Photo heavy! A ring, an apartment, and new headshots!

Life is just chugging along, isn't it? I've been auditioning a lot more lately (in fact, I have one tomorrow!), have nice new headshots... have been moving along with the wedding, and am working a little bit each day on moving!

First, my favorites out of the new headshots. Many thanks to David Carlson!

My absolute favorite is the jumping one. I don't care if I can't use it that often. I love it.

Now! On to the new apartment. Yes. We found one. It's fabulous. It costs only a little more than what we're currently paying and it's...

1. Bigger
2. Sans Roommates
3. Did I mention it's just us? Without roommates?????

Yeah. And it still has a view. And a balcony. And we can get a pet. OK, so just a cat.. but someone else in the building has TWO bull terriers and I think the manager looks the other way. Oh, and did I mention it's RENT CONTROLLED? Bwahahahahahahahaha. I'm sorry, was I bragging about my most awesome find of the century? Yeah? TOO BAD! I worked really freaking hard to find the best place possible, and this is a total win. We didn't time our move out too well and will end up paying a little on both places this month in pro-rated rent, but we're enjoying the leisurely move. We're looking forward to officially beginning our living there and painting! :-) Oh! And it's right down the street from our current place and we already love the hood and know the parking situation!

living room with fabulous screened-in balcony!

View from dining area. Wait... we have a dining area now????

HOLY SHIT! Is that a vintage kitchen? YES IT IS!!!

I'm sorry, did you say your new place was RENT CONTROLLED?????

Wow... look at that laminate wood flooring in your ENTRYWAY!

What adorable little French doors and separate oven you have!

I'm sorry, is that a LINEN closet AND a COAT closet?

OK, so I'm still not sure how I feel about the separate tub/bath...

...but will you look at all that counter space? Yes. I don't care how ugly the top is...

Bedroom. Your closet is about two feet longer than our current. What will I do with all your space?

Yeah. I'm positively giddy. Our bedroom has a nice big window, too. I positively can't wait to paint and decorate and get everything moved in. It's just a pile of boxes at the moment and we're still living out of our old space. We have to find a fridge and I thought I found something great on Craigslist, but the seller backed out last minute. GRUMP!

FINALLY.... Jake's ring! He chose to have a thumb ring because of comfort and because it's a reference to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He works with his hands/fingers on a daily basis and isn't used to wearing jewelry. I think a thumb ring looks cooler and is an awesome compromise since I didn't think I could talk him into a ring in the first place.

We had it made by the same goldsmith who did mine and I think it looks INCREDIBLE!

It's inspired by a vintage airplane wing and I love the industrial, cobbled together look! And Jake is absolutely in LOVE with it!  The textures vary throughout the ring, and I can't wait to post some more pictures of it, but I had to snag this one while he slept!!!

Oddly enough, some people have objected more to the fact that he's wearing it before the wedding than the fact that it's a thumb ring! My engagement ring and wedding band are one and the same, why can't he enjoy it too?

Life is Beautiful (and crazy)

Wow, I haven't been able to give either of my blogs much thought in the past month. I've said this before, but between apartment hunting, wedding planning, and my career... it's a bit busy. Apartment hunting is like taking on a second job. Every day I'm calling places, walking neighborhoods, and arranging appointments to view places. It doesn't help that the range of what's available for our price range is SO wide. You can never tell what you might get. Our expectations are also really high. We want a walkable neighborhood with at least one parking spot (two is better) and if there's only one spot, there needs to be ample street parking. That combo is so hard to come by. Our current neighborhood has that, but the apartments available are pretty lackluster. To make matters even more complicated, we really want the option of getting a dog when we're ready.

We found one apartment that we thought we loved... but upon a closer inspection, we realized that there was d-CON sprinkled liberally in the kitchen corners. READ: there's clearly a rodent problem. Plus, the place was hot as blazes even on a cool evening and we'd have to install our own window A/C. *sigh* We had already applied and were accepted, but ended up turning the place down. I'm still mourning this apartment, as it was cute, had lots of storage, was spacious, cute, and allowed small dogs.

Then there was the HUMONGOUS apartment in a perfect location that tried to jack up the price when we said there would be two people living there. I'm still not sure that we couldn't talk them down, but that still doesn't take away the fact that it has carpet (it gets disgusting in L.A.) and an awkward kitchen that doesn't really accommodate a fridge and has no garbage disposal. It was a cute as hell older place, but with that charm comes a lot of really bizarre quirks... and only two old retired people to call upon when something goes awry. Still grieving.

washer/dryer. SERIOUSLY?

Then there's the more expensive place that's got a great open kitchen, is a decent size, has a nice balcony with a FABULOUS view, would probably let us rip up the carpet, allows ANY kind of dog, has a second parking spot for only $25 a month, and is located directly across from a puppy park. Downside? What could POSSIBLY be the downside, you ask. Well... it's $100 more a month than we were originally hoping to spend. It also doesn't have the real walkable factor that we like... it's a bit of a hike to anything cool. We can technically afford it, but it doesn't give us as much wiggle room if some tragedy befalls us or allow us to take time for vacations, etc...

Now, we just found a place that seems kind of amazing. Washer/dryer IN the unit, allows dogs up to 60 lbs, parking spot with storage plus decent street parking, hardwood/tile floors throughout. There's going to be a unit available that's getting completely remodeled. New countertops, appliances, bathroom, all new. The FH is just hesitant because we would really lose the walkability we currently have.

There's this funky nook in the corner. That's where the cable hookup is. I guess.... you'd put the TV there if you had one? That cubbyhole under the stairs also has extra storage. Hmmm... perfect place for Christmas decorations, I think.

Yeah, it's a little small. But we also don't need tons of space. Yet, it really lacks that walkable factor that is so attractive to us.

The unit I have photos of isn't the one that's going to be available. The landlord/manager says he has an apartment almost identical to this one that's getting all new upgrades.

What to do? We're having difficulty coming to consensus on the apartment hunt and I'm getting worn out from hunting them all down. There's no deadline because we're in a month-to-month rent right now, so we can take essentially as much or as little time as we want or need. That becomes problematic when it gives you the sense that there's always the possibility of something better out there!

Oh, and this place would be under budget for us. Yeah. So how important is walking to Starbucks or the grocery store?


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Flower Market and Crochet Bombs!

My friend Amy and I took a trip to the Flower District downtown today. Man, now I know where to look for flowers whenever the mood strikes! It's a great place for orchid shopping if you're looking for one. I definitely think I'll hit up this area a few days before the wedding to grab whatever flowers I want. I'm still not sure yet if I want a bouquet or any kind of boutonnieres, but I know LP likes them enough to want them on the tables. I don't find them necessary, especially since we'll be surrounded by plenty of green, but... meh. It was almost overwhelming. So many choices!

photo by my friend Amy!

After our trip downtown, I showed her the crochet graffiti at Griffith Park!

I love this stuff!  Amy had shown me photos of parking meters with little yarn cozies before and I knew she'd flip over this crochet graffiti!

Some people call it yarn bombing.

I call it awesome.


My favorite part was the little bear statue! Someone got him all dressed up for Valentine's Day and he clearly decided that being nekkid was no fun! I hope he gets some new digs for St. Patrick's Day.

 

Will you be my Valentine, little bear?

Signed and Ready to ROCK

There's so much going on lately that blogging has definitely taken the back burner. One fabulous piece of news is that I've signed with a print agent! They offered to send me out for non-union commercial work, but since I'm SAG eligible, I decided that I would continue my hunt for a union commercial agent.

Helping me in that hunt is the commercial casting director I talked about last time. I called him a few days after we met and he told me to e-mail him my headshot/resume and he'd forward them to some agents he thinks might be interested. I'm also going to be taking his commercial workshop on scholarship in the next couple of months! Oh, and if you're afraid that this guy is some kind of sleaze bucket, don't worry, he's well-known, has an excellent reputation, and several people I know (including the fiance) have met him before and say he's a great person.

On the wedding front, we've decided to book the L.A. Zoo for sure! All we have to do is sign the contract and pay the deposit before the end of March. That means catering and booze is settled, too! Although we still have to pick the menu, but that's the fun part! The Los Angeles Zoo hosts a lot of events, but not many weddings and they were actually extremely well-priced compared to everything else in this city.

We've also got our officiant settled (that was settled a long time ago), because one of our best friends is ordained through the Universal Life Church. The spot we picked in the L.A. Zoo already has some cute orange and green wooden picnic tables and chairs. They're really new and pretty cool looking, so we're sticking with what's already there! I also know which bakery I want to get my cupcakes from, Lark, of course! Between the partner's work peeps, our friends, and my dad, there's so many photographers and people with pro equipment that we should be good to go on that front. We just have to lock in solid commitments.

The only stressful thing left is invites! Everything else should be at least somewhat fun to do and research. Maybe I'm getting myself, but I feel like the hardest part of the planning is over! I even have a good portion of our website ready to go!

The other thing I had been stressing out about was what I would wear. I'm unconventional enough that I felt like I had the entire world of fashion open to me. Was I daring enough to wear something like Janelle Monae?

Or did I just want to wear a gorgeous dress that I loved, in a flattering as hell color, that I could wear again?

Like this absolutely incredible Eva Franco? Which is actually slightly more than I was hoping to spend. 

Or, just maybe, did I want something that actually looked like a wedding dress? Would some kind of white look OK on me? I just tried on this dress today and it was lovely, but it wasn't quite perfect, I'd have to add some kind of straps or jacket as I abhor strapless dresses. It also looked better with a sash at the waist.

Here's my point, however... I decided to not let this stress me out. I will buy whatever I feel like buying that's in my budget. And to hell with what anyone else thinks about it!

Now, I have an extremely ill partner to check on. The poor guy came home, fell asleep, then woke up an hour later puking his guts out and has been doing so for the last three hours. I feel so bad for him. I've already e-mailed his boss, bought some Powerade, some JELL-O, saltines, and some chicken noodle and tomato soup for when he feels up to it. Just because I wouldn't eat half those things doesn't mean I won't buy it for him. Let's hope he gets well soon.