Tag Archives: photos

Listening And Learning (or A Brand New Monthly Challenge)

Posted on March 6, 2024 | Comments Off on Listening And Learning (or A Brand New Monthly Challenge)

Last month, I challenged myself to listen to my body more. I think many things were coming together that made me feel like I needed to do this. I was struggling a lot with sleep, but that didn’t account for everything I was feeling. I just had an odd feeling of being off. I don’t want to assume that my iron issues were causing this, but I will say that taking my new supplements has been helping with that feeling so maybe that was it. But I just knew I needed to listen to my body with so many things and I needed to find a way to feel like myself again.

I think sleep will always be an on-and-off issue for me. I naturally don’t wake up early, but I make myself do it so I can go to my workout. I make an effort to go to bed early and not stay up as late as I’d like, but that doesn’t always mean I’ll fall asleep quickly. I still wake up sometimes in the middle of the night, and I don’t know why I do that. It’s not that I’m thirsty or in pain, I just don’t always sleep all night. But I made sure to note when that happened and took things a bit easier the next day since I knew I’d be tired.

But I think the biggest thing I did with listening to my body was to use that with how I ate. Just like sleeping, I know food will always be an issue for me. I can’t just always eat what I want, but I know that listening to my cravings can help me manage food better. I also didn’t stress myself out as much about eating at official meal times. I did try to have 3 meals in a day, but sometimes it was more like 2 meals and 2 snacks. I don’t track calories or other nutrition like that, but I do have a general idea of how much I’m eating and I know I’m staying within the right amount of calories. And I was feeling more satisfied when I did try to indulge in my cravings a bit more. If I was craving something sweet or salty, I didn’t ignore that. I didn’t necessarily eat exactly what I would like if it wasn’t the best choice, but I tried to figure out something that would help that craving. And yes, sometimes I did eat the “bad” thing because I knew that was going to be the only thing that I wanted.

Overall, I’m happy with what I did with my challenge in February. I feel much more like myself now. I still have some physical ailments that I know won’t be resolved by listening to my body, but things are much easier on me when I don’t have extra things I have to work through.

And for March, I decided to go back to the type of challenge I did when I started doing these. I recently got a new-to-me camera from a friend. It’s a very nice camera and so far I’ve only used it with all the auto settings. But because it’s the first camera I’ve owned that has all these settings and ways you can take amazing photos, I want to learn how to do that. So I’ve decided this month that I’d like to take some online photography classes.

I’ve already saved a few different free classes I found online and I’m going to work through them. I don’t think I’ll be able to get through them all within the month, but I’d like to have some idea about how to use more than just the auto setting on the camera by the end of the month. I don’t know how often I might use this new camera since the main reason I got it from my friend is to do self-tape auditions, but I think it would be fun to be able to take nice photos from time to time. I don’t want to get myself in a situation where I regret not learning how to use the different features before having an opportunity to use it.

I’m hoping by the end of the month, I will feel more comfortable using the new camera and I’ll start to have some fun with it. I don’t know if I’ll pick up photography as a new hobby, but you never know. New hobbies start after trying something, so maybe I’ll end up finding a new creative way to express myself!

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Posted in Fun Stuff, Health

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A Fast Photo Shoot (or Getting To Meet Some Co-Workers)

Posted on June 28, 2022 | Comments Off on A Fast Photo Shoot (or Getting To Meet Some Co-Workers)

With all of the jobs I’ve had in the last several years, I have rarely ever met any of my co-workers. I have worked remote jobs for about 8 years between a few different companies. Some of them are based in LA but still had remote work. So I might have met some people I worked with in person, especially since I have been referred to these jobs by friends of mine. But it’s not uncommon for me to have worked a job for quite some time and never met anyone I work with in person.

But with my social media job, since that company is based in LA and there have been a few different things they have done outside of the standard work, I’ve had the chance to meet a few more of my co-workers than I would have otherwise. And last week was another chance that I had to meet some people I’ve worked with for over a year that I have never seen outside of a Zoom screen.

We had a photo shoot last year for work photos, but we got another chance to take new photos. Last time, they were taken through The Headshot Truck and we worked from their offices. This time, the photos were done at the TSMA studio. And I was excited about that because I have never been to the studio space before. It’s in downtown LA, and because my shoot was just after rush hour in the morning, it didn’t take me too long to get there.

My shoot was the first one of the day, so it was just myself and my friend Ben (who is the COO of the company and who referred me for the job) at the studio while we waited for things to start. I was excited to be able to catch up with Ben outside of our texts, phone calls, or Zoom meetings so I didn’t remember to take other photos while I was there. But it’s a great studio space and perfect for our clients who need to get photos taken for their accounts.

The next person to arrive was the photographer, who is the senior content creator for the company. I had actually met him earlier this year when I helped out with a photo shoot for one of our clients. Then one of the account managers who I had only seen on all-team Zoom meetings arrived, but he was also busy working so I didn’t really get a chance to talk with him much. And the last person who arrived while I was at the studio was my direct manager. This was the first time that she and I were seeing each other in person, which I didn’t realize at first since we are in multiple on-camera Zoom meetings together each week. But I thought about it and realized that there would not have been a time we would have been together in person before so I mentioned it. And I think she had the same reaction that I did. She thought about it and then realized that was right, which was crazy!

We all had some time to chat about random things while we waited for everything to be set up. While I love working from home and it makes a lot of things easier for me, it can be odd to realize you never really see your co-workers. So I enjoyed a bit of social time while things were getting ready.

Since my appointment was first, I did go first for the photos. It was a pretty quick shoot since we were inside the studio with controlled lighting and conditions. We didn’t have to worry about shadows or the wind affecting things. And since they are work photos, they don’t have to be as perfect as headshots have to be or with as many different looks. I think the actual photos were done in about 5 minutes, maybe a little more. But it was super quick and then I was told I was all set.

It would have been cool to get to hang around a little longer to chat with everyone there, but I did have work that I had to get back to. But there were a few things that I was going to text my manager about when I got back to work, so I was able to tell her in person so I could take some next steps as soon as I got home.

I haven’t seen the photos yet, but hopefully they came out ok. I know I can be really hard on myself and how things look, and it’s really tough when I have to do my own hair and makeup compared to when there is someone professional doing them. But again, these are just work photos so I don’t have to be perfect. And if they are really amazing, maybe I could use one as a new headshot. But I am planning on new headshots soon anyway since I am very overdue for some updated ones. And even if I don’t love them, I’m so glad I finally got to meet some of the people I work with in person so they aren’t just faces on my screen.

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Posted in Fun Stuff

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Finding Some Crossover With My Skills (or A New Way To Use Self-Tape Skills)

Posted on June 11, 2021 | Comments Off on Finding Some Crossover With My Skills (or A New Way To Use Self-Tape Skills)

There are a lot of skills I have gained in life that are really only good for the reason I originally learned them for. For example, I used to work in credit card disputes and I gained a lot of skills on how to complete and win the disputes for the company side. I guess technically I can use these skills in understanding how disputes work for other aspects of my life, but so much of what I learned there was specific to that job. It’s the same with a lot of my acting skills. Some I can use for other things, like becoming good at memorization, but many don’t have a purpose outside of acting, like breaking down a script into beats.

But occasionally, I will discover that a random skill that I have learned at some point in my life works for something else. This doesn’t happen too often, but it’s really fun when it does. And I had that happen the other day when I was preparing to renew my passport.

I didn’t realize my passport was going to expire this year until I was doing something and happened to look at it. This was the 3rd passport I’ve had, and sadly it was the first one that had no stamps in it. My last international trip was in the beginning of 2005. I do want to travel again and have ideas of countries I want to visit, but I have no clue when that will happen. Now, it’s not as much of an issue of money (since I have money saved up), but it’s an issue of the world being safe again for traveling. I hope this won’t be much longer, but I am in no rush either. I just hope that by the time I have to renew my passport in 10 years, the one I’ll be getting soon will have at least 1 stamp in it.

Even though I have no plans to travel internationally right now, it’s important for me to have a valid passport. If I do make plans to travel, that’s one less thing for me to worry about. Also, one of the things most actors have is a valid passport because you never know when you might book a job that is out of the country. And since it can take time to get the new passport, having a valid one is the easiest way to be prepared.

The passport renewal process is pretty simple. I was able to complete my application online and print it out. I have my old passport that is about to expire so that eliminates some of the work I’d have to do too. The only thing that I really had to do was to get a new passport photo.

Every other time I’ve gotten a passport photo, I’ve gone somewhere to do it. I don’t remember if my past ones were at AAA or a drugstore like CVS, but I do remember getting them done and having them printed out. I’ve had a few good passport photos, but I have always hated my most recent one. So I was happy to be getting a new passport with a new photo. But I didn’t necessarily want to go somewhere to get it done, and I know some places that used to do passport photos have put them on hold for now.

But I did remember I had some photo paper that I’ve never used so I decided to do it at home. So I set things up just like I did for taking a self-tape audition in my dining room. I already knew how make sure I had good lighting and had a ring light available if I needed it. I also have gotten pretty good at setting up my phone or iPad on a tripod for self-tapes so I am in the frame the way I want and I know I’ll be in focus. I thought about doing a video first and taking a screenshot from it for my photo, but it ended up being easy enough for me to set the timer to take photos. I took a few photos, looked at them, changed my setup a bit, took some more, and repeated that process until I was happy with how my photo looked. And that was a nice benefit of doing my own passport photo. I could make sure it would be a photo I’m ok with for the next 10 years.

There is also a guide on the government website for passport renewals where you can upload your photo to make sure it has the right dimensions. I know there is still a small chance it won’t be perfect, but I did use that tool online to have the site crop my photo and make sure it has the dimensions around my face (it’s not just the size of the photo, you have to have a certain amount of space from the edge to the top of your head). I’m hoping for the best and that I won’t get something back saying my application has been rejected for my photo. But I feel like enough people print out photos at home that it should be fine. Not everyone probably uses a ruler to confirm everything like I do.

I don’t know how many other ways I will use my self-tape skills to use for something else, but it was nice to find a new way to use them. And it got something accomplished that I needed to do, so that’s a win too. And hopefully, renewing my passport is a sign that maybe I will be traveling again soon.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff, Travel

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An Afternoon With The Headshot Truck (or Doing Some Work Photos)

Posted on March 23, 2021 | Comments Off on An Afternoon With The Headshot Truck (or Doing Some Work Photos)

It’s been a while since I’ve had some new headshots taken. I know I need to do some new ones soon, but I’ve been putting it off for a bit. Before the pandemic, I was hoping I would have a different enough look to need them (like if I changed up my hair or lost weight). I know you don’t have to wait until you look different for new photos, but that was the excuse I was telling myself. And then during the pandemic, I’ve been telling myself that I wanted to wait until it was safer. I know several photographers have been doing headshots and have found ways to stay safe, but I was still using that as an excuse.

But last week, I had to get some photos done for my social media day job. We all needed official work photos done. Some people had some that were taken before, but everyone was getting new photos taken even if they had them done in the past. These photos are going to be used on the company website, in our work emails, and when we are doing something where we are representing the company. But because many of us who work there are also actors, they wanted the photos to be great for work and also possible to use as headshots.

The photos were taken with The Headshot Truck. I’ve known about The Headshot Truck for several years now and I hadn’t shot with them before. But I loved their work and was really excited to get a chance to shoot with them. Because of safety issues, the photos would all be taken outside but I knew that they were going to be great no matter what.

Since these photos are primarily for work-related purposes, there were a few things we all had to do. The main thing was that we all had to wear blue since that is the company color. That was fine with me since I think I photograph well in blue. So I wore one option and brought a few others in case I needed to change. We all only had 15 minutes for our shoots, so there wasn’t really time to do multiple looks. But I wanted to have options just in case I needed to change before we started shooting. Fortunately, the outfit that I wore to the shoot was perfect and I didn’t have to change.

One other difference between other headshot shoots was that I had to do my own hair and makeup. I almost always have someone to do my hair and makeup, but since this shoot was a mini-shoot and mainly for work, I wasn’t going to hire someone this time. So I did my own hair and makeup and hoped it would look ok.

The shoot itself was really fun and easy. There were 2 outdoor locations were did the photos in. And halfway through the shoot, the photographer let me look at the photos so I could see if there was anything I wanted to change. I’m glad I did look, because there was something odd with how my hair was going over my shoulder. It wasn’t anything bad or something anyone besides myself would notice, but I’m glad I could fix it because I know it would have bothered me looking at the photos. I will also likely do retouching (since you always need to do that) so I could have fixed it in retouching too. But I am glad I could change how my hair looked so I could feel better about my photos.

I haven’t gotten the images back just yet, but I’m happy with what I’ve seen so far. I’ve only seen a few shots from their computer screen after the shoot was done, but they look great!

I know my photo of their screen isn’t the best and it’s not easy to see the photos, but I was happy when looking at them. And I’m sure I’ll have a few different ones that are my top choices and I’ll ask friends to help me pick the best one. And maybe I’ll find one that I love for my work shot and another that I love for a headshot!

I love that I had this chance to take some new photos. Even though the main reason for them is for work, this is another thing I was able to do to get ready for being back to auditioning again. I’ve been doing self-tapes over the past year, but I know in-person auditions will be back in the future and I want to have myself in the best spot possible for those when they happen.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff, Work

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Reflecting Back On Last Year’s Convention (or Photos Bring Back So Many Memories)

Posted on October 13, 2020 | Comments Off on Reflecting Back On Last Year’s Convention (or Photos Bring Back So Many Memories)

I know I’ve written before how sometimes I forget that it’s the anniversary of some important moment in my life until social media reminds me of it with an “on this day” post. Sometimes that reminds me of something good and sometimes it reminds me of something not good. But whatever it is, that post or photo brings back a ton of memories. This time, I almost reverse-engineered that idea. I knew something was coming up and I searched for the photos that would show me the date.

One year ago, my grandma passed away. The one year anniversary of her passing was actually this past Sunday. And I knew exactly what date it was because it was the same night as the National Convention Gala. I know I wrote a little about things in both of those posts, but I didn’t tell the full story of what happened and my memories of it.

I had a feeling my grandma was going to pass away during Convention. There was no reason for me to feel that way, but I did. I knew she wasn’t doing well, but her health had been declining for a while. The first time that I really heard that she might not live that much longer had been last September, but there wasn’t a timeline we were all thinking about. We just knew that she was slipping away and we had to be grateful whenever we could see her. I was hoping that she would make it to Thanksgiving so I could see her one more time, but I knew that it might not happen.

The day she passed away, I spent most of my day doing official Convention stuff. We ended around 5 and then I went to my car to get my clothes to change for the Gala. I changed in a room that was set aside for anyone to get ready in and I walked back to my car to put my day clothes and makeup away. And when I was walking back to the hotel to hang out before the Gala started, I saw a text from my dad. It didn’t say much. It was something like “Text me when you are doing at the Convention”. I think my parents thought that I’d be heading home after things were done, not that I had the Gala. But I knew I couldn’t wait until after the Gala was done. So I found a couch in the lobby and called my dad.

I knew it had to be one of two things. Either my grandma died or something happened with my sister-in-law (she was pregnant with my nephew then). But right before I called my dad, my brother and sister-in-law texted me to let me know they were having a boy, so I knew it was about my grandma. My dad and I didn’t say much on that call. He said that she passed away that afternoon. My grandma was in her room taking a nap after lunchtime and she passed away in her sleep. It was peaceful and that’s all we could have hoped for. I don’t think she was in any pain at the end of her life. I don’t know how aware she was of most things. I’m just grateful that she wasn’t hurting.

After the call with my dad, I was pretty hysterical. A friend of mine saw me, asked what happened, and went to find some tissues for me. He sat with me for a while until I calmed down a bit. The entire night kind of went that way. I randomly cried a lot. People found out what happened and tried to comfort me. I know I could have gone home and skipped the Gala, but I knew that my grandma would have wanted me to be there. And I didn’t want to go home and be alone. I wanted to be around my friends, and that’s exactly what happened at the Gala.

It was a weird night for sure. I was grieving but also trying to have fun. I didn’t want to be crying as much as I did, but sometimes it just hit me really hard. But I was always around a friend and whoever I was around made sure I was doing ok. I was seriously so grateful to my friends that night because I’m sure it was a bit weird for them too. But nobody made me feel bad about being upset or when I needed a shoulder to cry on.

That night was a bit of a blur for me. I know it’s because my brain was processing so much and I was also worried about how the rest of my family was doing. But I tried to enjoy things as much as possible. That’s why I don’t have a lot of photos from the Gala. I didn’t do a red carpet photo because I was still crying so much. I don’t have a lot of photos with my friends because I was not thinking about it. I took some photos of the awards during the Gala, but that’s about it. The only photo I have with my friends was a photo that my friends dragged me into. But I’m so glad they did that because it is one happy memory I have of that night.

And my smile in that photo is real. I was having a good time at that moment. And I’m glad I have that moment to remember that night by. Not all my memories are sad ones, even though that photo does remind me of some sad things too. But it also reminds me that I have amazing friends who were there for me and made sure that I was ok and had a good time at such a weird moment.

I remember so many things when looking at that photo. Even though I have a few other photos from that night, that one, in particular, is the one that brings so many memories back. I looked at it again on Sunday and took some time to remember my grandma. It was a bit of a sad day because of everything else going on in the world. But I’m glad that when she passed away, I didn’t have to be alone and I was able to be supported by so many people.

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Posted in Family, Tough Stuff

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Forgetting To Document Some Things (or Focusing On Being In The Now)

Posted on March 21, 2019 | Comments Off on Forgetting To Document Some Things (or Focusing On Being In The Now)

With all the technology we have available to us, it’s so easy to document things that we experience. We can take photos and videos of everything we see to share or remember them by. And since we aren’t restricted by using up film we can take photos of things that we don’t care about that much or take dozens of photos to make sure we get the right image. And of course, there are endless ways we can share those photos too.

I’m totally someone who can be obsessed with getting the right photos. My friends know when we go to Wood & Vine that they can’t take a bite until I get the perfect picture to share on here. They know that sometimes I’ll ask them to move their cup or something else on the table so I get the perfect shot. I think they find it a bit funny, but I’m grateful they indulge me in doing it. And I take photos of so much in my life. Sometimes it’s for adding to a post on here and sometimes it’s just for me. I like having something to refer to when I want to remember something. If I don’t have the photo, it’s easy for me to forget the details.

But there are more and more articles coming out lately about how we are living our lives through our phones or cameras. We aren’t experiencing what’s in front of us because we want to have the perfect Instagram photo to share later. I know I’ve done this with a few things in the past and I’m embarrassed how my memories are about me watching through my phone while getting a photo and not just experience what happened. While I love the photos to refer to later, they aren’t the most important thing for me.

I haven’t necessarily been making an effort to take fewer photos or to not experience things through my phone, but this week I had 2 things that I usually would document with lots of photos that I actually have no photos for at all.

First, I had my hair done this week. Getting my hair done isn’t a huge experience, but it had been too long since the last time. If I had the money, I would get my hair done every 6-8 weeks. Because of my financial situation now, I have to keep stretching it out longer and longer. This time wasn’t as bad as it was just under 4 months since the last time I had my hair done, but it was definitely needed. My hair was looking scraggily and my color was looking faded and my grays were taking over. I usually love taking a before and after photo to see how much of a difference a fresh haircut and color could make.

I didn’t think at all about doing a before photo. I actually didn’t realize I didn’t take one until the day after my hair was done when I was thinking about if I took an after photo. That’s when I thought about how I didn’t have a before photo so there’s no need for an after one to show off the difference. I like sharing the before and after photos and I know my friend who does my hair likes to share them to promote her business, but I just didn’t think about doing it this time. I’m sure I’ll do it next time, but it was nice to see that I didn’t even consider doing one this time.

I also went to a NextGen Performers mixer earlier this week. The mixers are so much fun because they are just a time to gather and hang out. They always have food for us and people are just talking and not worried about too much. It’s basically like a party with my friends. I have noticed that lately I’m not recognizing as many people at these mixers, but I still have a lot of friends there and I always try to spend time with them catching up.

I don’t always take photos of those events (I take more photos at the informative events since I take photos of the slides to save the information I want to have), but I do get photos with my friends from time to time there. Since sometimes it’s the only time I get to see certain friends for a while, it’s nice to have a photo together. This mixer was just like many of the others that I had attended, except I never thought about taking photos of the event or with my friends. I wasn’t always focused on the mixer, but documenting it wasn’t something that came to me. Even with knowing I’d want to probably blog about it, I didn’t have the thought I should get a photo for the post.

I’m sure there will still be so many times in my life that I live through a phone or a camera, but it is something I will probably be more conscious about. I need to remember that I don’t have to have proof of everything I have done and that sometimes it’s better to not have those photos but to instead have memories of things that might not be able to be captured in a photo or video.

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Posted in Acting, Beauty, Fun Stuff

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A Mini Photo Shoot (or Enjoying A Voter Freebie)

Posted on November 8, 2018 | Comments Off on A Mini Photo Shoot (or Enjoying A Voter Freebie)

I know that on Election Day there were quite a few freebie or discount offers for anyone who voted. Busses and trains in LA were free, ride share companies were offering free or discounted rides to polling places, and there were a couple of fast food or chain restaurants that offered things like free coffee or dessert if you were wearing your voter sticker. I usually don’t do any of the voter freebie offers since they aren’t things I need or want, but this year I did take advantage of one.

One of my headshot photographers, Adam Emperor Southard, posted on social media last month that he was offering free mini shoots for anyone who voted. These would be 10 minute shoots and done quickly and efficiently. This doesn’t mean they wouldn’t look as good as normal headshots do, but it would be done in studio with a single background and with a single look. It’s been a while since I’ve done headshots (right now I don’t have the money for new ones but I look like my current ones enough so it’s ok), so I immediately signed up for a mini shoot!

I was going through my clothes to pick out what I wanted to wear for my shoot. Even though I knew it was just a single look, I was hoping that maybe I could do 2 very similar looks if I made it quick. So I had a black tank top on and brought a sweater and scarf with me. I was hoping that maybe I could do photos in each, but I also knew that I might have to just pick one and that would be ok with me.

For regular headshot shoots, I have someone do my hair and makeup. I timed my hair being done so it was done the day before the shoot. I knew that would make it still look nice and not as frizzy as it can be when I do my hair. And for my makeup, I really just tried my best to do my makeup. I’m getting better about doing it and realizing that I have to almost look overdone when I look in a mirror to actually look good. I think that’s because I don’t wear makeup that often, but it’s still a tough thing to remember that I don’t look like I’m wearing too much to everyone else.

I went to the shoot right after I was done with work on Election Day. Traffic wasn’t as crazy as it could be so I got there much earlier than my appointment time. I figured it would be fine if I had to wait but maybe Adam would be ready to take my photo if there wasn’t someone right before me. He was just finishing a shoot when I arrived so it ended up being perfect timing! And I asked if I could do both looks since it was such a minor change and he said that I could!

I did the look with the sweater first and tried to not think too much about how I look. It was tough because I know that normally the makeup artist is checking to make sure my hair looks good and nothing else is off. I asked to see a preview of a photo and fixed my hair a bit (even though it can be fixed in retouching too) and tried to relax. While I was doing my photos someone else showed up for their shoot, and I let them go after I was done with the photos in my sweater and would do the photos in my scarf after they were done.

When I did my second half of the shoot, I tried to do a variety of faces and looks. But since it was so quick I know that I probably didn’t do as much as I would have loved to. And to finish off the shoot, I decided to do some fun pictures with my voter sticker (which I love that I get since I do a mail in ballot) and those ended up looking very fun when Adam showed me a quick preview of how they looked.

Adam just sent me the photos from the shoot and I will spend some time going over them and seeing which ones I like. With this free shoot he is also including a free retouch, but I can pay for more to be retouched if I want them to. So far, from what I have looked at, they look amazing! My hair isn’t quite what I thought it would look like because there was a weird piece out of place but my makeup is much better than I thought it would be! And of course, since Adam is an amazing photographer the photos are all incredible!

I love that Adam did this shoot as an incentive to get people to vote. I would have voted with or without this shoot, but it was fun to have something awesome as a bonus for voting in this midterm election. And it is a bonus that really is something I needed and will be very helpful with my acting career. This was really just an amazing gift that Adam offered us all and I am so grateful I was able to be a part of it.

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An Amazing Photo Shoot (or Dress Like A Woman)

Posted on February 14, 2017 | Comments Off on An Amazing Photo Shoot (or Dress Like A Woman)

I know I’ve talked before about trying to not be too political, but I think we are in a time where you can’t just sit back and hope for the best. We need to make sure that our voices are heard by our elected representatives and that we are involved. I’ve been guilty of not doing that much in the past but I’ve realized over the past year how I cannot do that anymore. So I’ve been slowly getting more and more involved in things. I’ve joined Facebook groups and other online communities, I’ve been sending emails/snail mail and calling politicians, and I’ve been more vocal about issues that mean a lot to me.

I know it can be scary to put yourself out there like that, but I was inspired by others do it so I hope that I can inspire others to do the same. Sometimes I don’t know what to do, but I’m lucky that I know people who I can turn to that can give me ideas. And I’m very fortunate that I have friends who come up with amazing ideas that I am able to participate in. And recently, I got to participate in a great photo shoot with Adam Emperor Southard , who did my most recent headshots.

Adam posted on Facebook that he needed some women to participate in the next photo series he wanted to do and it had a political twist to it. That’s all he posted, but I said that I was in and was really excited to hear what it was all about! When he finally shared the idea with all of us who wanted to participate, I was so happy that I took the chance to be a part of it. The idea came from the statement about how President Trump likes women to dress like women when they worked for him. There had been so many posts about what dressing like a woman means since there are so many ways women dress for work. And that’s exactly that this photo series was about.

It was tough for me to think of an outfit that I wanted to wear that represented to me dressing like a woman. I tried on some of my favorite dresses that I don’t get to wear that often, but it didn’t seem right to me to wear something that I only wear on special occasions. I also thought about wearing my working clothes since I feel so empowered while wearing them. But in the end, I wore comfortable clothes that I wear when I’m working (if I’m not wearing workout clothes) including the new hoodie I got that showed to me that my work toward weight loss was paying off.

When I got to Adam’s house for the photo shoot, I was pretty ready to go. I was in the outfit I wanted to wear and had done my hair and makeup at home before going over there. But I wanted to add one more thing to my look which was the new lipstick that I’m in love with. I’ve never been a bit lipstick person, but the first time I tried this color on I felt so beautiful. So I wanted that in my photos.

The first photo was without the pink hat (which Adam had there since I didn’t have one of my own) and it was interesting taking photos that I knew weren’t going to be headshots. I experimented more with my facial expressions and poses and didn’t worry about looking pretty or thin. And the second set of photos was with the hat and I knew it would be a close up. So I thought about all the things I wanted to say to President Trump and let my expression speak for itself.

After I was done with the shoot (it only took a few minutes), Adam let me take peek at some of the photos that he took and I was shocked by how I looked!

I never feel like I can look fierce, but I felt like I really did in these photos! I looked tough and not sweet (like I normally do in photos) and I was so happy with how they looked. I had to wait a few days to see the finished image, but I could not have asked for anything better to be my photo in this series.

I shared this online right away and if you want to see all the photos in this series you can see them on Facebook. And if you are in LA and want to be a part of the series, Adam is still doing more photos so please reach out to him on Facebook!

I know that me doing one photo shoot isn’t going to change the world. But between all the women participating in the series plus all the other work they and I are doing, hopefully we can make some noise and get some people to listen to us.

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Gilmore Girls Time! (or A Fun Afternoon At UCLA)

Posted on November 23, 2016 | 1 comment

I think pretty much everyone has heard by now that “Gilmore Girls” is coming back with new episodes on Netflix. I’m really excited about this! “Gilmore Girls” was one of the first shows that I can think of that my mom and I watched together but in different locations (she was in the Bay Area and I was living in LA) where we would talk after the show to discuss the episode. My mom and I have always been really close, but having this show to connect us when I moved away from home helped to keep our bond strong.

I may get to watch one of the new episodes with my mom since they premiere the day after Thanksgiving and I’ll still be in San Diego then. But we probably will still be watching most of it separately and then discussing the show after we finish it. But either way, knowing that one of my favorite shows is coming back (even if it is only 4 episodes that are 90 minutes each) is making me so happy!

There have been a lot of “Gilmore Girls” related events happening leading up to the new season. There were the Luke’s Diners that popped up all over the country for the day, but I wasn’t able to make it to that due to work conflicts. And more recently there was the premiere of the first episode of the new season, but I couldn’t go to that either. But when I heard that there was going to be an event at UCLA where they made it look like Stars Hollow (the town in the show), I knew I had to go!

I got my tickets and then shared online that I was going. A few of my friends got tickets, but it quickly sold out so it was going to be a small group of just the 3 of us. One of my friends was going to get in line early for us, and then my other friend and I were going to meet her there so we could go in together. But then my friend who was supposed to line up came down with a horrible migraine/cold and was stuck feeling horrible in bed. And my other friend got stuck at work and then needed to take her car in to be fixed. So I ended up going alone, but that was fine.

I was shocked at how many people were in line when I arrived! I got there almost an hour before the event started, and I was questioning if I was even going to make it inside. The event was limiting people to 45 minutes inside and we figured they would let a few hundred people in at once (I heard a rumor it was 350 people each time), so I was hoping I wouldn’t be in line for too long. Fortunately, I ended up being at the end of the third group that got to go inside. So I did have to wait a few hours, but my book kept me pretty entertained.

And once I got inside, it was totally worth it!

festival-of-four-seasons

I used to work at the WB studio as a tour guide, so I got to see the Stars Hollow set every day at work. And they did a great job making this area look similar to what the studio lot looked like.

stars-hollowtown-sign

There were a couple of fun photo opportunities including a gazebo that was in the center of the space they were using. I didn’t do that photo since there was a huge line since the photos were with cast members from the show. But I did take advantage of the photo setup they made with umbrellas (if you watched the show, this was a reminder of when Rory jumped with Logan off of the tower). Some of the umbrellas were hanging from the trees so it made it look like you were falling back to the ground, but they were a bit too high for me to reach. So I took advantage of one of the umbrellas that was not attached to the trees.

photo-setup

They also had a Luke’s Diner set up. They were serving coffee in Luke’s Diner cups, but since I don’t drink coffee I just took some photos and admired the attention to detail they put into the area.

lukes luke

There were also some swag type things you could get. Besides the coffee (people loved having those cups and I bet they were planning on saving them), there were bags of candy to get and buttons with funny sayings from the show (I personally got the vicious trollop one).

kirk-buttons

They also had a Stars Hollow Post Office set up with postcards that you could send to anyone you wanted and they would pay for the postage.

gilmore-girls-postcard

I really wanted my mom to have one, so I grabbed it and didn’t mail it since I would see her before the postcard got to her.

greetings-from-stars-hollow

There were also props from the show in a tent that you could go through. And the last thing that I did was going to the photo booth where you could get some cute free photos.

photo-booth

It’s tough to see it in my photo, but 3 of them are me holding signs with the various boyfriends’ names (Team Dean, Team Jess, and Team Logan) and me doing a frown. The last photo is me holding a sign saying Team Rory and doing a thumbs up. They had a lot of other cute fun signs to choose from, but since I was doing the photos solo I wanted to think of something cute I could do with one sign at a time. And this came to me and I went for it! The photo that printed out is a bit faded (maybe they were running low on ink), but since the entire event was free I can’t complain about any of it.

Before I knew it, the 45 minutes for my group was up and it was time for us to leave. While I’m sure I would have had an amazing time with my friends there, I had fun on my own and I’m so glad I went.

It’s almost time for “Gilmore Girls” again and this just got me even more excited for the new season to premiere!

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Some Disneyland Goodbyes (or Animation, Rides, and BBQ)

Posted on January 7, 2016 | 1 comment

I went to Disneyland this past Monday with my friend June. She and I had this trip planned since our last Disneyland trip because we had a very specific mission. A bunch of things will be closing down starting on the 11th for the construction for the new Star Wars land. Many things are only closing temporarily, but some are closing forever. So we wanted to make our round of goodbyes to some of our Disneyland favorites.

We got to Disneyland around noon and started our day over at California Adventure. We had planned on riding Radiator Springs Racers, but as soon as we got in line the ride broke down. We didn’t really feel like waiting to see how long it would take to reopen, so we headed over to the Animation Academy for some drawing fun. I don’t know if I’ve actually ever done the Animation Academy at California Adventure before (I did it at Disneyworld when I went a long time ago), so I was excited to check it out. We were drawing Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. And I did try my best to draw her, but clearly I have issues drawing circles. June was able to do a pretty great drawing!

Animation Academy

After that, we headed over to Disneyland for what we considered the main event of our trip. We went to the Big Thunder Ranch to get all you can eat BBQ!

Big Thunder Ranch

I’ve actually never been to the BBQ and sadly it’s closing on the 11th because it’s turning into Star Wars Land. June and I tried to go the last time we were at Disneyland, but we couldn’t get a reservation. So we made this one a few weeks in advance and planned our trip around it. It was really good and I’m sad that this trip was my first and last time getting to go. I loved the coleslaw (it was vinegar based) and the cornbread. And the BBQ ribs were messy and yummy.

BBQ

When we were done eating, we made our rounds through Big Thunder Ranch to say our goodbyes. We went over to the petting zoo and said goodbye to the donkeys and goats. All of the animals have been adopted already so we wished them the best in their new homes. I’m sure as a kid my parents took me to the petting zoo at Disneyland, but as an adult I really never went in there.

While we were saying our goodbyes to the goats (a lot of people were doing that and it was really crowded), we saw Pluto and how upset he is that the Big Thunder Ranch was closing.

Sad Pluto

All of Big Thunder Ranch is closing permanently and I think that we spent a decent amount of time admiring what we sadly did not take advantage of for many years. And hopefully Star Wars Land will have some sort of reminder of Big Thunder Ranch inside (many rides that take over other rides have Easter Eggs that are about the original ride).

Goodbye Big Thunder Ranch

After our big lunch, we went over to ride the Haunted Mansion. First, we didn’t want to do an extreme ride on a full stomach and second because we were inspired by drawing Sally earlier in California Adventure. It’s probably the last time I’ll be in the parks before Haunted Mansion changes back from the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay, so it was nice to see that one more time before it goes back to the normal Haunted Mansion.

Next on our list was to ride the train around. The Disneyland Railroad will be closed for at least a year to be rerouted during construction, and I really do love the train. We rode around the entire loop to check out the view and see the Grand Canyon and Primeval World dioramas and animatronics. I’m sad that I won’t be able to see those things again for a while and I’m going to miss having the railroad to use as transportation on busy days.

Next on our list was to ride Star Tours. This isn’t going away, but it was the first time I got to ride the ride since seeing the new Star Wars movie! I heard that they had added things to the ride that are from the new movie, and we got to go to Jakku as our first location on the ride and BB-8 was the hologram that appeared in the middle of the ride offering help. That was pretty awesome.

After the Star Tours ride, we decided that we should head over to Innovations where there are some Star Wars photo setups. The lines were too long so we took advantage of both Star Wars photos and the one Avengers one that was still open.

Character Photos

And since we have no idea how long the Hyperspace Mountain overlay will be at Space Mountain (I hope for a long time because I love it!), we rode it again. The ride is so wonderful with the overlay and the new effects that were added for it. We sat in the front row and it felt so fast that for a bit I couldn’t ride with my hands in the air. We tried to do a cute pose, but I almost had a quick wardrobe malfunction so I wasn’t quite into the pose when the photo was taken.

Hyperspace Mountain

By this point, we had been at Disneyland for a long time. But we had 2 more stops to make. First was to ride the Jingle Cruise, which is the holiday overlay for the Jungle Cruise. I had never seen the overlay before and it was really cool at nighttime with a bunch of lights strung around the ride. The jokes were as corny as always, but it was fun to see what they changed for the overlay.

And no trip to Disneyland is complete for me without a Dole Whip. So right after the Jingle Cruise, we got a Dole Whip and enjoyed it right next to the Enchanted Tiki Room.

Dole Whip

It really was a full day at Disneyland. There wasn’t really anything that we missed that we wanted to go on. I would have like to have taken the boat around the Rivers of America because that will also be closed for a year or so, but between riding the train around plus walking all over we got to see a lot of the river.

I know I’ll be at Disneyland again in February and I need to go to the parks soon to renew my pass (I might do a quick trip into the parks when I go to do my renewal). But I don’t think I’ll be there again before things closed down or go back from their holiday overlay so I’m glad that June and I were able to make it on Monday.

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