28 Days

February. Black History Month. Valentine's Day.  And some other stuff that happens along the way.

This has been a pretty "quiet" month for my husband and I.  It definitely hasn't been dull.  With our two wacky personalities, there will never be a dull moment in our household.  Anyhoozle.  With the flu bug that's been going around, energy levels have been kinda low.  I haven't really had the energy to attack the city as I normally would have.  For the sake of my health, I passed up a few networking and FW party invites, but I definitely know it was a wise decision in the long run.  I just looked at my calender for next month, and I have something booked almost every other day:  rehearsals, meetings, classes, auditions, performances.  This month's "down-time" is so I can be fully energized for next month, 'cause I'm definitely gonna need it.

I did a short temp gig this week, and am grateful for the extra cash.  Between Valentine's Day and our friends' wedding this week, my husband and I shelled out cash like we were millionaires already.  Shoot, no regrets though.  We had a blast, and it was well worth it.  Love period is worth it.  Even though we're not millionaires (yet), we got together with our friends and partied all day and night on Tuesday to celebrate our other friends' wedding like none of us had jobs or a care in the world. It's funny, 'cause we really didn't.  You get twenty-something folks in their 20s and 30s to take over a restaurant in Tribeca in the middle of the day on a Tuesday, you know it's something special.

There's something truly mind-blowing when you reach a certain age and all your past hang-ups, worries, anxieties, and fears either seem really, really small or nonexistent.  When I compare this time of my life to my college years, I think "Jeez, how nerve-wrecking that was!"  Yeah, I had a blast, but I don't want to go thru those times and feelings again.

I sometimes get impatient and think, "Aargh, why is everything moving so slow?" or "If I push myself to do XYZ, things will be different."  But then something will click and I think, "Nope, everything is happening the way it's supposed to."  I have to remind myself that other peoples' journeys are not my own, that other peoples' paths to their own "success" is different than mine.  What is meant for me is bigger and better than what I can imagine for myself, and that everything will happen in its own time.  I have my Vision Board.  I use The Law of Attraction.  I'm all about Creative Visualization.  I'm not gonna lie though, I often wonder "What's next?  What surprises are out there waiting for me?"

When I get out into the giant bubble of stardom and fame, when I'm out there on the stage or the big screen, what stories do I want to tell? What's my iconic moment?  What will be my most memorable performance?  Who will my audience be?  How will they see me?  How do I want to be seen?  These are some deep questions, and I know those answers and moments have yet to come.  In the meantime,  I will enjoy this "quiet" time, and bask in the joy and love from my hubby and friends, and in the knowledge that these are the best years, and they only get better.

How Sweet It Is!

I passed up a networking event last night cause I'm on a mission. 

I listened to two great teleseminars last week, which reawakened my motivation and drive. I've realized that even though I've been doing a lot, I felt like I was at an empasse. I was moving but not really in the direction that I wanted to be going. 

Emily Grace conducted a seminar entitled "Get Known NOW:  From Frantic to Focused in 7 Simple Steps".  What really hit home for me was when she said (this is not verbatim) "Are you one of those actors who says, 'I just want to be working'?  Well, you've probably already reached your goal:  You're probably working at a number of things or a number of jobs, and you're frustrated 'cause you're working your butt off, and you don't seem to be getting anywhere. You need to have a clear goal." I realized in life that when you're ready to make a change, ready to move forward toward the life you want, and toward becoming the person you're meant to be, the path will open up to you, and you'll begin to look at things with new eyes.  I've been performing, auditioning, studying and practicing the majority of my life. Listened to countless suggestions on what to do in my career "in the meantime/to make some money now/cause you never know where it can lead", instead of listening to my own intuition, and believing that I could have what I really wanted.  Just like I let go of my hangups and fears, and opened myself up to a loving relationship, it was now time for me to do the same in my career. I wrote down all 7 steps, and re-worked my five-year plan.  I've taken the steps toward completing my first goal, and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of me.  My fiance has been a blessing in my life in so many ways. It was him who told me about Emily's seminar.  I don't know how he came across it, I just know it came right on time.

The second one I listened to was Lisa Gold's teleseminar on social media.  I'm already on facebook, twitter, actors access, ny castings, casting networks, model mayhem, linked in, myspace, skype, etc., and now have a blog.  Lisa's seminar just helped see what more I can do to brand myself as an artist, and how to properly utilize tools I already have.  I've been on Lisa's mailing list for quite awhile, and really enjoy her seminars and her networking parties.

With Emily and Lisa's words fresh in my brain, I quickly got on the ball. I ordered my reproductions, new business cards, updated my profiles on the casting websites and signed up for Scott Powers Studios' Commercial Print Agents' Forum. I finally feel I'm in the right place for myself.

The other end of the spectrum is the wedding prep. Wonderfully and surprisingly enough, things are going rather smoothly. I'm so happy and relieved about that. My fiance almost has his guest list together, and I have some extended family helping out with finding good group rates for hotels.

The other day, my best friend and my roommate went with me to do a cake tasting. A facebook friend recommended Karen Charles Teesdale of Empress Cakes LLC. Let me tell you, we tasted the cake of Life!  She had samples of red velvet, chocolate and vanilla cakes, as well as strawberry champagne, mimosa, lychee, vanilla bean and pistachio buttercream. The three of us attacked those samples like they were our first and last meal. Now considering that I ended the cleanse less than two weeks ago, I'd been very careful about what I had been eating lately.  I haven't had that much sugar in God knows how long, and my body wasted no time in reminding me of that fact.  Once that sugar crash hit, the three of us were completely done in:  I had the worst stomachache, my best friend had a sugar headache because she didn't eat anything all day except fig newtons, and my roommate ended up with the itis. We were miserable by the end of it, but we all agreed it was sooooo worth it!

We were about to finish all of it, until we realized the nice thing to would be to save at least a few forkfuls for my fiance to try.  He didn't care what flavors I picked, he devoured what was left the moment I put the plate in front of him at home. I asked him what flavors he liked, and he said it all tasted the same to him:  like sugar. He doesn't really care what flavors I picked for the cake and cupcakes, this is all he's looking forward to (and I admit, so am I lol): 

Shenanigans aside, if it isn't obvious, I truly do love my fiance more and more each day. He never ceases to amaze me. On Valentine's Day, I opted to work to have the extra cash, so we decided to have our V-day the night before. It was the most romantic thing I could ever hope for. A candlelight dinner, Al Green on wax, cocktails, dessert, "Romancing The Stone" on Netflix, and a little wink wink nudge nudge. Chalky candy hearts, and cardboard valentine cards from grade school were nice, but Grown Up Valentine's are so worth the wait ;-).

Oh life, How Sweet It Is!