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?

Estelle Harris thinks I'm adorable!

No, seriously, last night I waited on Estelle Harris and she said that I was "just adorable." My response?

The exact scene that popped into my head.

"Ma'am. I think YOU'RE adorable."

She asked if I knew who she was, and I said the minute I heard her voice I was transported to watching Toy Story 2 & 3. We talked about it being nominated and how I thought it was the best movie I'd seen all year. She noticed my ring and asked if I was married and said that my fiance was a lucky guy.

It made my freaking night. To top this all off, an extremely well-known commercial casting director gave me his office number so that he could help give me references to commercial agents. And tipped me twenty bucks on a sixty dollar bill.

Wow. I feel pretty lucky. Now I have the next two days off to get some serious work done.

January has been a pretty busy month for me... obviously, given my lack of updates. I've been..

1. Working a lot. Of course. But I feel 10x better about January 2011 than January 2010 where I thought I was going to be fired every other day. It seems like business is up and my managers like me. Can't ask for more than that as a server. Busy. Flexible schedule. Awesome.
2. Helping out with an "Acting for the Camera" class that's now over... My mentor is amazing and I learn a ton from him every time we work together. Plus, that's extra cash in my pocket and the life partner's (he helps film the final scenes and edits them for the students)
3. Planning a wedding. The success story on this front is that we now have a date set in stone and we think we've decided on a location. We haven't booked it yet, but I'll give you a hint... It's home to our favorite pachyderm.
4. Editing my dad's novel. He's retired and has a lot of time on his hands. I don't, but I'm helping him anyway.

It's been a good month.

I also turned 25 this month and am now old enough to audition for alcohol commercials! Woohoo! We went snowboarding and ate at Susan Feniger's STREET... Which was slightly disappointing, to be honest. I liked it well enough, but wasn't thrilled enough to go back for the price. Maybe if cost didn't bother me, it would be a different story. The snowboarding, however, was excellent. Conditions were pretty awesome for such warm weather and every time I get better and better. We spent the majority of the day on the intermediate slopes and I was pretty pleased with myself!

I decided to get over my vanity. This is a terrible photo, but it's the only one!

The day after my birthday, I had an interview with a print agent, and while nothing has come of it, I do know feel more confident all future interviews of that sort. The agent was incredibly nice and now I feel like I know what to expect a little bit better.

Overall, January was great, here's to fabulous February!

Working 8 days a week

I was so cozy at intelligentsia, I didn't want to leave!

Well, that's what it feels like during the holiday season at the restaurant. Last week I worked 9 days straight. By the seventh day I was desperately trying to give my shifts away. I had just enough time before my shift to grab coffee with a friend, and I was having such a nice time I was sorely tempted to call in sick. By Sunday, I was a Grumps Meister Deluxe. I didn't even care about making money at that point, I just wanted to run errands and spend money! I felt pretty bad, I was snapping at everyone. I just can't wait tables that many days in a row!

Besides work, I've been getting Christmas presents for the family and buying lights to make our apartment a little more festive. My mom sent me a box of my old ornaments-- I'm so excited to put them up on the little tree LP and I bought. Sadly, he's out of town for a couple days for work, so I'm going to finish putting everything up by myself. We're total procrastinators, but better late than never, right? Since we're in agreement that holiday decorations can stay up until at least January 5th, we aren't fretting about getting this done so late. I'll post pictures when it's done!


I also had an audition on Monday that I think went pretty well. It was for a short film, and at the very least, I had a good time at the audition and the guys running the thing were incredibly nice. So, whether or not I get the part or even a callback, we'll call it a success.

Since I still haven't had much time for grocery shopping and I'm not at home to eat or cook much anyway, I've been making some really random meals (supplemented by "stealing" some of the groceries LP has bought). That's a fried egg with salsa and cheddar on a corn tortilla with fresh tomatoes, avocado, and creme fraiche (I still haven't used it all)... I put a little white balsamic vinegar on the "salad" with some salt and pepper.

I'm really relishing having today off. Going to finish up my Christmas shopping, do some laundry, and finish decorating. You know you've been working too much when you look forward to doing laundry!

Illegal Audition

OK, well... I barely got my foot in the door today, but I knew that was coming. The print campaign was for a casino and was required by law to hire people who were 25+ years old. I turn 25 in January. Hoping that the print campaign wouldn't post until January or later, I went to the audition anyway. Well, they checked IDs at sign-in and I was promptly turned away. Oh, well. It doesn't hurt to try!

I did, however, look very editorial today. Wish a better photo was possible. I love the zipper details that were on my skirt. And anything with skulls on it is always awesome.

And to comfort myself, I visited Pure Luck and got a faux Caesar salad with tofu and avocado and a 3 Philosophers draft beer. That thing was either really strong or my tummy was really empty, because I am still buzzing from it.


Better luck at the next audition! And... not lying about my age would be helpful!

Time to enjoy a chocolate coconut cupcake from Lark! I'm saving its buddy, the carrot cake one, for LP! Until he gets home, I'm just going to veg out, re-read Harry Potter #5 and eat a cupcake. Bliss.