Bomb in a Birdcage

Hey everyone! I know I promised I'd be back to posting hopefully a few times a week, but I'm apparently more busy then I thought I was. My parents are coming into town tomorrow so I've been super busy getting my stuff together for their visit.

I'm meeting up with them after my modern drama class tomorrow and taking them around the city and out to dinner. I'm so excited to see them, it's been two months since the last time we saw each other!

They are in town for my concert that I'm doing on Tuesday. If any of you are in the NYC area please come check it out! It's Tuesday night at 7:00 pm at Don't Tell Mama (343 w. 46th st between 8th and 9th ave). It'll only be an hour long and they'll be serving drinks! :)

But the real reason for this post is to tell you all about my new favorite CD. It's called Bomb in a Birdcage by A Fine Frenzy. It's their sophomore album and I am obsessed. I've been a fan of them since high school, but I just recently got their new CD. I've been listening to it all weekend. Check out the first single!

WTF Maine?!

In case you haven't heard Maine has repealed their Gay Marriage Law, making gay marriage once again illegal. It really sickens me that there is still this much intolerance, bigotry and ignorance in our country. When I was little I used to dream about what my wedding would be like. Just the other day my roommates and I were talking about where we want to get married and what our dresses will look like. It breaks my heart that some of my closest friends have to fight for such a basic right. I cannot begin to describe how disappointed and ashamed I am of the people of Maine today.

For those of you in NYC--there is a rally in Union Square on Monday, November 9th at 6:00 pm to let our senators know where we stand! Please, please, please come out and support this cause!

NOVEMBER!

Aaaaannnnnnd I'm back! After being M.I.A. for about 3 weeks, I'm officially back to blogging. October has been so crazy! I'm really looking forward to November and hopefully a little time to relax.

These past 3 weeks have been some of the most stressful weeks of my life. Not only did I have midterms in all of my classes, but I also had an audition that literally determined the rest of my life. My college's Drama program is set up a little differently from most. They offer a B.A. degree and a B.F.A. (bachelor in fine arts) which is a more intensive degree. It's a lot more demanding and you need to take a significant more amount of credit hours. Most actors want to get a B.F.A. because it usually indicates more training. B.F.A. programs also require an audition to get in. At my school we have to audition for the B.F.A. program fall semester of our sophomore year. We all have to write a letter to the Department of Drama and Dance explaining why we want to be in this program and to ask for an audition slot. Once we submitted the letters we were granted an audition. This years audition was last Saturday morning. I was TERRIFIED! We each had to go in front of the entire department and do a monologue. On Monday we received our acceptance/rejection letters. I was lucky enough to be one of 14 accepted into the program! I was so stress out about the whole process, it's such a relife to have it all over with, and have the outcome I wanted. I'm so happy I've been accepted, and I can't wait to start my intense training for the next two and a half years.

Working on my letter, audition, and studying for midterms consumed all of my time. But, as of Friday I am officially done with auditions and midterms. This weekend has been such a great time to relax. I went out with some friends for Halloween, and had a blast! I'll post pictures and write more about it later!

National Equality March

This Sunday I went to Washington D.C. for the National Equality March. It was one of the most beautiful, moving things I have ever seen. Everyone there was so peaceful and full of love, it was really moving. There was no anger, no hate, everyone was kind to one another and so supportive. It was really all about love. Words cannot express how amazing it was, so I'll go with the whole saying; "a picture's worth a thousand words".

We woke up at 3:00 am!

Too early!

Walking to the bus...it was still dark out!

Sunrise as we were leaving the city

Equality Now! Broadway Impact signs

On of the boys on the bus made rainbow cake!

The inside of the rainbow cake...kind of messy, but it was a legit rainbow!

The most amazingly beautiful rainbow that appeared over the march!

(It wasn't even raining or very cloudy!)

4 time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald!

In front of the White House

They were so cute! We loved them!

Our group's banner!

My roommate and I marching

Tony and Emmy award winner Kristin Chenoweth!

"Albus Dumbledor supports gay marriage"

Lady GaGa!

The cast of HAIR singing "Let the Sun Shine" with the entire crowd. So beautiful!

Busy Busy Week!

Sorry I haven't updated in a few days. I've been compleatly tied up with homework and trying to get ready for this weekend! I'm so incredibly excited! It'll be such a nice break after this week.

Sunday I went to brunch on the Upper West Side with my best friend, S, and our friend from high school, G. We ate at this adorable cafe called Artopolis. They have any type of bakery food you could want, as well as crepes, salads and most amazing gelato. The only downside to the whole meal was the screaming baby. I'm normally very tolerant of children, but this is a nice restaurant. Everyone else doesn't want to hear your child scream, so don't just let him sit there and cry. But overall it was great to catch up, and we had a delicious meal.

After brunch we said goodbye to S and G and I went down to midtown to try to get lottery tickets for Hair. G was the first name called! We had amazing front row box seats. They also have a platform right in front of the box where actors sing and dance, so many times there were people right in front of us. Will Swenson, who plays a lead in the show, came over and messed my hair and played with is, and we were handed flowers and ask how we were doing by other cast members. It was so much fun, and such a great way to end the weekend.

Sunday night I went to see the Hangover with my roommates. It was the first time I had ever seen it, and I thought it was pretty funny. Monday started the week from hell, full of papers and departmental meetings. I've spent a lot of time in the library. I've sort of camped out there for the past two days with tea, granola and my laptop. Luckily, everything was due by today, so I can kind of take Friday off and just relax. I've been getting sick and been stressed out, so I can't wait for a break. I'm sort of celebrating the end of all of my assignments by going to see a play tonight with my roommate. It's called Nickled and Dimed, and a few of my friends are in it.

I'm taking it easy this weekend, I may be going to see Toxic Avenger with S and her bf either tomorrow or Saturday, but I'm not sure yet. Sunday morning at 6:00 am we are getting on the bus to D.C. for the National Equality March! I am so so SO excited! I'll write all about it when I get back!

Spotted.

Kids on leashes on the Upper West Side Sunday morning.

Cruel or hilarious?

It's a Rainy Day

I got back to New York around 12:30 this afternoon after spending an amazing night in Connecticut. We got to my roommate's house around 6:30. Everyone else got there within the following hour, including one of our friends who said he couldn't come and surprised her by driving from Rhode Island to her house! We ate the most amazing home cooked meal of macaroni and cheese and baked ziti. It was so delicious! And I had my first apple fritter, which are my new obsessions. They are so good! I couldn't stop eating them all night.

After everyone was there and we had eaten we went to Lake Compounce, a small town amusement park with a fantastic haunted house. The whole thing took 45 minutes to go through and had at least 20 different parts to it. Our group had 12 people in it, and it was so much fun to watch my friends scream! Hehe. It was really really fun. When we got back to my roommate's house we proceeded to pig out on birthday cake and hang out. It was a great night.

We left this morning around 10:30 and made great time getting home. Since we all got minimal amounts of sleep last night everyone passed out when we got home. It's also been raining all afternoon, so it's the perfect lazy day. I've been sitting in bed watching movies all afternoon. I even fell asleep for about an hour. Tonight we're having everyone over for a little birthday celebration and then we're going out to a bar. I'm normally not a bar person, but all of our friend's are going, so I think I'll have a good time. Tomorrow I'm getting up early and meeting my best friend and one of our friends from high school for brunch and a matinee. I'm so excited to see them!

Have a great weekend!

GLEE!

It's my new obsession. Every Wednesday night my roommates and I have a few friends over, and we sit in silence and watch Glee. It's hilarious! I think you kind of have to be in theater to understand the full extent of it. I, already being a fan of Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele, am loving it. Last night Tony (and now Emmy!) award winner Kristin Chenoweth was on the show and was fierce!

Does anyone else watch this show? What do you guys think of it? I'd love to hear what non-theater people think about it.

This week I've been really busy with classes and homework, but after my acting class today I can relax and get ready for the weekend! My roommates and I are going shopping tonight for new outfits for Friday and Saturday night. I'm so excited to get out and do something other then homework!

Also! It's officially cold out. I've been wearing sweaters and tights and boots for the past few days and I love it. I can't wait for the winter to break out my peacoat and the heavy sweaters!

Have a great Thursday!

"It's Great to be Back, Back in my City"

So I'm home and settled back in New York. As happy as I am to be back, I'm already in need of a break. 20 minutes after I got home I got a message from my boss asking me to find companies to donate for our benefit gift bags, So I did that for the better part of the afternoon. I'm interested to see what companies actually get back to me. Maybe it's just me, but I think it's polite to respond to a person if they e-mail or leave a message, regardless of if you're actually going to donate anything. It's just common courtesy. On top of that I have memorize and perform a Shakespearian monologue this week, write two papers and keep up with my normal corse load. I know I'm not going to have time to do any homework this weekend, so I'm giving up my social life in place of hours of homework every night. If I'm MIA for a few days, that's why.

But all of this work will make the weekend just that much better! In addition to my roommates birthday celebration, one of my good friends from high school is coming to visit on Sunday. She wants to see Hair, so I'm going to take her to lunch and then a manatee!

I've also done a bit of shopping in the past few days! I bought two new pairs of shoes and a blouse. I got a pair of black slouchy boots, which are super comfortable and perfect for every occasion. I also got a pair of moccasins that are super cute, and made for walking. I'm going to wear them to the rally on the 11th! I also got a super cute white button down from J. Crew!

Gift Bags!

Hey Everyone! I need your help.

The company I work for, Broadway Speaks Out, is doing a benefit concert this November. We are looking to put together gift bags for donators to take home. I'm looking for companies to donate samples of their products for the gift bags. We would need about 45 to 50 and the company would be recognized in our program. If you know of any companies that would be interested in donating please let me know!

Your help would be seriously appreciated!

All the Leaves Are Brown

This is the first weekend that it officially feels like fall! At least where I am. Fall is defiantly in the air in Pittsburgh, and according to my roommates, in New York as well. Unfortunately, I wasn't anticipating this fall like weather, and left all of my sweaters in New York. I'm heading back to New York tomorrow morning, though, so I'll have my sweaters soon enough. I've also been listening to a lot of music that reminds me of fall. What kind of music do you guys listen to in the fall? Is there any bands or songs that remind you of fall?

For the start of the Halloween season I'm going to Connecticut on Friday night to go to a Haunted Graveyard with a bunch of my friends. I've never been to haunted house, other then the ride in Disney World, so I'm pretty excited. It's supposed to be terrifying, but hopefully I won't freak out to much.

In addition to going to the Haunted House, my friends and I have started planning out Halloween. Normally we go to Greenwich Village for the parade, but this year 3 of my good friends, including my roommate have a show that night. So we're going to do something more relaxed and probably just go to a party. We've also started to discuss costume ideas. Right now we're leaning towards 7 deadly sins. I'm trying to figure out which one I want to be!

Exhibit Equality!

Sorry it's been a few days, I've been outside enjoying this beautiful weather. On friday my best friend and I decided to go to Time Square and get pizza and sit on the red steps. Normally I hate Time Square; there are too many tourists and people stopping in the middle of the sidewalk taking pictures while I'm trying to get somewhere. But on Friday it was actually really nice. I haven't just sat and looked at it in a long time.

Saturday I spent the entire day in the park with friends. We had a picnic by the pond and laid out in the field.

The weather was beautiful and it was so nice to relax. Central Park is one of my favorite places in the city, and it was great to spend the whole day just hanging out.

Sunday I did a little bit of shopping at American Apparel! I only allowed myself to get one shirt though, because I really need to start saving money. (Oh the life of a college student/actor.) I really like it though. I'm going to wear it to the rally on the 11th! You can buy them online here!

I spend some time Sunday afternoon in Central Park doing homework. I left the park and started to walk down 8th ave. and ran into a street fair! At least 10 blocks of 8th ave. were blocked off and there were tents and carts set up all down the street. There were people selling jewelry, clothes, sunglasses, purses, art and food! I spent about half an hour there and ended up buying some bracelets and rings. After that I took the subway (The 1 wasn't running between 34th and South Ferry this weekend=major pain in the ass!) down to Tribeca. Sunday night was Exhibit Equality, one of the events I talked about in my last post. It took place at Space on White; a really cool art gallery like space. There were different artists works all over the space, and all of the artists were there too to talk about their work. There was also a performance piece that took place 3 times throughout the event. 3 AMAZING people sang while 3 people danced. The choreography was done by Billy Griffin and it was FIERCE!

I met so many fantastically talented Broadway actors, and so many cool people. Everyone was so incredibly nice and loving. It was so inspiring to be in a place where everyone has love for everyone and they're all working towards one goal. The main point of this event was to promote the rally in D.C. that's happening in 2 weeks! Read this for more information if you want to go to the rally or get involved.

Tomorrow I'm flying to Pittsburgh for a few days. I'm working at the G20 and catching up with some friends. I'll probably catch up on my commenting while I'm there and blog more consistently. I feel like mainly right now I just write about things that I've been doing, and while my life is completely fabulous I feel like there is more I can talk about. So what do you guys want me to write about? Give me some suggestions and I'll do a post on it!

Events!

Recently I've been talking a lot about the upcoming Equality Rally in Washington D.C. For those of you interested in going I have big news! Round trip bus tickets from NYC to Washington D.C. are now FREE! Thanks to Broadway Impact you can now get a free ticket to the rally. The buses leaving NYC at 6:00 am on October 11th and return later that night either at 8:00 pm, 10:00, 12:00, 2:00 or 4:00 am. You can order tickets at Vlada Lounge from 6:00 pm to midnight every night or you can order them online.

For those of you interested in donating you can sponsor a bus. A contribution of $2,400 supplements the cost of a round trip ticket for an entire chartered bus! AND it's tax-deductible.

For those of you in NYC this weekend, there is a fantastic event taking place on Sunday night. Exhibit Equality is a mixed media fundraiser and it's the place to be this weekend. It's at Space on White (81 White St. New York, NY 10013) beginning at 6:00 pm. Click here for more information!

There is another upcoming event on Saturday, October 3nd that YOU HAVE TO go to if you're in the city. Lady Gaga is hosting a fundraiser! You can buy $15 advance tickets here.

It's a Beautiful Day

I hope all of you in the New York area are enjoying this beautiful weather! I know I am. Yesterday I woke up super early and went to Time Square with some friends to see Broadway on Broadway. We got there around 9:30 so we could get a spot close to the stage. It was PACKED! The crowed was at least 2 blocks back. During the finale they shot confetti all over Time Square. It was awesome. After I went to lunch at a delicious Middle Eastern restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen. I love just walking around that area and finding new cafes. I’ve never found a restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen that I didn’t like. If you’re going to be in the city, it’s the place to go for good food!

After that we walked to the Upper West Side to get Pinkberry, or Crackberry as my friends lovingly call it. I seriously will go through phases where I crave it every day. The good thing is it’s really healthy for you! (Only 150 calories per cup!) For those of you who don’t know what it is, Pinkberry is, it’s frozen yogurt and you can get different types for fruit on top. I always get original with strawberries. After we got our Pinkberry we walked over to one of my favorite places in the city, Central Park. We walked by Strawberry Fields and ended up at the fountain. We just sat for a while and people watched. It was such a beautiful afternoon!

On our way home we walked past Radio City Music Hall. The VMA’s hadn’t started yet, but it was cool to see everything! Did anyone watch the VMA’s last night? What did you think? I have my own opinions, which I’ll share later, when I don’t have a crazy amount of work I should be doing instead of blogging, but I want to know what you think!

Have a great Monday and enjoy this beautiful weather!

BROADWAY on BROADWAY

Hi everyone. Sorry I've been so spacey lately on updating my blog and commenting. I promise as soon as things die down a little bit I'll be back to it! Lots of exciting things have been going on in my life since getting back to New York. Unfortunately I can't share the details of any of it yet, all I can say is some pretty exciting performance opportunities are coming up for me! Tomorrow I have a 5 hour long dance audition, so I'm just posting this super quickly before I go to bed.

If any of you are going to be in the city this Sunday you should defiantly check out BROADWAY on BROADWAY. It's a FREE outdoor concert in Time Square featuring stars from current and upcoming Broadway shows. Each show usually performs a song or two. It's a great way to see some really great theater for free. It's also a good way to get an idea of what the shows are like, and which ones you do and don't want to see before you invest in an $100 theater ticket. It starts at 11:30 am in Time Square. (You might want to get there a little early if you want a spot close to the stage, it tends to get pretty crowded.)

Just wanted to let you all know about this event, and give you a brief update. I swear I'll be more present in the next week!

Have a great weekend!

What others believe

In my last post I told you about a pretty cool assignment, and asked what you believed. I also told my friends about this assignment, and it sort of turned into a game. I thought some of their "beliefs" were pretty funny/interesting, so I decided to share them with you. (Note: some of these were conceived while under influences, and I do not necessarily agree with all of them.)

1. War is wrong

2. Women should have control over their own bodies

3. The spirit of Christmas

4. O.J. Simpson is innocent

5. Miley Cyrus is a boy

6. In President Obama

7. In second chances

8. Children are our future

9. Guardian angels

10. I believe in Love

11. Luck

12. Michael Jackson is alive

13. The death penalty is wrong

14. Democracy

15. Equality

16. Dreaming

17. Human rights

18. Absolutely anything is possible

19. Love at first sight

20. The bible is not divinly inspired

ALSO! The season premiere of Glee was on tonight! If you didn't catch it, defiantly watch it online sometime this week. It's hilarious! The writing is funny, and the cast is lead by the incredibly talented Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele. Everyone I've spoken to so far has absolutely loved it.

What do YOU believe?

I’ve successfully completed my first week of classes! I think I’m really going to like most of them. A few seem like they’re going to be a little boring, but not to challenging if I do the work. I’m taking 7 classes this semester, so I’m going to be super busy, but I’m also really excited. I already have a bunch of homework! For my acting class we were asked to make a list of 10 things we believe in and 10 things we don’t believe in. The direct assignment is:

“Write out as succinctly as possible ten ideas that you believe to be true. This might be easy for you, but if you’re struggling, try thinking about ideas of justice and what is fair. This should help you get started. Write a list of ten ideas you passionately disagree with; this can include political, social, or religious beliefs.”

I don’t know about you, but I think this is a really cool assignment. It really made me think, and I thought it would be something fun to share with all of you. Try making a list. It was hard for me, but also really fun. So go ahead and share your list!

Hope everyone is having a great Labor Day weekend!

Gym Gym Gym!

One of my favorite things about being in college is being able to use the gym on campus any time I want. And it’s free! They have a bunch of treadmills, elliptical machines and bikes and well as an indoor track, weight room, and basketball courts. They also have studios where they offer free classes. These classes are super diverse ranging from 60 minute abs to yoga and Pilates. Since being back I’ve been taking serious advantage of my gym, going with friends every day. Yesterday while I was working out my friend and I had a discussion about our “gym playlist” on our iPods, so I figured I’d share mine with all of you. I love listening to trashy pump up music. Basically anything with a good beat, that’s peppy and happy I’ll run to. My most recent mix has been completely influenced by the early 2000’s, including some A*Teens and S club 7. Don’t judge me, I usually have MUCH better taste in music.

 

1.     Don’t Stop Believin’ (Glee Cast)

2.     I Do Not Hook Up (Kelly Clarkson)

3.     Just Dance (Lady GaGa)

4.     Love Drunk (Boys Like Girls)

5.     Move Move Shake Shake (Pitbull)

6.     My Life Would Suck Without You (Kelly Clarkson)

7.     My Own Worst Enemy (Lit)

8.     Oh My God (Ida Maria)

9.     Positive (Legally Blonde the Musical)

10. Revolution (The Veronicas)

11. Right Round (Flo Rida)

12. Shake It (Metro Station)

13. Shine Like The Sun (9 to 5 the Musical)

14. That’s What Girls Do (No Secrets)

15. Untouched (The Veronicas)

16. Upsidedown (A*Teens)

17. Waking Up in Vegas (Katy Perry)

18. 1-2-3 (Nikki Cleary)

19. 4ever (The Veronicas)

20. Beautiful Dirty Rich (Lady GaGa)

21. Paper Planes (M.I.A.)

22. If You Seek Amy (Britney Spears)

23. BoysBoysBoys (Lady GaGa)

24. Womanizer (Britney Spears)

25. Single Ladies (Beyonce)

 

What’s on your gym playlist?

I <3 NY

Hey everyone! Sorry I’ve been M.I.A. lately. I’m back in New York now! I’m all moved in and settled. I’ve just been getting settled and catching up with friends. I’m living with 4 of my friends this year and it’s been a blast to be with them all the time. This weekend we went shopping to decorate the apartment and went out to a few parties. It’s been really fun.

 Here’s a picture of my bedroom. My side is on the right. (It’s not completely decorated yet!)

I start classes tomorrow, and I’m also working on getting a job and an internship. These next few weeks are going to be crazy, but I couldn’t be happier to be back in New York.

9 to 5 the musical is closing on Sunday! I’m going to try to see it sometime this week. I saw it in previews last spring, and it’s fantastic. The cast is amazing, and the music is pretty great too. It’s all written by Dolly Parton, and at first I was a little skeptical, but I was blown away by how good it is. If you’re in NYC defiantly try to see this show before it closes.

Did any of you get a chance to go to the meeting in Central Park on Friday? I'd love to hear your thoughts about it!

Have a great afternoon!

If you're in NYC tomorrow...

Hey everyone! If you are in the New York area tomorrow afternoon you should defiantly check this out:

As many of you hopefully know there is a National March on Washington D.C. scheduled for October 11, 2009 to demand full equality for all people in matters governed by civil law. Tomorrow afternoon Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, BroadwayImpact, The Cast of HAIR, and the Public Theater will be hosting a community-wide mobilization meeting at the Delacorte Theater in Central park at 2:30 pm. The point of this meeting is to propose and discuss ideas to help spread the word of this movement. CLEVE JONES will be there! Other speakers include Oskar Eustis (Public Theater Artistic Director), David Stone (Producer for Wicked, Next to Normal, Spelling Bee), Nancy Harrington (veteran Broadway Stage Manager), and Gavin Creel (Two time Tony nominee, star of Hair, and co-founder of BroadwayImpact).

So if you're free, please come to this meeting and learn what you can do to really make a difference in the fight for equality!

Mattress Factory

Only 3 days left in Pittsburgh, and I’ve been trying to spend as much time as possible with friends! This afternoon I went to the Mattress Factory with two friends.  For those of you who don’t know what the Mattress Factory is, it’s a modern art museum that presents contemporary are in room-sized environments that you can get into. They have some really cool exhibits that you can interact with (or in our case have a photo shoot with). One of my favorites is a room full of mirrors with black lights and neon spots. It’s a really fun room to hang out in for a few minutes and take pictures in. It’s located in a really nice neighborhood with a Greenwich Village like feel. If you are ever in Pittsburgh it’s a really cool place to check out.

I’m also going out with some friends tonight. We’re going to coffee and seeing Inglorious Basterds. I’ve heard it’s really good from a lot of people, so I’m excited to check it out myself.  Have any of you seen it? Did you like it?

College Packing

It’s finally my last week at my parent’s house! I’m moving back to New York early Friday morning and I couldn’t be more excited! I can’t wait to see my roommates and my friends, to go out to restaurants and to see shows, and just to sit in the park and relax. I’m technically not moving in until Saturday morning so I’ll be spending Friday night at my aunt and uncle’s house. It’ll be nice to spend some time with them and to see my cousins! They have two boys, 3 and 5, who are so adorable.

I’m about 50% done packing now. I have all of my winter stuff packed, as well as toiletries. Basically anything I know I won’t need between now and Friday. I’ve recently bought those vacuum bags where you put a bunch of clothes in and suck the air out. They are so useful! You wouldn’t believe the amount of space you can save with a few of those bags. If you’re moving defiantly check them out. I want to hurry up and finish packing al of my clothes, but I have such a hard time deciding what to wear and I know if I pack a certain shirt or dress I’m going to want to wear it, so I’m trying to hold off on packing my summer clothes.

 Recently friends (and some bloggers) have asked for any suggestions for college packing. Here are a few tips that I wish I would have known for my freshman year:

 

-You don’t have to buy everything before you move!

            This applies more to people who are traveling longer distances, like me. Chairs, rugs, lights, etc. can take up a lot of space in your car. Many colleges are located near a target, bed bath and beyond, or ikea, and some even offer a shuttle bus to the store! Wait till you get there, see how big your room is, and then go out and buy bulkier things for your room.

 

-Bring a medicine basket!

            Fill a box or basket with any type of medicine you might need throughout the year. When I got sick at school the last thing I wanted to do was leave my bed. Luckily I already had a lot of what I needed right there.

                        -Tylenol

                        -Midol

                        -Pepto Bismol

                        -Cough Drops

                        -Nyquil

                        -Vitamins

I also use shower soothers when I’m congested or have a cold. They work miracles. I am also a singer, and occasionally use them before a show if I’m feeling a little stuffy. Defiantly check them out!

 

-A sewing kit might not seem necessary, but I used it multiple times.

 

-Although I didn’t have it last year, today my mom bought me pepper spray. While I never encountered a situation where I would have needed it, it is smart to have. Especially in NYC. I don’t feel like it’s a necessity, but it’s good to have.

 

-Bed risers are also a great idea and create a lot more storage space. I kept extra school supplies, extra toiletries, a hamper, and luggage under my bed. It saves a ton of space!

 

What do you guys do to pack and save space?

1 week!

Good news! My interview went really well, and I have the job as long as I pass the secret service background checks. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I’ll pass. I’ve never been arrested or been involved with terrorist organizations, so I’m not too worried.

Other then that I’ve just been saying goodbye to friends and getting ready to go back to New York. My friends from High School that were a year younger are all leaving for college this week. I went out with a group of them two nights ago and just talked about all the fun times we had together. In addition to saying goodbye to people, I’ve started packing. I’m going back to New York a week from today, and I couldn’t be more excited. However, I have A TON of stuff to bring back with me. I’m trying to cut back on the amount of stuff I’m bringing, but I have such a hard time leaving clothes behind. It’s also challenging, because I’m not coming home after this. I’m just going to be moving back and fourth between school and an apartment in the city. So I don’t want to leave stuff behind, but I don’t want to over pack. I will probably end up over packing anyway and regretting it later.

 

I recently bought some new stuff for my room, and I can’t wait to decorate it! I got a new rug from Urban Outfitters. It’s a chocolate area rug, and it’s really soft! I also got the original cast recording (on record!) of Hair. It’s the album sleeve and the record, and it’s framed. It looks really cool and I can’t wait to hang it in my room! In addition to that I have this huge piece of fabric that I don’t know what to do with. It was used as a curtain in the set of “Barefoot in the Park”, and after the show the director gave it to me telling me to do something with it to use in my dorm. So now I have this large piece of gorgeous vintage fabric from the 70’s and I can’t figure out what to do with it. I’m thinking of just using it as a tapestry on my wall, but I’d like to do something a little more original. Ideas would be greatly appreciated!

G20!

I have really exciting news! As many of you know the G20 is being hosted in Pittsburgh (my hometown) this September. I have Monday classes off that weekend anyway so I decided to fly home for a long weekend to see my family and check out what’s going on around Pittsburgh. A few days I was told about an opportunity to be a server at different events during the G20, meaning I would get access to the events and be able to see everyone there! I have an interview for it tonight. I really hope I get it!

Other then that I’ve just been getting ready to go back to New York. I went shopping the other day at Forever 21 and Avalon, a thrift store by me. I got a really cute dress and skirt from Forever 21. I also got a headband with a black flower on it. I’m kind of obsessed with it right now. At Avalon I found an American Apparel skater dress for only $10.50! I love going to thrift stores! You can find some really cute, unique clothes for really cheap. If anyone knows of any good thrift stores in NYC give me a heads up! Because the only ones I know of are vintage stores in Nolita, which still charge hundreds of dollars for clothes.

 

Hope everyone has a great Wednesday!