Thursday, January 24, 2013

Princess in Training


 Happy new year!
I hope everyone had a great holiday season.  I know I did!





Before I left I had a great headshot session with Lee Kazimir who is a friend of a friend.  He was really awesome to work with, which makes such a difference in a photoshoot.  Having a photographer who you're comfortable with and who can bring out your personality really shows in the pictures.  We spend the day at his apartment shooting inside, outside, and on the roof.  I changed outfits a couple of times and got some great pictures of me not smiling which doesn't happen often.  After the main headshot session I put on a dress and we took some shots just for fun.  They're not all edited yet, but I do have some to show you, and will post more as soon as I have them!
Photo by Lee Kazimir
Photo by Lee Kazimir
Photo by Lee Kazimir
With the infamous Spiderman hat!
Afterward I was totally exhausted.  People think modeling is an easy job but I promise you it is not!  I don't  think I'd ever want to model professionally, there is so much to think about.  I came home after a 7 hour shoot and fell asleep by 8pm.  Then Ashley and I sat in her bed and watched the Katy Perry documentary and worked on my resume which looks awesome now thanks to her!  It is so great having a roommate who is in the 'biz' we can motivate and support each other.
The rest of the week before I left I volunteered at my favorite charity project, Granny Squares, cleaned the apartment, worked on decorating with Ashley, did a ton of laundry, and on the last night headed to Jordan and Dylan's to trade Christmas presents and hang out before I left for Michigan. I gave them a cookbook with recipes for sriracha because they love that shit.  And I got the most delicious cookies ever and an awesome picture for my apartment.
Me with my presents
The next day it was time to go HOME!  I was on the plane and started tearing up as we descended to land.  When I saw my Mom I just started crying in her arms.  It was so ridiculously comforting being back with my family after all the emotional ups and downs I had gone through during the months before, and wondering if I was going to be with them or not over Christmas.
Being home was amazing, as I thought it would be.  It was exactly what I needed... getting a break from the city, having the comforts of home, a vacation, and finally seeing my family.
At Darcy's band concert with Dad
Getting some puppy love
Christmas Cookies
I saw seven movies in theaters with my Dad (and sometimes the rest of the family) Monsters Inc 3D (amazing), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (amazing), Skyfall (great), Looper (great), The Hobbit (completely boring), Silver Linings Playbook (amazing), and Life of Pi (amazing and a beautiful movie).  I spent some time with Andy and his family, they took me to a Griffin's game on dollar beer night which was really fun and then I saw some of my GR friends after.  On Saturday Andy took me to Beauty and the Beast for my Christmas present and it was amazing!  I'm always a sucker for when they shoot confetti into the audience, what can I say.
Trying to find Dad's present at the hardware store
Roxy in her Christmas shirt

Griffin's Game

Program!
Most of the time I was at home I hung out with my family.  Even going on basic chores made me happy because it was just so great to be with them.  On New Years Eve I got to go to Ann Arbor and see some of my friends from college.  And on my last weekend in Michigan I shot a music video with my good friend Kris Hitchcock.
My BFF Marcus
We shot a video for his song "Roll Storm Roll" at a farmhouse in Cedar Springs.  I got on set around noon and was given a great bathroom upstairs for my dressing room that had a vanity with a big mirror for makeup.  The house was beautiful and I was shooting with a director I had worked with before (and hand picked for this project) Dennis.  He is great and also had his wife helping him and his son was there as well as our Nerf gun handler.  I had my Mom with me as a PA and assistant and to check my makeup of course! Since the video was just me, Kris, and his dog Fender the shoot went pretty quickly.  We had a great time on set and it was fun to hang out and shoot with Kris, even during our down time he just played guitar and I sang along.  I'm super excited to see the final product and add it to another awesome video with Kris!  After we wrapped we all headed to a terrible bar for a few drinks and chatting.  The video was a great reminder of why I act in the first place, to make great pieces with people that I love.  It was so fun and I can't wait to shoot another one!  Haha.





Unfortunately, after three weeks of vacation I had to head back to the city.  I was pretty sad the night before because I had to say goodbye to my Dad and sister, but by the time I was on the plane I was happy to be heading back.  And I ended up sitting next to a doctor who knew my old boss and now close friend Ben.  I was his nanny for years and am actually flying out for his daughter's birthday in Portland on Saturday.  What a small world.
Family
Going to Michigan was just what I needed and I feel like I have been back with energy and drive since I got back.  The weekend I got back I had a meeting with a management company that lets you intern for them for 6 months and in turn they represent you for 6 months.  They manage one of my great friends here in the city and the meeting went great, so I'm hoping to work for them as soon as they have an opening.  I also met up with my friend Bill and helped him set up a blog for his journalism and writing.  Luckily, I have a lot of experience with Blogger!  And it is fairly easy to use.  I also went back to Granny Squares that weekend and caught up with everyone there.  That night I worked at the haunted house and was pretty happy to be there after not seeing everyone for almost a month.
The next week I went to Ashley's first gig, a cabaret.  Let me just say this... my roommate is fucking amazing.  She was hands down the best singer in the group (okay I am biased but she WAS!) and I literally cried when she sang "I'm a Star."  Afterward we went and sang Broadway songs at Marie's Crisis, a piano bar where people sit around the piano and request songs and sing along, courtesy of my great friend DGR.
The next day I had an interview in Long Island with an children's entertainment company.  They do parties for kids.  I was hired on the spot!  I celebrated by eating a ton of McDonald's with Jordan and Dylan while we watched Zero Dark Thirty (boring, not good, don't understand the fuss).
The next day I hung out with a guy that I met on set of my commercial.  We had a chill day since he was shooting til 8am and went out for margaritas and Mexican that evening.  It was fun and I like him and that's all I'm gonna say :)

On Friday I headed out for my first day of training (paid, oh ya) and had a great time.  There were two other new girls and two that were brushing up on their skills.  We started out with facepainting and I was happy to find that I was a total natural, probably from my extensive art experience drawing and painting throughout school.  Afterward we went though singalongs.  The next day I had my first day of training, I was picked up by Jose, another entertainer and carpooled to work.  I shadowed with Amanda and did four parties with her and Kyle.  We wear bright colored dresses, striped socks, and pigtails.  Technically I'm a clown by we don't have wigs or makeup.  I had SUCH a great time and it is clear I finally found a job perfect for me.  You can get a different length of party and we do activities like facepainting, balloons, cotton candy, popcorn, bubbles, singalongs and dancing, and at the end there is a magic show.  I have another day of training tomorrow and next weekend I'm going out to do parties with my teammate.  It is so fun and also it is great money.  Most of the clowns live off what they make on Saturdays and Sundays!  So that is great, it means we can all audition and work on acting during the week.  NO MORE WAITRESSING HALLELUJAH!
Face Paint Practice Arrr!
On Sunday I went to church!  It had been so long that I had actually gone to service and I was so glad to see everyone.  The sermon was okay (ugh it was Martin Luther King Jr. weekend) and after I chatted with everyone at the Young Adults bagel brunch.  We're hoping to plan another prom (yay) and I made a new friend named Becca.  We went shopping at Victoria's Secret after and then I headed home and made stir fry dinner for myself and Ashley and we ended the night playing some Super Nintendo Mariokart.
The next night I went to a magic show with one of my friends Noah who was ushering and got me a free ticket.  The show was great even though I was annoyed that I couldn't find anyone to go with me!  NYC is such a pain sometimes.  After I went out with all the magicians to a diner and had even more fun while they joked around with me and tried all their tricks out.
The past couple of day Ashley and I have been working on the apartment.  We finally took our Christmas tree down (on January 23rd) and it was ridiculously dead.  We decided the best thing to do was drag it through the sliding glass doors and drop it off the balcony.  It still made a gigantic mess but was much easier to clean up than if we had taken it down the stairs.
Aftermath
We put up our curtains, I painted our chairs, we hung pictures, took all our junk to the thrift store and put together a picture frame.  I did the dishes and made chicken and rice which was so good we ate the entire dish before the night was over.  Last night Ashley made chicken, chickpeas, and quinoa.  It is so clean in her and starting to look so nice I hardly ever want to leave!
Chicken and Rice YUM




Today I went to a meeting for Central Casting, a company that places background actors in TV, film, and commercials.  It is usually a good way to make some extra money while being on set and maybe make a connection or two (or meet a guy! Hah.)  And now I'm killing time until I go to the haunt tonight.

And I almost forgot my BIG news... All You Can Dream is FINALLY premiering next month at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood!  Amazing!  So the first time I go to LA will be to see my movie :) and I can't wait.
Thanks for reading!  Hope you're all having a fabulous day!  Check again next month for pictures of Portland, and Hollywood!
<3