Soup Kitchen... or I love Soup. (and Grilled Cheese)

Lovelies, not only am I volunteering at the soup kitchen this weekend, but to get myself in the mood I've been having soup all week for lunch.

That and grilled cheese.

Seriously - yummy!

Who doesn't love a warm grilled cheese with some hot soup!?!  (Probably people with no taste buds or people without proper mid-western upbringing!) 

Even fancy Upper East Siders love grilled cheese & fancy green soup...  See??

Blindness

Lovelies, I just started reading this book for book club - it's AWESOME!  I love it!  

It's all about an epidemic where people go blind instantly, but not blind like we think - every thing goes completely white...  spooky....  And in the book people can catch this from one another - so some people get quarantined!  

So good.  And easy to get into - but he doesn't use the quotation marks for punctuation, so watch out for that.  (A book that makes you think AND use your imagination - Gasp! HORRORS!!)

Also, Minnesota Monthly came in the mail yesterday!  I got a subscription so I could see what was going on at home!  Love that!

I'm a Volunteer!

Lovelies, I just hung up the phone with my lovely Upper East Side Church after deciding to volunteer once a month in the church soup kitchen!  

It's going to be on the first Sunday of every month and I have to be there at 6 a.m.  (a little early, but I can handle it!)  And I have to work until 9:30 or 10 a.m. with clean up, etc.

I start this Sunday and I think I'm going to go to the service right away after and then maybe go home & sleep!  :)  

I've only volunteered with my church back home in Cake Eater, Minnesota - so I'm sure this will be quite a different experience...

Bop to the Top!

Lovelies,  I had an interesting Friday last week...   I was called to come in with an event company and choreograph & perform in the number "Bop to the Top" for High School Musical 3: Senior Year.  I'm supposed to play Sharpay in this - very funny, indeed.

I got to don a blue dress, pull my blonde tresses into a Sharpay-type hair-do and strut my stuff with one of the employees from this event company.  (He played Sharpay's twin brother, Ryan)  Everyone loved it & I got paid for making a fool out of myself!  Hooray!

And I also went to see the movie later in the weekend - was such a silly & fun movie!  I enjoyed all the dancing - those kids can move!  (and boys who dance with basketballs in the gym - who doesn't love that?!)

Secret Life of Bees..

Lovelies,  I've been meaning to read this book and was very excited when I saw it was coming to a theatre near me as a movie!  Usually I like to read the book before I see the movie, but with this there was no book-readin' before... and it was fantastic!  Hooray!

SO, last night I was planning on going to a meeting with an agent at the Hardin/Curtis Agency but had the wrong date in my calendar.  (It's tonight - d'oh.)  I left the Actors Connection where the meeting was supposed to take place and swung by the movie theatres at 42nd Street to see what was playing.  

Then I saw it - this poster:

I was totally like "I'm going to see this movie.  RIGHT NOW!"  

Was so girly & great - just what I needed.  Very smart, interesting and captivating historical fiction movie.  Just wonderful!  

And sadly, lovelies, because I thought that the event was last night and it's tonight, I couldn't attend the Wicked Chorus Call this afternoon....  I had to work to make up for the lost hours from tonight.  (by my own choice, but let's be honest here - Mama's gotta pay the rent somehow!)

Moral of Story: Movies are good, there's always another audition, and for God's Sake - Keep close tabs on your schedule or your whole week could get shifted around.  

Now go see the movie!  Or read the book!  Or both!  :)

Wonders of a child....

Lovelies, I was on nanny duty this afternoon. I decided to make the most of the beautiful day here in NYC and took the 2 year old munchkin, Henny Penny, to the zoo in Central Park. They have a petting zoo area and he mooed like a cow for a good 20 minutes when were were by the cow. Brilliant child.

As he's mooing Henny Penny turns to me and says "See Auntie Musicl, I speak cow!"

I lost my shit. It was SO funny!!!

And then he continued mooing....

Sometimes I wish I could live with the abandon that he does. He does not care what others think of him, only that they like him. He feels no shame or awkwardness in mooing for 20 minutes in front of perfect strangers. But the part I admire the most is how freely he gives his love.

I hold my love back a lot of the time. With my friends, family and potential sutiors. What am I so freakin' afraid of that keeps me from spouting off my feelings that comes so naturally to this relatively new-to-earth boy??

Hmmm...

Best part of the day BY FAR was when we were walking home and he turns around in his stroller...

Henny Penny: "Auntie Musical?"

Me: "Yes, muffin?"

Henny Penny: "I love you."

Me: "Thanks, buddy! I love you, too!"

(as this is not cute enogh he keeps going)

Henny Penny: "No, Auntie Musical. I don't just love you, I LOVE you."

I promptly stopped the stroller, went in front and gave him a hug! Was the best feeling ever! He teaches me so much everyday!

Tomorrow I get to audition again for Wicked... We'll see how the green machine goes this time around...

It's Open!

Lovelies,  after 3 LONG years the new TKTS booth in Times Square is open at 3pm today!  The first 1,000 people got FREE tickets (courtesy of Target - gotta love that Minnesota nice company givin' away free tickets!)

I wasn't one of the first 1,000.  But I do plan on using it soon.  AND you can go and sit on the red steps whenever you want!  Pretty exciting when you need to take a load off your feet in Times Square!

There's also going to be a big hoopla event tonight at 6:30 where Brian Stokes Mitchell, Sutton Foster and MANY more will be singing "Give My Regards to Broadway" in front of the George M. Cohan statue.  

God, I love where I live!

And Everything was Ragtime!

Lovelies,  I had 2 great auditions for Ragtime!  

The Kennedy Center is doing their own production of it, and I LOVE that show and want to be a part of it SO SO bad!

I went to the Principal Audition last week and sang beautifully and they said "Lovely Job Miss Musical".  Then I went and sang my fun up tempo at the Chorus Call yesterday and they said "Miss Musical - that was excellent!"  

So I guess I have to feel good about that!  Hopefully I made enough of an impression that I can get a callback.  But we'll wait & see...  Wishful thinking my lovelies, wishful thinking....  (I WILL be going to Washington DC in April!  I WILL be going to Washington DC in April!)  Gotta keep it positive, right?!

Size 8! Size 8!

Lovelies, I thought this day would never come, but I'm wearing a size 8 in jeans & coat!  Hooray!

Here's the coat that just came in the mail from J. Crew.  (I call is Jota Crew - like in Spanish class.  I speak Spanglish fluently...)

And here's the cute Jeans & got at the Gap yesterday.

Cute, no?!

Down another 3.4!!

Hell yes, lovelies, HELL YES!  I'm down another 3.4 pounds!  So thrilled!  It feels so great to be getting thinner!

Last week I -gasp!- gained 1.4.  so this was a BIG relief for me to loose so much this week!  And I didn't wear jeans this week to my Weight Watchers Meeting, so that probably helped a little....

In other news I made 2 big purchases this week: a fish and a flat screen TV!  (Exciting, right?!)

My fish is named Sushi and he's blue with just a little red on the tip of his tail & his fins.  It kinda looks like he's been playing in blood, so I was considering naming him Sweeney Todd...  But I think Sushi is cuter and funnier!

The TV with DVD player is sleek, pretty and looks GREAT on my little table in front of my bed!  I got this one from Target!  (I had to go all the freakin' way out to the Gateway Mall Target to get it - all the other stores were sold out!  Took me 3 hours total to get there via public transportation (2 subways & 2 buses) and it was in a neighborhood where I was the ONLY white girl...  Was weird to be the minority.  Everyone was very nice & helpful with the directions though!  And I LOVE my new TV/ DVD player! 

And on a final note.... Can I just say how much I loved this skit??  I was crying I was laughing so hard!  (I mean, c'mon - how can you not love "It's just God huggin' us closer!") 

Good news, cold cash and new fish!

Lovelies, it never fails to amaze me how I can just go about my life thinking it's great and then it gets even BETTER!  

Case in point:  I got a raise.  Today!  YIPPEE!!! (Mo' Money!)  Always a wonderful feeling to be acknowledged for your work with a nice plumping of the paycheck!  

(and I was just praying the other day "God, please give me the means to pay off my credit card bill!" and look lovelies - He DOES listen!)

And I think it's time to get a pet.  A fish.

I need something to love although I still miss two gold fish I had previously: (Johnny Cash - the fish in black and Freida Kahlo, my fish with a uni-brow).  I had little voices for them and I had this whole back story that Freida would sit in her little grotto and smoke cigarettes all day while pining after Johnny...  And Johnny would go up to the front of the tank and say "Hi.  My name's Johnny Cash." and swim to the back of the tank. 

Am I sad that I made up a back story to my fish??  

Maybe a little...  But what's even more sad is that I missed the Blessing of the Pets last week in my church... (see below)  

New Favorite Photo Site

Lovelies,  I found the funniest picture adjusting website!  It's like photo shop for old high school photos!  

www.yearbookyourself.com

You can upload your picture to fit in other people's heads - my friend Ho.Do. had this on her facebook the other week - and I think it's a stitch!  You get to choose the decade of your "look" and they have different styles for men & women!  

Here's my pic from the 1952 year book - I actually kinda like it!  (now the one from 1984 was a little scary....  big hair scary.  I can't deal with that.)