Business Headshot Editing

On top of my Headshot editing I also have been working on editing Business Photos for Business cards, Headshots, or Banners.  I really enjoy the editing process and had classes in College when I was Majoring in Mass Communication through my Advertising emphasis.  Since then, it's something that I've worked hard to improve on and I pride myself on keeping things natural and enhancing the photo rather than changing it.  I want the person to shine but still be him or her!

Credit Repair Specialist Neil Daly photographed by Alex Richardson in Downtown Los Angeles

Photographed by Alex Richardson

Actress Debbie Merrill

Photo by Alex Richardson at the Walt Disney Hall in Downtown Los Angeles

If you're interested in Photo Editing/Re-Touching please let me know by comment or message and we can talk about rates!

Photo Edits!

Every time I do a Photo Shoot, I'm most excited to look over the photos, find my favorites, and start editing them.  I can spend hours working on them and not realize that it's 4 am and I'm still up editing.  Recently, I started editing photos for a couple friends of mine who just shot Headshots so I figured I'd post a few photos and let you see my work!

Actor & Musician Neil Daly photographed by Alex Richardson in Downtown Los Angeles

Actress Debbie Merrill

Goofing around on location in LA...'Call Me Maybe' photographed by Alex Richardson

If anyone is looking for Headshot or Photo Editing/Re-Touching please let me know by comment or message and we can talk about rates!

The Seven Year Itch & Sinatra

I saw my first play since I moved to LA last weekend.  It's been nearly 7 years since I've seen some theater and boy have I missed it.  I've seen a bunch of different concerts at different venues all over LA but haven't caught any plays, even though I've auditioned for them, so I was really excited to see 'Angry Conversations with God' with Khad who had gotten tickets for us and was looking forward to this for a month!

The play was at a small theater in Studio City that held just over 50 people.  It was first-come seating so since there were 3 of us, (Kelly included) we had to sit in the back because they were the only open seats together.  The play got started just a couple minutes late and I guess I didn't realize that it was a one-woman show.  I had never seen something like this, aside from stand-up, and this was far from stand-up, although it was comedic.  The woman was really good and I had to give her props because she performed an hour and a half show and had people laughing and clapping throughout with a standing ovation at the end.  The show wasn't all about God per-say, basically it opened with a situation where she felt frustrated with life, and she then went back and took us through her life and experiences, with and without God and how that affected her.  My only frustration was that at times, things were so organic and very heart-felt, and then at other times, I felt the story was being exaggerated, and it wasn't as natural.  I wanted to see her, telling her story, being herself, and she didn't need to push for comedy because she had natural talent and ability.  She's been doing this show for years and overall, she had a great performance and clearly has a big following so it was awesome to see that.

Another great part about the show was going to get gourmet Popsicles after at Suck It Sweets.  Yes, that was the real name of the Popsicle shop.  They had Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana, Watermelon, Key Lime Pie, Strawberry Nutella (which I ordered and was delicious) and Dill Pickle which Khad and Kelly ordered and decided was just too salty and tasted too much like Pickle to really enjoy.  I didn't need to try it to figure out I'd probably feel the same way, but what a neat idea and concept!

At Karaoke this week we started with 2 rotations of Frank Sinatra.  There were two guys that started it all, one that sounded just like Sinatra, and another that was a really good singer and had a very eclectic choice in songs.  I did 'Don't Get Around Much Anymore' by Ella Fitzgerald that Sinatra did cover so I kept up with the rotation even though I had never sang that version, but it was very sultry and fun.  Even Marcus and Art were keeping up with the theme and it was awesome to see a bunch of people just coming into the bar to sing, enjoying the idea and challenge of doing a Sinatra song.  After that everyone switched over and did other songs.  I was happy to have Khad in and singing 'Bad Bad Leroy Brown' because it had been a while since he sang that and Jamie's new song of the night was 'Always Be My Baby' along with one of her favorites, 'Perfect' by Alanis Morissette which was perfect :)  My new song of the night was 'Insensitive' by Jann Arden which I haven't heard in a long time, and I gave it a slight country spin so that was fun.  Debbie came in and started the dance party singing Rihanna first and then Gloria Estefan's 'Turn The Beat Around.'  Jamie and I closed out the night with songs from 'Les Miserables.'  Jamie did 'On My Own' and it was beautiful because she can hit all those high notes and hold the notes like no other.  I did 'I Dreamed A Dream' which I haven't done since March, and felt much more confident than I did 6 months ago.  I was able to hit the high notes and I think that's because I've only been Hosting Karaoke once a week with my new job and training at Bar Lubitsch and that gives my voice a chance to rest between Hosting.  

Overall, it was a really fun night with new songs and I'm looking forward to our first real Theme Night coming to you soon!  And I'm hoping, it won't be 7 more years before I see a play or some theater, because I realized how much I missed it, and how much I enjoy it :)

Bar Lubitsch

I've been looking for a Bartending Job like the one I had at Saint's & Sinner's for nearly 2 years.  I worked at Saint's for almost 5 years and became great friends with my co-workers and regulars and created some great memories there, plus, got awesome Bartending experience at a high-volume bar.  Over the years, I've learned to appreciate how incredible that job really was; we were making great money working short hours just a few times a week, and never had to deal with much drama.  As I've tried to find a job, I haven't seemed to find anything that's even close to that experience until recently.

I love my job at Irish Times; I'm only there one day a week, but the people are awesome, my boss is fantastic, and it's an easy shift where normally I can get some work done before guests come in who then keep me busy for the rest of the afternoon.  But I am only there one day a week, and while I have my Karaoke shifts at Gabe's, I needed something more.  That's when my new job came along.  I worked with Mike at Saint's & Sinner's.  He was my door guy for years, and we spent many a time chatting at the end of the night, me getting advice from Mike, sharing stories with him, and gaining a true friend.  Over the years, he kept telling me to come and work with him at his new bar he got a job at, and every time I tried, they had already filled the position, or were hiring at their other locations, and I wanted to be at Mike's Bar with him and keep our family together.  

That all changed a couple weeks ago when Mike called and left me a message saying I needed to call his Manager and come in for an interview ASAP.  He played mediator and the next thing I knew, I had an interview the next day with the Manager.  As I walked into the bar and met him, something just felt right and clicked for me.  The manager seemed to like me too and told me to come in the following night for a working Interview behind the bar.  So, I went in on a Saturday night and watched the Bartenders working, making Specialty cocktails, using the computer system, and interacting with guests.  Each Bartender I met was so personable and friendly, and a girl was working her first real shift that night, so if I did get the job, I wouldn't be completely alone.  I worked the Back Bar as well which was much smaller and more intimate and got to help Mike while he was working.  When I went back to the front I had to make a couple cocktails: Mojito, Long Island Ice Tea, Old Fashioned, Cosmopolitan, and then Ashley walked me through a Cucumber Gimlet which was one of their specialty drinks.  I seemed to pass the Drink Test and after a few hours behind the bar I was free to go.  The next step was meeting the owner, which I did a few days later.  It's been a while where I've had to go into a serious interview (aside from Auditions) and I was really nervous.  But as soon as I sat down with Jared, I felt at ease, and we chatted about anything and everything.  Then, just 2 days later, I got the phone call...I got the job!

The next step was training, and getting a huge packet of information about the bar, recipes for their specialty drinks, including hundreds of recipes for drinks that I might have to make working behind their bar.  I felt a little overwhelmed but as soon as I went in for my first Training Shift, I felt a little bit better.  They schedule each of us in a rotation every week, which is awesome, and like I said earlier, everyone I met was so nice.  It was great to see this kind of atmosphere where everyone got along, happening again.  I trained for 3 nights, basically watching the first night, then working a well and Bartending the second night, making all the drinks and going over a few things that would be on the test, and then on my last night of Training, I opened the bar with Mike and closed it down as well, Bartending for most of the night.  At this point I was comfortable with their drinks, the registers, and also working the service well, reading tickets and making drinks for the Cocktail Waitress.

My Bar Test was on Monday night.  Basically, I needed to take a lengthy test about the bar, the drinks, procedures, prices, and recipes recipes recipes!  Needless to say, I was pretty nervous about it, but once I got that test, I went to town on the recipe and measurements page, after getting such great help the past few days from my study partner!  About a half hour later I was finished with the written part and it was on to the making drinks part.  I made a Mai Tai, Old Fashion, Pimm's Cup, and Sazerac, even sparking the orange!  Then it was time to enjoy a Tasting of all the Specialty Cocktails on the menu.  Drinks I had tasted as I was making them throughout the week, tasted far different when you could actually drink them, but I found some of my favorites and have a much better understanding of the tastes and flavors because everything is made fresh, using organic juices and fruits, and I'll be able to suggest cocktails based on being able to taste everything!

Next up was my favorite part...shopping for new Bar Apparel.  The uniform is black pants, a red tank top, and black shoes.  I found some great Black Boots from Target which I've already broken in and have made it through a full 9 hour shift and were still comfortable at the end of the night.  I bought my first pair of Dickie's, they're Bootcut, and totally cute, along with a pair of Skinny Jean's from a Boutique store.  I rarely spend that kind of money on a pair of pants that are going to get beat up behind the bar, but I figured it would be worth it because they fit so well and were super comfortable (and to most, what I spent would be normal, I'm just thrifty).  Then, I found a bunch of red tank tops at my favorite Boutique stores, getting 3 different styles for $15.  You can't go wrong with those prices!  So, now I am completely prepared and ready for my first shift.  I'll be working Friday and Saturday's (the ideal Bartending shifts) and am so excited to work my first real shift this coming Friday!  I still need to do my Verbal Test and give the Schpeal, but I'm hoping I'm a natural at guiding someone through the menu and giving them information about fantastic drinks and the History of the Bar.

Thank you Bar Lubitsch and I'll see ya on Friday!

Karaoke and a Side Dish

I'm only a week behind on my blog and catching up quickly!  Last Wednesday I had work at Karaoke and was sad to not have Mom there to hang out and keep me company, plus give me suggestions for songs like she did last week but I had to make due with a fun night surrounded by friends!

The night started off early and we got going pretty quickly because there was Pool League so lots of people were in there.  I opened with 'Heartbreaker' because it had been a while since I sang it.  Sean, Khad, and Jamie all came in and were ready to sing.  I've been so proud of everyone, trying to sing new songs when they come in, and last week was no different.  My new song of the night was another Madonna song, 'Beautiful Stranger' which was better than 'Ray of Light' but 'Power Of Goodbye' is still one of my favorites.  Marcus did a great rendition of 'Careless Whisper' and Jamie, Marcus, and Khad all sang 'I Would Do Anything For Love' and had a great trio going!  I closed out the night with 'Heart-Shaped Box' because it was a more rock and roll vibe that night!

I also haven't posted a Recipe lately, so after doing Girl's Night with Jamie and my Mom and making dinner, but not taking pictures, I made my Lemon Roasted Asparagus tonight for Dinner along with a Parmesan Pasta and Sweet Apple Sausage.  Here's my recipe for my favorite way to make Asparagus!

Lemon Asparagus

Asparagus

Olive Oil

Lemon

Salt

Pepper

Break bottom ends of asparagus off and throw away. Then, put asparagus on a baking sheet and drizzle olive oil over them.  Then squeeze a lemon, depending on how much asparagus you're making, you want to make sure that each piece is getting plenty of juice.  Then, salt and pepper your asparagus.  Next, move the asparagus around over the baking sheet to make sure each asparagus is coated with all the ingredients.  Then put the baking sheet in the oven at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes.  The smaller the asparagus, the shorter the time, the fatter the asparagus, the longer you'll need to bake it.  Just keep an eye on them and right after they turn bright green you're going to want to pull them out.  

I love this recipe because it's healthy, flavorful, and I love the citrus taste but the lemon still allows the great asparagus flavor to come through!

LA Vacation with Mom!

At the end of last week it had been nearly 2 weeks since I was able to blog and let me tell ya, I was going stir-crazy because it's therapeutic for me to get out my feelings, frustrations, and be able to share my excitement, happiness, or sadness with anyone who wants to read and learn a little bit about 'Lyndsey.'  The reason I didn't get a chance to blog or write in my journal (which was also a New Year's resolution) for which I'm still a week behind was because my Mom and I were so busy doing all these fun things when she was out here in Los Angeles!

Our week started on Wednesday when she flew into LAX and I had to work at Karaoke that night, and then Bartend at Irish Times on Thursday.  She loves to come in while I'm working, so on Thursday she actually help me set up the bar, cutting fruit, moving glasses for me, and anything else I would let her do.  For her help we had a little mini-beer tasting and found she likes her usual Coors Light and perhaps a Blue Moon every once in a while.  That didn't stop me from making her an Angel Dust which I used to make her when I was working at Saint's & Sinner's.  I did a new spin on it for later when she came in to watch Thursday Night Football because the Packers were playing.  We also had Dinner there, me ordering my favorite, the Fish & Chips which they make with fresh beer made-to-order, and Mom got the Beef & Guinness Pie which she was very happy with as well.

On Friday we went shopping and got some great stuff and I picked out a few things for my new job.  We got to lay out by the pool for a while, take a walk, and then had an amazing and elegant Dinner with Jamie at Water Grill in Downtown LA.  After Dinner we had a couple of cocktails at Gabe's and sang some Karaoke!  Then on Saturday we sat by the pool again, this time for a couple hours, and I noticed that Mom was getting even more tan than I was!  She'd be going back to Wisconsin looking like she was on a tropical vacation :)  Saturday we went to Church at one of my favorite Churches in LA, St. Charles Borremeo in North Hollywood, which is such a beautiful Church.  Neil, my Mom, and I had Dinner at Miceli's in Studio City where we enjoyed some yummy Italian before Mom and I went to our Roxette Concert at The Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City.

Mom & I <3

Sunday was a perfect day of sunshine, a nice long walk in the neighborhood, chats with Mom, plenty of Football and explaining to her how Fantasy Football works as she sees me yelling at one moment and then excited the next because having Eli Manning as your Fantasy Football Quarterback is like a roller coaster.  We did a little grocery shopping (as she had picked up some things that morning for me) so that I could make a nice Dinner for her and Jamie!  Mom had picked up some Scoops and made a Spicy Cheese Dip and I ended up making Baked Lemon Pepper and Roasted Herb with Thyme Chicken, along with Roasted Asparagus with Olive Oil and Lemon, Garlic Rice with Orzo, and some Garlic Bread.  I even had a signature cocktail for the night: Blood Orange Vodka with some muddled raspberries, Orange Juice, and Sparking Berry Water.  It was very refreshing!  We ended our Girl's Night with a couple games of Scattergories, Pass the Popcorn, and the Movie Game.  What a fun way to end a great week!

Brussel Sprouts with Goat Cheese and Buffalo Style Deviled Eggs

Monday was Mom's last full day in LA and after hearing from someone on the airplane that In & Out was the best, we had to make a stop to get our Double Double's.  But first, Carolyn was working at Freddy Small's and since we weren't able to see her on Mom's last visit, we went in for Happy Hour, had a cocktail, she got a refreshing Vodka Coconut drink, and I ordered a Spicy Tequila one, along with a couple of my favorite appetizers!  Mom and I can both agree that In & Out is good, but doesn't really live up to the hype of it all.  I think we're both more a fan of McDonald's, but can agree that In & Out's meat tasted fresher, because it is.  Then on Tuesday we had our usual coffee down by the airport before dropping her off at LAX.

Mom's time out here always goes by too fast and she'll always ask me the same question before she comes, 'Are you sure that I'm not there for too long, is 6 days too much?'  And I'm always right when I say, 'No, it's not a problem.'  This time those 6 days just flew by and I can't wait for her to come and visit me again real soon :)

Roxette in Concert!

I've always loved the band, Roxette, and thanks to my Mom, when I was little, I would listen to their CD on repeat!  Now that I've been Hosting Karaoke for the past year and a half I've been singing some of their songs too so when I saw that they were going on tour and playing in LA I knew I had to get tickets.  I found some tickets for a great price and after hearing my Mom was coming out to visit me, I got 2 tickets for her and I!

Mom's visit to LA kept us very busy and we were looking forward to our Roxette Concert since we'd been listening to them for over 20 years!  The Concert was at The Gibson Amphitheater at Universal CityWalk so after we got our tickets at Will Call we went to the Theater to take our seats and listen to the Opening Act which was actually a DJ who was playing some 80's & 90's music and was pretty good!  There were really no bad seats in the theater, and even though we were on the far left and in the second section we had a great view of the stage and the projection screen where they had trivia questions that Mom and I answered while we waited for the show to start.

Roxette at The Gibson

At around 9:45 pm Roxette took the stage and I guessed correctly, that their first song was 'Dressed for Success' as everyone stood up, cheered and sang along.  Per and Marie sounded just like they did 20 years ago; the songs were just as I remembered them and it was awesome to see Per getting into the music and moving around the stage.  Marie moved around a little bit but mostly stayed towards the front and center.  Per was dancing, getting the crowd involved, and rocking out on the guitar.  Before the concert I had actually listened to some of the songs off their most recent CD and really liked them and I was happy to see that after all these years they were still making hit songs!  The back-up singer was really energetic as well and has been on tour with them for years; she was almost like a cheerleader, playing the cowbell, jumping up and clapping, and moving around with her microphone.  She was a lot of fun to watch.  Of course, it's been 20 years since some of their biggest hits but for the most part Roxette really sounded exactly like they did back then.  Of course, they played their hits like 'Dangerous,' and 'It Must Have Been Love' which started off acoustically and then as the crowd sang along, they re-started it with all the background music and instruments.  When Per introduced the song he said that this hit was 25 years old, and I couldn't believe that it was nearly older than I am.  They still have the same drummer they had 20 years ago which was awesome!  What I found the most interesting was hearing songs off different albums that I'd never heard that I couldn't wait to listen to when I got home.  I really liked 'Spending My Time' and 'Perfect.'  One of my favorite songs was 'Joyride' and when they played that song they sent out balloons and beach balls with 'Roxette' on them into the crowd so that was really neat to see.  The concert lasted for about 75 minutes and then after they had exited the stage a few minutes later they came out for a 3-song encore.  The show wouldn't have been complete without 'Listen To Your Heart' or 'The Look' which had both Mom and I singing along!

When the concert was over, Mom and I walked around the CityWalk, walking past Universal Studios, Saddle Ranch and making our way past all the restaurants, shops and stores.  We picked up Tiny Donuts at a little place right at the front and then realized there was a Yogurtland so we got that as well.  It was actually really great people-watching!  This was the first time Mom and I went to a concert together and we had a lot of fun.  I really liked the Gibson as a place to see a concert and I was glad Mom was able to share the experience with me.  We both said it was a little bittersweet because as much as we loved the music, they were a hit group 20 years ago, and we've all gotten older but it doesn't make the music any less influential, lyrical or something great to dance to!

We Dine!

Every time Mom comes to visit me in LA we try to do a really nice and special Lunch or Dinner.  I took her to Villa Blanca in Beverly Hills a couple years ago which was really elegant, and we had a very fun and exciting Brunch at The Roosevelt with Bottomless Mimosa's last year, and this visit was a Dining Experience at Water Grill with Jamie, our excellent Hostess!

We got seated at Jamie's favorite table at the restaurant, which is in Downtown Los Angeles.  As we sat down we started to peruse the menu and Mom and I got started with an Amaretto Sour and Gin Cocktail with cucumbers and simple syrup which was just delicious.  Jamie had the Champagne chilling and as soon as our Raw Bar was delivered, we were toasting to an adventure of food!  This was also Mom's first time eating Oysters, and she dove right in, putting just a little lemon juice on them and then eating them like a pro!  I like mine with some cocktail sauce, horseradish, and mignonette sauce.  She actually liked them a lot but we all loved the shrimp because they were cooked so perfectly, and the raw scallops had such a great flavor like usual.  Mom got a little nervous when she realized what happened to the oysters before they came to our table so I'm not sure if she'd order them again or not, but I had to remind her that's what happens to any kind of food with a face that we eat.

Dinner at Water Grill with Jamie and my Mom!

Our next course was an appetizer of Fresh Ricotta, Sea Salt, and some fancy toasted bread to put it on.  It was so good; very light with a big flavor and I could have definitely eaten more!  Then we took a look at the menu to pick out our entree's.  Mom decided on the Filet, I went with the Mahi Mahi in a Green Curry sauce with mushrooms and eggplant, and Jamie got the Lupe De Mer.  As our food arrived, we opened our white and red wine, to go with all of our food, and everything looked beautiful.  Our sides were corn on the cob with lemon and a cheesy polenta which surprised me so much.  I've had polenta before but this was my favorite!  Mom said that her steak was the best steak she's ever had, and I was happy to taste that it was just as good as mine from the last time we were at Dinner and is slowing climbing my Top 5 Steak List.  My Mahi Mahi was really good but very spicy; even Jamie said it was spicy, but I loved the mushrooms and flavor of the fish, and would definitely order it again if I don't try something new next time.  Jamie's whole fish was excellent; I thought she ordered that last time, and to me, it was a little fishy tasting, but this was a different fish and so beautifully cooked and tasted flavorful and light.  That was a very pleasant surprise!

As Dinner was winding down we had to get a dessert to finish our meal and compliment our Moscato we were drinking so Jamie decided to get the Peach Cobbler.  I don't think we ever found out what the peaches were macerated in but I liked the interesting flavor and the cobbler part was incredible!  It's always nice to end a meal with a great dessert and a nice cup of coffee or espresso for all of us.  Mom said it was one of the most adventurous and elegant meals she's ever eaten and I thought everything was so good and I'm excited to keep trying new kinds of fish and finding out that I like them!  We loved our Girl's Night together!

Overall, it was an incredible and very beautiful dinner and about 3 and a half hours after having a 4 course-meal, we were perfectly full.  Now that's what I call Dining :)

Vegan Karaoke Fun

Mom and I decided just a couple weeks ago that it would be awesome if she came out to visit me for a few days and because Roxette was playing in LA last weekend and we both love their music, we figured last week would be a perfect week for a visit!

I was excited to spend a week with my Mom and we had a lot of stuff planned and were kept very busy during her 6 day vacation with me!  She landed at LAX on Wednesday afternoon and our first stop of the day was grabbing some Lunch and since Khad and I had some plans we couldn't get to this weekend, we all were having Lunch at Native Foods.  This was Mom's first time eating Vegan Food.  Khad has opened my eyes to the awesomeness of the Vegan world and while I could never give up meat, and certainly couldn't stop eating cheese, I actually really enjoy eating Vegan food and like trying new things every time we go somewhere.

I gave Mom some ideas and at Native Foods they tell you some choices that are good for first-timers but she was set on getting the Reuben.  Let me tell you why this was a bad choice for her first time: Mom gets a Reuben sandwich from most restaurants because it's one of her favorites, so it's something she knows well.  This Reuben had 'seitan' which is a wheat meat so it certainly wasn't going to taste like corned beef.  My suggestion to people trying Vegan Food for the first time...don't get one of your favorite dishes!  It's not going to taste like the 'real' version of it.  I would never order Mac & Cheese because I know and expect a certain flavor and consistency.  Overall, I think she was happy with it and said she would try Vegan Food again and hopefully go with something a little more mainstream.  I went with the Scorpion Burger which had Tempeh, my first time trying it, Chipotle sauce, tons of Avocado and it was delicious.  I would order that again in a second!  Now that I'm talking about it, I could go for it right now...LOL.  Khad had a beautiful and huge salad but I can't remember which one he ordered; in any case, it did make me want to try a salad the next time I go.  And that kicked off our day in LA!

Since we had eaten Lunch so late we picked up Yogurtland for Dinner (Mom's suggestion) and then we were off to Karaoke at Gabe's because I was Hosting it!  She actually enjoys coming and watching everyone sing, chatting with people, and sometimes if we get lucky, she might sing too!  Neil surprised us and was waiting for us when we got there and I knew I had a bunch of friends coming in so I got the night started right away and opened with 'Foolish Games' which to me, was my best performance of it.  Neil and Mom really liked it and I felt really connected to the song so maybe that's why I felt so good about it!  Neil decided on the Smashing Pumpkins '1979' since it's Mom's favorite Pumpkins song, and he did an awesome job even though I forgot to drop the song one whole note!  He hit all the high notes and everything...nice job, Neil!  After Neil sang, Sean, Khad, and Jamie, all filtered in, along with Carolyn & Matt, Carrie, Tarey, and Marty, the Birthday Boy!  It was kind of neat since everyone knows Mom, including the Gabe's Karaoke regulars so everyone was singing songs for her, Khad did 'Don't Stop Believing,' Judy did 'Crazy' by Patsy Cline and 'One of Us' by Joan Osbourne, and Jamie did 'Angel' by Sara McLachlan which was absolutely beautiful.  My next song was Roxette's 'Listen To Your Heart' since we were going to the Roxette concert on Saturday and it was a fun song to sing and after that song my next was a suggestion by Mom, 'Joey' by Concrete Blonde because she really likes that song, and was very happy that I sang it just for her!  Jamie and I had some fun doing a duet of 'Hold On' by Wilson Philips and later on she sang 'What's Up'.  The night wouldn't have been complete without a little Mulan from Khad, and a performance of the Backstreet Boys song by Double Entendre, led by the Birthday Boy, Marty!  Carolyn also sang for Marty's Birthday, doing 'Killing Me Softly' and Matt sang as well, which is a rare treat, 'Daughter' by Pearl Jam which was excellent!  Brad and Jeff came in later on in the night and they actually sang for everyone too, which was a nice surprise...of course it was an Eddie Vedder song but they killed it!  Carrie's friend, Tarey, used to Host Karaoke in Canada (they were visiting for Carrie's Birthday) and Tarey had some excellent song choices including Rod Stewart's 'The First Cut is the Deepest.'  Debbie and I closed out the night with separate Madonna songs; I did 'The Power of Goodbye' since it's one of Mom's favorites, and Debbie did an up-tempo pop one.  I really couldn't figure out what song to sing as my new song so when Mom kept asking someone to sing Nirvana I decided to challenge myself with 'Heart-Shaped Box.'  It ended up being her favorite song I sang of the night because it was so different, here I went from singing Jewel to Kurt Cobain and I had a lot of fun doing it.  Overall, it was a really busy and one of my favorite nights working; it was great to see all of my friends and have such an awesome time at work!

And that was just Day 1...here we go!

Organization leads to Donation!

For the past couple months I've been organizing my room and putting stuff away, getting rid of things, and making space for new pieces!  I finally hung some pictures and frames in July and got rid of a wall full of boxes and bags.  There is still a box and 2 bags of stuff but I've down-sized tremendously.  And when my Mom was here in June we went through my closets to get rid of clothes, shoes, accessories that I don't wear anymore, don't fit, or just aren't my style.  All of this brings me to this past weekend!

Six years of Magazines!

I had been calling libraries and homeless shelters all over LA to drop my clothes and the magazines that were filling my closets off for someone who would appreciate and get some use out them.  I guess I didn't expect to find anywhere that would accept magazines most just said to re-cycle them, although the Library in Burbank said they would take them all but that was a drive just to drop off some magazines.  I finally found a Women's Shelter in Santa Monica that would take all my magazines and all I needed to do was drop them off, so that was my first task on Saturday afternoon.  Next was dropping off all of my clothes at a Goodwill which was just a few blocks from the Shelter.  And boy did it feel good to give all my stuff away!  The hardest part was getting all 250 magazines to my car along with 3 garbage bags of clothing items and shoes.  Lucky for me, there was a shopping cart downstairs so I just had to pack it, get it over my door frame and make it to my car in one piece to unload everything.  I think the most exciting part of all of this was that I now have more space in my room because all the magazines were sitting next to my vanity and all my clothes were sitting in the hallway so my room looks so much bigger right now.

Good Deed for the Day!

My biggest problem with organization comes from piling up letters and papers onto my dresser and a cubby in my coffee table in the living room.  I need a junk drawer and I don't have one so I created a junk shoe box.  After going through all my bills, receipts, flyers, papers, audition notices, and scripts, I filed all of them away into my 2 space bins and anything that didn't have a home went into a shoe box under my bed.  Out of sight, out of mind, except, I know exactly where to find what I need, and for the first time in 6 years I can see my entire dresser and all the fun perfumes and scents, along with framed photos and knick knacks...Hooray!  It's amazing how much cleaner my room looks when everything has a place and the disorganization can't be seen!

My next project will be creating some more space in my closet because I still have 20 magazines or so to read and get rid of and sorting through the rest of the boxes and bags along the one wall of my room.  Plus, I have a beautiful framed photo that I just got as a gift that needs to be hung somewhere so I have to make space for that and with all this new space I get to go shopping to fill up my closets again and pick out some new fun shoes and we all know how exciting that is for a gal!  Organizing feels like I'm cleaning up my life as well; it's a refreshing new view and I'm letting go of things that have passed their expiration date which makes me feel like a new woman :)

Auditions, Headshots, and Wine Tasting

Thursday was quite a busy day for me!  As soon as I was up, I was heading to an Audition in Santa Monica for a Make-Up Campaign.  When I got to the Office, I signed in, and awaited my turn with a few other women.  The Audition consisted of me slating, and then talking about a skin issue I have and just being personable.  They were looking for females that had bad scarring, sunspots, severe redness or dark under-eye circles.  The product was for covering your skin issue with a new kind of make-up.  My 'issue' was a couple chicken pox scars; I know they're not that bad and not very visible but I thought I'd try to see if I would get chosen.  So I said that when I was little and got chicken pox I had scratched the pox on my face when my Mom had told me to scratch the one on my hand.  Of course, when you're 8 years old that's easier said than done, so I have a couple scars on my face that are just annoying, and I hadn't found any kind of make-up that could cover them and hopefully this product would be able to help me.  The Casting Director thanked me and said I was very cheerful and personable and that they would be shooting on the 2nd or 3rd of October.  I thanked them and was on my way home to change and get ready for work at Irish Times.

After getting the bar set-up, it was empty until 3 pm aside from Travis who came to have Lunch and hang out with me!  Thankfully, he kept me company during the down time and after 4 pm the bar ended up getting pretty busy and I had a good day overall.  While Travis and I were hanging out at the bar, he helped me go through some headshots since I'm updating my Acting Profiles.  After getting a few more opinions I'm down to a couple choices.  Let me know what you think :)

Choice 1

Choice 2

Immediately after Bartending on Thursday I went home to quickly change and get ready for Wine Tasting with Amy and the girls in Hermosa Beach.  Everyone was at Fritto Misto having Dinner when I got there and Jamie had some leftover food I got to try: a caprese salad which is my favorite, and a mushroom ravioli that was incredible as well!  The great thing about Fritto Misto is that you can bring your own bottle of wine in and there's a small corking fee but it would be awesome to basically, get to wine taste at Dinner if everyone were to bring a bottle.  Jamie brought a bottle of wine that was Lindsay's Wine, which she had to have me try and it was pretty good.  After Dinner, we went next door to Uncorked, where on the first Thursday of the month they do $15 Wine Tasting of 6 wines.  The place also had an Olive Oil tasting which was really cool.  It's interesting because I never thought of it, but they were so good; there was Jalepeno, Lemon, Garlic & Herb, so that was awesome!  The Wine was ok at the Tasting, nothing that really stood out to me, and I usually like picking from a couple different options but it was something really fun to do with a group of friends where we didn't have to drive to a Vineyard that's an hour away.

Amy, Jamie, Lyndsey, & Kayla at Uncorked in Hermosa Beach for Wine Tasting

So, Thursday was a pretty fun and exciting day, had an Audition, made some money, did some stuff for my career, and got to spend time with my friends having great food and wine!  What a great day :)

Wednesday Cheer

I love Grocery Shopping and after my work-out today I went out and did my Grocery Shopping for the next couple of weeks.  It's always exciting to see how much money I can save and today I spent $60 and saved almost $30!  My best was saving $48 on $52, but my Mom can sometimes save more than she spends, so I'm always trying to do that!  If I were to set aside the money I saved grocery shopping over the course of a year, I could take a nice little vacation, except when you're saving money at the grocery store, you're not setting it aside, it's just not being spent, so that's probably a better thing in the long run to save it and pull it out to use for a rainy day later.  I'm one of those people that needs to have snacks in the house, healthy and fun, so I always have a carton of ice cream and this trip's flavor was 'Cupcake Party' and indeed it was, along with Triscuit's and Gold Fish, plenty of healthy juice choices, and some things to make a fun dinner and breakfast when my Mom comes to visit next week!

 

Wednesday night was the first night of the Regular Season of Football and I was stoked because my new Fantasy Football Quarterback, Eli Manning, was playing with the Giants against Dallas.  I've already said I'm not a huge fan of his and this first game was not good for him or the Giants, there were a bunch of dropped passes and a missed touchdown which caused Manning to have a low Fantasy score of 12.52.  He was projected to get over 20 points so this was quite a disappointment.  I have to hope that the rest of my team makes up for the lack of scoring by Manning.  It'll be a tense weekend if I don't see some good scores right off the bat on Sunday morning!

 

After watching the Football Game I was Hosting Karaoke at Gabe's.  Recently, the floor was re-done and we just got brand new carpeting so the bar definitely looks more updated!  It was pretty quiet when I got into work but we were able to get started around 10 pm and it ended up being a busy night with a short rotation but everyone being able to sing a lot!  Sean sang a Tonic song I hadn't heard in years, and once Jamie came in, she was singing a couple new songs as well, including a version of 'Smile' by Jimmy Durante.  Khad actually sang 'Won't You Be My Neighbor' which was so much fun!  I finally felt like I had gotten my voice back after a few weeks of laryngitis and allergies trying to slow me down, so I opened with The Eagles 'I Can't Tell You Why' and then sang 'Don't Turn Around' by Ace of Base for Jamie, because I hadn't sang either of those songs in a while.  Since I had worn my old Winona State University Cheerleading Baseball-style shirt, I sang 'Mickey' by Toni Basil as my new song and had the crowd clapping and cheering along.  I even did my first high-kick at Gabe's, taking after Debbie and her dancing.  Debbie actually sang 'Let's Get Physical' by Olivia Newton-John, and had me doing push-ups and jumping jacks for her.  At least I got in a work-out!  I also did 'Black Velvet' which I haven't done in years and was actually a lot of fun.  Sean wanted to sing 'Man or Muppet' with Khad but unfortunately, he's got to find a new Muppet Duet Partner because Khad has retired ;)  Jamie sang a fun Musical song as well, with Sean singing Pearl Jam, and Khad singing a Kate Bush cover to close out the night for me!  I love when it's a night full of my friends singing, it just makes it so much more fun and exciting.

 

Wednesday shaped up to be a pretty productive day, and with an audition, work, and then Wine Tasting tomorrow night, Thursday is surely up for the challenge of matching it!

Labor Day Weekend

To me, Labor Day, is just your normal average day, no different than any other day during the year that isn't an actual Holiday, but this year I had lots to look forward to!

First off, I cannot describe how excited I am for the first Football Game of the Regular Season tomorrow night!  Let me preface that by adding that I finally had my Fantasy Football Draft this past Sunday.  Last year I had Aaron Rodgers as my starting quarterback and was hoping I would be able to get him, but knowing how many points he's projecting, I knew that would be highly unlikely unless I had a first or second draft pick.  Usually the Running Backs go first and then perhaps on a second round pick you draft your quarterback.  Well, this year, Aaron Rodgers was the first to go, and the first to go in all my friend's Drafts and Mock Drafts!  I was devastated.  But I was ok because I got Darren McFadden, a decent running back, where last year, my running backs were hit or miss.  I ended up with Welker again, (he scored me lots of points last year) Jordy Nelson because I had to have a Packer, and Jimmy Graham who should all score me big points.  Overall, I have a pretty good team, and aside from having the biggest crybaby in Football as my Quarterback, I'm happy with my picks!  Yes, I don't like Eli Manning, but he will hopefully bring a lot of points for my team because he has great receivers and a great defense, not to mention won the Superbowl last year.  So now we'll see how well my team does this week and I'll report back!

Of course, no Labor Day is complete without wearing white at least one more time, and for me, that means the only time that I wore white pants all year!  Why don't I take advantage of that during the season when it's acceptable?!?!

Andre Ethier!

After recovering from a fun night with friends on Sunday night after an awesome BBQ, Monday brought the Dodger Game.  It was $1 Dodger Dog Night so everyone should have known where to find me...at Dodger Stadium!  Neil got us tickets to the game and when we got there I couldn't believe how awesome our seats were.  I've been to a few Dodger games in my time and these were probably my favorite seats of all time.  Not only were they front row in Right Field but there were directly behind Andre Ethier, my favorite Baseball player for the past 6 years!  I knew we would be sitting close to him, but I didn't realize how close until I was leaning on the edge of the field's foam cover, just 20 feet from Andre!  As he was walking out to his fielding position I caught his eye, and yelled, 'Andre' and showed him my Ethier shirt and Neil gestured 'signing it' and he nodded and made a yes gesture and as he turned back to the field I jumped up and down and did a little dance.  I couldn't believe I was going to get his autograph and meet him.  As each inning went by, we made eye contact and I was waiting for the 7th inning stretch or end of the game so he could sign it for me.  In the meanwhile, Neil and I each had 2 Dodger Dogs, a couple of beers, a Frozen Lemonade which is one of my favorite Dodger treats and a fairly slow game.  Some high points were seeing Magic Johnson and Tom Hanks at the game; although, they were alone.  Don't you spend the day with your kids BBQ'ing, or better yet, bring them to the game!  At the 9th inning, Dodgers were losing by one but then Ethier hit a Home Run to tie the game!  When he came back out to the field I yelled, 'Nice Home Run, way to tie it, Andre!'  Then as the game went into extra innings and the Dodgers went on to win it, I realized, he wasn't coming back out to the stands and my excitement of meeting him was dismissed by one of the security people saying you have to get autographs before the game during Batting Practice.  I guess it was wishful thinking on my part that he'd come back out, but he didn't know I was a fan before there were even shirts with his name on it, so I'll have to come back again.  And with seats like that, you're going to have to try and stop me!

A perfect 90 degree Labor Day at Dodger Stadium with amazing seats in Right Field!

Overall, Labor Day Weekend was pretty exciting...lots of BBQ, lots of fun, lots of laughs, and plenty of sports.  That's just the way I like it :)

Positive Thinking

On long or Holiday Weekends, there's usually a different crowd of people in the bar.  I noticed that years ago when I was working at Saint's & Sinner's, and it would either be empty because all the regulars and LA Locals were out of town, or it was crazy busy because there were tourists visiting, or the interesting folk were coming out of hiding to check out the bar.  I've noticed at Karaoke it definitely empties out.  It could be the fact that Amy is out of town at Kayt's Wedding this weekend, so her regulars weren't in, or that people were taking Friday and Saturday off to party hard on Sunday or Monday for Labor Day.

I was Hosting Karaoke on Friday for the Labor Day weekend and while it was a little quiet when I came in, aside for the people watching the Dodger Game (so excited to go to the Dodger game on Monday for $1 Dodger Dogs), it picked up around 10 pm.  I got Karaoke started at 9:30 with a fairly short rotation and even though the night picked up, people were added to the rotation and others left so it was never much longer than 30 or 35 minutes.  Because my allergies have been acting up, my voice was kind of shot, and just announcing the singers was difficult, so I wasn't going to sing a whole lot.  I let Lee open the night for me, and he ended up singing one of my favorite Tim McGraw song's, 'Something Like That' just for me and later sang The Archies 'Sugar Sugar' which the crowd loved!  We had a couple singers singing Bob Seger songs throughout the night, and there were appearances by Manthony and John, who sang 'You Can Call Me Al' and "She Drives Me Crazy,' getting the crowd involved and dancing.  Jamie & Judy came in just before midnight and while Judy was doing some of her favorite songs, Jamie was trying new songs.  She started with Alanis Morisette and closed out the night for me with Bonnie Raitt's 'Can't Make You Love Me' which was absolutely incredible.  I can't wait to hear her sing it again!  I needed to sing a new song so I decided on The Romantic's 'What I Like About You' which actually went really well, even with my scratchy voice.  I put my own little spin on it and want to do it again when the bar is busier and people can sing along.  It went a whole lot better than the fiasco of a song I sang on Wednesday called 'Ray of Light.'  The night ended just before 1 am and I was content with a solid Karaoke night!

Today I played catch-up with all the things that I've been pushing back for a week or two so I can keep up with auditions, shoots, and work.  I was reading some of my e-mails and came across The Casting Networks Newsletter that I get at the first of every month.  As I was reading through each of the articles, I found some really interesting information from this specific article written by Bonnie Katz: Obstacles are Opportunities.  She gave some information about Dianne Wiest and having trouble with a Woody Allen film and feeling as if she was mis-cast, but she ended up going on to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in that role!  And then there was Meryl Streep who questioned her existence based on a comment made by a dialect coach.  Both of these women have achieved great success even though they've encountered obstacles along their path to greatness.

Share your smile with someone today!

You may ask, what am I taking from the article?  Or better yet, why should you care?  Because everyone has obstacles to overcome.  And these are things I'm going to remember and work on in my daily life to overcome them and hopefully achieve my greatness.
*Things happen, good and bad, it's how you react to it.  So be patient and a brightness will come.
*Approach things in a positive matter, be kind to others even if they're rude or unkind to you.  You never know what has happened to them before they have approached you.  Be curious, it will open you up.  Judgement will shut you down.
*Don't feel sorry for yourself, learn from it and move on.  When you stop learning, you stop living. <==(And that's my own personal quote!)  If growth is your goal, you will never lose.

*Have fun.  Bonnie is quoted: "Be yourself, everyone else is taken."

*Quit thinking in purposes of right and wrong.  Think outside of the box.  When it's ready to happen for you it will.

As actors we all know the obstacles and know that there's someone out there feeling just like you do, whether it's positive or negative, so be the optimistic friend or support in their life because you never know when you're going to need that positivity in yours :)

More Hair Fare

This Friday I had another Hair Casting in Woodland Hills.  This one was for a Video Shoot that took place over 2 days and was paying really good!  I haven't had a hair-cut since March so at this point, I'm in dire need of one, but keep hoping that I'll book one of these Castings because then they give you a hair-cut by a high-end stylist and they could color or hi-light my hair as well.

Thankfully, these castings are always at just the right time and traffic is fantastic!  I got to the Casting at 9:30 am about 15 minutes early and after signing in, waited till just before 10 am to be ushered into one of the rooms.  There were about 100 girls for this one casting.  Once we all were seated we waited a few more minutes until a Casting Director came in and announced the specifics for the shoot.  They were looking for Caucasian, Hispanic, or Asian women with straight to wavy hair that was shoulder-length or longer.  Right there, about 15 girls were excused from the room; I'm hoping they have their Agents to blame for that one and didn't drive all the way into The Valley to drive right back home.  Then the CD did a walk-through of the room excusing girls that according to him, would be too difficult to work with for this particular shoot; in this case, that meant anyone with over-processed hair, or girls that needed too much work done whether it be color or cuts.  I survived that round and another 20+ girls were out the door.  He did another cut similar to that one after talking to the client and getting a better idea for what he was looking for 20 more girls were excused.  All the red heads were gone which was a huge surprise because usually those are the first girls chosen to be kept or seen!  The Casting Director then had all of us move to one side of the room and he walked by each girl, passing or excusing her, and walked by me, saying gorgeous hair (wow, definitely made me smile), and after that we were down to just over 20 girls.  

At this point he put us into two groups, Virgin Hair and the rest of us.  I've never done anything permanent to my hair, but because I do semi-permanent color on occasion, even though my last time doing that was a year ago, I was still in the other group.  He then asked each of us for our headshots or book (portfolio) and took some time looking through each one.  He joked about my name and being too young to know that I was the Bionic Woman, ah, but I do, and said I had beautiful and healthy hair.  Score...I was apparently having a really good hair day!  I did find it interesting that over half the girls in the room didn't have anything with them, not even a headshot, but had their portfolio's on their iPhone to go through.  Unfortunately, those girls weren't included in the casting so I was now in the Top 12!  After taking our headshots to the client, he came back and announced the 7 girls that were going to stay to meet with the client, and unfortunately today, I was not one of those girls called.  He thanked all of us saying it was nothing personal, we were beautiful girls and that's why we were called in, and he would see all of us again soon.

As I left the Audition I was actually very happy and proud.  I had gotten wonderful compliments on my hair and had also gotten really far in the Audition process, watching exactly how they were running it, which was really interesting.  I had to be happy that out of these over 100 girls at this time, I was in the Top 12.  It just means that something else will come up and I'll get an opportunity the next time.  I don't know why this time I had such a refreshing and happy feeling about it, but I did, and I hope I can continue to bring that to all my auditions in the future :)