wearing thin.

Sometimes I feel like I am just being pulled in 10293809 different directions, and like I have to appease people constantly... is that weird? Like, right now I have so much going on that it is almost ridiculous.

• I'm in 2 freestages.
• I am Stage Managing a one-act.
• I am probably going to be IN a one-act as well.
• I am Assistant Props Master for Machinal.
• I am in a voice class that requires a 30 min. rehearsal a week with an accompanist as well as every day.
• I am in another voice class that requires rehearsals every day.
• I am in a Meisner/Acting class that requires an hour of rehearsal a week.
• I was just offered to design the makeup for the character of Mark Twain in Big River at the Springer Opera House, which starts tech runs on March 1st-5th
  
• (The first freestage I am in OPENS on March 2nd)
• I am required to work Thespian Conference this upcoming weekend.
• I am trying to maintain an A average in all my classes.
• I have a boyfriend.

Thankfully, the last point is not one of stress, but I still feel bad and I try to make more time for him than I do. The only times I really get to see him, however are are after midnight and by then I am so exhausted from the day I can hardly stay awake.

Now don't get me wrong, I really enjoy everything that I do. I love to be involved in theatre. But sometimes with all of the classes and just extra stuff going on- it gets to be a little much. And it wouldn't be that bad if I didn't agree to do EVERYTHING I want to ever do. Logically, I wouldn't have accepted roles for One-acts. But of course I am going to, because I want to perform. I want to show the department what I can do. I feel as if I am in this constant phase of proving myself to everyone. I am not sure if that is a good thing necessarily, but it drives me to always be better so I don't see that it would be bad. I just tend to get in over my head sometimes...

*sigh*

At times like this I just want to be able to be one of those people that just goes to classes and comes home and watches TV... or just hangs out at the mall with their friends...or plays video games for hours at a time.

I'd get sick of that though, and find something to do soon I'm sure.

again and again and again and again

The Bird and The Bee- "Again and Again"

Jim played this song in the costume shop, and I bought their CD.
I love it. And then after the fact I realized the same band has a song on the Sex and the City soundtrack, "How Deep is Your Love..." Although I like this song better and it is a better representative of their overall musical style.

I love making new musical discoveries!

omg.

CANNOT HANDLE

Wow, so I really have been slacking on my blog.
Anyways, so this is what has been going on lately...
I have been appointed the "makeup artist" for CSU's The Cripple of Inishmaan... I have to do extreme old-age on Mammy, a character in the show. It is difficult as it involves a prosthetic nose, and a ton of shading/highlighting effects, but I've gotten it down to a science now, and I enjoy doing it and being able to produce such a dramatic transformation. Apparently people have had trouble recognizing Lena- people have said that they thought it was an actual old person, one person thought she had on a whole mask, someone thought she had prosthetic cheeks... while part of the effect is lena's wonderful acting, I am glad that I have been able to provide the visual effect! Also, it is the best tech job EVER. I don't have to spend 11 hours at a cue-to cue or tech rehearsal, and I don't have to wear all black everyday. I just walk in, do the makeup, and leave. I hope every show from now on that I am not in has a crazy makeup that I need to do, haha!

Anyways, so yesterday was Valentines day!
The life of a college student and dorm life sometimes makes it hard to plan anything special on the actual day... so me and Matt went and saw Cripple together and then we went to Wendys and Sonic afterwards. It was really fun, actually, being able to just spend time together and talk and eat junk :P
After that we played Beautiful Katamari (BEST VIDEO GAME EVER. The concept? You roll the entire world and solar system up in a ball, starting with tiny objects on the earth. Hard to explain, but once you play it you will love it unless you're one of those normal people that like their video games to make sense... haha.)
and by then I was extremely tired so I went to sleep.

Today we are going to go to Fujiyama for some hibachi grillin' goodness! :) I'm excited.

OH- so how about I am not the proud owner of a SNUGGIE!
I know, I know, some people like to say that it is just a backwards robe, blablabla... but in reality it is wonderful because it is LONGER THAN A ROBE which means it COVERS YOUR FEET and I am pretty much 95% of the time freezing my butt off... so it is nice and cozy. And I can be curled up in a blanket while doing homework at the same time! I'll upload pictures later.

So I was just browsing the internet and I came across a disturbing discovery: the Baker's Edge, EDGE Brownie Pan. Now, whenever I see a pan of Brownies, I am always the one to go for the soft and chewy middle part... and will make strange cutouts so that I can get to it, bypassing the hard edges. This pan is so depressing to me... because they ALL are edge brownies =[ It just makes me sad, but apparently some people really like edges.... strange.

its been awhile.

So I realized I haven't actually blogged in quite a bit...so it seems I have a lot of catching up to do, huh?
Well for one thing, Fat Men in Skirts went great! It was such a fun show and the audience seemed to really love it too. It was a learning experience... especially the last performance where our understudy went on, and I burnt my hair off literally with the curling iron.
But other than that, it was awesome! Haha.

Now that its over I have other shows to work on. First of all, I'm makeup artist for the Cripple of Inishmaan, which is exciting because I am listed in the program and get theatre practice hours and everything for showing up, doing old-age on a few people, then leaving.
Then I am also stage-managing a One-Act called "Oh Dad Poor Dad Momma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad" (That is a mouthful!) and I also hope to be IN a One- Act as well.
AND in the meantime I am assistant props master for Machinal... and I am a performer in two different freestages.
Now that I sit here and look back on all of this it seems like complete insantity. Add to that rehearsals for my Meisner class as well as my secondary voice class and you can see how it is that I get stressed so often, haha.

And right now I'm getting over being sick... it is only really bad after I sleep, like in the mornings and then after naps, etc. I feel like I am coughing up an entire lung. I actually got sent home from class this morning which was weird in one way, and cool in another, haha.

But for now I am enjoying my weekend SO MUCH...because I have no rehearsals or anything! It is amazing. Today all I really did was hang out and watched Tim and Eric Awesome show with Matt, took a 2 hour nap, and now we were playing Katamari but I am taking a break. It is such a crazy game.. you just roll up things haha. It's hard to explain... but its really really fun!

So on another note... lately I have been wanting to do something completely crazy and drastic with my hair...I would love to do something like this:
And I know it is completely crazy... I mean I have long, blonde hair right now and I feel like people would not even recognize me if I had this hair haha.. but that is one reason I would want to do it.
The only thing that would keep me from doing it is that I just got new headshots made this past semester... and I have auditioned for jobs that are not casting for awhile, plus I have other auditions coming up as well and I want to keep my hair the way it is right now. Plus I feel as if long-ish hair fits my type better.

It's just that it is so damaged, especially after dyeing it and burning it off... I want it gone. And I am sick of the blonde, too. It's just really played out right now I feel and it looks dingy... it's just not that pretty anymore to me and I need something fresh! If I don't cut it in a crazy short pixie cut like VB's (which will most likely NOT happen)... I may just get it right above shoulder length. Meh.

LOL Grandma

I just really feel like I want to start the LOL Grandma trend.

Delicious!

While I'm sitting here enjoying my delicious pizza-English muffin... I have to wonder to myself; does EVERYONE know about the savory scrumptiousness that is the perfectly made pizza-English muffin? Do people exist solely on Ramen and macaroni?

So I thought I would offer some suggestions on meals that are affordable for college students, as well as being tasty and good for you, as well!

As mentioned, the
Pizza-English muffin.
Of course, you could get actual pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, Hormel pepperoni and call it a meal... however there are ways of making it involving less specialized ingredients (read: the ingredients can be used for other things besides pizza muffins!). Instead of using labeled "Pizza sauce" use your favorite canned spaghetti sauce (I personally like Paul Newman and Bertolli brands!). Because plain pizza sauce tastes boring to me, and whenever you eat really good pizza the sauce is usually flavored with different spices- it's not just tomato paste. So therefore you will be creating a tastier meal, and then you can also use the SAME jar of pasta sauce for making spaghetti meals as well! Convenient!
Also, instead of buying shredded mozzarella cheese which you will probably never use except for pizza related items... just use anytime of sliced cheese such as Provolone or Colby Jack that you can also use for sandwiches. It melts and tastes pretty much the same! And for a healthier alternative to regular pepperoni- get turkey pepperoni. It tastes literally EXACTLY the same and has SO many fewer calories than the normal kind. Plus it's just generally better for you! I also like to eat the pepperoni with cheese on wheat thins as a snack. Also, if you are not a fan of English muffins- this tasty treat can also be converted onto a bagel! Which you can also eat for breakfast as well.

Cheesy Chicken Sandwich
A personal favorite... this one is really helpful if you have a George Foreman grill (Something I would recommend to ANYONE to get if you do not have one already.)
But anyways, You start out with a frozen chicken tenderloin or two, depending on how big they are. These usually come in a big bag and are in the frozen section. They are much easier to handle and prepare to me than normal chicken breasts, as they are already cut and all you have to do is run it under hot water for a minute without dealing with the squishy raw chicken factor. Pop them on the grill, adding some Italian or Greek dressing, or any other type of seasoning if you want! In the meantime get 2 pieces of wheat bread, and assemble it with whatever your favorite cheese is. I like to use Provolone for this. Once the chicken is done cooking, incorporate it into the sandwich and put it back on the grill for about a minute or two. It's cheesy, chickeny goodness will make you happy you read this blog.

Voila Meals
I don't know if everyone knows about these wonderful meals...but all you have to do is put the whole bag into a skillet and let it cook for 10 minutes. There are different flavors, and the bags are pretty cheap and feed 2-3 people (depending on how hungry you are!) They are not too bad on calories at all, either!

Campbell's Healthy Request Soups
Yummy, healthy, warm, and soothing.

Kashi/ Amy's Organic Frozen Meals
Okay, so these may not be the cheapest things you can buy. BUT. They are amazing. Microwave meal food that does not taste like microwave meal food. Plus they are really healthy, unlike the $1 Michelina Fettucine Alfredo meals that pack on tons of calories without any substance!

Now, these are some food items that I always have on my shopping list, and the reasons why I love them so.

• Laughing Cow Cheese- these wonderful little soft-cheese wedges can be used as a replacement for cheese AND mayo for sandwiches- (for those who like the creamy texture of mayo on a sandwich...without the fat or taste!) And they are really tasty as well. They come in different flavors too, like Swiss, Garlic & Herb, etc. I also like to munch them with wheat thins/crackers. Such a great product!
• Yoplait Yogurt- these satisfy my sweet cravings without being too indulgent because they come in flavors such as Boston Cream Pie, Key Lime Pie, Strawberry Cheesecake, etc.
  
• Wheat thins- just great for snacking, always!
• Fruit- I love oranges, and pears.
• Corn Chex- yes, just the plain corn chex cereal. It is great to snack on... and is one of the healthier cereals with the least amount of sugar! I have eaten like literally a half a box of this at a time. Whenever I have it there are always chex pieces smooshed on my dorm room floor, haha!