WEverb11: Day Fifteen!

Today's prompt is: What event of 2011 affected you in an unexpected way?

My answer for this one is easy: Dan's new casting job.

I know I've mentioned his new job here before, but I can't really stress enough how much Dan getting this job was a major life event for us. It has changed our lives in so many ways, both expected and unexpected.

When he got the call that he had been hired, we both started jumping up and down and teared up. I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. This was such a victory for him. And it continues to be so.

He no longer has to work at demeaning jobs, like serving ungrateful tourists at T.G.I. Friday's. He no longer has to juggle more than one job all the time. We no longer have to fret about what god-awful things would happen if one of us were to become ill with no health insurance. He no longer dreads going to work, now that he loves his job and feels like he's accomplishing something meaningful. He no longer feels constantly disrespected by his superiors or like he's going to get fired at any minute, and he no longer comes home from work in a shitty mood because of what's going on with his job (or lack thereof).

For all of these reasons and more, I'm so proud of him and what he's accomplished this year. But these were the expected "side effects."

What we (or at least I) didn't really know to expect were the extraordinarily long hours he would be putting in there. Or how different it would be to have him working a normal weekday schedule. Or how much adjustment there would be in our marriage from this career shift of his. It's been a really bumpy road the past few months, but I'm happy to say that I think we've finally got most of it worked out and things are getting much smoother 'round these parts.

And while I wouldn't say that I've loved the rocky journey of the past few months, I am still so proud of him and of our marriage for weathering this little storm.

Beginning WEverb 2011: Words for 2011 & 2012

Although I didn't participate in the month-long Reverb10 daily writing prompts, I loved reading everyone else's posts reflecting on their lives and hoping for their futures. My friend Kim has organized this year's "WEverb11" and since my blogging has been a little...umm...stagnant...over on my little ol' personal blog as of late, I thought this would be just the push I need to do a little writing! And I'm always a sucker for personal reflection and goal setting :)

So today's prompt is:

Encapsulate the year 2011 in one word. Explain why. Imagine it's one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2012 for you?

My word for 2011 is PROGRESS. 

This year has been an absolutely astounding one in our professional lives. Both Dan and I have made enormous steps towards our career aspirations, and after how hard we've busted our asses in this city since we've been here, that's no small thing to say.

Dan landed his first full-time casting gig four months ago, complete with awesome benefits and paid time off (which we will soon be taking advantage of for our New Years cruise to the Bahamas!). I worked on my first Equity show, which made me eligible to join the union; launched my showbiz blog called The Green Room Blog; and went on the first audition that my agent got for me. Suffice it to say, this year was huge for us.

I'm hoping that as 2012 draws to a close, my word will be BALANCE.

Although this year has been amazing for us in many ways, it's also been a bit of a struggle in some ways, too. We've spent a lot of time apart because we've been enjoying such career success, and we've transitioned from having weird, sporadic, any-hours survival jobs to Dan being a regular 9-5'er (okay, 9-9'er...) and me running my own businesses. Like...we get weekends together? What are we supposed to do on Friday nights that isn't work? You mean, we have to be up at the same time every day? 

The latter half of this year has been a little tough on things like the general cleanliness of the corner behind the couch and, oh, our relationship. We still love each other like mad, of course. And the dishes usually don't pile up too high. But next year, I'd like to place more emphasis on being successful in our careers AND working our way back to the relationship/household/general life contentedness that we felt in 2010.

Overall, 2011 was a fantastic year. Really, 2011, you've been swell. But there's always room to tweak things here and there :)

If you'd like to join in on the daily writing prompts, click on over to WEverb11 and join us! Or follow along on twitter using the #WEverb11 hashtag!

Catching You All Up

So it's been an awkwardly long time since I posted here on my little ol' personal blog. I continue to attribute that to the joy I'm finding in being both Editor-In-Chief and a Blogger over at The Green Room Blog. If you ever want to read some really inspiring posts by artists trying to make their way in the showbiz industry, you have to check it out.

But enough about that, over here it's all about me. Hah! Things have been going really well lately. I'm just coming off of working on a fabulous show this summer, where I got my Equity card (a big deal for you non-actor civilians); Dan just got hired as an assistant at a busy NYC casting office (can I get a "woo hoo" for health insurance?!?), and we celebrated our second wedding anniversary just last night. So yeah, other than the super long hours that Dan is working, I have no complaints. I mean, I'd love to book another acting job ASAP, but that will come. I'm not worried.

And although I'm always sad about summer ending (god, I hate winter), I am excited about heading into the holiday season, which really begins for us with our October anniversary, I suppose. Next up: pumpkin picking and choosing a Halloween costume :)

So now you're caught up on all the big changes in our lives of late. I hope you forgive my absence. I do want to leave you with a gem of a picture from my show this summer, just because the costume is so out of character for me:

Yes, those were actual S.W.A.T. team uniforms. The costume shop had to take mine in from every possible direction. I guess they're not used to small people being on S.W.A.T teams, huh? :)

This is Old New York, alright

Dan and I decided to use his day off this week to take a trip we've been meaning to take pretty much since we started dating. Our visit to Coney Island was preceded by a detour to IKEA Brooklyn to return some stuff we didn't end up needing for the massive bookcase/storage unit we assembled. Refund: $200. Sweet. On a side note, taking the free ferry is by far an easier and more exciting way to get there. The shuttle bus sucks.

Onwards to Coney Island. We stopped by the original Nathan's and grabbed some hot dogs to enjoy on the beach. 

We walked by lots of chintzy shops and the famed "Beer Island," to which we saw a no less than seventy-year-old man kneel down and exclaim that he had found heaven early.

The boardwalk was fun and reminiscent of oldtimey New York. I was disturbed by seeing in person the "Shoot the Freak" game that I had read about in the Times.

The beach was pretty dirty, but it was so nice to be out in the breeze. The water was shockingly cold.

I posed for my glamour shot with the ferris wheel in the background. If I wasn't so pale, I wouldn't have blended in with the sand so well. But everyone loves an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini!

All in all, it was a fun time. Although, it was a pretty long subway ride! We'd still go back.

Fringe Fest 2008

As an actress, it is with great shame that I admit to only having seen one Fringe Fest show this year. And further, I admit that it was only because my friend Tal was in it.

It was called WE ARE THE LAWMAKERS and it was a real trip. I definitely enjoyed watching it because the whole thing was so creative and unique. It was also fun to see Tal in her natural habitat, AKA onstage. The show reminded me of the Richard Foreman type stuff we were doing in Royston's class during our last few weeks as Hofstra students (think: oranges stuffed down my shirt actually being philopsophical). I was talking with Dan after the show about how much I enjoy doing that type of theatre. Even if it isn't my favorite thing to do (I mean, who doesn't love a good song and dance?!?), it was such a freeing experience as an actor to participate in that kind of work.

Congrats to Tal and a great cast and crew. Oh, and thanks for forcing me to see a Fringe Fest show. Hopefully, next year, I'll be in one!

The day a Midtown Girl learned to appreciate Washington Heights

I made the trek up to Washington Heights to visit my good friend, Whitney, today. I took the A all the way up to 190th street (anyone for a rousing rendition of "you must take the A train..."?).

When I exited the subway station I was immediately overwhelmed by how much greenery there was for it still being Manhattan. I mean, it was beautiful! And Whitney lives just a few blocks away from Fort Tryon Park, which is gorgeous and lush itself. And there were families everywhere and it felt really safe and I was just really impressed.

I checked out her cute little apartment and loved it, too. It had lots of charm and she has a nice little view of the street from her bedroom window and a lovely fire escape.

Then we decided to go out to brunch (along with her roomie) a few blocks further downtown to this cute little place on West 187th street called Bleu Evolution, which had an open-air patio in the back and yummy food. But the coolest part about the place was that they had grape vines growing all over the beams on the patio. There were big bunches of grapes hanging everywhere! It was so cool.

Afterwards, we grabbed ice cream from an ice cream truck outside the park and sat down on benches to enjoy our cones. I got the vanilla dipped in chocolate and boy, was it tasty. The ice cream was so light and fluffy, it tasted more like a cross between ice cream and cool whip.

And so today's lesson was that I really like Washington Heights. It's not for me at this point in my life (hello, Midtown), but someday when I want to settle in and have some more space and a great community for families, perhaps Dan and I will take a look at Washington Heights.