New York Fashion Week, or How Did I Get Here?!?!?!

So it's Fashion Week and I had the opportunity to attend my very first fashion show (one of the MANY perks of working for a major fashion house)... I know this sounds incredibly silly but I still cannot believe this is my life!!! AH!

Waiting out front

Ticket :)

Photographers mobbing the runway to get pictures of celebrities before the show

Lights.

The red blob at the end of the runway is Anna Wintour... NBD.

After the show :)

You know those moments in your life where you feel like you're in a movie? This was DEFINITELY one of those moments.

It's days like yesterday when I really cannot believe this is my life. Living in New York City, going to fashion shows, wearing designer clothing, having a full time job... these are things I never imagined happening. I am so thankful for everything that has happened in my past that brought me to where I am right now. I can't imagine living anywhere else right now. I can imagine working somewhere else (like, acting full time for example), but I'm thankful that I have a steady job and that it's not a boring one. I am thoroughly enjoying the ride that life is taking me on.

Now I just need to get my retouched headshots back so I can start auditioning again and life really will be perfect! YAY!!!

Happy Anniversary New York!

That's right. New York and I recently celebrated a huge milestone: our one year anniversary. And what a year it has been!! Let me fill you in on what I've been up to for the last 6 months.

In April I was hired at Vera Wang as the full time Guest Coordinator for the bridal house. Yeah, NEVER thought that I would EVER be working in fashion, yet here I am. It was a rough few months at the start, and is still tough at times (especially when I am looking at casting breakdowns for auditions I would rock but can't attend because I have to work that day) but it is a steady paycheck with benefits and a clothing allotment (mhmm, I own designer things... WHAT?!). The job is incredibly demanding and stressful (I never thought I would ever know as much about wedding gowns as I do now - not to mention scheduling appointments.... oy!) but I think I'm doing an alright job. They haven't fired me yet so hey-o! We've been going through some big changes at the store and I'm being given more responsibilities, which is great but also keeping me from doing what I came here to do. That, hands down, is the most frustrating part. But I've made some good friends and think I can hold out and save up for another 6 months before moving on to the next thing. We shall see....

In June I had my New York City acting debut!!! I had so much fun working on Haberdasher Theatre Company's production of The Wizard of Oz. I had the pleasure of working with AMAZING people who have turned into a great group of friends. I got to play the snotty Tristilda (Wicked Witch of the East), the Pissed off Tree, and a hot mess Gate Keeper. Here are some pictures (taken by the AMAZING Katie Grammes, our brilliant costume designer) of the show/costumes:

Tree.

Tin Man (Brian Ogston) and Tree.

Wizard (Matt Giroveanu) and Gate Keeper.

Gate Keeper.

A shot from the show (photo credit needed). From left: Citizens of Oz (Melody Chang, Nick Panagakos, Joseph Harris), Dorothy (Tami Soligan), Scarecrow (Jeff Foley), Gate Keeper, Lion (Nicole Lippey), and Tin Man (Brian Ogston).

In July, Mama Michaels and Spencer flew out to New York to see closing weekend of the show :) That was probably my favorite part of the summer. They stayed for a week and it was glorious! We saw shows (War Horse, Ghost, Peter and the Starcatcher), ate so much delicious food, walked the Brooklyn Bridge, went to Ground Zero, went apartment hunting in Astoria, walked through Central Park, saw the Met, visited work and played dress up, saw the fireworks along the Hudson River, raged at the Oz cast party (that's right, Mama Michaels included on that one too), and just had a wonderful week exploring. I was not ready to send them back to the west coast.... Here are some pictures of those adventures:

Spencer and the Brooklyn Bridge.

In line for Shake Shack at Madison Square Park.

Ground Zero.

At the Lincoln Center before War Horse.

Mom and Kelsey. If you like it, put a ring on it.

The Met.

Ground Zero.

Yay!

Empire State.

Lincoln Center.

Ground Zero.

Times Square.

Mama Michaels on the Brooklyn Bridge.

During the second weekend of shows I injured my knee during the tornado scene. My doctors thought for a while that I had torn my meniscus or my ACL, but thankfully nothing was torn! I've been wearing a pretty intense knee brace for the last 3 months (which I don't have to wear anymore!!) and been doing lots of physical therapy to get my knee cap back in the correct place and get my muscles stronger so this doesn't happen again! It's been a long, drawn out process but thankfully I am finally seeing a light at the end of this tunnel!

In August I moved to Astoria (which is a very nice neighborhood in Queens that is only 20 minutes on the subway to Midtown). I am currently living in a HUGE duplex apartment with Brian and Nico (who are fellow graduates of the BFA). Brian is working on his MFA at NYU and Nico is doing what I'm doing- chasing the dream!! We have a giant basement that the boys share, huge living room, full kitchen, 2 bathrooms, more closets than I've ever seen in any New York apartment, and I get my own room (which is the size of the studio that I shared with Kelsey for 10 months). I think my only complaint is that we are a little far from the nearest subway (half a mile), but I know that I am walking at least a mile every day haha. I think it's going to suck more when the snow comes, but for now I can deal with it. I do love living in Astoria though. We live in a neighborhood, on a tree lined street, and the rent is actually affordable :) What more can you really ask for?!

I celebrated my 24th birthday with a bunch of great friends at a chill bar called No Idea in Manhattan. It was probably one of the best birthdays I have ever had. I was surrounded by old friends and new friends and I had the best time. Thank you to all who helped me celebrate!

August also marked my TV debut! The episode of Celebrity Ghost Stories aired on August 11th on the Biography Channel. I must say, it was very weird watching myself on TV knowing that it was being played nationwide. I had SO much fun filming the episode. The cast was awesome and I am really stoked about the way the episode turned out. I really hope I get the chance to work with them again! Oh! And I now have an IMDB page! Check it! I need to add a picture and all that, but it's me! Here are some shots from the day we filmed and shots of the TV that my grandfather took while the episode aired:

Costume!

TV husband, played by Tim O'Malley.

Credits.

Close up.

That's my face. On TV.

Being a mom.

In September I went home for a week for the wedding of one of my oldest friends. Mahealani and I have been friends since we were 9 years old, and while we didn't hang out in high school we reconnected when we were both at SBCC. She and her husband recently moved from Boston to New York and we have fallen right back in step :) 

I spent most of the week hanging out with my parents and Spencer, enjoying the beach, playing with my puppies, loving the sunshine. I got to see my friend Michaela and meet her ADORABLE baby girl Camilla. She is seriously the cutest baby I think I have ever seen. As a welcome to the world present I made her some onesies. Here's a picture of the finished product:

Miss Camilla :)

I also made a quick trip up to Sacramento to see my aunt, uncle, and cousin and to surprise my grandfather. I wish I had a picture of his face when I walked up to his car window!! It was priceless and totally worth all the driving. The last time I had seen my grandfather was right before I came to New York to apartment hunt, and one of the last things he said to me was "Well Jen, am I ever going to see you again?" Well, yes gramps, you will and you did! It was perfect. And of course it was awesome to see my Aunt Katy, Uncle Joe, and cousin Ian. 

I brought Mama Michaels as my date to Mahea and Carter's wedding. It was absolutely beautiful. A true celebration of their love. I am so happy that I was able to be there :)

Yay!!!

Well, that's about it folks. I have no idea what's in store for me next. I need to get some new headshots, figure out a way to start auditioning again, decide what adventure I want to take next.... 

It's been quite a roller coaster year for New York and I. We've had our ups and our downs. We've hated each other and loved each other... So, here's to us and the adventures you have in store for me over the next few years. Cheers!

love,

your green-eyed girl

I thought New York was one of those states that experienced weather...

Oh goodness, I guess I should update this since it has been almost 2 months... Where does the time go?!?!

FEBRUARY
To say that a lot happened this month might be an understatement. Every time I look at the calendar I was baffled that it was still February!

Kelsey's boyfriend Jak came to visit for a few weeks. For his birthday Kelsey, myself and our friends Domonique and Daniel all pitched in and surprised Jak with a roundtrip ticket to the city. Needless to say his genuiene shock and appreciativeness made it totally worth while :)

Master Shakespeare in Central Park.

We ate at a restaurant called S'MAC. Yes. They only serve mac n cheese. Mama Michaels' is better :)

Baby cannoli from Veniero's Bakery. Oh my god yum!

While he was here we saw WAR HORSE, the play NOT the movie. OH. MY. GOD. Don't even bother seeing the movie! Just book a plane ticket out here, you can crash on my futon the show is THAT amazing. If I didn't already know that I wanted to spend my life being a theatre artist, this play would have made me switch career paths. You forget that the horses are puppets and with a fairly minimal set you are completely transported to WWI. AH-MAH-ZING!!!

Domonique and I got our library cards at the beginning of the month. Now, I know this makes me sound like a huge nerd, but, I love the New York Public Library. Not only are there a TON of locations (including one completely dedicated to the performing arts) but they also have a ton of online material, ebooks, music, movies... the list is endless. I love it! I must say though, every time I'm in the reading room at the main library I keep hoping that improv everywhere will have the ghost busters chasing ghosts through it. Check it! That gets a little distracting.

On the work front: I have cut back my hours demoing for Zola to just the weekends. I would have to work more hours that anyone would want to demo for every day, all week to even come close to making ends meet. This cut back in hours has openned me up to WAY more temp work. Oh, did I mention I've joined a temp agency? I have. It's been pretty awesome so far. My agent is a Gaucho Alumna as well and loves that my schedule is so flexible. This week in particular, most of the jobs have come around because of last minute phone calls, and thats fine by me as long as they keep calling! haha I have worked reception for a couple places (a publishing company and a high power financial group - I like the publishing company better) and have helped with a few mailings/filings for other companies. I have also been sent on a number of interviews for temp-to-perm positions, though none of them have worked out. I suspect my total lack of office jobs is to blame, though I am great with customers and learn quickly. I'm hoping the longer I temp as a receptionist the most desireable I will become to these employers.

"Now, what about acting?" I get asked this a lot. At this point, here is how I am looking at it: if I am going to stay in this city I need to be able to support myself/save money. I have no serving experience so forget about trying to be a waitress in this city. Its a pretty serious profession and you can make BANK. And the whole coffee shop would be great if they paid more... So office work it is. All of the acting I would even have a shot at doing would have to happen after hours/on the weekends. Which is fine by me for now :)

That brings me to auditions!! I finally got one!! Two actually :) One was earlier this month for "My Celebrity Ghost Story" on the Biography Channel. They do re-enactments of B and C list celebrities' paranormal encounters. I think it was one of the easiest auditions I've ever done. It was just the casting director in the room with a video camera, she took a few headshots and bodyshots, then had me slate (say my name). She asked me if I spoke any French, I told her very poorly but I could do the accent. "Good enough" she said. She then had me play a friendly French ghost who comes into this guy's hospital room and heals him. Saying relax, you're going to be ok, and then leaves. Awesome. Then she had me play a woman who has been hearing strange noises in her livingroom and goes to investigate, she then proceeds to freak out when she sees the ghost. So I cautiously entered the room and when she threw her hand up I freaked out.

Easy as pie. I could hear from them anytime between now and the middle of March.

The other was for the Moose Head Theater Company here in the city. They put on the Inwood Shakespeare Festival every summer at Inwood Park (the very most northern tip of Manhattan). They are doing 'As You Like It' and a new play called 'The Golem.' I was called in to audition for both! Looking back on this audition I realize how nervous I was, and should have relaxed more. Breathing might have been good.... I did not get called back for 'As You Like It' and I'm pretty sure I won't get one for 'The Golem.' Next year....

My friend Nico flew out for a very quick trip. He was called back to Columbia! Kelsey and I got to hang out with him for a bit which was a lot of fun!

MARCH
March has flown by faster than any other month. I cannot believe it's almost over! And it's also kind of been a month of firsts, which has been incredibly exciting. So, March pretty much rocked! Here's why:

While working has been a little stressful, my theatrical life has been kick started.

I got to be in a theater. And it felt so damn good!! I guess technically this happened at the very end of February but it was awesome so I'm letting March have it. I got a call from my friend Daniel, who is doing an internship with The Ensemble Studio Theater. They needed someone to run a sound and lights board for a reading that evening and Daniel kindly thought of me. I was working with a very simple set up, and was nervous I was going to royally mess something up, but I didn't. And they liked me!! Yay connections!! First Tech gig in NY! Check.

I also had the opportunity to be in a reading of a one act play :) Charlie, one of Kelsey's classmates who is in the directing program, called me up one afternoon and offered me a part in a little reading he was directing. So of course I accepted. Duh. He emailed me the script which was written by Sam Byron, another one of Kelsey's classmates - in the playwriting program. It's about a woman who leaves her baby twins with the nanny who barely speaks English. It sounds terrible, but they play is freaking hilarious!! We had one rehearsal the day of the reading where I read with Sam and Charlie, and another read through with Sam and Natalie (the other actress) right before the show. It was part of a show called Peculiar Streams and is essentially a variety hour. SO much fun! It took place in the back room of a bar in the East Village and was a really good time. I suppose technically this was my NYC debut, but I'll actually count it when my show goes up. That's right, I got cast in a show!! But I'll get to that in a second.

Jak (Kelsey's boyfriend) and our good friends Allie, Brian, and Eddy were in the city for grad school call backs! Jak and Allie for the New School, Brian and Eddy for NYU. Yes, my friends are ballers. The Sunday that they were all here, I had an audition for Haberdasher Theater Company's production of the Wizard of Oz. Now, anyone who knows me pretty well knows that the Wizard of Oz is not my favorite show (one incredibly traumatic experience will do that to a show) BUT this was not the musical version AND they were setting it in modern day Manhattan. Awesome. So I go to the audition and am SUPER relaxed and totally rock it. I found some new moments in monologues I've been doing for years and just felt great about it. After my audition I met up with Brian and Eddy and we went to 5 Guys. OH MY GOD BEST BURGERS EVER!!!! While at dinner I got a call from a number I didn't know, so I let it go to voicemail and they left a message. Turns out I got a callback for OZ! Guess I should answer more numbers I don't know... Exciting! The boys and I headed back to the apartment and watched 'The Help.' It wasn't as good as the first time I saw it.... Anyway, it was so nice hanging out with friends in this city. It felt like home :) First callback: CHECK! First 5 Guys burger: CHECK! Awesome day!

My friend Dom is awesome. We are each other's cheerleaders out here and man is she a good one! I had been talking to here about the job situation and she mentioned that the reception position at Vera Wang Bridal Salon might still be open and that I'd be perfect for the job. She had temped there for a week and they wanted to hire her but for whatever reason she declined. So she sent them an email and they got back to me to set up an interview right away! So I went to the corporate office and met with someone in their HR department for an initial interview. She then sent me to the salon, where I sat for a while and then was taken up to the show room. Oh man those dresses are gorgeous! I felt pretty good about my interview but was also thinking about the call backs I had that evening. I got a call from the woman in HR a few hours later, they offered me a 3 day trial period! I start on Friday!!!

The callback was a lot of fun! I stayed the whole time and read pretty much every role they had, which was cool. Not only did we read scenes but we also did a lot of improv work which was excellent! I left the callback feeling great. It was hard to go to sleep that night haha

The next day I had the awesome opportunity to be a reader for some EPAs (Equity Principal Auditions) at EST. Being a reader means you sit just in front and off to the side of the table that the casting director sits at and you are the scene partner for the actors auditioning. Now, this was pretty funny and threw some of the actors: I was mainly reading the part of a black 65 year old ex-NFL player. Clearly I would NEVER get cast in that role. But I was surprised at how much I could relate to this character. It was an incredible opportunity and I learned SO much from it. I really hope they call me to be a reader again :)

Then I flew home :) Michaela, one of my co-workers from Anna's who I became pretty good friends with, got married on St. Patrick's Day. She's the first of my friends to get married and I had to be there for it! It felt so great going home to SB on such a high from the week leading up to it. I got some doctors appointments out of the way, ate at some of my favorite places, but spent most of my time hanging with my family and the puppies :) While I was home I found out that I was cast in The Wizard of Oz (as the Pissed Off Tree, the Gatekeeper, and the Wicked Witch of the East)!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO EXCITING!!!!!!! I kid you not I started crying when I got off the phone with the director. I was so freaking happy!!! I also found out that I had been cast in one of the Celebrity Ghost Story episodes!!!!!!! I film that next Thursday :) Things are slowly but surely starting to happen!!! Patience really is a virtue.

I spent most of the week with my family, my puppies, and was able to see a lot of friends :) It was a great way to recharge.

They came to pick me up at the airport :)

i just love this chair. its so comfy.

While I was home, Logan and 2 of his good friends competed in the Grease Pole at DP. They rocked it!

I brought Mama Michaels as my date to Michaela and Aaron's wedding. The decorations were very simple but beautiful. Michaela was STUNNING in her dress and Aaron was beaming. The whole room was filled with so much love. It was magical :)

Reunited :)

She's married!!

Adorable!

So now I'm back in NY, and wondering what the hell is going on with the weather. I was expecting extremely cold weather this winter. We've had 3 snow days. And now that it's spring, it's in the mid to high 70s. At leasts the flowers are blooming.

Happy Spring y'all!!

Ups and Downs.

This month has been packet to the brim with so many ups and downs that I have lost count. And I am pretty sure that this will be incredibly indicative of the way the rest of this year is going to be. I should probably consider getting a better helmet, maybe some sweet elbow pads and knee pads too, because it is going to be a much bumpier ride than I initially anticipated.

I knew going into this that the real world was going to be tough. I knew the acting/theatre profession was going to be rough. But I didn't think I was going to tumble quite this hard. I set out into a very rough and dangerous storm in a little dingy boat. Ha! It's true though. Yes, I worked my ass of my last year in school to support myself, but I was also living in paradise. The real world in Santa Barbara (I have come to realize) is still a beautiful, pristine bubble. I was still looking at the world through that bubble moving here and the first few weeks I was living here. That bubble has now been totally burst. Ker-splat!

And I'm not going to lie, I'm not handling it all that well. I've had more panic attacks in the last month than I have in years. I've had to face the fact that no matter what I do to make money (short of selling my eggs, which I considered for a hot second) I'm never going to be able to afford ANYTHING in this city. No one can. It's just too damn expensive. I'm in the process of switching jobs, which is financially terrifying but completely necessary. Demoing is fun but not fun enough to make me stay with it; so I've signed up with a temp agency and will hopefully be placed in a temp-to-hire full-time receptionist position at some company in the city. After that happens I think I will be able to start breathing again. I've also started looking for electrician work in theaters. I have to be a little more careful on this front: I came here to be an actor, not to be a stagehand/electrician.

I've been submitting myself for any audition that I think I could possibly play a part in, but so far that hasn't yielded any results. And to be honest I'm not all that surprised that I'm not getting called in to audition. It's completely based on my headshot/resume. Now, don't get me wrong, my current headshot is a beautiful picture of me, but it's not a "New York headshot." And my resume is light; a side effect of not getting cast much. At least I can handle rejection well? You might be asking yourself, "Well Jen, why don't you just get yourself some NY headshots?" Well, I'm holding off on getting new headshots for a couple of reasons. 1) They are ridiculously expensive. People will pay $1000 on headshots and not lose any sleep over it. Unfortunately for me I am not one of those people who is made of money/owns a money tree. Fortunately, my roommate goes to school with a guy who takes amazing headshots and is more affordable. Check out his work! Isn't he amazing?!?! And 2) I'm planning on changing up my hair pretty drastically when I go home in March, so, kinda have to wait until that happens.

I find myself forgetting this all the time: "This is what I wanted, remember?" When I didn't get into grad school last year I took it as a huge open door to go out and live my life and *GASP* actually enjoy being in my 20s!! Which, I won't lie, is something I had not done until now. And while I am not always enjoying my 20s, I am definitely living my life: trying to learn from my real world mistakes (Example: If you are running low on cash don't go out or buy things you can't afford! You don't have tip money to do the fun stuff!!) and endeavoring to hold on to my mostly positive, bubbly, Santa Barbara self. I thought my year at SFSU was a huge growing year for me, and it was, but I can only image what Future Jen will say about the New York years...

This what life is all about, right? The ups and the downs? And how you handle what the universe, in her infinite wisdom, throws at you?

God. This has not been a happy post so far! I apologize for that! But it's about to get better! Yay!

Here's the upside for you:

I have been meeting some awesome actors and directors in the city, who are working and not all of them have an MFA. I can still be a fantastic working actor without a graduate degree!! Huzzah! New mantra!

Also, I've found a project to throw the rest of my energy into and that has been a fantastic way to distract myself from how difficult living here can be. Not only that but I was introduced to someone, a director, who is just as excited about this project as we are. I'll give y'all more details/save that story for another post down the road, but it's been every exciting working on it again. I will say this: Jenexia has reunited and it feels so good!

Oh- PS: On a funny and bizarre note, I broke a knife cutting into my perfectly toasted with a gooey center grilled cheese sandwich today. I guess I don't know my own strength. Or something.

Sweet Baby Jesus! When did it become next year?!

Not being with my family on Christmas Day was pretty rough, I'm not going to lie. BUT if I had to be anywhere in the world (and not with my family) New York is definitely where I'd want to be.

Our friend Sean came for a quick visit right before Christmas. It was really fun catching up with him and showing him around this awesome city. He was able to see a lot of excellent theatre and really get a feel for what this city has to offer. Kelsey and I tagged along to a few shows: Cymbeline put on by Fiasco Theater at the Barrow Street Theater AND Seminar on Broadway with Alan Rickman. Sean and I put our names into the lottery for tickets to see Book of Mormon (and for a split second thought we won when the guy said "And from the great state of California...") but were not among the lucky 14 names called.

Cymbeline: I truly enjoyed this production. It was performed with only 6 actors and was hilarious!! The plot of Cymbeline is not the clearest plot line of Master Shakespeare's plays but this company did a fantastic job of making the text accessible, the plot clear, and they were very smart about the comedy in the text. If you have a chance to see it before it closes on January 15th I HIGHLY recommend it! Student rush tickets are only $20.

Seminar: So back when I had a job I thought I wasn't going to be able to see this with Sean and Kelsey. Thankfully I was able to get a discount ticket (and FINALLY redeem my birthday present from my parents! Thanks Mama and Papa Michaels!!!) for the show. When I purchased my ticket I thought I would be sitting one row behind where Sean and Kelsey would be sitting, but when I picked up my ticket at the box office I found myself sitting in the 4th row from the stage!! I was so close to the genius that is Alan Rickman that if he had be vigorously speaking at the edge of the stage his spit particles would have landed on me. It sounds a little gross writing it right now, but it was GLORIOUS!! The writing wasn't the greatest, but the acting was phenomenal! Again, if you find yourself able to see the show, do it!

Christmas Eve was spent busily elfing for stocking stuffers and gifts for Kelsey and Domonique and everything felt like an epic adventure. I went on an adventure to find ugly Christmas sweaters/sweatshirts but ended up with ugly Christmas PJs and socks instead. Then there was the adventure to find wrapping paper that wasn't in a 3-pack (because lets be honest, I don't need that much wrapping paper) and ended up grabbing the last single roll at a Rite Aid on the Upper Westside.... It was exhausting! But then Kelsey and I started what could be one of the best new Christmas-Eve-away-from-home traditions ever: wearing ugly Christmas pajamas, enjoying a meal of homemade mac-n-cheese, salad, and wine while watching Love Actually and then a cup of hot chocolate and A Christmas Story. Twas a wonderful night before Christmas.

Christmas Day started off with cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate/coffee. Then Kelsey and I opened our stockings that we had gotten for each other. I had filled hers with Crayola markers, a friendship bracelet, Rolos, little cans of Diet Coke and a box of Cheez-its. She had filled mine with a silver sequined scarf, adorable silver flats, beautiful earrings that matched, and a "Peace Love New York" key chain. Then we exchanged our gifts to each other/from our families. Kelsey got me a HUGE penguin stuffed animal (he can stand up by himself and is almost 2 feet tall) which I named Wesley Watson Windsor III. Yes, he's part of the British royal family, he is an emperor penguin after all. My family and I got Kelsey tickets to any Broadway show of her choosing. Kelsey's family got us a really nice bottle of HBC sherry. Neither of us are really sure what sherry is but we are quite excited to try it! We both got to Skype with our families and open presents virtually which was pretty awesome. When I was home and we did our Modern Family-esque early Christmas I opened the few presents I had (my plane ticket home was my big gift this year and was by far the best present ever) and the gifts that I had gotten for my family. But my mom had surprised me with one more gift to open on Christmas Day. She had ordered me Marcel the Shell With Shoes On: Things About Me by Jenny Slate and Dean Fleischer-Camp. Now, y'all know how much I love Marcel. This book is the cutest thing ever! And the best part is that Jenny Slate (who voices Marcel in the videos) recorded reading the book as Marcel. It's freaking adorable and cheered me right up after I stopped Skyping with my family. Domonique came over around 2:30 and we exchanged gifts. Kelsey and I got her some sweet ugly Christmas pjs and made her a stocking filled with Christmas socks, earrings, Sour Patch Kids, and a candy cane filled with Reese's. She got us these awesome arm warmers that are super warm, made us some DELICIOUS chocolate chip and butterscotch cookies, and Daniel (her boyfriend) got us some soaps that smell AMAZING. It was really great catching up with Dom and spending the afternoon with my little NYC family. Around 4:30 we all headed to Brooklyn: Dom to spend Hanukkah with Daniel and his family, Kelsey and I to spend Christmas dinner with Kelsey's classmate Kyle and his family who had come to visit from Louisiana. His mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew rented an apartment for the week and had prepared a scrumptious Christmas dinner with turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a vegetable medley that was to die for! It was so much fun getting to know his family. They are the nicest people to invite us and Velson (another one of Kelsey's classmates) over for dinner and now we all want to go visit them in Louisiana soon!!

The next few days were pretty lazy: mainly spent cleaning up the apartment in preparation for Kelsey's sister Leah's arrival, looking for monologues, ordering business cards, and trying to figure out what my next employment move is going to be...

And then I got sick. Not just "oh I don't feel great but I can push through it," but so sick I was completely laid out for a week. Fever, cough, runny nose, exhausted... and no matter what meds I took nothing helped. I was able to muster up enough energy to go see the Rockette's Christmas Spectacular with Kelsey and Leah. Radio City Music Hall is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

Gorgeous!

The chandelier in the lobby!

I spent my first New Years Eve in NYC in my apartment, bundled up, watching the shenanigans that were happening literally at the end of my block :( Not the way I would have liked to ring in 2012 but if the New Year started off this crappy it can only go up from there, right? Right! It was pretty cool though, right before midnight I opened our window and when midnight hit confetti from Times Square came flying through the window. That was fun.

On Monday Dom helped me get to the urgent care doctors office to get me on some antibiotics so I could get better. As soon as the doctor looked in my ear she almost jumped back and said "woah!" Guess I had a pretty gnarly ear infection going on in there and thats why I was so sick. I haven't had an ear infection since I was a youngster and my ears didn't hurt but she said there was a ton of fluid and whatnot. She prescribed a z-pac (my favorite!) and off to Duane Reade we went! Turns out they don't take my health insurance anymore but they gave me a killer discount because I clearly needed the meds ASAP and didn't know they didn't cover me. With antibiotics and Pedialyte in hand I almost skipped home I was so happy that I would be feeling better soon. Lo and behold by Tuesday I was feeling SO much better! Not fully recovered but well on my way.

Kelsey and Leah headed home to the west coast on Wednesday. And it's been very quiet here. I'm excited to get back to work demoing to get away from the apartment. I don't know if I'd ever be able to live by myself, I am not a fan of it and it's been less than a week. I'd definitely get a dog or two haha

I'm not really sure what this year has in store. I'm hoping for the best but in all honesty I'm just trying to keep my head above water. It's a pancake year. And you always throw the first one out :)

Christmas came early this year :)

This week at home has been quite relaxing and incredibly enjoyable. And I seem to have done exactly what I told people I was going to do: eat, PUPPIES, eat, eat, family, oh- and eat.

After getting off the plane incredibly delirious, my parents and I stopped by our friends Dan and Sara's house to drop some fire wood off and say hello to everyone at their beer and cheese tasting (Dan brews EXCELLENT beers and Sara makes DELICIOUS cheeses). We stayed for a quick beer and I got a short chance to catch up with people.

Then I got to see my puppies :)

I don't think they quite remembered who I was at first, but after they got their jollies of "Mom's home!!" out they both jumped in my lap and showered me in kisses. It was a glorious reunion. Oh- and so was seeing my brothers! Epic back-cracking bear hugs and making fun of me... I was definitely home.

On Sunday I met up with some of the Bakery Babes at Hollister Brewing Company :) The Mac-n-cheese is still excellent and it was so much fun catching up with the girls. After that we did a family trip (minus Logan, who was in the throws of pulling together Holiday Package) to Santa Barbara's very own REI store! I thought they did a very nice job with it, though the layout of the store threw both my mom and I off a bit. We don't know why but the store felt backward. My mom made Beef Stroganoff that night. OH MY GOD I MISSED MY MOM'S COOKING SO MUCH!!!

I had to make a few stops to the old stomping grounds and enjoy EXCELLENT raise donuts. I still have not found donuts as good as Anna's Bakery on the east coast... God they are good! We went on Monday morning early (since it was Lauren's last day) and Wednesday. It was great seeing my old bosses too :) I certainly do miss working there...

Noms!

My mom and I decorated the tree after the bakery adventure. They got their tree at Costco this year and I think it's the last year they'll do that. It was a bit tricky decorating but fun nonetheless!

Yay!

Around 9:30 I started craving an In-n-Out burger (Ya gotta understand, I'm on East Coast time...) so I went and got one and some animal fries. Totally worth it!

Animal fries. I only eat them once a year but hot damn they are delicious!!

Sunset on the way to UCSB, picking up the pops from work.

Monday evening we all went to see opening night of Holiday Package. For those of you who are not familiar with Holiday Package it is a student written, directed, and produced sketch comedy show that Dos Pueblos High School has been putting on for 41 years (or some crazy number like that). They have 2 weeks to put it on and it's all about making fun of the school, teachers, silly holiday traditions, and culminates with the male ballet. This year Logan is the Theater Arts Boosters (TAB) president so he and 3 other officers were in charge of putting it on. I must say, for only having one week to throw a whole show together, they did a fantastic job! The first night was a little rocky, and it was definitely the most risqué Holiday Package to date, but quite enjoyable.

On Tuesday I had lunch with my dear friend Sydney at Super Cucas. It was SO great seeing her and catching up with her. She is a baller and going to Panama with the Peace Corps at the beginning of January to teach high school age kids english. I love see old friends after a long stretch of time and you pick up right where you left off :) Best of luck to you Sydney! I'm hoping I'll be able to pull my act together at some point to come visit you!! We had my mom's famous flank steak for dinner... So. Freaking. Delicious.

Wednesday was fraught with purpose! Since I wasn't home for Thanksgiving and I will not be home for actual Christmas day we decided to have our early Christmas celebrations on Thursday. So naturally Wednesday is when we all did our elfing. We went and took advantage of the sale at the UCSB bookstore and had lunch at Freeb!rds :) Yumm-o!

Thursday was the Michaels Clan's Christmas celebration! Yay! My mom and I spent most of the day cooking a Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner (we called it Thankschristming dinner, cuz we're just that cool...) 

This is the best way to cook a turkey. Brine that sucker. Oh- and this was also the smallest turkey Costco had: 20 pounds.

We are such good little helpers!

So it didn't quite fit in the pan...

and it barely fit in the oven. But Mama Michaels made it work.

Stuffing makings....

Spencer carved the beast this year. Papa Michaels you trained him well!

This is pretty standard in our house...

Merry Christmas from the Michaels Clan!!

The dinner was SO GOOD!! The turkey was perfect. And per Thanksgiving tradition I ate entirely too much but loved every bite of it. My mom bought some poppers at Costco so we popped them open after dinner and had some fun with the prizes inside.

While my mom and Logan were off at Holiday Package, Spencer, my dad and I did some last minute elfing and gift wrapping. My brothers wanted gifts to open on Christmas morning so my family opened my gifts and a few others, and we got our stocking stuffers, and my dad surprised our mom with a very nice gas grill. She's been wanting one for YEARS but my dad would never cave to using a gas grill (he's a charcoal man all the way) so this was a huge surprise for her :)

Friday morning was spent lounging around with this guy. It was pretty wonderful. Then my parents and I went into a deserted IV for some Bagel Cafe. God I missed Bagel Cafe and it's chive cream cheese :)

Noms!

After bagels I figured I could not be that close to the beach and NOT make a quick stop. I miss this coastline.... So gorgeous.

The rest of Friday I napped. My mom and puppies had a terrifying experience with a rottweiler/pitbull mix. It busted through a fence and went for Gus and Xander. My mom was a baller and pinned the dog between the ground and fence, while calling Spencer to come help her and keeping Gus and Xander away from the dog. The wounds were minimal (thank goodness!!) but Xander got a straight through puncture on one of his ears, and both dogs were really shaken up by it :(

Saturday came all too soon :( My dad had to go on a camping trip with the Boy Scout troop his Assistant Troopmasters for so we said our goodbyes very early in the morning. My mom, brothers and I went to breakfast at Cajun Kitchen. It was a great last meal to have in Santa Barbara. My brothers and I said our goodbyes at the house (they wanted to stay and play the new xbox games they got for xmas). So my mom took me the airport and sent me on my way back to New York.

It was great being home, but it was incredibly odd as well. Santa Barbara didn't feel like home anymore. I felt like a guest, only visiting for the week. Besides being able to get a decent burrito anytime of the day/night, the thing I miss most about SB is my family. I also didn't realize how much I really do LOVE living in New York City. It's where I am suppose to be, right now, at this point in my life. So, while I was sad to leave my family I was quite excited to get back to the east.

My flights were boring and uneventful. THANK GOD!!! I was thrilled! I got back into the city around 1 am, passed out, and was up again at 7am to get ready to go to Philadelphia for a friend (Claire) from UCSB's wedding! I took the train there and arrived SUPER early, Kelsey had taken the train on Saturday since she was a bridesmaid. I got to see Claire in her gorgeous wedding dress; she wore a modified version of her mom's dress and looked absolutely stunning! Kelsey and Savannah looked pretty in their bridesmaids dresses and the venue was beautiful. It was interesting being at an orthodox jewish wedding. The bride and groom are separated for the entire week prior to the wedding and the moment when Claire and Arkadiy first saw each other was magical.

All in all, it was a very fun and joyous occasion and a great ending to a wonderful break!

Now the job hunt begins again. I received an email from my bosses at Dolce Vizio, and after a month of being open for breakfast they realize that they are losing more money than they are making. So they will no longer be serving breakfast. They love working with me and offered me different hours but I am taking this as my sign to get out of the food industry. So I'm hoping to find some tech work or a temp job. I am still demoing for Zola, so there's that, but I do have to pay bills/rent. Ah, adult life...

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!