One year wiser

.Work is going really well. I just wanted to start with that because I’ve been working a lot but I’m really liking my job. I guess about as much as you can enjoy your job. I’ve been working to put a system in place to make the company’s product turnaround run smoother. It’s keeping me really busy so the days are flying by. The office is a beautiful townhouse on the Upper East Side and I even have my own desk!
In my first week on the job one of my coworkers in charge of outfitting the staff took me to Talbot’s and Anne Taylor on 5th Avenue. She bought me all sorts of work clothes so I don’t have to worry about anything. Because it’s a small business, instead of ordering uniforms for everybody they just send all new employees out with a personal shopper. It was awesome. I’ve never done anything like that, and I hardly even go clothes shopping for myself so I had to get over feeling a little awkward. It was kinda funny watching all the employees at the stores we went to (who get paid on commission) come scrambling to help me out when they saw that I had a personal shopper. It was like a scene from Pretty Woman. Only not. haha. Well, I made out like a bandit I got a bunch of work clothes that I get to just leave at work and change into every day when I get there. It’s really working out nicely.
Some of my favorite tasks at work so far have been gathering items for photo shoots. Magazine editors get a hold of me and tell me what products they want to feature in their magazines and I send it to them. I’ve been emailing with all sorts of big wig editors from all sorts of magazines. It’s kind of a scary responsibility but fun to know that I can read Vogue next month and see the desk set I picked out of the store in a full page spread.
Another thing I’ve enjoyed doing is helping prep for design meetings. Whenever the boss and her design posse have a meeting to discuss new stuff I get to help put together all their ideas (in a little more organized fashion). I get to see all the pretty ideas they have before they make it passed the drawing board. It’s a lot of fun. I’ve really gotten to know the color copier in our office. Haha. Not to mention I’ve gotten to speak with the boss a little bit and she’s a really interesting lady.
Outside of work I’ve been going to Community Group and having fun as always. We’ve been discussing our most recent sermon series on Jesus’ “I am” statements. It’s really fascinating how Jesus used metaphors so perfectly to paint a very clear picture of what he meant to the world. I’ve been learning a lot and I’m so thankful to have a good group of people to learn with.
On March 15th I had another “Sopranos” dinner theater show. This one was in New Jersey at a place I’ve done a show at before. (Now I know I’ve been doing this a while.) It was at a hotel in a huge conference center. There were about 350 people there and boy were they rowdy. I have to admit that I’d be hard pressed to find a more hilarious way to spend my Saturday night than performing with this troop of craziness for an even crazier batch of New Jersey’s finest. Never in a million years did I think I’d been doing something like this for a living. I mean, I basically dance the “electric slide” all night dressed up as an old lady. Does it get any funnier?
Sunday the 16th, after the PM church service, I met up with the people from my first Community Group. We went out for coffee in Union Square at a cozy little café and got all caught up. I really missed those guys. A lot has been happening in our lives so it was really nice to meet up again. We closed the place down and resolved to meet there again sometime. I’m so glad I’ve made those lasting friendships; I’m very lucky.
Lately, as you may have noticed, I’ve been doing some traveling. My most recent adventure was in the form of a surprise visit to Evansville, Indiana to see some of my favorite kiddos perform in a production of Sondheim’s “Company.” I didn’t tell anyone I was coming and I flew down on St. Patrick’s Day (which is hilarious in NYC by the way). I went for a quick dinner at my favorite Greek restaurant, the Acropolis, when I got to town. Then I went to the school and surprised everyone in the cast and saw the show. Some of my good friends (who are now seniors) directed it and some others were in it. It was a great production. I was so proud of all the hard work my friends did. They really put together a tight show. I’m so glad I was able to see it!
I got to visit with friends, old professors, and other random people from my UE days (like the lunch lady who remembered me haha). I really miss all of them and I’m excited because a bunch of them will be moving to NYC upon graduating.
The Tuesday I was there was actually kinda funny because it rained a record amount in Evansville and the city even made national news. I was scared I wasn’t gonna be able to fly out, but the rain cleared up. There were, however, some crazy puddles to dodge so I spent a lot of my trip soaked head to toe.
While there, I got to see the show twice, I sat in and watched some of my other friends perform in directing scenes, and even I pulled an “all nighter” with my friends who are seniors and working on their thesis papers. I got the real college experience. It was like I never left.
I was only there until Wednesday morning (3/19) but it was a great trip. It was totally worth it to see everyone’s reactions when they saw me. I must’ve heard “are you really here or am I hallucinating?” about three times. If you get a chance to pay someone a surprise visit, I highly recommend it. It made my heart swell.
The next big event in recent times was Holy Week. I went to Good Friday service after work on the 21st. It was a nice service and not too somber. On Sunday I went to Easter service in the morning. It was really beautiful. The band sounded particularly lovely that day.
After church I went to my friend Ilyse’s house for brunch. She lives out in Brooklyn in the second story of a house. A real house! You don’t see actual houses in NY all that often so it was kinda homey there. Hehe. She invited a lot of friends over. I knew some of them from church but mostly I got to meet a lot of new people. It was a great time. We stayed and visited for several hours before I headed back to Queens.
On Easter, I also got to drink some Diet Coke for the first time since the beginning of Lent. I gave up soda for Lent this year. It was quite a challenge and I really am glad I followed through with it. You learn a lot about your faith when you give something up for Lent.
The day after Easter was my Dad’s birthday. Awww, Dad.
Wednesday after work I went to Ryan’s Irish Pub on the Lower East Side to celebrate my friend Adam’s birthday. I got to meet a bunch of new people and discovered a fun place to go out and grab a drink at. Adam’s exactly one day older than me.
Thursday I became one year wiser. I’m 24 years old. I had to work during the day but I kept getting phone messages from friends and the parentals who showed the love. I was also surprised when they got a cake at work to help celebrate. Everyone took time out of their day to come have a slice (of course).
It was a “Coconut Cloud Cake” from Caroline’s Bakery. I’m not usually nuts for coconuts, if you know what I mean, but it was really tasty!
After work on the 3rd anniversary of my 21st birthday, my friends from Community Group took me out to dinner. We went to La Vineria in midtown for some authentic Italian food. It was kinda fancy, the kind of place you need a reservation. My friends took care of that earlier in the month so I felt pretty special.
This place was awesome! I felt like I was in Italy. The wait staff was definitely straight outta Ital-land. I had some tasty red wine and even tastier lasagna. Whoa it was good. Definitely something to write home about or at least in a blog.
We were there for about 3 hours (hehe) and about half way through the evening the power went out in the restaurant. It got pitch black and everybody in the crowded restaurant was about to get rowdy when I saw a little flicker of light in one corner of the joint. It was the candle on my birthday flan. Soon the whole place was singing “Happy Birthday” to me. Aww! It was so cool! I felt so special! The custardy flan creation was really tasty too! The power hadn’t gone out after all.

Valentine's Day thru the end of February

Whoa, life’s been runnin’ away from me. I’ve been so busy lately that I’ve hardly remembered to keep this updated. Oops!
I believe I left off on Valentine’s Day! I think I’d like to call it Singles’ Awareness Day or Oregon’s Birthday. Those are much more colorful and, at this point in my life, more meaningful names for February 14th.
I went to work on Valentine’s Day and dealt with the usual crazy crowd of makeup buyers for far too long. After that I had a Community Group Meeting. It was nice to meet up with friends on V-Day. My friend Ilyse bought us all cupcakes from a famous cupcake bakery in Manhattan. Of course, the name escapes me now but they were very tasty nonetheless. After a great discussion on the past Sunday’s sermon I went home feeling like V-Day was not a total bust. Thank God for my Community Group.
I hung out with my roommates Kelly and Lebeka on Friday night. We made dinner together and chillaxed. Saturday I had a performance with the dinner theatre again. This time we were in Massapequa Long Island. I get to travel to all these random cities around here and meet the locals. It’s a trip in more ways than one.
Sunday I had a busy day at church with reading the Benediction and being a part of the Load Out team. After church I met up with my friend Drea from UET. We ate some dinner at the Panera by my apartment in Queens. We missed Panera from Evansville. Drea’s doing well in the city as a costume stitcher. You may have seen some of her work on Broadway or on Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to name a few. Can you tell I’m proud of her? We worked together in the costume shop at UE. I’m glad she’s here too!
Monday was President’s Day. Pretty much all of NY had the day off and didn’t know why; oddly enough. I met up with my friend Ilyse and we went to Central Park to go ice skating. It was an unusually warm day so the rink was covered in massive puddles. We decided against the skating because we saw that everyone who left the rink was soaked from head to toe. No thanks.
Ilyse and I walked around the 5th avenue are near Central Park then went to a friend’s for dinner. We prepared a huge feast and I got to meet a ton of people who go to Redeemer Church which is a huge church in Manhattan.
Tuesday I went to a discussion on the Columbia University campus called “Veritas.” It was sponsored by a student group at Columbia and had famous Christian pastor Tim Keller (of Redeemer Church) as the keynote speaker. It was a rather general question and answer period on the subject of the Christian faith with a famous BBC news anchor and a student leader from Columbia asking Pastor Keller questions for about two straight hours.
The evening was very enlightening and I learned so much. I’m really happy with how Pastor Keller handled some more difficult questions. I’m really hoping those present at the forum learned a lot too.
Wednesday I painted and cleaned my apartment for my guests Thursday!
On Thursday morning my friend Megan and her friend Tessa came to visit NYC for the day. We had a huge day.
First we ate lunch at a place the girls wanted to check out because they’d heard about it on Oprah. It was a mac n cheese place near Madison Square Garden that turned out to be pretty yummy. Oprah’s friend Gayle made us go. Haha.
After that we checked out the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa). It was lovely as usual. Always love seeing Van Gogh’s Starry Night up close.
Then we went to the Neue Gallery (Noy-Uh) where they have a Gustav Klimt exhibit up for a while. It was really great. I learned just about everything I ever wanted to know about Klimt. Including that he was a little bit of a pervert but an extremely talented artist.
Next up was the famous Pinkberry. The yummy frozen yogurt can only be found in NY and LA so we had to get some. Then we ate dinner at Justin Timberlake’s restaurant “Southern Hospitality” on the Upper East Side. It was surprisingly good. I’ve never had sweet tea. But my southern guests insisted I try some and boy was it sweeeeeet. Once is enough for my veins.
After dinner I went to my Community Group and Megan and Tessa went to check out Times Square.
I met up with them afterward and we walked around a bit more. They wanted to check out the giant Sephora in Times Square so we did. It was pretty cold by then so we headed out to Queens and called it a day. The girls had to get on the road early Friday morning.
To be continued (soon I promise!)

Eat, Sleep, Audition, Eat, Sleep, Audition...

Tuesday the 5th I painted my apartment all day. I got to hang out with my friend Adam at night though. We went to a bar in midtown. It was the tiniest little bar and was so cramped. They really were trying to take advantage of all their real estate. We watched the “Super Tuesday” results. I don’t really know what it all means at this point in the game; I’m just hoping America makes the right choice.
Ash Wednesday, I went to an audition for a Cruise line. I ran into two friends from the dinner theatre. It was so fun hanging out with them in the waiting room. It helps pass the time and take your mind off auditioning. Not to mention the two ladies crack me up. They both were born and raised in Long Island and the Bronx so they have strong personalities and accents to boot. One of them just recently got back from competing in the game show “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” in LA. She had some great stories. She can’t tell us how much she won but I know she won something. Her episode will be on some Thursday night in February so watch for it. Her name’s Deb (or Deborah) she has dark curly hair and she’s hilarious. I can’t wait to see her on TV!
The audition ended up being a bust because I didn’t even get seen. They were only seeing people until 5pm and they just ran out of time. Boo. Oh well, there are many cruise lines if I really wanna try out my sea legs.
I left the studio where the audition was and took a cross town bus to my church’s office. We had a small Ash Wednesday service in the office. It was really important to me to start off Lent the right way. The service really helped to get my head in the right place for the season.
After the service I walked across town (again) to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks & Pacers game. Yep, Uncle Dan was back in town with the Pacers and he set aside a ticket for me to see the game. It was a great game. The Pacers ended up winning, which was fine by me. They did something kinda cool during the game; a bunch of the recent Super bowl champs were at the game so they honored them. During the fourth quarter they had the Giant’s players come up on the court and the fans went nuts. The cheered fifty times louder than they ever did for the stinkin’ Knicks. It was kinda sad. You could tell the Giants had stolen the Knick’s thunder. (For whatever that’s worth.) It was a pretty cool moment to be a part of though. The stadium got pretty loud for a minute there.
Thursday was another busy day. I had another first. I auditioned for extra work in a new film. The movie is called “Duplicity” and it’s gonna have Julia Roberts and Clive Owen in it. There were hundreds of people in line to audition. I was about number 75 in line. We had to stand out in the cold before they let us in to audition. When we got let into the audition space, (which was the basement of a church on the Upper West Side), we all sat in a giant rec room and got talked to by the casting director. She was pretty cool. She also cast “The Devil Wears Prada” which I loved so I was excited to possibly be a part of this project. All we had to do was get our picture taken, and fill out a little information sheet. They took our headshots and resumes and she basically said that they were probably going to use all of us in some capacity during filming. When we get to the actual days of filming they’ll decide on the set if we get to do more on film than just background work. Either way I think it’ll be fun to be part of a movie.
After my major motion picture audition (haha) I went down to Union Square to check out a snowboarding exhibition. It was a promotional event with all sorts of sponsors and all the biggest names in snowboarding. They set up a mini snow park at one end of the park and there were tons of people there to catch a glimpse of the action. I went to check it out for my lil bro Kyle who’s a big time boarder. I got him some free boarding stuff and took a bunch of pictures. It was really fun. I was telling Kyle that I got a new perspective on what exactly he does on Mt. Hood. I’m pretty proud of him; that boardin’ stuff looks hard and there are a lot of people who are wannabes. I saw so many greasy haired pushy little punks and would be willing to bet that they couldn’t even get down the hill on a snowboard.
After the boarding event I went to the first meeting of my new Community Group! We had a great first meeting and discussed the sermon from the previous Sunday. I am really gonna like this group of people. I’m also having fun as an apprentice leader in the group already.
On Friday and Saturday I had performances with the dinner theatre and so that pretty much ate up my life. In a good way though. I can’t say it enough; I just love the people I work with. I’m having so much fun.
On Sunday I was on set up crew at church, then usher crew as well. So I was a little busy at church but I still got a lot out of the sermon.
After church I got lunch with a few friends from church. We ate at a little French café near church. It was really tasty. I’m really glad to be making such good friends at church.
The rest of Sunday I pretty much ran some errands and got mentally prepared to go back to Sephora on Monday.
So on Monday I went back to work at Sephora. I was at work for 9 hours. Eww. It’s definitely gonna be better than the holidays around there though. It was nice to be welcomed back by my friends there.
Tuesday I had an audition for an international casting company that went really well. I had applied for an audition time with them a couple weeks ago and they granted me one so that was pretty cool. I sang a couple songs for them and I felt good about how I performed. I’ll let you know what comes of that.
It’s cold and snowy here and I feel like winter in NYC has finally reared its ugly head. Tomorrow I audition for a touring production of Cinderella. Gotta try it all!

Back in the Swing

Continuing on...
Monday the 14th I met up with my friend Jenelle from my Applebee’s days. We met at Jazzy Bagels in Gresham. I missed that place. Jenelle is doing really well and I had a great time catching up with her.
In the afternoon I went and watched the movie “Atonement” with Rachel. We both had wanted to see it and somehow hadn’t yet. So we made the time.
The movie was not exactly what I expected but I liked it. I don’t really care for one of the actors in it, (her first name rhymes with my first name), so I had a little extra trouble enjoying the film. It really was beautiful though. It’ll be interesting to see how it does at the Oscars. I could go either way.
After the movie we hit up some “happy hour” at Chevy’s in Clackamas. I love happy hour. When happy hour was over we decided we weren’t done hanging out so we went and sat in a Starbucks. I sure miss having Rachel around. I just realized I’ve been writing that a lot. “I miss…” The truth is I realize now just how much I love and appreciate the friends, family, and even the places I know in Oregon. The trip was really fulfilling in that way. I have always appreciated all those things in Oregon but somehow I know now, more than ever, how lucky I am to have friends and family and a beautiful state to call “home.”
I went to the beach at Lincoln City with my parents all day on Wednesday the 16th. I had so much fun. We found tons of pretty seashells and rocks. We saw two bald eagles, ate some Mo’s clam chowder, and shopped at the outlet mall. I found a great jacket at the Gap Outlet. I loved not having to pay sales tax. Then we checked out Chinook Winds Casino. That was a riot. I won thirty bucks! Haha. (Not a big gambla)
On the trip home I discovered that many of my friends are pregnant or are getting married. Something got into the water while I was gone. I’m not kidding. There are an inordinate number of my friends taking the giant leap. I realized I had to fly back to New York before I drank too much of the Kool-Aid. Ahaha. I did, however, get asked to be a bridesmaid at my friend Katharine’s wedding next year. I’m pretty excited. I’m really happy for a lot of my friends though. They are taking big steps in their lives and I’m excited for them.
The rest of the trip to Oregon was great. I got to do eveything I wanted to do and more. I saw tons of friends and I've never felt so loved. I'm going to visit again in May and I can't wait.

Now back to NYC. Let’s see…

I had a temp job last Thursday (2/1) as a night receptionist. The office was in the Grace Building which is just across the street from Bryant Park. Fashion Week was about to start so I could see the big white tents from way up on the 27th floor. The view was unbelievable. I kicked myself for not bringing my camera.
A girl I go to church with works in the same office I temped at. I had no idea she worked there so when she came out to say “hello” it was pretty surprising to see her. What are the odds? Of all the offices in NYC I temp at the one Ilyse is working in.
On Friday I auditioned for the national tour of “Evita” and the role of Eva Peron. I was really proud of how I sang and the casting director liked me. He paid me a very nice compliment about my voice. I didn’t get the part though. I didn’t really mind all that much, I got a nice compliment so that was good enough for me.
After the audition I met up with my friends Rachel and Denis and we ate some lunch. Then I met up with Courtney and saw the movie “No Country for Old Men.” Wow, that’s a good movie. Creepy, but good.
Then Courtney and I went to “Vintage Bar” in Midtown to take part in the “Good-Bye Party” for my friend Rachel who’s heading home to Texas for a while. Te entire day was rainy but it seemed particularly torrential when we were out walking around. We dodged mud puddles and people with umbrellas and cracked up the whole time. I felt like a little kid. My umbrella was basically useless as the rain was coming at me from all sides.
Saturday I had a showing of “The Soapranos” with the New York Dinner Theatre. We had a particularly hilarious cast that night and we were having blast out there. It’s those nights that I feel like the audience is just along for the ride. After the show I got a ride home with Nick, (who plays AJ Soaprano). He’s another Beatles fan. We sang about 10 Beatles songs at the top of our lungs on the drive. Gotta love another Beatles fan.
Sunday I auditioned for an Acapella choir called Khorikos. The audition went well. I have a callback audition and if I sing pretty I’ll be their newest member. I have missed being a part of a choir.
After the audition I explored Soho a bit. Hadn’t done that since I’ve been in town. I like Soho. While it’s far too expensive for me to afford anything there, I still feel welcome to window shop.
I went to church at night near Union Square at Apostle’s evening service. We meet at St. George’s Church for our night service. The sermon was the first in a series on idolatry. It was eye opening. I can tell this sermon series is gonna change my life. I think everyone should hear the sermons (go to apostlesnyc.com and listen to the old sermons). I read the Benediction in the service and got caught up with a few friends after church that I hadn’t seen in a while.
Then I rushed home to watch the end of the Super bowl and boy what an ending it was. I LOVED watching it. What a game. Those Giants have really made NY proud. After the game the city was humming outside my window. I heard yelling, whistling, car horns, and fireworks among all the noise. That was fun to be around for. It’s not everyday the NFL team from where you are wins the Super bowl. Especially in such an upset!
Wednesday NYC is having a parade for the Giants. That should be fun.
Monday I temped in the Chrysler building! That was fun. I just answered phones all day. I think we’re up to speed. I got a few auditions coming up this week so stay tuned… haha.

Back in the NYC

Alright, I’m back from the West Coast. I got back LATE on Saturday (1/26) and I had a blasty. I sure miss my family and friends in Oregon.
I’m finally getting back into the swing of things here. I have several auditions lined up that I’ll keep you posted on. Also, I painted my living room today. It was lookin’ rather dingy much like my bedroom looked before a nice (several) coats of paint. I haven’t picked up work yet but I’m back on the schedule so I’ve been trying to have a productive few days off. I’ve hit the gym every day. I sure have missed it. I’m quite sore though.
The weather here is really holding up. It’s almost warm. I like that I don’t have to wear gloves, a hat, and a scarf every time I go out. I figure there’ll be time enough for that down the road.
I went to a meeting at my church to be an Apprentice Community Group Leader. I’ll be learning how to lead a bible study over the next twelve weeks. It’s an exciting opportunity and I’m a little nervous. I’ll definitely be keeping busy reading and studying.

As for Oregon…

I hit the ground running at about 3:30am on January 9th. I left my apartment in Queens and rolled my luggage about 6 blocks to the subway. Those rolly luggages are loud when you’re the only one on the road and there’s a seam in the pavement every three steps. I promptly got hit on or talked to by lonely/senile homeless people every few minutes on my trip. I didn’t realize I looked approachable. I thought I looked tired. Guess it doesn’t matter.
It took me about 2 hours to transfer myself and my luggage from Queens to the Airport in Newark, NJ. I took 3 different trains and had to carry, roll, and heave my luggage all over Manhattan. That was a chore.
My stand-by flights to Seattle then onto Portland where running right on time and I couldn’t have asked for a better day to fly. I even got a free beer on my flight from Seattle to Portland. I think they give you those to prep you for the land of micro-brews (aka Oregon). Nice.
I got to PDX at about noon on the 9th and my Dad came and picked me up on his lunch break. Aww Dad. I sure miss him.
Dad went back to the office and let me drive my little Ford Focus home. I haven’t driven in months so I was a little nervous at first. I made it home in one piece, and played with KZ and Scooter a bit. I was anxious to see if they recognized me. KZ jumped up and down like a psycho dog and I thought for sure that meant she remembered me. I soon realized she just needed to pee and chase a squirrel. I didn’t really matter to her after that. I think Scooter remembered me though. She’s so sweet.
I hung out with Mom and Dad that night and we had some tasty Baja Fresh. Haven’t seen a Baja Fresh in NYC so I was loving grubbin’ on that. We visited our favorite place to get produce and stocked up on some fruit and veg for the trip.
It wasn’t too late when we got home but I had jet lag pretty bad so I hit the hay while the Blazers where playing on the TV downstairs.
Thursday while Mom and Dad where at work I drove out to Walmart in Fairview. Oh Walmart. After living in NYC you really come to appreciate cheap places to shop. I spent a lot of money there mainly stocking up on things I knew would cost me twice as much in Queens. I have no shame only a three months supply of toiletries.
Thursday night I met up with my good friend Rachel. I saw her new place in NE Portland. It’s really cute. We went to Old Chicago and had a beer. The plan was to eat a little, have a beer then party at “Boss Hawg’s” like we used to. (It was Ladies Night with 75 cent well drinks after all.) Well, we got caught up at Old Chicago when some interesting gentlemen decided they wanted to buy us a round of beer. They didn’t even try to say “hi,” they just tried to play “cool cowboy,” and tipped their hats to us and then left. Who tips their hat? Seriously.
We finally got to the party at Hawg’s and boy what a night it was. I had told a bunch of my friends in Portland that I was in town and would be at Hawg’s that night. I was surprised to see so many people show up. We sang karaoke and tore the place up.
It’s really too bad that I had a dentist appointment the next morning at 7:30am. Wow that hurt. Note to self: Never do that again. Ever.
I got a nice little cleaning for my teeth then I went down to hang out with my Grandma. We hung out for the better part of the day. Ate some Chinese food, visited with a couple of my aunts and uncles, and even watched Jeopardy. I love me some good times with Grandma Smith.
Later that night I met up with some friends at “The Good Foot” in Portland. We danced it up a bit. It’s such a fun place to dance. They play a totally random mix of music and people aren’t kiddin’ around when they dance. They like to Boogie. I got to see a couple other friends from my good old bar tending days so that was fun.
Saturday morning I got up super early and drove out to Sandy, OR. I helped judge the District Acting Competition for the actors in the Mt. Hood Conference schools. It was a fun-filled day of watching high schoolers act and giving them written constructive criticism along the way. I got to see some people I went to high school with (they where judging too), some former students of mine from my stint as "Tech Director" at Centennial, and my former drama teacher Kellie. She’s the one that got me the gig judging. I had a great time.
After the competition was over and the kiddos got their awards I hung out with my friend Angela in Sandy. We ate some tacos and got caught up.
That night I met up with some new friends I made at the karaoke session a couple nights earlier. We played some pool and listened to some sad sad karaoke for a while. We quickly resolved to go dancing at “The Refectory” at Gateway in Portland. I had never been but I had always heard it advertised on the radio in Portland so I was game. It turned out to be a lot of fun. There’s a good DJ and a very diverse crowd to dance it up with.
Sunday morning I went to church at Eden Bible where I was attending before I moved. I surprised a couple old friends who didn’t know I was gonna be in town. It was neat seeing them. There was also a great sermon and I was glad to see the church is doing so well.
After church I watched the tail end of the Blazer’s game with my parents. It went into double overtime and I nearly had a heart attack. We ended up losing because some refs decided to go blind and/or make crappy calls. Boo.
All was made good again when; Sunday afternoon, my Mom cooked a huge feast in the style of the holidays. It was complete with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, everything that goes into a holiday meal and then some. Since I missed the holidays at home this year she spoiled me with an amazing feast. She even invited family over just like Christmas. My Grandma, aunts, and even a cousin came over for the party. It was awesome. I love my Mom.
We had a great visit and Mom, Dad, and I hung out for the rest of the evening. I made them some cookies that are my new favorite thing to make. My roommates in NY love them so I wanted to make them for my parents. I figured it was the least I could do after Mom made a huge meal. :)

To be continued…

A New Year!

Amongst the days of working that seemed never ending I did manage to have some fun.
New Year's Eve I worked in the morning and got off at about 2pm. When I got off work I went to Times Square to see how many people had arrived and to survey the area. There weren't that many people there so I was kinda surprised. It was really cold so I think that was part of it. there were a lot of tourists all decked out in New Year's gear. It was hilarious. I chatted them up a bit. Seems like every tourist in NYC is from Michigan. Am I missing something?
I got to see the site of the famous "Times Square Ball Drop." It actually looks pretty small in person. I mean, it's pretty high up. It was the 100th anniversary of the TS Ball Drop so I thought it would get pretty crowded that night. I was actually pretty impressed with the set up the NYPD had in the square. (which isn't actually square shaped) The streets and sidewalks get blocked off to through traffic gradually throughout the day until Times Square is closed down. You also can't just show up and pick a spot. The NYPD has a designate entrance at one point in the square. Everyone at the festivities had to enter through the entrance and they got shuffled around into one big blob of people. So there was no choosing of spots. Good idea. That way no fights broke out (at least over viewing spots).
There were also special bathrooms set up and sponsored by Charmin TP (pictured). Can't imagine what that was like. I did see in the paper on New Year's Day that a lot of people peed in plastic bags to avoid long bathroom lines. Yuck. The headlines read, "Hapee New Year!" Ahahah. I'd hate to be the person standing next to the plastic bag pee-ers.
I had to leave Times Square at around 3pm and I headed to Herald Square. I eventually traveled to Penn Station. I caught a train out to a little city in New Jersey where we performed a "Soapranos" show for a New Year's Eve party.
I had one hell of a time getting to the venue, (think ridiculously overpriced cab ride, thank you NYE). When I got to the venue it had this chintzy medieval themed decor that cracked me up. It was a huge and pretty fancy looking place though. The show was great. The audience was so full of energy that it made it a blast to perform for them. The show ended at 11:30pm. At that point we (the cast) caught up with the crowd (on drinks) and got our party gear on an noisemakers ready.
We danced and drank into 2008. We had a killer DJ, (our friend Dan from the show), free drinks, and tasty dessert. I really can't complain that I spent my New Year's performing. I think it may have been the best New Year's yet. Plus, the old folks (from the audience) cutting a rug with us into the wee hours was too fun.
Here's a shot of me right at midnight. Party much?
At about 2:30am I was back home safely in Queens. I called the west coast to wish them a "Happy New Year" and promptly passed out. (not literally)

I also had my first audition of 2008. I auditioned for the National Theatre for Arts and Education's touring production of "Tartuffe." It went really well and I could tell they like my reading for "Elmire." The only issue was that I don't speak French. (It's a bilingual production). They know (as I informed them) that I would learn the French but I don't think they are exactly desperate. Oh well; so I don't speak French? C'est la vie.

So far the new year has been spent working with an occasional time out. I've decided that '008 is to be the year of less working and more playing. To "kick things off" I'm headed home to Oregon for some time with the family and friends. Auditions here are really slow so I figured I might as well take a little time off. NYC is a great place to live but it's definitely a city you have to take occasional breaks from. It's a cement jungle over here. I want me some trees and horizon. Can't wait!

I'm flying out Wednesday morning and I'll let you know how things are on the left coast.

Happy New Year!