2012!

This has to be one of the best New Year'ses (is that the plural of New Year's?) ever. Granted, a lot of my New Year'ses have really sucked so, much like my birthdays, this didn't even have to be THAT great to win. But it was.

I'm working on another show so I've been in rehearsal from 10-4 all week and then running to my day job immediately after to work until 8:30. It's been a LONG week. In addition to the long hours, the actors and other people in the rehearsals all speak Spanish to each other and I do not understand much more than "donde es...chalk?" and "hola". Also at the day job we went from super busy and stressed to painfully slow and ohmygod I still have 3 more hours alone in this office?! Anyway, that's the mindset I was in at the end of this week.

My friend Angela was in town with her students on a trip. Friday, she texted and said they had an extra ticket to War Horse (the play, NOT the film) and did I want it. Uh...do penguins wish they could fly? Yes. So stoked.

IT WAS STUNNING.

Visually, it is probably the most beautiful show I've ever seen. The story is great and it's presented really well, but OH MY GOD it was gorgeous. Really fantastic lighting. The projections were done well. Transitions were good. Loved. It.

After we went to a pub with two of the students (I know, I know...I took high school kids to a pub) for dinner and beer (for us) and they eagerly asked me questions about stage managing and theatre and college and professional theatre. I'd kind of forgotten what it was like to have a dream like that. I didn't know any stage managers or even what they were before I went to college.

Then last night, New Year's Eve, after a particularly frustrating rehearsal, I went to the Lower East Side to watch my friend Bambi (a nickname, of course) in class. She's at the Paul Taylor intensive and I haven't seen her since July 2010 and REALLY missed her. It was really fun to watch dancers just...dance. Not rehearsing a show, not auditioning. Just dancing.

Afterwards, she, her sister, and I went to La Follia to see ML and eat dinner and have wine. Then we felt like going to a pub to drink. I took them to Barrow St. Ale House, where I always end up. We decided to skip all other NYE options I had and just rang in the New Year together. Afterwards, a group of awkward guys started buying us drinks and of course, that's always nice. I got to talk to Rusty on the phone, got some random mass texts, and stumbled home at 3:30 remembering why I don't like tequila. Today we slept in super late, had brunch at Cafe Orlin at 3:30, I showed them Times Square and Rock Center, and we had sushi at Mikado. Great. Weekend.


I've got some goals for the year: join a gym, learn Spanish, etc. So we'll see. Also...blog more.

30 Days of Thankful 2011 edition

Last month (via my Facebook statuses) I did the 30 days of thankful thing where each day you say one thing you're thankful for.

Rachel's 30 Days of Thankful:

Nov 1: Thankful for having a job to be stressed about.
Nov 2: Thankful for leftover Halloween candy - the breakfast, lunch, and dinner of champions.
Nov 3: Thankful for Amy Davis for her inspiring yet "ha! glad it's not me!" advice.
Nov 4: Thankful for a very cozy bed.
Nov 5: Thankful for an extra hour of sleep tonight!
Nov 6: Thankful for the number of performances allowed under NYC Showcase code.
Nov 7: Thankful for her bed.
Nov 8: Thankful for laughter and long running inside jokes with good friends.
Nov 9: Thankful for the amazing weather today. Also for Baskin Robbins.
Nov 10: Thankful for Emergen-C.
Nov 11: Thankful for veterans. And future veterans.
Nov 12: Thankful that Kristen Evensen introduced her to Food Should Taste Good multi-grain chips.
Nov 13: Thankful for AraBella, scotch, and new skirts.
Nov 14: Thankful for having time alone to wander the city.
Nov 15: Thankful for Jack Daniels and that is all.
Nov 16: Thankful for April Leonhard and post show shots. Also her hard working cast and crew.
Nov 17: Thankful for 3 am cabs and Jack Daniels (again) on the rocks or straight up.
Nov 18: Thankful for Swedish Fish.
Nov 19: Thankful for Sarah Corey and this cupcake. Both are divine.
Nov 20: Thankful her show had a great closing performance.
Nov 21: Thankful for clever friends in so many different cities and Facebook for keeping them laughing at the same things.
Nov 22: Thankful for knitting.
Nov 23: Thankful she didn't have to set an alarm this morning.
Nov 24: Thankful for Nolan, Brit, Raisa, and Daniel for the food prep, amazing all day feast, and wine.
Nov 25: Thankful for 11 hours of hanging out with Kira and reflecting on other 20-ish year friendships.
Nov 26: Thankful to be sitting on this balcony drinking Lager with Paul Bratcher and Kevin Gift...wait. KG is drinking Miller Lite. Less thankful for that.
Nov 27: Thankful for her ability to instantly sleep on buses.
Nov 28: Thankful for Trader Joes.
Nov 29: Thankful to have found the cake baked in a pumpkin link.
Nov 30: Thankful for the highs and lows of the month, Racheliffic shenanigans, Maoz dates with Andy, and the Muppets.

Home?

I'm back in New York now. Today my producer called me and asked if I was "home" yet. That gave me pause. Because technically, this is home. This is where my stuff is kept. Where my mail gets sent. Where my driver's license was issued. Where my bank is located. Where a big chunk of my friends live. That's home right?

My Great American Road Trip 2011 was a lot of fun, but sometimes, nostalgia is a bitch. Highlights:
-I went and visited Jason in Indiana again. He's a good half way point between the East and the Midwest. It was all familiar and fun. TV. Beer. Some good natured Apple vs. the rest of the world banter.
-Next stop was La Crosse. It was pretty good. The friends part was great. Recov and Spotted Cow. Great. The professors-judging-my-life part...not as fun. To be expected I guess.
-Des Moines was almost great. Almost ran into the last person I wanted to see at the farmer's market. Thank god for Jenny and Tyler. As usual. And maaaaaybe I should have told my mother.
-Chicago was fun. Meg and I are pathetic though and don't bother going out when we visit each other though. The Thai food by N Sheridan was great, incidentally.

Regardless of my deep thoughts, I'm glad to be back. I've seen a few friends. Got some pho. Anxious to move into my new place. And I get to monitor some auditions this afternoon.

I still heart New York.

June!

Recently, a friend reminded me that I have this blog. So...this post is for you, Tim.

Life is pretty good. My main show is finally open so I can sleep and eat and shower on a schedule like a normal person. My other show is going to open...really soon. I hope. Did you know sea lions aren't the most compliant animals?

Roommates are still good. Tonight we made homemade ravioli, marinara sauce, garlic bread, and banana bread. I'm drinking a bottle of my very favorite beer. Jazz night starts up tomorrow. Epic television plans with a friend Friday. Bridal shower Saturday. Sushi Sunday. Xmen First Class comes out this weekend. So much good.

Really...that's all I got right now.

My dinner was delicious.

Self-Reflection and the Past

I told my friend Meg yesterday that I feel like I'm in a time warp. I started talking to an old friend again after an almost 2 year silence (we just drifted apart) and there's still familiarity there. It kind of wigs me out. And there are some other people from the past popping up too. If I ever needed a reminder that everything is cyclical...there it is. I don't think things are linear with solid stops and starts. I think everything comes back to the beginning and this is both comforting and awful. I'm rambling. It IS rather early, after all...

I'm the kind of girl that always had boys as friends. Not in an "I'm a Giant Slut" kind of way, but in an "I like Ninja Turtles and not wearing dresses" kind of way. That hasn't ended now that I'm older. I've had this feeling like a void for a while and I realized: I don't hang out with as many dudes as I'd like. Part of it is age-there are fewer dudes to hang with because a lot of the people I know are married. Part of it is occupational hazard-I'm in theatre...lots of the "dudes" are gay. (Not that that's bad. I love my gays.) It's kind of like when I went to college and there was a huge lack of other Asian people in my life. I grew up with other Asians and boys as friends and it shaped my self and now I need that to be content.

Long story short: I need some straight dudes to drink with, preferably single so as to not get into any girlfriend jealousy awkwardness.

Long story shorter: I need my drinking buddies from the last 2 summers to convene again.

And (full circle) I have to stop clinging to the past and longing for it because life always moves forward...not back to my comfort zone.

Sunshine

It's sunshiny out today. Still cold. Ah, winter.

I have opened up this page a dozen times since 1/1/11, but I haven't had anything to write about. I had a couple things I was going to rant about, a few to complain about, but when I actually put my fingers to keys, I realized I had nothing to say.

Awful feeling.

Really though, nothing much has been happening lately. I've settled into something of a routine. I call this my mid-winter break. The last couple years I've been working steady from April-Dec/Jan and that can be rough. Right after college, I went almost 2 years with just a week off. That was stupid. So now, I take breaks when I can.

A minor gripe: some of my actor friends freak out when I tell them I'm not working on a show right now AND that I'm okay with it. They don't get that it's okay to not constantly be in rehearsal/performance. And, not to say that what I do is harder than an actor, but for me-stage managing can be pretty emotionally draining and I know I have to not do it for a little while at a time. Recharge. Or else, I go into an emotional tailspin and want to crawl into a hole and die. (Houston, anyone?)

All right. Done. So that's it. I'm biding my time right now. Checking BSJ and Playbill occasionally for job postings, but the day job is pretty good for me now. Life is pretty good. Dare I say it. I like NYC.

1/1/11

If only it were also 11:11. Alas...I am so not staying awake that long.

New Year's Eve was FANTASTIC! Though, bear in mind, this is coming from a girl who's had some pretty un-fantastic NYEs in the past.
-09-did absolutely nothing by myself in Des Moines...went to bed early.
-08-fought through my last day at ADP, which was also a day of great stress and unhappiness, though that was a fantastic goodbye party. Thanks, Lerners!
-07-went to a party in DSM at the home of a friend of a friend where my friends left right after midnight and I was volunteered to be the drunk bus to some people I didn't know.

Really. Anything would be better. I could have been in Jersey even and we all know how I feel about Jersey. Ha. Really though-NYE in NYC? Not a bad idea!

I went to dinner with Joe in Koreatown. I introduced him to pho. Next time we'll try bulgogi. One step at a time. Jill and her friend AJ were in town so we met up with them at Rockefeller Center. After a brief trip to the Village to buy some wine, we traipsed up to the Heights to go to my friend/ex-cast member Jake's party. It was great. Joe knew a couple people, Jill and AJ fit right in, and I drank to my little heart's content while meeting lots of new people. We rang in the new year, sang Auld Lang Syne, and continued to celebrate.


We even stopped to see the aftermath of Times Square and to get a very important hot dog. SO glad we weren't there for the ball drop. We would have been so sardined in!


Any night you get home at 4 am smiling is a good night. I am VERY glad I got to ring in the new year with friends both old and new and much happier than I've been in a while. Here's to a brand new day. Cheers.

It's the End of the World!

Nah, just the end of December. I had a really fantastic Christmas this year and, I'm almost ashamed to say, it's because I didn't go home this year. I know, I know...give me your awww's and your pity and judgment and whatever else. Just get it out of the way. It's hard for a lot of my friends to understand that my family and I just aren't that close. For a myriad of reasons, we are not the ideal family. We don't talk on the phone, we don't know much about each other's personal lives, and it's been that way for a long time. Wah, wah, wah.

SO when it came time to figure out what I was doing for Christmas this year-the answer was really simple. My fantastic friend Steven - along with several other friends - was in Hershey for Christmas because of the Christmas contract. So I made arrangements to bus it to PA for my holiday. Mostly because I knew I'd get even MORE judgment for just staying in NYC.

We did everything that makes us happy and since he didn't want to be with his family either-we felt totally justified. We had delicious food, saw a lot of movies, talked, played games, and had general merriment. I got to spend good quality time with other friends in town and managed to miss the Snowpocalypse in NYC. Go me.

Really though-it's totally cliche, but Christmas is more of a feeling and I was totally Christmas-ified in PA. This is, however, probably the start of a trend in which I invent reasons to not go home for the holidays for many years to come. I know. I'm horrible. But at least I'm happy!

Solstice!

Shortest day of the year also happens to be rather long in the Rachel sector of life. For the last time, I was up at 5:30 am to catch the train to catch the ferry to catch the shuttle to stage manage the show. Staten Island is a lovely, far away place that I will not miss traveling to every day. I will miss my cast. Really. We were 7 people in a wacky situation and I actually believe we made the best of it. We had a show interrupted by a crazy Russian woman. We had more travel time than rehearsal and performance combined. We rehearsed at a rec center with children/teens literally walking in and out of scenes. It was actually pretty awesome and if I lived closer, I'd totally work with Sundog again.

HOWEVER now that it's done, I can focus on some other things. I've got the crazy 3 days before Christmas stuff to deal with (wrapping, mailing, shopping, swearing) and then I get to pack and head to Hershey! I have 2 days of work and a few friend dates between me and my first trip via Megabus. I'm so excited. Then, before you know it, I'll be sad and back on the bus and then back at work and then at a New Year's Eve party and then it'll be 20-fuckin'-11! Holy god. I better get ready!

Christmastime Approaches!

I just got back from an overnight in Maryland. I'm running performances of "A Christmas Carol" with the Sundog Theatre. It's an interesting thing. When I did FoodPlay, everything was very specifically laid out. I had very little set up and there weren't many outside factors to worry about. If we had a table and a chair and a power outlet, we were good to go. Not so with this show. I have wireless mics and a sound board I bring, but I need to use the venue's system and I have to try to put together some semblance of lights. That's new. I've got a pretty good group of people though. I think I might even stay friends with a few after this is all over next week.

It's funny how with just a small show and a simple day job with steady hours, I'm crazy busy and feel way behind. I guess that means my life is going well and I'm in a good place, right? Let's try to stay on the positive, for once. And...go!

I'm going to spend Christmas with friends in Hershey, PA. It's my first year not going to Iowa for Christmas. It's a tough thing...I don't want to go there, but it seems so taboo to not go home for the holidays. I keep getting pity and I don't want that. I made a choice. It is the right choice for me. I'm going to spend more time with people who will make me happier and I will only have spent $55 on bus tickets versus $400+ on airfare.

10 days til Christmas folks...are you ready?

Thanks and Such

So I've been at my day job only 26 days so far and I'm already moved to a new department. It's neat. I'm in a call center taking orders and customer service calls. It's much more suited to me so I like it. Also-no uniform. That's a plus.

I ordered the most awesome present for SMB today. I doubt he still checks this, but just in case, no spoilers here. Suffice to say it really does feel good to get someone something you KNOW will make them smile. That's right: I was just sentimental. Almost. I really do have emotions sometimes. Even though I fight it.

I was waiting for the train today and looked up and there was Emmeline. I like how the big city can also be a small city. I like randomly running into friends on the street (or in the station) and I like that people visit all the time. I also like that people move here all the time.

I still don't know if I want to stay though. I am really having a hard time accepting this as any kind of permanence. If I let myself think about it for too long, I can feel my heart rate accelerate and my breathing gets a little shallower. Then I have to plot out my escape plan and distract myself before real panic sets in.

Lately EVERYONE keeps asking if I'm dating anyone. Is that just something that happens when you're in your (gulp) mid-twenties? You should be coupled up by now? I guess. Well, I'm not. I don't even know how to do that anymore. My life has been dictated by contracts and schedules for so long, real life seems strange and unattainable. Dating? Pshaw. Guess I could work on that.

I had an awesome Thanksgiving, by the way. I spent the afternoon/evening/night with a few college friends and their family and close friends. 9 of us altogether. The one kid there who didn't have a Viterbo connection kept double checking: "You're ALL from the same place? You ALL know each other?" Anyway-it was great. Nolan made the most amazing food, Brit (and her cousin) coordinated a wonderful gathering, and we played one of the best games of Celebrity ever. Oh-and we had cherpumple. That's a cherry pie in a chocolate cake, a pumpkin pie in a spice cake, and an apple pie in a yellow cake-layered together in something sinful and strange.

(I promise: someday I will try to blog about one subject at a time. I mean...I promise I'll try.)

Worst Blogger Ever (or, an Octoberly update)

It's November...surprise! It's starting off pretty well. Highlights of October:

-Hung out a LOT with friend AraBella. We painted her room, ate a ton of Pinkberry, and made a few trips to Home Depot.

-Finished up the run of TESS: A New Rock Opera. (I was a Production Assistant, if you remember.) It was lots of fun and I was really sad to have missed the last performance, which was an added performance, because I was in Iowa.-Went to the best wedding ever in Minnesota. My good friends from college got married in an "Up" themed wedding and I flew across the country to go.

-Fetched my furniture and other miscellaneous possessions from Iowa and journeyed them cross-country to NYC. Now I feel vaguely trapped, but I like hanging things on the walls.

-Saw "A Life in the Theatre" (twice), "American Idiot", and "The Scottsboro Boys".

-Made a website for my SM side of life. Updated the Etsy site. Ordered some business cards. Y'know...in 48 hours.

-Went to the Great FoodPlay Reunion of 2010 (sans one Carlton Hall) and had a great time. You know it's a good night when a 4 hour dinner goes by like nothin'.

-Had SEVERAL random "small world" run ins all over the city. The guy from UCF who was at TESS strike, the former TSF co-worker who lives downstairs, and the girl at callbacks who is from Des Moines...to name a few.

-And one of the best parts: a surprise visit to Hershey! I tagged along and surprised some of my Chocolate Town favorites. Spent Halloween with them and even got to look for Sasquatch at the zoo.

So...November. It's shaping up rather well. My new show had callbacks yesterday so we should have a cast...like now. Rehearsals start soonly. Started a day job. Made an Etsy sale. Got together with some college friends, one of whom is visiting on his latest epic road trip. Of course, it's only a week in. Anything can happen. And I'm ready.

NYMF!

Remember how I talked about a whirlwind previously? SO true. Wednesday morning I reported to the rehearsal space, helped another gal gather all the props (about 5 loads total), hailed a taxi, got everything to the venue, helped finish the set, helped with props during Q to Q, arranged dinner, and helped run backstage during the show...having never seen/heard a run. It was GREAT! Tonight is another performance and I'm excited. I didn't realize how big NYMF was until some good friends pointed it out. Yay for friends who throw your name around in the world.

Also, I've been working more on Etsy items. I'm going to get a few more ready, redo some photos and get it all posted. Should keep me a bit busy. The day job thing still needs to happen, but in its own time. Like...in the next couple weeks. Thank goodness for planning and frugality.

Lots of people are starting to pop up around the city. Mostly new arrivals from this past summer. Some old friends from summers past. Look at how poetical I can be. Poetry aside, it's nice to be in a new city with old friends. Probably the way I should have been doing it all along.

Week One...Practically Done

It's an interesting thing to move to a new place sans a job. I've actually never done it before. And I'm mostly okay with it.

I've been doing some exploring. A lot of walking. Not really tourist stuff, but going to well-known places. There's usually a goal. Greenwich Village. Times Square. Et cetera. I'm trying to save some of my exploring for later, but it's hard with all kinds of time on my hands. One of my friends has a really good thing going. He has a small NYC notebook that has a subway map, a map of the city, and blank pages to write down places he likes. Restaurants, parks, shops, and stuff all go in there. We realized it will be really cool to look back through it in 6 months.

I have spent a fair amount of time catching up with friends. Seems like every day in my residence in NYC has been devoted to a friend. Roommate from OST, friend from high school, friend from college, friend from Hershey (which doesn't count since he moved here Friday), and multiple friends from college. Last night was beer pong with people I haven't seen in 6 years. It was great. I met a bunch of new people and laughed harder than I have in a long time. I miss being with people whose sense of humor is so attuned to mine.

Also...I kicked butt at pong. At least until the third game.

Ah...Panera Wi-Fi

The joys of moving...packing all your things haphazardly, praying you get a parking spot in front of your building, and realizing the stolen wireless from the neighbors isn't good enough for your chronic Facebooking so you go to the local Panera for hours with a lone cup of coffee to make you seem slightly welcome.

That all happened.

So here I am...New York City. Technically, I'm in Queens, but who's really keeping track? I'm unloaded, semi-unpacked, furniture-less, jobless, and thrilled. I applied for a few retail jobs today. I'm planning on a few theatre jobs apps in the near future too. Probably tomorrow since I bet I have outstayed my Paneriffic welcome here.

Things are good. I saw Natasha today for lunch. I have (tentative) plans to see Kira tomorrow. Other folks are in the wings waiting to jump back into my life, and me into theirs. It's a glorious time to be carefree in the city.

This cookie is delicious.

Pics to come. (Of the apartment...not the cookie.)

Bliss

I am going to the Hershey Pantry this morning.

That's all.