Tra la la

Life is coming together. I got cast in a show ("Bebe" in A Chorus Line at Seattle Musical Theater. Three cheers for a paid gig!) and though rehearsals haven't started yet, the knowledge that soon I will once again be involved in something theatrical is reassuring. I feel like I can relax and really enjoy this bit of downtime  without stressing out about job hunting or auditioning or whether or not I'm going anywhere in life. I have a job that pays the bills and a show lined up through March. I'm quite content.

Speaking of Starbucks, things are humming along quite nicely. I've somewhat (as much as one humanly can) grown accustomed

Okay. Woah.

I started this post two days ago and was super into it, and then Ricky started talking to me and I got distracted and never finished it. And now I'm just not feeeeeling it, you know? Also, my friend Katherine came over for our semi-occasional-bi-weekly tradition of Tequila Tuesdays, so I'm obviously in a different head-space. A more drunk head-space.

And now I have nothing of interest to say.

Here is a picture of me.

In this picture I have bangs, a recent development. I hate them. I have recently taken to pushing them to the side, pinning them up, and generally pretending they aren't there. Also in this picture I have no nose.

My name is Kate, and I'm a barista.

Oh, heeeeey blog. What's up? You thought I forgot about you? No! Why would I - you're the love of my life, my creative outlet. You heard what?! Another blog?! Nooooooo. No, it's not what you think. It's not even a blog, it's a tumblr account. It's like, nothing. And I don't even write things, it's mostly just reposting interesting articles and funny pictures of babies. You're tired of me coming here and talking about how I'm totally going to post regularly and then bailing out for a month straight? I'm giving you false hope? Blog, you need to calm down.

Okay, blog has a tiny point. 

Seriously though, I miss blogging. And it's not that I haven't had time. I have. It's just...well....I've been sleepy.

So, you remember when I said this new Starbucks was going to be a 9-5 kind of thing? Apparently that's just what they say to lure you in. Turns out it's more of a 4:30am to noon kind of thing. All it took was me mentioning that I prefer morning shifts so that I could pursue performing in the evenings to get me permanently relegated to the opening shift for all eternity. 

In all honesty, once (if) my body ever figures out what's going on, it will probably work great. I get off at noon, have a nap, and then have plenty of time to go to rehearsals and things. Unfortunately that hasn't happened yet. I think part of the problem is that when I worked at Snoqualmie, I usually got home around 3 am, and was in bed around 3:45. Now I get up at 3:45 am. And before I worked at Snoqualmie, I opened at Panera Bread, where I had to be up at 4:30 am. So I've kind of been flip-flopping my internal clock around for a year, interspersed with a period of three months this summer where I actually just didn't sleep at all.

I'm not entirely sure I even have an internal clock anymore. 

So, my days of late have consisted of working early in the morning, coming home and eating lunch, passing out for two-plus hours, waking up feeling vaguely nauseous (does anyone else get nap nauseous? Is that just me?), puttering around for a few hours and then going back to bed in an attempt to get good sleep before waking up again. It's not a perfect schedule, but I'm working on it. 

Anyways, that's it. No pictures this post because I haven't taken any. Just thought I'd let everyone know I was alive and still literate. 

I'm back.

So, once again, it's been a tremendously long time since I've posted anything. My new goal is to stop starting my blog posts like that. But I'm thinking that's not going to be a problem because once again my life has gotten all changed up again and I find myself with a little more free time. Why?

Oh, I just quit my job.

Before anyone gets crazy, let me explain. I loved being a cocktail waitress. I loved making good tips and working a fun environment. But I didn't love never being home on nights and weekends.  And I didn't love that I never got to see my friends and family. And I really didn't love that I couldn't audition for shows because, as you know, shows generally happen during nights and weekends. And if I'm not dancing and choreographing and being in musicals, what is really the point? So, I'll be making less money, but I am one hundred percent confident that my general life quality will improve.

I start my brand spanking new job at Starbucks downtown (which also means I'll be saving a bundle on gas not having to drive myself up into the mountains everyday). It's going to be more of a 9-5, Monday through Friday kind of thing, which I'm exceptionally pumped about. And in just this first weekend I've had off, I've managed to see about a billion different friends that probably thought I had dropped off the face of the earth, cooked some delicious home-made dinners, and spent a whole day with my family. There is a little tiny part of me that is stressed out about my finances now that my income will be significantly less, but the rest of me is just so relieved that I'll be able to do what I love to do and spend time with the people I love, that I think it's going to be worth it.

We put a chandelier in the entryway. Our apartment is getting fancier and fancier.

Other things have happened since I last updated, but I can't remember them all. So let's just do a brief overview.

1. I finished my summer at Stage Struck. There were days when those kids melted my heart with cuteness and other days that I wanted to punch some of them in the face. But in the end, when they were wearing their lion manes made out of yarn, lisping their way through the billionth chorus of "We're off to See the Wizard" for a room packed full of proud parents and grandparents, I couldn't help but fight back a few tears. They worked so hard. And they were so cute. And only one of them wet his pants.

2. Ricky is totally fine. Don't even worry about it.

3.  My Value Village pictures went up in-store, since Halloween is just around the corner, and I have to say - it's pretty legit. I've been trying to play it cool, like, oh yeah there are posters of myself on the windows of that store over there but, you know, no big deal. Except for THERE ARE LIFE SIZE POSTERS OF MYSELF ON THE WINDOWS OF THAT STORE AND UNLESS YOU ARE A MODEL OR CELEBRITY, HOW OFTEN DOES THAT HAPPEN IN YOUR LIFE? Let me tell you, not often.

Annnnnnd, that's about it. I promise, promise, promise that I'm for real going to post more frequently. For real. I really am. (Not that anyone really cares. How many people are still reading this blog anyways?)

But I am.

For real.

GPOY!

A few months ago, my friend and photographer extraordinaire allowed my to take part in his ongoing GPOY! project, in which he shoots Gratuitous Pictures Of Yourself for anyone who wants to come play with him. And I just can't say no to some fun camera time. Here are my favorite shots:

A Headache Cure

Last Monday, at the beginning of my two-week mini break in between camps, I got a little headache on the left side of my brain. It was like my body had been storing all the stress from last month and a half and waiting patiently for an appropriate time to let it run rampant. It's been a little over a week now - and I still have the headache.

You guys, I NEVER GET HEADACHES.

I mean, it's not constant, it comes and goes. But still. Someone mentioned that it might be a tension headache, which led to a dream in which it was actually diagnosed as a tension headache, but in dreamland a "tension headache" meant "hole in your brain".

My brain is weird.

Anyways, this morning was especially bad. I was starting to feel like a rich old recluse, a la Big/Little Edie, shut up in my apartment and being forced to lay down a spell anytime the pain got too great. Luckily Ricky got out of school early and made me to go out with him before we both had to go to work. And wouldn't ya know it, my headache went away.

Lil' Woody's Burgers. Burger heaven.

So, like usual, we wandered around and it was sunny and I felt better and better about life the more we walked around. Funny how that works. 

I picked up some cute little handmade cards with the intention of sending them off to my friends as a nice little I'm-thinking-about-you-and-I-love-you surprise (maybe a little inspired by the always inspiring Kelle Hampton). But then I realized I don't know any of my friends actual addresses. I know their e-mail addresses, and their facebook pages, and their tumblrs, and diligently follow their tweets, but when it comes to their physical location in space? You got me.

So maybe, friends, if you are reading this, could you do me a favor? Could you discreetly send me your address so I can discreetly file it away and then a little while later I will send you a lovely handmade card and you will get it and be filled with love and you can say "What a surprise! That Kate is so nice to think of me, and completely of of the blue like that!"

Yes, I think that plan will do just fine.

Oh, and those of you who sent me your addresses for the giveaway I did awhile back? I lost all of them. I over-zealously cleaned out my inbox of the literally thousands of e-mails I had stored in there, and my carelessness and eagerness to be finished with the task got the best of me. 

So, if you are one of those people, maybe you should resend it. 

 That's all. Happy Wednesday.

PS. My headache is gone for the moment, but I know it will come back. It always comes back. Does anyone have any real headache cures they want to offer up? I've been popping Advil like it's going out of style, drinking tons of water, and resting a lot. Is there something I'm over-looking?

Gotta get some words out.

For some reason, I think perhaps because I went so long without posting, when I think about writing a blog post now I get all twisty and nervous. Like, whatever I have to say won't be interesting or funny or blog-worthy enough to blog about. Which is just dumb. Not because everything I do is thrilling, but because I like writing and I like chronicling my life and that is enough. 

So there, self.

I have been wandering around the neighborhood some more, trying to break in the new camera (whilst avoiding looking like a creepy stalker taking pictures of strangers).

Side Note: If you have never seen a game of bike polo being played, getcho' ass to Cal Anderson park on Capitol Hill around dusk any summer night, settle in with some Molly Moon's Ice Cream from around the corner, and prepare for the most intense sporting event you have ever witnessed.

Other than that, not a whole lot new to report. Aching to dance more, to perform more in general. Still on the hunt for a daytime friendly job. Still counting down the months (nine!) until the NYC move happens. Oh, and Ricky has steadily been building his underground bartending empire.

PS. He's got his own blog now, so if you are alcoholically inclined, check him out!

And while we're posting links, I have a special one. I just woke Ricky up from a nap to show him, and while he was enthused he was also really sleepy and thus his excitement didn't translate appropriately. But maybe the internetz will care about me. Because some of my photo shoot pictures are up and I'm bursting with excitement!.

So go look at that, if you please. I'm the girl in the superhero outfit. You can't miss it.

Hey there, stranger

Well hi there, blog land. It's been awhile.

My hiatus, while completely intentional, was not welcome. In fact, it was a little miserable, and I don't mean just the not-blogging part. I've been really busy, you guys.

My days for the last six weeks have been as follows: get up at eight AM, zoom through a Starbucks for some much-needed caffeine, and arrive at camp by 9:15. Between the hours of 9:30 and 3:00 wrangle children, break up fights, make sure they eat lunches, attempt to teach them dances, avoid being bitten. Rush home at 3:15, eat something, do my hair, head off to the casino by 4:45. Walk around in heels, serving drinks until two in the morning. Get home by 3:00 AM and attempt to get as much sleep as possible before waking up and doing it all again.

I think it goes without saying that there have been a lot of tears. Tears of pure exhaustion. In fact, in a moment of sheer desperation I called my mom on the way to work and told her I was going to quit my casino job that very night. She, as mothers tend to do, persuaded my to maybe think that decision over after I'd had some sleep.

What would we do without mothers?

Anyways, I have a two-week break from the camps before my last round of madness, but I'm using this lull in my schedule to get Blatheration up and running again. Because I've really missed blogging. Also, sleeping. I've missed sleeping a lot.

And now for a short list of very important updates from the last six weeks:

1. I (finally) got a camera. No more phone pictures for me!

2. Ricky has taken to blow-torching the kitchen on a regular basis. He has this thing about fruit flys, and now spends his free time with a small can of WD-40 and a lighter manically purging the kitchen of the tiny offenders. The result has been an influx of fly carcasses and black smudges all over everything that give the appearance that the kitchen recently underwent atomic bomb testing.

3. Although the heat wave that is wiping out the entire country is blatantly avoiding Seattle, it is finally feeling a bit like summer around here. Sometimes I go to the park beside my apartment and if I squint my eyes just a little, it feels like Paris.

4. I've made some important life decisions. As much as I enjoy my job (well, as much as I enjoy making such good money) I've decided that it's time to move on. Working at night has prevented me from auditioning for things as rehearsals often take place in the evening, and performances always do. So I haven't been performing. Which is a problem. Also, I miss having evenings free, cooking, seeing Ricky every day, having a social life, ect.

So. Things have changed a bit around here and more changes are on their way. But stay tuned! I'm back for good this time. Promise.

Self-portrait. Couldn't help it.

A picture-less, pitiful, post.

Oh. My blog is sad.

I totally forgot to mention this in a timely manner, but I am RIDICULOUSLY BUSY and blogging has regrettably fallen to the wayside. While I am not happy about this, I am also not happy about the lack of sleep I have been getting, and the fact that my family is currently on vacation without me, and that I basically only see Ricky between the hours of 10 AM and 2 PM on Sunday afternoons (admittedly this is an exaggeration, but that's what it feels like). So, you know. Priorities.

Why am I so busy? Well, I'll tell you. Back in December, when I was doing Red Ranger at Book-It, the pianist for the show noticed that I worked really well with the kids in the cast. He asked if I had any experience teaching kids, which I did, and told me about this summer camp called Stage Struck that his wife worked with. He mentioned they were hiring and asked for my resume to pass along to the camp's director. One thing led to another, and by February I was hired for four different camps, stretching over 8-weeks of summer. At the time I was working less than 15 hours a week at Panera Bread and doing not much else, so it seemed like the perfect summer job. I figured I would keep a couple of Panera shifts for the weekends and work Stage Struck during the week. Awesome, right?

No.

Actually, I'm making this seem like this job super sucks, but it really doesn't. I love it. I love working with kids, I love teaching dance, I love musicals. It's just that between running around after hyped up wanna-be hip hop dancers all day and waitressing at night, there isn't a lot of time for anything else. In fact, this coming Friday I'm working a total of 17 hours in one 24 hour period. I. Am. Tired.

(hee hee I accidentally just wrote I. Am. Turd. SEE HOW TIRED I AM?)

Unfortunately, this stretched-too-thin, say-yes-to-every-job offered, workaholic mentality is pretty much my M.O. at this point. (If we harken back to last spring we may recall a time where I was taking 25 credits and choreographing three musicals at the same time.) The upside is that I'm able to save lots of money for the big Exodus to NYC 2012.

The downside? I end up with days like yesterday, stomping around angrily in my heels and tiny black cocktail dress, glaring at throngs of customers who dared show up at the dimly lit casino to push buttons for hours on end on the most beautiful Washington 4th of July in recent memory. Somehow the fact that it was relatively busy for a Monday night made the fact that I was working on the 4th all that much worse. Who goes to a casino on the 4th of July?!

I mean really.

Anywho, I'm hoping to keep blogging somewhat consistently, but at this point it seems like quite a lofty goal. I, of course, have no intentions of abandoning Blatheration, but I think things will be scaled back a bit for the time being.

Till we meet again, internetz.

Vegan Frozen Banana Cream

As a slightly younger person (probably around nineteen or twenty) I was frighteningly obsessed with Jamba Juice's Peanut Butter Moo'd - a delicious combination of frozen yogurt, peanut butter, and banana. I consumed one nearly every day until a friend who worked for Jamba Juice informed me how not-so-healthy they actually were. Devastated, I gave up my beloved treat. For years now, I have avoided Jamba Juice, but every once in awhile I still get a craving for that creamy peanut butter goodness.

Here is where the magic comes in. 

(I should preface this by saying that this is not a smoothie. However, it is a frozen, custardy, ice-cream-like, healthy treat that that is far too delicious to actually be healthy. So delicious in fact that yesterday this was all I ate for lunch. And I was totally okay with that.)

Vegan Frozen Banana Cream

*Adapted from Shape Magazine's June 2011 Issue

Ingredients:

1 banana 

Mixer of choice (peanut butter, chocolate sauce, caramel, this list could go on forever)

Instructions:

1. Cut up your banana into small bite-size pieces, and stick in plastic baggie. Put baggie in the freezer, and allow banana a few hours to completely freeze. (I cut up a bunch of bananas at once, put them in individual baggies, and am storing them in the freezer to be used whenever the craving hits.)

2. Once frozen, remove from baggie and put banana into food processor. Add your mixer of choice. I chose a tablespoon of peanut butter because, as we discussed, I love banana and peanut butter.

3. Process until smooth, remove to a bowl, and consume. 

Note* 

My final product, as you can see in the first photo, turned out a tad chunky. I'm pretty sure that this is because I used chunky peanut butter. It wasn't a problem for me, but if you are firmly anti-chunk I would hazard to guess that smooth peanut butter (or chocolate or caramel) would result in a creamier looking product. 

Thank you, you're welcome, really it was nothing, and happy official first day of summer!

It's raining, it's pouring

I absolutely love rainy Saturday mornings. Something about rolling out of bed to little peaks of gray coming through the windows, looking out at the mist and the seagulls, cozying up in my fleece sweatshirt and wool socks, and sipping some expertly made Ricky-coffee that makes my heart happy. I love that I can venture out into the city in my boots, that I can come out of a sweaty dance or yoga class and be greeted by cool, refreshing air, or that I can simply step out my front door and gaze down the hill at the Puget Sound getting all frothy and adventurous.

I like adventure. 


Today I'm baking bread, looking for a Father's Day gift, performing at On the Boards, and then heading off to work. Long, busy, day.

Also, this is very up in the air right now so I'm going to be very vague and secret-y, but I think I may have scored an additional job for next school year at a very reputable location doing something that I actually enjoy and am good at doing and involving musical theater. I'll still be working my cocktailing job, but this would be great both for my resume and for my efforts to squirrel away as much money as possible for The Big Move.

I have some dough to go squish now, so I'm off. Enjoy this lovely Saturday, whether you have sun or rain.

I'm still alive!

Apparently Blatheration went on a very brief and totally unintentional hiatus. Things got busy, I have a show happening this weekend, and just plumb forgot to post things. 

My bad.

I suppose a tiny update is therefore in order. The afore mentioned show is the North West New Works festival at On the Boards. Please come check it out if you are in the Seattle area and in the mood for some quirky dance, theater, and singing.

I still have my car and I still love it. 

I went crazy at Lululemon yesterday and bought shorts, pants, and a sports bra. I think that purchasing three items at another store would not normally be considered ridiculous but OMG HAVE YOU SEEN THEIR CRAZY PERSON PRICES? However, Ricky bought me a Lululemon sweatshirt for Valentines Day this year and I love it and I think I will enjoy the things I bought. Also, I was having a little buyers remorse as I left the store, but then I got to my dress rehearsal and David (my choreographer) gave me my paycheck for the show. Which was 100% more than I thought it would be, because up until that point I wasn't aware that I was getting paid at all. So then I had some super surprise money and I felt better about the whole thing in general. 

Speaking of feeling better about things, I've been doing some pondering lately. Sometimes, if I've  had a bad audition, or if I haven't taken a dance class in awhile, or if I seriously think about the fact that I'm college educated and am working a job that doesn't even require a high school diploma, I feel a little squishy about the career path I have chosen. There is a lot of rejection, and a lot of financial stress, and a lot of working crazy hours at weird jobs. I came to the realization the other day (while driving my super fine car) that I'm a smart person, and if I wanted to I could probably be very successful at a more traditional lawyer, dentist, teacher kind of job. BUT THEN the Tony's happened and I was reminded that actually I didn't choose this career path. I was LadyGagaBornThisWay. I have to only do this. I HAVE TO I HAVE TO OR I WILL DIE.

woah, passion.

In order to fully demonstrate my point, I present you with the 2011 Tony performance of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. I've choreographed this musical before, and normally when I see other productions of musicals I've done (even Broadway productions) I'm secretly like, "Psh, mine was better". But I will willingly admit that this choreography is fucking amazing. So, please watch this video with me (I've watched it five times today already). 

I actually don't understand how anybody would ever want to do anything else but this.

An Audition Story

I don't normally post about auditions on this blog. I do this completely consciously because although I like to maintain the facade that I am super normal and well-balanced, I'm secretly a hyper-nervous superstitious lunatic and I'm terrified of jinxing things.

However, it came to my attention that my readership is primarily made up of non-theater types (that I'm aware of anyways. I haven't forgotten about you, creepy lurkers.) So I thought I'd give some insight into the wonderful world of auditioning. Because BOY DID I HAVE A CRAZY ONE THIS WEEK.

It was a dance audition, for a venue that shall remain nameless, with a choreographer who will go down in my personal history as the most *ahem* artistic man I have yet to encounter.

I knew a good chunk of the dancers there, so after signing in, handing over our headshots and resumes, and receiving out name-tag stickers, we were all hanging out, stretching and what not. The din of catching-up chatter and vigorous warming-up was interrupted when the choreographer wandered into our midst and, without saying anything, started doing a tiny dance.

Gradually people caught on to what was happening and tried to follow along. However, instead of facing away from us, as is customary, he danced looking straight at us, causing much confusion and cockamamie attempts to reverse the choreography to match what he was doing.

Finally he stopped, sighed, and announced in a vague European accent,

"I vill demo this for you, but do not copy me. You must make it your own."

So, he demos the combination, and immediately the room is in a frenzy of music and dancers all doing the combo in their own unique way. Different facings, different timings, all manner of leg and arm variations. We dance non-stop, trying to figure out what he wants, hoping he'll notice us.

Finally, he stops everyone and sighs exasperatedly,

"Vell, I vill be honest. You're simply ruining my choreography. Ruining it. You are all late and are doing nothink about it! I can't help you if you do not get on the horse and ride it. You must ride the horse!"

So, again, the cacophony of music and dancing begins again, only manic this time. Everyone dancing as fast as they can, trying to passionately ride the horse. The choreographer divides us up into groups, motions for us to begin, and then wanders away to talk to other dancers, completely ignoring the poor souls who were dancing their hearts out. 

Finally, after all the groups have gone, he announces that he would like to see solos,

"But only if you truly desire."

Obviously, everyone wants the job. So everyone desires to do a solo. So we stand there. For an hour. While every single dancer does a solo.

You can imagine that this became tedious very quickly. Luckily, the choreographer extraordinaire would periodically hurl scandalous insults, temporarily rekindling our interest. At one point, he stopped a poor guy in the middle of his passionate, horse riding solo to tell him that he "vas making the choreography look very flat".

Eventually, after everyone's solo desires had been met, he let us go. And the dancers of Seattle wandered out into the street in a collective daze, with hopes dashed and egos wilting. 

It's a strange profession.

Week in Review

This week has just flown by.

Ricky and I went out to breakfast at our favorite Capitol Hill restaurant and plotted our move to NYC.

And ate some frozen yogurt in the park.

And even supported some of Chris' cohorts at a genuine dance battle (at which I felt unbelievably white).

Now I'm jonesing to take a hip hop class. I'm also jonesing to buy legit camera so that I can take action shots on something other than my phone. Because I'm doing really well at my resolution to take more pictures and this silly camera phone is simply not cutting it anymore.

But now I can officially start saving for one because I FINALLY BOUGHT A CAR THIS WEEK. It's a gold 2003 Pontiac Grand Am. More than one person has called it a grandma car, but it's a car and it works and I am satisfied. I had to do really grown-up things like go to the bank and buy insurance and nonsense like that, and now I'm feeling weirdly adult. 

Didn't work much this week, but tonight it's back to the grind. More scheduling conflicts have presented themselves so I'm stressing about that. Again. Blah. Why can't I just have steady performing work and not have to bother with this day (night) job stuff?

Urg.

But I have a car. :)

The Summer Day

I was feeling kind beat down today. Kind of tired, kind of stressed, but mostly a just plain ol' lack of confidence, trusting what others believe I can do vs. what I believe (what I know) I can do. You know?

So I did a little happiness therapy. I snuck off to sunnny downtown Seattle and bought three little make-me-smile treats.

Earrings, nail polish, and a 5-year, question-a-day journal.

And while I was wandering around Anthropologie, wishing I had more space in my apartment for their millions of precious knick-knacks, I started thinking about my life, and my goals, and my dreams. And there, among the dresses and bars of soap and dishtowels I made some resolutions.

I will make more art.

I will take more pictures.

I will compliment strangers out loud, instead of being overcome by shyness and just thinking the compliments in my head.

I will move to New York by this time next year and continue to pursue my dreams whole-heartedly. With every fiber.

Someday, when the time is right, I will have babies.

I will enjoy the hell out of being young.

I will age gracefully.

I will read, I will read, I will read.

I will work hard to maintain friendships that are meaningful to me.

I will take nothing too seriously and savor victories small and large.

Today was the first day that it's truly felt like summer here in Seattle and I'm looking forward to the plans I have for the next few months. A while back I asked for book recommendations and then I went on Amazon and bought a cheap used copy of every single recommendation I got. My goal is to read them all by September. I'm working on my splits. I'm going to cook a lot. And, if all goes according to plan, I may very well be learning how to drive a stick shift.

.....tell me, what do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

dancing in the basement

A few pics captured of Marlo Martin's 'dancing in the basement' for your viewing pleasure on this sunny Saturday morning. From the show I was in a few weeks ago.

Happy Weekend!

Promo Video

The promo video for the Northwest New Works Show was just posted, and it's making me extra excited for this show. Check it out below (I'm in Quark Contemporary Dance Theater, there's a split second shot of me with my black hood up and sunglasses on somewhere in the middle of the video.)


NW New Works 2011 Trailer from ontheboards on Vimeo.


And that's about it.

Move along, nothing to see here.

I Love Lists

We're just going to give up on that whole "I'm going to blog every day this week" thing. Okay? My schedule is just too sporadic and unpredictable to be able to reliably keep that promise. So stop hounding me. Jeez.

But, in all seriousness, I do love blogging and am sad that I can't do it on the regular. Maybe someday I will have enough time/creativity to think of something interesting to say every day.

However, in the meantime, I'm going to indulge myself and make a list-post because that is my new favorite blogging technique.

1. I'm currently eating chocolate frozen yogurt. This is okay for many reasons. The first being that yogurt is a healthy, normal morning thing to eat. And yes I do consider 12:36 PM to be morning time, thank you very much. The second reason is that I just bought a shiny new pink ice cream scoop and I needed to make sure it worked properly. (It does.)

2. Speaking of the color pink, I've spent most of my life denying that I am a "girly-girl", but I think it's time to face facts. I don't leave the house without make-up on. I basically buy dresses in bulk. I love musicals, floral print, ballet flats, ballet in general, doing my hair, and painting my nails. And my favorite color is pink.

I can't help it. PS. That's my dad in the corner. :)

3. I miss my girly-girl partner in crime. Alli, the lovely redhead pictured above, was my roommate for my last two years of college. After a horrendous first two years of college - shaky romantic relationship, crowded dorms, death of my sister - my two years living with Alli and her sister Tommie, were the best I could have asked for. We baked all the time, and went shopping, watched Friends dvd's like there was no tomorrow, and danced a lot. She is now living with her boyfriend Justin and teaching first grade. I love living with Ricky, but sometimes I really miss staying up late, melting chocolate chips and peanut butter to eat with bananas, and stretching together while watching dancing shows and gossiping. 

4. I just got distracted from writing this post by Faces of Meth. SO FRIGHTENING. DON'T EVEN GOOGLE IT. FORGET I SAID ANYTHING.

5. Geesh. Still recovering. Happy girly blog, happy girly blog.

6. I think we better stop before things take a turn for the worst. 

Happy Thursday?

I have weird friends.

I am screeching in with thirty-five minutes to go in order to keep my "I'm going to blog every day this week" resolution (we're not counting Memorial Day, obviously). My excuse is that I keep odd hours anyways, so blogging at 11:25 is normal and therefore totally counts.


Yes.

Last night Ricky and I both went to bed at the same time and at a reasonably decent hour, which is an extremely rare occasion in our household. The victory was short-lived, however, when we were awoken abruptly by the sound of someone shooting a gun into our bedroom window. And by "shooting a gun" I mean "throwing eggs really hard". However, in my groggy state all I could discern was "I think I just heard a loud noise and WHAT THE HELL RICKY JUST DOVE ONTO THE GROUND OH MY GOD I SHOULD DO THAT TOO OH MY GOD OH MY GOD WE ARE GOING TO DIE.

I poked my head up two seconds later, cowering on the floor on my side of the bed, to find Ricky yelling out the window to our dear, laughing friends, Jo and Chris.

They look really innocent here, but you shouldn't be fooled.

Anyways, we let them in. They brought us beer. And we proceeded to, at three in the morning, stay up talking about nothing and everything (mostly in reference to pooping). 

It's times like this that I'm glad I'm young and free of major responsibilities and living in the city.

I'm happy.

I'm not happy I have egg to clean off of our windows.

Things on my mind

Today I bought new shoes for work. I've developed an extremely painful bunion on my right foot that is starting to make dancing very ouchy (which, as you may have guessed, is a big problem). Also, it has become apparent to me that both of my big toenails are going to fall off in the near future. Not a joke. So.....you know. Anyways, after months of just dealing with it (read: being to lazy to actually go and hunt down good work heels) I finally went out and shelled out money for some quality shoes. They were a tad pricey, but I did my research and they have received nothing but good reviews. Also, they are cute and vintage and kicky. I like cute and vintage and kicky.

In other news; I am currently painting my finger nails a lovely pale pink.

Also, can we talk about how I really suck at blogging lately? I have a "Young People Kicking Ass" post I need to type up and I just keep getting distracted by my life. So my goal, in addition to getting that post up, is to blog every single day for the coming week. Prepare yourself for some serious mindless rambling.

A Girl With a Master Plan

I have had a small case of writers block lately. And it unfortunately has extended to realms outside of this blog, including, but not limited to, my facebook stati, twitter, tumblr, and the occasional text. So in an effort to combat this obviously very serious and crippling problem, I am going to write a little bit about the first ten things to pop into my head.

Okay. Here we go.

1. On Being a Misinformed Child: I've broached this topic before, but when I was little I thought that any song sung by a man that referred to a woman as "little" or "baby" were songs sung by dads about their little girls. For example, the 1961 hit "My Little Runaway" by Del Shannon was clearly about a little girl who ran away and her dad was very sad. Simple times.

2. Cheese is a really important part of my life.

3. I'm trying to buy a car right now. And by "trying to buy a car" I mean "Sometimes I think about how I really need to get a car, but the process is really intimidating and I almost bought one and then it tried to kill me and then I went to some car dealerships with my family and all the cars seemed nice enough but my dad did not seem to keen on them so I don't trust my own sense of what a quality car even is so I just procrastinate and hope a car will magically show up."

4.  Tony award-winning Broadway star Alice Ripley "liked" a facebook comment I made on a friends profile picture he had taken with her when he went to see "Next to Normal". Alice Ripley thinks I'm funny.

5. I think she's funny.






6.  I am irritated by people who say "sissy" when referring to their sister, old ladies at work who say "You look nice" every single time I bring them a drink - but never tip, anti-abortionists (anti-woman's reproductive rights in general), the Pope, ill-fitting clothing, weather that changes abruptly (unless it changes in a positive direction), and the fact that I will never tan.

7. I do like my hair though.

8. Ricky and I watched "Exit Through the Gift Shop" last night and it was RULLY RULLY GOOD. Even if you don't like documentaries (iluvdocumentaries) you should watch it. That Banksy, he's so funny.

9. I wish I was a street artist.

10.  I will probably never own a dog.

This just in

Sometimes it takes something like an impromptu picture at a coffee house to make you realize that your hair has gotten really freaking long.

In other news, nothing happened today.

Awesome

For those who were at all worried or concerned, I have managed to figure out a way to successfully manage stomach scootering. That show is tonight at 8pm, and two shows tomorrow (Sunday) at 2pm and 8pm. You can buy tickets here if you are in the Seattle area and would like to come see this madness in action!

Also, I have something really cool to tell you guys. Today I performed in a promo video shoot with Quark Contemporary Dance Theater for the Northwest New Works Festival which we will be performing at in June at On the Boards Theater. I keep telling people about this festival and how awesome it is and how really exciting it is for me to be performing at On the Boards but no one (aside from those in the dance community) seem to grasp truly how exciting this is. Even my own parents seem to be no more excited about this than they are about the other stuff I normally do.

This picture is featured on the poster. I can't find the actual poster on the interwebs, so please imagine words and such and you'll get the gist of it.

So, to explain once and for all why this is so cool, let me lay it out for you. On the Boards is partnered with The Joyce Theater in New York City to bring exceptional artists from all over the world to Seattle and other parts of the U.S. AND if that fact weren't enough, the festival I'm performing in was just written about in The New York Times, which you can go read right here. AND ALSO in the article, they called On the Boards "one of America’s best theaters for contemporary performance".  SO YES THIS IS REALLY COOL.

Also, since this post is apparently going to be just me bragging, I finally bought a new computer yesterday! It's a macbook pro and it's beautiful and I just know it's going to improve my blogging and help me be more productive and force me to be a better person and generally complete my life.

Bathroom Madness

My project today (and kind of yesterday) was to do a tiny bathroom make-over.

Look what I maaaaade!

I have dubbed this "mushy heart". It began as ugly peeled away paint on the wall in the shower and is now ugly peeled away paint with the top of a heart kind of around it. It certainly gives the shower more character.

And love.

Value Village frames with hand-drawn diagrams featuring the many ways to make coffee and the recipe for a lemon drop, both printed on pages taken out of a 1953 copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica. The "H" book, to be specific, which Ricky found in the lost and found at school. The drawings are oddly his and hers.

His.
This diagram (and actually this whole idea) is blatantly stolen for the Etsy shop girls can tell. In the name of giving credit where credit is due, I would like to announce that this design is not my own. However, I have a plethora of old books and drawing skills serviceable enough to suit my needs, so I didn't really see the need to shell out hard earned dough when I could just make one for my very own. Also, the shop is closed until June, so I couldn't buy a copy even if I wanted to. #justification

Printed on the "Hay-fever" page

Hers. An original design. I unfortunately am not as pleased with this one as I am the other drawing. I think I may percolate on something else I like to make into a diagram, but for now I'm keeping this one up for the sake of symmetry. I made a really cool one for my mom featuring a tea pot diagram, but tea is not really my thing. Maybe if I had drawn them side by side instead of on top of each other I would like it more? Hm...

Printed on the "Heresy" page.

So, that's it. I'm pretty pleased with the productiveness of this day. Side note: I put on Gangs of New York on netflix while I worked. I paid absolutely no attention. It's still playing and all I can tell you about it is that there is blood and Irish accents.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to have a brownie in a mug!

Contemplative and brownies.

Sometimes I wake up in my apartment with the hardwood floors in my full-size bed with the white and baby blue floral print bedspread and wonder -

"How did I get here?"

Sun shining through the big windows I love so very much.

When did I stop being a teenager sleeping in the sleigh bed I'd had since childhood, spending all my money on clothes and movies with friends and become an adult who willingly cleans the bathroom on a regular basis? And when did I acquire enough items to fill a household all by my lonesome? How did I come up with lamps, and picture frames, and a basket of cleaning supplies, and a food processor? Whenever did I become a person who would walk into Anthropologie and buy a butter dish instead of a dress? A blue butter dish that matches the red and yellow ones my mother has, no less.

It also matches the singular crazy blue wall in the kitchen.

Adulthood has crept up on me quickly and stealthily. And though I generally feel exactly the same as I did at eighteen, I can't deny that I've most definitely gotten older. I bounce back and forth on how okay I am with this fact, and usually settle somewhere in the middle with one side of me being desperately sad that I'm not twelve and can no longer spend a solid afternoon reading in my room and happy that I'm independent and carefree and young enough to still convincingly play a high school student in a movie. 

It's a give and take. 

Subject change. I haven't been on the internet for any measurable amount of time in the last few days because I, believe it or not, have been reading a book (maybe my twelve-year-old self is not so lost after all). I have found that lately I've been spending way, way too much time mindlessly surfing the internet so I made a conscious effort to only use the internet to send the required e-mail and such, and spend the rest of my time doing productive, positive things. I made a birthday present for my mom, did lots of cleaning, and spent an inordinate amount of time re-reading The Poisonwood Bible. It was even better than I remember it being in high school. 

I leave you now with this video of something you should go make right now. Ricky found this yesterday and we immediately tried it. It takes less than three minutes to whip up from start to finish and is way too delicious to be real life. Great for those times when you want a treat in the here and now, but don't want the responsibility of having to consume a whole batch of cookies, or a pie, or what-have-you all by yourself. In the (very distant) future, when I have kids, this will surely be one of those things that will elevate me to super-mom status in the after-school-snack department.

I just read the comment section of this video and apparently this concept is old as the hills and therefore not worth anyones time (foodie snobs, ugh). So, I apologize if you are bored by my discovery. However, if you, like me, aren't hip to this brownie in a mug concoction, please feel free to share in my extreme enthusiasm. I promise I won't tell anyone. 

In which I am a failure

BLAARHGHJKAHSKHDAS.

So you may recall more than one previous post recounting my many troubles getting scheduling all sorted out between my job and rehearsals for the dance company I'm in. Turns out I foolishly wrote things down wrong and now I have this Friday off in order to attend a rehearsal that I was never supposed to be at in the first place and I am scheduled to work this Sunday when I actually really need to be at a very important rehearsal. SO. Despite the many weeks of calls to work and fighting with online scheduling forms, and tears and the many exasperated looks and sighs of frustration from various managers, I have still been deemed an irresponsible loser. Which, yes, is my fault, BUT IT WAS NOT FOR LACK OF TRYING.

Harumph.

Also. You know when you're supposed to do a dance in which you roll around on your stomach on a scooter, which you think you would be really great at, but it turns out stomach scootering is really not your forte? And because it is not your forte, you are so concerned with trying not to fall off said scooter that you never grasp the timing of the choreography? Because of the trying really hard to fall off? And you feel like an absolute failure of a dancer because you can't remember incredibly simple choreography but then you realize that it's not so much dancing as it is gliding into a face plant while wearing a unitard? But that still doesn't really make you feel better because there is someone in the room who actually really rocks at stomach scootering and that makes you feel all the more embarrassed?

Yeah. I know you've all been there.

Hiding in shame.

Anyways, we all know how much that sucks, so I won't elaborate any further. Also, I baked cookies last night from a recipe I got off my cooking-bible-blog, Smitten Kitchen using kind of expensive chocolate chunks and I totally killed them. Like, flat, greasy, melded-together-and-burnt-to-a-crisp killed them. I think the dough may have been too warm? Or something? And I just happened to pull them out of the oven at the same time I received  an e-mail on my phone detailing my afore mentioned failures.

Suffice to say, last night was a complete crash and burn.

(However, it is a slight comfort to know that my very serious life problems right now concern my ineptness at stomach-scootering while wearing a unitard and cookie baking.

It's all about perspective.)