Sara Bareilles Concert!

I was so excited to see Sara Bareilles in Concert at The El Rey Theater a couple weeks ago with my friend, Courtney!  I had tried to get tickets the day they went on sale but they sold out within minutes and after trying to find extra tickets on-line, saw they were going for over $450 for 2 tickets (when they were originally $35 each plus processing fee) so I just figured I'd have to wait till the next time she was in town.  Then, lucky for me, they went on sale again, and Courtney and I were headed to the show early since it was General Admission standing room only.

Ebony & Ivory at the Concert :)

We waited in line to get into the theater for nearly an hour and then waited over an hour for her to take the stage but since we were only 10 feet from the stage it was totally worthwhile!  Not to mention the show was absolutely incredible.  I was impressed by each and every song because this was her solo tour, so she could take her time, and hold these beautiful notes and give me goosebumps!  I didn't realize how many instruments she knew how to play as she opened playing the piano, then an acoustic guitar, switched to an electric guitar, and then the harmonium and back.  I was so happy to see Courtney taking pictures and videos of her, and I knew that I took the perfect person to the show with me :)

So close to her!

Edgy 'Come Round Soon'
on the electric guitar!

She opened with a song I wasn't completely familiar with, 'Love on the Rocks' but went into 'Benny & The Jets' which was really fun.  In between songs she chatted with the audience, was so endearing and humorous, and all I could think was that I wanted to hang out with her because she would be a riot!  Next up she did 'Uncharted' and 'Love Song' to which the crowd happily sang along.  It was back to a cover doing 'Sitting on the Dock of the Bay' and just impressing the heck out of everyone with her range and tone.  'Bright Lights and Cityscapes' made me nostalgic and fall even more in love with that song and her voice.  Somehow she transitioned into 'You Belong to Me' by Taylor Swift because it had the same riff as 'Let the Rain' which is one of my favorite songs!  Then it was another song I was unfamiliar with but that was absolutely beautiful and then came my favorite edgy song she sings, 'Come Round Soon' which she sang while playing the electric guitar and adding a jazzy feel to it, which was so new and fresh.  I LOVE that song because it has such a Fiona Apple feel to it.  She played 'Brave' which is off her new album, and I wasn't necessarily in love with it after seeing her initial video for it, but after hearing her story about wanting people to write on note cards at her show why they're brave because she's creating this project, it made me get more into it, not to mention the notes she was holding and the power behind her voice was so inspiring.  I still can't believe that I only discovered how much I truly loved her music just a couple years ago...I have been missing out!  She closed out her set with 'King of Anything' but after lots of cheers and chanting she came back out for a short encore doing one of my all-time favorite songs, 'Gravity,' which brings tears to my eyes every time.  She exudes talent, happiness, fun, and appreciation which is an awesome combination.  The last song she left us with was 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' another Elton John cover which was just as beautiful as her opening to the show.

I thought her last show was incredible when I saw her at The Palladium and she had Laryngitis but this was out of this world, how on point she was.  I can't wait till the next time she's in town but with this show being at a more intimate venue, it's going to be hard to come close to the amazing talent she showed. Come back soon, Sara!

Princess Leia's Match.Com Ad

I've been patiently waiting for almost 2 weeks to see our Match.com Parody starring Princess Leia (me) from Star Wars and it's finally here!!  All the hard work, getting in shape, not eating my Chipotle on set until we were completely done filming was all worth it!

We had an awesome time filming our 3 parody's that day and there's one more that will be airing on YouTube next week to finish off our Trilogy!  I hope you enjoy it :)

Karaoke!

I've finally been able to catch up on my blog as it's been really busy and I can't believe we're already half-way through the month of May.  I've been keeping up with my resolutions of doing something new and different each month, including singing my new song at Karaoke each week and it's now been over a year and a half of that tradition!

Last month's new activity was hitting up an Open Mic Night in Sherman Oaks with my friend, Kristina, as well as my first ever Hair Modeling gig for Salon Sessions in Pasadena.  This month, Emily and I made our way to Vegas for a spontaneous mini-vacay out of LA.

Since yet again, I've gotten behind on posting about Karaoke I'll do a quick catch up for this blog.  Starting a few weeks ago I opened the night with 'Here Comes the Rain Again' one of Bob and CC's favorite songs for me to sing, followed by my new song of the night, 'King of Anything' by one of my favorite's, Sara Bareilles.  Then, because I sang that, one of our regulars asked me to sing 'Gravity' so I did the Acapella version of the song (once again by Sara Bareilles) and was really happy with it, and trying it differently.  It had been a while since I sang Kim Wilde's 'Keep Me Hanging On' and then I closed the night with 'It Will Rain' by Bruno Mars.

Last week's Karaoke was a really busy night and after getting back from Vegas I was totally fine with just singing a couple times and resting my voice.  I kept it Gender Bender Night for me, only singing songs by male artists or groups, starting with 'Oh Darling' by The Beatles and then my new song was Tonic's 'You Wanted More' which was a lot of fun to sing.  I capped off the night with 'Disarm' by Smashing Pumpkins considering I was wearing my Smashing Pumpkins T-Shirt from their most recent Tour and from the show I saw in LA at The Gibson.

Ready to sing along with Sara Bareilles at her concert
this week :)  Been in a singing mood lately!

I also got to sing at The Garage on Friday for Karaoke Night because I was working in The Motor Club and even though we were slammed busy my guests were asking me to sing, so I sang a little Supreme's doing 'Baby Love' and it was fun to sing in a different setting with people that only see me in work mode and Bartending :)

This past week at Karaoke I had so many friends in, which was awesome; I love catching up with everyone and I was so proud to see everyone trying new songs!  YAY!  I can't remember the last time I sang Pat Benatar's 'Heartbreaker' so I opened with that and once again my second song was my new song, and since I had just seen Sara Bareilles in Concert on Tuesday night, I sang 'Love Song' which I had always been afraid of but decided to challenge myself to it!  It had also been quite some time since I had sang 'Sunday Morning' by No Doubt but I felt like my voice was able to handle some higher notes today which was why I was going to back to some of my favorites like 'I Dreamed a Dream' from "Les Miserables" which was one of my best takes on the song that night.  Marcus was there and he asked if I wanted to do a duet, so I got to sing another new song that I've always wanted to sing which was 'Don't You Want Me' by Human League.  It's that song that starts...you were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar (and it always reminds me of Saint's & Sinner's because Big Brother Mike used to always play the song while he was DJ'ing and I was Cocktailing)...great memories :)  Next up I did 'Gold Dust Woman' for McCracken and our whole crew closed out with 'Belle' from "Beauty & The Beast."  It was an awesome Karaoke night!

It's been a lot of working lately but every once in a while it's nice to go out play, and I'm thankful I was able to head to Vegas for a couple days, get to see Sara Bareilles this week, and just catch up with friends on my days off.  Life is good :D

Star Wars Match.com Parody

Almost 2 weeks ago it was time to shoot my Match.com Parody dressed as Princess Leia!  I had worked an insane weekend, doing a double shift the day and night before at The Garage and then Bar Lubitsch, but luckily my call-time was at noon and the shooting location was just blocks from my apartment.  Score!

Setting up our shot for the Match.com Commercial

When I got to set they were just finishing up with one of three Match.com Parody Commercials they were shooting that day so I got changed and ready for mine.  We had a script but did a little improv as well and since I know very little about Star Wars I was given some ideas but came up with a fun little fact that you'll see once the commercial is out ;)  It was a really quick shoot, as all locations were the same for everyone starting with the Confessional style part, then Princess Leia and the other female dater getting ready for the date, then we had our first meetings with our dates, and we finished with a shot of us walking off into the sunset.

Of course, as soon as the shoot was over it was Paparazzi time considering Princess Leia and Darth Vader were in the same room, and we wanted pictures with the rest of the cast and crew.  It was such a fun shoot and everyone was great.  I would love to work with our whole crew that was on set that day because it was light-hearted, we all joked around but got things done quickly and efficiently.  Honestly, it couldn't have gone any better than it did!

The Cast with our Director, John Siscel!

The Darth Vader Match.com Commercial is already up and you can see it here!

 Darth Vader's Match.com Ad

You're going to have to wait for my Princess Leia Match.com Ad as well as being the Dater for the 3rd Commercial we did and they should be up in the following weeks :)

Vegas! Part Deux.

Since Emily and I had a late night on Monday with our dance party at Marquee thanks to Donnie and friends we went down to the Hooter's Restaurant to grab some Chicken Wings for a late Breakfast.  Then we got into our swimsuits and attempted to lay by the pool but the clouds were certainly trying to discourage us, hiding the sun for the most part, and an hour later, completely bundled up in towels we gave up and headed back to the room.  I thought we were in Vegas and it's supposed to be 90 degrees in May!

Date Night!

That night we had Dinner Reservations at Mon Ami Gabi which is at The Paris and our table was outside on the Patio right across from The Bellagio so we had views of the Fountain Show which was awesome!  I ordered the Famous French Onion Soup which was good but on the sweeter side.  My Mom still makes the best!  I got the Scallops while Emily ordered a Steak and we capped it off with an awesome glass of Pinot Noir that had notes of Violet in it.  I couldn't complete our incredible feast without a glass of Sambuca and after Dinner we walked around The Paris, gambled a little, did some people watching, a little window shopping, and even grabbed dessert at one of the pastry shops.  After that we decided to walk down The Strip back towards the New York, New York so we could hit up Coyote Ugly but it was late, we were tired, we had walked nearly a mile in our 5 inch heels so we ended up calling it an early night.  Emily went to bed but I wasn't quite ready to stop my Vegas Vacation even though my feet were begging me to, so I gambled for a little bit and won $40 playing The Wizard of Oz slot machine...hooray!

On Wednesday morning it was back to LA.  Emily and I had an awesome mini-vacay to Las Vegas for a couple of days and it only makes me want to go back again soon!  It's only a tank of gas and 4 hours away, and when you go during the week, the hotels offer awesome deals.  On top of it being an exciting spontaneous trip it was a very affordable so who's coming with me next time?!

Impromptu Vegas Trip!

On Monday morning, Emily and I were in our usual spots on our couches discussing our weekend and chatting about the upcoming week.  As we were talking about our work schedules we both found out that we had Monday and Tuesday off, and neither of us worked until Wednesday evening.  What did that mean?  Vegas!  

The adventurous side of me said yes, but the practical side said there had to be something going on that we couldn't just up and leave.  Spontaneity won and we packed our bags, stopped at the grocery store to pick up some cocktail supplies, snacks, and then we were on the road to Vegas.  We were going to stay at The Flamingo but by the time we called the rate had nearly tripled so we decided to stay at the Hooter's Casino since it was just off The Strip, super affordable, and we were barely going to be spending any time in the room anyway.

Roommates in Vegas!

Once we got to Vegas we poured ourselves some drinks at our makeshift bar in the Hotel Room and got ready for a night out at The Cosmopolitan.  Our first stop was The Chandelier Bar where Emily and I had some delicious specialty cocktails.  Next up was Marquee, thanks to my friend, Donnie, who had a table right by the dance floor.  We had plenty of space to hang out and dance, and what felt like an endless supply of Vodka.

Great music at Marquee!

Emily and I were dancing our Chicken Wings off and I was surprised that I liked the music because I'm not a huge electronic/techno/house music person but the DJ mixed some Top 40's with some Rock & Roll and on top of the confetti dropping from the ceiling and go go dancers, it sure was a party.  We ended up dancing all night and had a blast!

Night One in Vegas = Success :)

Bestie's Birthday & Lector Training

The sun was out all weekend and it was a perfect 90 degree day in Porter Ranch on Saturday for Mike's Birthday!  I drove up that afternoon after picking up some goodies from Trader Joe's for the Party and was so happy that it was 15 degrees warmer in Porter Ranch than it was in Palms!

Mike's been doing a Birthday Pool Party for the last 3 years and I love being able to catch up and celebrate with him.  Plus, it's time spent with all the animals, and it only makes me want to get a dog because everyone brought their little ones with them.  Amy introduced me to her newest additions, Violet and Zooey, and I love seeing my favorite, Riley Boy Weiss!  It was also my first time meeting Scarlett, Nic's Cavalier King Charles, who is by far the prettiest King Charles I have ever seen; she's literally perfect.  We got to enjoy the day by the pool, sipping on some yummy cocktails, snacking, and catching up while enjoying the sunshine.  Awesome day!

Happy Birthday Bestie :)

On Sunday, I had Lector Training for Church.  A couple months ago when my parents were visiting and we were at Church they asked if anyone would be interested in doing the Readings.  I used to do them when I was younger and since I've finally found a Church I like, I figured it would be something fun to do, not to mention, keep me focused in Church ;)  It was a LONG Training session, between another girl and myself, and I'm lucky because my Acting experiences really helped me out.  We had to practice in the Church and as I was reading, I did what I do when I'm at an Audition, (if I'm not already memorized) let the words float off the page and just take my time and enjoy.  Except in Church, you get to look around and make eye contact with everyone, but I think it'll be fun too because I'll try to make the readings exciting and interesting, because I know how boring it is to sit and listen to someone who's monotone while they read.  I won't get to do the Readings for a few more weeks, but then I'll be put on the schedule regularly, and more involved in Church.  YAY!

It was a busy weekend but I'm so lucky to have great jobs that I love, awesome friends, and activities that challenge myself and keep me motivated :)

Karaoke, Birthday's, and Open Mic

There's been so many Birthday's lately and even with my hectic work schedule I've been able to catch up with friends and celebrate at some point! 

A couple weeks ago Jamie had her Birthday at Gabe's on a Sunday night and I ran Karaoke for her so she could have a Karaoke Birthday Party with her friends.  The Gabe's regulars weren't used to Sunday Karaoke but it ended up being a fun little party and Judy even baked a cake and cupcakes for Jamie.  The girls got together, we got to catch up, sing some songs, and drink some yummy drinks!

The Ladies celebrating Jamie's Karaoke Birthday

Surprise!

Speaking of Karaoke, last week I had a wonderful surprise awaiting me at Gabe's as soon as I arrived.  Jonathan was visiting from Washington for a Job Interview that might bring him back to LA.  YAY!  So we had a pretty busy Karaoke night that was filled with tons of Duets and lots of Musical/Showtunes.  I opened with 'Dreams' by Fleetwood Mac, and then Julian asked me to do a duet with him, so we sang 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' which was also my new song of the night!  Next up, I did another duet with McCracken's friend, singing 'A Dangerous Game' which was a lot of fun.  There was no way Jonathan was going to leave without us singing together so we sang 'I Got You, Babe.'  Foxy was feeling the duet vibe so he asked me to sing 'A Whole New World' with him, and then I sang 'I'm The Only One' by Melissa Etheridge.  There's just something really fun about that song and I was definitely having a good time with it.  McCracken and I closed out the night with 'Light My Candle' from "Rent" and it seemed like everyone had a blast at Karaoke!

Emily and I had off last Tuesday so we actually got to check out our co-worker's, Laura's, Open Mic night at O'Brien's on Main Street in Santa Monica.  There were a few singers on the roster and most of the songs performed were covers but it really got the crowd involved and I like hearing someone put a new spin on a classic song.  Laura did amazing, and although I wasn't familiar with her songs, she was confident, played the guitar as well, and was super talented.  Hooray for roommate night and supporting our friend!

I've certainly been getting my Music Fix in lately and hope to keep it up :)