Epic Fail

Hello everyone...if there is anyone still out there~

Needless to say, I haven't written in a while. It's been over 6 weeks and I feel bad about it. I keep trying to remind myself to at least post some pictures, but I haven't even made myself do that and I'm sorry.

Why haven't I posted? Lots of reasons I guess. I have been busy and in my spare time I like being vegetative and not creative...ie: Watching the entire first season of Glee on Cast TV, playing ridiculous games online, etc. In short, I enjoy wasting time in my spare time. Sad but true.

Also, I would get so far behind on updating this thing that I felt like I could never catch everyone up on what was happening anyway, so it was easier to ignore it.

Another reason: I didn't know what to write and I didn't want to write some of the depressing things that I was thinking. I didn't want to post long blogs about how homesick I was or how I was sick of touring and felt lonely or how I was frustrated that doing what I love to do (acting for a living) makes it almost impossible to live any sort of a normal life. I didn't want to bring anyone down and I don't like whining (especially in electronic form) so....I've avoided my blog. And I'm sorry.

But now I'm back. So here's a quick recap of the highlights of the past few weeks:

1. I was in the northeast for a long while and I really liked it. I went around Pennsylvania and Maryland. I got to spend the day at the Holocaust museum and had a nice dinner right outside of D.C.'s Chinatown.

2. The guys in the van didn't secure the box that holds all our stage weights...so they came loose and crushed my luggage. It's still useable, but a little worse for the wear.

3. I had several free days in Manhattan. We stayed in a gorgeous hotel in Tribeca and I tried to make the most of it. I ate great food, saw old friends from my year at the Know and grad school and saw some great theatre--A Behanding in Spokane with Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell and Time Stands Still with Laura Linney, Brian D'Arcy James, Eric Bogosian and Alicia Silverstone. Both were amazing and reminded me of why theatre is still important. I also ran into (almost literally) Paul Giamatti in a subway and Toni Collette was hanging out at the karaoke bar that I went to in the East Village. Brushes with greatness. AMAZING.

4. After NYC we headed south...after some amazing stops like Statesville, NC and Newnan, GA we crossed down into Florida. We did a night of Miami South Beach, Pompano Beach, Clearwater, Tampa, etc. We ate tons of seafood and got some sun and it was glorious.

5. We stopped in Paducah, KY. It was actually a lovely place. They have a program that is designed to get artists into the town by giving them old Victorian houses to live in for free as long as they fix them up and make them open galleries five days a week. They also had a great Argentinean restaurant that we enjoyed.

6. We went through Arkansas (close to Fayetteville, sigh) and spent a few days in Texarkana. My Mommy came and we went to Shreveport, Louisiana and had a great time! Mom got to see the show in Texarkana and so did Dad, Linda, Aunt Kim and my sweet little step-niece Haven. They all loved it and I have quite the agenda for coloring, stickering, hide-and-seeking, etc., with my little girl once I get back.

7. We went back up north to Chicago and I got to spend 2 nights with Kyle (from TU) and one night with Abbey (from U of A). It was a balm for my soul to be with my wonderful friends and spend time in the city. I saw 2 great shows (one at Steppenwolf) and auditioned for a company while I was in town. All in all, a great trip and I SO didn't want to leave.

8. From Chicago we headed north to the Canadian border and cooler temperatures. Currently we're in Grand Rapids, MN, the birthplace of Judy Garland. We went to a museum dedicated to her and saw the house she was born in. It was pretty cool.

So there are the highlights of the last 6ish weeks. I have seen some pretty amazing stuff. I've gotten to visit some wonderful people. I've gotten to see lots of our fabulous country. And I've gotten paid to do it. Which sums up most of my experience of this tour.

After it's all said and done I will have seen 35 of our United States. That's just insane.

It's been challenging to say the last.

Honestly, this year has been the hardest of my life so far. I've lost my Papa, made some major life changes and been away from home and living in hotels for 4 months.

I missed being there for my family during this time of grief. I missed my friends' babies being born and growing. I've missed a lot. And that's the hardest thing for me.

But I've also learned what I can take. And it's a lot. More than I thought I could. And for that, I'm proud.

I couldn't have done ANY of this without the support and love of everybody back home. I appreciate my friends and family more than I can say. I have been so blessed to have you in my life and if I can support you and be there for you one-tenth as much as you have been for me, then my prayers are answered.

I don't know what the next step will be for me. I have some soul searching and decision making and, if I'm smart, praying to do to figure things out. Bottom line, I am more blessed than anybody has a right to be and I know that there is a plan for my life...I just have to find it.

So, blah blah blah...sentimental and philosophical. Sorry for the delay in blogging. I will put some pics up here soon. Tomorrow we leave Grand Rapids and start east for our final trip into Philadelphia. Lots to see and do there, so it will be fun!

I love you all and I can't wait to see you SOON!

York final and Random

Largest 6-pack in the world in La Crosse, WI

"The Dude's Smoke & Stuff" in York.

Around York and in our performance space

York, PA

Central Market House where the Farmer's Market was

Ceiling in our performance space

Row houses

Beautiful buildings in York

New York and York, PA

Gorgeous church in York

We're famous!

Look, my new hair!

Michael Hogwood and Nathan and I!

Last of Chicago and Newark/New York

View of Manhattan from the Verrazano bridge

NJPAC in Newark, NJ

Performance space in Brooklyn

Bookstore in Brooklyn

Theatre in Chicago

Chicago and Hays, KS

Kyle and I.

Steppenwolf in Chicago

Daddy and I in Hays, KS

The N's: Newark and New York

Hello everybody~

On this fine and sun-shiny Sunday afternoon I am writing to you from Johnstown, PA. What? You say you've never been there, never even heard of it. Well, you're not missing much. It's not that bad, really, just out in the middle of nowhere. And we're at another Super 8. This one, while not as bad at the previous one, still is far from 'super'. The stay at this hotel comes on the heels of a Ramada, or Slumada. So, I am ready for a nice Baymont STAT!

Today I ate at a very famous Eastern chain called Five Guys. They make delicious Angus burgers and freshly cut french fries from real potatoes. It was described to me as the In-N-Out burger of the east. I have to say that, while I did enjoy In-N-Out Burger, I thought Five Guys outdid it. You could get any number of toppings on your burger for free (fried onions, sauteed mushrooms, A-1 sauce, etc.) and the fries were perfectly cooked. Yummy, yummy!

After lunch we saw Alice In Wonderland in 3-D. I actually really enjoyed it. Thought it was a bit slow in parts, but very fun and lovely to look at. Definitely see it in 3-D. It's worth it.

Yesterday I was in a great town called York, PA. Kinda reminded me of Fayetteville. Really artsy, people bringing their dogs everywhere and really eco-conscious. We loaded in early and the theatre was right next to their central farmer's market. It was amazing. Amish cheeses and baked goods, fresh seafood and deli, pretzels, cupcakes, you name it. For lunch I had: freshly squeezed lemonade with strawberry, a delectable crab cake sammy, and cream of tomato soup with real tomatoes! I also sampled cupcakes for dessert and bought cheese to go.

After lunch, Anthony, Kirsten and I walked around the town and shops and took pics. I found an amazing organic soap and lotion store and bought a few goodies.

Then there was the show....WOW. Technical difficulties don't even BEGIN to cover it. One of our songs started early, so everyone ran into place and started dancing. Then it stopped. Silence. So Anthony decided that we should just go into the scene, so he set everyone for the scene and I grabbed my flag prop which starts the scene. As soon as I took my opening spot, the music restarted at the beginning. So I ran and replaced my prop and started dancing and singing. About halfway through the song it skipped. And kept skipping. So no one knew where we were, everyone was running around on the stage singing different parts and in different choreography. We were like demented, escaped zoo animals with mange. IT WAS THE LONGEST THREE MINUTES ONSTAGE THAT I HAVE EVER SPENT. I pride myself on being able to roll with the punches onstage, but we just kept getting punched. Finally I ran to down center and yelled (in the middle of the song) "Ok, that's enough singing and dancing. Thank you. No more music." At this point the audience looked like they were at a funeral, which they were, ours. Everyone staggered to their places and tried to win the audience back. But the technical hits just kept on coming. I know they were struggling in the booth and we were CERTAINLY struggling onstage. I am surprised that the audience didn't ask for their money back. It was AWFUL.

Needless to say, drinks were on tap for last night.

So, now I'll quickly backtrack and cover a little Newark talk. We performed at the amazing New Jersey Performing Arts Center. The crew was professional and amazing. They catered all our food and cared for us like stars. They even gave us free tickets to their mainstage show (we were in their 'small' 580 seat house) the Peking Acrobats, which was cool.

I tried Portugese good for the first time and I loved it. I ate lots of seafood. My co-star Kirsten had friends come to the show (one of them is a Broadway star, he played Jean Valjean in Les Mis!) and they genuinely seemed to like the show.

On our final night in Newark we took the train into the city. I went into Astoria, Queens where all my grad school buds live and I got my hair cut and colored (ABOUT DARN TIME). Then I went to Jenna's apartment for my friends' theatre company meeting. Nathan Riley, Michael Hogwood, Bryce Kemph, Jenna Kirk and Val Andrews were ALL THERE. They did some exercises that we learned in grad school and I closed my eyes and it was like I was back in Fayetteville. It warmed my heart and soul. Then they read their original play, which was wonderful and going somewhere great as far as I'm concerned. We ended our time with drinks at an irish pub.

Then I took the subway to the East Village and met my co-star Anthony at a karaoke bar. We did a terrible duet, ate bad pizza, drank wine and staggered back to our hotel rooms around 3 am! Next morning call: 8:45am. We were tired but it was SO worth it. I was proud of myself for getting around New York City by myself and not getting intimidated. It was actually super easy and fun.

I'm headed back into New York (we're staying in Tribeca) on Thursday evening. I get to see everyone again on Friday night. It's Bryce's 30th birthday, so everyone is getting together and I get to see ALL my friends-Betsy, Ruby, EVERYONE. Can't wait.

In between now and then, I'm heading to Maryland again. I'll try to update again before then. I'm getting ready to post a bunch of pics, so stay tuned!

Love and miss you ALL!

Into the East

Hello all!

I can't believe that it's been this long since I last blogged. So much has happened and then nothing has happened. Touring is a VERY strange experience. I never know what day of the week it is, let alone the date. I'm just riding along in the van, unloading or loading the set or performing. It's crazy/weird/interesting/wonderful. In summation I am having the experience of a lifetime, but I miss my folks back home.

A lot of things have been happening with people back home, some happy (my friend from high school Jenny White just had her baby girl Katherine), some scary turned into happy (Leah had some complications with her pregnancy and had to deliver early, but she and Natalie are both fine!) and some tragic (my friend Sheyenne delivered her little girl Whitney stillborn), so obviously I've had a lot of people in my thoughts and minds in the past few weeks.

I've also gotten to see some wonderful people while I've been out on tour. Dad and Linda came to Hays, Kansas and it was WONDERFUL! Just getting hugs from them and talking with them and seeing their faces (and having my own hotel room for two nights, not that roommate isn't wonderful, but we both appreciated our space) was soul-restoring.

A few days after that I was in Skokie, IL right on Kyle Dougan and Abbey Molyneux's doorstep. I stayed with Kyle and met his boyfriend Justin, who was terrific. Kyle's place is lovely. We went to a gay bar that played only showtunes in Boys Town, shopped in Wicker Park and saw a show for free that Kyle is both assistant directing and singing in. It was an original musical based on Pride and Prejudice. Let's just say it was interesting and leave it at that. Abbey met us out for dinner and went saw the show and we went for drinks after. I met the new person in her life and he also has my stamp of approval. My friends have good taste!

Seeing those two and spending time with them helped me to realize how blessed I am with the people I have in my life. I have friends that I have known since middle school, college, graduate school, etc. Just a hodgepodge of wonderful people that I am lucky to call friends. I get emails and calls from others and it always brightens my day.

I have more reports from our stop in Newark and my day trip into NYC (I saw my friends, I cut my hair!) but those will have to wait. I will also be posting some pics soon.

I miss everyone tons and I think about you all!

Have a great weekend.

Wisconsin: Cold Cheese...and not much else.

Hey everybody~

It's been a week since I last wrote a long blog and first I want to say, happy valentine's day to all! I hope you experienced all different kinds of love today and spent time with those who you love and those who love you. I got my love in the form of texts (from my Auntie and Mom), a brief call from my mommy and a longer talk with my little girl (my niece Haven Paige) and my stepmomma last night. After a load in and a show today, my cast mates and I had a nice dinner out and my roomie was kind enough to get us all v-day cupcakes. So it's been a good day overall.

What's happened since I last posted??? Well, I got sicker...then I got better. We left the warmer Pacific Northwest for the much colder Great Lakes region.

A few notes on the following states: Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota. 1. They are cold. 2. They are barren. 3. They are empty. These statements pretty much describe both the terrain in these states and the people. Now I know that I'm not giving them a fair chance, I was only here for a couple of days, blah blah blah. But seriously. It takes a different kind of person to live out in the middle of nowhere with nothing around you where it's completely frigid for several months at a time. I will be coming back through Wisconsin in April, so perhaps a temperature change will equal an attitude change for me. Stay tuned.

I did spend two nights in Minneapolis, MN. It was the exception to the rule. The Mall of America was an INSANE testimonial to American capitalism. Hundreds of stores, two food courts, an aquarium, over 20 restaurants and an amusement part in the middle. I went to H & M and Urban Outfitters and ate at a Rainforest Cafe (yay!) I also rode some super fun roller coasters and shot at some ghosts in a spook house. Not bad for a day's work.

I also had an audition for one of the biggest Equity children's theatres in the country. I saw the Associate Artistic Director at The Children's Theatre Company. It went REALLY well. I was expecting a 15 minute, 2 monologues-2 songs, in and out job. Instead I was there for an hour, 3 monologues, extra songs and lots of workshopping. It was really enjoyable working with my auditioner. She wants me to meet with the Artistic Director of the theatre!!! YAY! Could mean great things or it could mean nothing...but I'm trying to put myself out there as much as possible and use this tour to network and get exposure in the field. So keep your fingers crossed.

After Minnesota we headed into La Crosse, Wisconsin followed by Whitewater, Wisconsin. Experiences: Cheese curds (what's skimmed off the top of milk when you're making cheese, when you eat them fresh they're salty and they make farting noises. When they're fried they are insanely good.), the world's largest six pack (seen at a brewery), the Wolfman film (NOT my favorite ever) and pants afire (seriously, I put my work pants near the make up lights in the dressing room and they burned a hole in them during the show. I'm lucky I didn't burn the place down. Lesson learned).

Tomorrow after two performances, I leave Wisconsin and travel to Iowa City, IA. The next day I get into Hays, Kansas!!!! I can't wait. Why am I so excited about a trip to Kansas you ask??? Well, I get to see my family. Dad, Linda and Dan are coming to Hays on Wednesday and I get to see them for two whole days. Then Linda's sister Kim is coming on Thursday. It makes me want to do a happy dance all over the place.

So that's enough for tonight. Need to get some sleep before the two shows early tomorrow. Will post more later.

Smooches.

More Washington

Backstage in Washington. Me as Clown, Anthony as Teddy Bear, Kirsten as Red Dress Doll and Jeff as the Trains.

One last shot of Washington State. I LOVE IT!

Washington State Pics

Champagne and seafood in Port Orchard (nice face Al) and Kirsten's birthday dinner (that's me with Al & Jonathan) in Kent.

Puget Sound at dusk and a bay in Port Orchard

Where the hell am I?????

Good morning everybody. It's currently 8:11am, Pacific Time, on Super Bowl Sunday, February 7. I am in Moses Lake, WA. Yes, it is a real town. No, you DO NOT ever want to come here.

I am feeling a little blue (and under the weather, but more on that in a second) that we are going to be leaving the Pacific Northwest today. Every time I come here I am reminded again how much I love this region. It is so lush and temperate. And the SEAFOOD!!! Can't get over it. I ate clam chowder every day that I was here.

We started out driving from California up the coast from Redding, CA through Portland, OR and finally to our destination in Tacoma, WA. That's what the pics from my last post are from. Gorgeous!!! I loved it. I just kept oohing and aahing. Tacoma is UBER close to Seattle, but not nearly as cool of a city, in my opinion. We played at the supposedly famous Pantages Theatre there. In this case, famous translated into a union stage crew that acted like jerks all day. Fun.

From Tacoma we went to Port Orchard, WA. OUR HOTEL WAS AMAZING. It was right on the ocean and SO beautiful. You could hear the buoys and the gulls in the morning and I fell asleep to the sound of seals barking at night. Port Orchard was one of those towns where you could walk anywhere, everyone was really friendly and the seafood was plentiful and FRESH. I tried calamari, peel and eat shrimp, clam chowder, crab cakes, etc. I think I already mentioned that one of my tourmates, Anthony, is well on his way to becoming a sommelier and will be opening his own wine distribution company in the near future??? So, of course, he was in hog heaven and had to sample many wines as research for his business. And OF COURSE I had to help him, because that's just the kind of friend that I am. It was so fun and unique to sample wines that were bottled so near to where we were. And we had some really good ones. Reds and whites.

The venue where we performed in Port Orchard was actually across the way in Bremerton, WA. The quickest way to get there was by ferry, which wasn't an option for us because of the truck. We were right on Puget Sound and I ate happy hour salmon sliders watching the sound and the aircraft carriers right outside the window. Bliss. Needless to say, I didn't want to leave Port Orchard. Pics are coming.

We then moved to Kent, WA and stayed in the most GORGEOUS Best Western ever. It was Kirsten's 35th birthday on Friday, yay! So we went to a nice seafood restaurant (again:) and celebrated with her.

We were supposed to stay in the same hotel last night, but we as a group decided that we wanted to watch the Super Bowl and so we shifted things around and drove last night to this hole that they call "Moses Lake". The hotel is mistakenly identified as a "Super" 8. SCARY. SO ready to leave.

Today we are headed to Butte, Montana (and another Super 8, pray for us) to watch the Super Bowl. Tomorrow we have 9 1/2 hours to Rapid City, ND. Tuesday is another 9 hour day into MINNEAPOLIS! Free day in Minneapolis on Wednesday and I have an audition scheduled with the National Theatre for Children. I am little worried because I am SICK.

Two of the guys on the tour had a cold that began roughly 3 weeks ago and 1 week ago, respectively. I now have it. My voice is crappy and I have a lot of chest congestion. I am loaded up on Vitamin C, hot tea, Tylenol Cold (both day and night) and Mucinex. So I am fighting the good fight. I just want to be better by Wednesday, so keep me in your thoughts if you do that sort of thing.

Well, I need to go eat some free Continental breakfast and hit the road. I will blog more later in the week. Enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday. I have decided to root for the Saints today, so WHO DAT?

Laters.

Drive into Pacific Northwest (Northern Cali, Oregon and Washington State)

Last of LA

View on Hollywood Boulevard and the famed Roosevelt Hotel

Grauman's Chinese Theater

Some LA shots

The famed In-N-Out Burger and Beverly Hills.

Out in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. These imprints are Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

California: Swimming Pools and Movie Stars...and TRAFFIC

Hello everyone!

It's 11:41am and I am currently in Tacoma, Washington getting ready to load in our set at the Pantages Theatre. We have two shows tomorrow, load out and a quick drive to Bremerton, Washington. I'm here in Washington until Saturday night. We're playing 3 venues that surround Seattle in a triangle. I think we're going to try to head in to Seattle on Thursday. Most of my castmates haven't been there and they want to see the Space Needle and stuff, which should be fun. I really like Seattle. I've been there twice with Mom and had a blast both times.

So the last week I was in California. The weather was lovely, natch. Between 60 and 70 degrees the entire time.

We played our first shows in Lancaster, which is about an hour outside of LA. The venue and the crew were terrific. Unfortunately several of our set pieces were damaged on the drive out here, so we (and by we, I mean mostly our poor technical director Jonathan) spent 4 hours trying to get everything repaired. It was not fun. Several of my cast members and I decided to make it more fun by taking pics, which can be seen at the top of the post. We finally got everything repaired and rewarded ourselves with In-N-Out Burger for dinner. It was good, but it wasn't perfect until I found out about the secret menu and ordered my burger "Animal" style on my return.

Two great shows in Lancaster, load out, on to Glendora. First night we had an amazing dinner at an Italian restaurant. The next day we went into Los Angeles. We started out with a great lunch at Sushi Mac based on a recommendation from my friend David who lives in LA. All rolls were $3! Then we hit up Hollywood Boulevard and Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Pictures will follow. I also got my shop on at H & M. Two super cute and cheap tees later, it was time to hit up Rodeo Drive. CRAZY!!! (More pics later) We had a happy hour drink and app at 208 Rodeo. Anthony and I split the truffled fries. AMAZING!

Then we left for our dinner reservation at Bar Brix, a tapas bar in West Hollywood. We got the recommendation on Lonely Planet and it was RIGHT ON. (I just wanna say how happy I am that I am on tour with two people who like to plan and eat good food as much as I. Love you Tony and Kirsten).

So according to our GPS, the restaurant was 8 miles away. IT TOOK US AN HOUR AND A HALF. We had to keep pushing back our reservation and calling Anthony's friend who we were meeting for dinner and telling them that we were running late.

So when we finally got there we were all ready for wine and food. Anthony, the resident sommelier, recommended Lambrusco. It was yummy. We ate crostini with butternut squash, marinated olives, sea bass with cream sauce and couscous, arancini, grilled skirt steak, maine sea scallops with a dill yogurt sauce, charcuterie, cheese, burrata, etc, etc, etc. IT WAS AMAZING. We all just kept moaning and sitting back in our chairs.

Right before we left I went to the restroom, which was a one-seater with a huge line. An older woman behind me went in to the men's restroom after her husband came out and told me to watch the door. The husband asked me if I liked the restaurant. I said that I did, until now, waiting for the bathroom, but that we all loved the food and wine and were blissfully happy. He informed me that his daughter was the owner, it had only been open for a short time and he and his wife were visiting her from their home in Baltimore. I brought them over to the table and everyone started talking and laughing and we ended up exchanging email addresses and inviting them to our shows in Maryland. They invited us to their house for dinner! Life is weird.

Anyway, that was LA. More posts and pics later.

Love you guys!

Vegas BABY!

Me