Sunday, August 7, 2011

I don't really have much of an update, but since it has been so long since I've blogged, I thought a new post was needed.  I'm sitting here at the real estate office, watching people walk by, and it makes me realize that the days of summer are slowly coming to an end.  Soon there will be no need for tank tops and flip flops and it makes me wonder what I did with my summer.  I know there's still time left, but I feel like the time has flown by.  I went to Prospect Park (a huge park in Brooklyn, only 5 blocks from my apartment) for the first time last week and it was amazing.  I can't believe it's taken me this long to see it!  It's so close!  Immediately after I walked in, I felt like I was back at home.  There were trees and rolling hills, not quite like the hills in Missouri, but still enjoyable.  I suddenly didn't feel like I was in a city.  I couldn't see any buildings or hear any traffic.  I walked around the park for about an hour and a half until I found the perfect spot, under a tree, to read my new book, The Hunger Games.  My friend Chris gave me the book earlier in the week when we met up for coffee.  He said it was a "must read" and I'm really enjoying it so far.  :)

It's hard to believe that I've been in New York for almost six month.  This is the longest I have ever gone without seeing my family or driving a car.  Yikes!  My new niece, Ruby, just turned 6 months old and I haven't seen her since she was born.  They all tell me how big she is getting.  And my niece Georgia, who is 2 1/2 years old, is now speaking in complete sentences!  I'm looking forward to the next time I get to see my family.  On a different note, I'm really eager to get behind the wheel of a car again!  I used to drive at least an hour every day before I moved, and now I find myself sitting on the subway for that amount of time.  I think I prefer driving.

The new apartment is great.  We couldn't have asked for a better place or location.  Auditions have really slowed down, but I was expecting that to happen, it being summer and all.  I'm working more and more at the real estate office, waiting for auditions to pick up again.  I have a friend coming into the city next week which is exciting!  It will be the first time I've had company since I moved, and I'm not even the reason he's coming!  Haha!  He's coming for work and a little vacation, but he's still a friend who's visiting and I'm excited nonetheless.  :)

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

The summer in the city is HOT!  But I'm dealing with it.  Nothing too exciting has happened since we signed our lease last month.  Our new apartment is great!  We have acquired a glider rocking chair and a couch, but other than that, it's pretty bare.  Now we are in need of some decorations to make it feel more like a home.

My job is going well.  I'm able to come in throughout the week to file things.  It's not as often as I'd hope for, but it's better than nothing!  Auditions have really died down now that summer has hit.  Most shows are already in production for the season and auditions for Christmas won't start until the late part of August or so.  There have been a couple of auditions, but they're few and far between.  Most of them are for the union, which I'm allowed to attend, but since there are so few, the union people swamp the audition making it impossible for non-union people to be seen.

Greg and I ventured to Manhattan in hopes of catching a good view for the annual Macy's 4th of July fireworks display happening on the Hudson river.  HUGE MISTAKE!!!  The subways were ridiculously crowded and slow and once we actually got into the city there was no place to go!  There were thousands of people  all walking towards the west side to get a view of the Hudson, but all of the streets were filled to the maximum.  You couldn't even turn around in a circle because of the sea of people.  There were 6 barges lined up between 20th and 50th Street (or something like that) and that's where the fireworks were going to be.  We were on 24th St.  We decided that it was not worth our time so we left the people behind and continued walking north in hopes that the people would thin out.


We got to the corner of 28th St. and 10th Ave. and I saw my friend Colin standing there.  We met on set one day filming a TV show.  He was waiting on a friend who works at Manhattan Motorcars (a luxury car dealership on 28th St and 11th Ave, where they sell Rolls Royce, Porche, Lamborghini, Bentley, and Lotus).  Whoa.  They were going to a party on the rooftop of the car dealership to watch the fireworks.  And yes, they totally invited us to join!!!  It. Was. Awesome.  There were food and drinks provided and we also got the chance to check out all of the cars in the showroom (I took a picture)!  Our view was perfect!  We saw 5 out of the 6 barges and the view opposite the Hudson was of the Empire State Building which was lit up in red, white, and blue.

I took a few videos of the firework display.  The whole thing lasted about 30 minutes or so.  I tried to cut it down to a really good part.  This is the finale.  At the very end I pan around so you can see the massive amounts of people crowding the street and the Empire State Building.  So much fun!!!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

BREAKING NEWS!!!

GREG AND I HAVE SIGNED A ONE YEAR LEASE ON AN APARTMENT!

After living in New York City for just over three months, we are officially becoming permanent residents.  We have had the opportunity to sublet a couple different apartments, which has been great, but we were tired of moving and wanted a place of our own to call home.

I found a great apartment a few weeks ago, with a tip from a friend, and decided to check it out.  It's a two bedroom place in the wonderful neighborhood of Park Slope in Brooklyn.  It's only three avenues from where I work at the real estate office!  Park Slope is the best neighborhood in Brooklyn.  People ultimately want to move here and settle down, but the price of the market is so high that they can't afford it.  I was lucky enough to get this place for a STEAL!!!

The only downside is, we don't have any furniture here.  So we may be living off of the floor (and maybe a folding chair we find on the street) for the next 6 months until we can afford some.  Haha

So feel free to send money or gift cards my way!  Haha!  I'm totally just kidding.  Now you have somewhere to stay whenever you want to come and visit me!!!

Friday, June 3, 2011

I am spending my Friday night at home, in Times Square, enjoying television (which I've been deprived of the last 3 months) and updating my blog.  A special thanks to Phillip Dunn for once again reminding me that I have been slacking...

I've spent the last few weeks auditioning, working, and trying to find place to live.  I was starting to stress out about having a place to live starting in June when a last minute sublet became available in midtown Manhattan.  It was a true blessing.  This wonderful apartment, located in the heart of the city, is only a one bedroom, but Greg and I decided to take the place and utilize the living room as a second bedroom because we are only here for a month and the location is AMAZING!
We spent last weekend packing up everything we own (which is about 3+ suitcases a piece) and moved into Manhattan.  It's been a nice break from the long commute down in Brooklyn.  Because we are now in the middle of town, we don't have to take the subway to get to any auditions!  It's awesome!!!

I woke up the other morning at 5:30am and walked 9 blocks to sign up for the "Wizard of Oz" National Tour audition.  There were only 2 names on the list.  Yesss!!!  So I signed up, walked back to my apartment, and went back to bed for 4 hours.  I got up, got ready, and headed back to the audition just in time to be put on line and to be seen.  There's no possible way I could have ever done something like that living where I was in Brooklyn.
I realize this next month is going to spoil me, but it's a nice break from the last 3 months.  :)

I had a great Memorial Day.  I went to the beach!!  Jones Beach!  It's was a 2 hour train ride east of the city, but it was worth it.  I can't remember the last time I had been on a beach.  The sand wasn't the prettiest, and the water was freezing, but it was nice to get out of the city for the day.  I kept applying sunscreen, but I guess I got a little too much sun because I came home looking like a lobster!  My ankles and feet were burnt and swollen so bad that none of my shoes fit, including my flip flops!!  It's one of the worst burns I think I've had.  It's been 5 days and I'm still in pain.  It's going away slowly, but next time I'll be sure to take a parka to cover up with!

Other than apartment hunting, nothing else is new.  I do have some BIG news coming soon.  Hopefully by next Tuesday, so keep checking back!!!  ;)

Monday, May 9, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL SISTER TRULA!!!  

I LOVE AND MISS YOU SO MUCH!

I've recently been getting hate texts - ahem, Phillip Dunn - because I haven't blogged in a while.  Therefore, to make sure that I will not be punished for keeping everyone out of the loop, here's my most recent post:

I'm trying to think back to the last time I posted something, but it's been a long time.  I will quickly try to sum up what's been going on here.  I was lucky enough to have Easter Sunday off, so I went to church that was close to where I work.  I walked in a had a seat about 10 minutes before the service started.  Once I was settled into my pew I took a look around.  It was at that moment when I notice that I was the only caucasian in the whole place.  Ha!  The service, which lasted over 2 hours, was enjoyable and when we were dismissed I headed back home.  Once I changed into comfortable walking shoes, I headed into Manhattan to check out the annual Easter Parade on Fifth Avenue.  There were tons of speciality hats and things, and there was even a dixieland jazz band playing 30's music and people were dancing in the streets!  Now, if anyone really knows me, you know that I LOVE old big band music, so this was right up my alley and it made the day perfect!!
It wasn't a traditional "parade" but I still enjoyed getting out and enjoying the day.  It was one of the prettiest and warmest days we've had since I've been here!

Let's see, another highlight... if you saw my video on Facebook then you know that I sang the song "Because I Got High" at an audition.  Haha.  They loved it and will definitely remember me!  And it's something I won't soon forget either!

I still love my job.  I work on the weekends and we're in the middle of talking about getting me more hours that work around my crazy schedule, so that is a major blessing!  :)

Here's some bad news - We have mice in our apartment.  :(  Gross I know, but it's New York.  Greg and I are really clean people who only eat in the kitchen, so if it was our fault I think they would have appeared sooner.  And they didn't show up until a few days ago (the same time our neighbors across the hall moved out....hmmmm).  The neighbors has TONS and TONS stuff they moved out, so they possibly could have ran straight across the hallway since their home was being taken away.  But I don't want to judge...
So now we have about 3 or 4 and we don't know how to get rid of them.  We bought the local pharmacy out of traps and we've put out poison, so now we're at a loss.  We're tired because we can't sleep due to the misfortune, yet life must on.  If I had the means I would go stay in a hotel for the next 3 weeks!  In the meantime, I'll stay huddled up on my kitchen chair until the problem dies.  But I digress.

Nothing new on the audition front.  It's still full steam ahead, but the auditions are becoming less and less each week.  So I'll just keep with it, spirits high, and hope that there's something for me soon!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Yesterday was all in all, a pretty good day.  Greg and I woke up and headed into Manhattan early because we had free tickets to Martha Stewart's 1,000th Show!  We were lucky enough to score 2nd row seats and in celebration, there was a tower of 1,000 cupcakes which we had the opportunity to partake in.  And they were yummy!  Her special guest star was Seth Myers from Saturday Night Live.  They we talking about Ball Canning Jars and said that everyone in the audience was getting a Canning Jar Starter Set.  Sweet!  She also had a famous chef, but I didn't know who he was.  Whoopsie!  They made cocktails in a fancy blender  that was retailed at $500.  Martha then announced that everyone in the audience was getting that blender to take home!!  I was amazed!  I love to cook and I've tried to build my kitchen with reliable items that will last (which aren't cheap), but I never thought I'd own a blender that was worth $500!

After the show I went to an audition.  They were looking for a 20-something female who played ukulele.  That's me!  But after I got there I started feeling really sick...
A few days ago my throat started hurting, but luckily it went away.  So yesterday I thought maybe I had beaten getting sick, but then it started.  My head was stuffy, I could hardly talk, and I knew I needed to go home and go to bed.  So I asked the monitor if she'd give my headshot and resume to the casting director because I wasn't feeling well, and she said that she would definitely do that and for me to go home and get better.  She was very nice about the whole situation.  So I went home, rested, and slept in today.  I needed sleep and fortunately I didn't have any auditions today.  I have a few auditions tomorrow (Friday) so I'm using today to rest my voice and take care of myself.  Hopefully I'll be on the uphill side of things by tomorrow.  :)

Friday, April 8, 2011

Good news!  I now have a part-time weekend job!  My friend Tess helped me out in landing a receptionist job at a real estate office in Park Slope, Brooklyn.  I only work Saturdays and Sundays which leaves my week open for auditions.  I'm pretty stoked about it!  :)

This past Monday was a pretty big day.  I went to Pearl Studios to audition for the National Tour of "South Pacific" and there were TONS of girls there.  I arrived 2 hours before the auditions started and I was already #361 on the sign up list.  At a normal audition there are only about 150-200 people, so that tells you how huge this one was!  I think the list ended up being around 450+ in total.  And that was just the female call!

Neil Patrick Harris

The holding room was packed full of girls, and the hallway was too, so I decided to cop a squat on a bench in the opposite hallway.  I was sitting there, listening to my iPod and minding my business when Neil Patrick Harris walked by.  What?!?  He walked into a room two doors down from where I was sitting.  It was pretty cool to see him in the flesh.  I didn't make a big fuss about him like most people did.  He's just a person with a wickedly awesome job!  He then walked out of the room and right in front of me.  This continued all day.  He even looked at me a few times and I gave him a nonchalant head nod as if I were saying "what's up."  I feel like he knew who I was because he was constantly walking past me all day and I was stuck in the same spot waiting to audition.  He was there rehearsing a production of "Company."

Jesse Eisenberg

A little bit later, while still on my bench, I glanced up and saw Jesse Eisenberg walk by.  Two stars in one day!  I felt privileged!  He played the main character, Mark Zuckerberg, in the Facebook movie called "The Social Network."  He looked just like he did in the movie.  And I loved how he was carrying his old brown Jansport backpack.  Classic.  He was there rehearsing for a show.  It wasn't in the same room as Neil Patrick Harris, so I don't think he was there for "Company."

So now it's about 4pm and I'm still sitting on my bench, waiting to be seen, when guess who walks by?! None other than Jon Cryer!  He played Charlie Sheen's brother Alan in the sitcom "Two and a Half Men."  He walked into the room Jesse Eisenberg was in.  They both came out a few times, walking back and forth.  I guess it was my lucky day!!  If it hadn't been for all these stars being so up close and personal, my day would have dragged on for FOREVER!

Jon Cryer

At about 4:30pm the monitor comes out and says they are getting ready to make an announcement in the "South Pacific" holding room.  I venture over that way and the told us that they weren't going to get to see everyone today because of time constrictions and they asked if we could come back on Thursday.  Therefore I sat there all day, dressed and ready to go for nothing.  Well, not quite nothing.  I did get to see a few people.  :)

That night was my new friend Angela's birthday dinner.  We went to a vegan restaurant on the Upper West Side.  She's not vegan, but she's allergic to dairy, so she knows she can eat anything she wants at a vegan place without having to worry.  It was such a nice time!  She is such a good friend.  She moved to NYC from San Diego about 2 weeks before Greg and I did.  I'm definitely glad we met!

Other than that, it's been pretty steady around here.  I had the chance to sleep in today because there weren't any auditions and I took full advantage!  I slept until 10:30am!  Which if you know me and how I used to be, you wouldn't say that was sleeping in for me at all!  But times have changed.  Waking up at 6am everyday will train your body to do the unthinkable!  I no longer get to sleep late on the weekends because of my job, but I'm okay with that!  So it's early rising for me from now on!  We'll see how long that lasts.......  ;)

Thursday, March 31, 2011

It's been a month since I've moved to New York and I finally had by first breakdown.  I knew it would come sooner or later.  Haha

Monday morning I woke up, got ready, and headed into the city for a full day of auditions.  I first went to Pearl Studios to sign up for the audition "It Should Have Been You" which was about a Jewish wedding.  Since it was an Equity (union) call, I had to sign up on the EMC (Equity Membership Candidate) list and pray that pray that they would see EMC's that day.  The monitor behind the table signing me up looked at me and told me that there wouldn't be a part for me and that I should just leave.  I gave him a look and he said that I didn't look old enough to play any of the parts and that I didn't look Jewish.  First of all, it's not his job to say wether a person is right for a part or not, he's just there to call names off in the order they signed up, and secondly, I have been told time and time again that if my hair was darker I could play a Jewish character.  All it takes is a little hair color!
So he told me I could come back if I wanted, but that there way no way I would get a part.  So I just accepted his criticism and left.  I had every intention of going back to audition just to be seen.

Then I went to the Actor's Equity Center to sign up for another audition and after the monitor called all the Equity names, he got up and left the room.  About 5 minutes later he came back and said the audition was closed and if you didn't hear your name called you wouldn't be seen.  I went up and asked him about non-Equity people and he said that he just called those names out by the elevators and since I didn't answer, I couldn't audition.  What?!?  I told him that I didn't realize that he was calling non-union names out in the hallway and he freaked out on me asking if I had EVER been to an audition before and if I even knew what I was doing and he said that's how it's ALWAYS done (which by the way, that is NOT how it's always done.  I've been to about 50 auditions in the last 4 weeks and that was the first time I had ever experienced that).
I apologized and he said he would put me at the back of the line.  So I waited.  In the meantime, the girl right in front of me kept going on and on about how good she was and that she had been a featured dancer at various different theatres, and how she was an amazing singer, and so on...  I DON'T CARE.  It's intimidating enough to audition day after day with people who are so incredibly talented and with me being new to the city.  Her self-flattery wasn't helping my nerves.

When I went into the audition room, I handed the accompanist my music and he began playing.  I started to sing and the producer behind the table refused to look at me.  He looked away for a second and then he held up his wrist and looked at his watch continuously until I finished singing.  That made me feel even worse about myself.  He gave me a quick "Thank you" and I left the room.  The producer kept everyone to stay and dance except me.  I don't know if he was in a bad mood by the time he got to me or what, but I felt defeated.  And I know I'm not that bad of a singer.

I thought about going back to the first audition I signed up for that day, about the Jewish wedding, but since the monitor guy told me not to "waste a headshot" I decided not to go and I headed home.  On the Brooklyn bound (toward Coney Island) F Train, I sat there listening to my iPod thinking about my day.  I then started to cry.  The music and my mood and everything combined tore me down completely.  This was the first time I've broken down and cried since I've been here.  I didn't care that people were staring at me.  All I wanted to do was go home and be alone.  I couldn't stop crying.  It got to be so bad, my makeup started running, therefore I pulled out my sunglasses and put them on.

The tears stopped and I was almost home when I heard an announcement over the subway speakers, "This train needs to be evacuated."  Really?!?  So we all gathered our things, exited the train onto the platform and waited for the train to be checked by officials.  They closed the doors and said that particular train was out of service.  It took off without any passengers while we all waited for the next train to arrive.  After about 15 minutes another announcement was made, "There will be no more Coney Island bound F Trains."  We were at a subway stop that ONLY HAD F Trains.  And the only train at MY stop to get home was an F Train!  Could this day get any worse??

Instead of waiting around for nothing to happen, like most people did, I chose to walk home from there.  It was a long walk, but the fresh air felt good.  I finally made it home (half an hour later) and relaxed.  Then my friend Angela called asking if I went back to the Jewish audition.  I told her that I was at home and that the monitor made me feel worthless so I didn't even attempt going back.  She then told me that there were girls there later that afternoon that looked younger than me and they didn't look Jewish at all!  And then she told me that the casting person in the room was David Hyde Pierce and that he was very nice.  She said that he shook everyone's hand.  Even if I wasn't right for the show I could have at least met and sang for him!!

David Hyde Pierce

So I have learned my lesson.  Never listen to what anyone has to say about casting a show, unless it's the casting director.  It was a pretty bad day, but I think the emotion of moving, auditioning everyday without hearing anything back, adjusting to the fast pace lifestyle of living in the city, and everything else sunk in all at once.  I'm glad that's over with.  It's only up from here!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to explore Manhattan today.  My friend Daniel asked if I wanted to see some of the city and I said absolutely!

A view of Manhattan from the High Line

We met at noon on 14th Street and ate sushi at Chelsea Market.  Then we walked around a little bit before heading to the High Line.  It was originally train tracks constructed above the city to lift dangerous freight trains off the streets of Manhattan, but now they've turned it into a park.  It's beautiful!  Plenty of seating with views of the Hudson River and New Jersey on the west side, and views of Manhattan on the east side.  It runs from 14th Street to 20th Street for now, but they are in the process of finishing 2 more sections of the High Line which will take it all the way up to 34th Street (which might take a while).

Grand Central

Later we went to Union Square to walk around the farmers market.  There were people from a 100 mile radius trying to sell their goods.  After checking it all out we stopped to grab a quick cup of tea.  Then we headed north to Grand Central Terminal.  I was talking with my aunt Laura earlier today and she told me that Grand Central should be on my list of things to see today.  So I took her advice and went!  We did the audio tour and browsed most of the station.  It was beautiful!

After that we walked to the New York Public Library.  It was huge!  And there were no books to be found!!  Haha.  Yes, there were books, but we had to climb about 4 flights of stairs to get to them.  Every seat in the library was full.  Mostly people were working on their laptops and not using actual books, but hey, it's an inside seat with internet.  :)

We rounded out the day by stopping by Bryant Park.  It's a nice place to go and hang out on 42nd Street and 5th Avenue.  It's close to Times Square, but still far enough away.

My feet are tired from 4 hours of galavanting around the city, but it was totally worth it!  All in all, a great day!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

I can't believe it's been over a week since my last post.  I guess time flies when you're having fun!

Last Saturday I met up with my friend Tim to go swing dancing!  Tim and I met in Cincinnati at the Playhouse in the Park when I was there back in 2009.  He recently moved to the city and had been wanting to go dancing, but never had anyone to go with.  When we were in Cincy, we went dancing and had a ball, so he found a West Coast Swing Dancing meet-up group and we went and tried it out.  And it was fun!!

Sunday I ventured out to do laundry and let me tell you, Sunday is the WORST DAY to go to the laundry mat!  Ever!!  I should have known, but it needed to be done.  There were 7 year olds doing laundry for their whole family!  No adult supervision.  Weird.  Those must be some trusting parents!

Monday was a big day.  Greg and I had several auditions to go to and we also had David Letterman tickets.

I went to a call for Miss Saigon where they wanted to see people of "all ethnicities", but the room was filled with mostly Asian girls.  There were only 4 white girls, including me.  Haha!  They said they were going to "type us" (which means they line us up before we sing and they say yes or no based on appearance).  Needless to say I got a no.
Later that day I went to a female call for the Lion King and 95% of the girls were black.  They gave props to us white girls for showing up and trying!  Yessss!  :)

They told us to be at the Ed Sullivan theatre by 3:30pm to line up even though the taping didn't start until 6pm.  So we chatted with a few folks in line (one lady showed us a picture of her singing with Dennis Rodman) and waited in the cold.  They opened the doors for us to come in and get our tickets and they "saw something special" in Greg and me and told us that we were "Audience Leaders."  They said to come back at 4:45pm and get in a special line.  When we came back there were about 20 people in the "Audience Leaders" line including us.  There was this guy behind me from Australia and I asked him if he knew the show McLeod's Daughter's (it's one of my favorites and it's Australian) and he laughed and said that he did.  :)
They brought our line inside so we wouldn't have to stand out in the cold and then they told us that we were going to be on the front row because of our enthusiasm!  Heck yes!!!  Greg and I were in the front row, 4 seats from the left middle aisle and I could have literally propped my feet up on the stage!  It was awesome!
Dave came out before the show started and joked around with us for a minute and some lady asked him a "Stump the Band" question.  Out of ALL the things to ask David Letterman she asked a "Stump the Band" question.  Really?!
The show was great!  The guests were Steve Martin and Selena Gomez with a special appearance by Alec Baldwin.  They did a few audience shots so maybe Greg and I will be in one of them!  The episode airs tonight (Wednesday) so tune in!  Or google it later!!

Yesterday was a lazy day for me.  I woke up exhausted and not feeling well.  I decided to skip an audition and take care of my voice so that I would be back to full speed today.  It was a much needed day at home.  :)

Today was a long day for me.  I went to an audition 3 hours before the sign-up was supposed to begin and I was was #430 on the list.  What?!  Number 430?  Do these people get up at 5am to come and sign-up for auditions??  The cut the list off at #500 and since there were so many of us they decided to type people out.  Luckily I got "typed in" which means they wanted me to stay and sing!  So I waited for 6 hours and sang.  I think it went well.  We'll see what happens.

While waiting for the subway today, two different people came up and asked for directions.  They wanted to know about the different trains coming into the station (if they were local, if it went to a specific street, etc.), so I told them which way to go and what train to take.  I am now an official New Yorker!! :)

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

I did not want to get out of bed this morning.  My alarm clock went off, and I reset it for 2 minutes later.  Now that's pathetic, but those 2 minutes were wonderful...
Greg and I had many errands to run this morning before heading to an audition for the National Tour of Wicked.  We first went to a Staples right in midtown and believe it or not they were the only Staples store in Manhattan that I had been to that didn't have computers?!  What?!?!  I needed to print something off a computer and the guy said, "Yea, we've been waiting a while to get computers in.  You could go across the street to the bus station and use theirs...."  The bus station has computers for use, but the Staples doesn't?!  I find that odd.

So Greg stayed and I ventured across the street to the bus station.  And low and behold, I almost got HIT BY A CAR!!!  The cross traffic to my right was whizzing by and there were a line of cars (trucks, taxi's, etc) sitting at the stoplight in front of me where I needed to cross, and the orange hand indicator wasn't fully on so I started to cross the street.  I made a mistake and under-judged how long it would take me to cross 6 lanes of traffic, but I was over halfway through when the cars started to honk at me.  I passed a truck and was almost back on the sidewalk when out of no where a taxi flew right at me at about 50 mph!  He slammed on his breaks and I jumped back just in time.  We were so close to colliding that I could reach out and touch his car.  He began honking and yelling at me (like I didn't know I was in the way already), and all I could do was run to the sidewalk.  I'm still a little shaky...

So in the bus station I used their computers,  but I couldn't print what I needed because they didn't have the proper software downloaded.  Awesome.  This day was getting worse by the minute!  I went back to get Greg at the Staples and we went to the audition.  It was an Equity audition so we had to sign up on an alternate list and wait.  All day.  But that's why we're here!

Lunch came and we went to Subway.  It was in a food court that had several places to eat and one common dining area.  We had finished when this group of people (they were all in their 20's or so) were wanting to push a couple of tables together and sit down behind us.  There was a random drink on one of the tables and they were debating whether to move it or find somewhere else to sit, but Greg, who was facing them, piped up and said, "It's been sitting there for a while.  I think you can just move it."  I didn't turn around to look at them.  So Greg, being the clever guy he is, told me to get up, walk around the corner behind him, and walk out like I just came from the bathroom and ask who moved my drink (referring to the one that group just moved).
So I nonchalantly gathered my things and walked around the corner and waited a minute.  When I came back around, I passed Greg without looking at him and when I got to the table where they had moved the drink to I yelled, "WHO MOVED MY DRINK?"  And I looked directly at the group of people and they were scared to death!!  They just looked at me and one guy pointed and said, "It's over there...?" and I just gave them the dirtiest look.  Then I started laughing and said that I was just kidding and I pointed over to Greg and told them I was sitting with him when they asked if they should move it.  Haha!  They all started laughing and told me how brilliant my acting was and one guy even got up and gave me a hug.  It was brilliant.
That reminds me, Greg still owes me a dollar for doing that... :)

Back at the audition we sat and waited.  I met Ben, who used to be in Noah at Sight and Sound in Branson!  Greg already knew him, but it was nice to meet another Bransonite!  We also met Angela.  She just moved from LA to NYC a month ago.  We all sat and talked for hours waiting to be seen for an audition.  The monitor finally said that there were too many Equity people there so the non-Equity people waiting wouldn't be seen.  I guess that's life in the theatre.  We waited all day for nothing, but we met some great people!

Greg and I decided to go to Blockheads afterwards, but they were so full they sent us across the street to Mother Burger.  It was good.  We were sitting there talking (and enjoying the homemade guacamole dip) and all of a sudden Todd Walker walked in!  I met him through my friend Melissa Dockum back in Branson!  Todd was in Branson doing Peter Pan and him and Melissa were really close friends so we hung out a few times.  I can't believe that in all of NYC we both went to the same restaurant!  The city really isn't as big as it may seem!!  :)

Monday, March 7, 2011

I've been an official New Yorker for one week!  And it feels good!


Life is constantly Go, Go, Go these days, but I don't mind.....for now.  :)
Today began too early (6am to be exact) and I'm not used to this morning thing just yet, but I'm here to audition and the early bird gets the worm, or a better number in the audition line-up. ;)

We had plenty on our plate today, including (but not limited to) wandering around until we found a Staples, trying to find a subway station that goes where we want it to, and running into crazies on the subway!

Over the last few days, Greg and I have ran into a problem.  We NEEDED a keyboard to practice on at home so we weren't walking into the audition room complete cold, not knowing what the accompaniment music sounded like.  So we desperately searched Craigslist for a keyboard, and behold we found one!  So we hopped a train to Queens and picked up our very own keyboard (in a large black trash bag)!  The ride home was the worst part....An hour and 15 minutes, riding home on the subway, hauling a huge bag with a piano inside (who knows what people were thinking) but it was totally worth it.
Once we got home and had dinner, we plugged in the keyboard and played/sang until we were out of music!

All in all, a good day  :)

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Up and at the audition process all over again.
This time I was too old.  But I'm not discouraged.  I knew that I was going to hear more no's than yes's, so it's only up from here!

Today was my first day without Greg right by my side the whole day.  It was different being by myself, but I survived.  I even had to run and get on the train as the doors were closing and that made me feel like more of a New Yorker.  Haha!  I can totally do this!!

I finally found a real grocery store in Manhattan!  It was a Whole Foods, which is  about 97% organic, but at least most the labels were in English!!  I'm sure there's one closer in Brooklyn, but I was starving for real food to take home and cook, so I bought a few things and went back home.

I cooked a real meal and made it an early night.  I was in bed by 10pm (which if you really know me is EXTREMELY early)!  I plan on sleeping in!!!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

First real audition day!

We were up and out of the house by 8am on our way into Manhattan.  We first had to go pick up my headshots from Staples and then we waited to get tickets to the David Letterman show.  The audience coordinator loved us so they called and gave us tickets for Monday, March 14th!  Yes!!

We then went to the Al Hirshfield Theatre to get $30 rush tickets to see "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" starring Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) and John Laroquette (Night Court).  We somehow ended up scoring front row seats!

At the audition a lot of the people didn't realize they needed backing tracks instead of sheet music (did they not read the post?!?).  It was funny to see how these people live here and do this on a regular basis and they still weren't prepared!  But Greg and I were!  Too bad I didn't fit the height criteria.  I was 3" too short.  Oh well.

After the audition, Greg and I went home and took a nap.  We were tired.  We woke up and went back to the city for the show that evening.  It started at 8pm.  I thought it was great!  Daniel Radcliffe blew me away!  I didn't know he could sing or dance.  I loved it!!  Afterwards we quickly ran outside to stand in line for an autograph.  We were somehow pushed to the front of the gate.  People are pushy around here, especially when it comes to getting close to celebrities.  Haha

John Laroquette came out first.  He was so funny and very nice.  Then the flashes started.  Daniel Radcliffe came out and over to our side first.  I got a few good pictures of him and then he signed my Playbill.  I told him he did an amazing job and he said "Thank you, sir.  I don't know who said that, but thank you."  I told him that I said it and that I wasn't a man, and we laughed and he apologized.  It was funny.  Guess you had to be there.....lol

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Greg and I slept in until about 10am or so, and we were off to get in a full day in the city!
We went to the subway station and bought our unlimited MetroCards for access to all of the subway/buses around NYC.

Our first stop was to find Chelsea Studios on 26th Street, where our first audition was going to be.  We passed a Starbucks on the way, so we had to stop in for a quick cup of Joe.  We found the studio and then proceeded to walk north for lunch at the Galaxy Diner on 49th Street.

After lunch we walked down to 42nd Street to look at everything that was going on.  We got roped into talking to this guy who was trying to sell us comedy tickets, and we weren't taking the bait, therefore he wasn't very nice when we said thank you and walked away.  Someone remind me that I never want a job like that....

We were walking towards the David Letterman theatre when Greg noticed a mob of people flashing cameras down a side street and he said there must be a celebrity over there, so we ran as fast as we could to get in on the action!  We tried taking photos over the crowd before we even knew who it was.  Finally there was a break in the clouds and it turned out to be BJ Novak from the comedy series The Office!  He was signing autographs and taking pictures before going in the stage door to the Late Show.  We didn't get close enough for an autograph, but he saw us through the crowd.  :)

Later, we found a Staples so I could print off a few headshots, because silly me forgot mine back in Branson.  We went in a few music stores and such and just had a good time looking around with no agenda.  We wanted to get back home before it got too dark because we were still new to the area, so we hopped the F Train and found our way back.

We felt like tourists all day (especially with the BJ Novak situation), but it's good to get all of that out of our systems early on.  :)

Monday, February 28, 2011

Good morning!  Today is the start of the next chapter of my life.  My friend, Greg Haywood, and I have finished packing, very last minute, and are ready to hop a plane to New York City.  We bought one way tickets and are on our way to the big city!

We left Greg's house in Kennett, MO at 6:45am heading to the Memphis International Airport for a 9:35am flight to Charlotte, NC.  We hit rush hour traffic once we hit Tennessee and I didn't think we were going to make it to the airport in time to check our bags (and my oh my did we have a lot of baggage), but we made it with about 45 minutes to spare.  Whew!

For some reason our tickets weren't next to each other on the flight, but I sat next to the nicest guy named Howie who was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY.  :)  Howie was in Memphis on a business trip for a charity function.  He owned his own business and was a hoot!  I lucked out with good company.  He even helped me with my bag that I didn't think was going to fit in the overhead compartment, but somehow he got it in there!  It was a very high turbulence flight.  I was just waiting for the oxygen masks to drop at any moment, but we survived.

Our flight from Charlotte to JFK was supposed to leave at 1:05pm, but was delayed an hour due to high winds in the New York area.  Once we got to JFK, we collected all our luggage and caught a cab to Brooklyn.  It was such an odd feeling to look around and know that this wasn't just a vacation, but a life change experience.  I usually map things out whether it's a job or an event, but this was new to me.  Just winging it.  It felt great!

We got to our apartment, which is in the middle of a busy commercial street, but yet it's quite and nice.  It's very large for a NY apartment and it feels like a home.  Our landlord greeted us, gave us the rundown on how to take care of the place and his plants and went on his way.  We ended our meet and greet by all sharing an avocado.  A peace offering.  :)

Greg and I immediately went out to find something to eat because we were starving!  We found a CVS Pharmacy just down the block, so we went in for a few groceries.  The block is filled with little grocery stores, but they're all either Mexican, Polish, Indian, or Greek.  Therefore it's hard to read what you're buying if you don't know the language.  Haha

We came home and I made spaghetti, because it was quick and easy and then settled into our rooms.  Greg took the smaller room and gave me the big room.  It had been a long day, so we went to bed as soon as time would allow, which ended up being after midnight.  All in all, a very exciting day.  The fact that I just packed up and jumped ship not knowing what was next still hasn't set it.....