Tag Archives: friends

Virtual Memorial Day (or Doing The Best We Can For Now)

Posted on May 27, 2020 | Comments Off on Virtual Memorial Day (or Doing The Best We Can For Now)

Usually for Memorial Day weekend, I spend time with my friends at a BBQ. It’s usually a pretty low-key hangout, but it’s a great opportunity to see my friends and spend some time having fun. Typically, I haven’t seen that group of friends since the Oscar party, so I am excited to see them. The same group gets together and we all get along so well. And we all have the same type of friendship with each other that we can just pick up wherever we left off and it doesn’t matter how long it’s been since we’ve seen each other.

But this year, of course, things are different. I don’t know if I realized that this BBQ wouldn’t be happening until recently. Time is a weird thing during this pandemic and I didn’t realize Memorial Day was almost here. But once I did notice it on the calendar, I started to get a bit sad. When this all started. I doubt anyone thought it would last until Memorial Day. Now, they are hoping for reopening around the 4th of July, but I also know that can be changed and maybe it will last longer than that. But I also know that this is necessary to keep us all as healthy as possible.

I messaged my friend Marie to see if they were going to do anything virtual for Memorial Day, and I think I messaged her just as they were starting to see what they could do. I was so glad that they were going to plan something so I could have a bit of my regular life on Memorial Day. They planned a big group Zoom hangout that was supposed to start at 1 pm. While I am usually one of the first people to their parties, I have never been the very first person. But I was the first guest that arrived at the virtual party.

It was so good to see Marie and Chris! I have missed all of my friends so much, and I haven’t gotten to see many of them virtually since this all started. I was so happy that I was tearing up at seeing familiar faces. And we had a few moments to chat before lots of other people were joining in! People were popping in and out, so there was never a time that I could have gotten a photo with everyone in the virtual party at one time but this shows a lot of people who were there.

There was a good-sized group the entire time I was in the Zoom party. I was able to stay for about 2 or 3 hours before I needed to leave and get some things done around my house. And yes, we did have some issues with people talking over each other since we had so many people there at once, but we also joked that the parties are like that in real life too.

And some people really did have some fun with the idea of a virtual party. Marie and Chris used a video for a virtual background and the video was a 30-minute loop that mainly was just their empty entryway but occasionally had them walking through the frame and opening doors. So it was like they had evil twins appearing from time to time. That made all of us laugh so much. Other people used other still images for virtual backgrounds. And one person made Chris and Marie’s house their background and that made us all smile. Some people even did outfit/costume changes from time to time, which was something special and unique with doing a virtual party. And of course, everyone who had a dog showed them off at some point. That was one of my favorite things.

There were a few moments when I felt sad because I really wanted to be with my friends in real life and not just seeing them on a screen. I was a little frustrated by seeing so many people around the country not keeping a distance from others and wishing that I could do the same. I don’t know if the people doing that don’t worry about this virus or where they live there are no cases. But in LA, there is no way I can believe that being around others would be ok right now. And I know that eventually, I will be with my friends again and the only way to keep us all healthy is to stay apart for now.

But even with the rare moments of sadness, for the most part this was an amazing way to try to spend time with some of the people I love. I would have been more upset if I hadn’t seen them at all. And we were all talking about how amazing it will be when we have our epic in-person reunion (we are all hoping we can do that for Halloween, but it will depend on a lot). Seeing friends virtually isn’t as great as being together in person, but it is so much better than not seeing them at all. And we all know how lucky we are that we were able to do this at all. To go through this pandemic without the internet would have been so much worse. But we can do virtual things like this and stay connected while having to be apart.

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Default ThumbnailA Game Filled Party (or Being Competitive With My Friends) Default ThumbnailPre-Memorial Day BBQ (or Making Drunk Fruit) Default ThumbnailAnother Virtual Friend Hangout (or Trying Not To Miss A Summer Tradition Too Much) Default ThumbnailSo Many Virtual Movie Nights (or Thank Goodness For Technology) Default ThumbnailFinding A Social Life Where I Can (or Virtual Parties and Distance Hangouts) Default ThumbnailHaving A Lot Of Repeat Days (or More Organizing and More Virtual Hangouts)

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Having A Lot Of Repeat Days (or More Organizing and More Virtual Hangouts)

Posted on May 12, 2020 | Comments Off on Having A Lot Of Repeat Days (or More Organizing and More Virtual Hangouts)

I know a lot of people feel like they are living the same day over and over again right now. This is probably happening a lot for people who are completely out of work. I am lucky with my work because I do still have some (even though the hours are a fraction of what they used to be). I know that 3 days a week, I work from 8-9 am with doing customer voicemails. And I do still have my other job, but those hours are limited too as I can’t find a lot of things to add to the calendar. I also have my workouts a few days a week, so that helps to make things feel a bit different. I usually know what day of the week it is based on if I have a workout or work that morning.

But besides those things, there isn’t a lot of variety in my day. I’m working on not just sitting in front of a screen all day long and trying to continue to be productive, but there have been days where sitting and watching tv is all I feel up to doing. And it’s not easy to find other things to fill my day with while staying inside and staying safe (and yes, I know I can go out for walks or drives, but it’s not the same).

I wrote about 2 different things I’ve been doing a lot of lately. And those are organizing my house and having virtual hangouts. Honestly, that’s all I’ve been doing a lot of lately to change things up. And I know these are good habits or activities to have, so I don’t feel as guilty as I do when I watch tv for hours on end.

Fortunately, doing organization in my house was long overdue, so there have been a lot of projects to work on. Some of the projects have been pushed off because I needed something to complete them, so now I have been ordering what I need. Because of the pandemic, there are shipping delays with some things, so I just work on what I can as I get things. And this week, I got these little drawer organizers that I had been looking at online. I know it’s hard to make them fit perfectly in my drawers, but I found some that don’t actually snap together so I can keep open space between them. My plan was to just organize my desk, but I had so many extras that I also did 2 of my kitchen drawers. I didn’t really get rid of anything as I did these projects, but it looks much better and my drawers look like there isn’t as much because there is some space to spare.

I’m sure I’ll continue to modify these over time, but for now, it’s so much better than it was and I can start working on the top of my desk and my file cabinet now.

And with my virtual hangouts, I’m trying to plan them with different groups of friends so I have them as often as I can. And the one group of friends that I had been working on scheduling one with is with my workout friends. Right now, we are spread over 3 states and we all have different schedules and things we have to do each day. So it hasn’t been easy to find a time that works for us all. But we were able to plan one for this past Friday. And I felt like that was the perfect time to do it because when we all worked out together, Fridays was the day we were all there!

And it was so nice to see my friends. We did talk about workouts briefly (I think I’m the only one doing the official home workouts regularly), but we mainly talked about all the random things we could think of. We were all laughing so much and laughing so hard that we were crying. I needed this virtual hangout so much and I didn’t realize how badly I needed it until it was done. It really boosted my mood and made my day so much better. And now that we’ve done one, I think everyone agrees that we need to do these more often.

I’m sure this week will continue to be filled with more organizing and virtual hangouts. I also have some ideas for new skills that I want to learn since I have so much free time. Anything that can change up my day a little bit is exactly what I need to do right now.

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Default ThumbnailMy Monthly Challenge To Finish Out The First Half Of The Year (or Sleeping And More Organizing) Default ThumbnailA Big Cleaning Week (or An Excuse to Organize) Default ThumbnailFinding A Social Life Where I Can (or Virtual Parties and Distance Hangouts) Default ThumbnailEven More Organizing (or This Was An Overdue Project) Default ThumbnailVirtual Memorial Day (or Doing The Best We Can For Now) Default ThumbnailAnother Virtual Friend Hangout (or Trying Not To Miss A Summer Tradition Too Much)

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Finding A Social Life Where I Can (or Virtual Parties and Distance Hangouts)

Posted on May 8, 2020 | Comments Off on Finding A Social Life Where I Can (or Virtual Parties and Distance Hangouts)

I can write so many posts about how isolated I feel right now. I know that technically we are all isolating, but most people I know are isolating with others inside their home. They might be with family, roommates, a significant other, or a pet. But I am just alone. I know I’m not the only person living alone right now, but I think it just adds another layer to things right now that makes it tough.

I’ve been trying my best to not feel as isolated as I really am. But there are only so many things I can do. I’ve had a lot more phone calls with friends than I can ever remember. I’ve done video chats with friends that I never normally would do that with because they live so close. I’ve really tried to find ways to feel like I’m still connected to others out there, but my options are limited.

But I feel like there have been 2 things that make me feel so much more connected than anything else. The first is something that hasn’t happened that often. In fact, I think I’ve only had this happen a few times since isolation started. And that is having a friend come by for a social distance visit. Once this happened when a friend came by to borrow something from me and she was in her car and I was in my driveway. Another time was when a friend did some grocery shopping for me and I was in my car and she was in her driveway (yes, there is a bit of a theme here). And this week, my workout buddy Erin came by!

She was dropping off some stuff for me like hair dye to do my roots (which I know I don’t need to do but I appreciate the chance to not see my gray hairs!). We made sure we stood pretty far away from each other. I know the guidelines say to be 6 feet apart, but we were probably more like 12 or 15 feet apart. But it didn’t matter because it was so nice to see a friend! This was the most face to face time I’ve had with a friend in a while and I needed it. Just talking to a friend in person for a few minutes made my day (and my week) so much better! I know that right now it’s not necessarily safe to do hangouts like this often, but if I can do one once a month until it’s safer to have them more often, I think that will be so good for my mental health.

And the other thing that has been giving me a social life right now is my Netflix Party group that I have. The group has been going strong since we started it and I love knowing that on Wednesdays and Saturdays I will have a virtual hangout with the women in the group. We’ve changed things a little in the group since we started. Now, we are usually doing double features on Saturdays and we are trying to have a theme each week. And on Wednesdays, we are watching a tv series together. We did a vote and we are watching “Schitt’s Creek”, which is a show that I had been meaning to watch. We watch a few episodes each week and it’s been so fun.

And the group that does the parties has really bonded. We have a group text going which was originally set up to share the links for the movies we watch. But that group text has turned into an amazing support group. If someone is feeling lonely, they can write something and we all rally around them with support. When someone posted that they lost their job, some people replied with help with filing for unemployment, and others replied with other things they might need to do. And when it was a Friday and someone wrote that they were sad it wasn’t Saturday because they didn’t want to be alone, we scheduled an impromptu bonus movie night and were all watching a movie together within an hour. It’s been an amazing support system that I am so grateful for.

Right now, it’s not easy to feel connected to others (or others who don’t live in your home). We are all trying to figure out how to not feel alone, and there is no right answer. For right now, these things are what work for me and what feels right. If this continues for several more months, I might have a different plan. I just have to stay flexible with what I do to feel social and keep trying new things to see what will work for me.

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Default ThumbnailSo Many Virtual Movie Nights (or Thank Goodness For Technology) Default ThumbnailFinding Time For Friends (or Busting Out Of My Routine) Default ThumbnailSocial Days Off (or Finally Seeing Some Friends) Default ThumbnailHaving A Lot Of Repeat Days (or More Organizing and More Virtual Hangouts) Default ThumbnailGetting Ready For A Fun Rewatch (or More Netflix Parties) Default ThumbnailRemembering To Have Some Fun (or Hangouts Don’t Always Have To Be Events)

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Appreciating The Little Things (or I’m Lucky To Have Awesome Friends)

Posted on April 9, 2020 | Comments Off on Appreciating The Little Things (or I’m Lucky To Have Awesome Friends)

I want to believe that I typically appreciate the things I have in my life. I know there are some things that I take for granted, but I also am aware of how lucky I am in my life. I don’t think I have a lot of things in my life that would make others jealous, but I do have things that I know others would like and I am very grateful for those. And right now, it’s easy to forget how lucky I am sometimes because it feels like there is so much against me right now.

I have to remind myself that I’m not the only person going through isolation and that almost everyone is dealing with the same things that I am. But it’s hard to remember that when I am alone at my place and I don’t really see others struggling the same way that I am. I have been working on being more open about my struggles because maybe I am not seeing others struggle because they don’t want to share that. So by me being open, I can hopefully make someone else feel alone.

And I am lucky that I have friends who I can be open with and can turn to for help when I need it. I’m not good about asking for help, but I know right now that it’s something I need to get better at doing.

For example, I haven’t been to the grocery store in several weeks since I have been sick. I have been getting grocery delivery, but there are a few things that I either can’t get through grocery delivery or don’t want to get. For example, I needed some dried pasta and it’s not easy to tell grocery delivery that I would prefer this type of pasta but any would be fine. I could be ok with what I was able to get through delivery, but I also wanted to get a few more ingredients so I could make some more tasty and unique recipes.

So I texted my friend Liz who lives a few blocks from my house (and down the street from the grocery store) and asked her if she would mind helping me out. I told her that I wasn’t in desperate need of supplies, but if I could give her a list the next time she went to the store that it would be amazing. And she agreed right away. It wasn’t easy to ask for help, but having her agree to help with no hesitation helped me feel better about it.

She was able to get to the store earlier this week and I gave her my list. I had some things that I felt pretty certain she could find and a few that were harder. And I told her that I knew that she probably couldn’t find everything so it wasn’t a big deal if she could only get some things. And she was able to get everything for me except the 2 that I thought might be impossible to find!

Even though she lives only a few blocks from my house, I drove to her place to pick up the groceries. I had some extra alcohol that I didn’t need taking up room in my place so I brought that for her as a thank you for getting me supplies (I also paid her back for all the groceries, the alcohol was a bonus). I put that in the trunk and figured that if she put the groceries in the trunk that would keep us about 6 feet apart so that should be safe.

The grocery exchange went well and I’m going to remember using my trunk that way for any future help that I might need or if I can help others get supplies. And Liz hung out for a few minutes next to my car (but still a good distance away) and we had a quick catchup chat. It was the most in-person conversation I’ve had with a friend in weeks. Even though I’ve had phone calls and video chats, there is something so different compared to an in-person talk. I really needed to have those few minutes of feeling like I’m in the same space as another person. There really aren’t ways to do that too often right now. Hopefully, there will be some public spaces that I can have some physical distances with friends open soon. Like a park where we can all sit 6 feet apart and just hang out. I am craving those moments right now and it has made me realize how lucky I am that I typically do have those.

It was so nice to feel support from a friend in real life and not just online. I need to be reminded that I do have friends that would do that for me if it was possible. Right now, it’s just not possible unless it’s for a specific purpose. I can’t ask for help for things that are not essential (both for my health and my friends’ health). But this time is temporary and soon things will be able to be a bit more normal. And I will hopefully be able to repay the favor to friends who did help me with so many things, both in-person and virtually.

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Default ThumbnailFinding Time For Friends (or Busting Out Of My Routine) Default ThumbnailRemembering To See My Friends (or Actually Scheduling Hangouts) Default ThumbnailIt Can Be Tough To Get Help (or Trying To Be A Good Friend To My Friends) Default Thumbnail4th Of July On The 1st (or Another Awesome Party With Friends) Default ThumbnailNew Year More Brunches (or Awesome Company, Not So Awesome Restaurant Service) Default ThumbnailFriends Helping Friends (or Not Being Afraid To Ask For Support)

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Craving Social Interaction (or Staying Away And Staying Online)

Posted on March 20, 2020 | Comments Off on Craving Social Interaction (or Staying Away And Staying Online)

Even though I’m not someone who goes out every single day or spends a ton of time surrounded by others, I’m already feeling extra isolated and lonely right now. The few regular things that I do that are social (such as my workouts) are gone from my schedule. And the events that were coming up that I was excited about were canceled. My calendar is empty with the exception of work right now. And even though I can chat with my co-workers while I work, it’s still a solo thing.

I know that being isolated is the best thing for my health and the health of others. I might be at a slightly higher risk of getting sick, but I’m still low risk. But I have many people in my life who are very high risk and it’s not worth it for me to potentially pass something to them. So I’m staying away from people and I know it is for the best. I have no clue how long we will have to do this, but I don’t see it ending in the next week or two like some others were thinking. I hope it’s not more than a few months, but I know I have to work on not feeling more isolated already. It hasn’t even been a full week and I’m already feeling it and notice changes in my mental health.

But on Wednesday, I did get a nice dose of some socializing. In the morning, one of my friends came over because she needed to borrow an iPhone cable. It turned out I had the wrong cable, but it did allow us time to talk. She stayed in her car and I was by my front door, so we were easily more than 6 feet apart (what the current recommendation is for keeping distance from others). We were talking about a few random things and it was probably under 10 minutes, but it was the most in-person socializing I had gotten this week. It really did improve my mood and outlook and I’m so grateful I got that little boost.

And that evening, I had my first movie night in with friends. I think I’ll be doing a lot of these, but we used an extension for our web browsers so we were all watching the same thing at the same time and we had a text chat on the side so we could talk to each other. This was with one of the dating Facebook groups I’m in and we decided to watch “Always Be My Maybe” because we wanted something light and upbeat.

Even though we weren’t seeing each other or talking out loud, having something where we were seeing the same thing at the same time and could talk about it really did help make it seem like we weren’t apart. Texting randomly is good, but having some sort of community event was so much better. We have already planned to do more of these and I am planning movie nights in with several other groups I’m a part of.

And I’m also working on scheduling virtual happy hours with friends over Skype. The good thing is that it’s not as hard to schedule now as it usually is since nobody really has anything planned. The only thing we have to work around is any other virtual hangouts that people have with other friends. And it seems like everyone is doing these types of things now, so at least it seems like a normal suggestion.

Because there are so many people doing virtual events, there is a chance that my calendar can be more full than it was before. And I think I will need that because nothing replaces in-person time with a friend. But that’s not an option right now and we have to accept that. We need to find ways to not feel alone and being together online (or in-person but far enough apart) is all that we can do right now. At least I know that I’m not the only person who feels this way and that there are so many people who understand how I feel and we can help each other try to feel a bit better about this temporary situation we are all in.

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Default ThumbnailFinding A Social Life Where I Can (or Virtual Parties and Distance Hangouts) Default ThumbnailJust Taking Things One Day At A Time (or Handling What Is Right Now) Default ThumbnailTrying To Avoid Holiday Burnout (or Staying Home For Self-Care) Default ThumbnailAnother Santa Barbara Day (or A Little Bit Of Social Interaction) Default ThumbnailAnother Union Holiday Celebration (or Being Social And Working Social Media) Default ThumbnailFinding A Community (or Online Motivation)

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Finally Seeing My Mentoring Group Again (or Our First Brunch Of 2020)

Posted on February 25, 2020 | Comments Off on Finally Seeing My Mentoring Group Again (or Our First Brunch Of 2020)

The last brunch meeting I had with my mentoring group was quite a while ago. I know that we decided to not meet as often because it was getting tough for the group to plan, but I don’t think we ever thought we would have 5 months between brunches. Part of this was due to the holidays and we knew that it would be very difficult to meet when so many of us were out of town or celebrating certain holidays.

Even though I am the organizer of our brunches, nobody blamed me for taking so long to schedule the one we had this past weekend. Everything understood that we were really busy and that we would see each other eventually. And we did consider trying to meet in January, but when we all shared our availability it was best to meet this last Sunday.

And I’m glad that we waited because we did get all 6 of us together for brunch! It’s not easy to mind a day and time that all 6 of us are free, but somehow we did it! I don’t remember the last time we were all there, and I think we all forgot about how crowded our brunch table could be with 6 people instead of 4 or 5. We sat in one of our usual booths, but we did have to squish together a bit to make it work. But that was fine because we did want to be able to hear what each other was sharing and saying.

I don’t think any of us believed that it had been 5 months since we had been together because it didn’t really seem that long ago. But we did all have lots of things to share and I loved hearing all of the updates everyone had.

And this time, I finally had quite a few things to share with the group. The last brunch we had was before the union convention, so I shared about that and how I have been going as an observer to the local board meetings. Even though I had shared things about past conventions, being an observer at the board meetings is something new and it was fun getting to share what I could about those.

And the last brunch we had was also before I finished writing the first draft of my book! They all knew I was trying to write a book about online dating, but I don’t think I had shared with them how I changed the concept of the book and I know they didn’t know that I had finished writing my first draft. I think they all loved the new idea of how I organized my stories and they all thought the book would be something that should be published and could sell quite a bit. I’m glad they all felt that way because I’m feeling that way about the book too. None of them have published a book so they didn’t have referrals to literary agents or had specific advice for the next steps, but they were really encouraging with what I need to do next and I know that if they think of someone who could help me that they will connect me to them.

Everyone else had lots of news to share. Some things were good and some weren’t as good. But everyone had progress that they had made in their lives and careers since the last time we were together. And making progress and not getting stuck is the key to this industry because it’s so easy to get frustrated and not keep pushing ahead. If you get a rejection, that’s not a dead end. You have to find another way to make it happen. That’s what all of us reminded each other because there are so many things that we could believe was the end of the road when it’s just a detour we need to get around.

As always, hearing everyone being so encouraging to others is such a huge benefit I get out of this group. It’s not easy to find people who not only understand the process you are going through but help you stay positive and working toward your goals. I always say how incredibly lucky I am to have this mentoring group, and I really can’t express how grateful I am for these women. We’ve been supporting each other for so long and it has benefitted my life so much. And I know that I will continue to get so many good things out of this group because I don’t see an end to our support. This has become such an important part of my life and I really look forward to seeing the successes we each have in our futures. I know it will happen, it’s just a matter of time.

We are still trying to meet 3-4 times a year so we have somewhat regular meetings. I feel pretty certain that we will find a way to meet up at least 2 more times this year. But hopefully, we can get in that last meeting so we are able to meet up once a quarter. But no matter how long it takes before we all can be together again, I know it will be amazing when we see each other and that I will leave our brunch feeling inspired and ready to get to work!

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Default ThumbnailEnd Of The Mentoring Circle (or One Final Lunch) 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 Business Brunch (or A Delayed Mentoring Circle Meeting) Default ThumbnailFinally Having Our Brunch (or Almost All The Mentees Together Again) Default ThumbnailBrunch Time (or Keeping Up With Our Group)

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Making Some Good Guesses (or I Am Not A Cat)

Posted on February 13, 2020 | Comments Off on Making Some Good Guesses (or I Am Not A Cat)

This past weekend was the Oscars, and as always I went to the Oscar party that my friends throw every year. It’s really the best party because I can watch the Oscars the way I want and I can still celebrate with friends. And I love that it is a costume party because that’s always fun. I’m not the best with costumes, but I love seeing what my friends come up with. But this year, I figured out my costume a few months ahead of time.

I have no clue why I thought of this, but I realized I could make a Fox News costume by having some newsprint on my clothes and wearing some fox ears. It was an easy and clever costume so I knew that was the perfect thing to do. And even though Fox News isn’t technically a character in the movie “Bombshell”, it kind of is. Plus, the costume doesn’t have to be an actual character. A costume that represents a movie from the past year is pretty much the only requirement.

I found a newsprint scarf online and some fox ears that also came with a tail. And even though I’m not good at doing makeup, I really wanted to try and see if I could do something. So I looked up a lot of videos on how to do fox makeup and did a very simple version of what I found online. And I have to say I think I did a really great job considering my lack of makeup ability!

It wasn’t super elaborate or fancy, but I felt like it represented a fox. And I was happy with the final result which is what mattered the most to me.

I got to the party earlier than I normally do, but that allowed me to hang out with my friends before the show started. I always watch the Oscars in the quiet room, where we aren’t supposed to talk except during commercials. So while the show is on, I’m not being social. And I knew I wasn’t going to stay super late, so I wanted to get my socializing time in before things got started. And it was nice that I was early and there weren’t a lot of people there because I could get a photo of my full costume plus a photo with my friend Marie.

But one thing I noticed as soon as I got to the party was that everyone thought I was a cat. I totally forgot that “Cats” came out last year and I guess in a way I did look like a cat. Plus, there were a few friends who did come dressed as cats. But I just kept saying “I am not a cat!” whenever that was the guess for my costume. I just wish now that I had thought of this being an issue so I could have worn a shirt that said that.

Once the show started, things were pretty normal in the quiet room. We did have a few moments that were really shocking where we were all yelling, but those were rare. We were quiet for most of the show and that allowed us to really enjoy it and hear every moment of the speeches.

It also helped us track who was winning because there is a contest to be the person who guesses the most winners correctly. I don’t always do great with the guessing, but I was making a real effort. And I was doing amazingly well from the start! I kept guessing them correctly, even the categories where the guesses were complete guesses and I had no reason why I picked one over the others. In the end, I only missed 4 out of 24 awards, which may have been my best one ever.

After the awards were done, we had the costume parade to pick the costume winners. And before we voted on the costumes, we also got a big group photo of everyone there. I don’t think we have gotten a group photo before, but I love that we got one this year.

I knew I wasn’t going to win the costume contest, but I wanted to at least be on the honorable mention list (which means that you got at least one vote). And I did get on that list (and I promise I didn’t vote for myself). The winners were all really amazing costumes that were clever and the ones I expected to win. I don’t mind not winning since my costume was good but not nearly as good as what I knew everyone else would come up with. But I was hoping I might place with guessing the winners.

I knew I’d be in the top few, but it’s the top 2 that win prizes. And it turned out that 2 people did 1 guess better than I did. So I did get 3rd place, but no prize. But I was still proud of myself for how well I did with my guessing!

After all the prizes were given out, I started making my rounds of goodbyes since I wanted to start heading home. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I had an early morning the next day and about a 30-minute drive home. But I was glad I got to spend so much time with my friends and I’m sure the next party will be here before we know it!

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Default ThumbnailA Night Of Oscars (or Last Minute Costumes and Enjoying The Show) Default ThumbnailOscar Party Time (or Feeling Inspired) Default ThumbnailBeing “Wild” (or Not Guessing A Lot Of Winners Right This Year) Default ThumbnailOscar Party (or Looking “Frozen”) Default ThumbnailMaking My Acting Bold (or Feeling Great From An Audition) Default ThumbnailMore Comfortable In Improv Class (or Making Friends With My Classmates)

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Time For Traditional Cheesecake (or It Can Still Count As Celebrating The New Year)

Posted on January 17, 2020 | Comments Off on Time For Traditional Cheesecake (or It Can Still Count As Celebrating The New Year)

I don’t have a ton of traditions that I do every year, but the few that I do have are very special to me. And one of the few traditions I have are dinners with my birthday twin. We have our (almost) free birthday dinner and we have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory around the new year. The birthday dinner is usually done very close to our birthday since we have to go during our birthday month to get our discounts. But our cheesecake dinner is a bit more flexible. Sometimes we go before the holidays and sometimes we go after the new year. But whenever we go, we have been pretty good about making sure we have our dinner even if it’s a month or so late.

This year, I decided to be proactive in making sure we got our dinner in as close to the new year as possible. I knew both of us are busy so it might be tough to figure out when we could make dinner plans. So I reached out Joanna right around the 1st to say we needed to plan our dinner. And we were able to find some time this week that worked for both of us after work. Since the restaurant we go to is closer to my side of town than it is for Joanna, I let her decide the best time for her to meet. We had to be a bit flexible with each other because our schedules ended up being a bit busier than we expected, but we managed to arrive within minutes of each other and we were quickly seated for dinner (which was a miracle since there is usually a 30-minute wait).

We actually had decided on our cheesecake choices before we decided on our dinners, but we wanted to get the food ordering out of the way first so we could eat and get to our catch up talk.

We usually talk about the same few topics whenever we meet up. We catch each other up on what’s happening with our families and acting careers. But the main thing we usually talk about is the craziness about the dating world. We both have had a lot of random stories to share over the years and I love that we both have stories so it’s not just me sharing them. And as always, we both had lots of dating updates to give each other. And since both of us take screenshots of the profiles of the guys we meet (it’s a safety thing), we could show each other who we’ve had dates with. I’m waiting for the day that she and I (or any friend I know who is dating) discover that we have gone out with the same guy. That hasn’t happened yet, but I bet one day it will happen.

Both of us have had some good and bad dating stories to share, so it wasn’t all crazy stories. And I think hearing a friend is going through the same ups and downs that I am helps me feel like I’m not alone in my random journey with dating. And we can also support each other which is another positive. We both have recently had situations that hurt a bit, so it was nice to get some in-person support. And even though I know dissecting what happened on dates doesn’t necessarily do any good, sometimes it’s nice to go over things and have someone else confirm that the situation was weird or that I didn’t do anything wrong.

And of course, being at the Cheesecake Factory we had to have cheesecake! We did our usual tradition of ordering 2 different types and each getting half of a slice. Things are so much easier now that we know we can ask them to cut each slice in half. 2 halves of a slice are so much cheesecake, but it’s so good!

After our dinner and cheesecake, we were both very full. Since the restaurant wasn’t crowded we didn’t feel too bad about hanging around there for a while. And also, our service was a bit slow so we had to wait a very long time to get our dessert and the check. We ended up being there much longer than I expected, but we had a great time being able to hang out and catch up. And it was nice not feeling rushed that we had to get out of there. But since we both had to work the next morning, we didn’t stay out too late because we both wanted to get home to get to bed at a decent hour.

Every time Joanna and I meet up, we say that we need to hang out more often than our 2 traditions. But our schedules don’t always work that way and before we know it it’s time to have one of our traditional meals again. We do make efforts to see each other more than twice a year, but at least I know we will have our birthday dinner in August for our next catch up if we don’t have one sooner.

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Default ThumbnailCheesecake With My Birthday Twin (or Continuing A New Tradition) Default ThumbnailAn Evening Of Cheesecake (or Just A Calm Dinner With My Birthday Twin) Default ThumbnailVery Belated New Years Cheesecake (or A Birthday Twin Dinner) Default ThumbnailCheesecake Dinner (or A Half Birthday Outing) Default ThumbnailHoliday Cheesecake (or Birthday Twins and Twinkle Lights) Default ThumbnailA Full Friend Day (or Cheesecake For Lunch And Drinks For Dinner)

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A Very Low-Key NYE (or I’m Glad I Don’t Have To Impress My Friends)

Posted on January 7, 2020 | Comments Off on A Very Low-Key NYE (or I’m Glad I Don’t Have To Impress My Friends)

I have written several posts about how I’m so excited to start a new year and what I think the new year will bring. And I am excited about it being a new year and feeling like there is a fresh start (even though that fresh start isn’t really real). I love the idea of a clean slate and feeling like I have a new chance to do something amazing.

But despite all those things I love about a new year, I’m really not the biggest fan of going out for New Year’s Eve.

I might have been a bit more excited about NYE when I was younger. And even in more recent years, I think I was a bit more enthusiastic about it. Maybe having my car die on NYE has made things a bit more serious for me. I don’t worry about my car breaking down on my drive home, but I am reminded about it each year. It’s hard to forget when it was a pretty big deal.

But there are other factors that make me not as excited about NYE. I don’t want to go out somewhere that is going to be really crowded and will be very expensive to go to. If you go out to dinner, it is overpriced and they seem like they want to rush you so they can get to the next seating. I don’t want to be out late because I don’t want to be on the road when people are leaving bars. Hopefully, people wouldn’t be driving drunk (especially with all the rideshare options in LA), but it’s still something I worry about. And I usually don’t sleep in on New Year’s Day because I have a lot to get done.

I’m lucky that I’ve got a group of friends that usually get together for NYE that I can hang out with. And it’s nothing fancy or extravagant so I don’t have to feel like it’s a big deal. And hanging out with my friends is exactly what I did this year.

It was a smaller group than normal because my friends have a dog that is a bit skittish. So it was mainly people that they knew their dog was familiar with. But it was still a good-sized crowd. And there were some people who did dress up, but that wasn’t necessary and there were plenty of people who didn’t dress fancy. I was one of the people who dressed pretty casually. I figured if I was going to be out late, I might as well be comfortable. And I know my friends don’t necessarily care how I dress so I didn’t feel like I had to impress them or meet a certain standard.

I didn’t take any pictures at the party, but that was deliberate. I wanted to focus on being with my friends and not trying to take photos or make sure I have things I can post on social media. But also, I didn’t do anything too crazy. I spent a lot of time hanging outside in the backyard with my friends just chatting about lots of random things. And when it got too cold for me, I went inside and hung out on a couch with other friends.

I usually don’t stay up too late, so I had to do something to keep me awake and alert. I thought it was close to midnight at one point and then looked at my watch only to discover that it was only about 10 pm. I think a lot of us were starting to feel that way, but we didn’t want to leave before midnight since we did want to celebrate together. We decided to play a game and we went with Cards Against Humanity. We started with a small group, but as people were coming inside to get out of the cold more would join us. It was a pretty fluid game with the group size changing often, but we were just playing for fun and we weren’t going to figure out an overall winner when we were done.

Finally, it was almost midnight and everyone was in the living room with us for the countdown to midnight. And once it was the new year, we all celebrated together. Everyone usually goes around to make sure they hug everyone to say happy new year. It’s a nice tradition because you don’t feel left out if you don’t have someone to kiss at midnight or to celebrate with. Everyone celebrates together and I like that.

And right after midnight, I went around to say my goodbyes to my friends. I was so tired and I really wanted to get home before it got too late. I think my friend group understands me wanting to leave early since I have one of the longer drives back. And since everyone was gathered in the living room, it was pretty fast to say goodbye to everyone and to get into my car to head home.

I was home and in bed before 1 am and that was perfect. I did get to celebrate the new year, but I didn’t have to do anything fancy or crazy. Nobody cared that I was dressed in comfortable clothes or that I left so quickly after midnight. And I love that nobody cared about those things because getting together was more about being with friends and not impressing anyone. Plus, we realized that the Oscars are coming up really soon so we’ll all be together again before we know it.

Honestly, it was the perfect way for me to ring in 2020 and I couldn’t have asked for anything else.

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Another Union Holiday Celebration (or Being Social And Working Social Media)

Posted on December 17, 2019 | Comments Off on Another Union Holiday Celebration (or Being Social And Working Social Media)

One of the holiday parties I try to make it to every year is the SAG-AFTRA party. I haven’t been able to make it every year, but I do make an effort and know that even if I’m not feeling up for it that I will have a great time. I didn’t think I was slacking on sending in my RSVP for the party, but I guess I did because I was originally on the waitlist. I was a little sad that I might not get into the party, but I knew that it was my mistake for not sending it in the day I got it. But the day before the party, I got another email saying I was officially on the list and that improved my day a lot!

I was starting to deal with nausea on the day of the party, but I knew that I needed to go. I wasn’t planning on staying out too late, but I wanted to see my friends and I was excited about that. I arrived at the union early because I knew we would be lining up to get inside. I was in line standing right by the big tree in the lobby and I took advantage of that. I wasn’t feeling like having pictures taken of me, but I wanted to get some good photos of other people to put on my slate’s social media. I have been trying to work on improving the quality of the photos and I knew this tree was a great photo op.

I first got an amazing picture of my friend Shea (who had holiday decorations in his beard) with our union president, Gabrielle Carteris.

Then I realized that with so many of the union leaders being at the party, it was a great opportunity to get a photo of them for our main Instagram page. I usually am posting in our slate’s Instagram stories instead of the page, but I wanted to work on finding something new to post on our feed. And I think this one came out pretty good.

I only realized after I had posted it on all our social media channels that it looks like there are horns coming out of their heads. But fortunately, they found it funny so I was able to leave the photo up and not have to run around to try to take another one.

Once I was inside the party, I got some food to eat and then found a table to sit at with my friends. We didn’t take up all the seats at the table so we got to meet some members that we didn’t know before. Getting time to meet members and talk about how we are involved in the union is one of the great things about social events like this. There were no politics involved, there wasn’t any arguing, and there weren’t any stressful or tense moments like there can be at other union events. This was all about having fun and enjoying ourselves.

I did get one photo taken with some of my friends while I was there, but I really didn’t think about taking any others of me.

I spent most of my time at the party talking to friends of mine, but I did try to also introduce myself to people I didn’t know. But since I wasn’t feeling my best, I knew that I wouldn’t be making the best first impression.

When I was getting ready to leave, my friends said they were headed over to the photo booth area to take some photos. I figured I could wait a bit longer before leaving and went to take some photos with them. But we didn’t expect that there would be such a huge line and that it would move slowly. I’m sure it felt worse for me because of how I was feeling, but after waiting 30 minutes I realized I wasn’t going to make it much longer. Plus, when I’m really nauseous I break out in a sweat and I didn’t want to take a photo like that.

I decided to head home before getting that photo done and it was a little disappointing. But I knew it was for the best for me and my friends understood I wasn’t feeling great. I haven’t seen how the photo turned out yet (they are supposed to be posted online in the next day or so), but I’m sure it would look amazing and I’ll feel a bit sad that I wasn’t in it. But I also remember how relieved I felt when I got home and could work on feeling a bit better.

I was only at the party for about 2 hours, but I feel like I got a lot done. I was able to hang out with a lot of my friends, I got some amazing photos for social media that I really needed, and I got to feel like I did something social when I would have been laying on my couch otherwise. I think that was a big win for me and I’m glad that not only did I get into the party but that I made the choice to go. And I know that when they announce the party next year, I’m going to RSVP right away!

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Default ThumbnailSAG-AFTRA Holiday Party (or Getting Ready For Elections Again) Default ThumbnailThe First Holiday Party Of The Season (or A Meeting And A Mixer) Default ThumbnailFirst Union Working Meeting Of 2018 (or Union Strong For All) Default ThumbnailUnion Working Holiday Party (or Just Enjoying Being Around Good People) Default ThumbnailUnion Holiday Party (or Seeing A Lot Of People In A Little Time) Default ThumbnailFinding More Ways To Help Via Social Media (or Continuing To Share Good Things)

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