Where am I?

Where have I been? Apparently in some parallel universe where I thought I had written on this thing much sooner than now. Weird.
So let’s see. Thanksgiving I ate dinner in Valley Stream, Long Island with my friend Jana and her fiancé Alex. We ate a “3 person meal” from the local Boston Market. It had turkey, corn, mash tatoes, mac n’ cheese, cornbread, and punkin pie. It was super good. I had forgotten how tasty the Boston Market could be. They went bankrupt in Portland years ago and I hadn’t eaten at one since. Well, I’m here to tell you that if you can’t eat some home cooking for turkey day, Boston Market offers a lovely alternative.
Jana, Alex, and I had a great evening. I got all caught up on their wedding plans. Jana even asked me to sing in her wedding so I’m really excited about that! We have to decide what she wants me to sing now. Any suggestions?
After dinner and dessert we watched the Broadway production of “Legally Blonde” on MTV. I just love that show. It’s so cute. I think it’s so cool how MTV played it on TV. When else in history has that ever happened? Well, at least someone got to watch the show, with the stagehand strike on Broadway it’s tough to see any theatre!
After the showing I took the LIRR back to Manhattan and walked right passed Macy’s in Herald Square where earlier that day there was a live TV broadcast of the parade. There was confetti all over the street earlier when I passed by. On this pass everything had been cleaned up and you’d never be able to guess there had been a huge parade with thousands of viewers on the very spot. Good clean up crew.
I got home pretty late and hit the hay ASAP so I could be bright eyed and bushy tailed for my shift at Sephora on Black Friday. Dun dun dun!
The next morning I woke up before my alarm clock in a panic thinking I had overslept. I hadn’t thank GOD but my boss had called and left me a message. She wanted me to come in early. We had head honchos of Sephora coming to visit and she wanted me to come help out. Nice, come check us out on Black Friday. Nice!
So, I went in early. The store wasn’t ridiculously busy because we don’t have crazy sales but boy did we have some weirdies come in. Bargain hunters, if you will. They, (as I saw many), carried a lot of shopping bags. They actually looked kinda funny. The day went by relatively quickly so it wasn’t too bad. I went straight to the gym after work. I didn’t even want to attempt any shopping. I was scared for my life. I thought I was gonna drown in other peoples’ shopping bags on the subway. I was tempted to stop by Old Navy, though. I heard they were handing out iPods with certain purchases. Is this true? I can’t even imagine the chaos. Ouch.
I worked pretty much all day Saturday and then Sunday I set up at church. I was also on the greeting team. That was fun. I met a bunch of new people. I love my church. After church, you guessed it, I worked. Monday, I worked and thus, I finished the craziest, longest week of work. I should be pullin’ down big dough for all that. I finally got to come up for air on Tuesday.
Tuesday, being my first real day off in a while I ran a bunch of errands. I found the “Panera Bread” restaurant that’s near my apartment. It was lovely. I just love that place. I ordered some soup and a sandwich. I ate while I talked to my lil bro Kyle. That was fun. It’s been too long since we talked.
After Panera, I met up with my friend Courtney for coffee.
Wednesday I went back to work. After work I went out to Long Island for a read-thru of a new show the NY Dinner Theatre wants me to work on. It’s a murder mystery called “Candidate for Murder.” I would play the candidate’s wife AND the murderer. Sorry to ruin the ending for ya. Ahaha. The read-thru was fun because the play is funny. I don’t think I’ll work on the show though. I kinda wanna move on.
After the reading I took the train back to Manhattan with a new friend I made named Anthony. He’s a very talented actor who is a little older and has lots of good experience that I could learn a lot from.
Thursday, as if by some miracle from God, I had the day off. I was exhausted. I slept in. After that I ran around a bit then eventually met up with my community group at a restaurant just off Union Square. It’s called “Piola.” It is a really popular Italian/Brazilian restaurant. I loved it. The food was great and the atmosphere was fun. I had some good bonding time with my community group friends.
After dinner a few of us went to Strand Bookstore. It is just like Powell’s Books in Portland. Powell’s is a lot more crunchy granola hippy than Strand which is more like dusty granola hippy. Ya follow? Haha.
My friend Cassie and I both bought a copy of “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.” It was ober cheap. We decided we’d read it and talk about it whenever we saw each other. So far I dig the book. I love how detailed it is.
After Strand we stopped by a famous chocolate shop/restaurant called “Max Brenner: Chocolate by the Bald Man.” We had heard of it and wanted to check it out. We where pleasantly surprised by free samples. Hehe It’s a place where you can get just about anything chocolate. You may have seen it on the Food Network.
On that sweet note, I’m headin’ to bed. To be continued…

Happy Thanksgiving!

This week has been full of anticipation for Thanksgiving. I had the day off Tuesday and I ran errands and watched my Netflix. It's become a guilty pleasure of mine to watch movies on my days off. I get stuff done but I also spend a lot of time watching them. hehe. On Tuesday I watched, "License to Wed." It has Robin Williams, John Krasinski, and Mandy Moore in it. The way the movie was publicised I thought it might be a little cheesy and predictable but I loved it. I think part of that is that I think John Krasinski is amazing. He's hilarious and adorable. The movie is worth a watch if you get a chance.
Wednesday I got up really early and went to the gym before work. I always have a better day when I start with a workout. After that I worked at Sephora and we were busy. We didn't really think we'd be that busy but it was nuts. I received an award at work and they gave it to me yesterday. It's called a "VIA" award which stands for "Values in Action." I felt pretty honored to get the award because my co-workers and managers nominated me and sent the info to the head honchos of Sephora. The award was for "Having respect for all." I thought that was pretty cool. I just try to treat everyone with kindness and I'm surprised it earned me an award. I guess I get a monetary award along with it which is also very cool. :)
After a long day at work I walked through the tail end of the farmer's market across the street in the square. There was all sorts of Thanksgiving stuff like pies, veggies, and even flower arrangements. It really got me in the holiday spirit.
When I got to the subway station as I was walking down the stairs I saw an old friend of mine named Rachel. I hadn't seen her in years and it was unbelievable that I was randomly running into her here in New York. I was friends with Rachel my freshman year of college but she graduated and went off to grad school and we lost contact with each other. I've really missed her friendship so I was so happy to run into her! I consider it a Thanksgiving gift to have a good friend back in my life. We talked for a while and caught up and exchanged phone numbers so we can hang out again since we both live here.
Today, Thanksgiving Day, I watched the annual Macy's parade and I have plans to head out to Long Island to have dinner with friends from college. I gotta go make the dessert!
Happy Thanksgiving! To my family and friends: I'm thinking of you all today and I hope you know how much I love you and am thankful for you. Have a very happy, yummy, and family-filled holiday!

An entertaining week...

Last Monday: Veteran's Day. Many businesses where closed, schools, the post office, etc etc. I worked at Sephora. Surprise.
When I got home my roommate Lebeka had made us all Korean food for dinner. I don't think I've ever had Korean food so it was a new experience. She had worked really hard preparing authentic dishes and it was very tasty.
Tuesday: 'Nother Sephora day. Right as I was getting off work my friend Drea came in to see if I was working. I haven't had a chance to see her since I got to NY back in August. I was so happy that she came to visit me!
I left work and Drea and I walked down to the west village and decided to eat at the "Jekyll & Hyde Restaurant." It's a themed restaurant where there's live entertainment and sort of a 'haunted mansion' feel to it. Don't ask why we decided on that but we'd never been so we though it'd be fun. On the way to the restaurant we saw Christine Baranski. She played "Mary Sunshine" in the movie "Chicago." She was just walking down the street with her grown kids. And just so you know, she's the same in real life as she is in every movie or TV show I've ever seen her in. haha. Random sightings never get old. I love NY.
When we finally got to the restaurant I checked to see if my friend Ed was working that night. Unfortunately he wasn't but we ate there anyway. There were about 6 other people in the restaurant so it was ever so slightly awkward. Characters in costumes come around to your table during dinner. I imagine that with a full restaurant it's pretty cool. With 6 people it's just weird.
After dinner Drea and I parted ways so I could go to my friend Murph's showcase. She was performing in a musical theatre showcase designed to gain exposure to casting directors for the performers. The show was at a historical NYC cabaret theatre venue called "The Duplex."
When I arrived I didn't see any of our mutual friends in the audience and no one had heard of Murph. I began to wonder if I was in the wrong place. I waited until the show started and discovered rather quickly that this was not Murph's showcase. Nope, it was a drag show. Oops. Somehow I wrote the wrong day down in my planner. My happy little mishap landed me in an interesting performance. Drag shows, don't get me wrong, can be quite entertaining I'm sure. This one was just awkward. It was a one shman (man/woman)show and he/she was less than entertaining. When there was a lull I made a quick getaway as discreetly as possible.
Well, wrong night, but the show was actually on Wednesday night so I didn't miss it.
Back to Tuesday. After I left the drag fest, I took the train up to 42nd street Times Square and I made a transfer to the NQRW line. In the train station I was walking to my train and someone behind me called my name. It scared me half to death but it turned out to be my friend Marianne (from college). She randomly saw me in the station and we rode the train back to Queens together. (What are the odds?) She also lives in Astoria. I hadn't seen her in a while so it was great to get caught up.
I had a good laugh about my unusually eventful Tuesday and went to bed.
Wednesday I slaved away in makeup land THEN went to my friend Murph's showcase. I knew exactly how to get there this time!
I sat next to my friends Clay and Lauren at the little cabaret theater and had fun catching up with them. We watched others perform 3 songs each for a little audience (with or without casting agents). Murph performed last and Clay accompanied her on the piano. They did a great job. In my entirely unbiased opinion, Murph was by far the best singer/actress up there.
After the show the four of us (Murph, Clay, Lauren, Me) hung out and talked for a while then we walked to the trains and went our separate ways to get home. I was so glad to get to support Murph. I hope something comes of this performance for her. Possibly work with agents or casting directors?
Thursday I had a much needed day off so I slept in. I watched some Netflix (little old school "Pride and Prejudice" ala Colin Firth, ah thank you) and went to the gym. In the evening I went to my Community Group meeting. Always good to see my friends.
Friday I ran circles in cosmetic kingdom then made the most of my evening. I went down to Soho to attend an album release party for my friend Jamie's band "The Johns." He plays the bass and his band has quite an admirable following here in the city. They had a great party/performance in "The Slipper Room" bar where there was free, yes FREE beer and no cover charge. That meant lots and lots of people to mingle with. I hung out with my friend Ed and we had some FREE beer and watched "The Johns" perform. I was rather impressed by Jamie's skills on the bass. He was so glad we came out to see him perform and to support his band. I was happy to be there. It was a great FREE way to spend my Friday night. Did I mention it was completely FREE? hehe. I couldn't get over it. Nothing in this city is ever free. Especially beer and entertainment!
I met both Jamie and Ed through the theatre company I'm working for. We're in "The Soapranos" together.
Saturday I slept in again,(so sue me). Then I was in a performance of the murder mystery I'm a part of through the NY Dinner Theatre. The show went really well and I really feel like I'm figuring out how to fit the mold they're looking for in this character,(Yet another OLD woman.) I have been thinking less about how old she is and more about how corny she is. It seems to be doing the trick. I really have to fight against playing up the fact that she's old. I'm just basically making sure that I don't let her age dictate her presence on stage. This would slow her pace down and, in turn, slow the whole show down.
After the show I hung out with my cast mates Aileen and Laura and we cruised around in Aileen's boyfriend's fancy SUV. I don't get to ride in cars in Manhattan very often, let alone fancy ones, so I had fun riding along.
Sunday morning I went to church then went immediately to work. After work I straightened up the apartment and went to sleep.
Monday, (today), I went to work (don't worry that's not all I do). After work I met up with my Community Group and we visited Toys R Us. We bought toys for a toy drive our church is supporting. We had so much fun searching around the toy store together. We were all nostalgic as well as astonished by all the toys kids get to choose from these days. I kept finding stuff I want to play with now,(ie. A "Guess Who" game modified with Disney characters). I settled on a huge set of Crayola art supplies. I knew,(from experience), that it was something fun to play with and that it will promote creativity (which I believe to be very important). So I knew it would be the perfect gift for me to donate to the toy drive.
After that excursion I went to the gym then headed home to Queens.

If any one's wondering:
I'm still searching for "The Cash Cab"
The word "Express" in reference to a subway line DOESN'T mean "fast."
Right turns on red lights are prohibited anywhere in Manhattan
Signs that read "Don't Honk: $500 fine" are merely for decoration
Tap water in NY is tasty thanks to the Pocono Mountains
Ice Skating in Bryant Park is free
The "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" has less public viewing area than "The Grand Floral Parade."

Just a few little "fast facts" for ya. haha