Tag Archives: friends

Union Working Holiday Party (or Just Enjoying Being Around Good People)

Posted on December 6, 2019 | Comments Off on Union Working Holiday Party (or Just Enjoying Being Around Good People)

Because Thanksgiving was so late this year, it doesn’t really feel like we have much of a gap between then and Hanukkah and Christmas. Holiday parties are already starting and Thanksgiving was just last week! I’m making sure I don’t try to go to too many parties because I don’t want to overdo it, but I’m also excited to see so many friends in a festive mood.

The first holiday party of the season was the Union Working mixer. It has been a while since there was a Union Working event because so many of the leaders of the group are involved in union politics. So they have been busy with the election and then the convention. But hopefully, soon we will be back to our regular meetings in the new year.

This mixer was much more of a holiday party with a little bit of information thrown in. I didn’t have to run a live-stream because the things discussed were mainly about how we will be back to our meetings in the new year, that we have been able to accomplish a lot this year, and we have a lot to accomplish coming up. There wasn’t much information shared outside of things specific to the group. It only took a few minutes for that to be discussed and the rest of the mixer was a party.

I hadn’t seen some of these friends since the convention so it was nice to get to see everyone. And there were a lot of new people at the mixer that I hadn’t met yet. It’s always good to see fresh faces at union events because that means more people are getting involved and taking some ownership of the union. One of the most important and common things that people say is that the union is us. So if you are upset with the union, you need to take action. You can’t blame a different entity because members make up the union governance. So we hold the power and can make sure that our voices are heard. So whenever I see new people, I feel like they understand that concept and want to make sure the union is the best and strongest it can be. That’s one of my motivations for being so active in the union and it’s really encouraging to see others do the same.

I was bouncing around the party talking to different groups of friends. I probably looked a bit crazy because I wanted to make sure I had a chance to talk to everyone that I wanted to. I was feeling good, in a good mood, and had nothing else to do but be social. I have to take advantage of those moments and I definitely did that during the mixer. And I had every intention of taking lots of pictures in front of the step and repeat, but I kept getting distracted by talking to friends. I only managed to get one photo the entire night.

It was so nice to be at a union event that had minimal discussion about politics. There were some people there who I know are a part of the other slate or don’t agree with my slate or union politics, but that wasn’t brought up at all. There was a little discussion about how there is so much blame going around that isn’t true, but that wasn’t blaming either slate for what was happening. It was more about why this blame is being put on anyone when it’s not something accurate. Nobody talked about the election or the results and there was no discussion about why things would be better or worse if they were different. It was just about people coming together for an awesome holiday party that all happen to be very passionate about our union.

My plan was to not stay at the mixer too late. I knew I had an early morning and I was driving a rental car that I didn’t love driving (my car had a minor mechanical issue and was at the shop for several days). So I didn’t want to drive home too late so I could sleep and I didn’t have to drive the rental when some people might be driving home a bit crazy from parties. I joked to a friend when I said goodbye that I was starting my rounds of goodbyes and hopefully I would be out of there within the hour. I ended up getting into so many different conversations and before I knew it the entire event was over and it was almost 2 hours after I said I was trying to say my goodbyes. But I guess that’s a sign of a really good party and that I was having a fun time. It was worth being out later than I wanted to because of that.

I’m glad the holiday party season kicked off with such a great party. And it was really nice having a union-related event that was just fun and didn’t feel like work. I definitely need more events like that in my life.

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Default ThumbnailUnion Holiday Party (or Seeing A Lot Of People In A Little Time) Default ThumbnailA SAG-AFTRA Party (or Finally Getting Photos With My Friends) Default ThumbnailAnother Union Holiday Celebration (or Being Social And Working Social Media) Default ThumbnailThe First Holiday Party Of The Season (or A Meeting And A Mixer) Default ThumbnailSAG-AFTRA Holiday Party (or Getting Ready For Elections Again) Default ThumbnailJust A Simple Dinner Out (or A Union Working Hangout)

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Broadway Princess Party (or Fate Allowed For Some Dreams To Come True)

Posted on November 26, 2019 | Comments Off on Broadway Princess Party (or Fate Allowed For Some Dreams To Come True)

This post is seriously all about things coming into place the way they are supposed to and how fate can be an amazing thing. Over the summer, I went to a show at the Bowl and mentioned how sitting in the picnic area near me was Laura Osnes, a Broadway star that I have dreamed of seeing live. I didn’t bother her that day, but I said in that post that hopefully one day I would get to see her perform in person. Only a few weeks after that night out, I saw a post online that the Broadway Princess Party was coming to the Rockwell! That show was created by Laura Osnes and it is her and other Broadway stars singing Disney princess songs. I immediately checked with Dani to see if she wanted to go, and she said yes so I got us tickets. I splurged on getting the best seats I could because this was someone I really had dreamed of seeing perform and I figured it was worth the money.

I was so excited that I was going to see the show and I felt like it was fate that I was able to get tickets after just saying that hopefully one day I’d get to see her perform live. But then a month or so later, Dani let me know that she couldn’t make it to the show. She had warned me that her work schedule might change so I knew this might happen, but I was sad she couldn’t come with me. But this ended up being another twist of fate because I remembered a friend of mine that I know through union service might be perfect to come with me.

Jackie is also a member of my union slate and I remembered her mentioning to me in the past that she knew Laura Osnes. I didn’t know the specifics, but when I found out that I needed a new person to come with me I immediately asked Jackie if she wanted to join me. She said yes and I was so excited because she was thrilled to be coming with me. I found out the next day that Jackie emailed Laura to say that we were coming to the show and that was even more amazing! Jackie said that we would get to talk to her after the show and I couldn’t believe it. I knew this was going to be the best show ever!

Jackie and I had spent time together with union work, but this was the first time we got to hang out socially and I’m so glad that we had this time. I picked her up for the show and on the way there she was telling me all about her life and the amazing work she has done over the years. She has been in this industry for decades and she has worked with so many Hollywood legends. It was like hearing the history of Hollywood and it was incredible!

We got to the Rockwell a bit early, but as soon as they opened we went to our table so we could order our dinner. We didn’t want to have to eat during the show, so ordering early was important. And we got a selfie together because Jackie wanted to send a photo to Laura saying we were there.

Once the show started, I was just speechless. Not only was it an amazing show and Laura, Courtney Reed, and Susan Egan were so talented, but it was exactly what I hoped it would be and I just couldn’t believe that I was there.

I loved all the performances and the special guests were so great too. And getting to see Laura perform really was something that I have dreamed of doing for so long and it was just unreal that it was happening. I don’t fangirl over actors that often, but for some reason, this was just that much more special to me and didn’t feel like I was seeing one of my peers as it does for most actors I meet.

And Jackie was enjoying the show just as much as I was. She had seen it before a few times, but I think it changes up so it was different from the other times she had seen it. And she loves Laura so much and loves seeing her perform so I know she was having fun there just like I was. I knew the show couldn’t go too long because there was a second show later that evening, but it still felt like it came to a close way too soon. When everyone was on stage at the end for the final song, I was sad it was done but I also felt like I just saw the perfect show.

When the show was done, I knew there was a meet and greet and Laura had told Jackie that she would come to see us between the end of the show and the start of the meet and greet. And that’s exactly what she did! We saw her looking for Jackie and as soon as she saw her she rushed to us to say hello. I really tried to not be too crazy, but I just couldn’t believe I was getting to meet Laura. Jackie introduced her to me and the first thing she did was give me a huge hug to thank me for coming to the show.

She is honestly one of the sweetest and nicest people I have met and she genuinely was excited to meet me and so happy to see Jackie. I was able to tell her how I had wanted to see her perform for years and how much I loved the show. Getting to tell someone that is rare so I was so grateful I had that time. And of course, we had to get a selfie of the 3 of us to remember the evening.

And I wanted to make sure I took a photo of Jackie and Laura together and I love the photo I got of the two of them.

Laura had to get to the meet and greet then so we said our goodbyes and Jackie and I headed back to my car. We also ran into Courtney Reed on the way out and I was able to tell her how much I enjoyed her performance as well. That was amazing too.

In the car ride driving Jackie home, I couldn’t stop thanking her. Seeing the show was going to be amazing enough, but Jackie was able to take it to a new level and make it so much more than I could have imagined. And Jackie loved that because she loves helping other people when she can and she said this was an easy thing for her to do. I told her she is officially my fairy godmother now and I think she liked the new title.

Even though this show was several days ago, I’m still in a bit of shock that this all happened. It was so much more than I could have hoped for and I feel like it was meant to be this way. Of course, I would have loved it if Dani was at the show with me and I know it would have been an incredible evening. But because of fate (and Dani’s work schedule), things fell into place to make it really special and a dream come true.

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Default ThumbnailGetting Ready For Next Month (or Broadway Here We Come!) Default ThumbnailA Perfect Night At The Bowl (or Checking Some Things Off My List) Default ThumbnailThe First Holiday Party Of The Season (or A Meeting And A Mixer) Default ThumbnailSurprising A Friend Headed To Broadway (or I Have More Motivation To Plan My NYC Trip) Default ThumbnailBurgers And Broadway (or Another Musical) Default ThumbnailBelieving In Myself (or My Wish From Last Week Came True)

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Finding Little Things To Make Me Happy (or Shopping And Text Groups)

Posted on November 8, 2019 | Comments Off on Finding Little Things To Make Me Happy (or Shopping And Text Groups)

I have been in a bit of a down mood lately. To me, this is obvious in the posts that I have been writing. But it took me a while to be in a place where I want to work out of the funk. I know that this is probably due to a few different factors, some of which I have no power over and can’t control. And just fixing the ones I’m in control of (such as getting enough sleep) hasn’t been enough to make me feel better. I’ve had more depressive episodes before, so I knew this wasn’t anything serious. But I still don’t enjoy being in a down mood for an extended period of time.

I finally was ready to work on fixing this over the past few days. It’s not easy to get yourself out of a bad mood, but I wanted to work on it where I could. Like I said before, getting enough sleep has been a big fix I’ve been needing to work on. I still am struggling a bit with falling asleep when I should, but at least now I’m getting to bed at a more appropriate time and not staying up doing other things until very late. But since this wasn’t enough of an improvement, I’ve been working on finding other things that I know make me very happy.

Fortunately, it’s the time of year for me to do some gift shopping for my family. I bring Hanukkah presents for my family to Thanksgiving, so I only have a few weeks left to do my shopping. But because I’m a bit crazy, I had gift ideas as soon as I had bought their gifts last year. A few gifts have changed since then, but I’ve been having so much fun doing some shopping and trying to figure out the perfect gifts to get for everyone. I’m also bringing birthday presents for my parents to Thanksgiving to give them those early since I had ideas for those as well.

If I had unlimited money, I would spend so much buying presents for other people. I get so much joy out of finding the perfect gift and seeing how happy it makes someone. I do have to be careful with how much money I spend on presents, but I will always find a way to get presents for my family. I don’t have to get them expensive things if they are creative. And I seem to be good at finding unique and creative gifts. I have all the presents picked out now for my family, and I’m already so excited to give them what I got and see how much they like them. (sorry dad, if you are reading this and were hoping to get some hints of what I got you)

And while I haven’t been feeling particularly social while I’ve been down, I do still crave being social a bit. Going out isn’t always the best option when I’m in a mood, but texting can still keep me from feeling isolated. And I’ve really been enjoying different group texts that I’m a part of as well as texting with my friends individually.

One of my text groups is with my friends from Orangetheory. We have always been a bit silly in that group so that is appreciated no matter if I’m in a good mood or bad mood. We will share random GIFs and memes and joke around about the workouts. We aren’t always in the same class together (and one friend in the group doesn’t live in LA anymore), but it is nice to have workout friends to chat with even if we aren’t in class. I’ve got another texting group with other Orangetheory friends, but those aren’t as active as the main one I’m in.

I also started a text group for women in the online dating FB group I’m a part of. I created it for safety because not everyone has a friend that they can use as an online dating safety buddy as I do. The text group is for us to share the information of who we are meeting and where just as a safety measure. And we check back into the group when the date is done and we are safe. I don’t love that we have to be so cautious, but it’s necessary and I’m glad we have a safe space with no judgment. I am glad I’ve always had a friend that I can use for this and not worry about what she thinks, but I’m even more glad now that I’ve created a space for others to use when they didn’t have someone. That group is very new so we haven’t had a lot of texting yet, but we have been sharing a bit of silly stuff as well. But what makes me happy about it is that I was able to start a group like that and feel like I have done something that would benefit others.

I can still feel a bit of my down mood lingering, but I’m so glad it’s starting to lift.  I have to stay aware because if I don’t keep working on it I know that things might go back to being down again. Knowing that I have some ongoing things that are making me feel better helps, but I’m going to keep working on finding more things that will bring me joy and make things feel more normal for me again.

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Default ThumbnailSpreading Some Holiday Cheer (or Finding Cheaper Ways To Make People Smile) Default ThumbnailBuilding Upon My Monthly Challenge (or Continuing To Work On Shopping) Default ThumbnailGift Shopping (or For Me, It’s That Time of the Year) Default ThumbnailIt’s Almost Gift Giving Time! (or Excited To Finally Give A Present) Default ThumbnailA Happy Hour Celebration (or Looking Forward To Another Wedding) Default ThumbnailDriving Around For No Reason (or Finding Places That Make Me Happy)

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Posted in Dating, Fun Stuff, Shopping, Tough Stuff

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A Halloween Outing (or Dressing Up As Me)

Posted on November 6, 2019 | Comments Off on A Halloween Outing (or Dressing Up As Me)

With Halloween being on a Thursday, I knew the party that I go to wouldn’t be on Halloween night. But because I have to be up early most mornings, I figured that it would be a night that I couldn’t be out late. And when the party was scheduled to be the day after Halloween, I saw I was right. I work early on Saturdays, so I rarely am out late on a Friday night. It also didn’t help that I was already tired from my week. But I was determined to have a fun time at the party even if I was tired.

I try to be fun and clever with my costumes, but I also want to be very comfortable. And this year, I thought of a fun costume that wouldn’t be too hard to make about a month before. I had to make a run to Staples to buy some supplies, but I didn’t have to get too much and I knew I could make it the week of. I ended up having some time right after work the day before Halloween and spent about 20 minutes making this (it took longer than expected because I wanted to make it look good).

I took some paper borders and covered them with white duct tape. And then I added some letter stickers for my name and had to tape some pens on the back for stability. But I made a pretty awesome looking photo frame. And with my name on it, I made a frame for a headshot!

When I get my headshots taken, I usually dress super comfortable on the bottom since you only see the top half of my body. So I dressed in yoga pants and flip flops on the bottom and a nice sweater with full hair and makeup on top. When I got to the party, I could hold up my homemade frame and I went to the party as my headshot!

I was so happy with how my costume turned out and everyone at the party seemed to love it too! When I wasn’t holding up the frame, some people were confused with what I was dressed as, but most of them understood what it was as soon as I held it up.

The party was themed as The Ghosts of Halloweens Past and the backyard had a mix of decorations from old parties and collections of photos from the past several years. I found a few of my old costumes in the photos and loved looking at all the other photos that were decorating the party.

Because I was so tired while at the party, I knew I wasn’t going to make it too long. I hated that I felt this way, but I also didn’t want to force myself to be there late and then feel really bad over the weekend. But I did stay there for a few hours and got to have some great time hanging out with my friends. I loved their costumes and seeing how clever they were. There were a few costumes that I didn’t know what they were, but once I found out they made so much sense. I love seeing how creative all my friends are and I always wonder if I’ll have a costume as impressive as theirs.

Even though I was so proud of my costume and was hoping I might get votes in the costume contest, I wasn’t able to stay out that late. I found out a few days later that the costume contest was much later than it normally is and even if I wasn’t tired I probably would have had to leave before it happened. That made me feel a bit better. And the costumes that won were much better than mine so I know I wouldn’t have won. But it would have been fun to see if I did get votes.

I really had some high expectations for Halloween outings this year, and they ended up not being exactly what I thought they would be due to me being tired so often. It’s frustrating when I know it’s my fault that I’m not able to be as social as I want to be, but I’m always so grateful that I have amazing friends who understand why I can’t make it out or have to go home early. And I did still have a lot of fun even if it wasn’t what I planned it to be. I love going out and seeing the costumes that other people thought of and just spending time with people that I love to be around.

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Default ThumbnailFirst Halloween Party Of The Season (or At Least I Made An Appearance) Default ThumbnailLow Key Halloween (or Costume Flashback) Default ThumbnailA Busy Halloween (or Dressing As A Box Office Employee) Default ThumbnailIt’s Halloween Time! (or Another Disneyland Outing) Default ThumbnailHalloween Hangout (or I’m Just A Regular Puppet) Default ThumbnailHalloween Awesomeness (or I Am Covfefe)

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First Halloween Party Of The Season (or At Least I Made An Appearance)

Posted on October 24, 2019 | Comments Off on First Halloween Party Of The Season (or At Least I Made An Appearance)

There has been a lot of Halloween party invites lately and so many of them are happening on the same nights. As much as I want to attend everything, I know I can’t and I know if I did that I’d be feeling overwhelmed. So I had to be selective a bit with which parties I would be going to. I didn’t think about how I’d be feeling the days of the parties, and unfortunately for the first Halloween party I attended I was dealing with nausea.

The party was for SAG-AFTRA NextGen Performers. I do love going to NGP events because they are always so fun. Even though I was feeling rotten, I knew I’d find a way to make it. I would have loved to have figured out a costume to wear to the party, but I hadn’t had a chance to figure out what to be. And I also was struggling enough getting dressed and getting out of the house, so even if I had a costume I don’t know if I would have worn it.

I’m glad the party wasn’t too far from my house, so I didn’t have to worry about driving over there and traffic. And the party was only supposed to be about 2 hours long, so I decided I would try to make it for an hour before heading home. I didn’t take any photos while I was there, but it was a really good turnout. There were so many people at the event and lots of amazing costumes. Even if I had figured out a costume and felt good enough to wear it, I wouldn’t have come close to placing in the costume contest.

Right when I arrived, I found several of my friends. The entire time I was at the party was spent socializing and catching up. Even though I just saw most of these people at the convention, we didn’t really get to socialize too much then. If I had been feeling better, I probably would have spent time meeting people who were at their first NGP event and seeing who else was there, but I was feeling like just chatting with my friends. It wasn’t the best thing to do, but I was just proud of myself for pulling things together enough to go out and not just sit on my couch. Some of my friends were in charge of helping to judge the costume contest, so I walked around with them and got to see more of the costumes that people wore. There were a lot of awesome photo opportunities like a step and repeat and a photo booth, but I didn’t do either of those. I did end up being in a few of the photos the photographers took while they walked around, but I haven’t seen them posted online yet so I can’t share them.

Just when I was starting to feel really bad, I realized that I had been there for an hour so I didn’t feel bad that I was going to leave. My goal was an hour and I didn’t feel like I needed to push myself more than that. Plus, I was starting to get more nauseous and when that happens I get sweaty and tend to look sick. So I knew that it wasn’t going to be my best look.

I worked on making my rounds around the room to say goodbye to my friends. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to everyone, but my friends knew I wasn’t feeling well and knew that I might leave before I saw them again. Driving back home after the party was tough and I was glad when I got home and could lie down on my bed to let the nausea waves end. It was also time for me to take medications again, so I took those and waited for them to kick in.

I know that the first Halloween party I attended was a bit of a bust. I didn’t do much and I didn’t talk to too many people. But for me, when I feel as sick as I did, just leaving my house is a victory. I have bailed on so many plans because of my nausea and I’m trying to push through that as much as I can. It’s not always possible, but I also know that if I don’t take chances than I won’t know how much I can do. And I was proud of myself for taking the chance and finding out that I was able to at least do a little something. And the nausea is getting better now so hopefully I’ll be fine for the other parties I will be going to.

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Default ThumbnailLow-Key Halloween (or A Work In Progress) Default ThumbnailA Busy Halloween (or Dressing As A Box Office Employee) Default ThumbnailA Halloween Outing (or Dressing Up As Me) Default ThumbnailThe First Holiday Party Of The Season (or A Meeting And A Mixer) Default ThumbnailWorking On My Crafty Side (or Starting Off Halloween Season!) Default ThumbnailOpening Night Party (or Getting To Be A Party Hostess)

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Another Pumpkin Party (or A Day Discussing All Things Creepy)

Posted on October 8, 2019 | Comments Off on Another Pumpkin Party (or A Day Discussing All Things Creepy)

My friend Anne hosts an awesome pumpkin decorating party before Halloween each year. I’ve only been able to make it once because of scheduling conflicts. I was afraid that this year I would have a conflict due to the convention, but I was so excited when I got the invitation and saw it was before the convention so I’d be able to make it! I’m not the craftiest person, but I like trying to see what I can create. Plus, Anne and her friends are extremely artistic and crafty so I always am inspired when I see what they create.

I haven’t decided if I would be decorating this year for Halloween, but I knew that if I was going to that I would want my pumpkin to go along with the ones I did at the last party. I didn’t have a design in mind, but I knew that Anne would have a lot of crafting supplies at the party and I was going to see what was there and what seemed right.

When I got to the party, as expected it was set up beautifully. Anne really is an amazing host and she had everything set up for all of us to decorate our pumpkins however we wanted. There was also some amazing food, but I forgot to take a photo of that.

When I got to the party, I was one of the first people there. I got to meet her other friends who were there (I didn’t know anyone except for Anne) and we also did some catching up. Anne and I hadn’t seen each other in person for a while, and even though we stay in touch through social media, it’s not the same. So having some time to fill each other in on what has been happening in our lives was nice.

And then I decided to take a look at the various craft supplies to see what I wanted to use. I knew I didn’t want anything covered in glitter or paint because that would make it messy to get back home. I wanted something fun, but I am also aware of my limitations with art. I was looking through a collection of drawer pulls in a bowl and saw this awesome keyhole one. And that kicked off the inspiration for my pumpkin.

My other pumpkins have a lot of black, so I was going to go with that for this one too. I had a slightly more elaborate plan when I started, but once I got to working on it things simplified. I used the hot glue to attach several pieces of ribbon going down the pumpkin and then used regular glue to attach some gems to the ribbon. And I managed to fit 2 of the gems into the keyhole and tape them in there so it almost looks like it’s glowing from inside. I know it wasn’t anything fancy or super creative, but I’m really happy with how it turned out!

I didn’t have a specific design inspiration outside of the keyhole piece, but I realized after I was done that it reminded me of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland! It has similar colors to the ride, and I guess that’s perfect since the other pumpkins I made have Disney elements to them as well.

Even though the main point of the party was to decorate pumpkins, of course, it was also all about hanging out and meeting new people. All the people that Anne invited were amazing. It turns out I have a bunch of mutual friends with several of them, and it’s almost weird that our paths haven’t crossed yet. And not only were they awesome people, but we all also had something in common that became a huge part of our socializing: being into true crime stories.

I thought I was really into true crime. I listen to podcasts about it, have read books about it, and watch lots of tv shows about it. But it turns out, I knew nothing compared to everyone else at the party. They all are way more informed than I am about different true crime stories and watch lots of shows that I don’t. I got some great podcast recommendations from hearing what everyone else likes and was able to share one podcast that I listen to that the others in the group hadn’t heard of. But since everyone else was more into true crime than I am, I ended up sitting back and listening to the conversation a lot. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to or feel like I could participate. I was just more in awe realizing that I was in a group of people who are so similar to me and loving hearing what they had to say.

We joked about how it was a bit odd that we were all into true crime as much as we are. But it also seemed very fitting to discuss serial killers while doing a Halloween craft. And since we all were into it, I think that made it even less odd.

I would have loved to have stayed at the party longer than I did, but Anne has a cat and I’m severely allergic to cats. I was surprised I lasted as long as I did because I usually start to have a reaction after an hour. But her cat was hiding the entire time and she cleaned a lot before we all came over. So I think that combination helped to keep my allergies from kicking in as fast as they normally do. I was really enjoying hanging out with everyone and having so much fun discussing true crime and serial killers, so it was sad when I was starting to have some breathing issues and the rash and hives I get from my allergies were starting. I wanted to leave before things got too bad for me.

I’m so glad I was able to make it to the party this year. Hopefully, I’ll be able to make it next year as well because it really is a fun Halloween event to go to. And it gives me an opportunity to try to be crafty when I don’t usually do that.

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Default ThumbnailWorking On My Crafty Side (or Starting Off Halloween Season!) Default ThumbnailSAG-AFTRA Holiday Party (or Getting Ready For Elections Again) Default Thumbnail4th Of July On The 1st (or Another Awesome Party With Friends) Default ThumbnailA SAG-AFTRA Party (or Finally Getting Photos With My Friends) Default ThumbnailOpening Night Party (or Getting To Be A Party Hostess) Default ThumbnailA Friend Party (or A Casual Hangout And Catchup)

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Posted in Crafts, Fun Stuff

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Finally Having Our Brunch (or Almost All The Mentees Together Again)

Posted on September 19, 2019 | Comments Off on Finally Having Our Brunch (or Almost All The Mentees Together Again)

I am the one who organizes the meetings/brunches for my mentoring group. I used to be very on top of organizing them, but as the years have gone on I have gotten a bit worse at coordinating. Fortunately, the group understands that things come up and that’s why we have stopped doing our brunches every other month and now try to do them 3 or 4 times a year. But I still feel a bit guilty when our brunches are overdue and I haven’t been able to coordinate it.

This time, the brunch would have happened right in the middle of the election, so I knew it was going to have to be pushed back. Everyone else had conflicts in August, so that delay was for the best. When we were trying to figure out what dates would work in September, there was one date that seemed to work for almost all of us. So it was easy to pick which date we would end up meeting. We ended up having 5 out of the 6 people in our group there that day.

We went to our usual brunch place, Rush St., which has been a good place for us to meet over the years. But it is a sports bar/restaurant, and since it is football season there were a lot of people inside watching the game. We had a reservation for the group and they were able to seat us on the patio, so it was much quieter for us. We usually sit outside, so it was also a nice change from our routine and we got to enjoy the nice day we were having.

As our meetings usually go, we all went around and took turns sharing what we had been up to since our last meeting. Since it had been a while, we all had a lot to share. We don’t always share work-related things as the group has become close friends. But a lot of things we shared were about our careers. And as always, I was so inspired hearing what everyone else had been up to. It’s so interesting to be able to watch someone’s career grow over the years and see what is behind the idea of an overnight success story.

When it was my turn, I mainly shared things about the election. Since most of the group are not actors, they weren’t seeing the stories that I had been seeing every day. So I also filled them in on some of the crazy things that happened as well. I think they were all pretty shocked about how things went and the stories that came out. But at least now being past the election things are a bit funnier and not as stressful for me. I also shared about the little things I had been doing for my career, but they all understood that the election dominated my time and I hadn’t had time to do much else.

Even with all the things we had to share among the group, we still had plenty of time to be silly and socialize. And I think we have found a great way to balance out the point of these meetings and making them more of a hangout. Once we finished going over our individual updates, it just naturally turns into a hangout and it’s so nice that we can do that. And sometimes someone will add a career update or ask for advice while we are doing more socializing, but that’s fine. We have reached a comfort level with each other that we don’t have to feel as strict with how our meetings go. When we started out, we also have more people and we had to make sure that the meetings didn’t last for hours. Now with only 6 of us in the group, it’s easier.

We ended up being at brunch for longer than expected, but I think we all missed each other and we wanted to take advantage of being together. And to have 5 of us at the meeting is hard to coordinate so we wanted to make sure we spent time together. Maybe one day we will be able to figure out a day and time that works out for all of us, but with everyone having such busy lives it’s not easy. But we try our best to make it and it makes me so happy to see everyone else being as committed to maintaining these meetings as I am.

At the rate we’ve been going, I don’t know if we’ll have another brunch before the end of the year. Maybe we could figure something out in December, but it’s so hard with the holidays. So if this is the last mentee meeting of the year, we ended on a high note. And if we have one more, I know it will be just as great as this meeting was.

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Default ThumbnailLast Mentoring Group Brunch For The Year (or Switching Things Up For Next Year) Default Thumbnail4 Years Of My Mentoring Circle (or Celebrating With Brunch) Default ThumbnailAnother Evening Of Mentees (or Advice and Socializing) Default ThumbnailFinally Seeing My Mentoring Group Again (or Our First Brunch Of 2020) Default ThumbnailAnother Delayed Brunch (or I Wish I Had More Accomplishments) Default ThumbnailAnother Business Brunch (or A Delayed Mentoring Circle Meeting)

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Another OTF Hangout (or Having Fun Being Social In Normal Clothes)

Posted on September 4, 2019 | Comments Off on Another OTF Hangout (or Having Fun Being Social In Normal Clothes)

I feel like since the Culver City Orangetheory location opened, I’ve really been taking advantage of the different social events and hangouts. While the Brentwood location was not far from my house, I didn’t want to drive back over there after I went home after a workout. And if the hangout was a day I wasn’t over on that side of LA already, I usually didn’t feel motivated to go over there. But now that most of the Culver City hangouts are within minutes of my house, I try to make it to them as long as they fit into my schedule.

There have been a few different events like hikes that take place on Saturdays when I am working, so I can’t go to those. But there have also been beach days and happy hours that either are after I’m done with work or a long enough event that I can go after work. I have never been a part of a workout community like I am a part of at OTF. I have made some great friends in class since I take the same classes each week, but also just having the general community around the workouts has been special. It’s always fun getting to hang out with workout people outside of workouts. I especially get a kick out of it because people seem to always be surprised that I have long hair. I guess I hide that well by putting my hair up for the workouts.

This past Saturday was another Culver City OTF hangout. This was at Kay’n’Daves which is pretty close to my house. Even though it’s near my house, I haven’t eaten there at that location before. They had a location near an old job of mine over 10 years ago and I remember having it once then. But it still felt like a new place for me. We had the back patio reserved for us, which was nice because we knew everyone back there was a part of OTF and we didn’t have to wonder if we were bothering someone who was just at the restaurant on their own.

I got there before the event was supposed to start because my friend Andie was there early because she had to leave for work soon after it started. But that worked for me because we were able to sit at a table right in the center of the patio and enjoy people watching while others arrived. And some of the staff arrived right after we sat down so it didn’t feel like we were there before things started.

Kay’n’Daves was pretty awesome and allowed us to order from their happy hour menu while we were there. I didn’t order anything (I wasn’t that hungry and I didn’t want to spend money if I didn’t have to), so I just had water and chips. But everything that everyone else ordered looked so good and it was tempting. But I’ll just have to go back another time to try things.

The patio quickly filled up with OTF people. There were some that I recognized from class, but I also don’t know that many people who are in different class times. If they are in much earlier classes I take or the afternoon and evening classes, I don’t see them. But that’s one of the benefits of going to these hangouts. I get to know people who are a part of the community even if I don’t see them in class. And it’s nice to have that because there are random times I have to take a class that is a different time than I’m used to. And hopefully, I’ll know at least one person in class that I met at a happy hour event.

It was also fun getting to hang out with one of my coaches there. Even though our coaches get to know us well since they see us every week, it’s different when you get to spend real time chatting and getting to know them. Again, anything that builds up the community feels like a real benefit to me.

I stayed at the happy hour later than I was planning on staying. I had some work things I still had to finish doing so I knew I couldn’t stay forever. But I was there for about 3 hours which allowed me to relax and spend lots of time getting to talk to the people who were there. I got to know the people I know from class better and I met so many new people. It really was the perfect event and I felt even more connected to OTF when I left.

I know there will be more social events coming up and this gives me more motivation to keep trying to make it to as many as I can.

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Default ThumbnailA Fun Union Hangout (or Hopefully This Is The Start Of A New Regular Thing) Default ThumbnailA Quick Happy Hour (or Making Myself Be Social) Default ThumbnailBeing Social Outside Of Workouts (or Making OTF Friends) Default ThumbnailSaying Goodbye To A Workout Buddy (or Hanging Out In Normal Clothes) Default ThumbnailAnother OTF Hangout (or Discovering A New Local Wine Bar) Default ThumbnailAnother NextGen Mixer (or A Fun Post-Election Hangout)

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff

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Belated Birthday Dinner (or We Don’t Mind It’s Not Totally Free Anymore)

Posted on August 28, 2019 | Comments Off on Belated Birthday Dinner (or We Don’t Mind It’s Not Totally Free Anymore)

I haven’t done much for my birthday this year. I don’t mind that I haven’t been celebrating like I thought I would because I’ve had other things taking up my time. I am hoping to maybe do some birthday things next month, but I don’t know if I’ll be motivated to do them by the time things calm down. If I don’t really celebrate my birthday, it’s not the worst thing. While I love celebrating my birthday and it’s one of my favorite things, having an off-year is to be expected. And this August has been extremely busy for me and I just couldn’t put my focus on my birthday.

I usually take advantage of several birthday freebies as well. Many of them have to be done on your actual birthday and I have to skip most of those. But the things that are for your birthday week or month are things I usually do. But just like with celebrating, I haven’t really taken advantage of that this year. I haven’t even gone to Sephora for the birthday freebie (which most women would agree is the one birthday thing everyone seems to do). But there is one birthday freebie that I prioritize over all others and that’s going to my birthday dinner at Truxton’s with my birthday twin Joanna!

The birthday dinner deal has changed over the years. It started as a free entree and free dessert for each of us. Then it was $20 free for each of us and they would combine them on one check. Now it’s still $20 free for each of us, but they have to split the checks. Because of that, we no longer can have a completely free birthday meal. But we know that and expect that so it’s ok. We still are having an almost free meal and the best part of the tradition is our hangout anyway.

Because of all the work I have been doing for the election and some family that Joanna had in town, it was tough for us to find a time that worked for both of us. But we were able to find time this past weekend so we didn’t miss getting our dinner in before the deal ended since the requirement is that it just has to be during your birthday month.

We had a pretty routine meal for us. We had the monkey bread like we always do, we both had a burger, and we split the cookie ice cream dessert. It was delicious as always and the perfect birthday meal. And just like always we had lots of fun and random stories to tell each other. We did talk a lot about the election since things have been a bit crazy with that and she has been seeing the stories in the news. And we both had some random dating stories to share. Although I think she might have had a crazier story than mine with a guy that basically through a temper tantrum after he had a medical issue and she was worried about him. I don’t think either of us will ever understand why some guys act out that crazy when they don’t need to act out or react at all.

We also both talked about how neither of us did much for our birthdays this year. We might be able to do something together later as a late birthday celebration, which would be nice since we rarely do a big birthday thing together. But even if we don’t manage to get that organized, I’m so glad we did get our birthday dinner in. It’s one of my favorite birthday traditions and I love how much we both look forward to it. And it’s been one of the main ways I’ve been able to celebrate my birthday this year.

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Default ThumbnailContinuing The Birthday Celebrations (or A Birthday Twin Adventure) Default ThumbnailAn Almost Free Meal (or Amazing Food And Crazy Dating Stories) Default ThumbnailAnother Birthday Outing (or Seeing My Birthday Twin) Default ThumbnailAlmost Free Birthday Dinner (or Spending My Birthday With My Birthday Twin) Default ThumbnailVery Belated New Years Cheesecake (or A Birthday Twin Dinner) Default ThumbnailBirthday Twin Tradition (or An Almost Free Meal)

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A Perfect Night At The Bowl (or Checking Some Things Off My List)

Posted on July 31, 2019 | Comments Off on A Perfect Night At The Bowl (or Checking Some Things Off My List)

As I mentioned in my post about the end of my Pantages season, I wasn’t completely done with musicals for the summer. I still had one more show left (at least one more that I knew about). And that was the musical that was being done at the Hollywood Bowl. I’ve gone to the musicals at the Bowl several times and they are usually very fun experiences. This year, they did “Into The Woods” which I have seen a few times and really like. And since we went to the show on Sunday, we were still able to get good seats even though we didn’t do them right when they went on sale.

Besides being excited to be going to the Bowl (which I already love) and seeing a musical (which is one of my favorite things), I had some extra things to be excited about. Some of the stars of the show are actors that I have dreamed of seeing live. I have a list of shows that I’ve always wanted to see and actors I’ve always wanted to see. And I’ve been so lucky to be able to check shows and actors off my lists over the years. And this show had a lot of the actors I’ve been wanting to see in it so I was beyond thrilled. The top 2 actors I have wanted to see live are Sutton Foster and Laura Osnes and Sutton Foster was starring as the Baker’s Wife in the show. I was so excited and couldn’t wait.

When we got to the Bowl, we were all already excited. We were at a show we were excited to see, the weather was nice, and we had a lot of great food with us for dinner. We decided to see if there was any chance we could find a table to sit down at to eat, and by some miracle, we found one! There were some guys upset that another table wouldn’t give them their chairs (they needed the chairs for their family so they didn’t want to give them to the other group), so they left and we were able to take their table. It worked out really well and I was thinking about how we were having the best luck ever.

But things got even better.

We were eating and I was looking at a group sitting on the ground next to our table when I saw someone who looked familiar. When they got up, I realized that it was Laura Osnes, the other actor at the top of my dream list of actors to see! She was there to see the show and she had been sitting right next to us! I didn’t want to bother her as she was there with her husband and friends, but it was so random and cool that an actor that I’ve dreamed of seeing perform was at a show that had another actor on my dream list. Hopefully one day I’ll get to see her perform too.

After we finished our dinner, we headed to our seats. We had bought 4 tickets but there were only 3 of us at the show. But because the bench seats are so packed, it actually was really nice to have the extra seat so we didn’t feel squished on the bench. We were closer to the stage that I feel like I normally am, which was a nice treat. I guess since it was a Sunday show we were able to do a better section for the same price as our cheaper seats on a Saturday.

The other thing about the show being on a Sunday was that it started a bit earlier. This was a good thing since it is a long show and we still were there late, but it was still light out when the show started. That was different, but not bad.

The show was just as good as I thought it would be. I love the story already and I knew I loved the actors. The combination was just perfect. The sets were minimal as they usually are with the Bowl shows, but they didn’t need much. And they used projections around the stage to add things that couldn’t really be done with set pieces. There were lots of funny little moments that were a bit of breaking the 4th wall or making fun of the stage or situation. All of those things make a show special and unique and they make me so happy.

One of the things that is so funny about “Into The Woods” is how it seems like the story is wrapping up when it’s really coming to the intermission. Some of the people seated near us were packing up their things and getting ready to leave thinking the show was done. I’m glad I told them that it was only intermission so they didn’t miss the second half.

Even though the show did end a bit later than I would have liked, I was so glad that we got tickets. It was such a perfect night out and I don’t think we could have planned a better night at the Bowl. It was a great show, had a cast that I had been wanting to see, we had a great picnic dinner at a table we lucked into getting, and we had a bunch of different celebrity spottings. It really was the best night and I just continue to feel so lucky and grateful that I get to have nights like that one.

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Default ThumbnailAnother Night At The Bowl (or My Parents Got To Rock Out) Default ThumbnailHollywood Bowl Evening (or A Perfect Way To End The Summer) Default ThumbnailA Night At The Bowl (or Movie Music With Friends) Default ThumbnailA Night At The Bowl (or Combining Several Of My Favorite Things) Default ThumbnailAnother Bowl Night (or Not Letting Rude People Ruin My Fun) Default ThumbnailChecking Things Off The List (or 4 Workouts In 1 Week)

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