People who need people.

Ugh. I'm sicky sick today. I've had a sore throat for the past couple days and a little bit of a cough and now I'm just trying to get betterrrrrr. As I sit here in my bed and reflect on the life that is quickly flashing before my eyes, I am reminded of the many lovely people I have in my life and how much they mean to me.

For those of you that know me well, you know that I love a good party. It is very important for me to spend time with friends and meet new people on a regular basis. Well lucky for me, I have made many new friends over the past month and have been able to participate in lots of fun activities with lots of fun people. I have always been very fortunate to find myself surrounded by good people no matter what situation I am in. Thank you to all my family and friends that have made me feel loved and special over the years. It means more than you know. Seriously.

Here is a brief rundown of some of the fun times and good people that have come into my life lately...

Disclaimer: This doesn't include everybody. Don't hate.

Abby (middle) and Kristy (right). These ladies are two of my late night partners in crime. We can often be found having girl chat into the wee hours of the morn. This was us on a walk by the river close to our apartment last week. Love these girls a lot. 

And of course, a full body shot.

 

 Carolyn and I have been reunited after a 3 year hiatus. We graduated together from BYU in 2009 and are now both pursuing our dreams in NYC after Carolyn's mission and my most recent Utah adventure. Love this girl to death. She is top notch quality. We are holding Halloween giftbaskets sent all the way from Las Vegas from our friend Ryan's mom! Sweet, eh???

Nicole and I are the same person. Like fur rills. We met this past summer in Crazy For You and moved to NYC within a couple days of each other. I am so lucky to have her so close and to have her as a good friend. She is amazing in so many ways and we both know how to pack it down (as seen in the photo above).

Steve, Abby and Chris. A group of us went to Brooklyn one Saturday and hit up a good market. It was delish! So fun to have people around to go on adventures with!

Han, Abby and Chris. Can you believe that skyline?!?

So many people made an effort to make my birthday a special one a few weeks ago. Thank you all so much for that. It really was overwhelming. Abby and Carolyn took me out to lunch and we each ate a slice of pizza that was almost as big as us. It was incredible!

And then we partied it up that night. Here are a few shots from my birthday party/welcome party for Kate and I that Kristy and Abby put together. Above: Chris, Matt and Kate.

 It's a little blurry, but there's Matt, Kate, Chris, Preston and Nicole.

Just another view of our front room...

 And another... pretty fun, eh?

And Kristy made me a birthday cake!!! It was sooooooo gooooooood! 

We had a crepe party during the Sunday morning session of general conference. Whenever we ate crepes growing up, my siblings and I had a rule that you had to eat your age in crepes. I definitely almost did. 

Another view of our crepe party. See the projection on the left? Pretty sweet set-up, eh? There are definitely some amazing movie parties on the horizon...

Aunt Jan! I stopped by the McKinnon's house last week after a job interview and then Aunt Jan accompanied me on a few errands that afternoon. One of our pit-stops was the John Lennon memorial because it was his birthday. Lots of hippies there. We fit right in. I LOVE having Aunt Jan and Uncle Paul here!

Jennie Mae and Brandon are good family friends who had me over for dinner a couple weeks ago. They are the sweetest couple ever and their two girls are the most adorable... as you can tell. It was so fun to spend time with them and see what city life is like from the perspective of a young family.

Breakfast at Alice's Tea Cup! Yum Yum! Have you ever had your own pot of herbal tea with french toast and scones? No? You've never lived.  Here we have Brendan, Rachel, Kristy, Beau and Nicole. Brendan, Rachel, Nicole and I all work together for the broadway merchandise company and we decided to hit up a yummy brunch before the matinee last Saturday. I love my coworkers. Seriously, we have such good times togeths. Brendan is technically the bossy boss, and he reminds me on a daily basis that he could fire me at any moment, buuuuuut.... he knows who the real boss is around these parts. Geez... I'm SUCH a New Yorker already.

I have also been able to spend time with some of my old BYU theater friends. There is a HUGE group of us here right now. I went to a Halloween party on Sunday night where a bunch of us were there and we reminisced about the 'ole MDT/Young Ambassador mems. So fun! 

So the moral of the story, as I lie here on my death bed, is that New York City is the place to be.... in case you haven't noticed. 

Peace and blessings, everybody. Peace.and.blessings.

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of...

Whew. Just got back from an auditiondo. But not just any audition... a callback!!! Yessssss.... :) Auditioning in NYC is quite the beast, I tell you. Lots of waiting, lots of competition and lots of needed luck. So far I have been going to about 3 or 4 auditions per week and each audition takes a lot of preparation in regard to figuring out what time I need to be there to sign up, what style of music I need to sing, which studio to go to... etc. It can be quite draining! And because I am non-equity (Not a member of the actor's union), I end up having to wait around for hours just to get seen for about 20 - 30 seconds. It's nuts. Why am I doing this?! Oh yeah... cuz it's amazing and I love it. I really do.

It was so fun to go in for a callback today. I've had a couple other experiences where they ask me to sing another song or ask me a few questions about my availability, but for the most part I've just been singin' my heart out and then they say, "thank you" and I leave. So hard to know what they're thinking, but it's just the name of the game! 

 This is to give you an idea of what it looks like to wait in line at an audition. This was at about 8:30 am and I am standing in line to put my name on the non-equity list so I can hopefully get in for a later audition. It's hard to tell, but the line wraps all the way around the room and then snakes down a huge hallway. Anyway - on this particular day, I signed up that morning then went home to finish getting ready. Then I went back to the studio only to wait for about 3 1/2 hours. But guess what! I got in! And that's what it's all about. That and the hokie pokie.

Anyway - I've found that it is very important that I don't just immerse myself in musical theater and auditions 24/7. Because now it is basically my day job and I just need a break from it when the day is done. So here are some things that I have been able to use as an outlet...

P.S. I received some feedback that my pictures on here are too small *cough, cough* Amanda... :) so hopefully these are BIG enough for ya'll...

I found myself in Battery Park one afternoon and it was such a nice break. I decided to check out a little bit of Wall Street and Bam! There I was. Right on the edge of the water. It was beautiful. 

Look at how skilled I am at taking my own photo... can't even tell, can ya. I loved this monument behind me. It is a sculpture that was damaged in the 9/11 attack and it is now on display in Battery Park for all to see. Very, very cool.

Lookeee here. Even more skilled self-photo-taking! One-handed, even. Totes talented.

Here we have another statue. Can't remember the name of it, though. Oh well... 

But it was awesome! ;)

Shopping!!! But it's a different kind of shopping now. It's the I-don't-really-have-an-income-and-I'm-paying-a-million-dollars-in-rent shopping. My good friend Abby and I took a break one afternoon and checked out some of the nearby stores in Harlem. Found these beauts and almost died. 

Are they fo' reeeeeeeeal?!?!? You could poke someone's eye out with them thangs!

And what's a girl to do without a little chocolate in her life? Did you know it was national chocolate milk day a couple weeks ago? You better believe I celebrated.  We tend to have girl parties fairly often...  usually between the hours of 12 and 1 am where-in-which we bust out the goods and indulge just a little. 

My mom used to talk about how I never really liked sweets or sugar growing up. I would usually turn down dessert after dinner and my halloween candy stayed in a box for years. Well, ladies and gentlemen, those days are loooooong gone.

And this is just for fun. My parting gift, if you will. The 'ole one-eye crossed lazy eye trick. You're welcome.

I have loved being able to do my hair curly out here! The humidity is quite convenient. No curling irons needed. Just scrunch, diffuse and goooooo!

Speaking of go-ing... I gotta! I'm off to work at Peter and the Star Catcher tonight. But before I go, I just want to reiterate the fact that I love that I am here and auditioning right now. Even though it's super duper hard, I am so glad I am doing what I love. There really is somethin' magical about the city. It really is where dreams are made of. All I have to do to feel like a million bucks is walk down the street in the theater district with my audition dress, shoes and music in my bag and I feel SO alive!  So sing it with me, everyone! "In New YooOoooork... concrete jungle where dreams are made of..."

I love you all!  'Till next time...

Peace and blessings. Peace.and.Blessings.

Livin' in a gangster's paradise.

I know this might come as a shock to some of you, but guess what... Harlem is not Provo, Utah. Can you believe it?! They are actually very different from each other. Who knew?! I thought I'd share a few pics of some of the things that I get to see during the week here in the new 'hood... 

This little gem was taken during my walk home from church. Just a little random parade goin' down the streets of Harlem. No big thang. No idea why it was happening or who was all there, but hey, white tutus were involved so I couldn't resist.

This is the Central Park Temple. 

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Just joshin'. but doesn't it look like it could be?!? I saw this one morning during a runny run through central park. Gorgeous.

This is another shot from central park. Very random, but I had one of those moments where I said, "OhEmGee. I am running through central park in NYC because I LIVE here." Had to document it.

Running through the park has been one of my favorite things I get to do here. I'm trying to enjoy it as much as I can before I hate my life when winter is here. What do you think the odds are of there not being a winter in New York this year? Anyone? ... anyone?

 This is where I get to go to church every Sunday! Pretty, eh? And it's only a 10 minute walk from my apartment. It's about 12 blocks south from my front steps. My ward has been really great so far. Lots of fun peeps from all walks of life and it seems that there is always a party goin' on. Totes my style. Love it.

Just a monumental landmark that I really didn't know much about before I moved here. But it's a real thing. The Apollo Theater is where many-a-celebrity have performed over the years. Don't believe me? Googs it.

Other things that are close by: a couple other small parks, lots of diners with all the chicken & waffles you could ever want, stores that remind me of home (Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, oh - and don't worry... H&M!), and lots of interesting people. Lots of them. I'm getting used to being the minority here. It's really not bad at all. I actually really love it. I mean, it's basically an automatic self-esteem boost every time I walk out the door! For example, the other day I was told I look like Jessica Simpson AND Britney Spears in one day! Wooooeeee. I'm hoping they were talking about the young-oops-I-did-it-again Britney, but nonetheless, my new neighbs are nice and friendly. :)

Peace and blessings, yo. Peace.and.blessings.

P.S. Camille, I will NOT expound on speed dating. I'm sorry. I thought about it, but all you really need to know is that it will never happen again. ever. 

Home Sweet Home

Wooooeeee! Here I am! Finally. I've been meaning to start this blog for about 3 weeks now. There is SO much to talk about and time is a-tickin! So let's see... how 'bout I just start with my one-way flight cross country (whaaaaat?!) Who does that. But fur rills. I guess I do! 

Here we have a nice illustration of what I did during my layover in the Denver airport. Nothin' like  a little bit of comfort food in the middle of a life-changing event. I must admit, I really was needing a bit of comforting on this day of travel. I tend to be a pretty strong and calm individual in most situations, but I was definitely having a hard time on this day... definitely had a mini breakdown at my brother's house that morning. But guess what... I survived.

I even survived the taxi ride from the airport to my new apartment with all this luggage! Some may call me high maintenance, but listen. 2 bags fly for free on Southwest. What up. I was actually pretty proud of myself. Only had to ship 1 box in addition to these beauties. Now the hard part was getting all of this from my curb in Harlem to the 7th floor of my new apartment building by myself. Hallelu for elevators.

I got into my apartment late that night and immediately started unpacking. I was anxious to get settled and comfortable in my brand new space. Pretty sure I went to bed around 3 or 4 or somethin of that nature.

And here we have a picture of the view from one of my beddy room winders. It aint much, but I love it. I love that I get an itty bitty view of skyline and I love that you can see some of my fellow Harlemites down below. Probably playin' a round of Old Maid or Crazy 8's or somethin. ;) I do have another window in my room, but it looks straight into the building next door, but no worries. The building is empty right now. At least it was last time I checked... and if it's not anymore, then somebody's been gettin' a little peep show for the last 3 weeks. Remind me to check on that later. :)

   

These are a few little pics of my roomy room. I absolutely love it. I am so lucky to have found such a great place to live. It feels like my own little sanctuary, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

Just ignore the empty space and sporadic placement of pictures above. Technical difficulty. Anyway - here we have my closet... closed AND open. Aren't you lucky. As you can see, I was able to fit everything in beautifully and now the challenge is to not buy more stuff... yep.

And here are the lovely ladies that I get to live with. Kristy is on the right and she is the one who let me move in to our humble abode! I owe her big time. Not quite sure how we hadn't met in life before. We had about 50 mutual friends on the 'ole FB before we had even met. Crazy. She is currently in school and working part-time. And Kate, on the left, is currently doing Teach for America in the Bronx. Bless her. I don't know how she gets up and goes to battle everyday. After living with Janae and Ash (Old roomies/besties) for a few years, I have a newfound appreciation for school teachers. Anyway - we have had a lot of fun so far and I'm excited for good times ahead!

I am also lucky enough to have my Uncle Paul and Aunt Jan living just a 15 minute train ride away from me. Jan gave me the royal treatment and took me to Costco and Target in her CAR on my first morning in the city. And then the next day, I got a personalized tour of Trader Joe's. Beautiful. Just beautiful. I'm going to dinner at Jan and Paul's house tomorrow and I can't wait to spend more time with them in the future. They are definitely keepers.

Okeedok. That's it for now. But who knows... there might be another post here sometime soon. Like in the next hour or so. :) Don't judge. I'm done with auditions for the day and I'm just waiting for work to start...

Oh - but before I go, I'd like to leave you with a list of some of the current happs around here. I have been here for 3 weeks, but it really feels like 3 years because so much has happened. Why don't you take a moment and read down the list and if something strikes your fancy, feel free to leave a comment letting me know that you'd like me to expound more on that particular item/event. Here goes:

1. YSA Conference during my first weekend. Activities included speed dating (heaven help us all) and a few workshops, activities and of course, a dance.
2. My birthday! Fun day with a little bit of homesickness in the morning, but was quickly alleviated by a fun lunch and birthday party that night.
3. I have a job selling broadway merchandise with some really fun peeps. Some of them are old friends from Utah and some are becoming new fast friends.
4.  Signed on with a temp agency last week so I can put some of my office skills to use. Shout out to all my Imagine Learning peeps! 
5. First experience clubbing (which = dancing for me) with some of my new ward friends last week. Ever been to a hipster club? 
6. Did you know I have a doorman? His name is Bobby and he has no teeth. He sits on our stoop all day and is always very considerate of me and my needs. Always reminds me to grab an umbrella if it's raining outside. 
7. Been to several auditions. I've felt very confident so far, but I've also had many reality checks. This is a huge city and competition is stiff. Like reeeeeeally stiff. But ya know, just keep movin' forward! I actually have a little gig next weekend. I get to sing 2 songs in a little broadway review show here in the city. Should be a good experience.
8. First time doing laundry at the laundromat down the street. Met a cute mama and her little girl named Acirema... which is America spelled backwards, of course. :)
9. Went with some friends to a food market in Brooklyn. Delish! Definitely enjoyed doughnuts, ice cream, falafels and many more treatsies. But it's okay, cuz I walk everywhere now... ... ... right??
10. I have been overwhelmed with gratitude. Can't believe I'm here and livin' the dream. Like really livin' the dream. It's amazing and I'm so glad I got on that one-way flight 3 weeks ago.

That's all for now, folks. Peace and Blessings... peace. and. blessings.