Category Archives: Fun Stuff

More Podcast Time To Relive “Felicity” (or Great Minds Think Alike)

Posted on February 8, 2019 | Comments Off on More Podcast Time To Relive “Felicity” (or Great Minds Think Alike)

A few months ago I did a guest host spot on my friend Teresa’s podcast Finding Felicity. I had the best time being a guest host and loved having the opportunity to geek out about one of my favorite tv shows. I love that Teresa is watching the show for the first time because I love having more people love the shows that I love.

The only thing that I had to be careful about when I was on the podcast the first time was how much I shared about things. I appeared on the podcast after she had only seen 2 episodes of the show so characters weren’t totally developed and she still wasn’t sure about their traits and which characters she loved and didn’t love. I did express which characters I had strong feelings about, but I had to be a bit vague and generic about it because I didn’t want to spoil anything about the show for her.

When Teresa started the podcast, she let those of us who would be guest hosts which episodes we would be on so I knew I had another episode coming up this season. And I was so excited when I saw which episode it was because I had some very strong feelings about it and had the feeling that Teresa would be the same.

I actually knew she had strong feelings about it before we met up to record because I had a question I wanted to ask her before we met up, and she had just finished the episode when she called me. She was so furious about the actions of one of the characters and was still raging about it (as was I after watching it). We got a bit of our ranting out, but we realized that we had to save it for when we were recording so we ended the call so we would be discussing it on the podcast.

When we recorded again, it was during the crazy rain storm that we had earlier this week. I joked on the episode that this proves that I’m one of the craziest “Felicity” fans because I drove to the other side of LA during rush hour in the rain to discuss it. That is the trifecta of traffic, but it was completely worth it to get to share my feelings about one of my favorite shows.

Because we both had such strong feelings about what happened in the episode, I know we kind of kept going around and around about how much we hated it and how much we hated one of the characters. It was so funny to see Teresa be as passionate about the characters as I have always been because when we talked before she was still being introduced to everyone. I also loved having the opportunity to rewatch a show that I’ve seen before and seeing how it resonates with me now versus when I’ve watched it before. I definitely have stronger feelings about some things and seeing it differently from before and it’s been a nice reflection on how I’ve changed over the years.

We did have to pause at one point in recording because we wanted to make sure that we both were able to share a majority of the things we had in our notes. The first time I was on the podcast I didn’t have notes, but I realized how important it is to be organized so I could remember everything that I wanted to say. I realize now how silly and unprofessional it was to not have notes the first time, but I’ve learned and I made sure that my notes made sense to me and covered all the points I wanted to hit.

But when Teresa and I compared notes, we definitely had a similar tone with the last note we each had (my notes are the phone ones and hers are the handwritten ones).

We both were very angry with the same character at the end (which I think pretty much everyone watching the show would feel) and we laughed about how much we felt about it. I’m sure it would be fun to debate the actions of a character and if they were good or bad, but it’s really fun to also have someone who thinks the same thing that you do about a show and you can do a deep dive into why you both had that reaction.

This episode will be live today on the Finding Felicity feed (here’s the link to iTunes and Spotify) and I hope that you all will listen to it. I’m so proud of Teresa and this amazing podcast that she’s created and I’ve been so honored to get to be on 2 different episodes. I’m hoping that I will be able to be back for the 2nd and 3rd season, and I’ve already demanding that she will bring me back for the 4th season because I have a very specific episode I want to be on because I have so much to say about it.

If you’ve been a fan of “Felicity” in the past, I really highly recommend listening to the podcast. I’ve been a subscriber and listening to Teresa and the other guest hosts and it’s been so interesting to hear what everyone has been thinking and what their experiences of the show have been. And if you’ve never seen the show before, now is the perfect time to watch it and listen to the podcast episodes that go with each tv episode. It’s a really great companion piece to the show just enhances how much fun the show is to watch!

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Big Musical Instead of Big Game (or Another Sunday Night Out)

Posted on February 6, 2019 | Comments Off on Big Musical Instead of Big Game (or Another Sunday Night Out)

This past Sunday was the Super Bowl, and there are plenty of times that I’ve watched it (mainly to see my friends in the commercials) or go to a party to watch. I don’t follow football and don’t really know all the random rules of the game, but when I can watch it with friends it’s more of a fun afternoon than watching a game. But I also don’t mind if I miss it since it’s not really a big deal for me.

So when I realized that one of our shows for this season at the Pantages was that day, I didn’t think twice about it. I can always watch the fun commercials online later and even though a LA team was in the game it still wasn’t a big deal for me to watch it. It actually made things a bit easier on us because we didn’t have to deal with traffic on the drive to the theater!

We got a quick dinner at Shake Shack before the show, and we had another benefit of going to a show that evening: the restaurant was empty! Normally, it’s a very long line out the door to order and we’ve waited an hour to order in the past. This time, there was nobody in line and we got our food within 10 minutes! While it’s not my favorite burger place, I’ve learned that getting it without the bun makes it better to me and it’s a cheap and easy dinner. I love our more elaborate dinners before a show, but doing something cheap is nice too especially when I don’t have the extra money.

We went over to the theater early because I needed to change the date for one of my tickets (I’ll be out of town the date everyone else is going so I’ll be doing one show this season alone) and it’s free to do ticket transfers in person. It’s not expensive to do it online, but it was easy enough to do in person since we were there and I’d rather save the money. Even with doing the ticket exchange, we were still in our seats with plenty of time to spare before the show started. And this time, we had another classic musical: “Hello, Dolly!”.

I saw “Hello, Dolly!” once when I was growing up. It was a community theater show that I went to and I remembered it being a very fun show. But I know that community theater is a much smaller scale than what is done at the Pantages so I was very excited to see what this production would be like.

And this production was spectacular! The show was as good as always and I love all the songs. I’ve seen a lot of shows over the past few years, and this show seemed to have the fullest sound. It was amazing and felt like they had twice as many people as they really did in the cast. And I knew the costumes would be great too, and they didn’t disappoint. I love all the colors and fabulous things that people wear. We’ve had other shows that were full of awesome things, but this show seemed to step things up a level.

And the cast was so wonderful! Dolly was played by Betty Buckley, who is a Broadway legend! I had heard from friends who went to the show before I saw it that she just added so much to the character. I think we all loved how she really took her time with certain parts of the show and it was just so funny! Of course, she’s an amazing singer as was the rest of the cast, but watching someone really enjoy playing a character and making it their own is so fun! I know I left the show smiling and so happy that I am getting to see more classic musicals again and on a big stage!

Over the next month, we have our next 2 shows (one of them is the show I will be going to alone). We are really only in the beginning of our current season even though we’ve already had so many shows. That’s what happens when you add some of the add-on shows to the season. And the newest season has just been announced and it will be at both the Pantages and the Dolby theater. My group hasn’t decided what we will be doing yet, but I’m hoping at least one other person will want to do the next season. Every time I see a show (and every time I write these posts), I remember how much joy musicals bring to my life. I really want to keep this going and continue to bring this much happiness to my life!

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My Strength In Real Life (or Helping A Friend Gave Me Some New Confidence)

Posted on February 5, 2019 | Comments Off on My Strength In Real Life (or Helping A Friend Gave Me Some New Confidence)

I wrote yesterday about how I was able to lift heavier weights in my workout and how I was shocked what I was able to do. Those workouts really opened my eyes to where I have been holding myself back without realizing it and it was a game changing moment. Sometimes I can be intimidated by the heavier weights in my workout, but I need to get over that and continue to test myself.

I think one of the reasons why I don’t test myself more often is because I don’t see my progress with strength work in my life. I see the progress in my cardio when I get a new PR with a 5K race. Or I see how much easier it is to spend a day walking at Disneyland. Or for some reason, I see weight loss or smaller clothing sizes as a sign of progress with cardio even though I know that’s not always the case. But I don’t get to see the signs of progress with lifting heavier weights since I don’t really life heavy things in my regular life.

But I had a moment where I got to see my strength in life that really added to the boost I had been feeling after my workouts.

A friend of mine had posted that he needed some help packing up his apartment into a moving truck. He was moving to a new place and he was doing the move on his own. Some of the work was just moving boxes as a team so things got done quicker, but he also had some heavy things that he needed help with. His old apartment was pretty close to my house and I had that afternoon free, so I offered to help my friend.

For most of the time that I was helping, my job was to carry boxes that he packed from his door to the moving truck (which was right next to the door) and lifting them into the back of the truck for his girlfriend to organize. The three of us worked really well as a team and it was so much easier doing it that way than to have us all climb up and down the ramp to the truck. We were very efficient in our work and things were going so much faster than any of us expected.

My friend knows that I work out, but there were still a few boxes that he was worried might be too heavy for me. They were fine (although sometimes it was tough to lift into the truck since the floor of the truck was as tall as I am) and I think there were several times where my friend was honestly impressed by what I could carry. I don’t think he expected that I could do as much as I could, but I think he was so happy that I could do it since that allowed him to keep working on packing up other things.

Once we got all the boxes into the truck, we had to move on to the few pieces of furniture that he was taking. Most of the furniture was awkward to carry, but not too heavy. We moved a dresser and a desk without too much effort. It was a bit tough for me to walk up the ramp to the truck, but that was mainly because I couldn’t see my feet and I was worried I’d fall off. I ended up doing shuffle steps up the ramp so I never had to feel like my feet were going off to the side.

The last thing my friend said he needed help moving was his bed frame. He was going to move his mattress the next day when he officially was moving out, but he said the frame was so heavy that he wanted to do it then when he had the help. I couldn’t understand how a bed frame could be heavy because I’ve only seen normal bed frames. But my friend not only had a special bed frame for a Tempurpedic mattress, it was a frame that had a motor in it so the bed could be lifted and raised in different positions.

When we tried to move it at first, there was no way we could do it. I was using all my strength and force and I could only lift it maybe half an inch off the ground for a few seconds. We weren’t sure what we were going to do, but then my friend said he’d be right back. He went through the boxes in his truck and found furniture moving straps. I had seen those straps before and knew they were supposed to help, but I still wondered if we’d be able to move the frame out of his place and into the truck.

But those straps are magic and we were able to lift it up. We had to take breaks every so often because it was still insanely heavy (I have bruises on my arms from the straps), but we got it done. And when it was in the truck, I was exhausted and so happy to be done lifting anything.

And because that frame was so heavy, of course I wanted to know what it really weighed. My friend thought it was about 300 pounds and I thought it was about 175. After several minutes of research online, we finally found it and discovered it weighed 214 pounds (so my friend and I were both wrong). Since I was helping one person lift the frame, essentially I was able to lift 107 pounds! I knew it was heavier than anything I have ever lifted at Orangetheory, but I had no idea it would be that much more! The sense of accomplishment I felt after realizing that is something I wish I could bottle and use for when I’m feeling low. I was on a high from knowing what I did and nothing could bring me down.

I know that the opportunities to lift very heavy things will be limited in my life, but it’s nice when I do have those moments so I can see some results in a normal setting. It’s a reminder and proof that I am so much stronger than I have ever been and the progress is happening even if I don’t know it.

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A Social Media Monthly Challenge (or Wanting To Put Some Positivity Into The World)

Posted on February 1, 2019 | Comments Off on A Social Media Monthly Challenge (or Wanting To Put Some Positivity Into The World)

My monthly challenges are typically things that I do to better myself or improve my life in some way. I see them as a way to grow and to challenge myself with something that I might have been scared to do before. Doing something for a month isn’t a huge time commitment and I’ve almost always been pleasantly surprised that I end up wanting those challenges to be a part of my every day life moving forward.

Last month’s challenge was one that I set to work on bettering myself. I did a little bit of online learning every day. I had such high hopes for this challenge and what good things I would be able to add to my skill set. But I think my expectations were a bit too high. While I did enjoy doing the online classes, it felt more like I was sampling the classes and seeing what the subject was about instead of learning. I think maybe my expectations were high because I have done online classes at community colleges before when I just wanted to learn a subject (it’s a pretty cheap thing to do). And these online classes I found for free weren’t the same.

I also might have been doing more sampling of different subjects instead of just focusing hard on one thing. Maybe if I was focused on learning everything that I could about one thing, I would have felt differently. I’m not upset or disappointed about the challenge I did in January, I just had a different end result from what I thought I’d have. But I am grateful that I found so many amazing free online education services because I am going to continue to take advantage of them. I don’t know if it will be a daily thing, but it will be something I turn to when I need to learn more about a subject or want to add a skill set. I might have to build upon the free classes with something I pay for, but it will at least be a start.

But for February, I’m going to make the challenge a bit more than just something  for me. While this will benefit me, it will hopefully also benefit other people as well.

I’m a fairly active user of social media. While I don’t always post things to make my life look amazing, I do keep a lot of it positive. Mainly, I think I keep things positive on Instagram and Facebook. I know that I post real and tough things on there too, but it’s easily a mix of good and bad. But on Twitter, I’ve noticed that I have posted more negative or serious things.

I’m sure that’s happening because it’s very easy to share someone else’s post on Twitter. I can retweet from so many different sources with a simple click and I do follow a lot of more serious accounts. And I feel like the serious things that I’m sharing are important things like political issues that I’m passionate about. If I see a problem or misleading information that can harm others, I make sure I express my opinion. Social media is designed to do just that.

But because I share so much serious stuff like politics or news, I feel like I don’t balance it out with more positive things. I do share good things from time to time when I do my daily tweets about my union, but I don’t do a lot of random happiness or silly posts. And when I do post them, like this tweet about my grandma and my aunt and uncle’s new puppy, I always feel good for putting something out there that can make someone smile.

I’ve also done text messages to friends who I know are going through a tough time with silly photos or videos saying that they are to be used when they need a cuteness break. And realizing how happy doing those texts make me has inspired my challenge for this month (and hopefully beyond since I think this is one that I will keep up).

I want to share something on Twitter every day that is just to share positivity or to make someone smile. It might be something I created myself or a photo I took and it might be just me retweeting something that makes me happy from another account. There are a bunch of accounts I can follow that post only things like that and I’m going to use those as a resource to retweet when I don’t have something of my own to share.

While this might not balance out all the serious things I post, it will help. And you never know when someone scrolling through your feed is needing that random smile. Posting something every day is a pretty simple effort but it can have a big impact if it gets to the right person at the right time. And there is a good chance that I will be the person that needs the mood boost from time to time and sharing something online will be benefitting me more than anyone else.

This should be a pretty easy challenge for me to do because I can create a list of good accounts to retweet from as well as set a reminder for myself to post something. I’ve gotten so used to doing my daily union tweets so this will be adding on to that habit.

But just because it’s easy it doesn’t mean that it won’t affect me. I’m excited to know that I’ll be putting more good and positivity into the world every day and I can’t wait to see how much happier I will be by the end of the month!

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A Donation Drop-Off (or Grateful I Can Help A Little)

Posted on January 31, 2019 | Comments Off on A Donation Drop-Off (or Grateful I Can Help A Little)

I’ve personally donated to My Friend’s Place whenever I have something to donate. I also have encouraged friends of mine to donate there as well since it is such an incredible organization. I know a lot of people don’t really think about where they donate items and what may be done with them, that idea never sat right with me. So once I learned about My Friend’s Place I knew it would be where I would be doing my donating from that moment on.

I don’t always have a lot of things to donate and I always wish I could help out more. But I know that one thing I can do to help out is to share information and make sure other people know about the charity. And that’s exactly what I was able to do at the SAG-AFTRA Convention when I went for the first time in 2015. Another member mentioned donating hotel toiletries to charity and that they would be finding a place to donate them to later. I was able to suggest My Friend’s Place and that’s where we have done our donations for the past 2 conventions.

I assumed the next time I would be going over there with a SAG-AFTRA donation would be after the convention in the fall. I might have been there sooner with donations on my own, but I didn’t think there would be anything from the union. But fortunately I was wrong.

When the National Board members meet, many members have to travel for the meetings. The suggestion about donations came up at the meeting and my friend Ellen (who is on the board) collected these items and asked me if I wanted to go with her to drop off the donation. Of course I said I would love too because I want to help in any way that I can. I didn’t help with the collection, but assisting is good enough for me.

Before we met to do the drop-off, I went around my house to see if there was anything I had that I could donate. I did find some random toiletries that I got in different swag bags that I knew I wouldn’t be using. I also had some food I got in a Secret Santa exchange that I didn’t need. I would rather donate them to a place that needs them if I don’t feel like I had to have them. I filled a paper bag with the items I had and drove to Hollywood to meet up with Ellen.

She had a box full of amazing things to donate. Besides the regular toiletries that I knew she had collected, she had health items that were leftover from the union health fair. I know that My Friend’s Place always needs a variety of items and if they can’t use them they know so many other places that could. And since they provide services for free to the youth that come in, I am happy to give them whatever we can since I know they won’t be sold or wasted.

I wish that I had been more involved in helping with these donations this time, but I know that I have limited involvement right now with the union. I don’t attend board meetings so I can’t make the suggestion to collect items. But I am so grateful that Ellen is as passionate about this as I am and she makes sure that people know what we want to do.

Election season for the union is about to begin and I’m hoping I’ll be elected as a delegate again. Of course, I want to be at the convention so I can vote on the issues and represent my fellow actors. But I also want to see what I can do to encourage other members to donate what they can so we have a huge collection to drop off at the end of the year.

One day, I’d love to have the money to buy all the things I know they need because many of them are things that aren’t as easily donated as toiletries (like new socks and undergarments). Right now, that’s not an option for me but it is a dream of mine. But for now, I help out in whatever way I can and whenever I have the opportunity to do so. And I know that doing that is better than doing nothing.

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A Night Of SAG Awards (or Watching Union Unity)

Posted on January 29, 2019 | Comments Off on A Night Of SAG Awards (or Watching Union Unity)

Every year I look forward to watching the SAG Awards. I love all award shows, but ever since I became a member of SAG-AFTRA I feel so connected to the SAG Awards. I know a part of feeling connected is because it is the one award show that I currently get to vote for. My vote helps to decide the winners and that’s something that most people don’t get to experience.

I also think that I feel so connected because I feel like the people on my screen are truly my colleagues. I know that’s technically true for any award show where there are actors, but there’s something different with the SAG Awards. It seems so much more obtainable and closer to me and it really is a unique experience.

Even though the SAG Awards feel different for me, they are pretty standard award shows. The awards are only for actors and they categories are a bit different, but they are still about someone winning and giving a speech thanking the voting body and the people they worked with and in their life. It’s nothing too crazy compared to other award shows and this time of year there are so many of them!

But this year, the SAG Awards really felt different. I heard this from several of my friends and we all had a similar reaction. In the speeches this year from the winners, there was so much pro-union and union inclusive language. There were winners that thanked all actors that work on their show and specifically named background actors. Background actors are almost never thanked, so to see them get acknowledgement was very cool. And it also seemed like most speeches were talking about how important being a union actor is and how we all need to stick together.

Some of the things being said reminded me of what is said in the Union Working videos. They talked about making sure all actors on set are being paid what they earned and not missing out on different things like a meal penalty if a meal period is skipped. There may be some lead actors not aware that those little bonuses are being skipped, but if they are looking out on their contracts they can see if they are skipped and make sure that everyone working is getting paid what they are promised by our contracts.

One of the best moments of union unity was during the lifetime achievement speech by Alan Alda. He had a very nice speech talking about his career and what it has meant for him. And he ended his speech urging everyone watching to honor our union contract. This is such an important thing to hear as we are currently on strike with an ad agency over them deciding to not honor the contract that they previously signed with us. And with the contact negations about to start, it’s important that we have a united front saying that we want a fair contract. It was such an awesome moment watching him add that to his speech because we do need everyone to hear about it. While I have been working hard at educating myself with union issues, I know not everyone is doing that and maybe hearing someone in their speech emphasize how important it is to honor our contract will be a reminder to them or push them to learn more.

And it wasn’t just in the speeches that we saw moments of union unity. When SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris spoke, that was the theme of her speech. She reminded all of us that the union is us and we need to make sure we are working together to make the union strong for all current and future members. And Megan Mullally even got to share a moment of why our union is important while she was being the host of the show. She shared about how her dad, who has passed away, is still receiving residual checks for work that he did decades ago. Residuals are an important part of our union contracts and it was awesome seeing someone share that to the audience so those who aren’t in the union yet have an idea about what we are fighting for as a benefit for all actors.

I don’t know if any other award shows this season will have the same vibe of union unity or strength, but to see it happen in any award show is so special. While I know that it won’t change the minds of the people we are in negotiations with or people who have nothing to do with our industry, it is important for all of our union members to hear. I know there are some people in the union who don’t do much with the union but enjoy the benefits and the screeners we get for the SAG Awards. If they watched the show, they would have seen so many examples of people sharing why the union is important to them and maybe that will inspire them to support the union in whatever way they feel is best.

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2 Restaurants and 2 Rides (or A Very Low-Key Disney Afternoon)

Posted on January 25, 2019 | Comments Off on 2 Restaurants and 2 Rides (or A Very Low-Key Disney Afternoon)

I haven’t been able to have a full Disney day in a while, but I’ve been doing a bunch of random Disney afternoons after work lately. It does only give us a few hours at the parks, but usually we only have a few rides we really want to go on so it’s not a big deal. One of the biggest advantages of having an annual pass is that I can go for an hour or two and be ok with it. I never feel rushed to have to get things done because I know I can go back another time.

I was able to do one of those Disney afternoons this week with my friend Dani. We didn’t really have an agenda of rides we wanted to go on, we just wanted to have a few hours of Disney fun. We didn’t realize before arriving there that the parks were closing relatively early that day, so we only had about 4 hours from the time we arrived until they closed. But since we didn’t have a plan of things to do, that was fine with us. We both just enjoy being at Disneyland and it was such a nice evening that it just made everything feel magical.

We were both a bit wishy-washy about what we wanted to do first, but we knew we wanted to get some food. We thought about a few different places we would like to go to, and we decided we should check out the Lamplight Lounge. Normally, there is a big line to eat there, but the parks were unusually empty so we decided to take a chance. There was a small line when we got there, and we figured it would be fine to wait it out. Only a few minutes later a woman got our information to have us put on the list and told us that our table would be ready in about 10 minutes. We went out to wander in one of the stores and before we could take more than a few steps away I got a text that our table was ready!

We were seated at the bar which had a really nice view of Pixar Pier and the sun setting.

This restaurant is known for their lobster nachos and I had never had them before (the nachos were also offered when this restaurant had a different name for the past few years but I never made it there). So we knew that we were going to be getting those and they didn’t disappoint us!

We also got dinner to go with the nachos. I got the ratatouille and even though I was already a bit full from the nachos I couldn’t stop eating it because it was so good!

Dani had the spinach salad which was also good, and there were so many things that were on the menu that we wanted to try. I know we lucked out by the lack of line there, but I think we are going to try to plan a day when we can make a reservation there so we can try more of the entrees and get the nachos again!

After eating and doing some shopping, we did our first ride of the day: Radiator Springs Racers. I feel like I haven’t been on it for a while, and my favorite time to ride it is at nighttime. It was just as fun as always even if the car we were in didn’t win.

Then we headed over to the Disneyland side where we rode the train for the loop around the park. I really just love the train and it’s a nice relaxing ride. I wish that there were more lights around so we could see all the scenery, but it’s still nice having the little bits we could see. Plus, I love the diorama between Tomorrowland and Main Street.

Once we did our loop on the train, there was about 30 minutes before the park closed. And we had one more stop that we wanted to make: Dole Whips!

We went to the Tropical Hideaway again for their Dole Whip options. Dani got an orange/raspberry swirl on top of pineapple juice and I got a pineapple/orange swirl. It was a bit cold outside, but Dole Whips are so good that it was worth getting extra cold eating them!

By the time we were done with our desserts, the parks were technically closed. But the stores are open after closing so we did a lap through the stores to see if there was anything we liked. Then we went to World Of Disney in Downtown Disney to see what they had there. I’m pretty picky when it comes to Disney attire. I like cute and fun Disney shirts, but I don’t like them to be super obviously Disney. The shirt I was wearing that day was one I found online that said “Gaston’s Tavern” (from Beauty and the Beast). But Disney is getting better at creating fun shirts and I found one that I had to get for a future Disney day.

I love that it’s a Disney themed shirt but not everyone will know that it’s a Disney shirt unless they are familiar with the Haunted Mansion. I will totally be wearing it soon when I’m back in the parks!

My pass is due to be renewed in a few weeks, and even though the prices were raised I will be renewing it again. I get so much joy out of going to the parks and I know I couldn’t do these short and relaxing Disney afternoons if I had to pay every time I went to the park. I know that I probably shouldn’t spend the money on my pass, but with the payment plan option I think I will be able to figure out a way to afford it without it being too bad. And I think that if I couldn’t go to the parks as often as I go, I would end up spending the money somewhere else (or by getting one day tickets to the parks), so it’s worth the splurge.

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Default ThumbnailAnother After Work Disney Adventure (or Holiday Time And Random Fun) Default ThumbnailAnother Disney Birthday (or Eating All The Foods Again) Default ThumbnailDisney Views and Food (or Rides Were A Low-Priority) Default ThumbnailDisney Afternoon (or Beauty And The Beast And Rides) Default ThumbnailIt’s Halloweentime! (or Another Disney Afternoon) Default ThumbnailEpic Disney Evening (or 8 Rides In 3 Hours)

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Feeling A Bit More Luck (or Hopefully This Was Just A Bad Phase)

Posted on January 24, 2019 | Comments Off on Feeling A Bit More Luck (or Hopefully This Was Just A Bad Phase)

I’m aware that several of my posts lately have been a negative lately. I hate when they are like that, but I also believe in being real and honest on here. When I’m going through a tough time, I don’t want to lie and pretend that everything is great. I know that people do that on social media by only showing the best parts of themselves and that can actually make other people worse. If you are only seeing amazing things from other people and you are struggling, you can feel alone. I know that feeling and I don’t want anyone to ever feel that way because of something I’ve posted.

A lot of my negativity has been around my job situation. It’s horrible when you feel like things are finally going your way and then the rug gets pulled out from you. And I’m aware that I was not setting myself up for this possibility and was not in a good financial place to lose about half of my income. I don’t know if anyone is really ready for that, but I do know that most people at least try to have  an emergency fund to tide them over. I didn’t have that since any extra money I have goes to my credit card.

While I have been offered a new temporary job, it hasn’t started just yet. Originally it was supposed to start at the beginning of the week, but it’s been a bit delayed. I’m trying to not think anything horrible like the contract has been canceled because I have seen my contract (it’s just not the version to sign, it only has the terms on it), but it’s hard not to slip back into that mindset. But I know that soon enough I will have everything ready so I can start that job and I will be making the money that I need to cover my bills.

I haven’t slowed down on my job hunting because I know that job is only for a few months, but it’s been tough finding legitimate jobs that are what they claim to be. There was one job to be a virtual assistant for a company that I was referred to by a friend. It seemed like the perfect job for me and my phone interview ended up being over an hour because the owner and I really connected and enjoyed talking to each other. When I didn’t get that job, I was a bit sad because it seemed so perfect for me. But I knew that it must not have been meant for me.

But I did hear back from the owner saying that she wanted me to reach out to her again to discuss things. She told me that she did hire someone else for that job who had a bit more experience with the specific things she needs, but she enjoyed talking to me as much as I enjoyed talking to her. And while she doesn’t have a job for me right now, she wants to hire me for something in the future. It may just be temporary jobs or a few hours here and there, but I would be so grateful for anything I could get!

Obviously, I would have been so happy to get the job I interviewed for and that would have been incredible. But to know that I impressed the owner enough in my interview that she wants to find a way to work with me really gave me a confidence boost that I needed. I was feeling so down after encountering so many scam job posts and it was hard not to feel hopeless. And when I didn’t get this job that feeling was coming back. But knowing that she does see a future where we could work together gave me that hope back and we have a plan to check in with each other soon when she thinks she may have work for me.

I know I can’t rely on temporary or unreliable jobs, but anything I can get right now helps. I still have to work on job hunting until I have another job that has some stability, but there is a chance that one of the temporary jobs will become that job. I want to leave myself open to that possibility but also to make sure that I don’t get myself into the same situation that I’m in right now again.

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Default ThumbnailA Job Hunting Update (or Making Sure I Don’t Repeat My Financial Year Again) Default ThumbnailFeeling Like Normal In More Ways Than One (or Getting Better) Default ThumbnailTemp Job Time (or Feeling Like It’s An Old Job Again) Default ThumbnailFeeling Secure (or Not Letting Past Jobs Make Me Feel Bad Anymore) Default ThumbnailWorking Through Physical Challenges (or Not Letting Feeling Bad Ruin My Workouts) Default ThumbnailJust A Bad Day (or This Time It Wasn’t A Bad Hour)

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Posted in Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff, Work

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Reaching A New Audience (or Laughing At My Dating Adventures)

Posted on January 23, 2019 | Comments Off on Reaching A New Audience (or Laughing At My Dating Adventures)

I’ve shared a bit about my online dating adventures on here in the past. I’ve also shared about how I am working on a book about dating and the stories that I have. I love sharing my stories because most of them are so ridiculous that I want other people to get some entertainment out of it. Or some are lessons that I’ve learned that I want to share so others don’t have to go through the same things that I have. I’ve been very open about dating and I hope that the people who read my posts about it are enjoying them.

Whether or not they are enjoying them, I know my friends see that I post about dating. So when a friend of mine saw that his friends were starting a new podcast about dating and they were looking for guests with fun stories, my friend told me about it immediately. I messaged the hosts and gave them a few different stories of things that have happened and they loved them! They asked me for my availability and I was able to record 2 episodes of their podcast this past weekend.

I don’t have a ton of information about the podcast as it hasn’t launched yet, but I promise to share it when I have it. But it is a podcast that is all about dating and the situations that people find themselves in. Each episode is about a general topic but someone might have multiple stories about that topic to share. The 2 episodes that I recorded were about cheaters and nude photos or other over the top sexual messages that I get.

I was very happy to share my stories about both topics. I was especially excited to share my stories about cheaters because they are some of my funniest stories. It’s been very easy to find out if a guy isn’t single based on information they post on their profiles. I usually can figure it out with a very quick search. The last cheater I caught didn’t have a ton of information about him in his profile, but based on his name and employer I found his employer’s Instagram account and their most recent picture was of him and his fiancĂ© congratulating them on their engagement. Of course I called him out on it and he immediately blocked me. I have no problem with calling out guys because they should know that we are going to find out they are cheating and that it might come back to their significant other.

I also wanted to share how I used to not want to look guys up online before going out with them because I didn’t want to have to act like I didn’t know anything about them. But I learned that it was in my best interest to look them up to see if they were not single (or lying about who they are) and there is a way to do it without learning too much about them. I know other friends who have struggled with the idea of Googling a guy before a date, but I think there is a middle ground between not looking them up and stalking them online. And that middle ground allows you to confirm they are who they have told you they are.

Sharing those stories was so fun and the hosts were pretty entertained by the cheaters I’ve caught and how some guys really don’t think they are doing anything wrong. And they also had their own stories to share which I loved hearing about.

The second episode I recorded that day was about the things that guys send to me that are no necessarily appropriate. It’s shocking what some guys will send thinking that it will intrigue you and not disgust you. I don’t think there is any reason to send someone an unsolicited nude photo, and many of these guys send photos that include their face. I would never share a photo that someone sent to me, but I wonder if there are people out there who would use that photo to try to harm or blackmail them. One guy who sent a photo to me that included his face is a teacher, and I know that if someone shared that photo it could ruin his career. I’m always surprised when I get a message like that, but I guess these guys have either found one woman who it worked on or it’s never worked but they are hoping their luck with change.

And just like with the cheating stories, the hosts had a few stories to share about weird messages too. Neither of them have stories as crazy as mine, but I don’t think either of them have been doing online dating as long as I have (and for the male host, I really doubt most women send nude photos as an opening line). We tried to be sensitive and not shaming to the guys who write some of the creepy things to me, but at the same time we just couldn’t get over some of the messages I get and how creeped out we were.

I’ve only done a few podcast interviews, and with every one I feel like I talk too much. I felt the same way with these interviews, but I also knew I had so much more I could have said. I tried to write some notes before I went to the interview so I wouldn’t forget any stories and I didn’t get to share them all. But I think I might be asked back to the podcast to share stories about another topic and I would love to get to do that.

I’ve had some friends ask me how I don’t get annoyed or pessimistic about dating because I’ve had so many bad and weird stories to share. I think what keeps me sane and encourages me to keep going is having outlets to share the stories on. I love sharing them on here and writing the stories for my book. And now I’ve had the chance to share them with a new audience in a new format and I can’t wait to be able to share the links to the episodes when they are live!

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Default ThumbnailMore Thoughts On Online Dating (or Not Letting My Past Dictate My Future) Default ThumbnailOnline Dating (or Finding Comedy in What’s Out There) Default ThumbnailAnother Dating App Ban (or This Is What Makes Me Over Things) Default ThumbnailAdventures In Online Dating (or My Luck Might Be Changing) Default ThumbnailReflecting Back On 2017 (Kind Of Reaching My Goals) Default ThumbnailDating And Disneyland (or Not My Post-It Day)

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Posted in Dating, Fun Stuff

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Having Some Realizations About My Workouts (or Still Adjusting My Thinking)

Posted on January 21, 2019 | Comments Off on Having Some Realizations About My Workouts (or Still Adjusting My Thinking)

Before I get into my workout recap, I want to mention something that I realized this week. Here’s a little behind the scenes with my workout recap posts: I work on writing these throughout the week. After each workout I write the section for that day’s class because I never would be able to remember it otherwise. And because I do that, things might seem a bit disjointed or I repeat things. And when I was working on the recap of last week’s workouts, I realized that I often will give my reason or excuse for why I’m using the bike and not the treadmill. There’s no reason I need to do that, but I feel like I have to explain myself. I might still do that from time to time, but I’m going to be making an effort to not do that as much as I have.

Having that realization was kind of a game changer for me. It happened midway through the week and it really made me think about the reasons I’ve been giving myself for using the bike. This is something I’ve been struggling with for a while and I’ve said before how I’ve been working on my mindset. But even when I was working on my mindset, I didn’t realize that I was putting negative thoughts into it by putting reasons and justifications when I was writing these posts each week.

Now, on to the workout recap.

Monday’s workout was a strength based class. I’ve been working more and more with the resistance levels on the bike so it was exciting to see what I would be able to do this time. We didn’t have that high of inclines/resistance levels to work with this time, so I didn’t do anything too crazy. But I am noticing that the resistance levels that seemed like my legs were pedaling through jello before now seem much easier. It’s really motivating to feel the progress in the resistance levels that I’ve been making because I still struggle to notice the progress a lot with the bike.

On the floor, we had 5 blocks and 4 of them were add on blocks. Everything was timed for us and those 4 blocks started with lateral lunges with shoulder work. The combination of the lunge and shoulder work was a bit tough for me so I split them into 2 different moves instead of one smooth move. Each block we added on another exercise like static over under, sit-ups, and static crunch heel taps. The last block started with a plank and then had all the ab exercises (but not the lunges). With the ab work, I had to modify almost everything. With the weather we’ve been having in LA, my hip has been hurting and I had to make things a little easier on my hip. But I’m working on figuring out how to make things easier on my hip but not easier in general.

Wednesday’s workout was a 3 group class (I think now my Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday workouts will all be 3 group classes) and it was a mix of endurance, strength, power but it did feel much more endurance and power based. For cardio we had 2 different 6 minute distance runs (or bikes). The first one was paced by the coach with different push and base paces and the second one was on our own. For the second one, I used the resistance level between my base and push and I was able to go further on the second attempt than I had on the first.

On the rower, we started with a 5 minute row for distance. I was able to get just over 1000 meters in 5 minutes and then we had squats to shoulder presses with the medicine ball. Then we were supposed to row half the distance we did before and then more squats to shoulder presses. Finally we cut the row in half again with more squats, but I was still working on my row when the block ended. And on the floor triceps with a dumbbell, chest presses on the straps, sumo squats, and single arm chest presses. I did go a bit heavier on my weights than I normally do because the weights I usually use were being used by other people. That is a good motivation to move to heavier weights, but I also was lucky that all the rep counts were really low.

Friday’s workout was another strength based day, but we only had limited hill work. We had 2 blocks for each section of the room and we switched between blocks (there were 6 blocks total). For the cardio blocks, we had similar patterns. We had a push pace, base pace, base pace at incline/higher resistance level, flat base pace, and an all out pace at an incline/higher resistance level. For the first block I did 2 levels higher than my normal all out level for the incline work and the second block I did 3 levels higher. Those levels made my legs work so hard, but it was a really good hard feeling!

For the row blocks, we started with a 400 meter row and then had squats with overhead presses and calf raises using the medicine ball. Every round we went down 50 meters on the rower and did the exercises between each row. They were all pretty short rows which was nice after having cardio blocks but I wasn’t as fast as I would have liked to have been. And on the floor for the first block we had deadlifts, shoulder presses, and leg raises. For the deadlifts and shoulder presses we had drop sets. That means we had a low rep count with a higher weight immediately followed by a higher rep count with a lower weight (we had 4 reps and then 12 reps). I went really heavy for the low rep count and it was a nice relief to have the lower weights after. And the second block was a block where I had to modify everything. What I did was lunges with weights, bench tap squats, and crunches.

Saturday’s workout was probably my favorite workout of the week. My hip pain from the rain was finally done and the class was a really great workout with lots of switching. It was an endurance day, but everything went by quickly so it didn’t really feel like endurance work.

We had a 3 group class and the rower and cardio sections did kind of a run/row format. I started on the bike and I started with a 4 minute bike for distance. Then I was on the rower for a 2 minute row with squat twists with the medicine ball. Then it was back to the bike for another 4 minute distance challenge. When I was on the rower side, I did the 2 minute row with squats for the first and third parts and another 4 minute distance challenge on the bike in the middle. Since the cardio side uses the rower second, those blocks were back to back for me so I got all the cardio work done together.

On the floor, we had 2 blocks. The longer block had weight work with bicep curls, upright rows, and hip hinge low rows. After those we had ab work that added each round that we did. I only made it through the first 2 rounds so I had static crunch scissor kicks and sit-ups. The second block was shorter and it was all work using the straps. We had Y-raises, high rows, and low rows. My arms and shoulders were killing me by the end of the workout!

I’ve been using the bike exclusively for a while and I’m still torn on how to work the treadmill into my workouts again. In another week or so I’ll be back to being nauseous so it’s a weird thing to try to figure out. But maybe this time is exactly what I needed to do so I could keep having these realizations to be happier with using the bike.

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