Tag Archives: friends

Saying Goodbye To A Workout Buddy (or Hanging Out In Normal Clothes)

Posted on March 14, 2019 | Comments Off on Saying Goodbye To A Workout Buddy (or Hanging Out In Normal Clothes)

I’ve been very lucky with finding amazing people in my Orangetheory classes. In every class time that I take regularly, I’ve found a group of people who have become friends. Sometimes we only see each other in class, but we still are more involved in each other’s lives than just seeing each other for that hour of the workout. I find these workout friends one of the reasons why I’m always so motivated to go to class. I don’t want to miss my time with the people I only see once or twice a week. And when someone isn’t in class, it does feel like something is missing.

Finding friends in my workout classes isn’t something that happens right away, but it naturally happens over time. But I feel like my bond with my friends in my Wednesday and Friday Culver City classes happened faster than most. There was something about us that just clicked and we’ve been a pretty strong group for a while. We have a texting group that we use for workout related texts, but we also text each other random stuff throughout the week. It’s been amazing having them in my workouts and we were so sad when one member of the group announced she was moving to NYC.

Of course, we are excited for her because it’s an amazing career opportunity, but we will totally miss having her in class. So we had to have a goodbye outing because it was feeling like the end of an era. Since we all live right by downtown Culver City, it was easy for us to pick a place there. And we let the guest of honor pick where to go and she wanted to go to Public School 310. We were there during happy hour so we got a couple of different things to share among us.

We were having a great time just hanging out and eating delicious food. It was also the first time we were hanging out without having a workout so we were seeing each other in non-workout clothes for the first time. It was a nice change from our usual hangouts and it was fun just enjoying time together.

We were giving the friend moving away a bit of a hard time and joking how she shouldn’t be moving, but we all know it’s a good thing. And she’ll be back from time to time so we know we will see her again soon (she mentioned that she should be back in the next month or so for a weekend and we will all hopefully work out together then).

And of course, we had to get a group photo together. We asked the waitress to take one, and we did get a few normal ones. But this one happened after one person knocked into our dishes and I think it is much better (even if I look like a bit of a goober).

Our dinner lasted a few hours and then we all had to go our own ways. But it was a nice hangout for us and a nice way to celebrate the amazing friendship that we have been able to form just from being in a workout class together. Hopefully we can have another epic hangout the next time the 4 of us are in the same place.

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Default ThumbnailAnother Normal Workout Week (or Getting Back To Everything Feeling Routine) Default ThumbnailAnother OTF Hangout (or Having Fun Being Social In Normal Clothes) Default ThumbnailWorkout Clothes Addict (or Didn’t I Used To Complain About Workout Clothes?) Default ThumbnailMore Cute Workout Clothes (or Why Can’t More Companies Be Like Old Navy?) Default ThumbnailJust A Normal Workout Week (or Being Ok With Being Ok) Default ThumbnailCan 4 Workout A Week Be My New Normal? (or Pushing Myself Beyond)

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Posted in Fitness, Food, Fun Stuff

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fun Stuff

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Another Round Of A Repeat Musical (or Seeing A Show A Different Way)

Posted on February 22, 2019 | Comments Off on Another Round Of A Repeat Musical (or Seeing A Show A Different Way)

With this season at the Pantages being a lot of shows I’ve seen before, I’ve been enjoying seeing how a show connects with me now versus how it connected to me in the past. With many of the repeat shows, they are shows I saw at a different venue and with a different theater group (sometimes community theater versus professional tours) so that is what the focus has been for me when I reflect back on it. But when I’m seeing a show again at the same venue and with the same caliber of performers, I focus on different things.

This week, my group saw “Kinky Boots”.

I saw this show for the first time a little over 4 years ago when it was in my first season that I did at the Pantages. When I saw it the first time, I loved the show and I think I also was still on a high from being so excited that I had season tickets to see more musicals. It really was a great decision for me to get that first season and I know that I was always just so happy that I was seeing anything. There were some shows I liked more than others, but every show was extra magical because I was seeing shows again after not seeing musicals for so long.

And I did enjoy “Kinky Boots” just as much this time as I did 4 years ago. It’s such a fun show and the songs are awesome. I loved this show for so many reasons the first time and I think I loved it for many of those reasons again this time. We were watching the show from the balcony instead of our usual orchestra seats, but being further away from the stage didn’t take away from the show. While I like being able to see the faces clearly of the actors, it’s fun seeing the stage in full when you are further back too.

Out of the 4 of us in our group, 2 of us had seen the show before (my friend Dani was the one who got me in the first time I had season tickets so she saw it then). But the other 2 hadn’t seen the show and I was excited to see their reactions. And I think they loved it just as much as I did. It really is a great show and I think the performers were so talented.

But we all also had a few weird reactions to a few moments in the show. After the Me Too movement and becoming more aware of harassment that I might have brushed off in the past, we all noticed moments in the show that just didn’t sit right with us. I know that shows cannot change with the times and that the writers didn’t mean anything negative or sexist from it, but it was interesting to see how I didn’t notice those moments before. I have become more and more aware of how I have thought things were wrong but normal and now looking back I’ve realized they were not normal and not acceptable. And yes, there is a part of the show that has to be homophobic as lesson to the other characters and that was fine. But there were just little things that I think we all picked up on that just made us think a bit more.

I know that there are so many musicals that I have looked back on and realized that I didn’t think much about a line or an action and now I realize that it is something that I wouldn’t consider acceptable in real life. This is just a sign of how times have changed and not a reflection of what things should be like now. I’m curious to see if I have that feeling about the next few repeat shows I have this season. I have a feeling that I will because there are things I have said out loud when describing the show that made me stop and try to explain why it was that way.

Even with those few moments that made me think or took me by surprise that I didn’t think about it last time, it was still an awesome night out. It was fun that we happened to be there on the opening night of the show for LA (our original tickets were on Oscar Sunday and we didn’t want to be stuck in all the street closures). And sitting up in the balcony was also really fun since that’s not something we do that often. We will have a few more shows in the balcony this season because we have changed the dates of our tickets a few times as well as being seated up there for the add-on shows we did. We are still debating about renewing for next season, but now we are also considering seeing if we can move our tickets to the balcony if we do renew. We’ve had our seats on the side of the orchestra for so long and it might be a fun change to be somewhere new. I guess I’ll have to see what happens if we do decide to do the next season.

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Default ThumbnailFinding Neverland (or An Unexpected Musical Experience) Default ThumbnailAnother New Musical (or An Evening Of Golden Tickets) Default ThumbnailAnother Musical Season (or Enjoying A Repeat Musical) Default ThumbnailAn Unexpected Musical (or Seeing A Show At A Different Theater) Default ThumbnailA Weird Night In Hollywood (or Another Musical In Our Season) Default ThumbnailThe Last Show Of The Season (or Ending On A High Note)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Food, Fun Stuff

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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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Default ThumbnailLive Podcast Episode (or Another Way You Can Support Me) Default ThumbnailCelebrating 200 Episodes Of The Podcast (or Come and Celebrate With Me!) Default ThumbnailAnother Day On The Lot (or Going Solo For The Podcast) Default ThumbnailPodcast Hangout (or A Quick Coffee Meeting) Default ThumbnailLearning From Listening (or Another Great Podcast) Default ThumbnailFinding Felicity (or Being A Total Fangirl)

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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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Default ThumbnailHelping People Help Others (or A Drop Off At My Friend’s Place) Default ThumbnailGaining Confidence (or How Spin And My New Job Are Going Along The Same Path) Default ThumbnailMaking Time For Real Life (or Trying To Not Just Live Virtually) Default ThumbnailHelping Out A Friend (or Getting To Act) Default ThumbnailBrunch and Shopping (or Helping A Friend Make Some Upgrades) Default ThumbnailBack To Real Life (or One Week Of Normalcy)

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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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An Evening Of Cheesecake (or Just A Calm Dinner With My Birthday Twin)

Posted on January 15, 2019 | Comments Off on An Evening Of Cheesecake (or Just A Calm Dinner With My Birthday Twin)

With my birthday twin Joanna, we have 2 traditions. The first is to do our free (or almost free) birthday meal. We’ve been going that for pretty much as long as we’ve been friends. The other tradition is to get cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory. We try to do this around the end of December or beginning of January since that is almost around our half birthdays. Sometimes that cheesecake dinner is a bit later, but we try our best to do it around the new year.

We usually go to the Cheesecake Factory at the Grove which can be crazy around the holidays. We tolerate the crowds since we made the choice to go there, but it’s always nice when it’s not as bad as we expect. And since we delayed our cheesecake dinner until this past week, we were hopeful that the crowds would be much less than they are when the Grove is still decorated for the holidays.

We planned on an early dinner to avoid the dinner rush and I got to the Grove first so I went to put our names on the list. We are used to having to wait 30 minutes or an hour, so whoever gets their first puts their name down and we know that we will have time to kill. Usually, we use that time for a lot of our catch up since we are just sitting there. I got there first this time and I was shocked when the host told me it was only a 5 minute wait! I texted Joanna and she said she was parking, but I still managed to be seated before she got there!

Joanna arrived only a few minutes after I sat at our table, and we decided to focus on our food first and then our catch up. I went with my usual salad and Joanna got a salad as well. We figure that we should save room for the cheesecake we knew we’d be getting. Then it was time for our catchup.

I had seen Joanna somewhat recently when we were doing our self-tape auditions, so it wasn’t as big of a catchup as they have been in the past. But of course we both still had a lot to talk about. I was updating her on my job situation and the random stories I have from online dating. She’s been taking a break from online dating and I totally get it. It can be really depressing and demoralizing when you meet so many bad guys or keep getting ghosted or stood up. I think the thing that is saving my sanity is thinking of all the bad dates as good stories for my book. My stories are usually pretty entertaining and I was messaging with someone while I was at dinner, so she was getting a play by play of what was going on.

Joanna updated me on a really amazing acting class that she is currently in plus her trips to see her family. Even though she and I are very similar people, we have had very different journeys and our lives are in different places right now so it’s always fun to see the randomness that she has been involved in. I know my life is random and crazy, and so is Joanna’s. But I think that is part of what makes life fun and exciting at times. I wish that some of the randomness regarding work would calm down for me, but I’m working on it.

And even though getting to hang out with an awesome friend is one of the main reasons we do this dinner every year, the highlight for us is the cheesecake! And ever since we learned they can cut each piece of cheesecake in half for us, we’ve loved it even more! We always get 2 slices cut in half (so we each get half of each slice) and it’s become a tradition to get the red velvet cheesecake as one of them. For the other slice, we change things up a bit. I recently had seen a silly quiz online that said it would tell you what flavor of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory you were. I sent it to Joanna and told her it told me I was Dulce de Leche cheesecake. We decided that had to be the other piece that we got.

Even though we ate light with our salads, we were so full after cheesecake. But it was worth it! We walked around and looked at some shops around the Grove after dinner, but it was more just to window shop than to actually look for things we want to buy. I think we both needed some time walking around before getting back into our cars with how full we were.

But after a little window shopping, it was time to head to the parking garage. I know that we both had such a fun time for dinner and I love how chill and relaxed this dinner is. Traditions don’t have to be stressful or over the top. Sometimes just a nice dinner is exactly what you want to help keep your friendship strong.

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Another Night At Hipcooks (or I’m On Fire!)

Posted on January 11, 2019 | Comments Off on Another Night At Hipcooks (or I’m On Fire!)

My first experience at Hipcooks was a few months ago. I was very lucky to be invited to check out a class and I had the best time! But that class was a bit weird for me because it was the morning after I had to force a friend to check into a hospital for being suicidal. As much as I wanted to focus on the class, I know I was distracted and not totally there. I still had an amazing time, but I couldn’t wait to take another class so I could feel completely involved in the experience.

The classes at Hipcooks are amazing and I’d take a class every week or so if I could (I am looking at their volunteer assistant opportunities so I can be in classes for free), but anything that isn’t essential isn’t in my budget right now. So I was so grateful when my friend Dani invited me to check out a class that she was teaching! She was going to be teaching another cocktails class so it would be similar to the one I went to before. But it was all new recipes and drinks so it was totally different. As soon as she invited me to her class, I said yes because I knew there was no way I was going to miss it!

The first class I went to was in West LA very close to where I live. This time, I went to their class in the art district near downtown LA. I gave myself plenty of time to drive there because of traffic, and I got there nice and early. They have a ton of free parking at that location which is amazing, so once I parked I headed over to the class to relax before everything started.

The space is very similar to the one I went to before. They have the same set-up for the cooking with the semi-circle table so everyone in class is working together.

And there was the big table for us to sit at to learn the different cocktails we were going to make and to enjoy the food we prepared.

The cocktail class I took last time was more of a summer themed class with lighter drinks and food. This time, the class was a winter themed cocktail class and we had food and drinks that had different holiday spices.

When I was a bit distracted in class last time, I was able to put my focus on taking photos of everything that we were doing. I loved being able to share photos of things we made and I was hoping to do the same this time. But I guess the more involved in the class I am, the less likely I am to take any photos! I took a few photos of things while we were making them, but they don’t show the finished product.

So you’ll just have to read the about what we made. For food we made glazed walnuts, gorgonzola stuffed apples, pears with Manchego wrapped in prosciutto, mushroom and goat cheese empanadas, croustade cups with salmon, seared beef on parmesan crisps, and spiced cookies. And for the drinks, we made a rosemary pomegranate gin fizz, a winter dark and stormy, mulled wine, a new fashioned, and a hot apple pie. All of the food and all of the drinks were so good! And even though I don’t really drink, I did try all of the drinks we made and I really liked the gin fizz! I don’t normally like gin, but this was really good and I could see making it for a party!

While I didn’t get that many photos of the food, I did get one amazing photo. The benefit of being more attentive and involved in the class is that I got to do some really fun things. For the glazed walnuts, we added alcohol and got to flambĂ© the pan. There were 3 pans going and Dani demonstrated with the first one. The second one was done by someone else in class and the didn’t quite get it to burn in a really spectacular way.

Then it was my turn. I know I’m not a great cook and doing anything with fire can be scary, but I wanted to see if I could do it. Thankfully, I asked one of the other instructors to take photos of me while I did this because I think I got one of the greatest photos of me ever!

I thought I wouldn’t be as terrified as I was, but it was scary when it started going. After the initial shock and I started to move the pan around, it got easier and I was so proud of myself for doing it. It’s not something I would need to do in normal cooking (or would probably do in my own tiny kitchen), but it’s nice to know I have this skill if I ever get the chance to do it.

I also was involved in a lot of the other dishes including helping to shape the parmesan crisps into tacos and bowls after coming out of the oven. Everyone in class was working together so nicely and we had a really fun and silly mood in the room. The last class I was at probably was like that as well, but I just wasn’t totally there. This time I got to enjoy how nice it is to be in a cooking class where everyone is just having the best time.

I was a bit sad when class was done because I just had the greatest time! Dani was an awesome teacher and I’m so proud of her. She is new to teaching and I think she did so great and I know that she’s just going to get better as she continues to teach. And I know that I want to take more of her classes because it’s always fun to be in a class with friends, even if they are your teacher.

I hope that I get another chance to take a class at Hipcooks soon. Both of the times I’ve gone I have had an incredible time and have left feeling empowered. Cooking is something that still makes me a bit nervous to mess up, but Hipcooks class emphasizes having fun and trying new things. I know I need to do that more often not just in cooking but in my life.

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