Wi-fi Woes

Woof. Moving.

I can't wait till we can apparate to other locations, because moving millions of boxes into an apartment is just ridiculous. I'm lucky I have such a great group of friends who were willing to help move me in. Nice people, they've only known me for a month and I have already earned their assistance in everyone's least favorite activity. Lovely.

After ten hours in the truck with just me, mom, angry Frasier, and only mariachi stations coming through on the radio, we finally arrived in Studio City. At 8:30 pm. Bennett, Johnny, Becca (and twenty minutes before being done, Nikolai) helped me unload everything into our new place. It took us an hour, twice as long as the day before, which makes sense because in Tucson we were walking a much shorter distance and we didn't have to wait for an elevator. We ordered pizza, I made some cookies, and bought a bottle of wine for Bennett's party. Then we all went over to his place for a very silly night.

There were margaritas, random inexplicable foot massages (not on my part), and more Harrison Ford impersonations. Nikolai (my Bravo friend/brother) got to meet all my Bang friends which was super cool. Nikolai always gets along with everyone though, no surprise there. Ironically, Johnny and Jimmy are the same height and body type as Nikolai. Look at them, they are all way too good looking for their own good.

And I think they know it. Now Nikolai just needs to change his name so he can hang out with Jimmy, Johnny, and Jenny. I'm digging "Jeffy".

I had a lovely weekend with my mum! We accomplished a lot but there is still so much left to be done. I got a fridge which is super exciting. It's been weird without one. Look how the little kitchen is coming together!

Classy.

Fridge yes, internet not quite yet. I was supposed to get the modem in the mail today bit still haven't. Boo. I have been shuttling back and forth from Starbucks to take care of all my internet business. Silly. I'm still on the lookout for a couch, coffee table, and dining/kitchen table set. Let me know if anyone has any ideas. I checked out IKEA but things in my price range were a tad on the tacky side. (shakes fist) ...standards!

I worked quite a bit this weekend, too. Oi. It takes me, get this, an HOUR AND A HALF to drive to Santa Monica from Studio City. You have got to be kidding me. I wake up all happy to go to work and then arrive exhausted. I've even tried a couple different routes. All the same. It's moments like those that make me think LA is going to be a temporary thing for me. At least a year, but temporary nonetheless. I don't know if it's worth it. I feel like so much negativity is going around simply because people are cranky in their cars. Bleh cranky people. BUT I am looking to transfer stores. I dropped off my resumé and chatted with the manager at LUSH CityWalk in Universal Studios today!

Oh baby, that would take just 5 minutes from my place. It's not a high volume store like Santa Monica which is a bummer. When I walked in only ONE person was working. That was kinda weird/sad. Usually we are hustling with 5 of us in the 3rd Street Promenade store. And I have lots of friends at my other place so I am a little bummed. But I would rather sit alone in a store then sit alone in my car in traffic... right?

Sunday night after LUSH my mom and I met with Jason, Emma, and the kids for the most delightful Italian dinner at Fritto Misto in Santa Monica.

Don't be fooled by the unassuming exterior-- this place is delicious. We celebrated my mom's birthday with pasta and a bottle of delicious wine (I had the gnocchi with gorgonzola and walnut sauce-- holy moly!). It's always nice to meet up with the fam. I even got a special little treat... learning that my 6 year old niece can do a lazy eye like mine. For those of you who know me well enough for me to show you my lazy eye (that sounds...weird)... it's a staple in my disturbing others/using in improv scenes. And what do you know, Makena can do it, too.

Yup. We're related, alright. Another reason for me to love her more, if that was even possible.

Monday was my mum's b-day! We went to the Griddle for the most amazing french toast in the world. I am so obsessed with that place, have I mentioned? Man. And look how cute she is!

After breakfast we made the drive out to Santa Barbara for the day. Going anywhere else in California makes me wonder why exactly people live in LA. (Except for the food, job opportunities, and the Griddle. P.S. I hope you don't think I am hating on LA, I'm not, I'm just saying what everyone else is thinking half the time. There are lots of good things, but I think the natural beauty in LA is about shot). We wandered down main street and went in lots of little boutiques. It was a lovely day.

We then drove home for my sketch class. We had a very crazy run-through and Mums got to watch! It was a lot of fun. Despite some rough patches it was pretty impressive for our first go. Kinda hilarious. You will not be disappointed, I promise. So come!

In other news, check out my new sexy coffee shop read:

Yup. Sexy. Look at me, reading finance books. I plan on making big money though so I might as well figure out how to handle all those numbers... ("Aww, how cute and optimistic...")

I have currently sent my resumé out in 8 different directions hoping that something sticks. It's weird cause most companies want interns but only if they're not quite done with school. Boo. I'm keeping at it though, I've got a good feeling that something will come along soon!

Tonight I have my very last improv class for my level. Sad. I hear my dear friend Becca is bringing cupcakes though... mmm...

Kisses all. Here's to hoping you don't have to spend all of your internet time in a Starbucks with a full bladder because you don't want to leave your table that is directly under the air conditioning next to a middle aged man in high socks trying to talk to you about coffee shop corporate tactics. Not that I don't love it, cause obviously I do.

Cheers.

Moving on Up!

It's getting better all the time over here in Jennyland. Packing up (well, technically writing about packing up at the moment) the rest of my life in Tucson. Things are actually happening. The wheels they are a'turnin'.

I thought I'd write a quick little blurb about my latest goals. Ahem.

I have decided to become a serious runner. Laugh now. Be impressed later.

Here's a schedule of my running goals:

5k (3.1 miles): September 11, 2011 in Studio City for Ovarian Cancer
10k (6.2 miles): December 10, 2011 in Santa Monica for the annual Christmas run
Half Marathon (13.1 miles): April 8, 2012 in my favorite city, San Francisco!
Marathon in November/December (location and exact date TBD)

So there it is. Concrete goals to hold me accountable, especially because now you blog readers know about them.

Step One: Make goals.
Step Two: Move towards goals.
Step Three: Accomplish goals.

I mean, how hard can training for a marathon be? Amiright?

I know, I get it. I just realized I don't want to be forty years old and saying to myself, "I always wanted to run a marathon. I was just a lazy piece of crap." So in order to avoid that statement, here I go! Have a little faith.

Becca drove me to the airport bright and early this morning. I was incredibly tired. Mostly from the fact that I didn't technically sleep last night. Turns out doing laundry the night before leaving on a one-day trip is not only completely unnecessary but also rather time-consuming, especially when the dryer doesn't feel like doing its' job. It's okay though, I ended up sleeping for both legs of my silly flight from LAX to Phoenix to Tucson. I hardly remember us taking off or landing, which usually are my least favorite parts. I always try and make my peace with the world before those moments, just in case. Phew, luckily that turned out okay.

My dear friend BRYAN picked me up from the airport. I've missed his sweet face and great advice. We had a delicious lunch at Oregano's, complete with a compulsory pizookie for good measure. It's been weird in LA without Bryan. We've been rather spoiled with each other's company for the last couple of years in Darwin, seeing each other several days a week. One more year and he's got to make the move though...

After lunch my mom and I went to pick up the GINORMOUS Uhaul that we so ambitiously chose from the other appropriately sized trucks. It looks like this, but doesn't have a fish on the side. I wish it did.

Andy (Alison's husband and one of my dearest friends) and Dan (a fellow Darwin and the funniest guy I know) were nice enough to come over to help load up the truck in the Arizona heat. Luckily I had already consolidated everything into boxes and make-shift containers. Andy was making fun of my packing skills and haphazard labels, his personal favorite being: "Utensils and Boots".

Here's a picture of the gang hard at work (Mum's behind, Andy, and Dan). We got everything loaded in only 35 minutes. Amazing. As soon as I get that KitchenAid mixer off the truck it's going to be hard at work on some thank you chocolate chip cookies. The best kind.

I stopped by to see my lovely friend BRI, who will be moving out to LA next year, too! I miss that girl like crazy. Huh, now that I think about it, I really accomplished a lot of friend seeing today in my less than 24 hour Tucson visit. The pinnacle being my best friend Alison.

Here's the two of us cheekily posing with a watermelon margarita at Guadalajara Grill. Man, you guys weren't kidding when you told me that LA didn't have good Mexican food. Rachel and I keep trying to find good Mexican food places to no avail. I daresay it almost compares to the poor excuse for Mexican food in England. (shudder). So of course, Guadalajara Grill was on the top of my list. A taco salad, margaritas, and Alison-time make me a happy girl.

Alison has been my very best friend since we were about six years old. We have been through it all--- not being invited to certain households that shall go unnamed because we were too "hyper" and "wild", long endless summers watching old movies and playing in the pool, awkward preteen years (with hairy legs on her part and a lisp on mine), birthday parties that were only complete if we slept in a tent or had a slice of dirt cake, high school dances, golf team, acting in play after play after musical, U of A football games, movie outings with far too much movie popcorn, family vacations, bizarre women's lib presentations, and to end us on a classy note, tea parties. We've been inseparable.

The distance has been very sad for the both of us. We always knew this was going to happen though-- she's a Tucson family girl and I guess I am a California adventure girl (not to be confused with the roller coaster). It's evolving into a new kind of friendship-- the kind that doesn't get tended to in person everyday but has to receive attention in other ways. We're working on it, mostly through phone tag. But boy do we miss each other!

I'm really going to miss Tucson, too. I wish I could have had one last monsoon before I headed back. Drat. Though when I was driving today I did enjoy the lanes that seemed to stretch for miles with no other cars in sight. Tucson seems like a ghost town compared to LA now. It's so cute how everything closes here at a reasonable time and no one is driving like they are on fire.

I'm going to miss U of A, too. It was so weird driving by campus today, looking at all the quiet brick buildings and the empty mall. It's hard to believe I'm not going back. I'm a college graduate y'all. When did that happen?

Man, that was fun.

Okay, I'm tired. I'm packing up the last handful of things in the morning and hitting the road in that big silly Uhaul. Wish me luck. So weird that all my stuff will be in one place after all this. Especially my most precious cargo, Frasier. I can't wait to have him with me all the time, following me around and most likely biting my ankles.

Wow. What a day. Bang people, I missed you a lot tonight. It was weird not being there. Hope the show went well.

Have a good day, friends. Kisses.

Nostalgia is a fun word

Holy crap it's the middle of July. That means August comes next, and you know what that means... Time for me to get myself together in a real life way, not this sublet-living, internship-wielding, retail-job-working life. Time for some real stuff.

My internship at Bang ends in the middle of August! Crazy. That does not mean in any way that I am done there though, this is only the beginning of my life with Bang. My plan is to continue through the levels of improv classes and hopefully graduate from the program in a year or so. Also, it looks like I am going to have a little production assistant job working with Ezra, doing basically a lot of the same things I am doing now, plus some. I'm all about that. Also, my sketch class has its' show on August 7th & 14th! So come if you're here! I'm in quite a few and the show is super hilarioso.

Alert to the Universe: I'm on the job hunt. I'm looking for a job in some creative department at Disney, though my preferred niche would be in children's programming, specifically preschool. Of course, my foot is just itching to get itself in the Disney door, so anything creative would be welcomed with a big smile and an overly enthusiastic hug. I've got a couple people that I have talked with for advice and now I just need to get things rolling. Wish me luck! (And let me know if you have any tips!) That goes for you too, Universe.

Yup, things are coming together alright. I am moving into my new apartment this weekend! I am flying to Tucson Thursday morning, loading up a Uhaul, and driving back to Studio City on Friday afternoon. What up. It's going to be a long, hot, sweaty move, but boy am I excited to have all my stuff back! And Becca and I can't wait to finally make the apartment ours. Take a look at our very empty living room!

How cute is she, right? We're planning on having a Superbowl Housewarming party where you have to bring a usable/edible plant as a present. (No, it has nothing to do with the Superbowl or plants, but I love making hors d'oeuvres and we want a little baby garden). Becca is a chef and I am looking forward to cooking/baking together. Here are some pics of foods she's made... mmm...

Homemade bread? Ahyes please!

Blueberry tart? Are you kidding me?

Becca, Jonas and I went yardsaling (which was less nautical than it sounds) on Saturday in Burbank. We got a huge mirror for the living room for $20, a little Pottery Barn-esque mirror/key holder for $5, and a couple records for a buck each. Becca has this sweet record player so we're trying to build up our library. Look what I found:

Carole King's Tapestry album, my mom's first record growing up. She rarely knows the words to any song (besides Black Eyed Peas' Pump It), but when you put on Carole King, she knows them all. It's a beautiful thing. (Sigh), nostalgia.

We had some great shows at Bang this week, my particular favorite being the HARRY POTTER THROWDOWN Saturday night! Particularly because I got to perform!

This was my first ever show NOT performing with the Charles Darwin Experience. It was such a blast but I would be lying if I wasn't a tad nervous. We were broken into four separate groups-- Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each group did a 15 minute set, broken up with little sketches featuring Harry Potter (Mitchell), Hermione, Draco, and Voldemort (Kurt). I was in Slytherin with Bennett, Becca, Kurt, and Hope (my new favorite Bang friend). And guess what? We won! A pretty successful first Bang show, I must say.

Speaking of Harry Potter. Let's have a moment of silence.

That movie. I was supposed to go see it with my friends... then one by one they decided not to go which left me alone with my ticket. It was probably a good thing that I was all by myself. I was a mess. The title flew across the screen, the theme music started playing, and from that point on my eyes were wet (more so than usual). It was very hard to watch, but really a beautiful movie. Like most people my age Harry Potter has been a huge part of growing up. It's sad to see everything go. For anyone who would like to see it again, I will gladly be your date. (I'll get the popcorn).

I also got a chance to see Horrible Bosses with Nikolai and Rachel this week! I loved it! It took a little bit of willing suspension of disbelief, but really funny. Oh look, it's my yoga buddy! Also, I'm in love with Jason Sudeikis.

Recent celebrity sightings:

Casey Wilson from SNL and Happy Endings on ABC. Walking around in the Grove in West Hollywood.

Hank Azaria from everything funny (personal favorite: Mystery Men), walking around outside of Bang.

Julie Bowen from Modern Family and Horrible Bosses, in my yoga class! Skinny Minnie but also very sweet.

Angela Kinsey from The Office walked by Studio Yogurt while Becca and I were enjoying some froyo!

There was another blonde girl that I know I know but I have no idea what her name is. And I can't remember what she has been in. But I saw her when I was in the movie theatre and she was eating popcorn. Though it was probably her only meal of the day.

Also, an honorary celebrity sighting: Josh Radnor from my favorite show, How I Met Your Mother.

Get this: he was in the theatre when we were seeing Horrible Bosses, and RACHEL DIDN'T TELL ME UNTIL WE GOT TO THE PARKING LOT. I mean, you all know I would have done absolutely nothing because I am a stonecold ice queen when it comes to celebrity things, but still. Just knowing I could have seen the back of his head makes me nauseous. Don't worry, Rachel felt bad. Silly Rachel. One day I will no longer be impressed with these sightings but until then, here they are. Bear with me.

Okay. I think that's all I have to say. I'm currently eating leftover sticky toffee pudding Becca brought from work. It's blowing my mind. I need to memorize my lines for sketch class tonight! That's what I shall do!

Hope everyone has a delightful rest of their Monday. Don't forget, in french "mon" means "my" so technically today is your day, yes? Kisses.

Are you there, Universe? It's me, Jenny

Monday morning.

Hello.

I have a question: what did everyone think of this last weekend? Did you feel like the world kind of dumped all over you? That things were just kind of... well, off?

Yeah, me too. And I am a pretty positive person who tries to avoid thinking the Universe is "off", but it was. Almost everyone I talked to felt like things were weird. Now of course, being that this is a blog that many people read for some reason, I can't go into detail about most of what happened. Part of it is not my business, and other parts maybe just need to remain "my" business.

For the business that is not mine, I would like to take a moment to remind everyone that there are a lot of good people in the world. There are also a lot of bad people. I am glad to know that all of you are, in my opinion, the good kind. Continue to be that to others and most importantly to yourself. And when bad things happen to you good people, there is truly nothing worse. Don't let it define you or bring you down. And that's what I have to say about that.

For my own personal business, here are my thoughts. I'm a firm believer that I should be writing about things that make me a little nervous to share with everybody, but at some point, that just gets weird when others are involved. Already I have had to self-edit some of my previous blog entries, and I am not a fan of that. Should I change names? Change situations? Cause let's face it, you guys are getting about 65% (rough estimate) of my life out here. What to do, what to do... I'll play it by ear.

So what can I share?

Let's see, where did I leave off?

Ah yes, when we chatted last I was headed to work at LUSH and then to pick up Calvin from the train station. LUSH is amazing. I love working there, you all know that. Do we even need to discuss it anymore? I'm now confident in my PK (Product Knowledge) and I can share an interesting story about almost every product in the store. During this particular shift I double-basketed my sales on two 16-year-old girls... coming in at over $300 for the two of them. I got my name written on the receipts and hung in the back of the break room. No commission, mind you. Just happy and proud receipts and a confidence boost. I'll take it.

Then I picked up Mr. Calvin at the train station!

For those of you who don't know Calvin, we have known each other since about 2nd grade. We were never super close best friends, even in high school when we were in drama class together. Then we hit college and have been the best kind of friends since. Calvin also has been going back and forth from Antigua, Guatemala, teaching in schools, studying, working in coffee shops, and volunteering at prisons. He's a busy and ambitious guy. He had been visiting a friend in San Francisco for a few weeks and then had to fly out of LAX this last Saturday night. Luckily for him he's got a friend in LA now!

Here's Calvin warning others of the effects of hipsters on society:

We were busy people. Wednesday night after our improv class we all went to Pinkberry. Oh my gosh. I just realized I haven't discussed Pinkberry with you at all. This is the culmination of frozen yogurt greatness as we know it. What I like to call a classy frozen treat experience, Pinkberry offers just four flavors with only the most sophisticated of toppings. Here's my current favorite: Salted Caramel--- complete with caramel drizzled on top with fresh sea salt.

Are you kidding me? Delicious. We all have been going there WAY too much. But man, it hurts so good.

I had to work two more shifts at LUSH while Calvin was here. Luckily on Thursday morning Becca, Calvin, and Johnny came in to visit me at work! I gave Becca a fancy LUSH facial and she in return got a ton of fresh goodies. People have been telling her constantly how fantastic she smells. My work here is done. Speaking of smelling good, Calvin got a slice of our Aromarant solid deodorant and get this: I couldn't smell him. Nope. Not at all. No I am not exaggerating. For those of you know Calvin, you can probably recollect his very distinct musk. It's just Calvin. Well with this little baby, you couldn't smell him AT ALL. Weird. Think about it, gentlemen.

Thursday night Becca and I dj'ed iProv for Schwag! It was much more comfortable having her there, instead of lost Johnny and I last week, randomly sliding dials and pushing buttons, hoping that things came together somehow. Again, another hilarious week at Bang. Afterwards we all went to Thai Patio, where I watched everyone eat delicious meals. I was still full from the food truck. Have I mentioned that I love these people? Too much.

Friday was a mellow day, dealing with all the dumpings from the Universe especially on this day. Not fun.

On Saturday Becca and I (with Calvin in tow), went on the search for places to live. West Hollywood is getting a little too real for me these days and it's time for me to move on. And man, did Becca and I ever luck out. We have, literally, the best apartment, ever. A little more on the pricey side (well, compared to the $450 a month I paid in Tucson for a huge mansion) but so worth it. 2 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, top floor and view of Studio City and Universal Studios, huge closets, ridiculous kitchen space, washer in dryer IN THE UNIT, and get this, a fire place that turns on with a switch. Oh and inset lighting. We're in heaven. And we're dropping off all the contracts and deposits in a little bit in exchange for the keys! Look at us now...

IN OTHER NEWS. I JUST GOT A FREAKING TICKET. Gosh dang't. I ALWAYS move my car in time for the street cleaning. Well, until today apparently. I totally forgot. GAHHHHHHH I'M SUCH A DUMMY. I can see it from my window. And I have literally been up this whole morning doing absolutely nothing. Universe!!! (shakes fist)

Well that sucks. Moving on, I guess. Our apartment is amazing. AND we are generously assigned 2 parking spots in their underground garage, thank you very much. Rude sublet. Becca and I are so excited to move in. We are on the lookout for a refrigerator, though. We randomly don't have one in the apartment. Free section on Craigslist, here we come!

Calvin and I went to Pink's on Saturday, too.

Pink's is this crazy busy hot dog place in LA. Cal and I waited in a 45 minutes line for some pretty delicious, pretty cheap hot dogs. We both got the Chicago dogs-- mine mild and his spicy. They hit the spot.

Then, because we are gluttonous Americans and Calvin only had one more day of celebrating his Americanness before heading back down to Guatemala... we went to Milk.

Milk is basically the epicenter for all things amazing about ice cream. I got the Blondie-- a ridiculous ice cream sundae, complete with blonde brownie on the bottom topped with vanilla and blueberry crumble ice cream, topped with whipped cream and pecan pralines. Priceless.

It was ridiculous and I am obsessed. In fact, Rachel and I went there AGAIN yesterday night. But that's just what we do together: eat buckets of ice cream and whine about life to each other because we like to rejoice in the fact that we are angsty girls. As long as you have someone to do that with and they don't judge you or tell anyone or mention it on their blog, right?

Dropping Calvin off at the airport was weird. But that's kind of how our friendship works these days: intermittent long distance messages back and forth every now and then. Love him.

Saturday night a couple of us went to hang out at Bennett's house. Bennett is another Bang friend, and he can do the most INSANE impression of Harrison Ford. It's hilarious.

Johnny and I laugh so hard we cry. We all stayed up till 5 am, watching videos of Led Zeppelin(?... weird) and playing card games. Because of our late night...

I didn't go to the Griddle. I know. I'm just as upset/confused. But we did go on Friday morning, that counts, right? Nope, I know, it doesn't.

Becca and I are off to drop off our checks and stuff. Hope everyone has a FANTASTIC week full of a very affectionate and generous Universe! Kisses, all.

P.s. Look! I have real friends and I haven't been making it up.

(Johnny, Jimmy, Me and Becca)

LAnniversary

A month ago yesterday a brave young woman strapped herself into a beat-up old Jimmy, packed the bare necessities, and made the daring trek to LOS ANGELES in search of a new tomorrow. Revved with ambition, thirsting for glamour, and eyes twinkling with hope, she wondered who she would be, how her life would change and what sort of nonsense she was about to get herself into.

BLAH BLAH BLAH REAL LIFE.

If there's one thing I've learned being in LA: everything can seem beautiful and somewhat cinematic if you just look at it in the right way.

Take everything I've been writing about thus far. You can take any situation and color it with a Jenny-filter. Someone left you a threatening note on your car saying "WATCH OUT. I"m looking for you in the neighborhood"? That's not scary, that's hilarious! Jenny joined OkCupid? That's not completely pathetic, that's just downright silly!

Speaking of OkCupid, I am about one day away from taking that crap down. It's just getting ridiculous. I got home from my 4th of July holiday weekend and had 19 messages from random weirdos. I am simply not very good at this web-based dating thing. We may live in the 21st century but I deserve to be wooed in person. Now I just need a way to avoid all those awkward messages...

For those of you wondering about the cliffhanger from my last post-- I didn't do my laundry... because my dear mother was visiting from Tucson all week!

I picked her up from San Bernardino where Connie and Brent (my alternative parents) dropped her off. We stopped by Becca's sweet little food truck and had some delicious fry bread. Then I gave her the tour of Bang and introduced her to two of the most important people in my life ATM (At The Moment? Can we start using this abbr.?): Johnny and Mitchell. Not to be confused with Joni Mitchell. Improv class was fantastic, though our ranks are less and less each week. Silly irresponsible people. We miss them.

Thursday we went to breakfast at the Griddle (GASP! NOT A SUNDAY, YOU SAY?!) In all seriousness though, where the heck else would I even want to go? We went again on Sunday, too, don't worry. I got my standard "Sow Your Oats" pancake while my mom got their delectable Eggs Benedict. Yum-o. Then we went and got some fancy gel manicures. I also got some"party nails", which is basically all of your nails the same color except your ring fingers. Mine are pink sparkles. Look, if Beyoncé does it, it must be cool.

Mums also got to see Schwag on Thursday night! It was a fantastic show! She even got to see Becca in iProv (as Ezra and Sabrina were out camping with the family for the holiday). Becca was wonderful, even though she was slightly nervous. This also means that Johnny and I were running lights and music.

Welp. We gave it our all. I suppose it could have been worse. We were incredibly nervous. Silly little interns. Here's a pic of Johnny when we FINALLY moved those god-forsaken orange chairs out of the Bang lobby. We think we're pretty cute. If only we had cool iPhones so we could make it all fancy and instagram-ish.

As wonderful as Becca was in iProv my mum didn't get to meet Ezra, which is too bad! To me, Ezra is about 75% of Bang. The energy in the theatre just isn't quite the same without him! Though we sure as hell try.

I had several very late nights hanging with the Bang crowd. Apparently we just can't get enough of each other. Which is understandable, because we are all quite entertaining and good-looking. (I kid. but really.) We all end up talking and forgetting what time it is. Gotta love that.

I have been working at LUSH a lot. And by a lot I mean every other day or so for about five hours. I get so worked up about it all though. I am doing really well but I still don't know everything. Baby steps. The couple shifts I worked Mums hung out around 3rd Street Promenade and the beach. We did a lot of shopping when we could. Some of my latest additions?

These little beauties:

Also, this dress from J.Crew. That I SOMEHOW managed to get for a steal. It was supposed to be full price but I unknowingly convinced them that it was actually 1/3 of the price and wrongly marked. Whoops...?

Oh well! I guess I have some good dress karma!

I spent the last couple days with Connie, Brent, and my mum in CLAREMONT! We stayed in their GLORIOUS new motorhome-- with three tv's and three pop outs... you get the picture. In fact, we even got to shower in there, which was incredibly foreign to my mother and I. We're used to washing the dishes in a little basin in our warm little microwave of a motorhome and then tossing it into the dirt outside. We don't got tanks big enough fo' that!

We had a lot of fun meeting all of the Holtzen's family and friends from when they lived in Claremont. We kept bumping into people from their past everywhere we went. Everyone was too kind and welcoming. We watched the town's sweet little parade from the lawn of the Lord's-- a wonderful family that I have known as long as I have known Alison. Emma, who is Alison's and my age, is amazing. She was Alison's Jenny before Alison moved to Tucson and I became her Jenny. Yes? I'm hoping that we can be better friends out here, too. She's great, I'm a big fan. As Becca and I have discussed, it can be hard to have 'girlfriends' that you can communicate and avoid drama with. Emma's one of them.

Here's Brent, Connie and Chrissy (my mum; her favorite nickname) watching the parade:

We watched the fireworks with Phyllis' family (another Holtzen family friend who has become family to me, too). She's got two sweet little girls and a very active baby boy. I can't get enough of little kids, really. I eat them up.

I arrived home last night to a plethora of parking spots because of the holiday. It was delightful. My future roommate Michelle (and now Becca, too!) and I have been on the lookout for new places to live in Studio City. It's already July, y'all! Almost time for me to get a real job, too! I'm trying to get myself into anything at Disney, so put happy thoughts in the universe for me. Preferably Disney preschool or teeny bopper programming. (Big range).

I went and saw Mr. Popper's Penguins today. By myself. Don't judge. It was only the second movie I've ever seen by myself, the first being-- get this-- Hell Boy. I see strange movies when no one is available to go with me. It's incredibly liberating to go by yourself though. You just have to deal with the confused looks. "Hmm... She must be waiting for someone. Her hair looks clean and curled and she's wearing a sassy purple sundress. Oh lord, she has a large popcorn! Surely she cannot be alone. Oh god, the movie's starting. She really is ALONE!"

It was kind of like going on a date with myself. The movie was actually super cute. I can appreciate penguins. Why haven't there been more movies about penguins?

My mom and I also saw Larry Crowne when she was here. Ahem. I hate to say this, but it was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Tom Hanks-- you are an actor and apparently, not a writer. Stop it. Overall: bad script, poor casting, and all around a very incomplete plot. Yes, the Vespas were visually interesting, but Mr. Hanks, you've got to have something else to go with it.

You may have noticed the ads on the side of my blog... I'VE GOT SPONSORS! I actually get paid to host those ads now! I have no idea how much I am going to get, but still, pretty cool. My blog post about BANG pulled in about 200 views. Pretty cool for a random girl from Tucson who's been in the big city for a month. What up. Already getting paid for doing what I love. Good start.

In other news, I have been sweating profusely all day in my silly little apartment. It's a million degrees. There is no air flow whatsoever. Which is okay for now, but won't be come tomorrow... because...

CALVIN'S COMING TO VISIT!

And if you know Calvin, you know he can get stinky. Calvin is in my top five most important friends I've ever had in my life. Which is saying something. He gets in tomorrow at 5 and will be visiting until Sunday. He always seems to recharge me. Looking forward to showing him around my little LA life.

Off I go to moisten other things and perhaps try and sleep. My sleep schedule is all out of whack. I've got to work at LUSH tomorrow, pick up Cal, then improv.

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! Kisses.