"Virtual" Apartment Tour

Hey all. I am going to attempt to show you what our apartment looks like from pictures I took last night. We cleaned up the living areas really nice, so I thought it would be a good time to show you all what it looked like out here!

This is the entry way area, and thus the first thing you see when you walk into the apartment. The door on the right is our front door. As you see fabulous are throughout the apartment it is either Sam's or Dan Saner's (the guy who got me my Assistant Producer job).

This is what we stare at most of the time. The book cases along with everything in them belong to me (I have a pretty small room so I don't have anywhere to put that stuff). Chris, if you're reading, yes, that NO VACANCY sign is yours are you are going to have to travel 2,000 miles to get it back.

And this gives you a better idea of the size of the living area and seating arrangement. You can see the glass doors that lead to the main balcony from here. (The view blows, but its nice to have it.)


And now you can see the rest of the room, and put it visually together by noting that the very left side of the pictures shows the hallway you will be seeing in 2 photos.

This is our kitchen. Small but mighty. We just had a new stove put in so it actually matches the microwave - very nice touch.


And this is the aforementioned hallway. It connects the living room/entryway/kitchen to the bedrooms and bathrooms. The first open door on the right leads you to my bedroom.


And there it is! Other than being smaller, it looks a lot like my last two bedrooms because I have kept all of the decor and same bed and bedding and everything. It's nice. A little cozy. But nice. Hanging drapes made all the difference in the world. If my dad is reading, he may note that the three pictures on the wall are the ones of Daniel and I that he gave us.


And here is the other side of my room. The dresser I bought in Texas (or Arizona, how do I not remember already). It still needs to be refinished, but I have a feeling that it will always need toget refinished. And my dresser is backed by my clutter/memory wall. I have made a little collage of notes, cards, movie tickets, etc. all held up with thumb tacks. It changes all the time. I should probably grow out of having one of these (I always seem to do it somewhere) but I really like them. I find it comforting.

END OF TOUR

The rest of these pictures are from my phone. I was just clearing it out trying to make room for other pictures. Mom, I have to sincerely apologize that in the process of doing all of this I lost several pictures from our cross country trip.

Butterfly I found near the coy pond in the back yard of Harper's Ferry house.

FINALLY a sign for Los Angeles after driving over 1700 miles.


Another picture of the baby groundhog from Ohio Bike Week.


This was the first sign counting down the miles to Los Angeles during my mom and my cross country trip.

Positive list

Awesome things:
1. Today I woke up and was miraculously healed. I still have a bit of mucus where it shouldn't be, but I don't feel any more pain.
2. Weight loss goals are coming along VERY well.
3. A guy I *like* has asked me out. I sound like an 8th grader.
4. Tomorrow I am going to another beach: Manhattan Beach! Yay! To bathe in the sun while Derek and Sam have a surfing lesson.
5. I just saw District 9 and I liked it (contrary to some of my friends, we were divided).
6. In the mail today I got a pair of dress pants that I ordered online and they are possibly the best fitting pants I've ever owned.
7. Very close to the next episode of True Blood.
8. I cleaned my room top to bottom today so it looks really nice.
9. My hair is getting longer and I really like it (though it does need a cut).
10. I got to hang out with friends today for the first time this week, because I was sick. Instant cure for loneliness.
11. Thanks to my mom, I got my first international blog hit! (Check out the map.)


Oh, and for those of you who don't already know, my mom has started a blog about bee keeping. A shameless plug that you should check it out!

http://beejournal-honeybeez.blogspot.com/

A [Quiet] Shout Out

I would like to start off this post by wishing my Grandpa Tiemens a very happy (78th?) birthday. He and I spoke on the phone today for a good while, just catching up a bit, but mostly me wishing him the very best. My Uncle Myron and Aunt Rezza are visiting my grandparents this week/weekend, and it sounds like everyone is having a great time.

As a general update, I have been pretty sick the last few days. It started on Sunday when I woke up with what felt like a marble stuck inside my throat. Since then, the swelling has spread, and it has become very difficult to swallow. Since my exercise routine has had to be put on hold, Challenge: 100 leaves a lot to be desired these days. It's been a little lonely lately, mostly because I have sequestered myself in my room so as not to get my roommates or friends sick. I also look and feel pretty gross -- no need to subject the public to that. Tomorrow I may beg one of my friends to go to the yogurt shop and bring me a cup of frozen yogurt - that sounds REALLY good right now.

I'm talking as little as possible, hoping that resting my throat will help everything heal faster. I get this distinct feeling like Sam and Brianna don't quite get what's up, (they do know I'm sick), but neither of them care to ask so silence it is.

I have been taking a lot of Advil and Ny Quill and Mucinex and other stuff - and it makes me a bit spacey. I mean - it makes my throat hurt less, which is why I take them, but at the same time, I have caught myself sitting alone staring out my window at trees for several minutes at a time. I just zone out. It probably doesn't help that I'm sleep deprived (I'm pretty sure I woke up every hour last night), but I tried to balace that out with by 10:00 AM nap today. (I mean honestly, who naps at 10 AM, normally I'm not even awake yet). Crazy town. That's where I am. I'll be leaving soon, though. Let's all cross our fingers for a speedy recovery.

Oh, and have you all noticed my cluster map? It's over on the right hand side of this screen and has little red dots where the US is. Anyway, I am super excited/anxious to get my first international hit. So if you know anyone out there and could send them a link to here, I just want one spec that is not state-side. Sorry, that was my little selfish plug. :)

Time to catch up

(This post to fulfill the request from my mother)

Joe and I went shopping on Friday, after we hung out at the pool together. Not extravagant shopping or anything, I just needed some shampoo and some hydrogen peroxide to try to take care of my heel, and he needed brass brads. We went to staples, and I used the AmEx giftcard my grandparents gave me [THANK YOU!!!] to buy a new day planner to start getting my life organized. SO, please send me important dates (birthdays, anniversaries, etc. so I can start keeping track of them).

Most days have been pretty boring lately. I watch a lot of TV and have been trying to get to the pool everyday. The exception to this mundane routine was yesterday when the lot of us went to Venice beach. Joe was actually working for a reality TV show called The Bad Girls Club that was shooting at the beach on Saturday because they were trying to coordinate the world's largest bikini parade. This was our motivation to go on an adventure. So Sam, Brianna, Derek and I drove to the beach at 2 PM so we could say hi to Joe and see what everything was all about.

For those of you curious about the bikini parade, yes we watched it (it lasted about 5 minutes). They needed 282 (I think) participants to break the world record, and only manged to get about 120 (big failure). The whole activity looked poorly promoted and just flopped as a whole, but Joe was happy to get a days worth of paid work, so it was all worth it.

Aside from the bikini parade, Derek, Brianna, Sam and I walked about a mile or so up the "boardwalk" (it's not really a boardwalk since it is made of concrete) so we could see all the stores and watch street performers. It was a nice sunny day, really couldn't ask for better weather. On our way back we walked alongside the shore because I wanted to get my feet wet.

When we made it back to the site of the parade, Joe still had about 30 minutes of work left to do, so the rest of us went to the muscle beach, where we watched overly muscular men flex their goods. What they don't show in the movies is that right next to the muscle beach (which is actually not on the beach, and is just like a fenced-in outdoor gym that doesn't have any small weights), is a gymnastics setup in a large sand-filled area. It had everything from the rings, to parallel bars, to a balance beam, to climbing ropes, etc. Sam and Derek climbed the ropes simultaneously (Sam made it to the top, Derek gets an A for effort). I spent my time watching this very good looking, seemingly retired professional gymnast work out on the rings. Hottie McHotterson is the most appropriate nick name I could possibly assign.

Joe met us at the gym, and the lot of us pit stopped at Chili's for dinner. It was a nice day with the gang. Brianna didn't talk much - I think she's still trying to figure out how she fits in with the lot of us (especially since her and Derek dated for 3 years). I can tell its difficult for her, but she's not making it any easier by amplifying the uncomfortable and awkward energy. Oh well, what it comes down to is that it's really not my problem. I had a good time!

I stayed up until about 7 AM last night/this morning. I watched the sun rise which was pretty. I have been having a hard time sleeping lately, so I am going to try to go to bed earlier tonight and see what happens. Today was pool time with the girls which came to an abrupt end when someone vomited in the pool and they had to close it. Oh well.

PS. Since any of you have last seen me I have officially lost 15 lbs!

@#$*(& )!#@*@)(%

Holidate just dropped me because I don't have a car and can't drive around the talent. If my grandparents didn't read this there would be a few choice words here.

@#$*@)(
#$
@#$)*&~!
@#$)(*
)(*&^#@?$^
_*@#&@#
^*@)!&


Just..... poop.

The packing list

Okay, so what I pack is going to be very important for my touring job. I need to pack things that are office related, clothes related, hygiene related, fun related, pastime related, etc. So I figured I would start my packing list here, and get the feedback from all of you. I am much more likely to realize I am missing something with several sets of eyes looking over it. But I really have to be careful not to over pack, so if you see something I shouldn't pack, shout that out, too. Here we go:

THE LIST

To Do Before Trip

• Call PNC
• Call student loan companies
• Put gas in motorcycle
  

Clothes

• Sneakers
• Work Boots
• Dress Shoes (2 pair, you know, for variety)
• Blouses (3 or 4)
• Dress pants (2 or 3)
• Grungy shirts (3)
• Grungy pants (1)
• Dressy outfit (1)
• Tights (1 pair, I can always buy those on the road)
• Socks (7 pair)
• Underwear (7 pair)
• Bras (4)
• Sports bras (4)
• Earrings & Necklaces
• Swimsuit
• Flip flops
• Pajamas
• Sunglasses
• Winter coat
• Sweater
• Hat & Gloves
  

Pastimes

• Books (3 at least - I am going to be on a bus for DAYS at a time)
• Cell phone & charger
• Computer & charger
• iPod & charger & headphones
• DVDs? I should probably just stick with Netflix "Watch It Now"
• Deck of cards
• Digital camera & computer cord & batteries & battery charger
  

Necessities

• Purse
  
• License
• Checkbook
• Business cards
• Jump drive (must buy, old one is full)
• Backpack
• A watch
  

Toiletries

• Tooth brush
• Tooth paste
  
• Hair brush
• Shampoo & Conditioner (I will be staying in hotels a lot, but you never know)
  
• Tweezers
• Makeup
• Perfume or body spray
• Deodorant
• Hair ties
• Strap perfects (2)
• Daily pills (H & BC & Calcium)
• Aleve
• Curling iron
• Razor & 1 extra blade
• Sunscreen
• Band-aid kit with neosporin
• Q-tips
• Tampons
  

Office/Work Related

• Legal pads (2 or 3)
• Pens & pencils
• Clipboard
• Legal pad holder
• Sharpies (3 color options)
• Post-its
• Spike tape (2 colors)
• Postcard stamps
• Digimemo
  

The finish line

I FINALLY got around to unpacking the rest of my belongings and finished decorating my room today. It's beautiful. Since it is dark now, I will take a picture and post it here tomorrow. Also, when Sam's parents came to visit this past weekend, they brought along all of her large scene painting projects, so we have hung them around her apartment and the place really does look beautiful. I wish our lease was longer, and I kind of wish I were living here rather than touring so I could fully appreciate it. Oh well, sometimes you just do what you gotta do.

A wrench in the works

Well, due to conflicts with the talent's schedule, Holidate has been postponed a week. I'm still on the team - good thing I have nothing better to do with my time. It will now be August 24-28.

I realize that in the business of the last few days I completely forgot to mention that my third and final roommate, Brianna, arrived Thursday morning. So now the house is oficially complete.

Challenge: 100

Hello loyal readers,

I have finally setup Challenge: 100 which has its own blog, here:

http://challenge100lb.blogspot.com/

If you want to know what it's about, check it out. The blog serves an entirely different purpose than Becoming Successful, so it will not be as "gadgeted."

Enjoy!

Allow me to introduce myself, Miss Assistant Producer. Nice to meet you.

I HAVE A JOB!


I'm going on tour and coming to location near you.

So I got the touring job that I wrote about forever ago. I leave September 20th and will be back in mid-November. If that stretch of the tour goes well, then I will do the spring rounds with them which spans mid January through mid April. :)

Let them eat cake!

Sam and I have now completed our TV-inspired, 2-day, unfortunately expensive, but impressively entertaining cake project. We have been watching a lot of Cake Boss, Food Network Challenge, Ace of Cakes, and Amazing Wedding Cakes on TV, and eventually we were like: "I wonder if we can make a cake." There was only one way to find out!

We made a cake shaped like a purse, which involved the following basic steps:
1. baking the cakes and making chocolate butter cream icing
2. stacking and filling the cakes
3. carving the shape of the purse
4. crumb coating the cake
5. putting the cake in the fridge for one night
6. making marshmallow fondant (NOT easy)
7. dying the fondant desired colors
8. rolling out the fondant and covering the purse
9. decorating the purse with fondant and piping details
10. eating

It was kinda fun, but I think I have had enough of making cakes. Here it is, though:

This morning I had a GREAT interview with the production manager of the Theater @ Boston Court. We spoke for well over an hour about school, theater, their season, motorcycles, you name it. She said she would definitely hire me next season, which is nice but doesn't solve the immediate need.

Joe and I then walked to the mall so I could get a pair of sneakers (only $12 - awesome) and he bought me lunch at Chipotle.

When we were vegging at my apartment afterward, my phone rang and it was a surprise interview for an executive assistant position for which I applied a few days ago. They want to bring me in for an in-person interview, unfortunately the dates they want me to be available for an interview are during my obligation to Holidate. UGH. So they're going to get back to me, but I can either go in at the end of this week (if the interviewer's schedule allows), or the week after next IF the position is still available. I think I'm screwed for this.

NOW HERE'S MY LATEST SCHEME:
I am going to throw an idea out there, and depending on the response I get I might pursue it. You know how people get sponsored in relay races and walk-a-thons? As in, I might sponsor a runner at a rate of $0.50 per mile who is running a race for a good cause. Well, what if I nominated myself to be sponsored for a personal weight loss challenge? You all could consider sponsoring me, say at a rate of $1 per pound, and if you chose to sponsor I could give you access to a private blog where I would track my weight and diet and exercise habits for all of us to share. If you would be interested in sponsoring, or if you think this is stupid let me know. I am trying to find a way to entice myself into changing my life for the better. I cannot control the job market, but as my dad told me the other day on the phone, "Maddie, you're 22. If you don't have your health what do you have?" Anyway, I think it would be a 2 or 3 month personal challenge, and I think it could be a really interesting way to go about getting into better shape.

Penny for your thoughts.

Everyday is a winding road

Today I actually showered. And brushed my hair. And went out into the world. Saw "Julie & Julia" (which I highly recommend) and "500 Days of Summer" (which I don't).

I also cooked some awesome pulled BBQ chicken only to discover that we are out of bread, so I ate it straight out of the pot. I am as classy as ever.

My friend, Joe, is trying to send a stage management gig my way. I am a bit skeptical of the entire project, though. Joe was interviewing to be the set designer, and he asked the writer/director/producer guy if he had a stage manager, to which he replied "what's a stage manager?" It would only be a few hundred bucks (I said I wouldn't do it for less than $400), and probably a 40 hour time commitment spread out across the month of September. But I just don't know if that's really something I want to commit to.

I wish I would hear back about the touring job. Yes or no I just want to be able to commit to something.

----

I am not entirely sure what I am doing anymore. I feel like an elephant trying to squeeze through the eye of a needle. Am I trying to force myself onto an industry that just doesn't want me? Is it me? Or is it them?

I just want someone to sit down with me and tell me what to do. Maybe that's why I am good at school, there's no end of people telling me what to do there. I think I am just starting to feel defeated (which isn't a new feeling), but even worse than that, I am starting to feel apathetic about it.

I got a lovely care package from my mom (THANK YOU MOM!!), but in it came the summary of my student loans. I.JUST.CAN.NOT.LOOK.AT.IT. I want to call them and have someone explain to me what everything means, and have them listen to me when I explain that I don't have a job or money, and have them say--we'll that's all right, we can take care of you. But I know they won't, because they just want to suck my last few pennies away.

I thought I grew up a lot during college, but I am pretty sure I just found the tip of the iceberg. Now I'm discovering that 90% of the mass was actually under the water, and until now I was just too stupid to look under the surface.

And really, the hardest part is that I am alone. I have a few friends here, but no one I really confided in before. Maybe I just wasn't ready for this.

It's been a big day

This morning I met with Rebecca Baillie who is a CMU alum and the production manager of a nearby theater. We got coffee and got to talk a bit about what's going on with me, what her company does, and so on. She was amazingly nice, and definitely a good hand to have shaken. I do wish that having coffee weren't such a standard fallback - I just don't drink the stuff!

My computer bit the dust last night. I bought a new one today (it was cheap, so I am crossing my fingers as to how long it lasts). I spent $800 between the computer, warranty, tax, external hard drive, and a pair of speakers. The computer I bought seems like it should be a good fit for me, I just read a very positive review here:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5022

PNC Bank didn't let the charge go through, not sure why, so I had to put it on my credit card. I have to call PNC to figure out what's going on, since I know I had the money in my account.

To help pay for the computer I got my first paying job today! I am going to be a PA on Holidate:

http://sn.soapnet.go.com/shows/holidate

The specific job title is Sequester PA. The concept of the show is that two women trade cities to date men in different places. I will be staying with the woman traveling to LA, and pretty much taking care of any of her hospitality needs (groceries, dry cleaning, coffee, etc.). I get a free hotel room for a week, it'll be pretty exciting. The phone call was really rushed, so I do not know how much I will be making, but I suppose anything is better than nothing, eh?

I will be sure to keep you all posted as I know more about the project and the position. The best part is that since it is only the 16th through the 21st of August, I could still accept the stage management and touring positions for which I am still under consideration.

So cool. :)

Tale as old as time

Well, I just got done working as a PA on a short film called The Bedwetter. More information on the film and the production company here:

http://www.greeniefilms.com/films/works.htm

They loved me :). And it was possibly the most positive group of people I have ever worked with. Anyway, I spent 5 long days with them and it was a wonderful experience. My duties ranged from daily errands, grip work, cake decorating, properties coordination, and child wrangling.

The film is very promising in terms of quality, and I have been promised invitations to all screenings and festival showings :) I can't wait. The writer/director of the project thought I was one of the best things on the face of the earth and has eagerly agreed to be a reference for me to help find future work in the television and film industries. It's really nice to feel appreciated.

One of the other crew members gave me a hot tip on some shoes I should consider buying since my feet have really been killing me (as a PA its poor form to ever sit down when it is not an official meal break, so working 12 hour days can be really rough on your feet). The brand everyone recommends is called Red Wings - they run a bit expensive, but apparently they really do the trick. As soon as I have a job (and if it is in this industry) I will be checking them out.

Also, just a shout out to how small the world his, Michelle and Barbara (the two women in charge of The Bedwetter) knew 1 other grad from Carnegie Mellon - and that is actually why they opted to hire me off of my craigslist inquiry. Her name is Maxine Lapiduss--sound familiar? She was the woman I was planning on working for when I moved out here. Hah.

I got home on Monday at 3:30 PM, talked to my mom on the phone, and immediately fell asleep. I didn't wake up until 11:00 AM on Tuesday. I suppose that's my body's way of telling me I was exhausted. I took yesterday as a rest day. Built a shelf, did some cleaning, unpacked my books, etc. It was nice to get a break.

Today I woke up, showered, cleaned, and went to see a matinee of Funny People all by myself. Just an hour ago, I threw a load of laundry into the washer, and Sam and I were watching a bit of TV. All of a sudden we heard a crashing banging which I immediately thought was someone breaking into our apartment. We both shot up and ran down the hallway to find that our washing machine had eaten itself.

Unfortunately my clothes had not reached the rinse cycle, so I rinsed them out as best I could in the shower and threw everything into the shower so we'll see what happens. I have already filed the maintenance request, so we'll see what happens. UGH.

TTRs:

Crafty: pet name for craft services (industry catering)

Flag: A rectangular metal frame lined with black soft goods, used as a light blocker

C-Stand: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-Stand