Moving forward

Tuesday I spent a huge part of the day at Kinko's putting together mailings of my headshot and resume for several theatre companies. I found exciting looking theatres online that where seeking new talent, so I mailed them my headshot/resume with a note. I also finally filed a claim to the insurance company that I had for my flight to NYC. Remember that whole fiasco? Well, I will be getting money back for the expenses I incurred while stuck in Detroit 2 weeks ago. Glad that's almost over with.

Then I went to the post office to mail everything. I stood in line for 30 minutes just to get to mail my letters. People were getting agitated waiting in line that long. If anyone needs a job, the US Postal Service is sorely understaffed. haha.

When I got to the front of the line, there was a lady that didn't realize there was a line so she cut in front of me and walked up to the next open window. The postal worker in the window told the lady to "get to the end of the line" and he didn't serve her. I loved it.

After I paid him for my postage I hurried to put my change and receipt away so he could move on to the next person in the long line. The seemingly gruff postman in the window saw me hurrying and with a thick Staten Island accent reassured me that I "didn't have to hurry," I waited my turn, "they can wait." I really appreciated that. I realized that I've been hurrying to try and keep up with the NYC pace and the truth was that I didn't have to hurry, they can wait.

After the post office I talked to a nice lady named Jordan Corbin whom I will be taking voice lessons from. She has a lot of great training and experience as well as many students that have successful careers on Broadway. I thought I'd go for the best. I'm paying a pretty penny for the lessons but I'm sure they'll keep me competitive in the musical theatre scene. My first lesson is this Thursday night. More on that later...

I walked around on the Upper East Side for the rest of the afternoon. I walked along Central Park East, and then made the long trek back to the apartment. Now I know what the Upper East Side has to offer!

On Tuesday night, Murph, myself, and a girl I met through my roommates, Laura, all decided to go on an adventure. We walked a mile to go to the trendy new dessert mecca, "Pinkberry." It is a really popular place that sells real frozen yogurt with all sorts of fun toppings to choose from. The big draw is that the frozen yogurt really tastes like frozen yogurt, not some cheap ice cream knock off. It's not all that bad for you and it tastes great. It was so refreshing on a hot night. Once we got to Pinkberry we stood and waited for about 45 minutes in a line that stretched out the door (I told you it was popular!). Then I got fresh raspberries and coco crunch cereal for my toppings. It sounds random but I couldn't decide! It was SO good. The best part was that I didn't have to feel guilty about eating dessert. It was relatively healthy stuff and I walked a two mile round trip just to eat there! I'd say that was a good adventure.

On Wednesday I put together a cover letter and resume and took it to the Sephora store in Union Square. While I already have potential work with a temp agency, I wanted to put my resume in at Sephora just to see what would happen. I really like Sephora stores and think it would be a great experience working there. They excepted my resume and seemed interested. We'll see.

I visited the fabulous farmers' market and got some farm fresh apples because I had ran out then I headed to the apartment to get ready for my next audition.

(While I was walking back, I called my temp agency and they have a job lined up for me to start on Friday at a "high-end interior design firm." Just like IKEA. Ooo cool. I won't know all the details until tomorrow so that's just a little snip it of what's coming up. haha)

Tonight's audition was for Impact Theater's production of "Polly Princess and the Penniless Fry Cook." Yes, it's a children's musical. The theatre is located in Brooklyn and I've read a lot about it. It seems like it would be a great first theatre job in the city because the theatre is up and coming and has had great reviews on its past productions. (Plus, it's a paying gig!)

I sang for the director and the producer and they had me do cold readings for the roles of Polly Princess and the Godmother, Gabby. It's a pretty funny little show. I loved the role of the Godmother, she's sarcastic and sassy. Right up my alley, haha. Well, I got a callback, which means they want me to come back on Friday night and hear/see me read more. I'm pretty excited! I'll keep you posted on what happens, of course!

Labor Day

My friend Megan got into town safely and we had a great visit. She drove from Cincinatti to NYC all in one day (about 12 hours of driving). Yikes. When she got here she actually got to park on the street in Manhattan which was a small miracle. I stood outside and held a parking spot for her and it was a little terrifying. I wasn't gonna have her pay tons of money to park in a garage overnight! Anyway I felt pretty tough holding my ground out there on the streets of Manhattan, maybe I'm crazy, I could have been ran over.

Well, Megan got here at about 8:15pm and we walked around, ate some dinner, and talked about all sorts of stuff. We had lots of catching up to do.

On Monday morning we woke up at 6am so Megan could get on the road to Boston early. Plus, her parking spot was no longer a spot once 7am hit. (Parking in Manhattan is nearly impossible to figure out). Megan got on the road (without a ticket) and made it to Boston safely. I have already begun making plans to go visit her there.

I went back to bed for another couple hours then got up and got ready for my audition. It was an audition for "ArtsPower," a touring children's theatre company. It was an equity audition so, like the 'Wicked' audition, there was the possibility of not being seen. That didn't stop me, I knew I'd regret it if I didn't at least try.

I got to the audition, signed up, and sat around for 3 and a half hours hoping to be seen. While I waited, I read the book I had started, "Memory Keeper's Daughter." I got a lot of reading done.

Well, I was finally seen at 3pm. Yay! I sang a song called, "Today is the First Day of the Rest of my Life" that I've been working on since college. It went really well. I felt great about the audition and I was so glad I actually was seen, especially after all that sitting around. I don't think I'll get a job from the audition though. I'm not so sure I was what they were looking for. I still felt like it was a good experience though. I'm feeling pretty good, I've gone to 4 auditions in the city so far. Not too shabby. As Dad would say I've gotta keep "pluggin' away." So that's what I'm gonna do.

I went to the gym after my audition and have been working on putting together some mailings (with my headshot/resume) for some theatre companies that are currently casting and are looking for new talent. Thought I'd "throw my hat in the ring" so to speak.

Labor Day Weekend thus far...

Saturday morning I got my workout done early and headed for Union Square to do some exploring.

There was a street fair near the square so I got to look around at that too. Bonus. It was real hot and sticky out but I still enjoyed walking around. Vendors were selling everything from crepes to specially designed t-shirts. It was really fun to look around.

I ended up buying an I heart NY shirt for my friend Brandy back in Oregon. She told me that she has always wanted one and never had the chance to get one. On September 11, 2001 she was scheduled to fly to NYC for her first visit. Well, for obvious reasons, she never made it there and hasn't been since. I promised her I would get her the famous I heart NY shirt she wanted. Hope she likes it.

Then I found an electronics store to shop for a new digital camera. I need a new one, mine's dead. So far I'm just looking, gotta find the best deal.

I basically just walked around and explored for the rest of the day. I tried to avoid the really touristy places because it is Labor Day weekend. I found all sorts of neat little buildings and parks. There are all sorts of great things to see here. My favorite thing to do in town is explore, it's cheap and you never know what you're gonna see.

Also, I started reading a book called The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. It "starts out with a bang" as my roommate Murph said, and I agree. I realized I better get started on a good book so I had something to read while I wait around at auditions. This one's thought-provoking thus far. We'll see.

Sunday

I went to service at Apostles Church. (apostlesnyc.com) The pastor, JR Vassar, is originally from Texas. I found out from my Texan friends that he is practically a celebrity there amongst the "mega churches." I think it's because he's a great speaker. The sermon was very focused and powerful. I learned a lot from it. I also met a lot of people my age at Apostles. I look forward to going to services there again.

I got my workout in and did some laundry for the first time in the city. Thankfully there's a place to do laundry in the basement of our apartment building. I have some clean clothes, and now I'm just watching "Guess Who" on TBS and waiting for my friend Megan to arrive! She'll be staying the night here for a rest before she continues on to her new home in Boston.

I can't wait to see her; it's been over a year! We went to school together in Evansville. We both lived on the third floor of Moore Hall during our freshman year and we've been friends ever since.