Krazy Karaoke

Where did last week go?!  I had so much going on I haven't been able to keep up with my blog or my Journal and I'm days behind, so I'm writing a bunch of blogs today to catch myself up!

Last week I Hosted Karaoke on both Wednesday and Friday!  I was really glad to have the previous Friday off and take a break from Gabe's for a week, so this week I was really excited to get back to work.

Wednesday started off really slow, not even getting started until after 10 pm.  After the first round of singers we had 5 people signed up and we all did a super-set of George Michael songs.  I sang 'Careless Whisper' by Seether a couple months ago, so I decided to try George's version, and I was so nervous and actually intimidated by it at first.  It got started and I had to change the key one line in, but then I got more comfortable as the song went on, and I actually had a lot of fun with it.  I'll definitely try it again now that I've worked on it.  Marty showed up and brought a bunch of people in the bar and all of a sudden we had a busy Karaoke night!  We had a lot of singers and people singing crowd favorites.  Neil ended up coming in and charming the crowd with an R&B song, who knew?!  Marty did his usual 'Sweet Child of Mine' and brought the house down!  We, or I should say, I attempted to sing 'Without You' from "Rent" but I just don't know the song well enough yet.  Neil did a great job on it, but I needed a lot of help.  'Another Day' will always be my favorite from the show, but I couldn't find it in our database that day, so we did 'Light My Candle' instead, which is always a fun song to sing!  My other new song of the night was 'Gravity' by Sara Bareilles.  I made it through the song, and got a little choked up at the end, because it's such a beautiful song, and has sentimental value to me, but I think my favorite moment was when I hit the high note and whole room erupted in applause.  It was a really cool moment and Neil told me the whole room loved the song and he was really impressed that it was my first time singing it and was so proud of me.  I can't wait to sing it again!

Then on Friday it started off slow too but got really busy really quick because we had a 30 person Birthday Party!  I felt like I lost my voice early on so I didn't sing very much because I wanted to give the people coming in a chance to sing, and I could take a break then!  It was nice to see some regulars of S&S hanging out at the bar when I walked in; they had found out I was coming in for Karaoke so they stayed to hang out.  So sweet!  There was plenty of fun songs for the crowd like 'Sweet Caroline,' 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot,' 'Edge of Glory,' and even a little LL Cool J.  I was really proud that I was able to stay patient all night long and use some of the tips my Karaoke Host friend uses when he hosts at Brass Monkey.  He's got tons of experience and has seen it all and his tricks worked!  Marcus came in towards the end of the night and had discovered some new music so he sang 'All Summer Long' by Kid Rock which is such a perfect artist for his voice, plus he had so much fun with the song!  I closed the night with 'All I Really Want' by Alanis Morissette and was glad to get home after a long and busy night!

Since I'm heading back to Wisconsin this week, I won't be back to Karaoke until next Wednesday, but I'm hoping for a Karaoke Adventure back home :)

An Audition...YAY!

I found out yesterday afternoon that my Agent got me a Commercial Audition for today!  I was so excited since things have been really slow right now, so I haven't been going out lately, and I'm starting to get stir crazy to shoot something or work on something new!

My audition was in Santa Monica, less than 10 minutes from my place, so after printing off a fresh resume and stapling it to my headshot, I was out the door in my Homeowner/Mother outfit.  What does one wear to look like a Homeowner/Mother, well, I tried to make myself look older; there's a first for everything, especially doing something like that in LA!  I wore my trouser slacks along with a white lacy tank top and silver cardigan over the top and did my make-up in neutral colors.

I actually went to the wrong suite first; what they had given us in the directions was wrong so I had signed in and needed to write my Agency's phone number down and when I went into my purse, saw I didn't have my phone with me at all.  Now that's a first!  Talk about feeling completely helpless.  Luckily, I found the correct suite just outside and 2 doors down.

When I got to the audition, the two other girls that were there were dressed similarly, although more business-like, and a few years older than me.  I know I'm on the young end of the casting, but they must have liked something about me to call me in, and I'm just happy to be going out for an audition so I'm definitely not complaining!

I grabbed a set of the sides and started memorizing right away.  The audition process went really quick so a couple minutes later, the Casting Director asked if I was ready, and I asked for just one more minute.  He gave me a couple notes about what they wanted and a minute later I was slating and taking photos in the audition room.  The audition is for an on-line Web Service, so I had to show two different sides in the audition.  The first was frustration with having to do research on my own, and having trouble getting help if I mess something up, but then excitement talking about the service that does all the work for you with no hassles.  After my first time, the Producer or Director asked me to do it again but change it slightly, so I went through it one more time, really exaggerating both ends, but still being likeable and friendly.

When I left the audition I felt good about it; not great, but that's not always a bad thing.  Sometimes I can feel really good, but the people in Casting just didn't like me or what I did.  Other times I feel like I bombed and they'll love me and book me on the job.  I was glad I was able to give two different versions of the script and that my words were clear and I didn't have any mistakes!  It would be great to get a call-back after a little break in my auditions, so please keep those fingers crossed :)

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.

Just don't know what to do with myself...

Don't know just what to do with myself...

That's how I felt on Friday night when I didn't have to Host Karaoke for the first time in a month!  Go figure I would end up singing somewhere ;)

While I was out in Hollywood earlier this week for a Birthday Party I ran into an old friend of mine, who produced a demo for me and another girlfriend of mine that was going to be shopped to big record labels.  Plans fell through, but I ended up with 4 really well-produced, very original songs, and some studio recording experience.  He's still playing music and mentioned he was going to be at Red Rock in Hollywood performing on Friday and said he pulls up people to sing with his band and told me to come.  It sounded fun and interesting and since they only play covers, mostly 80's or new pop music, I thought it would be really different since I'm used to singing Karaoke, and there, I would have a live band behind me.

I haven't been to Red Rock in years and it ended up being pretty busy in there.  Neil came with me to support my live singing Hollywood debut, and I was glad he was there.  He does this all the time, so he was a great person to have around.  They were playing for a couple hours that night and told me I would be singing a whole song on my own, 'Separate Ways' by Journey, and I would be right before their set break.  In hindsight, I should have just looked at the lyrics before I went on-stage, but I saw my friend reading from a music stand so I figured I could glance there if I needed to.  When it came time to sing my song, I was a little nervous, as it was a pretty big crowd, and I wasn't in my normal setting; this was definitely out of my comfort zone.  The music started and I loosened up and just rocked out with the 2 man band!  I was so proud I hit all the high notes and it was a lot of fun, aside from me forgetting the first line of the 2nd verse (DOH)!  It's strange how when the words are in front of me at Karaoke I don't even rely on them, but when I don't have them, and there's a billion distractions going on around me, I forget a line.  I guess the lesson here is be prepared!  All in all a really great experience that I can hopefully do more often!

There were no words for me on that music stand!

After the show, Neil and I went over to Gabe's, because what Friday night would be complete without some Karaoke.  It was a 'Manic Monday' kind of night, and a good close to the evening.  It was definitely a creative day!

As for tonight, I'm relaxing after a very eventful day.  I frosted cupcakes, made appetizers, and spent time with good friends at Malibu Wines for my roommate's Birthday Celebration.  There was a wide array of food and goodies, plenty of wine to go around and lots of laughs.  But after spending a few hours in the sun drinking some vino it's amazing how knocked out you feel!  I declare a Movie Night :)

Cheers!

Appetizers & Cupcakes

Here are some simple ideas to make cupcakes more special or personalized, as well as some really easy appetizers!

When I'm making cupcakes for someone or an event I try to personalize them for the party or friend.  This weekend we celebrated my roommate's Birthday so knowing Funfetti Cupcakes were her favorite, I made those.  Then to make them more special I asked her what color her dress was and colored the frosting to match it along with festive sprinkles.  For Halloween last year, I made orange frosting and topped each Cupcake with candy corn.  If the Birthday boy or girl has a favorite candy you can put that on top, or if you're going to a 4th of July Party, why not use blue or red sprinkles.  It makes the cupcakes or cake all the more fun and totally personalized for every party!

Tricuit Bites

Depending on your taste, get a box of Triscuit crackers, I love the Rosemary & Olive Oil, and had never seen the Dill & Sea Salt so I also got a box of those, along with a log of Goat Cheese and picked up some red and orange peppers, (I had some leftover zucchini at home and arugula).  

For the Rosemary & Olive Oil Triscuits I picked out the full square ones that weren't broken or anything and put some Goat Cheese on them.  Then I used a tiny piece of the arugula and placed it on top of the Goat Cheese.  I had chopped the peppers into half inch pieces and placed one of each color on top of the arugula.  It was a nice punch of flavor but still very easy and involved no baking or anything.

For the Dill & Sea Salt I also put a small amount of Goat Cheese on top and then put a zucchini on top of the Goat Cheese.  Then I used some fresh black pepper and sprinkled that over them.  These were almost like mini cucumber sandwiches!

Both appetizers felt very light!  My only qualm was that because we were outdoors for the party and it was an hour drive and very hot outside, the goat cheese soaked up into the crackers so they weren't as crisp as when I first made them.  What was even stranger was that the cupcakes sat in the sunshine for a couple hours while we were celebrating at the vineyard and were no longer pink when everything got packed up; the sun had actually faded the color and the frosting looked white.  What a crazy science experiment!

Both dessert and appetizers were a big hit and made me more excited to try new ways to spice up your simple Triscuit cracker :)

Karaoke & Party Planning

I was excited to get back to Karaoke after having a frustrating week last week but getting advice from a good friend of mine who's been Hosting Karaoke for years helped me get re-invigorated for last night!  Although, I'm glad to have my first Friday night off in a month tomorrow, I was glad to be working on Wednesday :)

It ended up being a very quiet night with a bunch of regulars that got to sing quite a few times.  They were happy to get to sing so often and everyone that was in the bar was singing, so everyone was very supportive as well.  We opened the night with a Beatles Super Set, so everyone that was signed up on the first round (all 5 of us) sang a Beatles song, so that kept it fun and exciting for everyone, since we were trying new music.  I love doing Super Set's, and it doesn't happen very often, but I love the challenge of it!  My new song of the night was 'The World is Not Enough' by Garbage per request by Jerry.  He asked me months ago, and since we just updated our system and added over 3000 new songs, we finally had it.  Talk about a difficult song!  I was still proud of my performance, but I want to practice that one a few more times before I try it again.  Art sang a song from a James Bond movie after me, and remarked at how difficult his was too, so I think James Bond songs are just a more challenging type of song to sing for some reason.  Jonathan came in to visit with a friend and while both of them were killing some Karaoke he wanted to sing 'I Got You Babe' before he left for the night, so Sonny and Cher we were.  I closed out the night with 'Hold On' by Wilson Phillips for 2 very supportive gals that were too shy to sing the song, but wanted to hear it.  I love when everyone is having a good time and happy to be around people singing Karaoke, and everyone in the bar was awesome last night!

Today I was supposed to have a Photo Shoot in Laguna Beach for a Swimwear Line but everything was running last minute and the weather was cloudy down South so it got canceled.  I'm glad we're re-scheduling but I'm bummed I didn't have that pizza I wanted earlier this week!  I try to eat more healthy than usual and avoid alcohol (aside from special occasions like the S&S Reunion) for a week or two before a shoot, and especially when I'm going to be in a swimsuit so I'll be getting my Pizza Hut on later this week I'm sure!

Instead, I got a ton of stuff done, castings sent out, errands ran, mini-Birthday shopping for Jessica's Birthday Party this weekend, along with picking up groceries so I can make an appetizer for the Party along with some cupcakes.  We're going to Malibu Wines to enjoy the sunshine, good food and friends, and of course, a lot of wine!  I love making cupcakes so I'll be doing that and experimenting with some hors d'oeuvres.  Jess already has some ideas as well and is trying some new recipes for bruschetta.  It's supposed to be gorgeous outside that day, so I'm sure we'll all have a lot of fun B)  Yay for a productive day!

S&S Reunion

I spent the rest of my weekend editing photos from my Photo Shoot from Saturday, took an awesome walk around the neighborhood, and caught up with friends.  I'm so happy with the pictures from my shoot; they turned out really good, and I'll definitely be able to use them (since they're versatile and different from what I have, with all the different looks) for submissions.

Another photo from my Shoot :)

Last night was the Saint's & Sinner's 1 Year Closing Reunion at Irish Times!  There was actually a huge turn-out of staff members and regulars.  The whole bar was packed with S&S friends and family.  I didn't realize how much I missed some of the people I used to work with, like my door guy, Mike, who works in Hollywood now.  I was almost in tears when I saw him!  And of course, when you get our whole crew together, it's bound to get crazy.  There were Hellfires lined up at any part of the night, 10 of them, or more.  Hellfires were one of our Signature Drinks at Saint's & Sinners: 100 Proof Cinnamon Schnaaps with a 151 floater, lit on FIRE and dropped into Monster Energy Drink.  It was really the shot of choice at the bar and anyone new that had never been to bar usually had one bought for them by someone because that's the type of people the regulars and all of us were.  We welcomed the new that have become the close friends and family we all appreciate now!

Just the beginning...

Now, the night would never be complete without Fieron crawling across the bar and body shots happening at some point.  Well, a year ago at the closing party, it was Truck and I, crawling across the bar, having fun and putting on a show for the patrons, just having a good time and making people laugh.  Somehow last year, I ended up with sugar all over me, in my hair, in my pockets, down my jeans (best shower I ever had was when I got home that night), in my crawling across the bar.  Almost immediately after my bar crawl I jumped behind the bar, thanks to Ian, caught up the bar-back by washing some glasses, and then got to pour drinks for about 15 minutes.  Oh, how I missed being behind that bar!  Well, fast forward to this year's party and the familiar 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' comes on and Fieron's on the bar pointing to me, so I got up on the other end and danced my way across the bar, laughing the whole time, because I had only gotten there a half hour ago, hadn't even drank part of my drink yet and already the craziness was happening!  But, that's just what we did at Saint's.  Needless to say, lots of photos were taken and everyone was smiling.  Although, this time, the sugar was contained.  It did become a top's off party at that point, but Little Lyndzo has grown up, at least for now.  I'm doing Truck & Heat proud!

Before the night had closed down there had to be a bar shot and toast.  Fieron made an amazing toast to everyone and Pancake Breakfast Shots were enjoyed by all.  Bacon and everything!  It was an amazing night with awesome friends and memories to be shared.  And I'm sure everyone's already looking forward to next year's festivities :)