Random Posts: August 30, 2015 - Skydiving!

It has been a very rough month for me because of the whole moving thing and i have apparently lost a friend due to this person's completely unhinged sense of things. I am physically battered. Bruised all over both shins, skin scraped, bruises in other places. Every muscle in my body aches from packing/moving (and the training session I had on Tuesday) and mentally I am pretty hurt as well. I was in a very dark place not too long ago but thankfully with the help of a few incredible people I have gotten to a bit of a better place. One of those people suggested I find something to look forward to to get me through the last week of the move that was more immediate than my San Francisco trip at the end of September.

I had been thinking about what that could be and then all of a sudden it hit me, skydiving! It is something I have wanted to do since I was super little. The timing was right and the circumstances were right so I decided why not? I made a reservation and finally went for it. I went to a place called Sky Dive Th Ranch in Gardiner, NY at the recommendation from someone like 2 years ago. I got up at 5:50 am (after barely 3.5 hours of sleep) and drove the 90 minutes to the place. (well I got a bagel first).

I signed in and couldn't contain my excitement as I was watching people land. At one point i was using the bathroom and there was no way for me to open the door without touching the knob (luckily someone opened it for me) but i laughed at the fact i was more afraid of germ than jumping out of a plane.

Eventually I was introduced to my skydive instructor Eric Normandin. He was a super cool guy and you could tell he LOVES his job... like really loves it. He told me a bit about himself (over 6000 jumps, what even is that) and asked about me. He went over all the safety stuff and just kept getting me more and more excited. I was doing it all by myself so I didn't have anyone i knew to share the experience so I had been a touch sad about that, but it turns out that didn't matter because he was my best buddy for the next half hour or so and that worked for me. I also had a wonderful camera man documenting for me... Big Jim.

We went up in the plane and it was so loud but he kept the excitement going while he was also doing all the safety checks. Let me tell you once all the tandem stuff was connected we were truly connected like there was no doubt we were attached to each other. Watching the people jump before me was a surreal experience and then it was my turn! What a freaking rush. Standing with your toes over the edge of an open door 13,500 feet above the ground with a plane flying 100 mph. The feeling I had as we were dropping was pretty awesome and I kept trying to find and look at my camera man. Then the parachute finally got deployed and we changed our position from parallel to perpendicular to the ground. Then he helped me take off the safety googles and loosened our connection just a touch. Then he gave me a lesson on how to steer a parachute which I had no idea you could do. Then I got a chance to steer it and we did circles in one direction and then another and then back again. Then when we were about 600 feet from the ground he took over and I said I didn't want to land and he joked that this was a one way ticket. Then i had to practice lifting my legs up for the landing... I was not so sure i had the ab muscles left to do this after the last several days but thankfully they kicked in... the landing was pretty funny... i literally skidded cross the ground and it kicked up grass and dirt all over me... it didn't hurt just a funny sensation. I had so much fun and so happy that I got to do it. I think I finally found the thing that gives me the adrenaline kick I am looking for.

Then I had my video and pictures ready for me pretty quick afterwards so I got to upload them right away! This was just the thing I needed to help get me to a more positive look on my life right now. When and where can i do this again?

Random Posts: July 26, 2015 - I'm a Producer!

I cannot believe it, I actually produced a very successful concert at 54 Below called Uncharted: The Songs of Sara Bareillis. The amount of time and work spent on producing this was even more than I could have imagined. It had its ups and downs but I got things done and could not be more proud of how it turned out.

Sound check was earlier in the day and Billy and Adam my 54 below sound/lighting guys were so awesome and helpful. They told me i was so well organized and that they wished I could be at every sound check because i was really good at keeping things moving along and that made me smile so much! The band and talent were doing their thang and mad me really excited... I was actually not too stressed until later that night when I arrived at the dressing room and it was about 90 minutes before show time. I was so stressed and anxiety ridden. I was visibly shaking like cray and with barely a one second look at me people could tell i was stressing out. Andrey kept trying to get me to sit down and relax which only happened like once. Everyone showed up on time and we ended up almost selling out the place (we might have actually sold out who knows).

Then it happened, it was show time... I can't properly express the feelings and excitement i felt as the show began and I could see people enjoying themselves. As each song passed by I felt more relaxed, and then I took to the stage with Andrey to do some brief thank yous and was shocked to hear my voice bounce back in the monitors... it was pretty funny actually. The show was right on time, people didn't miss their songs. The audience was cheering and it was just magical. I think my favorite moment of the night was when one of our backup singers, Candice, stepped into sing a song last minute because our scheduled performer fell ill that morning... she freaking nailed it. She is amazing but in the community not a known person so to see the audience lose their minds over her talent was everything because they were that into it! It was also fun to see the servers enjoying themselves and dancing and singing along at times in the back. Did i mention how incredibly awesome the band was? They were such nice and fun guys and have so much talent, it was incredible, the sound was fantastic and each performer nailed it.

After the show was over it was weird to be the person that everyone was coming up to to congratulate and speak with me, and even Billy and Adam said they got chills a few times, and considering how many of these shows they see that was a great compliment. I mean it was crazy, and it took so long to get over to Characters after because of it.... i felt on top of the world and had a glass of prosecco to celebrate.

Then it was nice to chat with Shoshana and a couple others over there after and just let go of all the stress i had built up, a perfect evening truly!

Actually found out we were 2 seats from a sell out! craziness!

Random Posts: July 18, 2015 - Wedding!

It was the day of Jess and Coleen's wedding. It was a lovely day and I ended up doing some last minute arts and crafts that took two hours to make some signs. Then Karen and I got ice cream/waffles and went back to hotel and I got ready for the wedding.

It was a lovely ceremony and they were so happy. Glad to have been a part of it.

Day 365/365 (July 17, 2015)

I did it!!!!

Another year down.

Karen, Sasha, and I got up pretty early to drop Sasha off at her mom's house before heading out to Providence for Jess and Coleen's weeding. We made it up there pretty quickly, then had a quick visit with Pip and headed to Providence.

Thankfully we didn't hit much traffic overall and had time to make a side trip to Wahlburger's in Hingham, MA. The burger was pretty great and I got a milkshake and onion rings... yum!

Then we made our way to Providence, checked into the hotel, and got our nails done. Then we cleaned up a bit and went off to the rehearsal dinner. It was a lovely time and we got our instructions... then Karen and I did some shopping at Target before calling it a night.

Day 364/365 (July 16, 2015)

Went to work for a bit, then I headed to Brooklyn to meet up with Jesse because he was cutting my hair. Thankfully I had no troubles finding it. He did such a lovely job and it always looks so good, i just wish i could recreate how he makes it look.

Then i headed back home to get ready to leave. I packed bags and did everything else i needed to do to be able to leave.

Day 363/365 (July 15, 2015)

I popped out the free Wahlburgers truck to get the free burger which was pretty tasty, then back to work. Then when I was done i sped over to drop something off to Shetler Studios, then raced back home. Saw Pip for a hot second before changing, gathering my things, cleaning my foot since I stepped in dog pee and heading out to Sasha's car. Then I made my way to Doylestown, PA.

I left early to allow for traffic and getting lost, only turns out I hit no traffic and didn't get lost so I got to town super early! It had not started raining yet so I was at the Park. They have this super cool castle that is the playground for children that little Tamra was super jealous of! The picture does not do it justice because it does not show how ginormous it was and how many things it had to play with and cool slides. After i got out of the car the heaven's opened up so back in I went. I did however end up getting lost trying to find the rain location. Once i found it I made a failed attempt at finding a place for a quick bite so I killed some time in the car then headed in.

There were so many tweens and little kids and they were so excited for the concert. They were going on about how they had the best seats and they hoped that they could go onstage and that they would sing One Direction. Diane and MaryAnn ended up coming as well.

The concert was so fun and cute. I won't lie I got a little teary eyed hearing Travis and Jesse sing again, and glad I was filming it. My filming game started well with my tripod but then people kept getting up to dance and slowly i was like what ever so not my best filming work. They ended up doing an encore of a One Direction song, the one that made the young kids lose their mind and that ended up being a fun filming moment because i went to the edge of the stage like a boy band concert would have that was being broadcast... some fun angles and shots of the crowd wanting to high five them. Some of the kids did get to go up on stage and Jesse betrayed me by pulling Diane up and not me claiming it was because I was filming... tripod dude! haha oh well.Mike was also lovely and the other guy Marshal did a good job. In short The Boy Band Project was a hit!

After the concert I pulled out my poster and played the role of fan girl, and we took a few pictures. It was so nice to see Jesse again and

Then home I headed, sadly got lost on the way home and had to go through an extra toll, womp womp. Then Sahsa and I watched Big Brother before I headed off to bed.

Day 362/365 (July 14, 2015)

Started the day off at work, then I went home to relax for a bit before heading out to babysit Harper. I ended up being lay and taking the subway to Chelsea Market, only I am a moron and wasn't paying attention so I missed the stop and got off at W 4th instead. Since I had a whole bunch of time I figured this was a sign saying you should be walking so I decided to do that instead of going back uptown one stop. This turned out well, as I was getting close to the Duplex I heard my name being called out so I looked up and found Hope with her two little charges. They were adorable and shy. We chatted for a a minute or two before continuing on our journeys. Always nice to have run ins like that, NYC is vast but so small at the same time.

Got to Chelsea Market early so I poked into a couple of places but resisted temptation. Then I met up with Harper, her dad, and two of his friends. They finished their dinner and then I took her back to NJ.

When we got to Grove street there was this nice area protected from cars and a guy playing violin and children running around playing .She ended up running into some of her friends so she ran around with them and danced her heart out to the music. He broke a string at one point and was so sad the music stopped. Luckily after a quick trip to the pet store where she played with a kitty waiting to be adopted he fixed his violin and began playing again. When i tried to dance just like her she laughed a little and said "I think i am a bit better at this" rough man!

Then we went back to her apartment to do a quick change and headed to the park to play her favorite sport, baseball. Only there were not other kids around so she said it was lonely and wanted to paly on the playground. We did that for a bit but once again she was sad there were no other kids to play with.so we went back. Then we listened to some music and she got ready for bed. SHe took a while to settle down and fall asleep but she was snuggling with me which was cute. She also had this killer tutu costume I wish i had when I was little. Harper also has the coolest bed, no clue why she doesn't like to sleep in it!

Then I watched Ghost Whisperer until her dad came home. I missed the Path train by a few seconds and had to wait an hour for the next one to come, sleep felt very good when I got home!

Day 361/365 (July 13, 2015)

Went to work for a good chunk of the day. had more texts with the roomies about moving plans and really i just want to give up, there is no point any more.

After i went to training which was pretty stupid since it hurt to move, but it was a good session. I used the foam roller on my sore various leg muscles and some of them hurt so bad tears almost happened.

Then I met up with Kim for the Hamilton first preview lotto... holy crap! There were probably at least 700 people there no lie! Lin came out and made a quick sweet speech. I give them credit because they were super organized and efficient. They so have a wristband policy which sucks because you can't just help your friends but in this case I totally understand because they are trying to prevent scalpers. Ran into a bunch of other people i knew there too, and after we lost Kim and I had a tiny catch up before I headed to Trader Joes.

Turns out Monday is their 2nd busiest night (after Sunday night). Honestly they should have made a line just to get into the store because the line was so long it wrapped all the way around to the dairy, through where the shopping carts usually are and down by the fruit to curve all around itself. I was in line for 30 minutes! It was so hard to move and think in there but they also have their line situation organized and they even refunded me the money for the two bags of dead broccoli i discovered the night before without my having brought them in!

Then i went for my Jenny appointment early so I don't have to squeeze that in tomorrow.

Came home, put groceries away, and then i made more yummy zoodles.

I also found out Sara Bareillis tweeted about the concert, woo!

Day 360/365 (July 12, 2015)

I woke up pretty sore, and took my bed sheets off so they could be washed... color seeped through and now my mattress topper has pink spots, oops! Thankfully after my shower only my inner thigh muscle was sore. ALso found Fred sleeping in my underwear drawer...

After i showered and went with Karen to FAO Schwartz to meet up with Karolina, David, James, and her mom, since it is closing soon. we explored and tool pictures and it was nice to see them, but then i was so hungry i thought i was going to drop and i had concert stuff to do. I ran to the office and ate a lunch there then met up with Joey N. and his guitarist and we copied some sheet music at Fed Ex. Then back to my office to scan it. Then we walked/took a cab to the rehearsal studio. Had a really good rehearsal and then i went to Pinkberry to use my reward. Tried their new flavor blueberry and it may be my favorite... like it didn't need any toppings on it, delicious!

Then back home and The Cunneely crew came over so James could meet the kitties. Charlie fled as soon as they walked in the door and hid until a half hour after they left before coming out. Fred however is a trooper and took it in stride. James loved him and was so bouncy and kept screaching happy screaches every time he saw him and even got to pet him for a tiny moment which rocked his little world.

After they left i finally ate dinner and some tv before heading to bed. I really should stop watching Ghost Whisperer while trying to sleep..

I also did some massive laundry!