see what the year brings!

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Default ThumbnailRinging In 2018 (or Being Festive While Being Lazy On The Couch) Default ThumbnailHappy Birthday Rayshell (or I Love Casual Hangouts!) Default ThumbnailA Very Low-Key NYE (or I’m Glad I Don’t Have To Impress My Friends) Default ThumbnailWelcoming 2017 (or The Start To My New Year’s Eve) Default ThumbnailHappy Birthday To FMIB! (or 2 Years And Finally Taking Myself Seriously As A Writer) Default ThumbnailNew Year’s Eve Fun (or Making Sure 2014 Is A Lucky Year)

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A Solitary Christmas (or Just Enjoying Being Alone)

Posted on December 26, 2018 | 1 comment

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas doing whatever you were doing. My traditional plans are to watch movies and get Chinese food, and that’s exactly what I did.

There have been a few times where I have done something different on Christmas, but I really do like my tradition. I was invited to a few different orphan Christmas dinners (and my sister-in-law said I could drive to Santa Barbara to join them for dinner), but I really just wanted to do what I planned. And I sometimes go out for Chinese food or a movie, but this year I really had no motivation to do that.

There have been a bunch of movies on my list to watch that I could find on various streaming services, so I spent time watching those. I also have access to some of my SAG Award screeners so I had even more movie options. I haven’t gotten any of my DVDs but a majority of the screeners are digital screeners that you watch on different websites. So I had instant access to them and have been watching them since we got all the passwords and links. I’m determined to watch everything and I don’t want to feel rushed closer to when voting is due, so I’m glad I’ve been able to start early.

I spent Christmas completely alone. The only person I saw was the food delivery guy. But that actually was perfect to me. I could have invited people over for movies or dinner and I did mention it to a friend or two, but honestly I’m kind of glad I was on my own for the day. There are some days I hate being alone and feel lonely and sad, but Christmas wasn’t like that at all. I made a choice to be alone and I was happy with that. I spent the day in my new Disney leggings with my hair back in a claw clip with no makeup on. I made no effort to look presentable and that made me happy.

I actually had some opportunities to have dates on Christmas just because it was a day that some guys who don’t celebrate the holiday were free, but I made the choice to turn down those dates. Hopefully I’ll be able to go out with those guys another time, but if I don’t then clearly it wasn’t meant to be. Again, I had the plan in my head to be lazy and do nothing and I really didn’t want to change up my plans or have to make myself look cute.

Being alone had other benefits other than not needing to make an effort in my appearance. I really had time to do exactly what I wanted to do. I spent the morning in bed reading, watched whatever movies I wanted to watch, and ordered exactly what I wanted to eat. I didn’t have to worry about what other people wanted to do and that was nice. I gave myself the gift of being selfish and didn’t feel guilty about it at all.

I also had some time to do some reflection with the end of the year coming up. It doesn’t feel like the year will be done in less than a week, but it will be and I wanted to think about some ideas for 2019. I didn’t get as much done with that planning as I thought I would, but it was a starting off point and I’ll keep working on it the rest of the week and I know I’ll have it done by the first of the year.

I really don’t have much else to say about my Christmas. It was boring, but it was perfect and exactly what I wanted to do with my day off. All I can ask for is to do what I wanted to do and I accomplished that. And hopefully you all got to do whatever you planned and feel the same about your Christmas as I do.

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Default ThumbnailA Christmas Lunch (or The Levin-Levin-Levine Summit) Default ThumbnailMerry Christmas! (or I’m Good With Whatever Happens Today) Default ThumbnailEnjoying Movie Nights (or Watching My Screeners) Default ThumbnailMerry Christmas (or I’ll Be Enjoying My Movies And Chinese Food) Default ThumbnailMy Christmas Eve and Christmas (or A Late Night Target Run) Default ThumbnailA Very Low-Key Christmas (or Not Spending My Day Off Doing My Usual Stuff)

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Merry Christmas (or I’ll Be Enjoying My Movies And Chinese Food)

Posted on December 25, 2018 | Comments Off on Merry Christmas (or I’ll Be Enjoying My Movies And Chinese Food)

Just a quick post today since I hope you are all doing something awesome today! Whether you are celebrating Christmas with friends or family, spending the day being lazy in bed, or watching movies and ordering Chinese food like I am; I hope you are doing exactly what you wanted to do today.

While Christmas isn’t a holiday I necessarily celebrate, I love seeing how much people get into the holiday season and participating in it as well. I love seeing the different holiday decorations or reading posts about what gifts people gave to others or got themselves. Hopefully you are finding that joy in your day today.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a normal post again, but today you should be spending the day doing something other than reading my blog!

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Default ThumbnailMerry Christmas! (or Happy Movies and Chinese Food Day!) Default ThumbnailJust A Quick Christmas Hello! (or Back To Normal Blogging Tomorrow) Default ThumbnailA Very Low-Key Christmas (or Not Spending My Day Off Doing My Usual Stuff) Default ThumbnailLazy Christmas (or Cleaning And Chinese Food) Default ThumbnailMerry Christmas! (or I’m Good With Whatever Happens Today) Default ThumbnailMovies And Christmas Lights (or A Busy Movie Week)

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Spreading Some Holiday Cheer (or Finding Cheaper Ways To Make People Smile)

Posted on December 20, 2018 | Comments Off on Spreading Some Holiday Cheer (or Finding Cheaper Ways To Make People Smile)

With it being the holiday season, so many people do things to try to make others smile. I love seeing the happiness and cheer this time of year and I try to participate however I can. If money wasn’t an issue, I would do so much for friends and strangers alike. That’s not the case for me so I do have to find out how to do things for less money.

I don’t have to worry about buying too many presents which does help with spending. I really only get presents for my immediate family and I already did those gifts. I work hard on those gifts and try to find the best things that I can afford. Fortunately, the gifts I’ve done the past few years have been less expensive than they appear to be so that helps. And since I get one gift for my parents and one gift for my brother and sister-in-law, that helps too. I don’t have to worry about getting 4 presents and can focus on 2 really good ones.

The only other gift I had to do this year was for the Reddit Secret Santa. I’ve done a few of these Reddit gift exchanges before and they have always been fun. Again, I would love to spend way more money than the suggested amount to get everything the person I got matched with asked for. But I have to read into what they want and really try to find the best thing that I can afford. This year, the person I got mentioned how they wanted to learn more about the science of cooking and they love popcorn. So I found a great book all about cooking and why things happen with different preparations as well as some fancy popcorn salt. The person I matched with posted online about how they loved the gifts and they fit exactly what they were looking for. So even though I couldn’t spend a ton of money, I got them something they liked and appreciated.

My presents from my Reddit Secret Santa have been coming in a few different boxes. There is still one more box coming and I don’t know what is in it, but I’ve gotten 2 presents so far. Just like the person I matched with, in my profile I mentioned I love popcorn and my Secret Santa got me a variety of gourmet microwave popcorn flavors! I also mentioned I like historical fiction books and they got me a box set of books that are about female pirates. I have no idea what the last box will contain, but I’m excited to see what they got me since these gifts have been so cool so far!

Another holiday thing that I’ve done the past few years is to do holiday cards. I don’t do anything with my photo since it seems weird to do that when I don’t have my own family (or a pet), so I can buy just regular cards in a store or online. For a few years, I did cards with envelopes and those were easy enough to do. But to save money as my holiday card list has grown, I did postcards last year and am doing the same this year. Postcard stamps are about half the cost of regular stamps so that is a pretty significant savings for me. And since the cards are always pretty simple ones, it’s not a big deal for me to do postcards instead of cards in envelopes.

I’ve been a bit slow with getting my postcards out this year. Normally I have them out toward the beginning of the month, but this time I’m still working on finishing them. I’m hoping to get them to the post office by tomorrow, but I’m not sure if I’ll make that deadline. But it’s ok if they arrive after Christmas since they aren’t specific to any holiday. And I know that since most people don’t get things in the mail, it will make them happy even if they arrive in January. No matter when they get them, it will be something special and not just boring bills in their mailbox.

I’m also starting to get holiday cards from my friends which makes me so happy too. I do get a lot of joy out of doing things for other people, but I also enjoy getting things myself. I always feel special that someone has included me in their holiday card list and I love seeing the fun cards that people send out. A lot of my friends that send cards have kids so it’s also a nice treat to get to see what pictures of their kids that they have on the cards.

It hasn’t been the easiest holiday season for me due to stress and worries, but I’m glad that it hasn’t stopped me from still finding ways to celebrate the holidays and to do special things. I know I don’t do a lot, but it’s something and I’m glad that the people who get things from me appreciate even the little things I can do.

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A SAG-AFTRA Party (or Finally Getting Photos With My Friends)

Posted on December 14, 2018 | Comments Off on A SAG-AFTRA Party (or Finally Getting Photos With My Friends)

The SAG-AFTRA Holiday Party is an event that I love. I haven’t always gone to it, but I’ve tried to go every year the past few years. It’s not often I get to attend a union event that is all about being social and not about various union politics or issues. While you can’t always avoid discussing those things even at a party, the holiday party really is a time to relax and have fun.

And this party isn’t just a hangout. The LA Host Committee does an amazing job having a nice buffet meal, entertainment, and a photo booth. I usually don’t eat while I’m there and I don’t know if I’ve ever taken advantage of the photo booth, but I have always appreciated the options to have fun and I know that it makes so many people happy.

This year, even though the party fell on a nausea/pain day, I wasn’t feeling too bad when I got there. I was a bit tired from having a long day, but I perked up when I arrived and saw a friend of mine in line. She was nice enough to let me join her in line and that gave us a chance to catch up! Once the party officially started, the check in line went pretty quickly and we were inside within a few minutes!

Our first stop was to get some food and this year I was going to be enjoying it too! There was a really nice spread with lots of options. I had some salad, chicken teriyaki, shrimp ceviche, pot stickers, and prime rib! And there was a dessert spread too with cookies, brownies, and cake (I got some cake that had really delicious frosting!). After we all got our plates we found a table to stand at so we could eat without worrying about holding our plates.

The party was a bit crowded, but that is to be expected. And I was constantly running into friends and people I knew! I really felt amazing when I realized how many people in the union I do know. Sometimes it feels like I don’t know anyone or there are too many people there, but this year it didn’t feel like that. And even though I didn’t get to spend too much time catching up with many of my friends, I did make an effort to do my best. And I also tried to get photos with a couple of people too since I usually forget to do that!

Where we were standing to eat ended up being right next to where the quick speeches were going to be, so that worked out well for us! There was a quick speech to thank the LA Host Committee for doing such a great job with the party and to thank those of us who made it for attending. Then there was a short speech about the current strike we have with BBH. BBH is an ad agency that has declared that they no longer have to follow our union agreement and we as a union are not ok with that. They have an agreement to do union commercials and they should abide by that. So we are on strike until an agreement can be made. It’s an important issue for the union and I’m glad that they took some time to talk about it at the party so everyone there could be up-to-date on what is happening. They also had signs for us to take photos with to show our support for our union, and of course I took advantage of that!

The party was only 2 hours long as I was planning on leaving before it was over because my tiredness was starting to kick in. But of course I kept running into people I knew and got caught up into different conversations. I think I ended up leaving about an hour after I started to say goodbye, but that’s normal for events like this. I always end up finding people I know and hadn’t talked to yet and I don’t want to leave without at least saying hello and goodbye. And I was also helping a friend get an Instagram account set up and didn’t want to leave them until they had everything ready and knew how to post photos.

I’m so glad that I took a bit of a rest day earlier this week so that I could be at the SAG-AFTRA party. Even though I was still a bit tired, I think that had more to do with my early morning workout and maybe not getting enough sleep and not because of feeling overwhelmed and burnt out from too many events. I still have some more holiday parties to go to, but I am evaluating which ones are the most important so I can prioritize them if necessary. I want to make sure that I can have as much fun at any other parties as I did at the SAG-AFTRA one!

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