Spring in Wisconsin :)

Just a couple weeks ago I was heading to Wisconsin for a whirl-wind week of fun!  It was my first trip back since Christmas and there was so much planned.  I was looking forward to spending time with my family and just being home :)

My cousins were actually on the same flight from LA to Milwaukee so when we landed in WI we all went out to Dinner together.  On Thursday night I Bartended at Rosie's Valley Inn and my entire family came in and visited me.  It was a blast to be behind the bar in Wisconsin and reminded of how affordable it is to drink back home.  I poured a round of drinks (all cocktails) for $11; it would have cost $40 in Los Angeles!  It's kind of mind-blowing.  My little cousins loved helping me out behind the bar, doing dishes, pouring sodas, and even mentioned coming to help the following day because doing dishes in the bar is far more fun than doing them at home!

Monica & I with Nicki, Russell Wilson speaking for the Graduation, and Dad & I at Camp Randall!

On Saturday, Dad and I drove to Madison for Nicki's Graduation from UW-Madison.  Russell Wilson (QB from the Seattle Seahawks who went to Madison for a year) was the Commencement Speaker and did a really great job.  I was actually impressed with his speaking abilities; he was relateable, funny, but also very motivating.  Aside from the hail (it was so cold it was hailing...in May) and walking seven miles to get to the right area, it was neat to be at Nicki's Graduation and we were so glad we went!  It was also Tyler's Birthday so we celebrated later that evening at St. Anne because no trip back home is complete without a steak from my favorite place in WI!

Bridal Shower Cupcakes!

Sunday was Tyler & Monica's Bridal Shower with family so we had a nice party at my Aunt Mary's house, had a beautiful lunch, opened gifts, played some games and answered questions about Tyler & Monica.  When everyone had left and we had cleaned up, the kids and I played cards!

Algoma Pierhead Lighthouse

I was looking forward to our Wine Tasting Adventure in Door County for months so we all went to the Von Steihl Winery on Monday afternoon.  After tasting some delicious wines (for free) and buying a few bottles as well, I had seen that there was a Cheese Tasting a few miles away.  We headed there next and tasted some fabulous cheese, once again, bought a bunch because they had Squeaky Cheese Curds.  They vacuum-sealed mine since they were traveling back to California with me and I wanted to make sure that they would still be squeaky when I got them home to LA.  We had Lunch on Lake Michigan and then Dad and I went to the Algoma Pierhead Lighthouse.  We had to walk on this narrow walk-way to get closer to the lighthouse and the water was actually splashing up and over it because the waves and current were fairly strong.  It was a little scary at times and I was really surprised that my Dad led the way but when we got to the lighthouse, he was just as excited about seeing it as I was.  I was so glad we did that together!  On our way back to Plymouth, we stopped at one more Winery with the entire family called Parallel 44 and Dad and I both agreed on the same bottle to buy there.  They had a Summer Concert series that sounded like so much fun, and reminded me of Malibu Wines.  I hadn't eaten at A&W in years since they're only open when it's warmer outside so I was really excited to get my traditional hot dog from there and cheese curds once we got back to P-town.  This time I changed it up and got a burger too and let me say, In & Out, oooooh you have some competition!  It was so yummy!

My Dad's Birthday was on Wednesday, the day I was heading back to LA, so late Tuesday night I prepped for his Birthday surprise.  I had a giant piece of Chocolate Cake I had picked up, some Sparkling Wine from one of the Wineries, a few gifts, and then we played cards and just hung out on my last night in Wisconsin. A low-key 61st Birthday surprise!

The week I was home went by so quickly and my Dad called me the next day to thank me for such a nice time and to tell me he loved me.  That's always nice to hear and as difficult as things are for me without my Mom, I can't imagine Dad being in the house without her.  He's so strong and I'm so proud of him!  We really did have a good time although I wish I could have made a meal one night (I sound like my Mom), but we played lots of Trivia Crack, debated some politics, learned some things, and had some really nice conversations.  I'll be heading back in a week and a half for a few days and can hardly wait!

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day marked my two year anniversary of working at Irish Times!  I had actually worked one or two shifts after I got hired in March but my first real shift was our favorite Irish holiday and now it's a yearly thing to have our entire staff working throughout the day and it was my third St. Patty's Day with everyone!

Kiss me...I'm Irish!

I actually prefer to work the early morning shift so that I can be done before all the rif raf comes in and the crazies aka drunks come out.  Los Angeles had a pretty big earthquake that morning around 6:30 am that shook my apartment and had me jump to the middle of my bed just in case the picture above my bed fell down.  Of course, it's always interesting to check out Facebook right after an earthquake with all the status updates and this one didn't disappoint, with people commenting that it was the Guinness kegs rolling off the truck, or that 'We Will Rebuild' with a photo of a plant that fell off a desk and 'Los Angeles Strong' just below that.  The earthquake was centered in Westwood and was a 4.7 and probably the biggest one I felt since moving to LA.

Needless to say, I couldn't get back to bed so I just got up and got ready for the day at Irish Times and started the shift at 9 am!  It was actually a little more quiet than normal, most likely because it was a Monday versus a weekend Holiday.  The kitchen always starts the day off with a traditional Irish breakfast of eggs, toast, ham, three different kinds of sausage including black pudding and tomatoes and then there's a choice of Fish & Chips, Beef Stew, and Corned Beef & Cabbage after breakfast is served.  It did get busy later in the afternoon and I had some friends filtering in and out throughout the day.  In fact, Marty who was only going to have one stayed for my shift and there were many Hell Fires to be had!  I believe that was the first and last time Aimee will ever take Hell Fires ;)  And St. Patrick's Day at Irish Times wouldn't be complete without live Irish music, shots of Jameson and a Bagpiper.  

Starting the day at Irish Times before the Hell Fires were served ;)

By the time I left at 5:30 pm the bar was packed and I was happy to be done with the shift and getting to relax and enjoy some basketball, good food, and a jalepeno cocktail at Freddy Smalls!  Another successful St. Patty's Day in the books...Diddly Doo!

Featured on 'The Daily Server'

A couple weeks ago Robert liked one of my photos on Instagram and I looked at his page to see it was called, 'The Daily Server.'  Each day Robert posts from various restaurants throughout Los Angeles to New York, Nashville, and even Buenos Aires and profiles a different server or bartender.  I commented on one of his photos saying it was awesome that he was doing this because it's not every day that we have someone appreciate our hard-work and here he was sharing our work ethic to the Instagram world.

We went back and forth and he said he'd come by The Garage at some point.  I wasn't sure whether he really would or not but sure enough on a Monday evening in late January, Robert and some friends came to check out the bar.  They loved our generous selection of beers and Happy Hour menu.

Featured on The Daily Server's Instagram Page

So thank you Robert, for coming in and checking out the bar!  I hope you'll be back soon :)

*Find Robert's tribute to amazing service here: The Daily Server on Instagram

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

St. Patrick's Day at Irish Times!

The week of St. Patrick's Day was crazy for me as I was at all my jobs multiple times during the week and keeping so busy!  Hopefully, everyone had been prepping for the St. Patrick's Day festivities that were going to be happening at Irish Times and throughout LA, because I heard there were big parties with wristbands to get in, covers at the Irish bars, and Green Beer just about everywhere!

 

Tattoos!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I went into work at Irish Times bright and early at 9 am and was working the early shift until 5 pm.  I was so glad to have that shift even though I was working on just a couple hours of sleep since I had Bartended at Bar Lubitsch the previous night until the wee hours of the morning.  Matty and I shared a traditional Irish Breakfast of eggs, toast, black and white pudding, ham, and all the fixings.  Since it was the early shift it was a little quieter and calmer than it would be 5 hours from now.  Last year I had to work from noon until close (which by the time we got out of the bar was 4 am) so the early shift was just fine with me.  Plus, it was a Saint's & Sinner's reunion with Ian, Matt, and Bulos all working throughout the day!  I didn't realize how many people really love to be drinking Guinness and Car Bombs but it's the norm for the Irish Holiday.

 

As the day went by it got busier and busier and more Bartenders and Barbacks showed up and at one point there were 8 or 9 of us behind the bar.  Thankfully, that didn't last long and I was able to finish up with my shift and head out with some Corned Beef & Cabbage and Fish & Chips before the madness really hit.  A woman stopped by and was giving Glitter Tattoos, there was Live Irish Music, even a Bagpiper at one point, plenty of Food, Guinness, and Jameson to go around.  We had a tent outside for the overflow where we had some beers on tap in addition to bottles of Bud Light and Heineken. 

Your Irish Bartenders...yes, I'm Irish :)

Irish Times is certainly one of the places to be on St. Patrick's Day and I'm glad that I've been able to spend the day working with some of my favorite people!  Now, if only we could finish up that Power Hour at some point...

Superbowl Sunday!

Well, it's another 6 months until Football starts again, and I will be anxiously awaiting the 2013-2014 Season!  Thankfully, there's Baseball and the Dodger Season to look forward to, and hopefully awesome seats right behind Andre Ethier and perhaps even an Ethier signing of my new #16 Jersey!

Go Packers!

But before Baseball Season begins there was the Superbowl!  Neil was Hosting a small party, that I helped Co-Host, where there was a variety of food and treats, including a 4 pound bucket of Red Vines, and my very own Bloody Mary Bar where I played Bartender all afternoon!  Now, I won't tell you my Bloody Mary Recipe because that's a secret, and one I have been perfecting for years at this point.  But I will tell you, adding in all the goodies and vegetables is key, and although I couldn't find a Beef Stick to put in it, it was still one of the best Bloody Mary's that I had ever made.

I was rooting for the 49's and hoping Kaepernick would get MVP because we all had voted on who would get the Prestigious Award.  Kaepernick ended up winning me over with his Pre-Game Interview, talking about when he was in 4th grade that he had written a letter and said he wanted to play for the Packers in 7 years even if they weren't good, and the fact that he was from Wisconsin.  With the Raven's getting a nice lead by halftime I was nervous and at that point, just cheering for a good game and good plays.  Half-Time was good, loved that Beyonce's fellow Destiny's Child ladies joined her on-stage for a few songs and that she did some new and old hits.  I thought she did a great job!  After waiting for the power to come back on in the game, and after an amazing Half-Time Meal of Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Coleslaw and Pickles thanks to Arthur, the 49's really impressed me by coming back strong.  If only they could have won the game.  There's always next year for them when they lose to the Packers ;)

Overall, the party was a success surrounded by awesome people, it was a great game, and relaxing evening.  Now that's my kind of Superbowl!

Holiday Party :)

After an awesome Christmas Surprise on Saturday complete with Dinner at La Piazza at The Grove and the Boyce Avenue Concert at the Nokia Theater at LA Live it was Sunday which meant Football, Christmas Shopping, and my Bar Lubitsch Holiday Party in Hollywood with good friends!

Fox Hills Mall has really come together in the past few years and feels a lot safer and has more stores than it did when I was working at Level10 back in 2006.  I made a killing at H&M and got a ton of Christmas presents and got some more ideas from my trip to the Mall.  Plus, I had an awesome Lunch from Stone Oven, which is one of my favorite salad places because of their incredible Focaccia Bread served with a Basil Dipping Sauce.  

After shopping it was Football time because the Packers were playing the Lions for the Sunday Night Game and as I watched the Game I realized my chances of the Play-offs in my Fantasy Football League had diminished and I had come in 10th place for the year.  Eli Manning, you were the hugest disappointment of the year, along with my other players that were playing like Randy Moss, which really isn't playing at all, or only when he feels like it.  Jordy, Wes, Jimmy, Darren...injuries, great games of 20+ points and then weeks where you got me .5 of a point.  It just goes to show, some of the greatest receivers, running backs, and tight ends are still great, but just not Fantasy Football leaders.

Candy Cane!

I was so excited to wear a brand new dress I got from Foreign Exchange a couple weeks ago and my Bar Lubitsch Holiday Party was the perfect opportunity to wear it!  Our Party was at Palihouse in Hollywood and my friend, Jonathan, who used to be a regular at Saint's & Sinner's was the Head Chef there, so I was even more excited to try the food.  The Party started at 8 pm and had a Buffet until 10 pm with an Open Bar all night long!  Neil and I got to the party just before 9:30 and each got a plateful of food, complete with Cavatelli Pasta, Wild Rice, Steak, Beet Salad, French Fries, and Grilled Chicken, as well as assorted cheeses and meats from the Charcuterie.  Everything was absolutely incredible and what made it more awesome was that Jonathan invited us into the Kitchen to say hello and also see James, another regular from Saint's & Sinner's preparing the steak for the evening!  It was great to see them and Neil and I both wanted seconds but Dinner ended promptly at 10 pm and we had to snack on a few different bite-sized desserts that were just as amazing as the food.  It was definitely an impressive meal!

Matching Stripes!

The Party continued until 2 am with plenty of drinks and shots...I was drinking Hendricks Gin and Sprite all night and woke up on Monday morning with no sight of a hangover and feeling really good!  It's true...the better the liquor, the better you feel the next day!  A bunch of the Bar Lubitsch Bartenders were in attendance, as Adrian, Jessica, and Brian and I all took shots together, and when Jonathan was done in the Kitchen, Mike, him and I, all had an S&S shot together (which unfortunately I did not drink because I couldn't do any whiskey that night and I congratulated myself the next morning when I could still do my work-out).  Neil and I had our own turn in the Photo Booth as that was the longest line of the night...cheese :)  Dija looked incredible in her silver sequined dress and I was so happy to meet, Connie, Mike's girlfriend after hearing about her for the past 3 months!  The Bartender, Parker, made me the best Old Fashion I've ever had (aside from my Uncles who make theirs with Brandy)!  I won't give away his secrets on here but I'll just say you have to go visit him at Palihouse and try them for yourself...Neil and I split it since I was sticking to Gin, but I loved it even with the Bulleit Bourbon he used!  You make a fantastic cocktail, Parker!  As I chatted with Arky and his girlfriend, Danielle, who was visiting from Nevada, the whole El Carmen crew came together and they are definitely a wild bunch...and another shot I passed on, since it was Tequila.  Neil, I can't believe you kept up all night long with all the debauchery that was happening!  Haji, David, and Brandon, all door guys at Bar Lubitsch (Brandon also Barbacks) and I took some pictures and I did have a shot with them as we spent the last part of the night chatting and enjoying the Party!

Connie, Dija, and I at Palihouse for the Bar Lubitsch Holiday Party

Overall, it was a great night and an incredible party!  I had so much fun and was not only impressed by the amazing food that Jonathan and James made but by all the Bartenders cheerfulness and tasty cocktails!  This is what a Holiday Party should be!

*I think there is even a picture of Neil and Haji 'Dropping it like Raji' since I'm the only one who can really do Aaron Rodgers Touchdown Dance ;)  But I think I'll hold onto that one for a while!*

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!

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 :)

Manic Monday

Last Sunday I prepared for the week ahead:  Karaoke, meetings, auditions, Bartending at Irish Times, and of course, Dine LA!  Little did I know that my slightly busy week was going to be doubled!

I found out I got booked on a Trade Show on Sunday evening around 7 pm and the rehearsal was on Monday at noon in Downtown LA.  On Monday morning, I got everything packed up since I had the Dodger game that night and then I was on my way to the LA Convention Center.  While I was on my way the address changed and so I adjusted and made my way to the Millenium Biltmore and figured I would be able to find parking around there for around $15.  Then as I was just getting into Downtown the address changed again and I had to go to the Westin.  Thankfully, Downtown is a lot of buildings all in one area; the only problem is the traffic and one-way streets.  AND that parking everywhere I looked was $38!  I'm sorry, but that is highway robbery!  I ended up parking a mile away in a $16 lot and ran in what direction I thought I needed to be.  Mind you, I don't have an iPhone, I don't have Internet Access on my phone, and was in the midst of high rises in unfamiliar territory, so I called my Mom told her my coordinates and had her point me in the right direction and ran a mile in my 4 inch heels, skinny jeans, and sweater, because I still wanted to be business casual for the meeting.  Not fun.

When I finally made it the Westin and found the Meeting Room we were in, the presentation had already started but because I wasn't an employee it was ok for me to be a couple minutes late.  I met one of the other Trade Show Models, Deb, for the AACC Medical Convention and she told me to grab some food and then take a seat.  Yes, please!  The buffet was amazing; I got both chicken and salmon, along with a caprese salad, (extra mozzarella) broccolini and asparagus, and a lemon dessert.  The food was so good and totally unexpected.  After the meeting was over we talked with our contacts and got the details for tomorrow's show.  I took a few notes, met the rest of the girls, Amanda and Amy, and Amy looked familiar and while we couldn't figure out how we knew each other we had the rest of the week to get to know each other!

Lucky for me I got to walk back to my car this time instead of run and I made an appointment to meet with the Owner of Brass Monkey to talk about Hosting Karaoke there.  my friend, Lucas, has been working there for years and said there might be an opening in the next few weeks.  I drove from Downtown to Korea Town and was able to meet with A* before he left for the day.  He also owns Boardwalk 11 and since I work next door at Irish Times he thought he could possibly have me fill in there for Karaoke or Bartending.  Cool!

After my meeting at Brass Monkey I headed up to North Hollywood to meet Neil and grabbed some Starbucks for him because he had to work the rest of the afternoon before we met Johnny at the Dodger game.  I was able to get my work-out in and go through all my Castings and e-mails, plus get all the information for the Trade Show faxed to my booking Agent.  I was bummed because I had to skip an Audition that I had to re-schedule from the week before because I was working, and now I couldn't go the re-scheduled one this week and I also got an e-mail from a Magazine asking me to Test Shoot for them on Wednesday but I couldn't shoot with them because of the Show and Karaoke.  I'm keeping my fingers that I can re-schedule that for this next week.

Soon enough it was time for the Dodger Game.  Neil and I headed to Dodger Stadium around 6:15 pm for the 7:10 start time; we were meeting Johnny there because he was on a flight back from Philly and getting into LAX at 5:45.  With traffic and the distance, Johnny didn't make it until 7:35 but Neil and I were able to watch a little bit of the game from outside the stadium.  It was Dodger's vs. Philly's and we got in just in time to catch the bottom of the 2nd Inning.  After watching a couple innings it was time for some Beer & Dodger Dogs!  There's nothing like sitting and watching live Baseball with a Dodger Dog in hand...it's just the simple things in life :)  While our fellow Dodger fans were quite interesting, two young girls sitting next to us, that were in a tizzy with Celebrity Neil next to me, the two little boys in front of us that were yelling and cheering for the Dodgers which was so cute, and the random drunk girl and her boyfriend getting in trouble with Security for being loud and crazy, we all had a good time watching the game.  Johnny ended up a happy Philly's fan when they won 3-2.

Go Dodger's!

Before we knew it, it was 10:30 pm and I knew I had an early and important day on Tuesday for the first day of the Trade Show so it was bed-time for a sad Dodger's fan!  Talk about an awesome and busy day, advancing my career, getting in a good work-out (running around in Downtown LA had it's perks) and getting to do something fun like going to a Dodger game with friends!  Now onto my busy week...

Back Behind The Bar and 4th of July Karaoke

I'm finally back behind the bar on a regular basis!  I've been filling in at Irish Times since March and working random shifts but as of now I'll be working on Thursdays from noon until 7 pm!  I'm so glad to have a Bartending job but am obviously still looking for something permanent that I can call home where I can work multiple shifts and start making good money again!

I've been working at Irish Times the past couple Thursdays and Sundays and am starting to get to know the regulars better since I'm here on a more regular basis and can recognize people and their drinks.  There's been the Euro Cup on lately too so I've had a crowd earlier on than usual, and even if it's slow at least it's been steady and kept me going all day long.

Today started out with some excitement...no Guinness tapped and me trying to move the Guinness was I'm sure quite funny.  Thankfully, we had a guy working on the beer taps so he took care of it for me...darn damsel in distress!  That wasn't so bad because as I was opening the bar and our lovely chef was cleaning she happened to throw some water to clean the bathroom and it hit an electrical outlet.  She came running out to get me and as I went to assess the damage saw the smoke, smelled the burning wires, and saw the sparks.  I knew with the water on the ground that would act as a conductor (right?) and would shock us if we tried to wipe the water from the outlet so my first thought was to call the Fire Department just to be safe.  Of course, after telling them it was a Non-Emergency they said they would have to come and check it out as a precaution.  Meanwhile, I'm hoping they don't come with the whole crew, hose in hand, lights and sirens going...I was wrong.  Lights, sirens, 3 Firefighters, and a Manager guy, all dressed in suits.  Luckily, after looking at it with a special camera, everything was fine, and I offered them a beer (hey, they might have saved our lives, I was just trying to be hospitable) before they left.  They declined, but not without a smile and chuckle.  Just another exciting way to start my day :)

On Wednesday, I Hosted Karaoke at Gabe's for Independence Day/4th of July!  I walked into a nearly empty bar but had a great conversation with some friendly gentlemen and around 10 pm a couple Karaoke singers along with Johnny came in to hang out and sing so we got the night started.  While there wasn't a big crowd everyone was happy to have a short rotation and be able to sing more often!

I opened the night with some Beatles because they seemed like the most Patriotic Band that I could sing and we got the evening started.  I sang a bunch of songs I haven't sang in a while and practiced some songs I could use for a Karaoke contest that's going on throughout LA County like 'Mercy' and 'Baby Love.'  Johnny told me about the contest and was also practicing and sang a bunch of new songs.  I don't know if I've ever heard anyone sing Hoobastank, so he sang 'The Reason' for me.  Art did Gene Pitney's, 'Town Without Pity' which is by far one of my favorite songs for him to sing, and just makes me want to dance every time I hear it.  Then around 11 pm a group of my friends came in to sing, who have never been to Gabe's before!  They sang, Guns & Roses, Prince, Stone Temple Pilots, etc. and had so much fun, and did awesome!  I think they'll be back ;)  My new song of the night was 'Everytime We Touch' by Cascada which actually went well for not knowing the song.  It's a fun dance remix so I'll have to do it on a busier night so people get up and dance!

Our 4th of July Celebration ended up being a lot of fun, not too busy, the perfect amount of people, everyone able to sing, and having a good time!  Now if only I would have been able to see some Fireworks...there's always next year!

Guinness & Music & Yogaglo

I wondered why last week flew by and as I'm writing these entries I'm understanding!  So much was going on and I kept really busy.  On Saturday I was Bartending at Irish Times from noon until 7 pm.  It was my first time setting up on my own so it was a nice little work-out for me as well, getting ice, taking down bar stools, running back to my car because I had left the instructions in there and it was parked 2 blocks away.  Once everything was set up I had some time to hang out until some guests arrived.

Last week when I had worked they were filming something when I arrived and about an hour after I opened Karen, (she used to Bartend there and is a good friend of the bar) came in with a Boom Operator (sound guy) to get bar noise for the film.  We got to talking and found out she has an insane schedule next week because she runs her own Casting Company.  She said she had seen my headshots and submissions on LA Casting previously and said to make a note when I submit saying we know each other from Irish Times and also gave me her e-mail.  YAY!  My first customers arrived after 2 and the day stayed steady till I closed.  I had a rush right around 5 pm which kept me running.  Most people that came in had lunch or dinner so there were drink orders, food orders, and lots of chatting.  Plus, a bunch of games were coming on so it ended up being a really awesome Saturday.  I'm getting to know the regulars now and making new friends too!  

I left the bar just before 8 pm and headed home to get ready for my friend, Mike's show at Molly Malone's.  I saw him play there a couple months ago and was excited to see him play again since I now had his CD and knew the songs better.  I really love the style of his music and his band and him jammed on stage; Neil pointed out they were a lot like Dave Matthews, which I could definitely see, but I don't like Dave Matthews voice, and Mike's is so incredible.  He's got one of the greatest voices I've heard and huge range!  On top of it all, it was so great to see Amy and Nic, and Mike's family, and it's always awesome to see a big turn-out and people showing support for a good friend!  I loved singing along this time and rocking out with Mike and he closed the show with a cover of The Darkness's 'I Believe in a Thing Called Love' with the full band so it rocked!  

Molly Malone's

Talk about a busy Saturday and busy weekend!  I always look forward to my Yoga class on Monday's and after the weekend I was stoked to be in class, even though my favorite teacher, Jo, is out of town for the next two months; I figured I'd try another teacher's class.  So today we worked on stretching our legs and really getting deeper into the stretch.  After doing this for about 20 minutes it was really interesting to see how far you had come from the beginning of class.  The last 40 minutes of class we worked on inversions, doing shoulder stand and head stand.  I'm actually a little sore from it so I'm definitely missing Jo's class right now!  I really like flowing too and today's class was concentrating on Hatha Yoga which is more sustained poses and for someone who doesn't do a whole lot of inversions or in most of the classes I've taken, you're only doing it for 5-10 minutes, this was a big change for me.  I'll just have to keep working at it!

Whew what a busy week and I can't wait to do it all over again this week, except this time, I'll be back in Wisconsin for it!

A Different Kind of Sunday Funday

This past Sunday I picked up a shift to Bartend at Irish Times and as I got there, a whole film crew was just finishing up for the day.  And before they had even gotten all their equipment out of the bar, I had customers in to watch the LA Kings Game!  It ended up being a really fun Sunday; since it's Spring, Softball has started, so a bunch of teams came in together and ordered drinks and food, thankfully, all staggered, but kept me busy all day long!  I even had a Saint's visitor, and of course, Hell Fires & Baby Dragons were to be had...long live The Baby Dragon :)
  

A regular I see at Gabe's for Karaoke was in and actually asked me a really interesting question, what do I like better, Bartending or Hosting Karaoke?  I wasn't quite sure how to answer because I really enjoy doing both.  Right now, Bartending is sporadic, but I really miss it when I'm not doing it.  When I was working at Cabo, I was so unhappy, but when I was at Saint's, it was by far one of the best jobs I've ever had!  To top it all off, Bartending is great money and most of the time, doesn't even feel like work because when you're busy and having fun the time just flies by.  On the other hand, Karaoke is practicing my career and my craft even though I don't pursue singing; it keeps me on my toes and is always fun and exciting to sing and perform.  Do I miss the late hours when you're Bartending and working until 3 am, probably not.  But I miss the job itself terribly and will be really happy when I have a steady Bartending job sometime soon.

After I was done with work at Irish Times I headed up to North Hollywood for Dale & Thi's Game Night.  Thi's leaving for New York in a couple weeks so we all wanted to get together before she left.  We usually have Game Nights every couple of months and it had been a while since our last.  The first game of the night was Balderdash.  I had never played and we had walked in just after they started so we joined in and it was actually a lot of fun.  There were a lot of laughs but also a lot of distractions and it was taking forever to finish a round...before we knew it, it was 2 hours later and we hadn't even gotten half-way through the game.  After working an 8 hour day at the bar I was really exhausted but wanted to make sure I could spend some time with Thi before she left since I'm going back to Wisconsin next week.  I'm sure I was probably a little cranky.  Cranium was up next but we had so many people we had to split into 3 teams and things just got kind of messy...too many people to focus on the game and I felt like there were just way too many distractions to even have fun.  I wouldn't say I'm super competitive; I like to have fun, and at the end of the day, it's just a game, and no one is going to remember who won 5 years down the road, but someone has to know the rules of the game and keep everyone on task.  We probably should have just spent the night socializing or playing drinking games ;)  The cool thing about Cranium and the group we had is that everyone is super creative as most of us are actors or in the entertainment industry so we all do get involved and excited about the categories, whether it be whistling a song, doing charades, or drawing with your eyes closed, and even the word categories are fun.  I love spelling backwards, but I'm a nerd.  The last game before everyone went their separate ways was Celebrity; where everyone writes 5 names down that are known celebrities and then there are 3 rounds where you act out and talk about the person, then on the 2nd round can only give a 1 word clue, and the last round is charades.  I had never played before but again we split into 2 teams and that game was definitely faster-paced.  We'll have to remember that one for next time!

Time flies when you're at Game Night and before you know it, it's 3 am...so to bed it was, after a very long and eventful Sunday Funday.

Having Fun...Rain or Shine!

I had a very busy and fun weekend last week; got to see friends I haven't seen in a while, enjoyed a Burger & Beer with Jeff from PowerTV at Father's Office, drank Sangria by the beach in Venice for Brunch with Kristina, enjoyed LA being dreary and sunny, and laughed a lot!

On Monday I covered for Ian at Irish Times and got to Bartend for the first time in over a month.  It was my first time being solo at the bar and I had to close up shop all on my own.  Lucky for me, it went off without a hitch, and I had a very successful night.  I had a couple friends come in to keep me company and have some cocktails and even got a little late night Jack & The Box snack :)  It was really steady all night!  I'm still trying to find a permanent Bar Home and it's proving more difficult than I thought.  I know I'm being picky but I want to make sure I'm happy and comfortable with the bar I'm working at, and considering I was so unhappy for 6 months at the last bar I worked at, I don't want to put myself into a negative situation like that again!  Something will come along; I'm trusting it will.

Before I went into work I got in a great work-out and run in the park and later that afternoon was able to go to my Yoga Class.  There were only 9 people in the class, including me, so it was a really small and intimate class and she let us decide what we wanted to do.  It ended up being a day of twists and hip openers and the last 20 minutes we were able to concentrate on whatever we wanted to work on.  In fact, I did my first ever Yogi Headstand!  I was so proud of myself.  I knew I was going to be in a calm state of mind for the rest of the night, even if it was going to be crazy busy at Irish Times!

Tonight I Hosted Karaoke at Gabe's!  I'm getting a little bit more creative with trying new songs as I look up artists and songs during the day to see if it's something I could try or experiment with.  Johnny had added over 3000 new songs to our database and updated our computer with a new system that was easier to navigate and was there finishing up when I got to work.  It was really quiet when I got there and since everyone was singing slow music or love songs I decided to try Roxette's 'It Must Have Been Love' and when I was done Johnny told me I needed to learn 'Dangerous' so we could do that as a duet.  Done and done!  We found out we both own the album so we sang that a little later.  It was a great duet and we hit the harmonies perfectly; so I was able to try two new songs in one night!  The night ended up being really busy and the bar was packed (I was worried that the pouring rain was going to deter people but that brought everyone in)!  Jonathan was trying a bunch of new music as well and we even sang 'Need You Now' by Lady Antebellum.  We closed down just before last call and Debbie was my back-up dancer for my first ever solo version of 'Baby One More Time.'  Karaoke is all about having fun, right?!?  I love seeing people smiling and having a good time and last night was certainly one of those nights!  I hope Friday is just as exciting :)

The week is already half-way over but it's not stopping anytime soon for me...I've got a busy week ahead and I'm going out for a run this afternoon to enjoy the effects the rain has on LA...fresh clean and clear air!

A Green Weekend!

Little did I know that St. Patrick's Day was being celebrated early at Gabe's on Friday Night!  I totally forgot to wear green, and while it wasn't St. Patrick's Day till Saturday, I still had to worry about getting pinched after midnight without some sort of green on me.  Mike saved the day by cutting down some green garland for me, and I made a little bracelet!  Whew...that was a close one!

It was a very busy night with lots of new people coming in for Karaoke.  I didn't realize how excited people got for St. Patrick's Day, so many people were drinking and getting tipsy, and I thought they would save it for Saturday, but was really surprised!  That's hardcore :)  Because the night was so busy, I only sang a couple of times, but was able to do Heart's 'What About Love' and thought it would be my new song of the night, until realizing half-way through that it sounded familiar and I think I sang it at Lucky Strike years ago!  I ended up closing the night with 'Crazy' by Britney Spears, never sang it before, although I did Choreograph a Cheerleading Routine to the song in High School!  Blast from the past, but very fun!  Overall, it was a really great night, everyone was very generous, and seemed to be having a good time, with all the alcohol that was flowing!

Since it was a busy night, I didn't get home until later, and I had my Casting Workshop the next day so I wanted to get as much sleep as possible.  Five hours later I was getting ready for the Workshop to the pouring rain outside!  That made me even more nervous, because I wanted to make sure I could be on time and prepared.  I talked to Neil once I got to the theater, and we went through my scene over the phone, and he gave me some advice and support before the Workshop.  There were about 20 people there and we got started promptly at 10:30 am.  The Casting Director started with a Q&A which was interesting, and I learned a little information, and then we got started on our scenes.  When it was my turn, I handed in my headshot to the CD and then performed my scene with a Reader.  The Reader was better than I had expected, so that made it so much easier to perform the scene, be organic, and really listen to what he was saying, so I could react.  I felt really confident and proud of my work, and took my seat after a thank you.  When everyone had finished, someone asked the CD for his feedback, to which he responded that not everyone committed or understood their scene, and that people need to speak more clearly.  There was no individualized feedback, and no positivity at all.  I was told we would be able to perform our scenes twice, thus making it a Workshop so I could work.  It was so disappointing after working at my scene all week long.  I came completely prepared, and most of the students in the class didn't even have their scenes memorized.  I know I'll take another Workshop, but I'm really going to research to make sure that I'm benefiting from taking it.  This is my career and unless something is going to help me grow, it's not worthwhile.  The good thing from all this was the rehearsing I did with Neil earlier in the week, the scene really grew with our practice, and I'm so glad I was as prepared as I was, so I could take it wherever it needed to go with what the Reader was going to give me.  So kudos to Neil for helping me rock my performance!

*Side Note.  I did call the Company that booked the Workshop, and the owner said he was completely frustrated and disappointed with the CD as well, and that they would never have him back again.  He told me that's now how they run their workshops and even offered me a 50% discount on my next workshop.  The owner used a few choice words which made me laugh, but I was glad to find out the other students were disappointed as well, and it wasn't just me.  Onto the next one...

After my Workshop I was on my way to Irish Times to Bartend for St. Patrick's Day!  It was almost a 15 hour shift at the end of the day, so I was prepared with a change of clothes and had a bite to eat before I got there.  The bar was full when I got there, and they had just started charging a Cover Charge.  They had traditional Irish Food (I later got the Beef Stew and some Fish), and even had Corned Beef & Cabbage.  There was an Irish Band that played all day long, and a new Irish Band that started later at night as well.  I only drank a couple of beers throughout the night, and never any hard alcohol.  So proud I'm keeping up with my Lent agreement!  It was a steady stream of people through the whole shift, and with 6 of us Bartending, we were never slammed, just moving all day long.  It's so nice to be in a Bar environment that's actually positive.  Everyone's helpful, and there's teamwork.  We can all joke around and have fun, and if someone's being rude, we stand our ground, and protect our fellow Bartenders.  Such a change from my last Bartending job which was what I believe Hell is like.  We made great money and all had a great time, but I was exhausted by the time I got home, so excited for my bed, and getting some sleep after a long and crazy day!

Top of the Morning to Ya!

Yesterday ended up being a far busier day than I had expected.  I got up and went for my morning run and did a couple sets of stair.  Then I got a call from a good friend to stop by the bar he works at, (they need someone to pick up shifts) and was I interested?  Absolutely!  As I'm printing off my resume, the only thing that prints is my e-mail address...out of black ink!  I'm just lucky I didn't need to bring a resume, just wanted to be prepared, but I'm even luckier that didn't happen as I was getting ready for an audition!  That's why I always have a back up headshot and resume in my car.  I still printed a resume, and of course, printed it in purple ink.

So in I went to Irish Times, a bar I had visited in the past, and even took my Mom to, because my old boss from Saint's & Sinner's, has worked there for years.  I met the owner, who's this incredible Irish man, and so cool.  I love all his Irish sayings and upbeat attitude.  The reason I can say that is because he asked if I could train right then and there, and now, here I am today, at my first shift!  Granted, it's just before 2 pm, no one has come into the bar yet, but I heard it gets real busy in the afternoon, especially on a Friday.  I certainly don't mind because I'm able to get some work done as well.  So I've got a new job, just filling in, but at least it gives me something to do while I'm looking for something more permanent, and still gives me the option to audition whenever I need to.

Becky, Kristina, and I at Irish Times!

 *Side note*  At 2 pm, two gentlemen walked into the bar, and from that moment on, the bar got packed, and I was working my butt off for the next 5 hours!  (I'm just finishing up the blog now at 2 am.)  But that's just the way I like it, throw me into the lion's den on my first day, if I can't keep up, then I shouldn't be a bartender.  My sales and my tips, along with a very happy owner, proved I did a damn good job, and I was so happy to be behind a bar again, with an owner that actually appreciates his employee's!  I also got a nice surprise bouquet of flowers and candy from a secret admirer...oh la la.

Back to Thursday afternoon and I had to run some errands in between interviewing and training, so I picked up my ink cartridge at Target and then made my way to Prints Charm'n to check out my headshot proofs.  I got caught up talking to one of the owners, who was hilarious, and as I initialed the proofs to get them by next week, he actually asked me to write one out to him and sign it so he could put it on the wall.  It's really not that big of a deal, but it was such a nice compliment, and it was a really great feel good moment :)

Then on Thursday night I had a fun reunion with one of my favorite's, Andrea, as our friend, Craig, was in town from New York.  He had a party at this Sushi Restaurant in Hollywood, with an open bar, and free sushi served all night long.  The presentation was absolutely gorgeous, the food was excellent, and they brought a platter that was about 4 feet by 2 feet that was loaded with all sorts of sushi rolls, sashimi, and fish; it was insane!  Even the DJ was awesome; so the girls and I had a little dance party of our own.  It's so nice to be out with good friends in Hollywood, without doing the club thing, because you can actually have a conversation with someone and catch up.  Don't get me wrong, every once in a while, going out dancing your butt off, screaming at the top of your lungs to talk to your best friend, and spending an hour to get ready, can be fun, but Thursday Night's Reunion was perfection!

Wolf Dog Reunion

That's a day I could get used to...but for now, Good Night, Moon!